Monday 31 December 2012

Author Interview – Richard Stephenson

 

Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? It taught me that having a successful book involves much, much more than simply writing it.

Do you intend to make writing a career? As long as I’ve got ideas in my head that I can put on paper I’ll keep writing.

Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? Nope.  I take a lot of notes and flesh out the chapters before I even start writing.  Once I do, I have the opposite of writer’s block – I can’t get the words on the page fast enough.

Can you share a little of your current work with us? “Resistance” is book two in the New America series.  It picks up eighteen months after “Collapse.

Who designed the cover? Laura LaRoche at www.llpix.com

How do you promote this book? Every way I could think of.  I created a blog that gets 800 to 1,000 views a day.  Two twitter accounts with a combined following of over 18K.  Facebook ads, ads with Kindle Nation Daily, cross promotion with other indies, and paid ads on a lot of sites.  The most effective advertising I did was releasing a sneak peek of the first seven chapters of “Collapse” months before the release.  The sneak peek raised a lot of interest and on my first day on Amazon, my book managed to sneak on to the top 100 list for one of its categories.

Will you write others in this same genre? Writing a four book series, working on book two right now.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? Civilization is fragile.

Have you included a lot of your life experiences, even friends, in the plot? All three of the main characters are facets of my own personality.  My law enforcement career gave me a lot of material to use as well.

How important do you think villains are in a story? Extremely.  The good guys can’t shine without villians.

Can we expect any more books from you in the future? Absolutely.  Three more left in the “New America” series.

Have you started another book yet? I’m eleven chapters into book two.

What are some of the best tools available today for writers, especially those just starting out? Google, without a doubt.  I can’t imagine what authors did before the Internet.  The amount of research I did would have taken me a couple of years without the internet.  It is also very handy to have the cloud and to be able to immediately pick up writing on a different device.

Do you have any advice for writers? Don’t quit your day job.  If writing isn’t your passion and truly something you love, you will be disappointed when it doesn’t pay the bills.  Write because you love telling a good story.

What do you do to unwind and relax? Video games and movies.

Buy now @ Amazon

Genre – Dystopian

Rating – R

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Connect with Richard Stephenson on Facebook & Twitter

Blog http://rastephensonauthor.blogspot.com/

Sunday 30 December 2012

Author Interview – Bryan K Johnson

What was your inspireration for writing Yield? I was on a plane from San Francisco to Bend for a job interview over six years ago, and the fog was so thick over the bay that it completely blotted out the sky. As we took off above the cloud bank, everything just disappeared beneath me. Mankind and all our worries seemed to fade into the grey. I wondered what would happen if the world changed at that very moment. What if the life I knew didn’t exist when I landed? What if my world died somewhere under those clouds?

That experience started my entire thought process, and even turned into one of my favorite scenes in Yield. As the main character, disgraced fire-fighter Devin Bane, takes off on the way towards his own interview, everything he knows changes while he’s in the air. Devin crashes headfirst into a chaos he doesn’t understand, fighting not only to get back to his wife and kids, but also to protect the other survivors now looking to him for a leadership he wants no part of.

Was it easy to imagine an apocalyptical world? Pieces of it were. I’m a very visual person. I love drawing, painting, and have twelve-plus years of experience inside the television industry directing and producing. That visual sense I think translates into my writing. I’m able to see the details of my scenes and characters very clearly, even a chaotic and apocalyptic world like Yield‘s. I try to set up each chapter and scene for my readers as a director would, with establishing shots, cutaways, and intense action sequences. That creative background gets channelled when I write in sometimes very interesting ways.

Below is a digital sketch I did on my iPod of the devastated Seattle horizon. I also sketched out some of Yield‘s main characters before writing, which helped me get a better feel for them. You can check all of those out at: http://www.armageddia.com/Artwork.html

While you were writing, did you ever find yourself stuck? I think everyone gets stuck from time to time. Some days the words are flowing and it’s all I can do to keep up with them. Other days, they can’t be beaten out of me with a sledge hammer. If I’m stumped, I’ll jump to a different part of the story or take a step back and try to look from a more macro perspective. Is it a local issue or is there a broader plot, character, or flow problem that needs addressing? Looking a page or two ahead of where I’m blocked and working down from there I also find helpful because it reorients me back to the broader story and helps to show the problem area in context.

Did you use any real situation or real fact as a guide in your book? I integrated some contemporary news headlines into the narrative to give it a greater sense of relevance and realism. Aside from that, I really wanted to take the story down a very personal and dramatic road—one that was uniquely gripping and terrifyingly real. Everything is just a step or two past where we are now. I love science fiction and fantasy, but didn’t want Yield to have that fantastical and unbelievable quality to it. I wanted the story to feel horrifyingly possible in every way.

What would you do if you have to face a situation like the one in your book? That’s a great question! I honestly don’t know. No one really can until they’re thrown into such a life-threatening and chaotic scenario. We’d all like to think that we would be the heroic ones, helping others and holding fast to our morals. One of the most honest and interesting aspects of Yield I feel is the struggle of internal demons and doubt inside all of the story’s characters. Heroism comes at a cost, either to yourself or those you care about. Yield‘s very flawed and sometimes unwilling protagonist, Devin Bane, runs up against that time and time again, trying to come to grips with his own instincts to protect and care for those around him, but also knowing that his own family may be suffering and in desperate need miles away. That is such a difficult choice to make, but a very real one with irreversible implications either way.

