Thursday, March 31, 2016

M is for Morgan Mandel

Debra wouldn't be where she's at now without her best writing buddy.

I met Morgan at my local RWA chapter meetings. We joined right around the same time and became buddies. For a long while, we carpooled to meetings. Now, since I don't often attend, we keep in touch through e-mail and the occasional lunch or conference.

Morgan published her first book with a small press. After a couple of rejections from 'major' publishers, I decided I needed to do something else if I was really serious about being a published author. I asked Morgan about her publisher. She mentioned she wasn't too happy with them at the moment, but said she'd heard of another small press that was actively acquiring: The Wild Rose Press.


The rest, as they say, is history. I published my first book with them in 2008 and will have four releases with TWRP this year. To say she steered me in the right direction is an understatement.

Since leaving her original small publisher, Morgan has kept writing, opting to enter the world of self-publishing. I give her MAJOR kudos for doing this. I admire anyone who steps up to this challenge: to not only write a book, but take on the over-whelming task of publishing a quality product as well. She's done an amazing job from start to finish and everything in between: writing, editing, creating covers, publicity, etc. I've had the honor of being her beta reader on her last two books, which means I get a sneak peek at her stories before the rest of the world. Being RWA chapter mates, I've also had the privilege of hearing many of her books as first chapters during critique sessions.

Morgan writes in a variety of genres (sweet romance, thriller, suspense) and a variety of lengths from novels to novellas and her back list is extensive and well-rounded.

Her Deerview series is sweet and poignant and includes the titles Christmas Carol and Hailey's Chance: Will Baby Make 3? (so far...I hope there are more to come) and her cute, romantic comedy set provides us with Her Handyman and A Perfect Angel. She offers her collection of short stories from her Forever Young trilogy as a complete anthology and as separate novellas as well. Her debut novel Two Wrongs is a mystery set in Chicago. In addition, she has a stand-alone romantic comedy called Girl of My Dreams and a romantic suspense called Killer Career.

I love her tag line: MORGAN MANDEL - FOR DIVERSITY AND VERSATILITY which is the perfect way to brand herself as the author of multiple genres. She has something for just about every taste.

To find out more about Morgan and her books, pop on over and visit her web-site. http://www.morganmandel.com/

I'm proud to call her a fellow author. And proud to call her a friend.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com


23 comments:

  1. The best thing about being a romance writer is the friendships and support we get at every stage. Love this!

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  2. I know her from social media and she's so supportive of writers!

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  3. How good it is to have friends like this. Where would we be without them?

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  4. Debra, What a wonderful surprise! I had no idea you were doing this. Thanks a bunch. I'm humbled by all of the high praise, and just want to say your beta reading has helped immensely to get my books polished so they can be all they should be.

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    1. You're welcome! I couldn't let M pass by without a shout out to you! :)

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  5. How lovely to see such a fine tribute to my friend, Morgan Mandel! You are such a good friend to her, Debra! Blessings and sales to you both.

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  6. Morgan is a delight--and she writes well, too!

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  7. What a lovely tribute to a deserving author. I learned more about Morgan--well done.

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    1. Glad you learned more about my buddy...

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    2. Thanks, Celia. Yes, Debra does know a lot about me, since we've known each other a long time, and have been through lots of writing adventures.

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  8. Morgan, you rock. May I add that Morgan Mandel helps promote so many authors through her special Facebook group pages.

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    1. She's super supportive of other authors. She got me started in the blogging 'business' too!

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    2. Nowadays, I wish I could keep up with blogging as much as I used to. Right now, I'm trying to finish two books which have been put on the back burner way too long!

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  9. I've been gone all day, just saw this and wanted to pop over. Debra, this is a wonderful post about Morgan. I've known her quite a while, but not was well as you. Still, I can attest to many of these attributes--her supportiveness, especially, of other authors--which means the world in this business!

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