Follow Fest 2014
Welcome to Follow Fest 2014! Fellow author Quanie Miller author introduced me to this annual event and I am very happy to be included.
Name: Ava Bleu
Fiction or nonfiction? Fiction
What genres do you write? Contemporary Romantic Comedy & Edgy Inspirational Romance
Are you published?
Yes, my latest novel, Glorious Sunset, was just released. It’s the story of a time-traveling king, his guardian angel and his lost love. And it’s a comedy. You can read about it here on my site.
Do you do anything in addition to writing?
I host a darn good segment on my blog (“Extraordinary Love”) where romance and inspirational authors give personal accounts of instances when love transported them from feeling like the ordinary women we all are to the extraordinary women we all aspire to be. It’s a great segment, if I do say so myself.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a single lady from Ohio with champagne tastes on a beer budget. I’m a romantic and an optimist but I can be somewhat sarcastic and a little snippy, too. I am borderline “bad/good girl” and I make no guarantees on which one you will get on any particular day. Odds go up for “good girl” if I get a healthy dose of ice cream or a nice glass of my current fave’ Bordeaux.
What are you reading right now?
I’m in night school so only texts for me for the foreseeable future ~*sniff*
Which authors influenced you the most?
Sharon Bell Mathis, Toni Morrison, Judy Blume, Rosemary Rogers, Stephen King, Alice Walker.
Where can people connect with you?
Website & Blog: http://www.avableu.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ava.bleu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AvaBleu1
Email: ava@avableu.com
Do you have a newsletter? Not only do I have a newsletter, I also give away stuff to my subscribers. ‘Cause I love ‘em. You can subscribe by submitting your information via the sidebar to the right. I send out newsletters about once every 1-2 months so, hopefully, not often enough that you get tired of hearing from me.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
I’m not the greatest with Twitter and Facebook seems to hate me, but I promise to respond to any and all questions if I can figure out how.
Melissa Maygrove
September 22, 2014 at 2:27 pmWanna know a secret?
I wouldn’t be very good on Twitter either, were it not for Hootsuite. 😉
Thanks for taking part in Follow Fest, Ava. 🙂
ava bleu
September 23, 2014 at 2:09 pm“Hootsuite” … I’m taking notes :-).
J.Q. Rose
September 22, 2014 at 4:09 pmYour “love” feature on your blog sounds like a winner. I subscribed so I can follow that too. Thanks for stopping by my blog.
ava bleu
September 23, 2014 at 2:10 pmThanks, J.Q.,
It’s actually best to click the “follow category” on one of the Extraordinary Love posts so you can get the new post when it goes live. My newsletter references the segment, but doesn’t really recap it. But I’m happy to have you as a subscriber if you’d like to stay :-).
Natasha Hanova
September 22, 2014 at 4:14 pmCongrats on your upcoming release. Did you know that UtopYA con has a time-traveler theme this year. Toni, Stephen, Alice…great choices. Nice to meet you!
ava bleu
September 23, 2014 at 2:12 pmYes, great minds… 🙂 Young Adults have options we didn’t dream of when I was that age. Lucky dogs!
C. Lee McKenzie
September 22, 2014 at 7:07 pmI’m a Tweetdeck gal. I think I’ve got it under control, but that will only be until they “update” it, then I’ll have to scramble again. Great to meet you.
ava bleu
September 23, 2014 at 2:13 pmIs it bad to admit I don’t know what a Tweetdeck gal is? But I’m glad you’ve got it under control. :-). Thanks for posting.
Peggy Ann Craig
September 22, 2014 at 10:02 pmHi Ava, nice to meet you. Looking forward to future blog entries.
Dawn
September 23, 2014 at 1:50 pmJudy Blume and Stephen King are two of my favorites as well. 🙂
ava bleu
September 24, 2014 at 9:31 amDawn, it’s nice to meet you, too. I forgot Lois Duncan (how could I forget her?).
Melissa Barker-Simpson
September 23, 2014 at 3:32 pmLoved your ‘about’ section – made me chuckle 🙂 It’s good to meet you.
ava bleu
September 24, 2014 at 9:37 amIt’s good to meet you, Melissa. Thank you for appreciating my humor. You are obviously an extraordinary woman, also :-).