It took six years for Yield to be released, what were your feelings during that long process? Did you ever think about giving up? Six years is a long time, and I honestly did think about giving up a few times along the way. I thought the concept made for a very visual type of story, so I initially fleshed out Yield in a screenplay format. That alone took me a couple of years because I was working on it after long days at work and time with my family. Putting it together as a screenplay actually helped me quite a bit while writing to better visualize the scenes, structure the story, and tighten up my dialogue. But screenplays have to be so concise and heavily formatted that it really limited the emotion of the story. I received a lot of feedback from prospective agents and production companies that the screenplay was overwritten and just too literary. So I took a deep breath and jumped in with both feet to expand Yield out into a novel. It took a few more years, but was extremely liberating to be able to flesh out how my characters felt and thought—how the fear inside them was palpable and crippling. It allowed me to explore my own style of writing and create a much deeper story.

Because of that multi-formatted process and my own inexperience as a novelist, it took four times as long to finish the story as it probably should have. Every time I read it I also found different things I just had to rework. I would change my changes, then change them back. I was absolutely bipolar at times. I’m a perfectionist, so I was never completely satisfied. Eventually I just had to push it all away and say the book was done—for my own sanity, if nothing else. Then, of course after I read the printed ARC, I had 80+ more changes for my publisher!

Looking back, though, editing is really where my story and writing found its voice. I am grateful now for the extra time I spent on Yield. As a new writer, it can be intimidating because it sometimes feels like the story will never truly be done. But after six years, I’m proof that with a little determination and tenacity, that cover can finally be closed.

Did you know from the start that you wanted to write a series? From page one, I knew that the Armageddon story would stretch across at least three parts. To do it right, I knew it had to depict the epic journey and transformation of not only the characters, but also our country and world. There was just no way the story could fit into a single instalment. Books two and three of the Armageddon Series should be released in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

You are already working on the sequel. How is that going? I love the direction book two of the Armageddon Series is going. I feel like I learned a lot while writing Yield, and that’s helped my process on book two tremendously. The follow-up to Yield explores a darkening world, one filled with revenge, retribution, and a desperate struggle to find hope within the chaos. Book one saw a cataclysmic shift away from everything we’ve ever known. It was very sudden and immediate in the lives of the characters. Book two of the Armageddon Series takes place a year later, and is more about the sustained struggle to survive—and how the characters have changed in very different ways to do just that.

What would you say to those who want to read Yield? At its core, I would say that Yield is a journey of self-destruction and redemption. When our country’s entire infrastructure is crippled by a brutal attack, the survivors are thrown into an unthinkable world full of chaos and anarchy. We’re thrust right into the middle of that madness with the characters, without understanding what happened or why.

Yield is a story about that shift between the life we know and the very dark world that emerges from the ashes. If everything you knew suddenly changed in a flash of hatred and violence, how would you react? What would you be capable of to protect the ones you love? Yield‘s characters come face to face with those extremes of humanity, trying to overcome their own savagery and demons while fighting to survive.

Buy now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG13

More details about the book

Connect with Bryan K Johnson on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.armageddia.com/

Author Interview – Frank Nappi

If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose? In no set order…F. Scott Fitzgerald, Babe Ruth, Marilyn Monroe, Malcolm X, and Jimmy Stewart. One stipulation…I get to sit next to Marilyn.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? There is a small, old fashioned fifties diner/ice cream shop near my house. They make a flavor there called Smores. It is the perfect amalgam of graham cracker pieces, chocolate and marshmallow. And, with hot fudge on the side (cannot run the risk of having it melt the ice cream due to milk phobia) there is nothing better.

One food you would never eat? I am milk phobic. It’s a long story, but it involves a rather tepid container of expired milk and a tyrannical first grade teacher. Enough said.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book. It will change the way you look at yourself and your place in the world.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? Well, after completing Nobody Has to Know, I began working on the final installment of my Mickey Tussler series. The book is called Welcome to the Show. I have also begun playing with an idea for a second thriller but that is still very much in its incipient stages.

What inspired you to want to become a writer? I have always had this propensity to write – a love for the written word that to the best of my recollection is ineffable. I really believe it is in my DNA.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published. I am pleased to say that there have been quite a few. Having one of your novels adapted for a film is pretty exhilarating. The movie A Mile in His Shoes, starring Dean Cain, is the adaptation of my book The Legend of Mickey Tussler. That was an incredible experience. So is having something you have written endorsed by literary giant Nelson DeMille. DeMille recently endorsed my first thriller Nobody Has to Know, calling it “masterfully written.” However, my most rewarding experience is far less extrinsic. About a year after Echoes from the Infantry was published by St. Martin’s Press, I received an email from a man in Tennessee. His letter was not so much one of admiration for my writing as it was a confession of sorts. It seems that this gentleman grew up with a WWII veteran for a father — a man who resembled very much my James McCleary. His relationship with his father was fractious and strained in ways similar to what I described in the book. However, his father passed away before he ever had the chance to reconcile some of these feelings that existed between the two of them. Even though this gentleman from Tennessee knew my story was fiction, he was able to gain insight into his father’s mien and temperament and used the book’s ending as a vehicle through which he could finally obtain closure and move on. He told me that my novel saved his life. I’m not sure that I will ever receive another letter that will mean more to me than this one.

What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors? I would offer the same advice that Scott Turow gave to me. Just keep writing. This is a very difficult business. It is easy to become cynical and jaded in the wake of all the rejection and disappointment you face. But if you have talent and really want to write, you must persevere. Refuse to take no for an answer. I believe that many a brilliant writing career has ended way too early because the author just gave up. Writing professionally is not for the faint of heart. It is fraught with all sorts of pitfalls and obstacles. But the challenge is what makes it so exhilarating. If it were easy, everyone would do it.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? San Diego. I am very much an outdoors person and would acclimate very well to the temperate climate in San Diego. Love the zoo too!!!

What is your favorite Quote? I have many favorites, but of late, the Japanese proverb “Fall down seven times, get up eight” has become somewhat of a mantra of mine. Dealing with the vicissitudes of life can be challenging at times and all we really have as our defense is an undaunted spirit.

