Cindy C. Bennett's Blog, page 33

The Pitcher Book Blast

The Pitcher “I never knew I had an arm until this guy called out, “Hey you want to try and get a ball in the hole, sonny?” I was only nine, but mom said, “come on, let’s play.” This Carney guy with no teeth and a fuming cigarette hands me five blue rubber balls and says if I throw three in the hole we win a prize. He’s grinning, because he took mom’s five bucks and figures a sucker is born every minute. That really got me, because we didn’t have any money after Fernando took off, and he only comes back to beat up mom and steal our money. So I really wanted to get mom back something, you know, for her five bucks.” A boy with a golden arm but no money for lessons. A mother who wants to give her son his dream before she dies. A broken down World Series pitcher who cannot go on after the death of his wife. These are the elements of The Pitcher. A story of a man at the end of his dream and a boy whose dream is to make his high school baseball team. In the tradition of The Natural and The Field of Dreams, this is a mythic story about how a man and a boy meet in the crossroads of their life and find a way to go on. You will laugh and you will cry as The Pitcher and Ricky prepare for the ultimate try out of life.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble

  Author William Hazelgrove William Hazelgrove is the best selling author of five novels, Ripples, Tobacco Sticks Mica Highways and Rocket Man and The Pitcher His books have received starred reviews in Publisher Weekly, Book of the Month Selections, Junior Library Guild Selections, ALA Editors Choice Awards and optioned for the movies. He was the Ernest Hemingway Writer in Residence where he wrote in the attic of Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace. He has written articles and reviews for USA Today and other publications. His latest novel Rocket Man due out May 1, 2013 was chosen Book of the Year by Books and Authors.net. He runs a political cultural blog, The View From Hemingway’s Attic. A forthcoming novel, The Pitcher will be out Sept 1, 2013. He lives in Chicago.

Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter


Blog Tour Schedule


BookBlast Giveaway $50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 9/30/13 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Salt Lake Comic Con - A Smashing Success!

So, yeah, I'm a week behind in posting this, but since we were still in the middle of the blog tour for The Experiment  I didn't want to have too many conflicting posts.

The first annual Salt Lake Comic Con was held here in Salt Lake City on September 5, 6, and 7. I had a feeling it was going to be big when they pre-sold so many tickets they had to change the venue. But I couldn't begin to imagine just how big it really would be. It was the biggest (meaning most attended) inaugural Comic Con ever, and the 3rd most attended of any Comic Con ever. On Saturday, there were over 80,000 people in attendance. The fire marshall closed the doors, and they were refusing to let people in, even if they had a ticket!

My booth at Salt Lake Comic Con 2013It was an exhilarating three days, though. I wasn't able to get around nearly as much as I wanted to, spent most of my time at my table, but I did manage to sneak off a few times. And wouldn't you know it, that's when someone would come to buy a book! I did have my beautiful daughter-in-law with me for the 3 days, though, so she would just text and tell me to get my butt back to the table.

My daughter-in-law, AKA Princess Leia
The amazing energy in the place kept me pumping, even when exhaustion threatened. I had to be there at a time that for me is basically the middle of the night (because I work at night and so usually sleep a good portion of the day). But the people who attended were friendly, fun people. And those who were there as vendors blew me away with their creativity.

Me and the talented Kienan Lafferty
I was sandwiched between two such talented people. To my left sat the handsome Kienan Lafferty, who quickly sold out of his original drawings from his free online comic book called Emma, which he calls "a little girl meets the walking dead". How cool is that? I went online and read them (he has 2 issues up) and they're pretty dang awesome. You can read his comics free here.

Me and the awesome Dan ShaeferTo my right sat the uber cool Dan Schaefer, who just happens to be the storyboard artist for the TV show Grimm. He also writes comic books, and was one of the original artists for the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (90's version). Dan has a company called Filmstoryboards.com, and guess what they do? Super nice guy, too. He was only charging $3 for his comics, not the $20 most others were!



Look: I'm touching Stan Lee! Captain Kirk!
My son, who I love to geek out with, was there on a VIP pass, and managed to wrangle a ticket to get a photo with Stan Lee. As he was standing in line, he called to tell me he could have two people in the picture, and did I want to come? Um, hello, YES! Someone gave him a free photo with William Shatner (who was charging $75 a pop!), so he let me come for that as well.


