Archive | November 2013

Guest Post: Entrusted Blog Tour

Today I have Connie Michaels,author of Entrusted, stopping by to talk about what influenced her in writing the story!

I reside in Washington State, which has more Native American Nations than any other state, although our tribal land is pretty small when looking at square miles. I grew up in the setting of Entrusted and the Shoalwater reservation was just as it is depicted in the book. It is a square mile. Very tiny. Grayland is south of Forks, where the
Twilight series took place. However if you start at the tip of Washington state there are numerous tribes as you move south down the coast.

The majority of the cities in our state are named for Native Americans. Seattle was a chief in the area, Wenatchee is the name of a nation, Yakima, Colville all tribes…you get my point. All through school I was taught about the influence of our costal nations.

Then, after suffering a life threatening illness, my parents offered to take my family on a trip to the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley, Utah. Monument Valley is the Navajo Nation. I was having some issues with anger, due to the fact my illness was caused by maintenance issues at work and caused life long issues with my health…so I needed a break. I fell in love with the Navajo people. Their culture is so deep and spiritual. The people are quiet and thoughtful. It was an environment that
centered me and brought my peace back.

Traveling through the area you are bombarded with the legends, culture, and history. At the Grand Canyon we watched the Hopi perform traditional dances. So much of Entrusted is based on these experiences. It is the only book I have written that stems from a lot of personal experience and although much of it has been edited out and smoothed over the entire writing experience was very therapeutic and I know it is still a part of the underlying story.

Meshing the coastal culture with the Navajo traditions was fun. I did take a few liberties but tried to keep it as close to the traditions as I could. I chose Raven as my antagonist because
when I was young I was attacked by a Raven. Not just a flyby, but the bird stalked me and continued to attack me until my Dad finally was able to corner it and kill it. I feel the Raven is my talisman and I wear a Raven charm along with a vile of sand filled with the orange sand from Monument Valley, as a way to keep myself centered.

My family continues to vacation in the Grayland area as well as we return to The Navajo Nation when we can. I love the culture, I love the people, and I hope that someday the Native youth will see what a gift they are to the world and embrace it.

Entrusted
by Connie Ann Michael

Blurb:

Thrust into a world of Native American legends about Skinwalkers and Ancient Ones, Emma Hunter finds herself in the middle of a battle for aheart holding great powers – A heart hidden within her.

Seventeen-year-old Emma wants what every teenage girl wants: a life that revolves around school, her friends, and a boyfriend who only has eyes for her. Little does she know that in order to get one, she must sacrifice the other two. After a series of events put into motion by Luke, the boy she thought loved her, Emma is kicked out of her group home and her school. Her
best friend mysteriously vanishes and now she’s forced to move to a secluded coastal town, where she hopes to escape Luke’s obsessive control. Instead, she finds her dreams invaded not only by Luke, but Solomon, a mysterious Native American warrior sent to protect her.

But when Solomon shows up in her reality to explain he’s her
protector, she soon learns that he’s so much more. As Emma struggles to understand what’s happening to her, she must also deal with her undeniable attraction to Solomon. Their connection is stronger than anything Emma has ever
experienced before and now she must decide: can she trust him with her heart? And just how far will she go to protect it?

You can add Entrusted to your to-read list on Goodreads:

www.goodreads.com/book/show/18187423-entrusted

Information about the book:

Title: Entrusted

Author: Connie Ann
Michael

Genre: Young
Adult Paranormal

Release Date: 18
November, 2013

About the Author:

Connie Ann Michael was raised a city girl, but was converted to
a country girl after college and now resides in a speck of a town in Central
Washington State. She is married to her former boss as she worked at the
local Pizza place and has two college age boys that provide endless material
for her books. She loves the outdoors and can be found mountain biking,
kayaking, or camping with her family. Being a busy family, she can be
found working on her newest novel while on long road trips.

You can find and contact Connie Ann Michael here:

– Website: http://www.connie-avidreader.blogspot.com/

– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connieannmichael

– Twitter: https://twitter.com/connieamichael

– Google +: https://plus.google.com/103953176939854420824/posts

– Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7169768.Connie_Ann_Michael

There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Entrusted.

