Wow! Tiger Drive‘s cover won Best Cover (mystery genre) in Kobo’s best cover awards. I’m not only excited for my amazing cover designer at 99Designs; This exposure will help fund the Tiger Drive Scholarship!
Thank you so much for being you and Happy Holidays!
Teri
photo by Jennifer Tar Heel
Grateful to Jennifer Tar Heel Reader for her review of Tiger Drive.
I found Tiger Drive to be relatable, vividly real, and written emotionally from the heart; a story of utter despair clashing with hope and faith at every turn.
You can read her full review here as well as reach her website to read all of her helpful reviews. Thanks to Jennifer, my reading list has quadrupled.
Excited to share that Tiger Drive has been nominated by Kobo for Best Cover in Mystery/Thriller. They have four categories: mystery/thriller, romance, sci-fi, and non-fiction.
Please consider voting for your favorite cover. The voting is open for one week.
Regardless, congratulations to cover designer Olya Vynnychenko.
Vitality Stories
There’s No Place Like My Hometown
Where should I even begin about my day and night in Carson City yesterday?
I returned to Carson Highschool for the first time since 1989 to speak to a creative writing class about writing and then seniors about the Tiger Drive Scholarship, my personal CHS scholarship story, and some tips on essays. The CHS team I interacted with yesterday cares deeply about their students. They are inspiring!
And then last night . . . last night!. . . I did an event with the Friends of Carson City Library, and OH MY. I am so grateful for the people who showed up: parents and siblings of friends from long ago, Tiger Drive residents an alumni, Mr. Tobey‘s family (aka Mr. Hill in Tiger Drive!!), new friends, new readers, and some who came because Karsen is my brother (happens every time). I remain humbled by the feedback many of them shared about the novel. One woman said “Tiger Drive is powerful.”
Let’s just say I was close to tears more than once, shared hugs galore, and my cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
Thanks for being you Carson City, and thank you Friends of Carson City Library and CHS for having me.
Teri
I will be at the Friends of Carson City Library on November 1, 2018, at 5:30 p.m. to do a reading, answer questions and sign books. Click here for more details.
Teri Case by Gretchen Lemay Photography
The last two months have been chaotic. Our house sold after a few days on the market. We started purging, packing, unpacking, purging again, repacking, melting down, crying, asking ourselves how we collected so much unnecessary crap, unburied treasures we thought we had lost, questioned what we should do with thousands of photos, and then asked ourselves, “Okay, where to next?”
That’s right. We sold our house before we knew where we were going. Often times when I tell someone we have no idea where we are moving, they will say, “How adventurous.”
Yes, and crazy.
Since November 2013, we’ve made the following moves:
And still, with reservations about Florida’s politics (they don’t suit us), we decided to start house hunting in Florida. I know. We are confused. I mean, we are confusing.
But after all of our moves, we are certain, finally, about a few requirements:
Although Clearwater wasn’t originally on our list, it ended up being perfect for us. We found a spacious, top floor condo with balconies and views. I can walk to stores and ride my bike to the marina. Oh, and did I mention my realtor rescues and releases tortoises and has the smartest rescue dog ever? More on that in a few weeks.
An added bonus is I will now be near two “online” friends whose friendship I have greatly appreciated. In October, I will get to meet, at long last, author Carlen Maddux. Carlen authored A Path Revealed: How Hope, Love, and Joy Found Us Deep in a Maze Called Alzheimer’s. I credit him with the idea of adding a tagline to the cover for Tiger Drive: One family. Too many secrets. Four people want to matter.
And I get to meet Dawn. Dawn was a beta reader of Tiger Drive. And get this– she read it in one day while she was getting treatment at the hospital. When her night nurse came in to give her evening pills, Dawn asked her to come back in an hour because she had to finish my book, and she wasn’t ready to sleep. I can’t wait to give her a big hug for her sacrifice.
Believe it or not, during all of this change, I managed to finish the revision of In the Doghouseand send it to the editor a week early!
So In the Doghouseis now being dog sat by the editor. Now I can concentrate on my launch and marketing efforts. If you know any dog loving bloggers or organizations that might want to support In the Doghouse, let me know (did I mention a cat is involved?). For starters, DogTV has already said they are on-board. I’m ecstatic about this one.
