Wednesday, November 28, 2012

First Time by Samuel Ben White--Book Buzzin'/Book Blast

FIRST TIME: THE LEGEND OF GARISON FITCH by Samuel Ben White. This one sounds great! Today is its Book Blast day. Stay tuned for the Blog Tour starting tomorrow. For participating blogs, check the schedule, here. Stop by here on Dec 11th for an interview with the author.


"What if history didn't happen that way ... the first time?"

Garison Fitch was one of the most revered scientists in the Soviet Americas until he left fame behind to work on a secret project in his log cabin in the mountains of Marx.

But something went wrong. Instead of traveling interdimentionally, Garison has traveled through time ... twice.

Now, he's in something called "The United States of America" and a woman he's never met before is calling herself his wife. It it a hoax? Or, has he somehow changed history?

If so, can he return the world to what he believes is "normal", or must he live in this strange world he created?






Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Spinster's Folly by Marsha Ward--Book Buzzin'

SPINSTER'S FOLLY by Marsha Ward.

This one sounds really cute. Be sure to take a look. Here's where you can read an excerpt.


Marie Owen yearns for a loving husband, but Colorado Territory is long on rough characters and short on fitting suitors, so a future of spinsterhood seems more likely for her than wedded bliss.

Her best friend says cowboy Bill Henry is a likely candidate, but Marie knows her class-conscious father would not allow such a pairing. When she challenges her father to find her a suitable husband before she becomes a spinster, he arranges a match with a neighbor's son. Then Marie discovers Tom Morgan would be an unloving, abusive mate and his mother holds a grudge against the Owen family. Marie's mounting despair at the prospect of being trapped in such a dismal marriage drives her into the arms of a sweet-talking predator, landing her in unimaginable dangers. This fourth book in the Owen Family Saga is infused with potent heart and intense grit. (Taken from Marsha's website.)

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Things I Am Grateful For . . .


Since Thanksgiving is next week, (can you believe it?!) I've been thinking a lot about the things I am grateful for. I thought I'd share a few, in no particular order. :) 

  • My Savior
  • My Family
  • Home
  • Blessings
  • Trials
  • Books
  • Music
  • Kids
  • Cool Weather
  • Stars
  • Technology, most of the time
  • The ability to create
  • Freedom
  • Blankets
  • Hot Chocolate :)
  • Good Food I don't have to cook
  • Smiles
  • Laughter
  • Showers
  • Animals, when they aren't annoying me
  • Love
  • Friendship
  • My Critique Group
  • My strengths
  • My weakness
  • The ability to help others
  • The knowledge of what happens after death
And the list can go on. My prayer is that during this holiday season we don't lose sight of what's really important. It's easy to get caught up in the turkey dinner, the decorations, the presents, the stress of having company, worrying about getting writing in, worrying about having a clean house, and again . . . the list goes on. Take a moment and enjoy the little things, like cracking an egg into the garbage rather than into the bowl, that make the memories we smile at later on. As always, Happy Writing, but also a very Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for all the help, love, and support you offer me. :)

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Libera Me by Christine Fonseca--Book Review & Giveaway


LIBERA ME by Christine Fonseca.

Thanks for joining me on this stop of the LIBERA ME blog tour, hosted by SupaGirl.

This series has been up and down for me, but I have to say I enjoyed LIBERA ME. The characters are great and things aren't as easily figured out as expected. It is a great read for anyone who loves angels, demons, romance, and just a plain good read.

:) :) :) :)

What happens when everything you’ve sacrificed for is lost? 

Aydan thought Nesy’s death would be the end of him, until he meets Nessa and his hope is restored. Could she be Nesy reborn? He is certain she must be. That is, until her lack of memories and incessant nightmares begin to erode his faith.

Zane is used to trusting his mind, his wisdom and his angelic senses. But these attributes are no help with Nessa. He has no way to be certain of her identity, no way of knowing the truth. That is, unless he listens to the one thing he has refused to acknowledge throughout his existence - he feelings for Nesy.

Blind to both angel and demon, Aydan and Zane must figure out the truth behind Nesy's identity before all is lost, Azza discovers the truth and the Beast is again unleashed.

The lines between good and evil have never been so blurred.
 



As part of this stop, you can be entered in winning your very ecopy of LIBERA ME.

Entering is easy.

  • Simply, leave a comment telling me you're interested in a copy, along with a way to contact you if you win. I'd love it if you follow my blog, but that's not a requirement to enter.

For additional enteris:

  • Follow Christine's blog. Leave a comment telling me you've done it, with your contact info.
  • Like Chritine's author page. Leave a comment telling me you've done it, with your contact info.


It is in your best interest to leave SEPERATE comments, as random.org will be choosing the winner on Nov 24.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to check out a deleted scene and my interview with Christine.



