COVER REVEAL: The Kelpie

I can't honestly say I was joking when I suggested to my best friend, Joe – Prince Joseph, eldest son of England's Crown Prince – that we could probably find something the police had missed in regards to the missing children.  After all, eleven and twelve year olds like us did that all the time on the telly and in the books we read…

 

            When Heather and Joe decide to be Sleuthy MacSleuths on the property abutting the castle Heather's family lives in, neither expect to discover the real reason children were going missing:

 

            A Kelpie.  A child-eating faerie horse had moved into the loch "next door."

 

            The two barely escape with their lives, but they aren't safe. Caught in a storm of faerie power, Heather, Joe, and Heather's whole family are pulled into a maze of talking cats, ghostly secrets, and powerful magick.

 

            With another child taken, time is running out to make things right.

 

To go along with sharing the simply gorgeous cover, author T.J. Wooldridge has enlisted several of her friends who have helped her in the journey of writing this novel to put together a special treat for you!

 

Each day of the week, search for individual components of the cover--with a bonus piece of art on Wednesday--at these blogs.  Collect the right words per the instructions, and unscramble the line of poetry to be entered to win one of three prizes!

 

Prize 1

A handmade fused glass kelpie necklace from Stained Glass Creations and Beyond

 

Prize 2

A handmade necklace from Art by Stefanie of Vic Caswell's rendering of the kelpie from the cover!

 

Prize 3

An 11x16 poster of the cover of the Kelpie signed by T. J. Wooldridge and artist Vic Caswell

5x7 cards of all the cover aspects featured in the Scavenger Hunt

 

So, how do you take part in the Scavenger Hunt?  Here are the details:

 

Monday 3/25

 

Visit the Faery Castle at Kate Kaynak's blog: http://thedisgruntledbear.blogspot.com/

Scavenger Hunt Goal: first sentence, 10th word

 

Tuesday 3/26

 

Hop over to Scotland at Stained Glass Creations and Beyond: http://stainedglasscreationsandbeyond.wordpress.com/

Scavenger Hunt Goal: first sentence, 12th word

 

Check out an artist rendition of Heather MacArthur's family tartan with Aimee Weinstein at tokyowriter.com

Scavenger Hunt Goal: first sentence, first word

 

Wednesday 3/27

 

Bonus Art!

Meet Heather's dad, Michael MacArthur, at Valerie Hadden's blog: http://valeriehadden.wordpress.com/

Scavenger Hunt Goal: first sentence, 12th word

 

Thursday 3/28

 

Cast your eyes upon the kelpie, itself, with Suzane Reynolds-Alpert at http://suzannereynoldsalpert.blogspot.com/

Scavenger Hunt Goal: 2nd sentence, 2nd word

 

And feel the snark of Monkey, the fey cat with Justine Graykin at http://justinegraykin.wordpress.com/

Scavenger Hunt Goal: first sentence, 3rd word

 

Friday 3/29:

 

Meet Heather's best friend, Prince Joseph at, who's hanging out with author Darby Karchut at http://darbykarchut.blogspot.com/

Scavenger Hunt Goal: first sentence, 17th word

 

And finally meet Heather, herself, who's hanging out with one of Trisha's editors, Laura Ownbey at http://redpenreviews.blogspot.com/

Scavenger Hunt Goal: first sentence, first word

 

Collect all the words and put them together in a poetic sentence, and enter them into the rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win one of the three prizes: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MTBiNjRkMDYwN2U2MWZjNzBmNmM4YWEwNTEyODI0Ojc=/

COVER REVEAL: ALMOST NIGHT

 

 

Fourteen-year-old Lilly Grey exists in two worlds at the same time. She just doesn't know it.

As the only albino in a million mile radius, Lilly is used to being different. Pink eyes and white hair aren't exactly the best camouflage in the harrowing jungles formally known as high school. And yeah, she's used to being an outcast and seeing the world in a slightly different way, but she never guessed how literally "different" applied to her.

Not until a clan of shape-shifting dragons tell her she's not just albino. She's a unicorn and the only mortal alive who can live on both Earth and its antithesis, Morcah. Now all those times she thought she saw a floating brown blotch in the sky or eyes peering out at her from the bark of trees make sense. She's been seeing Morcah, a land that exists in the exact same spot as Earth, just in a different phase.

