Frank L. Cole's Blog, page 2

The Guardians of the Finisher's Fury Cover Reveal

Here it is! I really am excited for the conclusion of this series. Writing trilogies are hard. It takes a lot to wrap up a book, but wrapping up a series made me almost go crazy. Here's the summary on Amazon:
Amber and Dorothy have found the Wrath, the last artifact of the Weapons of Might. But when Amber helps Dorothy investigate the Wrath s secret hiding place, something happens to Dorothy---something strange. Now, when friends become enemies and enemies become friends, Amber can only hope she knows who to rely on to stop the raging power they have accidentally released. You won't want to miss the exciting conclusion to The Guardians series.
And guess what? You can pre-order it for an incredible price! $11.46!!! That's crazy cheap. 
Click Here to order it on Amazon

Goodreads Giveaway of HB and the Whiz-tastrophe

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Goodreads Book Giveaway Hashbrown Winters and the Whiz-Tastrophe by Frank L. Cole Giveaway ends September 23, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win


Want an easy way to win a signed copy of Hashbrown Winters and the Whiz-tastrophe? Click over to goodreads and enter!

WriteOnCon 2013 - In case you missed it

2 years in a row and I must say, I feel blessed. That's right. I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in WriteOnCon for my second straight year. Seriously kiddos, this conference is totes cray-cray.

Hwahurl!

Sorry, I just barfed on my shoes. Not because of the conference, but because I allowed the phrase totes cray-cray to leak out of my mouth.

This is just a quick little post, but here's my video blog a.k.a. vlog I submitted for WriteOnCon this year. Let me know what you think.

Books to Sharpen Your Writing Mind

I just wanted to take a few to praise some books I feel help sharpen the mind when it comes to writing. Now, obviously if you're an author of YA or Adult or Romance or whatever, you'll want to stick to reading your genre for the most part. Whenever I read a certain type of book, I tend to start writing in that same style. Maybe I'm different than most people, but I don't think so.

Here are my choices:

If you write Middle Grade Fantasy and you want plenty of humor in the mix, go pick up -

Case File 13: Zombie Kid by J. Scott Savage.

Book Description - Case File 13: Zombie Kid follows three monster-obsessed friends who must solve fiendishly funny mysteries in their creepy hometown. Nick, Carter, and Angelo are obsessed with all things monster. And every Halloween they get to show off their monster-knowledge with elaborate homemade costumes. But this year, a surprise trip to the house of an aunt who may have been a voodoo queen throws a major wrench into the boys’ Halloween plans and lands Nick with a cursed amulet that turns him into a real, live (well, undead) zombie.
To Nick and his friends, this is . . . awesome! At first. Then the whole zombie thing starts to get a little out of hand (literally), and the boys have to go on a chilling adventure to reverse the curse. One that involves a talking cat, a skeleton who likes candy corn, and even the dreaded Zombie King himself.
That book has the perfect mix of creepy grossness and outright hilarious dialogue. The characters are witty and real and that's so important for young readers. They need real kids to read about and relate with. You won't go wrong with this series. Trust me!

Pick it up here: Zombie Kid

Janitors by Tyler Whitesides.

Book Description - The magical, secretive society of JANITORS will sweep the country in the fall of 2011. Have you ever fallen asleep during math class? Are you easily distracted while listening to your English teacher? Do you find yourself completely uninterested in geography? Well, it may not be your fault. The janitors at Welcher Elementary know a secret, and it s draining all the smarts out of the kids. Twelve year- old Spencer Zumbro, with the help of his classmate Daisy Gullible Gates, must fight with and against a secret, janitorial society that wields wizard-like powers. Who can Spencer and Daisy trust and how will they protect their school and possibly the world? Janitors is book 1 in a new children s fantasy series by debut novelist Tyler Whitesides. You ll never look at a mop the same way again.

There are two books already out in this series. The weapons alone are worth reading about and I really don't think I've read something so wickedly original. Great writing for helping you create unique elements to your story.

