Whimsey: A Novel on Audio, Plus a Giveaway

Note: The winner of this giveaway is Kaye K. Congratulations, Kaye and thanks to everyone who entered.
 
I’m extremely excited to welcome author Kaye Wilkinson Barley here to today to announce that her fascinating book, WHIMSEY: A NOVEL, is now available on audio.

To celebrate the event, Kaye is giving away an audio copy of her book. The story is narrated by Susanna Burney and the run length is 9 hours and 11 minutes. Please see the end of the post for the giveaway details.

WHISMEY is a novel of southern fiction with a splash of magic and a touch of fantasy, topped with a sprinkling of humor. 

The magic was already there when cigar-smoking matriarch Elizabeth Calhoun established an artist's colony on an island off the coast of Georgia and named it Whimsey. Elizabeth's ghost still drops in from time to time to make sure things are going as she planned. There's also a wicked pixie named Earlene who fancies tight-fitting designer clothes and Louboutin stilettos. 

Elizabeth's grandniece, Emma Hamilton Foley, a once-promising jewelry designer who moved away from the island, now fears her talent has deserted her. Along with her four best childhood friends, she has been invited to be a resident artist at Whimsey's new upscale gallery, Les étoiles. To join them, she'll need to regain her talent, face the demons from her past and her feelings about Eli Tatnall, whom she loved as a girl. Will moving back to the Island of Whimsey bring the magic back? 

WHIMSEY is a story of hope and affirmation, about families and best girlfriends, connections and feelings. It's about the things in life that make us happy and the things that scare us to death. And the people who walk through life with us. 

The cover of WHIMSEY is eye catching and so intriguing. I ask Kaye to tell us about how it was created and how the images relate to the story.

Kaye:
I love the cover so much. Again, this image was with me almost from the beginning. In the novel, a great deal of the story revolves around the character of Aunt Zoe. Aunt Zoe lives in a house in Whimsey that is the house many of us dream of. It's a beautiful Queen Anne Victorian style home, but not one that is the least bit intimidating. It's a welcoming, loving place where the protagonist, Emma, spent a lot of her time during her growing up years and where her friends felt free to come and go at will. Aunt Zoe's home reflected her open, generous heart and that big front porch always seemed to have enough chairs and good food to welcome everyone who happened by. 

The ghostly image you see is Great Aunt Elizabeth who is also a key figure in the story. She's being greeted by Pyewacket the cat and Fred the corgi. The little pixie you see there is Earlene. Earlene is just a mess and a bit of an imp. She has a fondness for tight fitting designing clothes and Louboutin stilettos. 

I went on line to some of the royalty free image sites and purchased a license for the images and then turned them over to a friend of mine who is a brilliant designer, Jill Harman Smith. She worked her magic and we came up with THE perfect cover. 

Mason - What can readers look forward to next from you? 

Kaye:
For the readers who enjoyed Whimsey, they can look forward to the second book about Whimsey, which I'm now working on. There are 5 women who I refer to in the book as "The Wicked Women of Whimsey." They each have a story and I hope to share them all.

Kaye, thank you so much for joining us today. It’s always fun to have you visit Thoughts in Progress. I have found so many new authors at your site. When I say WHIMSEY, I can’t help but smile.  


Now for those who may not know Kaye, let me give you a bit of background. WHIMSEY is Kaye's first novel. She lives with her husband, Don, in the North Carolina mountains along with Harley Doodle Barley, the Wonder Corgi.

You can follow news about Whimsey here. Kaye is also Blog Mistress of Meanderings and Muses. In addition, she steps in as "Oh, Kaye!" the first Sunday of every month at Jungle Red Writers.

Kaye was also a contributor to two regional Western North Carolina anthologies - - - "Clothes Lines," and "Women's Spaces Women's Places," both edited by Celia H. Miles and Nancy Dillingham. 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

This giveaway is for one audio copy of WHIMSEY: A NOVEL and the giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. only. The giveaway will be in a downloadable format that can be listened to on your computer or it can be downloaded to your iPod, iPad or mp3 player.

To enter this giveaway, just answer the question below in the comments. Be sure to include a valid email address with your comment, if one is not available in your profile.

If you wish not to be entered in the contest, just say ‘Not entering’ and then comment all you’d like. I don’t want to discourage someone from commenting just because they don’t want to enter the contest.

The deadline for entering the contest will be 8 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, March 6. The winner will be selected by Random.Org and I will notify the winner by email with the subject line ‘Thoughts in Progress Whimsey Audio.’ The winner will have 72 hours to respond to the email with their mailing information or to notify me they’ve already won the book elsewhere. If there isn’t a response in 72 hours, a new winner will be selected.

BTW if you’d like extra entries in the giveaway, tweet about the giveaway (return and share the link), share it on Facebook (return and share the link) and pin it on Pinterest (return and share the link).
 
Thanks so much for dropping by and spending a bit of time with us. Remember, answer the following question for a chance to win the audio version of WHISMEY: “Do book covers or titles grab your attention first?”