But it's not all sunshine and rainbows for this unicorn. As the only one who can live in both phases, she's also the only one who can bring Morcah--and all its inhabitants--to Earth. And creatures who've been trapped on Earth since the Dark Ages are willing to do worse things than kill to make that happen.

Again.

Links:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17204041-almost-night

http://emilytwhite.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorEmilyWhite?ref=hl

 

The cover designer is Claudia Mckinney of Phatpuppy Art (www.phatpuppyart.com) and font was designed by Ashley at www.bookish-brunette.com.

 

Almost Night by Emily White, Author of:

Elemental (Spencer Hill Press, 2012--Available on Amazon, B&N, The Book Depository)

FAE (Spencer Hill Press, 2013)

To Love or Die in a Steamy-Reamy World (December 2012--Available on Amazon and B&N)

 

Happy Holidays!

 

 

 

 

                             Archana, Heather, Kimmy and Toni wish you all a blessed holiday!

Spring has sprung! Here's wishing you'll find a great story in your Easter basket or under your matzo this season!

Why I Choose to be a Writer

Writing can hold me back from living my life. It can hold me back from giving my all to my career. Declining offers from friends. Feeling miserable on Monday mornings because I didn’t write more than ten sentences over the weekend. Many days I resent my writing alter ego. I ask myself: why do I choose to be a writer?

This isn’t the conversation about why I chose to be a writer. That choice made in the past seems romantic and nostalgic from where I stand today. Rather, I’m thinking about the choice I’m making today, of why every day I continue to choose to be a writer. It isn’t a normal job. (Job seems a hopeful exaggeration.) It isn’t a conventional past time. (Going to the movies or reading are more relaxing.) It isn’t safe. Most times you are muttering at your computer screen or twisting your mouse pad into shreds.

Your parents worry. Your friends raise their eyebrows. Your cousins may even smirk. Friends from your undergraduate years wonder what you are doing with your life. Your classmates from grad school want to know how you’re going to use your degree. Then, why, why do I choose to be a writer?

I imagine how easy it would be to give it up. I’d have all this free time in the mornings. I wouldn’t have to read all these blogs and tweets during my lunch time. I could stop feeling guilty about my weekends. I could have a regular job, a regular social life and relaxing weekends. Just the way society intended.

 As soon as I convince myself of giving up my writing, instead of feeling relief, I feel a distinct sense of loss. I potter about doing laundry asking myself who I am. What do I do? How am I supposed to make sense of life? How can I cope with my crazy boss without making him a character or add a dash of funny in my life if I don’t caricature my neighbors. Life starts to look bleak. The colors are in shades of grey.

That’s when I know that I choose to be a writer because writing allows me to make sense of this crazy life and keeps me from snapping at the few friends that I still have. I choose to be a writer because it makes me, me.

It doesn’t matter when someone throws a jellyfish sting at you or tries to bring you down by creating doubt about who you are. It doesn’t matter if you are published or receive validation from other sources. If putting words on paper puts a spring in your step and a sparkle in your eyes, then you are a writer. Maybe you never had a choice in the first place!

Please share. Why do you choose to be a writer?   

COVER REVEAL: DEATH AND MR. RIGHT by Kendra L Saunders

Jacket copy for DEATH AND MR. RIGHT:

 

It is March 32nd, the day that doesn’t exist, and Death, the agent of nightmares, has been demoted and exiled to live among mortals for the rest of his unnaturally long life. Everyone knows They don’t look lightly on important items getting lost or an agent falling in love.

Can the diva-like Death navigate the modern world, recover what was stolen from him (the names of the damned… ooops!) and get his job back? Or will he fall in love with Lola, the pretty thief who got him into trouble in the first place?

 

978-1-939392-04-6

DEATH AND MR. RIGHT will be available October 2013.

 

Kendra's bio:

 

Kendra L. Saunders is the author of the magic realism novel Inanimate Objects and the dark comedy Death and Mr. Right. She has been published in Snakeskin Magazine, Premier Bride Magazine and has conducted interviews for Steampunk Magazine, The New England Horror Writers and ipmnation.com. She reports regularly for Pure Textuality and writes helpful writing articles for NerdCaliber’s Pages of Note.