– 10$ amazon gift card

– 2 e-copies Entrusted

– 2 swag packs, which contain Entrusted stickers and bookmarks
and an Entrusted charm necklace

– 2 swag packs, which contain Entrusted stickers and bookmarks
and an Entrusted Ghost Bead Bracelet

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book review: Moonless by Crystal Collier

Nov28

Hey guys, I guess I should totally start out by introducing myself. I’m Heather, Sharon The Awesome’s assistant. As well as keeping her on top of All The Things in the lead up to Sleeper’s release, I also do any reviews she needs me to. With that said, here is my first. Moonless, by Crystal Collier.

MOONLESS is Jane Eyre meets Supernatural.

In the English society of 1768 where women are bred to marry, unattractive Alexia, just sixteen, believes she will end up alone. But on the county doorstep of a neighbor’s estate, she meets a man straight out of her nightmares, one whose blue eyes threaten to consume her whole world—especially later when she discovers him standing over her murdered host in the middle of the night.

Among the many things to change for her that evening are: her physical appearance—from ghastly to breathtaking, an epidemic of night terrors predicting the future, and the blue-eyed man’s unexpected infusion into her life. Not only do his appearances precede tragedies, but they are echoed by the arrival of ravenous, black-robed wraiths on moonless nights.

Unable to decide whether he is one of these monsters or protecting her from them, she uncovers what her father has been concealing: truths about her own identity, about the blue-eyed man, and about love. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with the man of her dreams and risk becoming one of the Soulless.

– Blurb from Goodreads

Let me first start off by saying I’m not
the intended audience for this book. I don’t read a lot of books set in ‘ye
olde times’ but with that said, I really enjoyed it.

Moonless finds Alexis going through a pretty
unstable time in her life. She’s just become old enough to be married off,
keeps having some pretty disturbing dreams about the future, and is being
practically stalked by a blue-eyed hottie.

Great start to a book.

What I really liked about Moonless was it
kept you wanting more. There was so much suspicion and unanswered questions
right from the start that as soon as a question was half-answered, another one
would pop up to say howdy.

Collier weaved interest and intrigue right
from the beginning and it wasn’t until the very end that she gave you all the
pieces. I love books that keep you guessing and this was one of them.

On top of the mystery, there were two
really great characters that stood out. The first was Alexis’ sister-aunt
Sarah. She was flirty, and vivacious, and fun in a time when woman really
weren’t supposed to be. I could totally picture her going without stockings for
a day, or waving her bloomers out the bedroom window, just so people knew she
was home. We could totally be friends.

Then there was Bellezza. I think I fell in
love with her as soon as she was introduced. She is cray-cray to the maximus
and if Crystal wrote a book about her I’d be the first to buy it, no matter
when it was set. If you love a character who would burn down your house and
paint her face with your blood – here she is. She’d even do it with a smile.

Now, despite all that, I did find Moonless
hard to get into. I couldn’t figure it out at first and it took me a few
chapters in to work out what had me so confused. There’d be certain scenes were
Alexis would mention one person and then use the pronoun for another. This
seemed really odd to me until I worked out why. During the first half of the
book, Alexis doesn’t know Kiren’s name so she just refers to him as ‘He’. And
once I worked that out, everything became so much clearer.

Lastly, if you’re worried about a lack of
swoon (which I totally was) because of the setting you don’t even need to
worry. Kiren brought swoon to the table and made it his bitch.

If you love books with mystery, swoon, a
character that grows into herself, and some pretty awesome creatures, Moonless is definitely for you. (Just remember what I said about those first few
chapters).

Luuuuuurve, Heather.

Cover Reveal: The Other Me

Nov26

The Other Me

by Suzanne van Rooyen

Title: The Other Me

Author: Suzanne van Rooyen

Publisher: Harmony Ink Press

Release Date: 19 Dec, 2013

Length: 216 pages

Genre: YA, LGBT, contemporary

Blurb:

Fifteen-year-old
Treasa Prescott thinks she’s an alien. She doesn’t fit in with the preppy South
African private school crowd and feels claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa
is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du
Preez. Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in
karate, and would look good wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he’s perfect.
It might even be love, as long as Gabriel doesn’t find out she’s a freak.

As Treasa spends
time with Gabriel, she realizes she might not

love him as much as she wants to
be him, and that the reason she feels uncomfortable in her skin might have less
to do with extra-terrestrial origins and more to do with being born in the
wrong body.