My daughter and I went to get a photo with Hercules . . . I mean, Kevin Sorbo. That dude is still rockin' it at age 54. (Recognize my beautiful daughter? She was the model on the original Geek Girl cover with black hair.)

Fuzzy photo of . . . David Tennant?
So, now here's my stalker story. As in, I'm the stalker. (Don't judge yet.) There was this dude walking around who was a dead ringer for David Tennant. Have I mentioned David Tennant is my all-time fave Doctor? No? Well, he is. So this guy comes by my table on the first day and I ask him if I can take his picture. Didn't have my glasses on so I didn't realize it was fuzzy (stupid old eyes!). So I spent the next three days trying to find him. On the second day, my daughter found him and took a picture with him in what she calls her "creepy" pose (she's not wrong).
Lexcie in her creepy pose with Doctor Who
But finally, twenty minutes before the thing ended on the last day, success! I found him and nabbed a photo.
Doctor Who?
There was a ton of cool Doctor Who stuff, and people there, which helped feed my obsession. The Doctor Who I'm with in the picture below is my friend's son, and he came to my table specifically to get a picture with me because I asked him to. What a sweetheart, huh?

Future Doctor?
I want for my next birthday!
I want both the dress, and the body
to fit into the dress!
If you don't watch Doctor Who, you'll think this is
dumb. If you do, you'll think this is the
coolest t-shirt ever.


Comic Con was one of the funnest things I've done in a while. I highly suggest if you ever have the chance, you get yourself to one. Heck, come to the Salt Lake Comic Con next year. I guarantee they'll be having one, and it's going to be even bigger. Then, while you're there, come find my booth and say hi, because I can promise I'll be there - maybe with my own cosplay on!
How awesome is this?
Cool R2-D2 cake.Both of these cakes, as well as the Tardis cake, were made by Mad Hatter Cake Studio.
There was a single person in this dinosaur costume, but he kept hitting people with his tail! Little Mermaid and the Tardis? Yes!
Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, aka
Glory from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, aka Yeah, dad, that's creepy (baby is real)
I could take this Hulk, all I need is a pin
You can even be historical at Comic Con

Woot!

During the blog tour for The Experiment , one of the bloggers, Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog sent us some interview questions. And somehow, between us 3 authors of the book (me, Sherry Gammon, and Jeffery Moore) we dropped the ball and missed them. She was kind enough to allow us to turn in "late work" (remember those teachers who were so awesome they'd allow late work? They were always my favorites). Not only that, but she ran a second post for the questions. Stop by her blog, Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog, to read the interview. You can also read the amazing review (5 oout of 5 stars!) she gave the book here. Thanks, Amanda, for your graciousness in our lack of getting the needed materials to you!


Pick up your copy of The Experiment today!

When A Thank You Isn't Enough

I've long maintained that without bloggers, we authors would have a mighty hard time selling a single copy of our books. It's by the kindness, grace, and giving of their time for reviews, and sharing blog space with book spotlights, that we're able to spread word of our books.

From Sept. 2 - 13, me and my two co-authors, Sherry Gammon and Jeffery Moore took our new release, The Experiment  on tour. From all of the USA, to Sweden, to the UK we were able to tour (ah, to really be able to go to those places . . .). Below are all of the kind bloggers who helped us out, with links to their posts so you can read reviews, enter contests, read guest posts one (or sometimes all) of us wrote, or to read interviews given to us by the blogger.

