Today, the adorable Brenda Janowitz is back at Traveling With T! Not only is she adorable (look at that face and hair!) but she is also GENEROUS! Thanks to Brenda, 1 lucky winner will win her 2 previous books, Scot on the Rocks and Jack With a Twist! *Note: Both books are Kindle books.

Thank you, Brenda, for stopping by again!

Brenda Janowitz: Hybrid Author

They call me a hybrid.  But, like any obsessive fan of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES would assume, I’m not actually half vampire/ half werewolf.  Although hybrids are super hot.  I wouldn’t mind sidling up to a hybrid, thank you very much.  Especially Klaus.  Wait, are you guys not watching THE VAMPIRE DIARIES?  Why on earth not?!

But I digress.

What they mean when they say I’m a hybrid is that I’m a hybrid author.

Back in 2007, Red Dress Ink (remember them?!) published my first novel, SCOT ON THE ROCKS.  The following year, they published my second novel, a follow-up to the first, JACK WITH A TWIST.  It was so thrilling—all of it.  First, to be represented by a New York City agent, and then to get a two book deal by a major New York City publishing house?  It was all just a dream.

Then, a funny thing happened.  Red Dress Ink closed its doors.  Most of the titles moved over to Harlequin’s women’s fiction imprint, MIRA, but mine did not.  Mine sort of… died.

Both books went out of print.  At the time, I was working on a lot of stuff—making babies, trying to write my third novel in the spaces between, and getting adjusted to this new life of mine out in the suburbs.  Which included lots of babies and trying to find time to write.  My agent told me that when books go out of print, it activates the reversion clause in your contract.  I’ll spare you the legal mumbo jumbo, but suffice it to say—I was able to get the rights back to my first two novels.

“What will I do with them?”  I asked my agent.  “Why do I need them?”

While I was moving out to the burbs and making babies, the publishing world had changed.  Author friends of mine were self-publishing their back lists, and my agent (and said author friends) thought I should, too.

So, my books had one life—a fancy NYC publishing house life, and then another—the gritty do-it-yourself indie life.  Sort of like a vampire.  The books may have died, but they’re back!  And they are totally going to suck your blood.

Okay, I’m kidding.  My books do not want to suck your blood.  (Although I’m sure your blood tastes delicious, I mean no offense.)  My books want to make you embarrass yourself in the subway from laughing (I’ve gotten that email from numerous readers and it makes me smile each time someone tells me that!).  They want to make you forget your problems for an afternoon (two different people read my second novel while getting chemo and told me that it helped them to keep a smile on their faces through an awful situation).  They just beg to be read on a plane, or a bus, or a beach (you could also read them on a subway, on a train, or by a lake.  I don’t discriminate.).

So, I’m a hybrid author.  I’ve re-published my first two novels myself on Amazon Kindle, and my third novel (RECIPE FOR A HAPPY LIFE) was released by St. Martin’s on July 2^nd.

In honor of my hybrid status, I’ll be giving away copies of my first two novels.  Just leave a comment below to enter to win.  And if you want to tell me your favorite VAMPIRE DIARIES character, well, that would be very cool, too.

* Want to read more about Brenda? Here is more: Interview With Brenda Janowitz, Author Spotlight: Brenda Janowitz, Recipe for a Happy Life review

**Giveaway ends August 19th at 11:59pmEST. Winner will be notified Aug 20th.