But Gabriel is not the perfect
boy Treasa imagines. He harbors dark secrets and self-destructive tendencies.
Still, Treasa might be able to accept Gabriel’s baggage if he can accept who
she longs to be.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18809290-the-other-me

Giveaway: International Rafflecopter for $15 Amazon giftcard

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

Suzanne
is an author and peanut-butter addict from South Africa. She currently lives in
Finland and finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she
has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and
creating quirky characters. When not writing you can find her teaching dance
and music to middle-schoolers or playing in the snow with her shiba inu. She is rep’d by Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Agency.

Author
Links:

Website – http://suzannevanrooyen.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Suzanne_Writer

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzanne-van-Rooyen/304965232847874

Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/SuzanneAuthor/

Guest Post: Using Twitter to Connect with Readers

Nov15

Today social media enthusiast, Courtney Gordon, has taken over Down Under Wonderings to talk about how writers can use Twitter to connect with readers.

As a reader, I can attest to the fact that
that a book by itself is not enough. What I mean, of course, is that after
falling in love with a particular piece of literature, what I crave more than
anything is more. Now, more does not necessarily entail a sequel to whatever
work I had just read enjoyed, though in many cases that would be a wonderful
scenario; rather, more consists of communication with the author. As a child, I
wished for nothing more than to be able to write letters to my favorite
authors. In one case, I distinctly remember looking up a particular writer’s
email address, which I attempted to use to contact her. I did not receive a
response.

Today, with social media networks linking
people together in a way that makes it both easy and almost a necessity to
connect with others, the time has come for authors to take their work to the
next level and actually begin opening up to their readers. This does not mean
using sites like Twitter to pressure people into buying and reading your book.
It also does not mean responding to every single tweet. Rather, it means
opening up forums for various conversations, conversations that your readers
can join in and that you can respond to candidly. It means not just using Twitter
to share your own news, but to also follow your readers, read up on some of
them, and comment on their things. In essence, connecting with readers through
a platform such as Twitter is a way to show that you care, while also offering
them the “behind the scenes” info they crave.

Here are some ways to best make use of
Twitter to connect with your fans:

Tweet multiple times each day

The more you share, the more you care, or
so readers will think. It is in your best interest to tweet as often as you can.
These tweets can include scripted or preplanned topics, such as questions
pertaining to an issue or character in one of your books or a information about
an upcoming event, but they should also be made up of genuine and spontaneous
comments, such as a comment about a new recipe you just tried or a recent
vacation you just got back from and the things you enjoyed most about it. Also
take the chance to discuss literary subjects, offering recommendations of good
books you just read or upcoming book festivals you intend to attend. Let
readers see that you, too, are human, while offering them the sort of content
that appeals to them, content that shows both the man behind the curtain.

Be considerate

If you ever present a question to which
people take different sides or express an idea that some may disagree with, you
have to be prepared for angry and hurtful replies. While much of these opinions
may be the product of actual concern on the part of their writer, one has to
also be aware of the recent surge in the number of trolls who stalk the web,
virtual trouble makers looking to cause dissension for nothing more than some a
couple of laughs. Yet whether you come in contact with a troll or a reader with
a different opinion, you must always remain calm and considerate. Be
open-minded and explain that your opinions are yours alone. In this way, you
will show your readers that you are caring, accepting, and unprejudiced.

Be outgoing

Don’t wait for readers to comment on your
tweets. Comment on theirs as well, particularly if they write about something
that you find interesting. Share your followers’ tweets as well, if you think
them worth sharing. In this way you will make friends and forge a much deeper
connection with your readers. While you are trying to connect with them, it’s
okay to get personal. Personal enough that you’re comfortable with the
information you are sharing. For example, you might want to share a picture
from your child’s birthday party or of your dog. You might not want to Tweet
about someone in your family going to a private
rehab facility. Use your judgment but know that it doesn’t always have to
be about books!

Be yourself

Readers don’t want to follow your Twitter
account just to see you use it as a marketing campaign for your work. That
doesn’t mean you can’t post anything about your work. Particularly if it has to
do with something behind the scenes, such as a character history that is not
revealed in your book or a something of the sort, your readers will be
interested in seeing that sort of information. But ultimately, they want to see
you. They want to know what your like, to meet you, to introduce themselves and
strike up a conversation with the man responsible for the book they loved so
much. By being yourself, by answering truthfully and actively making
friendships, you will be able to connect with your readers in a way that was
not possible a decade ago. It would be unfortunate to let such an advantage
slip by unused.