A big virtual hug to the following:

Getting Your Read On (review and our top 10 places to visit)
Reading, Eating, and Dreaming
Author Kimberly Patterson (Society Building in Fantasy by Jeff)
Author Cindy C Bennett
Author Juli Caldwell
Author Cami Checketts
Literary Wonders
Wrathqueen's Books (99 Have You Evers by me and Sherry)
My Book Addiction and More (giveaway - closed)
Author Tracker
Author Camelia Miron Skiba
I Am A Reader, Not A Writer (Pet Peeves by all of us)
Books Complete Me (giveaway - closed)
Bookworm Brandee (Collaborating on a Novel by me)
Why Not? Because I Said So (The Process of Writing This Book by Jeff)
Author Stacy Lynn Carroll (review and interview)
Author Jamie Canosa (Playlist for the Book by all of us)
Fic Talk
Pretty in Fiction (excerpt)
Who's Reviews (review and Jeff's Top 10 Favorite Books)
Author Sherry Gammon
Jeanz Book Read N Review (interview of us all)
Vamp Chix Bite Club (Creating Unique Elements of Fantasy by Jeff, and a giveaway open until 9/17)
Wicca Witch 4 Book Club (review)
Taffy's Writings (interview with us all)
Bianca 2B
All In One Place (review and excerpt)
Lexie Laser (Books We'd Like to See Become Movies, and what we think of the fate of bookstores by all)
Books, Reviews, Etc. (review)
Books R Us (giveaway, ends 9/18)

Read an excerpt of the book here, then grab your copy today at any of these retailers:

The Experiment Blog Tour: Last Day

It's here: the last day of the blog tour for The Experiment, the new novel from moi, Sherry Gammon, and Jeffery Moore. We have three great blogs who featured the book on their blogs today.
Lexie Laser, who's been a great support to me and my personal books, showed her love once again by posting not only info about the book, but she also had us answer the question of whether or not we felt bookstores would disappear and how we feel eBooks will affect them. As if that weren't enough, she also had us list our top 10 books we'd like to see become movies. You can read those posts on the Swedish blog (if only we could visit for real!) here. 
Over at Books R Us, not only is the book spotlighted, you have the chance to win a copy of The Experiment. Click here for your chance to enter and win!
Finally, at the last stop on the tour, Books, Reviews, Etc., did us the honor of reading and reviewing the book (and giving it 4 stars). You can read the entire review here, but below is a snippet of what Gayle had to say:
This novel's genre is Speculative Fiction. THE EXPERIMENT is a fast paced novel filled with romance, mystery and action. . . I would recommend this book to everyone, not just the young but the young at heart.  We all like a little fantasy now and then. Go pick up a copy and join Jules, Em and Cil in their world of drama, suspense, mystery, betrayals and a little romance. 
Thanks to all of you for topping off the tour in spectacular fashion!

Darkest Worlds Book Blast

Darkest Worlds: A Dystopian Anthology An anthology that explores what humans are made of when society falls to its knees. Darkest Worlds includes six original novellas by award-winning authors and best sellers of Young Adult and New Adult Dystopia. All proceeds go to Girls Write Now, a charity that promotes literacy of inner-city girls. 

Amazon * Kobo Barnes & Noble
  Nessa: A Breeders Story by Katie French, author of The Breeders: Eighteen-year-old Nessa knows what it’s like to be an endangered species. Growing up in a dying world where nine out of ten babies are born male, she survives by trusting no one. When Marlin, the nineteen-year-old gunslinger, kills the man who has been keeping her enslaved, Nessa decides he might be her meal ticket. What she doesn’t realize is love is still possible, even in their decimated world.

MOON by S.K. Falls, author of World of Shell and Bone: Loyalty. Obedience. Patriotism. Moon Stewart has no doubt that the New Amanian way of life is the right way. The only way. But was there ever a time when she felt differently? In this companion novella to the dystopian bestseller World of Shell and Bone, the secrets of Moon's past are revealed, giving readers a glimpse into the mind of their favorite antagonist.

The First Unforgivable Thing by Zoe Cannon, author of The Torturer’s Daughter: When a dissident working undercover as an interrogator is ordered to torture a confession from the only girl he’s ever loved, he chooses to defy both the totalitarian regime and the resistance by helping her escape—but she has an agenda of her own...

The Keeper by A.G. Henley, author of The Scourge: a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award. Peree knows his duty as the new Keeper of the Water Bearer, Fennel, is to make sure his people get every drop of their share of the water she collects when the flesh-eating Scourge roam the forest. He will motivate her, distract her, do anything he can to keep her working. He knows his duty is to his people and his people alone. What he doesn’t know is that he's falling in love with her.