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Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG13

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Connect with Frank Nappi on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.franknappi.com/

Orangeberry Social Butterfly – L.V.Lewis – Author Interview

Tell us a bit about your family. I’m married to an awesome man who’s put up with me for a long time. I’m a parent of four children. We live as simple a life as possible in a two-career (well, three if you count my writing now) home. We all like books, movies, and sports.
What is your favorite quality about yourself? I am meticulous and have a desire to put forth my best in all things. I may not always succeed but what I produce comes from a pure place.
What is your least favorite quality about yourself? I’m somewhat impatient. I want things to happen yesterday in regard to most things, especially my writing. I feel like I’ve wasted so many years I could’ve been putting pen to paper, or hands to keyboard, that I’ve squandered so much valuable writing time.
What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why? My favorite quote right now is one by Octavia Butler: “People have the right to call themselves whatever they like. That doesn’t bother me. It’s other people doing the calling that bothers me.”
I suppose it’s my favorite now because of the controversy surrounding my book when it was first released. I was pretty much told by someone not of my ethnicity that I didn’t have the right to call myself or my characters, what I wanted to. Nothing spurs me to action more than when I’m told I can’t do something.
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life? Outside of motherhood, I’d have to say, self-publishing. I could have taken a few years to try the traditional route, but (see the question about my least favorite quality about myself) I’m impatient. I didn’t want to sit around waiting for query letters to be answered, and then wait more until an agent got me a book deal. I wish I hadn’t waited as long as I did to self-publish.
What is your favorite color? Green (see my book cover?)
What is your favorite food?  Steak (I know, this is not a politically correct answer).
What’s your favorite place in the entire world? New York City. I see it as a mecca of culture unrivaled by any other place I’ve ever been.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing? My father was adamant that education was a priority, despite financial and social hindrances that didn’t allow him to receive a good one. I’m so glad I heeded his encouragement and got a good foundation in the basics. I grew up in the immediate post-civil rights south and I believe this has influenced my writing more than anything. As strides have been made in equality for all Americans, I still see areas that require improvement, even with a bi-racial US President.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated? My interest in writing originated, I’m sure, much like many authors’ interests have: through reading. I read many books as a child, totally immersing myself in the worlds built by wonderful authors I still enjoy. I was a rabid fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her Little House on The Prairie books, as well as, Little Women and Little Men, The Borrowers, The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and even the classics, Shakespeare, Bronte, Dumas, Dickens, and the like. I wanted to write like these wonderful writers.
When and why did you begin writing? I began writing when I was a pre-teen. My family life wasn’t the best during this time, and I used it as a way to escape some of the more unpleasant aspects of my life. I even dabbled a bit in college; however, I wasn’t sure a career in writing would pay the bills, so I majored in something entirely different.
How long have you been writing? I’ve been writing again seriously for the past five years. I’d set it aside after college when marriage, life and the birth of my first child happened.
When did you first know you could be a writer? I first knew I could be a writer when one of my college professors complimented something I’d written and encouraged me to take some creative writing classes. Unfortunately, I didn’t take her advice because my major was difficult and very time consuming.
What inspires you to write and why? I’ve found that extreme emotion inspires me to write often times. If I’m inordinately happy, or inordinately sad, I pull from those emotions and experience no blocks. I believe it has to do with my desire for catharsis. When I write under neither of those circumstances (for instance when I wrote Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever) inspiration comes as hard labor. I have to push myself and I spend many non-productive hours staring at my computer screen.
What genre are you most comfortable writing? I am a romance junkie, so I’d have to say I’m most comfortable writing mainstream romance. Delving into the more risqué was quite a challenge for me.
What inspired you to write your first book? If this question is in regard to my published book, Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever, I’d have to say, E. L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey inspired me, unequivocally.
Who or what influenced your writing once you began? There is a growing genre of interracial romance novels and a very large audience of readers who love it. I’ve been embraced by this community of readers and writers and I now have an audience that I can cater to. This informs largely what I will do next.
Who or what influenced your writing over the years? So many authors and so many life experiences have influenced my writing I really don’t know where to begin.
What made you want to be a writer? I’ve always loved to read, so it was a natural progression for me to want to write my own stories, particularly due to the dearth of African American books and writing published in the mainstream genres since the Harlem Renaissance, until Toni Morrison penned “Waiting To Exhale.” I think it was then the publishing world took notice that African Americans will read the books of African American authors in great numbers. I’ve always wanted my name to be added among their number.
What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? The most challenging to me is the sheer volume of craft you have to study and absorb to write well. I am not there yet. I have a lot more dues to pay.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? Writing this book taught me that no matter how hard you try to write in a way to appease the masses, there will always be someone who is offended by what you do. In writing this book, I naively approached it like a comedy spoof in some respects. I figured, Saturday Night Live, MadTV, Tosh.0 can poke fun at things and they have a massive following, so surely this parody of Fifty Shades of Grey from an ethnic POV won’t offend anyone, least of all, non-minorities. Boy was I wrong!
I expected reviews that touched on my writing itself, on the mechanics of it, and my adherence to the plot, and the like, but my first “reviews” on GoodReads were people calling into question my audacity to write this book at all. I call it blind censorship. They were judging it unread by the subject matter alone. Mind you, some of it was hate for Fifty Shades of Grey, but some labeled me racist and misogynist right out of the gate.
Then I had people who asked for ARCs and entered the Giveaways only to pan the book because they didn’t get the wry ethnic humor, or were grossly offended by it. I had to begin my next Giveaway with the disclaimer: If you are offended by ethnic humor, please don’t read this book!
Do you intend to make writing a career? This is a second career for me. I’ll do it as long as people enjoy what I write and I enjoy producing stories.
Have you developed a specific writing style? I can’t say that I have. I hope to, eventually. I realize that erotic romance is in a boom right now, so this series of books may be a one-off. As I grow and write in the mainstream romance or women’s literature genres, I hope I develop a unique literary signature.
What is your greatest strength as a writer? I’ve been told that my dialogue is a strength, so I’ll go with that.
Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? I experience tiny bouts of writer’s block all the time. I write through it if I can, knowing that in the end, I’ll have a pre-reader or editor tell me it doesn’t work, then I can re-write. If the block is intense, I usually try to break through it by going to another project, because I figure, just because I’m blocked on one project, doesn’t mean I’m blocked in all of them. This usually works for me.
Can you share a little of your current work with us? I’m deep in the throes of writing the follow up to Fifty Shades of Jungle Fever, Volume 2, which will tie up Keisha and Tristan’s stories in the Quadrilogy. This second book, as yet unnamed, will deal with the immediate repercussions of Keisha safewording to opt out of the D/s relationship entirely, how she and Tristan will reconcile, and the new conflict that threatens to sabotage their relationship for good. What I hope for in the second book is a departure from mirroring some of the situations in Fifty Shades of Grey to developing Keisha and Tristan’s own unique world.
The final two will be Jada and Nathan’s stories, and will be even less like the Fifty Shades saga. Jada had a much different upbringing than Keisha. Her family has always been upwardly mobile, but even her family has its skeletons in the closet. As she enters Nathan’s world of professional sports, she is thrust into a situation that plays out similar to “Basketball Wives.” However, Jada, an even stronger personality than Keisha, will eventually learn to handle it, just as she embraced her Domme nature when it was a brave new world.
How did you come up with the title? I wanted a title that let people know this was a parody of Fifty Shades of Grey, but would also clue them in as to how this might be different than Fifty Shades of Grey. I remembered a movie from back in the day called “Jungle Fever” and Stevie Wonder’s song of the same title. I also remembered the connotations of this term in the African American community, so when I was brainstorming for a title, it quickly became the frontrunner.
Can you tell us about your main character? My main female protagonist, Keisha Beale is a sassy two years post-college girl from south Chicago. She is straight-forward and like her mother doesn’t mince words. Usually, she says exactly what’s on her mind unless it’s something she hasn’t quite come to terms with herself. She’s of African American and Brazilian descent and is a musician first and foremost. Her dream has always been to have a successful business that combines what she loves with making a living.
My main male protagonist, Tristan White, is the thirty-two year old billionaire CEO of White Enterprises who comes from a long line of wealth and lives life as a “One-Percenter” on the Gold Coast of Chicago. He was born into a life of privilege, and is accustomed to controlling every aspect of his life. Tristan White isn’t fifty shades of fucked up like Christian Grey, but he does have some issues in his past that have largely shaped who he is at present. In this story, Keisha is the one with the past that affects their relationship.
How did you develop your plot and characters? I thought about making them as much opposite of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele as I could, then I built the plot based on the social mores that separated Tristan and Keisha. Then I built in the conflict that made this gulf between their two worlds bigger. Despite Keisha’s misgivings, she really isn’t very different from Tristan. The only thing that really separates them is the logistics of the families in which they were born. They are both well-educated, but come from polar opposite sides of the track, if you will. I wanted that to be the intrinsic conflict, and then threw BDSM into the mix. Knowing where I wanted to go with it, I drafted a crude outline and just went with it.
Who designed the cover? I collaborated with my friend, L. T., who manipulated a kente cloth tie on a white business shirt to rival the indelible gray patterned tie on the cover of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Buy now @ Amazon
Genre – Contemporary Erotic Romance
Rating – R
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Connect with LV Lewis on Facebook & Twitter

