THE SERENDIPITY OF CATASTROPHE Lisa Fellinger

THE SERENDIPITY OF CATASTROPHE

Lisa Fellinger

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GENRE:  Women's Fiction 

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BLURB: 

A mother defeated by anxiety. A daughter determined not to become her mother. Can one month in Europe reunite them? 

Anita Lorello is paralyzed by grief. When her husband dies in an accident the night before a long-awaited retirement trip, she’s devastated by the loss of her partner and once again shelves her dream to finally visit Europe. But when her estranged daughter agrees to accompany her nearly a year later, Anita is eager for the opportunity to repair their relationship. 

Carrie Lorello’s life is crumbling. After a night of clouded judgment ends in her being fired, her mother’s offer of a one-month paid vacation seems like her best option. But she refuses to get caught up in her mother’s irrational worries and critical comments, and under no circumstances is she to learn what a failure Carrie’s proven to be. 

Desperate not to lose her daughter again, Anita fights to conquer her anxiety and become the mother Carrie always wanted. But as Carrie’s life grows more and more complicated, her mother is the last person she wants to confide in. 

Without anyone else to hold them together, can Anita and Carrie overcome their differences, or will the secrets between them derail their trip and destroy their relationship for good? 

The Serendipity of Catastrophe is an emotionally compelling work of women’s fiction. If you enjoy travel stories, complex mother-daughter relationships, and lovably flawed characters, you’ll love this hopeful story of resilience and second chances. 

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EXCERPT

They ultimately decided on Paris as their first of many adventures, but before they put down a deposit with the travel agent, Anita learned she was pregnant once again. Instead of planning visits to Notre Dame and the Louvre, her focus turned back to baby strollers and car seats, onesies and sleep training theory. Paris would always be there. 

But all these years later, Anita barely knew that daughter. With Victor gone, her link to Carrie disappeared. Her phone calls home were infrequent and short, and she never shared anything about her life other than the most basic facts. Anita hadn’t pressed her for more, desperate not to widen the fissures in their relationship further, yet perhaps she’d inadvertently done just that. 

As much as the thought of never seeing Europe devastated Anita, the thought of losing her daughter completely crushed her heart. A month together in Europe was likely Carrie’s worst nightmare, but if by some miracle her daughter agreed to the trip, she couldn’t think of a better opportunity to improve their relationship, to prove she could be the mother she’d always intended to be. 

She rose and went back into the kitchen for the phone, the London travel guide still in hand. Meredith was right. Worst-case scenario, Carrie would say no. In fact, it was almost guaranteed she would. 

Anita drew a deep breath, trying to keep her hope in check. She punched in Carrie’s cell phone number and prepared for her daughter to turn her down.

 But what if she said yes?

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My Journey To Indie Publishing 

Since I was in elementary school, I dreamed of being a published author. I still remember sitting in my bedroom with a hardcover copy of Little House on the Prairie and telling myself that one day I’d write a book just like Laura Ingalls did. I dreamed of the day my name was on the New York Times’ Bestseller List. I dreamed of never having to work a “real” job and being able to write all day. 

But writing a novel doesn’t pay bills, so I decided to pursue a degree in mental health counseling. While I worked through college and graduate school, my writing sat on the backburner. After graduating, I got back to my writing. I found some writing communities, attended workshops, read craft books, and worked hard at becoming a better writer. 

In 2015, I started The Serendipity of Catastrophe as my NaNoWriMo project. After completing a very lean first draft, I set it aside for a bit to work on a previous project. A little while later, I came back and dug into revisions. I lost count of how many rounds of revision this story went through, but I ran it through workshops, got feedback from critique partners, and finally began querying it to agents. After three agents requested the full manuscript but ultimately passed, I stopped querying and hired a developmental editor whose feedback was incredibly helpful in making this story even stronger. After working through revisions once more, I returned to querying, although in the back of my mind, I was beginning to think more and more about indie publishing. Since I wasn’t ready to make a decision either way, I continued querying while weighing the pros and cons of indie publishing. 

Ultimately, I realized fear was holding me back from following through with indie publishing. Publishing has changed significantly since my elementary school days dreaming of a publishing deal. Thanks to print on demand and access to amazing freelance editors and cover designers, an indie author has all the resources they need to create a book that’s just as high of quality as one a traditional publisher might produce. And at the end of the day, marketing of my book was largely going to fall to me whether I went with a traditional publisher or published myself. Indie publishing would allow me to keep full creative control over my book without being forced to settle for a title or cover I didn’t absolutely love or potentially make changes to my story that didn’t resonate with me. All that was holding me back was fear of the unknown, fear of what would happen if I put my work out there and it wasn’t well received. Deep down, I was looking for an agent and a publisher to tell me my work was “good enough.” But if I didn’t believe my writing was good enough, no amount of external validation would change that. So I took a deep breath and hired some amazing professionals to help me turn this manuscript into a book. 

In the end, I’m so thankful I made the decision to indie publish this novel. It feels amazing to finally have this story out in the world for others to enjoy and, hopefully, be inspired by. It’s exactly the story I envisioned and one I’m incredibly proud of. Now it’s time to finish the next one!

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Lisa Fellinger writes contemporary women's fiction with lovably flawed, relatable characters. When she's not writing her own stories, she's helping others achieve their writing dreams as a book coach and developmental editor. She lives in Buffalo, New York with her husband, son, and fur babies. 

Website:  BuyLink: Facebook: 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE 

Lisa Fellinger will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway