Sandra Cox's Blog, page 216

Wacky Wednesday

Cover Reveal: Avalon

Some cats need nine lives to make a difference.Avalon only needed one.
From Amazon bestselling author Vanessa Morgan, Avalon is the
heartwarming and once-in-a-lifetime love story of a girl and her
neurotic Turkish Van cat.

With humor, the author details how Avalon made other creatures
cringe in distress whenever he was around, how he threw her dates out
by means of special techniques, and how he rendered it almost
impossible for her to leave the house. Avalon was so incorrigible that
even her landlord ordered her to get rid of him. But beneath Avalon's
demonic boisterousness, Vanessa recognized her own flaws and
insecurities,and she understood that abandoning Avalon would be
the worst she could do to him. Thanks to her unswerving loyalty,
Avalon transformed into a tender feline, and even landed a major role
in a horror movie. In turn, Avalon made it his mission to be there for
his human companion.

Author bio:

Vanessa Morgan is an author, screenwriter, and blogger. Two of
her works, The Strangers Outside and A Good Man, have been
turned into films. Her short film script Next to Her is currently
in pre-production. When she's not working on her latest book,
you  can find her reading, watching horror movies, digging
through flea markets, or photographing felines for her blog
Traveling Cats (http://travelling-cats.blogspot.com).
Avalon has appeared in several of her books and films.

Purchase links for Avalon

Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1FTC8Ep
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/1ImdPRo
Amazon.fr: http://amzn.to/1JTGIF2  

Authors Against Child Slavery

Where authors unite to raise funds for Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.), a nonprofit that organizes undercover operations to free many of the 2 million children being trafficked as sex slaves around the world.Participating authors are donating their books in exchange for donations

Donate $20 to receive a free book from a participating author (book prizes selected at random).

Donors of $40 or more will receive two free books, a series, or a bundle (selected at random as well). 
Nearly 200 books have been donated by generous authors to help raise funds for this great cause--see the list of participating authors/books below!Give freedom, get a book

DONATE NOWDonate directly to O.U.R. through the Authors United Against Child Slavery Campaign
AUTHOR UNITED AGAINST CHILD SLAVERY LINKSLike the Authors United Against Child Slavery Facebook PageCheck out and donate to the Authors United Against Child Slavery campaign pageAuthors and book bloggers who wish to help, please fill out this online form
OPERATION UNDERGROUND RAILROAD LINKSCheck out the Operation Underground Railroad (O.U.R.) WebsiteFollow O.U.R. on TwitterLike the O.U.R. Facebook PageParticipating Authors/Books 

It's The Weekend

Have A Good One, Blogster Buds.

Thursday's Grammar Breakdown

 Passed and PastEver get these two confused? Passed means proceeded or moved forward; completing a movement.Example: The month passed quickly.Past is no longer in the present, a previous time. Example: He got the job based on his past writing experience.
It also means going beyond a certain point.
Example: I swallowed past the lump in my throat.
Passed is always a verb. Past is never a verb.
Example: No pedestrians have passed this way in the past month.

Wacky Wednesday

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Tuesday's Words of Wisdom and A Freebie

~*~ Free at Kobo until June 12, 2015

Blood Stitches Release

Remember this great cover?Friend and fellow author, Erin Fanning's Blood Stitches is finally out. She stopped by today to talk about Magic, Mythology, an Earthquake, and how inspiration strikes.
When an earthquake struck L’Aquila, Italy on April 6, 2009, 98-year-old Maria D’Antuono remained calm. As her stone house shook around her, she grabbed her knitting and crawled under her bed, keeping herself busy while waiting to be rescued.
I read about Maria’s plight soon after I learned how to knit; yet, I already understood the instinct to grab needles and yarn. The repetitive motion of knitting, I quickly discovered, was not only soothing but hypnotic.
The events adhered to my imagination, mixing together until they grew into a tale of magic and handiwork. What if you could not only find solace during a disaster through knitting, but also create a disaster?
Soon Gabby, Abuela, and Esperanza, characters from my novella, Blood Stitches, were pushing their way through my fingertips. But instead of Italy, my magical family came from Mexico, a country I’d grown to love while living there as a child, specifically the state of Chiapas, which has a rich history of weaving and needlework.
I discovered that Mayan mythology gave Ix Chel, the goddess of the moon, credit for teaching women how to weave and design textiles. From there, I unopened a rich world of mythology, primarily through the Popol Vuh, a classic text in Meso-American literature, which tells the story of creation through Mayan mythology.
Although the Popl Vuhtook place in Guatemala, I incorporated its stories into Blood Stitches. The twin myth and battle with the demon Vucub Caquix became the central plot for the novella.
Other bits and pieces from Mayan mythology also found their way into the book. The character Xta, for example, was based on the xtabay, seductresses who led men astray, and the giant brothers, Cabra and Zip, were composites of Cabrakan and Zipacna, the god of earthquakes and the god of mountains, respectively.
Eventually, the research into Mayan mythology led to an endless source of adventures, which I’m hoping to include in a sequel, with Gabby and her friends traveling to the Mayan ruins of Chiapas.
Ultimately, though, I learned that classic literature never really grows old. The stories in the Popol Vuh are as interesting and vital today as when they were first written hundreds of years ago—tales of betrayal, romance, and survival that rival modern novels for originality and entertainment.Blurb:It’s called El Toque de la Luna—The Touch of the Moon. At least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries capable of saving—or devastating—the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like touched in the head—until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…
Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters—and on a mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic disaster… And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each other.Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giNx53F7P3EBuy:Kensington/Lyrical: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/31335Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Stitches-Erin-Fanning-ebook/dp/B00ONTR8I6Barnes & Noble:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-stitches-erin-fanning/1121044500?ean=9781616506735About the Author: Erin Fanning spends her summers on a northern Michigan lake, where her imagination explores the water and dense forest for undiscovered creatures. In the winter, she migrates to central Idaho, exchanging mountain bikes and kayaks for skis and snowshoes. She’s the author of a mountain biking guidebook, as well as numerous articles, essays, and short stories. Find Erin online:Website: www.erinfanning.comEnter to win a Rafflecopter giveaway for a $20 Amazon gift card.http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/N2RjZDhmNjhlYTI0Y2QwZDk0NjE0ODFlOTNmOTE5OjI=/?

It's the Weekend

Enjoy it, Blogster Buds.

11 Things you Didn't Know About Hunger Games Trailer and Thursday's Grammar Tip

If you aren't a Hunger Games fan you may not be interested in this trailer, though it does have lots of interesting trivia, including recasting the cat in the first film and costumes that presented some unusual problems.

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Thursday's Grammar TipDo you ever have to stop and think whether it's hear, hear or here, here when you want to add an exclamation of agreement to someone's statement? I admit, I do on occasion. The correct term is hear, hear. How to remember...It's a derivative of  Hear him. Hear him.