We’re in the homestretch!

August 11, 2014August 11, 20149 Comments

Holy time warp, Batman – how is it week eleven already? Well, regardless, it’s my pleasure to introduce my very good friend, Sophie Tallis. I hope you’ll enjoy reading her recommendations as much as I did! 🙂

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Eleven
Sophie Tallis

I’m beginning to wonder where all the time has gone, I mean eleven weeks have already slipped by in this Summer Reads Blog Tour. Where has the summer gone?

I sure hope you’ve been enjoying the Summer Reads Blog as much as I have with meeting all these new faces and new reads. We’ve just got two more weeks left and I’ve saved the best for last. Let’s welcome Sophie Tallis and her books along with her recommended reads.

A Bristol born gal, I grew up in a sleepy village, dreaming of dragons and wild adventures. I haven’t grown up much and sincerely hope I never do. I live in the Cotswolds with my family, two enormous white wolves, two even bigger Alaskan Malamutes and a load of wild ducks who basically run the place! I was a full-time teacher, dulling young minds…ahem…I mean inspiring young children for the past 16 years and am now a librarian, a dream job being surrounded by books all day!

Although I primarily write epic fantasy…

Well, I’ve done it…

August 10, 2014August 9, 20148 Comments

I went and uploaded a portion of The Price of Mercy on Authonomy again. I’m still revising, but it would be nice to get a little feedback on the revisions I’ve made so far. If you’re so inclined, you can check it out here. If you’re a member of the site, please feel free to leave me all the constructive criticism you’ve got – I’ve decided that when I finish this round of revisions, I’m going to query again and if I don’t get anywhere with it, then I’ll self-publish, so I need all the eyes on it I can get.

Also, I spent a fair chunk of time yesterday afternoon working on a cover because I didn’t like any of the generic ones they had. I’m not sure how well it works for this book yet – I still think it might be better-suited to the second book in the series – but what do you think? What do you like/dislike about it?

Hope you’re having a marvelous weekend!

Photo Friday: Lunch

August 8, 2014August 22, 20147 Comments

Today’s theme is lunch. I had leftover pizza from Pizza Hut, and failed to take a picture of it, but I didn’t figure anyone really wanted to see two soggy slices of pepperoni pizza, anyway.

Instead, here’s a pretty picture of what I spent the rest of my lunch break doing:

Revisions. *sigh*

I relish my lunch breaks at work because I get a whole hour to myself, uninterrupted, to write or read or sleep. Because I tend to lose myself in whatever story I find myself occupied with (whether it’s mine or someone else’s), I have an alarm set on my phone so that I’m not late getting back to the daily grind. It’s not a fool-proof system – my alarm fails on occasion – but it generally works.

Don’t forget to stop by Charnele’s blog and see what she did for lunch today! Have a great weekend, everybody! 🙂

It’s cover reveal time!

August 5, 2014August 4, 20142 Comments

One of the great things about being a writer is the community. There are so many other fabulous writers out there who will cheer you on, help you out, and even lift you up when you’re feeling down. Contests and conversations abound, and I’ve met more awesome authors through the few contests I’ve entered than I could have imagined possible even a few short years ago. One of them is the lovely Maria Ann Green, whose book In the Rearview, is coming soon to a bookshelf near you. And today, I’m happy to help spread the word by sharing the cover for this intriguing new book.

The blurb:

When Meagan’s secret is found out, and she realizes there is no way to outrun her habit of cutting, she tries to work through it, and her depression, before she cuts too deep, making a mistake that can never be undone.

Meagan’s problems aren’t like every other adolescent’s no matter how much she wishes they could be. Hers are worse. They’ve pulled her down into the depths of a depression that is anything but normal. She begins her pattern of self-harm as her depression threatens to drown her. She starts with one cut that leads to the next, and the next. After starting, it’s apparent that there’s no stopping, and Meagan spirals into a dark and cruel world she doesn’t understand. Meagan cuts to feel better, but that comfort doesn’t last long enough, and soon life is worse than it ever was before.

While learning to quit cutting Meagan faces life-altering obstacles and grows up in the process. IN THE REARVIEW is a story of pain, loss, confusion, and hope told through Meagan’s poems, journal entries, and a splash of narrative.

About Maria:

Maria Green currently lives in Minnesota, despite its bitter winters, with her husband. She graduated with a degree in Psychology and a minor in English. When she isn’t writing, Maria loves to read with a cup of strong coffee or a glass of sweet wine, craft, and spend time with her family. This is her first published novel.

You can find out more about Maria by visiting her blog. Stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks, and check out Maria’s cover reveal post for some more interesting tidbits about the author!

Summer reads are here again!

July 28, 2014July 28, 2014Leave a comment

Can you believe it’s week nine already? I know I can’t! But just because we’re nine weeks in doesn’t mean that we’ve run out of great reads. Keep reading to find out which books Michel Prince recommends for your literary enjoyment this summer!

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Nine

Michel Prince

Week nine in the Summer Blogs Tour is here and I’m hoping you’ve been enjoying meeting new faces and trying new reads. It’s time to welcome Michel to my blog tour, another friend I met through Authonomy when we were all just newbies starting out. You won’t want to miss out on her reads list and her own books. Check them out – if you’re a romance junkie like me, you won’t be disappointed!