Pick up book 1 here: Janitors 1


The Books of Elsewhere by Jacqueline West

Book Description - When eleven-year-old Olive moves into a crumbling Victorian mansion with her parents, she knows there's something strange about the house - especially the odd antique paintings covering the walls. And when she puts on a pair of old spectacles, she discovers the strangest thing yet: She can travel inside the paintings, to a spooky world that's full of dark shadows. Add to that three talking cats, who live in the house and seem to be keeping secrets of their own, and Olive soon finds herself confronting a dark and dangerous power that wants to get rid of her by any means necessary. It's up to Olive to save the house from the dark shadows, before the lights go out for good.

It really reminded me of Coraline and there are parts that are downright scary. I read the first one with my 2 sons and they looked forward every night for the next chapter. Great description and an intelligent but highly likable protagonist.

Pick up Book 1 here: Books of Elsewhere 

The Source of All (well some of my) Madness

Yes, it has been nearly three months since I checked in. A lot can happen in three months. A third of a baby could be born (somewhere, I can hear my wife murmuring on how I don't understand child birth), half an NBA season can be played, and three months is generally how long it takes for a delicious Durian fruit to ripen. Don't know what Durian is? Look it up! It's disgusting.

STINKY (DURIAN)

In my three month absence, I went back to my roots. Kentucky, that is. Home of Ale-8, my favorite soda.

On my vacation, I took my kids to see the Crypt. Now, if you're an avid reader of this blog and you have the memory of an elephant (they don't forget things, or so I'm told), then you'll recall I posted about the Crypt years ago. Well, you'll be happy to know the Crypt is still there. Smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood. Back in the day, there was no neighborhood. Just a sloping hill and then a witch's hut beckoning to you.

I really feel whenever I try to get creepy in stories and add elements of suspense, I call up my memories of living just a stone's throw away from the Crypt. There are so many stories about that little room in the ground. Creatures with red eyes. Haunted houses and cemeteries nearby. I crazy old man and his wife who liked to shoot little children. I can't prove any of it was true, but as an elementary-aged kid, you better believe it was true!

Enjoy! And I don't know why the little video clip is so spastic, but... I don't care.



My kids braving the Crypt! I guess it wasn't that scary after all.

Giving Away Some Books!

Just a quick post...

Click over to my author page and participate in a little contest I've got going on. You could win some stuff!
https://www.facebook.com/FrankL.Cole

Also, I will be at Writing for Charity tomorrow (April 27th)  for a little bit in the morning. I hope to see you there!

Launch Party Recap

Well, it's over. I feel relieved because people actually showed up. As an author with a new book, that's what worries you the most. Will they come? Will they care? And I had huge support from friends and family, some of which came from a far distance to buy a book. I can't thank you enough!

My friend Dan, made this cool video of the launch party. Check it out and see if you can make it to my next book launch.
















And... for those out-of-staters, you can buy my book here through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Hashbrown-Winters-Whiz-Tastrophe-Frank-Cole/dp/1462110568/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1366590730&sr=8-2&keywords=hashbrown+winters

A Shout Out for Shannen's new book!

So being in the writing world you meet a lot of cool authors. Shannen is one of them and she has another book coming out that I'm willing to bet most if not all of you would like. Check out the synopsis, then click on the link to be entered to win a signed copy. Nifty eh?
Reagan West has a perfect life. She’s at the top of the high school food chain as co-captain of the cheerleading squad and she’s best friends with the most evil girl in Albany, Tawny Perez, which means she’s never on the receiving end of her wrath. The only trouble in Reagan’s perfect life comes from the constant threat of her dirty little secret leaking to her fellow classmates and casting her into a lifetime of ridicule.Reagan West is a closet gamer and hates her role as the evil cheerleader.But, as any well versed teenager knows, it’s better to suppress your own nerdy tendencies than to submit to a lifetime of being shoved into lockers and so, Reagan bravely soldiers through life as a reluctant bully… until a boy from her guild moves to her school and becomes Tawny’s next target. The newcomer threatens to reveal Reagan’s nerdy little secret and force her to come to terms with who she truly is. Now Reagan has to decide if she’s going to defend her fellow geeks, or if she’ll continue to be a total troll.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teen Author Boot Camp 2013

I still need 33 more "Likes" on my author page in order to give away some signed books. So click here:
https://www.facebook.com/FrankL.Cole

and like me for crying out loud! You don't have to "Love" me, there's no button for that as far as I know. Just Like me.