Saturday 29 December 2012

Book Blast - Never Give in to Fear by Marti MacGibbon



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Genre – Biographies & Memoirs
Rating – R
Connect with Marti MacGibbon on Facebook & Twitter
Website http://martimacgibbon.com/
Never Give in to Fear: Laughing All the Way Up from Rock Bottom, the enhanced edition of this darkly funny, dramatic memoir, describes an emerging standup comic's drug-fueled descent into the underworld, escape from human traffickers, homelessness, and ultimate redemption. With brutal honesty, humor, and clarity, the author vividly describes her experiences as she rides her downward spiral: a near-miss with a notorious serial killer, a series of tragically hilarious misadventures in the California drug world, and a terrifying account of imprisonment at the hands of Japanese organized crime, to name a few. This revised and re-edited version contains three additional chapters that introduce readers to quirky characters, insights into standup comedy, resilience and recovery, and deliver an inspiring message about healing, hope, and courage to change.
“Marti MacGibbon shows readers just how rough the road to redemption is in her gritty memoir of addiction… Her raw, honest, casual, funny voice permeates every page… A dark yet inspiring look at conquering addiction and regaining hope.” –Kirkus Reviews
“Marti’s natural humor and storytelling help balance out the book into a symmetrical tale of both hurt and healing. Never Give in to Fear is a book everyone needs to read. This is not only a book about the danger of drugs, but about the power of the human spirit.” –San Francisco Book Review
“Her narration is funny—she can laugh at her old self, even as she shows the reader the terror and loss she felt in the past… Honest to a fault… captivating from the very first sentence. A memoir that offers hope, even in the worst of times, Never Give in to Fear is a terrific read.” –Claire Foster, Foreword Clarion Reviews
“It’s amazing that Marti MacGibbon survived her harrowing life and had the guts to recount it… not too preachy, the author’s candor and sense of humor keep the pages turning.” –Suzanne Daly, the bohemian.com
About the author
Marti MacGibbon, human trafficking survivor and recovering addict, is an author, humorous inspirational speaker and standup comic who holds four professional certifications in addiction treatment, including the ACRPS, Advanced Certified Relapse Prevention Specialist. Marti is a member of the National Speakers Association and her articles have appeared in numerous trade publications and magazines. She’s been interviewed in Investors Business Daily and Entrepreneur.
Marti was one of the first women to work as a laborer in the Texas oilfield. She set off explosives for an exploration company for a brief period of time and then learned surveying skills, staking oil wells. She moved on to standup comedy and was scheduled for an appearance on The Tonight Show, but Marti became entangled in the California drug scene and plunged into the underworld and serious drug addiction. After being trafficked to Japanese organized crime and escaping, she suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and was homeless for over a year, but ultimately found true love, recovery and forgiveness. Her darkly humorous and dramatic memoir, “Never Give in to Fear,” tells the story, and the narration brings alive a host of quirky characters and bungling criminals.
“Never Give in to Fear” has received critical praise from Foreword Clarion and San Francisco Book Review. The enhanced edition, “Never Give in to Fear: Laughing All the Way Up from Rock Bottom,” received an editorial recommendation from Kirkus Reviews and an award for Best Revised Edition from Books-and-Authors.net. This new, small press, revised and re-edited version, complete with three new chapters and distributed by AtlasBooks,was released on October 8, 2010. This release includes expanded e-book distribution. Details:
(Stay Strong Publishing, release date Oct 8, 2012, distributed by AtlasBooks, $15.95 Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-9860067-0-8, 384 pages, $5.99 E-book ISBN 978-0-9860067-1-5)Available through Ingram, Baker and Taylor, Amazon, etc.
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Friday 28 December 2012

