Mimi Barbour's Blog: Believe!, page 18

Tips to help you get your work done at home. Think clean office... #amwriting

Whether you write novels, reviews, blog posts or short stories, you need to have a spot to do it all in.
This is known as your personal writing cabinet, or your writing space.
Some people work from home, and have an office or desk space just for them. Wherever you work, the environment will greatly impact your writing productivity, creativity and inspiration.
Writing is time-consuming and energy-zapping, whether you work from home or not. This is why having an organized workplace is essential. It will make you feel more positive during your working day.
OmniPapers provides a great infographic with a full cheat sheet for writing workplace organization, so you become more productive. Now you just have to figure out a place to start, and these three tips will help with that.
1. Get your desk organized
A desk for your working is important, and you should have a number of items on there to help make your workplace more effective. These include stickers, live plants, green tea (no, not coffee) and good light from a lamp. You may not notice at first, but they really will influence your tasks.
2. Invest in a good computer
All-in-one computers are great since you don’t have wires to worry about. There are pros and cons to desktop computers, laptop and tablet computers.
3. Keep your cabinet organized
Have two zones in your writing cabinet for computer and non-computer tasks. Consider different wall colors, as they impact productivity, and also make sure your comfort and health are put first. With everything working together and good writing workplace organization, your creativity will know no bounds.
These great tips were shared by Emily Johnson whose posts are informational and interesting. 

Emily Johnson, content strategist at OmniPapers blog, loves the writing process. She is a writing coach who shares tips and tricks to help others improve their writing skills. You are always welcome to contact her on Twitter.

Do you know who Thomas Wolfe was? #author Do you know who helped him become famous? #editor @CalebPirtle

So many new indie books are missing the handiwork and craftsmanship of a good, strong editor, someone who knows a good story when he or she reads one and, more importantly, knows how the story should be told.
I have always been infatuated with Thomas Wolfe, who, I know, wrote long, convoluted sentences and would have never passed muster in today’s style of brief, concise, high impact writing.
I loved his style.I loved his passion.I loved the emotion he could embed into every sentence.
Then, not long ago, I found out that Thomas Wolfe wrote wonderful fragments but very few novels. Not on his own anyway.
He was a genius. Thomas Wolfe could have easily been ignored as a tarnished genius. But Thomas Wolfe had an editor.
Wolfe had been writing for a few years on a novel and believed he was still a year away from completing the manuscript when death struck him down. His editor, Edward Aswell, sat down and began thumbing through the two bundles of paper.
Wolfe had left him a few chapters that had been completed. Some were in rough draft, some in partial draft. Many of the sections had not yet been typed. They had been merely handwritten in Wolfe’s typical scrawl, and Aswell had to guess at some of the penciled words.
He discovered that the leading character in the book had at least six different names. Some chapters were written in first person, some in third person. In part of the book, the protagonist had several brothers and sisters. In other sections, he was an only child.
There were stories. There were fragment of stories. There were fragments of sentences. In addition, Aswell was concerned because the manuscript was far too large, containing at least ten times more pages than the traditional novel. No one, he reasoned would ever wade through so much gray type. So the editor made a command decision. There was no one left or around to debate him.
Aswell, being the word magi, turned the manuscript into two novels: The Web and the Rock and You Can’t Go Home Again.
Both would be remembered as part of Thomas Wolfe’s lasting legacy. Through the years, there have been whispered rumors that after You Can’t Go Home Again had been published, Wolfe was never again welcomed into his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina.  Maybe not. He didn’t need to be welcomed back. He was already buried there.
We would not have had these two classic Thomas Wolfe novels at all. Or if we did, they would have no doubt been unreadable.
But Thomas Wolfe had an editor.
Every author needs one.

Caleb Pirtle is a wonderful author and a great supporter. He's a man I adore, one who works tirelessly on his website, Venture Galleries, to sell our books. 

Here is one of his books, well worth a read. It is now happily taking up space in my Kindle waiting to be enjoyed. If you wish to see other works of Caleb's, here is his Amazon author page.  

********


Join in on the fun for our  Fantastic Fall Giveaway  sponsored by the Authors' Billboard this month. 