Survival Lessons by Kate Avery Ellison, author of Frost: A young Farther prisoner named Eva escapes into the monster-filled wilderness of the Frost with a band of fellow inmates, all of whom are harboring secrets...but little do they know that Eva has secrets of her own. Set in the world of The Frost Chronicles.

clean slate complex by Megan Thomason, author of the daynight series: Homeless Alexa Knight agrees to help the do-gooder non-profit The Second Chance Institute in return for medical care for her sick mother. The SCI is wooing the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes--where "everything is provided" from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there's a catch...  

Katie FrenchFacebook * Twitter *Blog 
S.K. FallsFacebook * Twitter 
Zoe CannonFacebook * Twitter * Blog 
A.G. HenleyFacebook * Twitter * Blog 
Kate Avery EllisonBlog * Twitter 
Megan ThomasonFacebook * Twitter * Blog 
Girls Write Now--charityWebsite
The Girls Write Now mission is to provide guidance, support, and opportunities for at-risk and underserved girls from New York City’s public high schools to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy school, career and life choices.
 

BookBlast Giveaway $50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 9/30/13 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Experiment: Excerpt 12 AKA The Last One!

In conjunction with the blog tour for The Experiment, I've posted an excerpt daily from the book. You can see the schedule for the tour here to see what you've missed. Here's today's excerpt, the final one as today is the last day of the tour:

Juliet
      Dropping against the wall, Cil dipped her head to her knees. 
      “Take my hand. We’ll climb up the ladder and morph before he can catch us,” I whispered.
Cil tugged on her clothes and shook her head. “I’m not ruining these clothes. I have hardly any left.” That was so not the reason, but with Mr. Creeper only one level above us we didn’t have time to argue. Besides, we’d have to climb past him before we could get out. Cil pointed down. I gave her an unenthusiastic thumbs up. We had no choice. We’d have to go deeper in the mine and hope he didn’t follow.We tiptoed to the ladder. Cil stepped on the first rung, I quickly followed. Silently, we descended to the level below. When I tried to step off the ladder at the bottom, I couldn’t. My tunic was wedged on a rough shard of wood poking out of the ladder. I glanced at Cil as the breath caught in my chest. Help, I mouthed.I tugged frantically, but only succeeded in tearing it a little. Cil climbed back up and calmly placed her hand over mine. “You’re panicking. Relax.” She twisted and gently tugged on the fabric, freeing it. I reached around gave her a side hug.Our little celebration was cut short by a nasty hissing sound. “Well, well. Hello, cuteness. You owe me big time. And believe me, you will pay. Dearly.” 
Read the Prologue and first 3 chapters here. Thanks for coming to visit each day to read the excerpts, I hope you enjoyed them.

Get your copy of The Experiment today at these retailers:


       

Clean Author Event!

In honor of both Friday the 13th, and the special event being run by Clean Authors, you can get Immortal Mine for only 99¢! You can find lots of books by other authors that have been reduced to 99¢ or free for this event at their website here.

Pick up your copy of Immortal Mine as well as these other titles of mine that are only 99¢.

Friday the 13th Clean Author Event

In honor of both Friday the 13th, and the special event being run by Clean Authors, you can get Immortal Mine for only 99¢! You can find lots of books by other authors that have been reduced to 99¢ or free for this event at their website here.

Pick up your copy of Immortal Mine as well as these other titles of mine that are only 99¢.

The Experiment Blog Tour: Day 11

Only one more day to go for The Experiment blog tour. Be sure to stop by todays blogs who are hosting me and my co-authors Sherry Gammon and Jeffery Moore.

Kirsty at All in One Place was kind enough to not only read and review the book (which is AWESOME!) but she also posted an excerpt from the book. You can read that excerpt and her review in its entirety here. Meantime, here's a little of what she had to say:

The Experiment fits together seamlessly despite having three different narrators, and three separate authors. I did doubt whether this would work, not having read a book of this kind before, (hence it being 'an experiment'), but I feel that Sherry Gammon, Cindy C Bennett and Jeffery Moore have written an imaginative and intriguing story.

bianca2b let us come on over and hang out on her blog today. You can see that post here.

Pick up your copy of The Experiment today!