Book Blast - Dark Side of Sunset Pointe by Michael Allan Scott

 


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Genre – Mystery & Thrillers
Rating – R
Connect with Michael Allan Scott on Facebook & Twitter
Lance Underphal was devastated by his wife’s death, and now, the down-and-out crime-scene photographer can’t let her go. He wakes up plagued by premonitions. The double shooting of an Arizona real estate developer and his mistress/bookkeeper immerse Underphal in a world of incomprehensible phenomena.
Frank Salmon, the hard-boiled homicide detective on the case, does his best to blow off Underphal’s “visions.” But the murders keep piling up and the visions are all-too real.
Salmon reluctantly pursues Underphal’s twists and turns, leading him from a popular strip club to a failing community bank, adding a blackmailing stripper’s murder to the body count.
Underphal struggles mightily with his psychic curse, teetering on the brink of insanity. His only hope for redemption is the voice in his head, the voice of his dead wife. Stumbling through dark vortexes of murderous intrigue, he comes to realize his visions will either kill him or lead to the capture of a killer-maybe more than one.
About the author
Born and raised at the edge of the high desert in Kingman, Arizona, Michael Allan Scott resides in Scottsdale with his wife, Cynthia and their hundred-pound Doberman, Otto. In addition to writing mysteries and speculative fiction, his interests include music, photography, art, scuba diving and auto racing.

*FREE ALERT* - Dark Side of Sunset of Pointe will be free from 28th December to 30th December.
Giveaway is a Kindle Fire HD 7″
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent’s permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and emailed after which he / she will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Book Blast – Silver: Inamorato – Keira Michelle Telford

 

BOOK SIX in THE SILVER SERIES.
2330 CE
Ella Cross is fifteen years old and irrepressibly free-spirited. As one of the best Cadets in the Hunter Division Academy, her life is simple: fight, kill, sleep, repeat. She has an innate talent for slaughtering Chimera—the grotesque by-product of a war that nearly caused the extinction of the human race over three-hundred years ago—and with each new victory on the battlefield, she becomes ever more cocksure and reckless.
Unfortunately, the Chimera aren’t the only threat to her safety. As the Hunter General’s daughter, she’s a prodigy, a celebrity and a target. Whether it’s jealous Hunter Division Cadets trying to disgrace her during class, or insecure Hunters trying to knock her down a peg or two during fieldwork, people are always trying—and failing—to put Ella Cross in her place.
She’s strong and determined, and she hasn’t lost a fight yet … but all that changes when she falls in love with a Hunter named Alexander King, and inadvertently incurs the wrath of the fiercest rival she will ever face—his former girlfriend.
---------------------------------
SILVER: Inamorato is the sixth book (a 109,000 word novel) in a 10-book series featuring the character of Ella 'Silver' Cross. Set more than 300yrs in the future, the Silver Series takes place in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian world where humans are a species on the brink of extinction. No longer at the top of the food chain, humans are preyed upon by the Chimera--genetic mutants that outnumber humankind 25:1.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Science Fiction / Adventure

Rating – 18A

Connect with Keira Michelle Telford on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.ellacross.com/

Keira Michelle is a British ex-pat, now living in British Columbia, Canada. She is the author of a 10-book series of post-apocalyptic dystopian science fiction books, all centering on the lead character of Ella 'Silver' Cross. The first book (a novella) in this series, Acheron, was released Nov 2011.