PRIZES:1. $50 Amazon Gift Card for one NEW subscriber2. $50 Amazon Gift Card for one new OR current subscriber3. $20 Amazon Gift Card for the person with the most BONUS ENTRIES**
HOW TO ENTER:1. Like our Facebook Page2. Enter your email address to subscribe our newsletter
NOTE: Fans who are already subscribed to our newsletter can still enter the giveaway.**BONUS ENTRIES:After completing the entry form, all entrants will have the chance to earn bonus entries by sharing the giveaway link to their friends. 

Women of Words!! Multi-author Book Blitz #eNovAaw

Multi-Author Book Blitz ~ September 23 - 27
Thursday, September 24

A DIAMOND IN MY POCKET by Lorena Angell
(YA Fantasy)QUINTSPINNER: A PIRATE'S QUEST by Dianne Greenlay
(YA Fantasy/Historical)



A Diamond in My Pocket by Lorena Angell Series: The Unaltered, Book One
Genre:  YA Fantasy
A #1 bestseller in eleven countries, with over 225,000 downloads. A Diamond In My Pocket is a book readers have shown their love to with over 1,200 5-star reviews. Described by Bookbub as "J.K. Rowling meets Stephen King," the tale woven is one that feels ensconced in today's world alongside a huge dose of superpowers. Currently being optioned for film and television, so don't miss your chance to read this exciting book before it hits the screen.

Escape into this fantasy world full of paranormal abilities, and a hint of romance. After breaking the 100m world record, sixteen-year-old Calli is whisked away to a secret facility where she's placed with other teens who possess superhuman speed. She soon finds herself in a deadly situation involving other superpowers, a generations-old mystery, and a magical diamond. Calli will have to rely on her quick-wit and gut-instinct to navigate her new world which includes secretly carrying a power-infusing diamond, all the while steering clear of the young man who mistakenly believes she's his soul-mate.

Goodreads ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble ~ iBooks ~ Kobo
On sale for $0.99

Meet Lorena Angell

Lorena Angell lives in arguably the most beautiful location in the world, nestled deep in the scenic Columbia River Gorge of the Pacific Northwest, USA. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, bar-b-queuing, exploring the Pacific coast, and hiking in the Cascade Mountain Range with her family. She has yet to run across Sasquatch, but you can bet when she does she'll write him/her into a story. Lorena's novels appeal to those who like young adult fantasy/paranormal with a hint of romance and several twists and turns. If you enjoy reading about strong female protagonists and thought-provoking moral dilemmas, intertwined with magical stones and crystals containing superhuman powers, then you'll love Lorena's books.

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Website ~ Newsletter
Quintspinner: A Pirate's Quest by Dianne Greenlay Series: Quintspinner, Book One
Genre:  YA Fantasy/Historical
Even in the year 1717, one month, one week, or one day, can make all the difference in the world.

One month ago, Tess Willoughby was the daughter of a well-to-do physician in London, and she witnessed the murder of an old seer. Coming into possession of the dead woman’s odd ring – an ancient Spinner ring, known by the locals as the Ring of Prophesy, she was wrongly accused by her father of having stolen the ring.

Three weeks ago, by her father’s arrangement for the family, she became an unwilling passenger on a merchant ship bound for the pirate-infested waters of the Caribbean.

Two weeks ago, at her father’s insistence, she became forcibly betrothed to a man who she recognized as being the seer’s murderer – a man who covets her only for her ring.

One week ago, she met a sailor and experienced the thrill of being in love for the first time.

Two days ago, she realized that such a secret love would endanger them both, and, heart-broken, she was forced to choose her loyalty.

Yesterday, her fiancé betrayed her during a pirate attack and those she loved were slaughtered.

Today, she is plotting to save her own life and perhaps to take his in retribution. The ring is urging her to decide quickly...

Tomorrow will be too late.

A tale of pirates and treasure, love and betrayal, all bound together by a dash of ancient magic, QUINTSPINNER – A PIRATE’S QUEST is "the Rings meets Pirates of the Caribbean!" (Chapters reviewer)

Goodreads ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
On sale for $0.99

Meet Dianne Greenlay

Dianne Greenlay, is a Canadian author whose historical action/adventure QUINTSPINNER series has won multiple awards in Historical, Commercial, YA and Book of the Year categories.