Melissa Barker-Simpson
September 24, 2014 at 9:51 amLOL – is that for appreciating or understanding your humour! Seriously though, thanks for the comment 🙂
Laurel Garver
September 23, 2014 at 4:20 pmI hope my comment will actually post…WordPress in particular seems to hate me.
I really enjoy edgy inspirational–I guess my YA could be classified that way. I hear you about Twitter. It took me a good year to begin to get the hang of it. There are a few bloggers out there who give good tips that helped me a lot. Molly Greene is one I can think of at the moment.
ava bleu
September 24, 2014 at 9:40 amThanks, I thought I understood FB but my posts seem to go on my timeline and nowhere else so I had to pull back on that. I was spending a lot of time enjoying reading all the stuff there, but hours can go by without you noticing.
It’s really great young adults have so much variety and I think edgy inspirational is a good fit for young people trying to find their way. Best of luck to you with your work.
Pat Esden
September 23, 2014 at 4:39 pmI admire anyone who writes comedy. I think it’s probably the toughest genre! So nice to meet you and hang in there with Twitter. I think checking out hash tags like #FollowFest14 is a good way start feeling your way around.
ava bleu
September 24, 2014 at 9:43 amThanks, Pat, I have a natural sarcasm and amusement with life that seems to work in writing but not so well in person. I think readers and writers are just more perceptive–they get it.
I don’t know, the learning curve on Twitter is taking way longer than I expected. I’m a smart girl, I don’t get why it’s so complicated!
Dani
September 24, 2014 at 8:53 amNight school! Wow, good for you!! You book is a comedy, huh, I like comedies!
ava bleu
September 24, 2014 at 9:49 amHi Dani,
My romances all manage to be funny — I’m not sure what that says about me or my love life, but there we are. 🙂
Madeline Mora-Summonte
September 24, 2014 at 2:56 pmYeh for Judy Blume and Stephen King! And I’m not on Facebook or Twitter. 🙂
ava bleu
September 25, 2014 at 5:22 pmThank you, Madeline. I feel better :-).
Nas
September 25, 2014 at 4:37 pmIt’s wonderful to meet you. I’m so thankful for this blogfest as I loved reading all about you!
ava bleu
September 25, 2014 at 5:23 pmThank you for stopping by, Nas!
Cathrina Constantine
September 25, 2014 at 9:01 pmHello, Ava, nice to meet you!! Good Luck with your writing.
CoverGirls
September 26, 2014 at 9:00 amNice cover! Funny romances are the best! keep up the awesome work you’re doing! Inspire.
Ava Quinn
September 26, 2014 at 12:03 pmHi Ava! I’m Ava!! Nice to meet you through Follow Fest. Love your good girl/bad girl vibe, and I can’t get enough sarcasm. Hope to bump into you more around the interwebs!
Nick Wilford
September 26, 2014 at 1:53 pmYou had me at “time travelling king”. 🙂 I’d love to read that. Great to meet you through the fest!
Demetria Foster Gray
September 26, 2014 at 10:00 pmCongrats on your Glorious Sunset release. I hope you have much success. Also I, too, can be somewhat sarcastic and a little snippy, so I guess that makes me borderline good/bad girl, too. 😉
Olivia Berrier
September 29, 2014 at 5:13 am“Edgy Inspirational Romance” huh? I can honestly say I’ve never heard of that before! Sounds really cool! 🙂
Loni Townsend
September 29, 2014 at 12:15 pmAwww, I love those funny little romances. Probably because I’m incapable of writing them.
I hope night school goes well for you! Great meeting you through Follow Fest!
guinevere & libertad thomas
October 1, 2014 at 2:50 pmGreat to meet you through the hop!Love Romance!
Chris Kelworth
October 4, 2014 at 6:55 pmHey, so what’s your favorite kind of ice cream? That’s an important detail to know! 😉
Nice to meet you.
Mia Hayson
October 6, 2014 at 10:09 amI remember the first time I read Stephen King I was in awe of the way his words could punch you in the gut.
Great to meet you!
<3
Southpaw
October 7, 2014 at 11:13 amHello! Good to meet you. Sorry I’m so late.