More info on LIBERA ME

Availability:
Publisher: COMPASS PRESS
Buy information will not be available until October, but it will be available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other  fine retailers.

Additional Titles in the series include DIES IRAE (a Requiem Novella), LACRIMOSA (Requiem Series #1) and MEA CULPA (a Requiem Novella). 
The book trailer can be seen by linking to YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwTQoOFKEZg

About Christine Fonseca
School psychologist by day, critically acclaimed YA and nonfiction author by night, Christine Fonseca believes that writing is a great way to explore humanity. Her many titles include TRANSCEND, DIES IRAE, LACRIMOSA, MEA CULPA, and in nonfiction: 101 SUCCESS SECRETS FOR GIFTED KIDS and EMOTIONAL INTENSITY IN GIFTED STUDENTS. 
When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she can be sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. Catch her daily thoughts about writing and life on her blog.
For more information about Christine Fonseca or the series, visit her website – http://christinefonseca.com or her blog http://christinefonseca.blogspot.com

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

GPS with Benefits--Guest Post by Vanessa Morgan


Thanks for joining me today, Vanessa. It's all yours. 

Thank you for having me on your blog today. I'm truly honored to be here with all of you!


How many people do you know that make jokes about their GPS device or even talk to it?

Nearly everyone, right?

Also, GPS devices already know where you are and how fast you are driving. Who says that, in the near future, they won't be able to know you look at and what you say.

These thoughts form the basis of my new release, GPS WITH BENEFITS in which a womanizer purchases a new GPS device, not knowing that it has a mind of 'her' own.

The inspiration for GPS WITH BENEFITS came to me when I was in the car with a friend. We made jokes about the GPS device and imagined how it would be if the GPS was actually alive. I immediately knew that these ideas could be turned into a hilarious story. 

I won't reveal more, but GPS WITH BENEFITS has some twists and turns that you won't see coming and that will have you laughing out loud.


Your turn... What's the weirdest or funniest thing your GPS has ever done?

By the way, if you leave a comment on this post, you'll automatically be entered to win an Amazon Gift Card of $25.


About the author

Vanessa Morgan is known as the 'female version of Stephen King'. Her screenplays, A GOOD MAN and GPS WITH BENEFITS, are currently being turned into movies. She is also the author of the books DROWNED SORROW and THE STRANGERS OUTSIDE. If she's not working on her latest supernatural thriller, you can find her reading, watching horror movies, blogging, digging through flea markets or indulging in her unhealthy obsession to her cat. She writes in English, Dutch and French.

About her latest release, GPS WITH BENEFITS

In GPS WITH BENEFTIS, a womanizer purchases a new GPS device, not knowing it's one with a mind of 'her' own.

GPS WITH BENEFITS is available NOW at:

Amazon.com: 
Amazon.co.uk: 

Places you can cyberstalk Vanessa Morgan

Twitter @eeriestories: http://twitter.com/eeriestories 


Thursday, November 8, 2012

A Timeless Romance Anthology Winter Collection--Book Review


Published by Mirror Press.
Available at Smashwords and Amazon.

I have loved every story I have read from this anthology. It gives you a great taste for each author's style of writing, and each story makes you sit back and smile. They are fun, feel good, quick readers, that are for every romantic at heart. 

:) :) :) :) :)


Winter Collection (Description taken from Amazon)
Six Award-Winning Authors have contributed brand new stories to A Timeless Romance Anthology: Winter Collection. A collection unlike any other, readers will love this compilation of six sweet historical romance novellas, set in varying eras, yet all with one thing in common: 

Romance.

The Road to Cavan Town by Sarah M. Eden, set in 1864 Ireland, combines Eden’s sense of humor with her signature sweet romance. Alice Wheatley walks each weekend into town, accompanied by Isaac Dancy. And while Alice finds herself falling in love with the gentleman, unfortunately he has his eyes set on the belle of the town, Miss Sophia Kilchrest. Alice must find a way to turn Isaac’s eyes toward her.

Regency author Heidi Ashworth’s delightful story, It Happened Twelfth Night, set in England 1812, follows Luisa Darlington who discovers the man of her dreams, Percy Brooksby, isn’t in love with her as much as she thought he was. When Percy’s friend, the mysterious foreigner, Mr. Flynn, visits for the twelfth night holiday, he promptly sweeps Luisa off her feet, quite literally. Luisa is left catching her breath in more ways than one.

An Unexpected Proposal by Annette Lyon is a captivating romantic novella, set in remote Wood Camp, the snowy canyon of Logan, Utah, 1880. When Caroline Simpson is forced to thwart the aggressive advances of Mr. Butch Larson, she discovers that her long-time friend, James, has genuine affection for her. But as stubborn as Caroline is, she minimizes the feelings he’s awakened in her, and it takes almost losing James to admit her true feelings for him.