QUINTSPINNER – A PIRATE’S QUEST and DEADLY MISFORTUNE, both award winning books which have proven to be wildly popular with readers on the global online site Wattpad, are the first books in the intended series. Greenlay is also the author of THE CAMPING GUY, which is available as both a short story and a one act comedy (“Best Play” Theaterfest).

Although she lives most of the year on the land-locked prairies, Greenlay enjoys traveling and frequently can be found in tropical climates hiking, cave spelunking, snorkeling, and sailing while researching historical sites in preparation for her writing.

Twitter ~ WebsiteWant to meet the rest of the  #eNovAaW Women of Words?Click HERE to find out more!

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A new inexpensive place to promote your book! #authors #Indie #mgtab

Recently, we have decided to share our beautiful newsletter with other authors who don't belong to our group here at Authors’ Billboard. This is what made us reach that decision:

- We’re a small group with a growing newsletter list and we don’t always have enough books on sale or free to give our readers adequate choice every week. By inviting others to submit their books, it will give our subscribers a lot more selection.

-  Also, we hope that the authors who promote with us will sign onto our newsletter in order to have a chance to win one of our monthly Giveaways of two $50 Amazon Gift Certificates or the special $20 gift certificate to whoever shares the most about the contest with others.

-  The Authors’ Billboard website is also a great place for anyone to visit. Come and see what our authors are up to. Find their beautifully presented books on our Books & Promotions page where 10 fortunate people from our Newsletter list will be given the opportunity every month to select whichever book they want as a free prize.

***Here at the Billboard , we’ll be working hard to get the word out about each promotion. Thirty authors have a long reach and plenty of connections through social media so we will do everything in our power to get your work the exposure it needs.


Therefore - welcome to our special place!
Come and enjoy, and please take the time to sign up your book
for the low price of $5.    
You must sign up by Tuesday for the following Friday.
~Only books priced at 99cents or free will be accepted.
There are no restrictions as far as reviews or ratings. 
***Find the LINK to the easy-to-fill-in author’s submission form
on the right-side panel.
 

Planting the Seeds of Love by @NNP_W_Light - Sally must follow her heart... #Romance

   

Title: Planting the Seeds of Love: 
A Novella Author: N. N. Light 
Genre: Contemporary Romance, New Adult, New Adult Romance 
Release Date: September 15, 2015 

Tagline: Torn between two men, Sally must follow her heart and decide if love will lead her to the city or the countryside. 

Blurb: Torn between two men, Sally must follow her heart and decide if love will lead her to the city or the countryside. Twenty-Two year old Sally Rayton returns to the family farm she deserted four years ago to bury her grandfather. Her plan: to settle her grandfather's estate and return to her life in the city with her boyfriend, Trevor Mattson. 

Her childhood friend, Jack Smith, has other ideas. Jack convinces Sally to transform the farm into a brewery and fulfill her grandfather's dream while keeping the Rayton Farm in the family. Sally works side-by-side with Jack while Trevor is hundreds of miles away in the city. The more time she spends with Jack, the stronger her feelings are for him. When Trevor shows up to propose to Sally right before Christmas and finds her in Jack's embrace, she must make the biggest choice of her life: true love.   

Excerpt: Sally woke up the next morning to the sound of a chainsaw, multiple chainsaws. What the hell is going on? It's five-thirty in the morning! She threw back the bedcovers and grabbed her robe off the back of the bedroom door. Pulling it tight across her body, the floral soft cotton robe did nothing to conceal the fact she was naked underneath. She ran down the stairs and stomped out the door barefoot. "So help me, I'm going to kill whomever is making that racket," she roared to no one in particular. She craned her neck to hear where the sound was coming from. Turning left, towards the citrus grove, she saw Jack and two other men standing under the trees. All of the frustration from the past week poured out of her and she ran as hard as she could. When she came closer, she realized what they were about to do. "Stop! Don't cut these trees down!" She panted. She put her hands on her hips to catch her breath. Jack's eyes roamed the length of her body and Sally could feel a slight warmth heat her cheeks. She looked down at her disheveled robe and pulled her robe tighter. Dammit, what's he staring at? She lifted her gaze and her stomach did a flip. Jack's shirt wasn't buttoned and she caught a glimpse of his tanned ripped stomach muscles. Oh my! "Jack, what are you doing? Do you know it's five-thirty in the morning?" He shook his head, as if that was an answer. She tore her eyes away from his abs to his face. She inhaled sharply. His hooded eyes looked ready to devour her. I must be seeing things. Maybe he's just hungry. The two other men set down their chainsaws. "Listen Jack, we'll be over at your farm eating some breakfast. Come get us when you're ready." Jack snapped his head around to the men. "Sure. I'll see you guys in few minutes." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I have to clear things up with Miss Rayton." Jack watched the men walk away and whipped his head back to Sally. Sally rolled her eyes and said aloud, "Yeah, you just have to talk to the womanfolk." She spoke in a sweet Southern drawl. "Remember to speak nice and slow so she understands ya'll."   