In 2012, Kendra attended a number of sci-fi/anime/steampunk conventions, notably Arisia, Anime Boson, Watch City Festival, ConnectiCon and TeslaCon. She is the creator of the popular “Five Headed Muse” panel, which features fun and witty wisdom from the five aspects of a writer’s life: character building, inspiration, writing habits, publishing and marketing, as well as the “What We Can Learn from Fan Fiction” panel which takes a detailed look at the upsides to reading and writing fanfiction. Kendra was also featured as a guest on other panels throughout 2012 and has been noted for her energy and enthusiastic approach to writing education.

Originally from Texas, Kendra has lived in New Hampshire, Idaho and Wisconsin and has traveled through most of the 50 states. Somewhere along the way she developed a love for discovering the quiet magic in new places, and she seeks to expose it in her novels, short stories and poetry. She also has a lifelong passion for black and white photography and shares photographs from her travels and adventures through her website, facebook, tumblr and twitter.

Kendra is host of the quirky literary podcast, 13 1/2 Minutes and has been a featured guest and co-host on various radio and podcast shows.

In her spare time Kendra likes to daydream about (foreign) boys with dark hair, drink too much tea, read fashion magazines, listen to records on vinyl, plan her dream trip to England and attempt to travel back in time to the Jazz Age. Find her online at www.kendralsaunders.com on twitter at @kendrybird or on tumblr at http://www.inanimateobjects.tumblr.com

Contest Winner!!!

THE WINNER OF THE FOURTH COUNTDOWN TO THE RELEASE OF TRIANGLES CONTEST IS:

SHERRY!!!! 

CONGRATULATIONS! CHECK BACK NEXT MONTH FOR THE NEXT CHARACTER INTRO AND CONTEST!!! MORE PRIZES TO COME! TRIANGLES IS ALMOST HERE!

Contest for The Last Keeper's Daughter!

 

Born into old money, Lily Ayres lives at Waverly, her family’s estate situated at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Paris, Virginia. She is a strange, small, almost mute, young woman who has no idea that her father has given her to the Vampire King Krieger. Walter Ayres is the King’s Keeper and part of a secret society of historians who unearth, preserve, and attempt to understand relics of long forgotten civilizations.

Lily has never felt comfortable in the human world, but after she suspiciously falls down a flight of stone steps, and is healed and claimed by Krieger, she realizes there is another world. In this Other Realm she feels a sense of belonging, and begins to untwine the mysterious event which left her mentally and psychologically damaged. When Walter disappears in England, Lily works with human and supernatural beings to uncover his whereabouts. With each new discovery, she is pulled deeper into the vortex of magic, intrigue, and dark desires that permeates the supernatural world. The revelations revealed unfold a story of deception and betrayal that threaten to tear the thin veil between the supernatural and human world asunder.

Enter the contest to win a copy of Rebecca Trogner's book, The Last Keeper's Daughter!

http://www.rebeccatrogner.com/Events.html

All For One Giveaway

Wendy Russo, Joanne Brothwell, Shawna Romkey, and myself, have come together to give you, our lovely readers, a kinda-sorta Buy One Get THREEFree deal on our books. That averages out to $1.99 per book!

The BOOKS:

• Silencing Breath, by Joanne Brothwell
• The Devil’s Triangle, by Toni de Palma
• January Black, by Wendy S. Russo
• Speak of the Devil, by Shawna Romkey

And that’s not all! Some participants of the All For One event will also be eligible to win all four books in print, each signed by the author, PLUS a June ebook release from Crescent Moon Press.

Sound too good to be true? Well, there is an itsy-bitsy catch. You have to post an honest* review on Amazon to get each successive book.

The RULES:

1. Participants may start with any of the four books, but they must progress through the books in order.

Silencing Breath → The Devil’s Triangle → January Black → Speak of the Devil

2. After reading, each participant must post an honest review on Amazon. Star ratings alone do NOT count toward a free ebook without an accompanying review of at least 20 words.* A link to this review should be emailed to the book’s author AND the author of the ebook being requested to receive the next file.

3. The authors participating in this event have no expectations of positive reviews. To comply with FCC rules, participants must state either at the top or bottom of the review that the book was given by the author in exchange for an honest opinion.

4. Extra points toward the grand prize will be awarded for reviews left on Goodreads, blogs, or other sites. These URLs will be entered into and tracked by Rafflecopter.

