Guest Author: Gabi Stevens

Today, Literary Escapism is excited to welcome Gabi Stevens (who I’m hoping will totally forgive my clumsiness).  Gabi is the author of the brand new Time of Transition which starts with The Wish List and will be published on Tuesday (but hey, you might be able to find it now).

Kristin Montgomery is more than a little shocked when her aunts inform her they’re fairy godmothers. Worse, after dropping that bombshell they hand her a wand and head off on a world cruise. Now Kristin’s uncomplicated life as a CPA in San Diego has disappeared like magic and she not only has to deal with her burgeoning magical powers, but also a reluctant—and distractingly sexy—magical arbiter.

Tennyson Ritter is a historian. A scholar by choice, he is yanked from his studies to act as arbiter for the newly chosen fairy godmother. He doesn’t want to waste his time with a woman who doesn’t know anything about magic or the magical world, but soon the beguiling Kristin draws him away from his books and into her life.

But before Kristin can hone her skills and pass the tests necessary to fully claim her powers, she and Tennyson must work together to defend the world – both magical and human – against those that would claim her powers for their own.

Make sure you stick around to the end as we’re giving away a copy of The Wish List and a vial of fairy dust to one lucky winner.
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Finding the Magic

Sometimes life gets in the way of, well, life. You have a day job, dentist appointment, a headache, shopping to do, or dinner to make. Something. Anything that keeps you from doing what you want. Let’s face it; life isn’t all about lollipops and unicorns. We have responsibilities and things we have to do, not necessarily things we want to do. So how do we find the magic when life is getting in the way of life?

Attitude. One of my favorite sayings is “Fake it ‘til you make it.” Studies have shown that if you pretend to be happy, the actual emotion is more likely to follow. Attitude is everything. Finding the fun in a job you have to do is half the battle to make it a joy instead of a chore. Of course, finding the fun isn’t always easy. But here’s your chance to be creative. Dance while you do the dishes, sing in the grocery store (I confess I have done this. It’s especially fun if you have teenaged daughters who are mortified at your behavior.), have a laundry folding contest. My husband and I used to play crazy eights to see who had to climb out of bed and turn out the lights.

In my novel, THE WISH LIST, one of the themes I hope the reader takes from the story is to celebrate whenever you can. Kristin Montgomery, my heroine, faces many challenges in the course of the story, but she grabs her moments, even if they are just moments. I learned this lesson from my father. He was a man who worked diligently, hated no man, and knew how to play. He always kept a bottle of champagne in the fridge with a back-up case in the garage just in case. I’ll never forget the time my husband and I, driving from Illinois, arrived for a visit at 2:00 AM. After we woke my parents up, my father immediately popped open a bottle to celebrate our safe arrival. That’s right. At 2:00AM.

Magic is everywhere if you look for it. I don’t mean the take your wand out and zap yourself a hot fudge sundae. I mean the moments that are filled with laughter, satisfaction and love. The ones where you win the Monopoly game, or sing to a great song on the radio as you’re driving with the window down, or just smell the lilacs in bloom (mine should be blooming in about a week–I can’t wait.) When you make that perfect pot roast (a moment that still eludes me–I am not a cook), when you get recognized at work for just being you. Magic moments can happen at any time; you just have to recognize them. Or create them for yourself.

I hope you’ll enjoy my novel, THE WISH LIST. It has actual magic in it and a whole bunch of magic moments.

–Gabi

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Thank you Gabi for showing us how to find the magic.

Contest Time! Gabi has graciously offered to give away a copy of The Wish List and a vial of fairy dust to one lucky winner. To get your name in the drawing, all you have to do is answer a simple question: What has been going on in your life lately that could be considered magical?

As always, there’s more ways of getting your name in the hat (remember, these aren’t mandatory to enter, just extra entries):

  • +1 for each place you post about today’s contest on your blog, social network, or anywhere you can. Digg it, stumble it, twit it, share it with the world. Wherever you share it, make sure you add a link to it along with your answer.
  • +1 to any review you comment on, however, comments must be meaningful. Just give me the title of the review and I’ll be able to figure it out from there.
  • +1 Are a follower of Literary Escapism on Facebook and/or Twitter
  • +10 Purchase any any print novel through LE’s Amazon store sometime during this contest and send a copy of the receipt VIA email for your purchase to: myjaxon AT gmail DOT com. Each purchase is worth ten entries, but it has to be through the LE Amazon Link.