Buy Links: Available at Amazon Worldwide exclusively: 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01581XM50  
Paperback: Link coming soon 
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26134330-planting-the-seeds-of-love   

Newsletter: If you would like to sign up to be an exclusive member of #TeamPOTL, send me an email:   info [at] princessofthelight [dot] com   You'll get a free short story and you'll get sneak peeks into what I'm working on. Plus, every Friday, you'll get a special shout-out on twitter. :-)
   



Author Bio: N. N. Light has been creating stories ever since she was little. Her grandfather remembers when she was two years old, she would stand at the top of the stairs and tell him a story filled with emotion (and in a language foreign to him) with her hands on her hips. Let's just say she was a born storyteller.   She was born in Minnesota, lived in Southern California only to move to chilly Ontario, Canada to marry her beloved husband MR N. She is blissfully happy and loves all things chocolate, books, music, movies, art, sports and baking. Her mantra is to spread the Light.   Most of the time you can find her on Twitter or getting new ideas on how to spread the Light on Pinterest. She is a proud member of ASMSG, Independent Author Network and Marketing for Romance Writers.   In addition to being an author, she's also a book promoter/reviewer and social media marketer. She loves books, has ever since she was young. Matching up books and readers is something that gives her great pleasure.   She’d love to connect with you either via email or via these various social media sites:

Website: http://princessofthelight.com
Blog: http://princessofthelight.wordpress.com
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/nnlight
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NNP_W_Light
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/nnlight
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/n-n-light/90/1a7/902
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/118060034268079734144/posts
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/nnlight
Independent Author Network: http://www.independentauthornetwork.com/n-n-light.html  

•*¨*•♫♪¸ FANTASTIC FALL #GIVEAWAY •*¨*•♫♪ Incredible #Prizes - Enter to #WIN and then share with friends. #mgtab

Our Fantastic Fall Giveaway is a promotion we at Authors’ Billboard came up with to win the hearts of the readers. Go on - check it out!!
If you love to read, then please do yourself a favor and sign up for our newsletter which will automatically enter you into the giveaway. Once you’ve done so, every Friday, we authors from the Billboard will gladly send you our newsletter with a listing of multiple books both free and on sale for great savings. All our new releases show up here so you will be kept up to date with our newest books. 
As you know, we have wonderful authors in our gang – more than half of them are USA Today and New York Times best-sellers.
SO - Enter for a chance to win one of three Amazon Gift Cards!
PRIZES:1. $50 Amazon Gift Card for one NEW subscriber2. $50 Amazon Gift Card for one new OR current subscriber3. $20 Amazon Gift Card for the person with the most BONUS ENTRIES**


HOW TO ENTER:Go here and follow the instructions. It’s as easy as liking a page and filling in your name.
Click here:
1. Like our Facebook Page2. Enter your email address to subscribe our newsletter
NOTE: Fans who are already subscribed to our newsletter can still enter the giveaway.

**BONUS ENTRIES:After completing the entry form, all entrants will have the chance to earn bonus entries by sharing the giveaway link to their friends.

*****While you're at it, maybe you'd like a copy of the two free sampler books as our gifts for you:


Back Page Blurb:Here is the sampler you need to help you decide on your next book purchase. The authors -  USA Today and national best-sellers - are giving you just a taste of what's in store for you.   Want to find new authors without it costing the earth? Try Book Bites #1. Fourteen romance chapters from fourteen USA Today and National Bestselling authors lets you try before you buy.
Travel the world during your coffee break or on your commute, from Africa to England and Iraq to Florida with doctors, military heroes, cowboys and cops in contemporary, historical and Civil War romance. Whatever your taste, there is something for everyone in Book Bites #1 from Authors' Billboard.