Giveaway is $25 Amazon.com gift card

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent’s permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and emailed after which he / she will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Thursday 27 December 2012

Book Blast: Crooked Man - Tony Dunbar

Buy Now @ Amazon 

Genre – Mystery & Thriller

Rating – PG

More details about the author & the book

Connect with Tony Dunbar on Twitter & Facebook

Website http://www.booksbnimble.com/

HARD-BOILED AND HILARIOUS AT THE SAME TIME, THIS IS THE BOOK THAT ASKS THE QUESTION: IF A GYM BAG OF CASH FELL INTO YOUR HANDS, WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO KEEP IT?
And it has another great quality: The food's as much fun as the tightly-coiled plot.
A simple man with a refined palate, maverick New Orleans lawyer Tubby Dubonnet has a penchant for fishing, Old Fashioneds, off-track betting, and fighting evil while passing a good time.
His clients are all renegades from the asylum (aka Orleans Parish), including a transvestite entertainer, a buxom deadbeat blonde, a doctor who refers his own patients to a malpractice lawyer, and a Mardi Gras reveler who drives a float shaped like a giant crawfish pot. He also has his hands full with an ex-wife and three teenage daughters, who are experts in the art of wrapping Tubby around their little fingers. And somehow, between work and family, Tubby finds time to sample the highs and lows of idiosyncratic Crescent City cuisine, from trout meuniere amandine and French roast coffee with chicory to shrimp po-boys and homemade pecan pralines.
Tubby's new client is Darryl Alvarez, the manager of a local nightclub who's been caught unloading marijuana from a shrimp boat. At their first meeting, Darryl entrusts Tubby with an ordinary-looking blue gym bag. But after Darryl's unfortunate demise, Tubby realizes he must tighten his grasp on the gym bag -- and its million-dollar contents.
TUBBY JUST CAN'T GIVE UP THE CASH. BUT IF HE GETS CAUGHT, HE'LL BE IN JAIL. AND IF THE WRONG PEOPLE CATCH HIM, HE'LL WISH HE WAS.
"Tubby grapples with the temptation of riches and the threats of claimants, and, as he sorts out the rogues among the buttoned-downs, he dispatches the villain and finds a home for the cash in a conclusion that's as cleverly convoluted and amusing as the rest of this tale, the first in a...series." -Publishers Weekly
New Orleans-based attorney and writer Tony Dunbar is the Lillian Smith Book Award-winning author of books about Mississippi, Appalachia, migrant workers, and the Southern labor movement as well as the acclaimed Tubby Dubonnet mystery series.

Author Interview – ME Langlands

 

If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future?

Future – More scientific breakthrough in medication, sustainability and eradication of poverty.


If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose?

Lord Shaftesbury, Nelson Mandela, Robert Redford, Queen Elizabeth1, Princess Diana


If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you?

Sharp knife, packets of vegetable seeds, soap


What is one book everyone should read?

Lord of The Flies


If you were a superhero what would your name be?

Snowylepherd


If you could have any superpower what would you choose?

The ability to fly.


What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mango


If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose?

Ghandi


What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

Scrambled eggs with salmon


Night owl, or early bird?

Early bird


One food you would never eat?

Frog’s Legs I saw a tv programme in which the legs were removed from the live frogs and packed in dirty frozen river water.


Pet Peeves?

Moaning


Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.

The ideas will enhance your life.


Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?

Another children’s adventure book. Perhaps a fictitious story of some of today’s psychological issues in a family.


What inspired you to want to become a writer?

Those who write for the love of writing.


What is your dream cast for your book?

Steven Fry as he has the empathy for the main character in my children’s book: Frizzy, Dizzy and the Brute.


What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen?

Heidi, as I loved the nature plus the alpine countryside as I was born in Austria. Even though I was only a baby there, I have always appreciated the beauty of such places.


Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your book or any of your characters?

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life. (Frizzy, Dizzy and The Brute).

What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Keep writing


If you could be one of the Greek Gods, which would it be and why?

Aphrodite- I love the mythological painting of her birth on a scallop shell.

Buy now @ Amazon

Genre – How To

Rating – G

More details about the book

Connect with ME Langlands on Twitter

Orangeberry Book Tours – Untimed by Andy Gavin

Untimed is an action-packed time travel novel by Andy Gavin, author of The Darkening Dream and creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter.
Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own mother can’t remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously. Still, this isn’t all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there’s this girl… Yvaine… another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine’s got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history — like accidentally let the founding father be killed — they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – YA / Time Travel & Romance
Rating – PG
Connect with Andy Gavin on Facebook & Twitter
Website http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/

Author Interview – Andy Gavin









What genre are you most comfortable writing? I mostly read speculative fiction (SciFi, supernatural horror, and Fantasy) and so the same would be true of my writing. I wouldn’t usually be drawn to a fully naturalistic story.

Who or what influenced your writing over the years? I get very inspired by my own sense of “cool.” This can mean cool scenes, cool characters, cool dynamics, cool symbolism, cool turns of phrase, whatever. As I read and watch media obsessively – and by obsessively I mean 200 novels a year and about four hours of long form film/tv a day, I don’t sleep much – I’m constantly looking for interesting moments and archetypes that can be reinvented and repurposed. Nothing is ever new in the world. I also read a tremendous amount of history and in both of my novels I used facts about the history and the historical places and times to guide the story. Sometimes it’s useful to have concrete possibilities like this to give you structure. The historical facts in Untimed do that. I’ll have a practical function in the plot they need to accomplish, then I’ll dig through books looking for something that is synergistic. Sometimes it goes the other way.

What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? The endless re-reading and careful editing is quite tedious (although I do a lot of it!). Sitting down to read the entire book again for the 50th time takes some serious will power. But overall, I’d say the hardest part was trying to balance my desire for prose minimalism with the need to “tell” the reader what they are supposed to know/feel. Ideally, one doesn’t tell them much of anything, but instead shows and implies. I love when a beat subtly betrays the emotions of a character, but at the same time, not all readers pick up on these niceties. My style is much closer to hard boiled early or mid twentieth century writers than it is to the type of melodramatic prose sometimes found in today’s YA hits (Twilight, here’s looking at you!).

How did you come up with the title? I wanted a single word title, and I wanted it to imply time travel, so I bounced words and phrases around in my head until I came up with UNTIMED. It seemed pretty good immediately.