Now, on to other things. I spent last Saturday hanging out with some of my favorite people at Teen Author Boot Camp. It seriously is one of the coolest things I've been blessed to do. I, along with tons of other awesome authors (not saying I'm awesome because that would be vain), presented workshops to almost 400 teens in the Utah County area. Shannon Hale was there, people! Author of the Goose Girl and Princess Academy and Austenland (soon to be a movie this summer.) Kiersten White was there! And so was J. Scott Savage, Tyler Whitesides, Marion Jensen, Tess Hilmo, Cindy Bennett, J.R. Johannsen, Janette Rallison, Aprilynne Pike, Chad Morris. Amy Jameson (Literary Agent) presented as well. She's amazing! And of course Writer's Cubed (Jo, Tahsha, Lois, Jennifer, Margie, and James) who put on the show. These guys can all write like banshees and they know how to throw a shindig. What the heck did I just say?

It was crazy and awesome and overwhelmingly fun. Here are some pics:



Me holding a book like a sandwich. Mmmm...

Chillin' with the geniuses (J. Scott Savage and Tyler Whitesides)

Look at all those future bestsellers!

Proof that authors are people too.

Just not human people.

Yeah...

My Harlem Shake Moment.

Ah, look at them. All tuckered out.
And now a Writing Tip from the workshop I presented at Teen Author Boot Camp, "Finding Your Characters".
How important is dialogue, particularly when writing for Middle Grade audiences? Well, let's put it this way: Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (yeah, you've heard of those) sure seems to think dialogue has some value. Of the 375 pages of his first NY Times Bestselling book, The Lightning Thief, 93% of those pages contained dialogue. It is a critical piece of character development. If you find yourself drifting through pages and pages of descriptive scenery without a break or even a hint of a quotation, you may want to rethink your plan. How does your main character react to the scene? What are they thinking? What do the secondary characters have to say about it? Not all books have to be brimming with dialogue, but if you're struggling to find your writing rhythm or you discover your readers are zoning out, take a look at your dialogue. 

Set Yourself a Timed Goal

As I wait for my copies of my new Hashbrown book to arrive, I feel the need to give away something else. Do you want to know about one of my favorite series? Farworld by J. Scott Savage simply rocks! It is fantastic middle grade fantasy with two awesome main characters. I’ve read his first 2 books and listened to them on audio and I’m just about to start the recently released third book in the series. So… I’ll be going to attend an event where Mr. Savage will be signing his books within in the next week and I will have paperback copies of his first and second Farworld books autographed. Once we’ve hit 375 Likes on my author page -

https://www.facebook.com/FrankL.Cole

I’ll do a drawing and give them away.  Just hunker down and “like” me for crying out loud and spread the word to the world!

Now for a tip. I've posted this one before, but I think it can be helpful to repeat. I learned this one at a conference from a pretty well-known author named James Dashner. When writing we often set "word" goals to accomplish. For example: Today I will write 2,000 words before powering off my computer, or tomorrow I won't eat until I've written 3,500 words. Though it is great to set goals to motivate yourself, I sometimes suffer from writer's block when I force myself to write a certain number of words.  Also, I have found at times, my writing won't be as sharp and focused as it needs to be if I'm always trying to crank out massive quantities of words. So, to mix things up, try setting yourself "timed" goals where you write for a specific amount of time. For example: Today I will write and work on my project (and not play on Facebook) for an hour, or two hours, or six hours depending on your ability to do so. That way you can tell yourself, Hey, if I write one solid chapter, or create a strong protagonist, or fix a plot hole I've been dealing with for weeks during that period, you can consider your writing time as a success. You can still keep track of what you accomplished in word count for the day, but you don't have to beat yourself up for not hitting a word goal. I once spent three hours in my office trying to come up with a name for my main character. I succeeded in naming him Stephen Thomas and the book has never been published. Er... that was a counterproductive statement, but I still felt like I had accomplished something even though I never hit a particular word goal.

As always, my tips may not work for you, but ha ha, you just read them. :)

Now go to Facebook and Like my page. Trust me. It's the right thing to do.