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Courtney Gordner is a passionate

blogger who loves all things social

media, internet and SEO! Read more

from her on her blog,

www.talkviral.com.

Breakable Blog Tour: Promo post

Nov7

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

When seventeen-year-old Stacy looks in the mirror she can see and talk to her future
self. “Older Me” has been Stacy’s secret support through the ongoing battle
with their neurotic mother, relentless bullying at school, and dealing with her
hopeless love for her best friend, Mark.Then Stacy discovers Older Me is a liar.Still reeling from that betrayal, Stacy is targeted again by her most
persistent tormentor. Only this time, he’s used her own artwork to humiliate
her – and threaten her last chance with Mark.

She’s reached breaking point.

Literally.

“Original. Authentic. Heart-breaking. BREAKABLE has officially become one
of my favorites!” -New York Times Bestselling Author of Losing It, Cora Carmack.

Read the opening chapters on Goodreads here.

Aimee
L. Salter spent much of her young (and not-so-young) life in New Zealand. After
picking up a Kiwi husband and son, she’s recently returned to her home in Oregon.Aimee writes novels for teens and the occasional adult who, like herself, is still
in touch with their inner-high schooler.

Aimee
is the author behind Seeking the Write Life, a resource blog for writers at www.aimeelsalter.com. You
can also find her on Twitter (www.twitter.com/@AimeeLSalter) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/AimeeLSalter).

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You can purchase Breakable on Amazon.com (paperback and for Kindle), and at
barnesandnoble.com (for Nook). Or add it
to your Goodreads To-Read list at.

Aimee is giving away a paperback copy of Breakable on this stop. Please add a comment below about what breaks your heart, along with your email address, to be in the draw to enter

Cover reveal: Elected by Rori Shay

Nov1

ELECTED

by Rori Shay

Title: Elected

Series: The Elected
Series

Author: Rori Shay

Publisher:
Entranced Publishing, Rush imprint

Genre: YA Fantasy

Blurb:

In the year
2185, Aloy must masquerade as a boy to claim her country’s presidential role
and save her people.Aloy’s father is the current Elected, the leader of
the country, just as her grandfather and great-grandfather were before. Her
older brother should fulfill the role, but he disappeared eighteen years ago.
Without an Elected, East Country would fall into civil war. With no one else to
take his place, Aloy’s parents cut her hair and told her that she could never
be a girl again. To assume the role, she must conceal her gender at all costs.
If discovered, she risks execution.

In two weeks, Aloy will turn eighteen and take her
father’s place. She hopes to govern as he did, but she is inheriting a
different country. The long concealed Technology Faction is boldly stepping out
of the shadows and, as turmoil grows within East Country, cryptic threats arrive
from beyond their borders. After generations of isolation, Aloy knows nothing
about their only neighbor, Mid Country. And, East Country doesn’t have the
resources to defend itself.

As she struggles to lead, Aloy maintains her cover by
marrying a woman, Vienne, but battles with feelings for Griffin, the boy who
knows her secret – the boy who is somehow connected to East Country’s upheaval.
When assassination attempts add to the turmoil, Aloy doesn’t know whom to
trust.

Aloy knows
leadership requires sacrifice. She just didn’t expect that the sacrifice might
be her life.

Teaser
Excerpt: One blonde curl
is wrapped lusciously around my pointer finger. I gaze down at it and then
force my eyes upward to drink in the image of my face. Long blonde hair trails
past my shoulders and onto my back. In the cracked mirror, my eyes squint,
trying to capture this one fleeting picture of myself as a girl.

This is what I could look like if I weren’t forced to
masquerade as a boy.

Goodreads

Author Bio:

Rori Shay’s debut novel,
ELECTED, is book one of a young adult sci-fi trilogy, which challenges the
notion of duty above desire. Rori is a member of the Society of Children’s Book
Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Rori lives in Maryland with her husband, two
daughters, and two proficient hair shedders: Misch the cat and Gerry the 90-lbs
black lab. Rori studied public relations and marketing at the University of
Maryland and received an MBA from George Washington University. She enjoys travelling,
running, reading, pumpkin-picking and snow-shoeing!

Author Links:

Website: www.rorishay.com

Twitter: @RoriShayWrites

Email: rorishay(at)gmail(dot)com

Cover Reveal Giveaway:

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a Rafflecopter giveaway