Can you tell us about your main character? Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own mother can’t remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously. Still, this isn’t all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there’s this girl… Yvaine… another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine’s got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history — like accidentally let the founding father be killed — they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.

 How much of the book is realistic? Everything but the time travel and the Tick-Tocks is as realistic as I could make it. I did a tremendous amount of research on all my periods and if anything, I understate the zany and shocking quality they probably would have had on a modern.

How important do you think villains are in a story? As a writer, I adore villains and I think Untimed has some pretty good ones. Donnie, as the human villain, is clearly more realistic. He’s a nasty bastard, very self centered and temperamental, but at the same time I wanted to make him likeable, or at least charismatic. Guys like him would have been charming – some of the time. But the Tick-Tocks are cool tool in their more archetypal way. Rapier is like a kind of Boogie-man. He’s always in the wrong place at the right time (for him!).

What are your goals as a writer? I want to tell commercial and fun tales that have some depth to them. This means balancing character and traditional drama (not melodrama) with cool scenarios and rapid pacing. Fundamentally, I want to entertain.


Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – YA / Time Travel & Romance
Rating – PG
More details about the book
Connect with Andy Gavin on Facebook & Twitter

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Faith - 4 Week Mini Bible Study

 

 

 

Faith - 4 Week Mini Bible Study

In this four week mini Bible Study you will examine your faith and what it means to have faith in God. He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 Our faith begins with what we know and believe about God. Our faith will carry us how far we are willing to let it take us. Faith is a choice and we need to begin by choosing to believe in Jesus and His power to move mountains, heal the sick, and save us from all our sins through His sacrifice on the cross. When we believe in God we then learn to walk in faith and trust God. But first we must believe, and it's up to us, we can either choose to believe in Him or not. But faith will mean nothing until we believe with all our heart that God is who He says He is.

Praise for Faith

Don't have time to read a long book on faith? This study will give you simple tools to understand faith and help you to develop a closer relationship with God. ~Lorilyn Roberts

This is a great book that allows you to start looking deeper into faith. I love the fact that there is a lot of scripture reference so one can look into the Bible and further study the word. ~Shraon

This study was a wonderful lift to my faith. I encourage others to take this short journey to an increased faith. ~Shirley Strait

Purchase

Print * Ebook



Author Heather Bixler

Heather is a Christian Stay at home homeschooling mom of three, married to a firefighter, and a writer. She is founder of www.CSAHM.com among other websites for Christian mothers, and women. Heather is passionate about sharing God's word in a practical and loving way.

Blog * TwitterFacebook

 

 

 

BookBlast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 1/3/13

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday 25 December 2012

Ryan Casey – Marketing for Authors

Marketing for Authors: Be Yourself and You’ll Have Fun
For many authors, marketing is a slog. It’s something that seems complex, impossible to wrap one’s head around, and eats into valuable writing time. In the eyes of many, marketing should be left to the marketers, writing to the writers.
I have something to confess: I love marketing. Absolutely bloody love it. And I’m not talking about spamming links to my Amazon page on Twitter — now that would be annoying for all parties involved. No, I’m talking about the fun stuff. Blogging, social media, review requests, guest posts, research — the lot. Marketing need not be a bind. It doesn’t even have to take up much of your time.
Social Media
Some people get bogged down in the idea of social media. It’s easy enough to do what with the sheer amount of social networks out there, but the key is to pick one or two that you can truly excel in.
Personally, I tweet regularly, Facebook a little bit less, and Google+ even less than that. I use Twitter to connect with readers and fellow authors. I don’t ‘spam’ links — instead, I share useful content. I connect with people. After all, isn’t that the point of social media? Y’know, the whole ‘being social’ thing?
One thing I’ve learned in my six months of social media research and usage is that there really aren’t any rules out there. Social media ‘experts’ might try to tell you different, but they are looking for blog hits more than anything. Basically, just be yourself, and don’t annoy people. I’ve tried following expert advice, but it’s through being myself and being interesting that most of my followers connect with me.
Blogging
Blogging is another absolutely crucial marketing tool that can also be a lot of fun. A blog shouldn’t have to be a slog (ha) — you should have fun with it! Again, the only rule is to be yourself. Imagine your perfect reader. What would they be interested in? Okay, so you’re a horror writer. As well as blogging about your writing, why not focus on some of the latest horror trends within popular culture?
Appeal to yourself. Make the blog you’d want to read. That was, you’re appealing to your ideal target reader. And, if you’re writing about the stuff you love, then it shouldn’t have to be difficult.
Everything is Marketing
I do understand that the whole notion of ‘marketing’ can be frustrating and daunting, but when you understand that everything is marketing, the easier it is to get used to it.
Being yourself on your blog is marketing. Being yourself on social media is marketing. Being yourself…yeah, you got it.
Scrap the notion of the ‘author brand’ and just be yourself. Or, make your author brand yourself. What do you think people find it easier to connect with — a brand or someone showing a bit of personality?
What are your views on marketing? Should authors promote themselves as ‘brands’ or focus on being true to themselves online?
Ryan Casey is a twenty-year old author from Preston, Lancashire, in the UK. When he can’t be found writing, he generally can’t be found. He is the author of What We Saw (launching Dec 6th) and of short stories Something in the Cellar and Silhouette. He regularly blogs about life, writing and marketing tips over at his website. He is also a regular Tweeter and Facebook-er.
 
Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Mystery / Coming of Age
Rating – PG15
More details about the book
Connect with Ryan Casey on Facebook & Twitter
Website http://ryancaseybooks.com/

Monday 24 December 2012

Book Blast - Untimed by Andy Gavin

Untimed is an action-packed time travel novel by Andy Gavin, author of The Darkening Dream and creator of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter.

