chicago – Britt Skrabanek

Jumpstart Your Summer Reading…Nola Fran Evie is 99 cents!

That’s right, darlings! I know we’re all ready to kick this summer into high gear, so I thought a Nola Fran Evie sale was a must.

Beginning today through Friday (6/3-6/5), you can snag Nola Fran Evie on Amazon for the ridiculous bargain price of $0.99!

BUY IT NOW AT AMAZON

BUY IT NOW AT AMAZON UK

If you’re a newbie around here, you can catch up on the background/inspiration behind the story with this homemade indie video by yours truly…

If you prefer comedy, you can watch the bloopers…

If you’re the skeptical type, you can read this and other glowing reviews for my little book on Goodreads…

Working Girl Meets A League of Their Own Meets Mad Men

Not in a superficially descriptive way but quintessentially—as personality forged in the furnace of time. Nola, Fran and Evie sense their lives are dominated by fate, but who they love and how they live actually affect their era (pun intended). How we earn a living and who we sport or consort with are reflections of our culture, yet our choices also affect that culture.

From WWII to postwar boom and beyond, from the demise of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to their current vicissitudes, our title characters reinvent themselves in order to survive and thrive. Nola is our graceful, farm fresh beauty with confidence and too much common sense; Fran is the pretty but feisty tomboy contemplating whether the American dream is meant for her; and Evie is more than merely a natural blond stunner and discomfited Chicago socialite.

While their authenticity begins in the League, it matures when they accidentally meet years later. We follow their journey through the reveries of Jacks, our fortuitous guide, on the cusp of her own life altering decision. Alone in her apartment—with an “invisible” neighbor down the hall, and a diabolical cat performing acrobatics among her moving boxes—Jacks’ serendipitous discoveries in a vintage handbag offer up clues to the unconventional lives of Nola, Fran and Evie, including the men who either dominate or delight them.

It’s the particular genius of our author, to weave the perplexing with the piquant and the heartbreaking with humor, so I was absolutely never let down. The pace is exquisite. Able to richly portray cultural details combined with sexual energy and relevant social commentary, Britt Skrabanek is in top form with her newest novel. This is a thoroughly modern story with a fantastic filmic quality which lingers long after the final page is turned. You’re sure to identify with one or more of her fully drawn characters, but be prepared for immersion in something much more provocative than escapist reading.

Nola Fran Evie…The Bloopers

Over the years I’ve created several very, very low-budget online videos.

One such tradition is creating a happy dance every time I reach a followers milestone on this blog.

A few months ago I surpassed the 500 mark (woot!). I made this fancy finger dance video with the same red satin gloves worn on the cover of my first book, Beneath the Satin Gloves. The stage was a picture frame covered with a fluffy black bath towel and a lace shawl for dramatic effect.

That’s right, kiddos. I’m the Repurpose Queen.

This is the minute-long “masterpiece” you saw…

What you didn’t see…the hours of cussing that went into making that video.

Even me, a lifelong dancer, was forgetting my freaking finger choreography. Dammit!

Since I was kneeling on the floor—in my jammies, I might add—behind the frame, the chintzy stage kept collapsing. Shit!

And right when I had the perfect take, the gardeners struck up outside of my apartment with their ear-splitting background music. Dammit, shit, and some other ladylike words I won’t share.

Another tradition I slave away at are book trailers for every release. In these videos I give behind-the-scenes tidbits in the hopes that readers will connect with the inspiration of the story and take a chance on one of my books.

But I’m not talking to real humans, I’m talking face to face with my smartphone camera. Nope, it’s not easy.

I’ve been thinking about doing a bloopers reel for some time. But I always shied away from the idea for two reasons. Firstly, video editing, though I’ve learned to enjoy it, is quite time-consuming. Secondly, would anyone even think it’s funny?

Well, hell if I know! But this time I made the blooper reel anyway for NOLA FRAN EVIE.

Because nobody’s perfect, and I’m certainly not. So why not have a few laughs?

If you missed it, here’s the seemingly flawless book trailer…

And what really happened, the bloopers…

Book review – Nola Fran Evie, Britt Skrabanek

Five star reviews for my darling third novel, NOLA FRAN EVIE, started popping up on Amazon and Amazon UK over the weekend…woot!

“Rich characters, snappy dialogue, and fluid writing make this book a wonderful way to spend a few hours.”

“The characters come to life on the page and at turns, you root for each of them. Funny, moving, nostalgic and fast-paced, this is the best book Britt has written yet. Thoroughly recommended.”

A big thank you to those readers for taking the time to be awesome and review!

Today I’m stoked to share this fabulous review from blogger pal Roy McCarthy at Back on the Rock. He has been kind enough to leave sterling reviews for all three of my books so far, and I am very grateful for his support.

Be sure to swing by and read the full piece.

And, obviously, see what all the fuss is about and snatch up a copy of NOLA FRAN EVIE on Amazon for yourself. You’ll be doing a good deed for a lovable indie author, yours truly, and in return you get to be entertained for a bit. : )

Happy Sunday, loves!

Back On The Rock

I guessed Britt Skrabenek’s third book was going to be good. What I wasn’t expecting was to be taken on quite such a roller coaster. It starts a little jerkily with four main characters and three time frames but it soon gathers pace and takes the reader on a great ride.