Michel Prince is an author who graduated with a bachelor degree in History and Political Science. Michel writes new adult and adult paranormal romance as well as contemporary romance.

With characters yelling…

Do you want to sneak a peek?

July 23, 2014Leave a comment

Anná
Artwork by Hazel Butler

If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I was tagged in another writing game by my friends Afe Smith and Valerie Willis. The idea for this one is to share the first sentence from the first three chapters of your current WIP. I chose to share three lines from The Price of Mercy (Book One of the Lokana Chronicles) and it’s sequel, Fog of War (Book Two of the Lokana Chronicles). As always, titles – and lines, for that matter – are subject to change because, well because I’m a writer (read: perfectionist) and I’m my own worst critic.

Chapters One, Two, and Three of The Price of Mercy start out like this:

1. Dirty tears carved grooves through the layers of grime on the poor farmer’s face as he fought and lost the battle for his dignity.

2. Vegin pulled the rough brown hood lower over his eyes as he sauntered through the dusty marketplace.

3. She ambled down the steps, lost in thought.

<!–more While Chapters One, Two, and Three…While Chapters One, Two, and Three of Fog of War start off like this:

1. Anna Martoka snuggled into the embrace of her fiancé, John Briant.

2. A month passed.

3. Anna stumbled on a tree root.

I have yet to revise (for the dozenth time) FoW, as I’m currently stuck on revisions for TPoM. But I’m up to Chapter Six now, which is huge progress, given that Chapters Five and Six did not heretofore exist. I still have a lot of work ahead of me with these books, but hopefully I’ll be able to finish revisions by the end of the year and start querying again in January (I know, I know, I’ve said that the last couple of years, but this time, I’m gonna make it happen).

And who knows? Maybe this time, I’ll catch someone’s eye…

What are you working on at the moment?

This week’s Summer Reads guest is…me!

July 21, 2014July 21, 201418 Comments

This week, it’s my turn! I hope you’ve enjoyed everyone’s recommendations so far – this has been a whole lot of fun, and I’m tickled to share my summer book picks with you. Read on to find out what they are, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post! There’s lots of awesome prizes, including a copy of my poetry collection, Tuesday Daydreams!

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Eight

Kay Kauffman

Tick tock, tick tock, it’s week eight in our Summer Reads Blog Tour and I’ve come to welcome Kay Kauffman to our madness! Kay is another lovely online friend from Authonomy who I’ve been chatting with now for a number of years. She’s fun, has a gentle spirit that I simply adore, and will be the first to gather her popcorn bucket when Sam and I start our online battles! Let’s hear it up for Kay!

As a girl, I dreamed of being swept off my feet by my one true love. At the age of 24, it finally happened…and he’s never let me forget it. A mild-mannered secretary by day and a determined word-wrangler by night, I battle the twin evils of distraction and procrastination in order to write fantastical tales of wuv…twue wuv…with a few bad haiku thrown in for good measure.

I reside in the midst of an Iowa corn field with my hopelessly devoted husband and his mighty red pen; four crazy, cute kids; and an assortment of adorable kitties, chicks, and bunnies.

My first novel…

All aboard! It’s a Voyage of Desire!

July 21, 20146 Comments

Today, I’ve got another review. This time, the book is Voyage of Desire by Natalie Kleinman. It’s a straight-up romance novel, which is not my usual read, though I’ve read a few here and there. I wanted something light and fluffy this time around, and here ’tis:

What do you do when you discover your boyfriend of two years is married to someone else!

Beth Walker seeks to escape her heartbreak by taking temporary work on a cruise ship. Instead, on the very first day she meets Ryan Donovan and is drawn to him by his soft Irish lilt and mischievous eyes. Her plan to forswear men recedes like the waves at the stern of the ship…but it isn’t quite that simple. There are many obstacles that stand in the way of her happiness – and then she learns she is pregnant.

It seems her problems may only just be beginning. Antagonism between Beth and Ryan abounds and there are misunderstandings aplenty. Can these two warring factions find a happy ever after? Find out what happens in Voyage of Desire.

In my opinion…

Let’s review, shall we?

July 17, 20143 Comments

Back in May, if you’ll recall, I hosted author RJ Blain for a stop on her blog tour promoting the release of her latest book, Inquisitor. Today, I’ve got a review for you!

I know, I’m a bit of a slow reader. Life keeps happening.

Anyway, in case you don’t recall (or in case you missed it), here’s the blurb:

When Allison is asked to play Cinderella-turned-Fiancée at a Halloween ball, the last thing she expected was to be accused of murder on the same night. She has to find the killer and quick, or she’ll be put to death for the crimes she didn’t commit. To make matters worse, the victims are all werewolves.

On the short list of potential victims, Allison has to act fast, or the killer will have one more body to add to his little black book of corpses.

There’s only one problem: One of the deaths has struck too close to home, and Allison’s desire for self-preservation may very well transform into a quest for vengeance…

This is not the sort of novel I normally read.