AMAZON  B&N  KOBO  



Back Page Blurb:Here is the sampler you need to help you decide on your next book purchase. The authors -  New York Times, USA Today and national best-sellers - are giving you just a taste of what's in store for you.   Do you love stories of men and women falling in love against a backdrop of suspense and danger? Secret agents. Hidden identities. Lovers forced to revisit a dangerous past. Innocent women who stumble into murder. Long-buried secrets. Games of cat and mouse. If so, here’s an anthology for you. Book Bites #2 lets you sample fourteen heart-pounding romantic suspense chapters from fourteen New York Times, USA Today and National best-selling authors.
As you try before you buy, you’ll meet heroes and heroines at war with each other but forced to work together. A heroine on the run from an abusive marriage. A SEAL who promises to care for his best friend’s wife and baby. A heroine who dreams through others’ eyes. A werewolf and his partner on a perilous assignment. A woman falling in love with a man she suspects is a terrorist.

AMAZON  B&N  KOBO 

#Reviews - Do readers really care what others have written about a book? Well do they?

#13 Reviews – have been discussed so much it makes my head spin until I contemplate banging it against the nearest wall (except I’d be afraid of the repair costs :-))  As to whether they’re important – what do you think? Of-freaking-course they’re important.
But you already knew that! I don’t allow dummies on my blog and that’s what any person is if they don’t see how a bunch of good reviews can help to sell a book.

So knowing this, the 20 authors for Summer Fire decided that we needed at least 5 reviews from each of us to be placed as soon as the book was released.
Now I’ll admit to knowing I could get that many in an ordinary situation where my book had already been released and readers had left reviews. But remember, these were all new novellas. Deciding I would gift certain friends with the set and ask them to read and review my novella as soon as it came out, I felt calm until I saw just how many reviews most of the other authors managed to produce – the very first day!! Many had 20 or more and I swear they were all from people who had actually read their particular books.
Now I knew many of the girls had street teams and how important that can be for the social media aspect but I never realized just how freakin’ handy it was to have beta readers on that team who would be willing to read an unpublished version and then add their reviews on day one.
Huge lesson learned and one that I soon took care of. I now have a list of beta readers also and will be very careful to appreciate each and every one of them. Make sure that the work I send them is well edited and even ask them to make a note of any problems they might still find.
(Aside) I sent Special Agent Maximilian to almost 20 beta readers, and without asking, one angel actually made a list of corrections that had gone past three editors and two read-throughs by me. Now that is golden… and it deserves appreciation.
Back to Summer Fire’s reviews – day one after the book was released it had over 70 reviews and the rating was high – something like 4.8stars. Everyone loved the books from their favorite authors and were very complimentary. Anyone looking to buy the collection – keeping in mind that it was 99cents – must have decided that it would be a bargain they couldn’t resist. Sales took off and the more people we brought to the page, thanks to social media and promotions, were lured to push the buy button no doubt by the glowing comments.
For the Brides collections, we went another way. We hired Book Partners in Crime to do the release day blitz and that came with a number of reviews. Then, as the promoter for the sets, I signed us up for the Read & Review program $99 on Choosy Bookworm.
This is an easy and sure-fire way to get a number of reviews to appear on a certain day. It takes some effort and costs a fair amount of money but I’ve found in the past that it was worth the expense.
Of course, there are free ways to get reviews also. On Facebook, there are groups who advertise this and same on Goodreads. Truthfully, I just don’t have the time to find them all, jump through the loopholes and set the book up. I’ve also been involved with book swaps. You buy, read and review mine and I’ll do the same for you. I used to like doing this a lot with authors I knew produced stellar work. Then time became too precious and I had to stop.

So… through this whole post I hope I’ve made one thing abundantly clear. Yes – you need as many reviews as possible and the quicker the better!!
**Just try and get on some of the promo sites without them….
****************************************
~ I hope you’ve enjoyed reading these 13 posts about how to get your box collection on a list.  Because of the sheer amount of effort needed, they were never meant to turn you off of your goal. Just a comprehensive overview of what might be necessary to have success. Might I reiterate here – my friends – it’s all about the numbers – the sales!!!