The contest will stay open until April 29th, at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the Research Randomizer and the List Randomizer.

I have not been contacting winners, so you will need to check back to see if you’ve won.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

20 Comments

  1. Thank you for posting this! She’s a new author to me and I’m very curious about the Wish List. This book sounds AWESOME! If this contest is international, please enter me.

    What has been going on in your life lately that could be considered magical?

    Absolutely nothing, unfortunately. There’s magic in my life everytime I can escape in my favourite books.

    +1 I tweeted http://twitter.com/hatshepsut0011/status/12640259790
    +1 I am a follower of Literary Escapism on Facebook (Giada Mariani) and Twitter ( @hatshepsut0011 )

    Thank you for this chance!

    Giada M.

    fabgiada @ gmail.com

  2. This book sounds great. I love finding new authors.

    I have a 4 month old nephew. I’d say watching him grow and how he’s starting to take more notice of what’s going on around him is pretty magical.

  3. Interesting sounding book. I will have to add it to the ever growing wish list. There are just too many good books out there to read!!!

    There really isn’t much magical going on in my life right now…and I have been having many a pity party of late. But the good news, and maybe the magic, is that the headache I’ve had for 3 weeks is finally starting to ease. A day without a headache is magical at this point.

    Thanks!
    Katie

  4. This book looks and sounds like a fabulous read. Loved reading the post too!

    Something magical? I saw a peacock on campus while headed to class on one of my hectic and stressful weeks. It was pretty amazing and a wth moment haha

  5. The fact that I have a wonderful husband and two boys that are growing into men I can be proud of, I think that’s magical enough for me. :-)

  6. The only magical thing in my life is when I read and get to escape to another world.

    +1 follower of LE on facebook

  7. Great magical moments, folks. I love looking for magic–real magic–everyday. Today, for example, I’ve been featured here at Literary Escapism. Sorry, that’s magical. Here I am in Albuquerque, and you all are reading me, well, I don’t know where, but you’re out there. And as I walked to work this morning (it is earth day, you know) I heard a bird I had never heard before, at least that I’m aware of. It was magical.
    –Gabi

  8. I have written the “zero draft” of my first novel. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is!

    +1 follow on Facebook.

  9. Magical things that happened this week….

    *My parents celebrated their 48th anniversary.
    *I saw the first hummingbird, whip-poor-will & fireflies of spring.
    *My niece learned how to do a cartwheel & backflip. She was so proud.
    *I got an unexpected bonus at work.

    Life is good. :0)

  10. Thanks for the guest blog Gabi! You are also a new author I just discovered last week thanks to your promotion of Wish List,a nd added you to MY wishlist! lol :-)

    +1 tweeted: http://twitter.com/Stella_ExLibris/status/12879381359
    +1 spread the word on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000899165880&v=wall&story_fbid=122295984450557
    +1 follow you on Facebook
    +1 follow you on Twitter (@Stella_ExLibris)
    What has been going in my life that is magical? Spring has finally arrived and every night I go home I see something utterly beautiful and mesmerizing: how the small pale pink flowers of the apple tree contrast to the drak indigo of the sky, how mysterious the full moon looks with clouds hiding part of it, etc. I notice all small beauties of nature and appreciate them :-)

  11. The magical thing going on in my life is seeing my Pregnant friends sonograms. It’s really amazing and magical how they develop.

    ?+1 Are a follower of Literary Escapism on Facebook
    +1 Twitter

  12. Well, I have had two kinds of magic recently. Falling in love with my boyfriend, like properly in love. And through that things have started to get better for me, like a weight has been lifted.

    The second kind is through a couple of book i read recently, Perfect Chemistry & Sweet Dreams Miss England by Iris Blobel. These two books reminded me to cherish who and what I have

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