We follow three young women playing professional baseball together in the 1940s, full of hope and joie de vivre. Nothing can stop them and they form a bond which, though soon broken, is to be re-formed later. The try-out day is portrayed with dash and humour as the ‘girlies’ are discarded and only those with toughness and talent, including the three protagonists Lippy, Toots and Farm Girl, make the grade.

But inevitably the good times end and the women go their separate ways into the real world. Life changes them. Love is won and lost. It is 1950s America…

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Thank You

Releasing a book is unsettling, and I don’t believe that ever changes. Essentially it’s delivering your heart and soul to everyone in the world—not knowing what will happen, not knowing a damn thing, actually.

Thankfully from sunup to sundown on Tuesday I was comforted by you lovelies. Some of you already bought NOLA FRAN EVIE. Some of you did that AND shared the heck out of my book in social media land.

I was truly overwhelmed by the congrats, woohoo’s, yippee’s, hooray’s, yay’s, and woo’s gracing the comment section of the release post that day. The buzz on Twitter and Facebook made me smile my tushie off.

Wow, you guys…THANK YOU.

It was brought to my attention that I was ranking awesomely on Amazon.

I didn’t believe it, because it’s just little ol’ me after all. But there NOLA FRAN EVIE was all day, kickin’ it with the top 100 of Amazon’s Bestsellers in the Sports category.

It was very neat.

Yesterday I managed to get through a long day at work with my book release hangover. My cat editing team was pretty tuckered out…

Today life is back to normal.

Now comes the time for—fingers crossed—some reviews. A new reader commented on my release post…

“For those who have read this book and enjoyed it – do the author a huge favor and please take a moment to post a review on Amazon! (no we’re not related!) Reviews mean a lot!”

Um, I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Let’s face it, we all read reviews before we purchase anything these days, right? As you all know, I am a little indie author who depends on you guys—my shining community—to spread the good word. A few minutes of your time to leave one would be magnanimously appreciated.

That brings me to NOLA FRAN EVIE on Goodreads! Click right here, loves.

For my Goodreaders out there, be a doll and make sure to add the book to your “currently-reading” or “to-read” lists when you have a sec. I wanted to share NOLA FRAN EVIE’s first bit of praise from a current reader on Goodreads…

“I’m meeting 3 distinct women that share a common past life. I’m looking forward to see which ‘girl’ I’m going to bond with. Too soon to tell. It is definitely not too soon to know how well Britt writes. I like her words a lot. Fine job Britt!!”

And if you haven’t scooped up your copy on Amazon yet, I’ll leave you with a shout-out from a dear friend of mine to see if that persuades you a bit.

“Hey! Do you like to read? Do ya like to read cool books written by rad humans?! PERFECT! My friend Britt Skrabanek wrote a book….so go buy it! Bonus, it’s only $3.99 on Amazon! That’s cheaper than Starbucks, and oh so much better. #SupportIndieAuthors”

AMAZON

AMAZON UK

Thanks a bunch, sweet friends! Hope your weeks are filled with beauty, sunshine, and awesomeness! Much love…Britt.

Nola Fran Evie is Now Available

I’m gonna be candid right now. Writing my first two books was a damn struggle.

The first, Beneath the Satin Gloves, took me three years to finish. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing and I certainly didn’t believe in myself. With the support of my husband and my own stubborn determination, I powered through until the day my shaky finger clicked the publish button.

The second, Everything’s Not Bigger, only took me six months. This book was purely written as therapy. Deep soul-searching was done during this time and though it has been less popular, writing the story was the release I needed to enter a new chapter in my life.

So, I wrote a third…NOLA FRAN EVIE.

I didn’t struggle with this one. Discovering clues from 1954 in a vintage handbag provided succinct inspiration for a story that I knew I was fated to write.

I had a flow, an unstoppable rhythm that moved me.

And most of all during this third round of self-publishing, I had all of you out there. My second year of blogging has brought so many phenomenal humans into my life. The positive spirit of the writing community continues to astound me each day.

Without my husband, my family, my friends, my bloggers, and my readers…finishing another book would never have been possible. So, thank you.

Now I must call upon my beautiful community to help me with the final stages of this project. For today I am releasing NOLA FRAN EVIE into the world.

I have poured all of my energy into this story for the last year and a half of my life. As an indie author I have no team to do my historical research or market my book to the masses.

Yet I also know that I am not alone.

You are all a part of my team. I would be forever grateful for any support you can offer with this book release in the form of reading it, sharing it, and reviewing it.

Because this is a dream I will continue to cultivate. And hey, life is something to celebrate and we can always use one more story.

Without further ado, I am beyond proud to bring you…NOLA FRAN EVIE.

They were unladylike rebels, three young women abandoning rolling pins for baseball bats to join the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. They changed history and that changed them. After the league folds in 1954 Nola, Fran, and Evie meet by chance on a popcorn-scented summer day where it all began…Wrigley Field, Chicago. They team up once again to fight for a pivotal cause these dames can only win by uniting as one.

Inside these ball players lies a fierce beauty, an unconventional destiny beyond the kitchen. Foregoing the American dream of sparkling cars and pastel suburbia, together they face up to the reality of nuclear drills and civil rights. Their story is uncovered nearly forty years later when Jacks Demonte discovers a trail of clues tucked away in a vintage handbag. The extraordinary lives of these women intersect with Demonte’s as she falls deeper into a heroic past.

BUY IT NOW AT AMAZON