5. All reviews must be posted by 11:59 PM US Central time on June 15, 2013, to be counted toward the grand prize.

*We are looking for honest reviews that will help other readers to decide whether or not they’d like our books. If you don’t like the book, please say so, and for the benefit of other readers, please say why. If for any reason we feel your review is not honest, your entry into the grand prize will be disqualified.

This event is open internationally.

And YES. If you’ve already reviewed any of these books, you can play!

The Emails:

If you have reviewed “Silencing Breath,” send the link to:

joannebrothwell [at] gmail [dot] com, writertoni [at] yahoo [dot] com

Subject: Requesting ALL FOR ONE Copy of “The Devil’s Triangle”

---

If you have reviewed “Devil’s Triangle,” send the email link to:

writertoni [at] yahoo [dot] com, wendysrusso [at] gmail [dot] com

Subject: Requesting ALL FOR ONE Copy of “January Black”

---

If you have reviewed “January Black,” send the link to:

wendysrusso [at] gmail [dot] com, shawnaromkey [at] gmail [dot] com

Subject: Requesting ALL FOR ONE Copy of “Speak of the Devil”

---

If you have reviewed “Speak of the Devil,” send the link to:

shawnaromkey [at] gmail [dot] com, joannebrothwell [at] gmail [dot] com

Subject: Requesting ALL FOR ONE Copy of “Silencing Breath”

a Rafflecopter giveaway

COVER REVEAL: Blood Hex by Erin Butler

Two girls. Four centuries. One curse.

Isabella started it—all because a boy fell in love with her—but it ends with Sarah.

They meet in secret, Isabella and Thomas, during the witching hours while the rest of the villagers hide behind locked doors. And even though she's scared, she wants Thomas more. He'll protect her from the night, from his father who'll decide her future, from the paranoia-fueled hunting parties taking away innocents.

Centuries later, seventeen-year old Sarah runs away to an aunt she never knew she had. Her dad? Dead. Her mother? A liar. All she wants is memories of a father she never got—memories her mom refused to give her—memories she is determined to get from her aunt, her father's journal, and a town full of crazies.

What she discovers is her father's death isn't as innocent as everybody claims, and everyone—the Wiccans, the townies, even her quasi-boyfriend—all seem to be hiding something. The secret the history-rich town lives to keep entangles Sarah into a centuries old witch curse.

Blood Hex on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17335703-blood-hex

Find Erin here:
www.erinbutlerbooks.com
https://twitter.com/ErinButler
www.facebook.com/pages/Erin-Butler/222797011068049

Why I Don't Have a Dream Agent

Admit it you have one, or did at one time. Yup, that's what I thought. As humans we all have our dreams, dream homes, dream jobs, and so on. It's good to dream. But what if your dream isn't in the cards? Yeah sure we can never predict if we may win the lottery and wind up actually living in our dream home. But, when it comes to "dream agents" writers tend to have this idea that it will happen. But we cannot predict what our dream agent will really think of our manuscript. Especially with as subjective as publishing really is. What one agents doesn't like, another may love. I even had my dream agent picked out at one time, yet I now question the point of even having one.

Why?

For starters just because an agent is well known, well liked, and has a great resume doesn't necessarily mean that agent is perfect for me. There could be any number of reasons why we wouldn't mesh, some not having anything to do with a manuscript. Personalities could clash, visions about my future in writing could differ, and the list could go on and on.

Then there's the issue with setting myself up for a huge disappointment. What happens if I send my query to my dream agent and get a rejection? That's a huge blow to one's ego, and ultimately creativity. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to place all of my dreams on one specific agent, only to see things come crashing down.

I have adopted a stance in life these days, what's meant to be will be. If I get a rejection from an agent then that wasn't the agent for me. I've also adopted an it-will-happen-motto. I will get an agent eventually, but I don't want to push which agent that will be.

There are plenty of great agents out there. Not every great book I have read has the same agent. In fact there are few authors I really like who have the same agent, at all. Yes, I researched my favorite books to see who the author's agent was. This is partly how I created my agent query list.

And there are plenty of newer agents at well established agencies just beginning to put their list of great authors together. All agents have to start out at the bottom and work their way up to the top. I've added several of these agents to my query list.

I will not allow myself to have a dream agent. Not before I have an agent. Because my true dream agent will be the agent I sign with, the one who sells my books, and the one I turn to every step of my publishing career.