Good luck!!  

How many ways can we get a reader to pay attention? Hellooo – new book here!! #Giveaway

#12 Facebook Events, Thunderclap, Headtalker, Giveaways and Rafflecopters – I bet you think all this is overkill. Right?
Wrong!
If you’re one person and trying all these different ways to get attention for your book, you’ll be hauled off in a pretty white jacket that has ties around the back - only your arms will be in them.  
But if there are ten or more of you in a box collection, it’s not that hard. Of course, as I harped… I mean mentioned before, you need everyone on board. I repeat… yada yada yada…
The Facebook Event  - can be a lot of fun. When we had ours, we hired BPiC to look after us and keep the event moving along. Each of the authors had a slotted time where we could promote our own books, give away prizes such as jewelry or free books and interact with our readers in a fun way. 
It was not only a benefit to sales, but every last one of us ended up with new Facebook friends and a lot of likes on our fan page. And… because we were giving away freebies, I’d set up a $20 Amazon Gift Certificate for anyone who would sign on to my newsletter, I ended up with close to 100 new subscribers.  Now that was sweet!!And remember, everyone is bringing new readers to the page – their own invited fans and friends – so it’s a nice for you to socialize and maybe score new readers.
Thunderclap $10 and Headtalker Free- This is up to you whether you want to go to the trouble or not. In case you don’t know what they are, both are sites where you can sign up a special tweet that advertises your book. Once you have the required number of people who have signed on to support you, (they’ll need to okay the tweet for their twitter page or have it appear on their own Facebook, LinkedIn or Tumblr) then the barrage of posts and tweets will hit the streams on whatever day you’ve requested. There is one pre-requisite. You must have the necessary number of sign-ups. Headtalker is 50 and Thunderclap is 100. As you know, getting 100 people to support you can be a lot of work. For ten or more people, it’s nothing and so we naturally set them up. I kept thinking of all those followers of the 100 /50 people who would get to see the tweet but I’m not sure that it actually produced many sales. Anyway, the BPiC girls will arrange this for you if you ask them and pay the small fee. Hint: there is a ThunderclapFacebook page that is a lot of help where you can get support as long as you give your help to others. And I also used the hashtags #thunderclap and #headtalker and picked up a lot of help from those twitter streams also. But for a single person, nah!! It’s probably not going to pay off.
Giveaways- In Summer Fire we had signed on to do a number of Giveaways. And these were at our own expense. Some of the Giveaways were cross-promoted and they worked well. They were set up on Facebook and individual blogs. We just typed up a blurb, set up the prize, added an image showing the collection and posted it on a certain page where everyone would go and share. My problem is that my images were childish in comparison to many of the others but I guess the readers didn’t care. Was it worth it? Not sure. But the book got lots of exposure.
Rafflecopters- These were mainly used on the blogs and through the book tours. Not a fan of these – mostly because I can never seem to set one up properly. Again, we had the BPiC girls looking after them so they worked well.
Facebook Ads – Now these are really worth your while if you know how to make them work. I’ve seen some people spend a fortune for a very small return on their investment. But we had a genius who helped us out with the ads, and though he’s expensive, we found it was worth every penny. He charges $125 for his work in creating the ad and then you still have to pay for the ad itself. Someone who knows what they’re doing on Facebook ads can get you a lot of sales. (I recently tried a Twitter Ad also, and it paid off. I was just playing around and spent very little but it’s something to look into.)  But… I digress. We didn’t do twitter ads for the collections. Near the end of the week, when we had to get those sales ramped up for Summer Fire, we all put out $50 Facebook Ads and those of us who weren’t knowledgeable  were helped by some of the girls who knew what the heck they were doing. I guess 20 authors all flooding Facebook with the same book collection made an impact. That day our sales jumped a lot. Probably was what took us over the line.
***Next post – the need for Reviews.

Speaking of GIVEAWAYS!!!!