So what should we do now until the condo sale closes on September 27th? Obviously we should go hiking in Italy on the Cinque Terre and roam about Italy for the rest of the month.
I’ll send photos.
As for Tiger Drive, I’m just going to park this humbling message I received from my truly lovely younger sister’s client who read Tiger Drive:
What have you been up to lately? Tell me all about it.
Until next time, thanks for being you and for your support.
Teri
Tiger Drive wins Best New Fiction – 2018 American Fiction Awards.
Wow, wow, wow! Tiger Drive has won! When I opened the below email, I had to read it several times. Could this be true? Yes, it can! I’ve already called my siblings and mother.
If you’d like to read the press release, click here. The American Fiction Awards recognizes publishing in mainstream, independent, and self-publishing. Please check out the finalists in Best New Fiction. I’ll admit, their books are right up my alley:
Thank you so much for being you. It takes a village to write and publish a book. To prove it, here is a video I made that recognizes everyone in the Acknowledgments of Tiger Drive:
Thanks for being you!
Teri, Award Winning Author (Hee hee)
Vitality Stories
Want to be in the book trailer?
Dear Friend,
I’m working on the book trailer for In the Doghouse: a couple’s breakup from their dog’s point of view.
If you’d like to be in the trailer, please send me a picture of one of the following. You need to own the photo:
I’m still a starving artist so you won’t be compensated, but you will get bragging rights, and your name will be in the credits at the end. I may not be able to use everyone’s pictures, but I’m going to do my best. To send the picture, email it to me at teri@tericase.com or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter*** And please feel free to share this newsletter with friends.
Need some music to inspire you? Here is the song being used for the trailer of In the Doghouse. It’s called “Loves Gotta Look” by Zoetica. They gave me permission to use it for the trailer!
Click image to listen or click here to go to Zoetica’s site
Until next time, thanks for being you!
Teri
Not subscribed to my newsletter? Subscribe here.
*animal variety only please–nothing pervy 🙂
**co-workers or clients you care about
*** Facebook: @tericaseauthor (Teri Case_Author Page)
*** Instagram: @terilcase *** Twitter: @tericase_author
TIGER DRIVE by Teri Case
In the Doghouse cover art by Olya Vynnychenko
Photos by Gretchen Lemay Photography
Vitality Stories
Repurposing A Blue Watch
A second chance
Those of you who have read Tiger Drive will recognize the blue watch above, and you will know that the watch is a symbol of ideals, dreams, life choices, and our inability to turn back time and do things differently. And while Harry is not my dad, Harry and my father had things in common such as alcoholism and a blue watch. My dad wore his blue watch all through my childhood. My mom doesn’t know the story behind the watch, only that he already owned it when she met him while she was bartending at a VFW bar in Lakeville, Minnesota, in the 1960s. In her words, “He was always drunk at the VFW, but he sure was charming.”
In 2011, my youngest sister was going through our dad’s keepsakes box and found the watch. It no longer worked and the blue band had shriveled up and crumbled. At that time, I was writing the first draft of Tiger Drive, and when my sister called to tell me she found the watch, it felt like a sign that I was on the right track because I had already used the sentimental watch in the story. She sent it to me in 2014 as inspiration to not give up and to continue editing my novel. And I’d need it because it took me four more years to publish Tiger Drive.
And then, a month ago, I sent it back to my sister. She has become the “blue watch whisperer,” and she had identified someone else who needed the watch for inspiration: her son, Willard, was graduating from high school and preparing for college. But this time, she had the watch repaired. When the watchmaker pointed her to a display to pick a new band, smack dab in front of her was a blue band. It was a sign she was on the right track with this gift and life transition.
When my sister gave him the watch, he cried. She included this quote:
“If our watches were truly accurate the only thing they would ever say is now.” –Damien Echols, Life After Death
How do you approach or “keep” time? Or have you ever been inspired by a family keepsake? I’d love to hear more. Email me: teri@tericase.com
As always, thanks for being you!
Teri
Not subscribed to my newsletter, but want to be? Click here, please.