What is your stance on dream agents?

Goodreads Contest Winner!!

And the Goodreads Contest winner is...

                                                               Gina Weis!!

Congrats, Gina. You will be receiving your very own copy of The Devil's Triangle.

Order your own copy here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Triangle-Toni-Palma/dp/1939173035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363089831&sr=8-1&keywords=the+devil%27s+triangle

The J word

  There are many J words: feeling jealous (of friends’ success), being   jaded (of the publishing industry), constant jeering (of others). The J word that’s been on my mind has been judgment.  

 It usually begins with others’ judgments of you. Who you are, what you write, what you do. Then there are those moments of judgment – “Why do you laugh so much? It’s like you are trying to attract attention.” or “Why do you waste your evenings writing when you could be spending time with your mother? It’s not like you are published or anything.”

Judgment, when it comes from a trusted source, begins a chain reaction like no other. There’ the initial surprise: What! Really, do you mean that!? Followed by outright denial: No, I don’t do that. I don’t waste my time. And then anger: How dare she think of me like that? How dare she judge me? That leads to hurt: Does she not understand me? Is she right? Am I a horrible person who hides behind my writing? The most important effect of others’ judgment of you is how you start to see yourself. How it shapes your view of yourself. You begin to wonder who you really are and whether you’ve been deluding yourself all this time. Maybe you aren’t cut out to be a writer. Maybe the evenings you sit in front of your laptop are just an excuse to escape from the world and your real responsibilities.

But then you remember that you love those hours where it’s just you and your characters. That you’ve grown so much as a writer these past few years. That once you finish a couple more drafts you’ll be ready to query your polished manuscript.

Self-judgment is that hill we’ve got to climb over before we can accept someone else’s judgment. Judgment of who we are. What we write. What we wrote a few years ago. What we’ve not yet written. And this acceptance can take various forms. Acceptance can mean that we agree that we aren’t cut out to be writers. We accept we love to read but haven’t become better at our craft. That it will remain a hobby. Or acceptance can mean that we speak out that we’re not hiding behind our writing. That our friend was simply wrong. That writing is vital to who we are. It makes us who we are. Our acceptance can help us deal with the judgment and move on.  It can help us heal the dents to our self-esteem; move beyond self-judgment and continue to write, work on our craft and strive to become who we want to be.

When I remember (and nine out of ten times I don’t) I tell myself that judgment is an opinion. One person’s opinion. It can bring you down or you can use it propel yourself forward on that journey to become a better you and a better writer.

Three Month Countdown to the Release of Triangles!

 

TRIANGLES will be released in about three months! To continue the countdown, I'm introducing another character today, and one each month, until the release on June 18! I'm also including a giveaway with each character. The details follow the introduction. Today, Jessica Taylor is up!

Hi, I'm Jessica Taylor, Autumn's older sister. Though I'm a nurse in a big hospital, my hardest job by far is being Autumn's guardian. She changed when our dad died, and when our mom got into a terrible accident a few months back, she got worse. She quit school, fights me on everything, and refuses to face her issues head on. I try the best I can to help and guide her, but nothing works. Her mind is made up to get out of Jersey and that's that.

My hope is that our cruise to Bermuda will bring us closer. Maybe a little fun, away from all the drama and issues we face every day, will be just what the doctor ordered. I just hope she behaves herself on the ship and doesn't get herself into any trouble.

I know my sweet sister is still in there. I just have to find a way to bring her back to me so we can be a family again.

TODAY’S Giveaway:

1. Comment on this blog post about anything that strikes you today!

2. Please tweet about this contest using the hashtag #MysteriousBermudaTriangle. The link to that tweet may be included in your comment. If you don't have Twitter, you can do a status update on Facebook. Doing both would be even better!

3. If you’d like, add Triangles to your Goodreads to-read list here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13610402-triangles

 And/or

Like the Triangles page on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/TrianglesYA?ref=hl

 

That's it!

Now for the prize:

An ARC of Triangles! Be one of the first to read it!

Giveaway details:

Contest starts March 7, 2013, and ends March 20, 2013, 11:59pm EST. Winner will be announced March 21 on this blog.

Contest is for US readers only.

Each month, I will introduce another major character and have other prizes!

You must be 18 years old to enter.

Winner will be chosen using random.org.

For a complete list of rules, see our contest/giveaway policy page.