Authors' Billboard has just set up a fabulous Fall Giveaway
with two $50 Amazon Gift Certificates
and for the person with the most shares - $20.
Come on over and sign up to win...
Authors Billboard  

"Lovin' Danger" A singe woman - a protective man! By @Jo_AnnCarson

Lovin' Danger by Jo-Ann Carson Series: Mata Hari, #4Genre: Romantic Suspense
Cover Designer: Nina FrenchRelease Date: September 1, 2015


A single woman – A double life

Sadie Stewart, international model by day, CIA operative by night, wants it all: the danger and intrigue of being a spy, the glamour of modeling on the international stage and the love of a good man. But after she survives a second assassination attempt on her life, her world spins out of control.

Art dealer, Sebastian Wilde, a Viking with cool, blue eyes and body of a Norse God wants Sadie safe and by his side. And Sadie’s boss, the infamous master-spy, Jeremiah Cole, demands she follow his orders.

When she faces the assassin alone, she defies both men and risks everything.

A cross between Covert Danger and Indiana Jones
Smart, Sexy Suspense



... a male operative wearing jeans low enough on his hips to make her eyes linger down there, where no woman likes to be caught looking in public, delivered her mother’s chest. Pulling her eyes up his body, she tried hard not to stall on his killer smile. It should be banned by the Global Warming initiative. She could fault herself at noticing his good looks, but as her best friend Mitch liked to say, “No harm in window shopping.” The man was a gorgeous hunk of humanity.

Looking at him, perhaps too closely, Sadie stood in her doorway, with her right hand on her gun in the pocket of her robe. No makeup, no shoes—a bit of a disaster. She felt drabber than drab. Why did Cole send this Greek God guy?

The answer clicked into her mind: because he wanted to distract her. Get her away from Sebastian. Her mouth broke into a big smile. Nice try Jeremiah.

The man’s green eyes looked her over without apology. Undoubtedly, he knew her code name, Mata Hari, and he had heard stories, possibly many stories about her escapades. The unmistakable, carnal heat in his gaze put the question in the air.

Was she interested in a morning romp with a handsome stranger?

Running a hand through her mane of hair, she gave him a pleasant smile, the kind you give your kid brother when he’s washed your car for you. “Let’s get on with it,” she said.




Book 1 :Covert Danger
Book 2: Born of Magic
Book 3: Ancient Danger

Jo-Ann Carson has lived most of her life on islands off the west coast of Canada, surrounded by snow covered mountains, lush rain forests and pristine beaches.

Growing up, she dreamed of traveling the world like James Bond, finding archeological treasures like Indiana Jones, and finding true love. In her Mata Hari Series she combines elements of adventure, danger and steamy romance.




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I've been waiting for one hell of a long time for this...!!! #Believe

I'm a finalist!!! Holy Woowee!! (That's not really the words I'm saying but I can't just write beep, beep, beep-beep-beep!)
This has been a long time time coming. Most likely because in the first few years when I started to write, I had sent my manuscripts away for different contests and the results were demeaning, heart-breaking, a 3 glasses of wine to recuperate kind of outcome. 
I decided then and there not to put myself through that kind of ridiculous pain again. So, I stayed away from contests. Until I met sweet Kiffer Brown at a convention and she talked me into putting my just-released book "Special Agent Francesca" in the Chanticleer Clue Awards. After an evening enjoying her company and few glasses of liquid courage, I figured it out. Oh hell! Why not? By this time, I had a bit more faith in my craft, my books were selling well and the reviews were positive. 
And look what has happened! I'm on a freakin' short-list!! 
I'm a winner even if I'm not the over-all winner. I'm stoked out of my mind ;-))) Maybe, I'll be able to finally add the words - award-winning author to the rest of my credits. 
How cool is that??
The CLUE AWARDS for Suspense/ Thriller Novels 2014 Official Finalist Listing
The CLUE Awards writing competition recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of  Suspense/Thriller Novels. The CLUE Awards is a division of the Chanticleer Awards International Writing Competitions. 
We are pleased to announce the CLUE Awards Official Finalists List for 2014 Entries, otherwise known as the “Short List.” The Official Finalists Listing is comprised of entries that have passed the first three rounds of judging from  the entire field of entrants. To pass the first three rounds of judging, more than sixty pages of the works below  have been read and have deemed worthy by the CBR judges of continuing in competition for the CLUE  FIRST IN CATEGORY positions and their prize packages.


Special Agent Francesca (Only 99 cents)


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My group, Authors' Billboard, 
is running a grand August Giveaway!!!
Lots of prizes and free books...