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All Is Fair by Dee Garretson
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: January 22nd 2019
Genres: Historical, Romance, Young Adult

Lady Mina Tretheway knows she’s destined for greater things than her fancy boarding school, where she’s being taught to be a proper English lady. It’s 1918, and war is raging across Europe. Unlike her father and brother, who are able to assist in the war effort, Mina is stuck sorting out which fork should be used with which dinner course.

When Mina receives a telegram that’s written in code, she finally has her chance to do something big. She returns to her childhood home of Hallington Manor, joined by a family friend, Lord Andrew Graham, and a dashing and mysterious young American, Lucas. The three of them must band together to work on a dangerous project that could turn the tide of the war.

Thrilled that she gets to contribute to the war effort at least, Mina jumps headfirst into the world of cryptic messages, spycraft, and international intrigue. She, Lucas, and Andrew have to work quickly, because if they don’t succeed, more soldiers will disappear into the darkness of war.

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10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer

1. Read posts about writing but don’t think you have

to follow them to the letter. Find your own path. Don’t feel guilty

if your method is different. Results are all that matters.

2. Study your favorite books, especially the first 30 to 50 pages.

How exactly did the author draw you in? Was it something about

the character, the style of writing, or the type of plot?

3. Read the wildly popular books in the genre in which you

want to write. Even if you don’t like them, try to figure out why

readers do.

4. Find your most productive time of day to write and do

everything you can to free up that time. For me when my children

were little, that meant going to bed not long after they did so I

could get up a couple of hours before them and use that time to write.

5. Don’t hesitate to set boundaries with your family.

Writing time is important. You shouldn’t feel guilty setting aside

some time for it even when juggling other jobs and household

responsibilities.

6. Make sure your other hobbies are really benefiting your

mental health and happiness. Sometimes you do things out of

habit that take up a lot of time, but that if you gave them up, you

wouldn’t really miss them and you’d free up a lot of writing time.

7. Don’t wait for the perfect time to write. If you can write

a hundred words on your phone while you are in line waiting for

something, that’s one hundred more than you had before.

8. Writing is much more of a skill than a talent.

Practice, practice, practice. I wrote for ten years before I got published.

9. Your work will always be critiqued. Some of it will be

very useful. Listen to those voices.

10. Some people will dislike your writing no matter what

you do. Accept it and move on. Not every book is for every person.

I’ve had both editors and agents say they don’t like the way I write

even after I’ve published several books. So be it. There are some

very popular writers I can’t read because I don’t like their style of

writing. It doesn’t mean they are bad writers, nor am I.

Author Bio

Dee writes contemporary, science fiction and historical adventure stories for a wide range of ages. Her books have been chosen as Junior Library Guild selections, the Scholastic Book Club, and have been nominated for numerous state awards lists. In addition to books published under her own name, she also writes for the Boxcar Children series. Connect with her on twitter at @deegarretson or find out more about her books at deegarretson.com