In Joyce DiPastena’s charming medieval story, Caroles on the Green, we enter England of 1151, in which Lady Isabel has a dilemma. She promises herself that she’ll marry the man who sent a ring hidden in her pastry since the man she truly loves, Sir Lucian de Warrene, has proved to be impossible and exasperating. To forget him, Isabel sets her eyes on other eligible men, only to face another confrontation with Lucian—who isn’t about to back off and leave her to her newest plot.

Donna Hatch’s enchanting novella, A Winter’s Knight, begins when Clarissa Fairchild’s coach just happens to break down in front of the most forbidding estate in the county, that of Wyckburg Castle, a place where young brides have been murdered for generations by their husbands. Clarissa is horrified yet curious all in the same breath. When she meets widower Christopher de Champs, Earl of Wyckburg, she must decide if she should flee or uncover the greatest secret in the county about her handsome rescuer. 

In Heather B. Moore’s exciting turn-of-the-century story, A Fortunate Exile, Lila Townsend finds herself the victim of a broken heart—broken by the most notorious bachelor in 1901 New York City. If that isn’t bad enough, her father sends her to Aunt Eugenia’s remote farm where Lila must wait for her father’s anger to subside and the gossip columns to find new fodder. When Lila meets her aunt’s boarder, Peter Weathers, she discovers a man who isn’t afraid to stand up to her formidable family and take a chance on a woman with a sullied reputation.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Thankful for Books Giveaway--GPS With Benefits (INT) by Vanessa Morgan



Welcome to this stop on the Thankful for Books Giveaway Hop, hosted by I Am A Reader Not a Writer. On my blog, thanks to the author Vanessa Morgan, you can win a copy of GPS WITH BENEFITS.

Entering is easy.

Since I'm so thankful for all of you, give leave a comment with a way to contact you if you are interested in winning a copy. Of course I'd love it if you follow me, but that's up to you. :)

Please have your enteries in by midnight, Nov 13. Random.org will choose the winner, and be sure to stop by for a wonderful guest post by Vanessa Morgan on Nov. 13. In the meantime, be sure to check out who else is joinging this blog hop. Thank you!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Libera Me by Christine Fonseca--Deleted Scene & Interview


Welcome to my stop on the LIBERA ME blog tour! I'm really excited about Christine's new book. Take a look at this deleted scene and an interview with Christine. Be sure to stay tuned for my review and your chance to win a copy of LIBERA ME on Nov. 15.



On 11/2, you were introduced to Lorelei from Lacrimosa in a new way, through a special deleted scene. You can read Part #1 of her scene here. Today, we continue that scene:

Deleted Scene – Part 2 of Hunted:

Lorelei froze for a moment before turning away from him, desperate to believe it was her imagination that spoke.
Cold hands grabbed her chin and forced her around, face-to-face with her living nightmare. “You nearly cost Aydan his life, Lori. I won’t let you do that again.”
Lorelei stared into the solid black orbs of the monster. Her eyes traveled to his jaw. Same intricate markings. Same foul stench.
            The Dark One had found her. “Did you really think you could hide from me forever?”
            Lorelei refused to break his gaze. Refused to let him see her fear. Drink from it. “I hid this long. Right under your nose.”
            He squeezed her jaw. “And for that, your death will hurt. But not yet. I need you alive. For now.”
            A wave of terror crashed in Lorelei as she wrestled with his words. She knew there was only one way for this to end.
Badly.
            “You won't win this time, Azzaziel. Not with the angels here.” She tried to sound brave. Strong. “The Sentinal has probably already killed Aydan.”
            “Don’t you mean Elle? Your sister from another life?”
            Lorelei felt herself flush with anger.
            “Ah, again you thought there was something I didn’t know. Underestimating me is a dangerous game, Seer. One that has killed most of your kind.”
            Lorelei shuddered. He was right. They had underestimated the Dark One. But it was different for her—she knew she was going to die. Knew he would torture her, give her soul to his monster, have his demons consume her.
But that didn’t mean she had to go down without a fight.
“You won’t win. Not now. Not ever.” Lorelei glared at her captor.
            “Ha! But you see, little Seer, I already have. Aydan had your sister pinned. He will kill her.” His voice filled with pride. “And now that I have you, Aydan will become the most powerful UnHoly of all.”
            Lorelei shuddered. “How?” she asked, not wanting the answer.
“Your soul. It will give him immortality. Without the need to feed. And when I mark his skin, the Sentinals will be powerless against him. Only Mikayel can touch him. And I will make sure that never happens. The days of the angels are at an end, thanks to you.”
So that was it; the reason the Seers had died. The reason her mother had killed herself. The only viable option left. Lorelei knew what she had to do.
“Now, what shall I do with you, little Seer?” Azza ran his tongue across his lips. “Maybe another visit to your past. Just to pass the time.”
Lorelei tried to steel herself against the pictures Azzaziel ripped from her thoughts. Protect herself from the pain those images would exact. Images of her sister’s death. And her mother’s. The Dark One had taken everything from her. She wasn’t about to give him her soul.
Not to feed Aydan.
“You can’t stop me, little Seer.”
Lorelei gagged on his stench—rotting flesh, ash, spoiled milk. She struggled to breathe as the visions overwhelmed her senses.
A sadistic smile curled on his lips. He inhaled her anguish. Her fear.
Lorelei swallowed the images along with her feelings, and spit in Azza’s face.
He slapped her cheek and pulled her to him, coating her breath with his. “Your insolence is going to make this so much…sweeter.”
Lorelei gagged again.

