Tuesday 27 November 2012

Hello friends,

Thank you for taking part in the INDIE-giving Blogfest. I apologise for not posting the winners sooner. So, here are the winners in order as per Rafflecopter.

Becca Fowler--1 ecopy Reaper's Novice
Kassandra Fuentes--1 ecopy Reaper's Novice
Ashfa Anwer--Book of choice  $15  from Book Depository

I will email you later on today.

Once again, thank you for taking time to visit my blog and enter the giveaway. :)

 

Wednesday 21 November 2012

The Next Big Thing

Hello Friends,

I was tagged by Patrice Caldwell over at Whimsically Yours and Kevis Hendrickson on The Next Big Thing.

So, I'm really excited to share my next project with you. Right now, I'm working on 2 contemporary romance stories, a complete switch from my YA urban fantasy, Reaper's Novice to be released in January 2013.

What is the working title of your work-in-progress?

I haven't come up with Truly Madly #2 title as yet. Actually I'm having a hard time finding one. Hopefully, I'll come up with one really soon. The second WIP is A Touch so Pure.


What is the genre?

Contemporary romance.


Where did the idea come from?


For A Touch so Pure, I came up with the idea a while back while taking part in Tuesday Tales writing group. We used weekly word prompts to come up with a story.


What actors would you choose to play your characters in a film version?

For Truly Madly, I'd go with Justin Hartley to play Freytag and Jasika Nicole as Liese. As for A Touch so Pure, I have the images in my head, but can't think of any actors at this moment.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Truly Madly #2 is a story about two best friends who become lovers, and when they realise transitioning to lovers isn't as easy as it seems, and have to compromise to work things out, or end up losing their friendship altogether.

A Touch so Pure is about a girl who is struggling to forget her past in order to move forward, but, like a nightmare it keeps popping up, so she has to lean on her frriends and new found love to help her through it all.



Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?



 Not sure at the moment.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I'm still writing both books, and I hope to complete within the next two months.


What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I can't think of any at the moment.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?


The first book, Truly Madly sequel was inspired by an elderly couple I first visited last year. They were best friends before they got married. Sixty years later, they are still together and very much in love.


What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

A Touch so Pure is about healing, fall in love, friendship and letting go of the past.
For "Next Big Thing…" next week, fellow authors:

Victoria H. Smith

Keisha Martin

Angela Brown





Sunday 18 November 2012

INDIE Giving Blogfest

Happy Sunday!

I'm taking part in INDIE giving Blogfest, which runs from November 18th - November 25th. It's all about Thanksgiving, baby. :) --I've always wanted to say that. :D I'd like to thank everyone at Indelibles for this Blogfest in celebration of Thanksgiving.

As way to give thanks, I'm giving away some gifts, but first....

What I'm thankful for so many things,among them:

My family-- my siblings and Mom--where would I be without you? My children who shower me with their love and never let me sulk for long--and that's a good thing, because sometimes life hits you so hard until all one wants to do is curl up and let life pass by. I'm thankful for my job.  I'm thankful for  my friends who let me know when I'm about to make a fool of myself, or hug me when I've already made a fool of myself, or just hug me because, well, we all need a hug now and then. I'm thankful for my awesome beta readers/CP who helped me streamline Reaper's Novice-- *waves at Tammie, Kevis, Nicki,  Priya, Kate Coursey over at Teen Eyes Editorial, *  and my forever patient and awesome editor --*hi Kelly--did I ever tell you how cool you are? No? You are über-cool! :) * 
I'm thankful for the blogging comminity, the authors and bloggers I've met and befriended--incredible!
Lastly, I'm thankful for readers who have welcomed my stories in their lives and hearts. Bless you. :)
I'm a hugger so I'm sending you all virtual hugs.

To checkout other authors/bloggers taking part in this blogfest, click HERE



Happy Thanksgiving!!


What are you thankful for?


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Nano #1 update--mmh, quite worrying

So, I decided to take part in nano--I just couldn't help it. (I tried last year. Let's just say the wordcount was so low it wasn't funny.) There was much too enthusiasm floating around plus I saw was an opportunity to finally work on a story I've been longing to embark on for awhile now. I joined this writing frenzy.

And frenzied I was for the first two days.

First....a bit about my project:

The title I'm working with right now is 'House of Hearts' a mature young adult contemporary romance. I love the story, the characters--although they are driving me crazy at the moment as they take over my conversations with my patients. It's a much needed break from Reaper's Novice.


Anyway, this year I went in with my story loosely outlined--I'm not sure if my mind really understands the 'outlining' concept, because what I have is something close to words and  a lot of doodling -- and my characters yapping inside my head (which is great because I'm getting to know them). And guess what? The amount of gusto I leapt in with, really helped me whip out 2000 words the first day. Man, was I riding high on adrenaline--or whatever writers ride on when the story  flows smoothly. Until the shifts at work started getting in my way. Now I'm only 4758 words in Nano on the 6th day. Very worrying.


I hope to catch up on my word count and with the story in the next days. I have two free days coming up. So that's about 3577 words to catch up. mmh, as I said, it's quite worrying and I don't want to give up halfway or quarter way, or whatever way for that matter.

I found this cute and useful program: write or die. I'm in love! I can't remember ever loving a software like I do this one. It allows you to type the amount of words and how many minutes one hopes to accomplish to type them out, to gauge how fast one can type. I found out, for about twenty minutes, I could type about 700 words. Pretty cool, I think.