Charlie’s the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own mother can’t remember his name. So when a mysterious clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia, and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie realizes even the laws of time don’t take him seriously. Still, this isn’t all bad. Who needs school when you can learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin himself. And there’s this girl… Yvaine… another time traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel into the past and girls only into the future. And the baggage: Yvaine’s got a baby boy and more than her share of ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history — like accidentally let the founding father be killed — they can just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – YA / Time Travel & Romance

Rating – PG

Connect with Andy Gavin on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/

About the author

andy gavin

Andy Gavin is an unstoppable storyteller who studied for his Ph.D. at M.I.T. and founded video game developer Naughty Dog, Inc. at the age of fifteen, serving as co-president for two decades. There he created, produced, and directed over a dozen video games, including the award winning and best selling Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter franchises, selling over 40 million units worldwide. He sleeps little, reads novels and histories, watches media obsessively, travels, and of course, writes.

Giveaway is a $50 Amazon.com gift card / cash via PayPal

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Open to anyone who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent’s permission. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and emailed after which he / she will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Sunday 23 December 2012

Author Interview – Suzanne de Montigny

Buy Now @ Amazon
Genre – Middle Grade Fantasy
Rating – G
More details about the book
Connect with Suzanne De Montigny on Facebook & Twitter
Website http://www.suzannedemontigny.com/
If you could travel in a Time Machine would you go back to the past or into the future? I would go into the past. I’d want to see what it was like when the great asteroid hit the earth, or when the pyramids were built, or when Napoleon was in power, or to be there when my ancestor landed in Canada.
If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose? Barack Obama (because I greatly admire him), Justin Bieber (because he’s awww, so cute and talented) Stephen Harper (since he’s our prime minister), Brad Pitt (because he’s hot), and Julia Roberts (so I wouldn’t be surrounded by all guys).
If you were stranded on a desert island what 3 things would you want with you? My glasses so I could see and start a fire, a knife so I could cut things, and a fishing rod.
What is one book everyone should read? Anne of Green Gables. Anne Shirley convinced me writing was a cool thing to do.
If you were a superhero what would your name be? Super-Philanthropist. I know, it’s dumb, but I always wanted to be a philanthropist. It’s power. Just think of it – handing out money to anyone who needs it like Bill Gates does. I’d love it.
If you could have any superpower what would you choose? To brainwash evil people so they turn their lives around.
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Rocky Road. I love the chocolate and the chewy nuts – texture.
If you could meet one person who has died who would you choose? Pierre Trudeau, our past prime minister. He was so utterly brilliant and didn’t care what people thought of him.
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? A Spanish omelette with salsa. Mmm.
Night owl, or early bird? Oh, definitely early bird. I get up at five AM to write. That’s when my head is clearest. I can barely stay awake at night to read which is why it takes me a long time to read a book.
One food you would never eat? Liver. Yuck. I had it once by accident at a friend’s place thinking it was chicken. Boy, was I ever surprised. So were they when I nearly threw up on their new linoleum floor.
Pet Peeves? Gossips and bullies.

Saturday 22 December 2012

Author Interview – Kelley Graellis

 

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you? My freshman year high school world history teacher always stressed the importance of obtaining a marketable skill in order to be employable.  I think this was solid advice!  It doesn’t matter if you go to college or enter a trade; what matters is that you have a skill that is in demand.
Favorite Food? Salsa & chips are my weakness.
Nickname? Annie.  My middle name is Ann and ever since I was little, my Dad has called me Annie.
How do you react to a bad review? You have to have a bit of a thick skin when you’re an author.  It’s a deeply personal thing to write a book and share it with the world.  Of course you want everyone to love your baby, but there is no way every single person will love it.
For a less than stellar review, I try to determine what I can learn from it to improve my next novel.  If a reviewer doesn’t like my novel because it’s not their favorite type of story, I’m still appreciative when they state this in their review and give me credit for what they think I did right (i.e. good dialogue, well edited, etc).
You have won one million dollars what is the first thing that you would buy? A canary yellow Corvette, just like the one mentioned in my book.  I’ve wanted a yellow Corvette ever since I was a little girl.
What do you do in your free time? Most of my free time is dedicated to writing and the self-promotion of my book.  I also enjoy exercising, riding my motorcycle and hanging out with my hubby.
Give us a glimpse into a typical day in your day starting when you wake up till you lie down again. On a workday, my alarm goes off at 5:30 a.m.   I’m on the road by 6:45 and at my desk around 7:30.  If I’m not working through lunch, I try to do something related to my writing – research a locale, rewriting, researching how to best connect with my audience, etc.  I leave work at 4:30.  Some days I head to the gym after work and if I do, I’m generally home around 6:30.  Then I spend whatever time I have left on writing and marketing.  I stop working at 8:00 to spend time with my hubby.  I’m in bed at 9:00 and we watch TV until 10:00 and then it’s lights out to do it all over again.
What’s your favorite season/weather? I love autumn.  I love the cooler weather, wearing jeans, a sweatshirt & flip flops and the colors of the changing leaves.  There’s also something about this particular season that is inspiring to me; it’s my favorite time of year to write.
Favorite places to travel? My husband and I love beach vacations and we’re fans of all inclusive resorts.  I recently heard someone coin these types of resorts as ‘fly and flop’ where the only work you have to do is getting there!  So far, my favorites have been Aruba, Saint Lucia and Cabo and our favorite all inclusive chain is Riu.
Favorite music? I’m a huge fan of big hair 80’s rock!  Guns-N-Roses is my favorite band, but I also love Tesla, Poison, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Def Leppard.
Buy now @ Amazon & Smashwords
Genre – Paranormal Fantasy
Rating – PG13
More details about the book
Connect with Kelley Grealis on Facebook & Twitter & GoodReads

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