The final part of the scene will be presented on 11/13 at Nomi’s Paranormal Palace

INTERVIEW


1.      What made you decide to become a writer? I have always written down my thoughts in some manner, but I never considered writing for publication until about five years ago, when the characters insisted on being heard. Since that time I may have felt some level of frustration with the industry and my level of talent, but never with the actual idea of being a writer. It is my vocation, my passion, and I consider myself so incredibly lucky to share my stories with all of you.

2.      Who inspires you? I am inspired by all of life around me. I find the humanity fascinating (thus my venture into psychology), and draw inspiration from everything and everyone—the mundane to the sublime. If I had to pick one person who has had the most influence on my particular way of viewing the world, however, I would have to say it’s my mom. Her creativity, strength and passion is something that shaped everything about me.

3.      What would you like your readers to get out of your writing? I hope that readers are able to take a ride into some emotions they have never acknowledged before. And I hope they gain insight into some of the scarier and darker aspects of the human condition. More than anything, I hope they have a visceral reaction—good or bad.

4.      Where did this idea come from? The idea for Libera Me came from the end ofLacrimosa, when Nesy is reborn as Nessa...at least, that’s what everyone assumes. I wanted to explore what would happen if the truth of her identity was in question; what that would mean for the rest of the characters and the story itself. Libera Me was born from that exploration. Drawing on the backstories in Mea Culpa and Dies IraeLibera Me brings the entire series together. This is definitely NOT a book you want to jump into without having read Lacrimosa and Mea Culpa.

5.      Who was your favorite character to develop? In this story, I would have to say Zane. Although I had a good sense of him walking into this story, telling the story partially from his POV enabled me to get so much closer to him. I’ll tell you, I am totally Team Aydan...but this story increased my love for Zane a million times over.

6.      Any advice for aspiring authors? Never give up, be flexible, and dedicate yourself to your craft FIRST—do those things and you will see your goals, your dreams, come to fruition.

7.      What can we expect next from you? So, so much. I am releasing another short this year, as part of the Winter Wonders anthology. 2013 brings another Requiem short in Jan, Dominus (the final installment of the series) in late February, the much anticipated Girl Guide ( a self-help book for teen girls) in April, a companion novel to my YA psychological thriller, Transcend in September, and parenting book in October. As for 2014...we’ll have to wait and see ;).

8.      Where can we purchase your book? Libera Me is available in e-format and paperback through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and online booksellers. You can also purchase the paperback directly through me or my publisher, Compass Press. 

THANKS, CHRISTINE!


Saturday, November 3, 2012

What To Watch For After Your First Draft


It's amazing how quickly time and my mind goes. I thought I had this post figured out, but as I sit down to write it I'm drawing a blank. Oh well. This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Northwest Writer's Retreat in Washington. Aside from being in a beautiful location with much cooler weather than I'm used to, great company, and great classes, I've been able to do some solid writing of my own. It's been wonderful!

One of the subjects talked about by our resident writer Heather B Moore was "Life After the First Draft." It's always nice to be reminded of what we need to watch out for. This was especially useful for me right now as I'm going through yet another edit. Here are some of the things to watch out for:

  • Watch out for Dialog Tags. Make sure you have them when needed and substitute an action when you can.
  • Avoid repetition of all kinds, i.e. words, name calling, etc
  • Punctuation. Beward of too many !!!!!, know basic comma rules
  • Verbs. Check your "ly" verbs, use more accurate verbs, watch was/were
  • Pacing. Make sure your book is always moving forward, watch info dumps, are you skimming your own words?
  • Sense of Setting. Keep each chapter to make sure you know where you are within the first few paragraphs
  • Point of View. Make sure you stay consistent. No head hopping.
  • General. Have your facts straight, use spell checker, are your actions physically possible?


All of these things are great to keep in mind while writing a first draft, but that doesn't mean you should get hung up on them. Just write the story, then go through looking for these things. Keep up all the wonderful writing and Happy Editing! (If that's the stage you're in.)