On other news: My daughter's birthday is coming up. Her wish: a costume party. Another wish is one of those costumes from Monster High dolls, Draculaura to be exact. Plus, she would like --has requested several times-- three to four Monster High dolls as gifts. They cost around 32 euros each O_O. I'm sort of resenting this new doll trend right now..LOL. I'm really looking forward to this, though. Birthdays are so much fun!

What about you? What are you looking forward to? Are you Nano-ing this year?


Saturday 3 November 2012

Clare Marshall's--The Violet Fox Blog tour




Happy Saturday! Today I have the pleasure of hosting Clare Marshall's The Violet Fox blog tour. Thank you Clare for including me in this tour, and for this wonderful book. For a chance to win some great stuff, there is a rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.



Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Author Website: Clare Marshall
Buy Link: Amazon


Book Description

Run.
That’s what instinct told me.
But in order to save the secrets of my people
and to protect my brother
I have to become the enemy.
From Goodreads



My thoughts:

The Violet Fox is a Young Adult fantasy set in a world, where there are two kinds of groups: The Marlenia and Freetors. The Marlenia are the priviledged ones, and live above the ground, while Freetors, live underground. Kiera is a Freetor, and will do anything to help her people.

This  actioned packed story is written in Kiera's point of view, and gives us a glimpse of her thoughts, what she is going through, the kind of decisions she has to make in order to survive.
I really liked her character. She's stubborn, fearless, determined, and dedicated. Although she acts tough, she has a weakness, namely her brother, and later on the Prince.

The worldbuilding for this story was superbly done. I could picture the underground place the Freetors lived, above on land where the Marlenia lived. The sights, and sounds through Kiera's eyes.

The romance:- what can I say, I do love a good romance weaved in the story and this one was done really well. Had some sighworthy moments.

The characters, each and every one of them had their own voice and mannerism. I could totally picture them.

There were some twists that caught me by suprise--which is a very good thing.

My favourite passages:

"He moved my black locks of hair out of my face and brought his lips--the lips that I had once slashed--to mine. I took thescars into my mouth and moved my tongue gently over them, as if hoping to repair them and make them truly one with mine. They weren't Freetor, they weren't Marlenian, they were lips, and those lips belonged to me. And when we parted, it was like he had taken a piece of  me with him."

How romantic is that?

"Father. People of Marlenia." Keegan reached for my hand and led me to the center of the pavillion. "Yes. This is the Violet Fox. The symbol of hope for the Freetor prople. The thorn on our side." 


I loved the ending! Now, I'm really looking forward to the next book in the series.



Author Bio:

Clare Marshall grew up in rural Nova Scotia with very little television and dial up internet, and yet, she turned out okay. She has a combined honours degree in journalism and psychology from the University of King’s College, and is a graduate from Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing Program. She founded Woulds & Shoulds Editing and Design in 2010 for self-published authors and businesses looking for quality editing and design services. She enjoys publishing books through her publishing imprint, Faery Ink Press, and released her first novella, Within in 2011. When she’s not writing, she enjoys playing the fiddle and making silly noises at cats.










a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday 2 November 2012

Cover Reveal: Holiday Fling by Victoria Smith

Today I have the another cover reveal by the awesome, Victoria Smith. Her New Adult contemporary romance, Holiday Fling, will be published on 26th November.





Book Description:

Tarrah Reid is aware that she holds the name of a famous Hollywood actress… Not that she cares, since the association helps with her "Christmas floozy” persona. She has one goal every Christmas Eve: sleep with her roommate’s cousin while the rest of the family is distracted by fruitcake. However, her annual conquest comes to a screeching halt when she winds up in the middle of a bank robbery and is miraculously saved by a handsome, redheaded stranger.

A few hours with medical student Chase Stewart has Tarrah’s mind in a daze and her heart aflutter. Suddenly, Tarrah no longer wants her fling—she wants Chase. But if there’s one thing Tarrah has discovered this Christmas Eve, it’s that the Christmas gods have it out for her. Her new favorite redhead and her fling have way more in common than just their towering heights. The anticipated announcement of fruitcake has never been more heightened. Before the fruited-pastry delight is served, Tarrah must decide what she really desires this Christmas Eve – a simple fling or something more.

A New Adult contemporary romance, Holiday Fling is a short Christmas tale with a spicy kick.

Release Date: November 26, 2012
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance (Novelette)
Cover designed by:  Mooney Designs.
To add Holiday Fling on Goodreads: 





About the Author:

Victoria H. Smith has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. She puts it to good use writing romance all day. She resides in the Midwest with her Macbook on her lap and a cornfield to her right. She often draws inspiration for her stories from her own life experiences, and the twenty-something characters she writes give her an earful about it.

In her free time, she enjoys extreme couponing, blogging, reading, and sending off a few tweets on Twitter when she can. She writes new adult fiction romance in the sub-genres of science fiction, urban fantasy, and contemporary, but really, anywhere her pen takes her she goes. 


Victoria H. Smith Links: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Thursday 1 November 2012

Spooktacular Giveaway Winners

Hello Friends,

First, thank you for taking part in the Spooktacular Giveaway. Thank you for following, and it is great to 'meet' you.:)


For the winners for this giveaway, please follow this link:

http://cecereadandwrite.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/spooktacular-giveaway-hop-oct-24th-31st.html

I will email you in a bit.

Thank you!