Michelle McLean's Blog, page 9

Cover Reveal! The 400 Lb Gorilla by DC Farmer

The 400 Lb Gorilla is the upcoming novel of a fellow Scene 13er with a gorgeous cover designed by my dear friend Lisa Amowitz. Check it out! :D



"Matt Danmor thinks he’s lucky. Not many people survive a near death accident with nothing more than a bout of amnesia, a touch of clumsiness and the conviction that the technician who did the MRI had grey skin and hooves.

Still, it takes time to recover from trauma like that, especially when the girl who was in the accident with you disappears into thin air. Especially when the shrinks keep telling you she’s just a figment of your imagination.

So when the girl turns up months later looking ravishing, and wanting to carry on where they left off, Matt’s troubled life starts looking up. But he hasn’t bargained for the baggage that comes with Silvy, like the fact she isn’t really an English language student, or even a girl.

Underneath her traffic stopping exterior is something else altogether, something involving raving fanatics bent on human sacrifice, dimensionally challenged baked bean tins, a vulture with a penchant for profanity, and a security agent for the Dept of Fimmigration (that’s Fae immigration for those of you not in the know) called Kylah with the most amazing gold-flecked eyes…

The 400 Lb Gorilla is caustic, (vampire-free) introduction to the Hipposync Archives: Contemporary fantasy at its sparkling best."

The 400 Lb Gorilla releases from Spence City in Feb 2014.

RUNES Trailer Release and a Giveaway!!

What reviewers are saying:

HOLY RUNES!I really enjoyed this story especially Torin *swoon*. Ednah did a wonderful job on Runes! It is a must read for fans of YA books!...Breanna

Wow! I’ve got to start by saying that it takes something original and excellent to surprise me, and this book did just that! I found myself about 75% of the way through the book with my mouth hanging open... Carrie Williams (Goodreads)

Oh HOLY COW! This book was a mind blowing surprise! I loved the way it turned out and I am literally going crazy over the ending. I was not expecting it to turn out the way it did....Maida...full review May 23



Links: where Runes will be avialable for a sale price of $0.99

Amazon Pre-order link for print | Kindle (US) | Kindle (UK) | Kindle (CA) | B&N Link | Smashwords

Runes

Seventeen-year-old Raine Cooper has enough on her plate dealing with her father’s disappearance, her mother’s erratic behavior and the possibility of her boyfriend relocating. The last thing she needs is Torin St. James—a mysterious new neighbor with a wicked smile and uncanny way of reading her.

Raine is drawn to Torin’s dark sexiness against her better judgment, until he saves her life with weird marks and she realizes he is different. But by healing her, Torin changes something inside Raine. Now she can’t stop thinking about him. Half the time, she’s not sure whether to fall into his arms or run.

Scared, she sets out to find out what Torin is. But the closer she gets to the truth the more she uncovers something sinister about Torin. What Torin is goes back to an ancient mythology and Raine is somehow part of it. Not only are she and her friends in danger, she must choose a side, but the wrong choice will cost Raine her life.

About Ednah Walters:

EDNAH WALTERS grew up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and dreaming of one day writing her own stories. She is a stay-at-home mother of five humans and two American short-hair cats (one of which has ADHD) and a husband. When she is not writing, she’s at the gym doing Zumba or doing things with her family, reading, traveling or online chatting with fans.

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released by Pill Hill Press in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, will be released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN.

Ednah also writes New Adult paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. She is presently working on book 2, IMMORTALS.

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published four more books in this series. She's presently working on book six. You can visit her online at www.ednahwalters.com or www.ebwalters.com.


Contact Ednah:

Website: http://www.ednahwalters.com/index.html
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdnahWalters
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ednahwalters

GIVEAWAY!!

You could win:


(This is for US mailing addresses only). Here is the Rafflecopter link:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dominus Book Trailer Release!

The last book in Christine Fonseca's Requiem series, Dominus, will be releasing soon and today we have a special treat. Her awesome book trailer! I love book trailers. They are so much fun to watch.
So without further ado :) .......

"It’s been six months since my memories returned. Six months since Aydan was again ripped away from me. Six months since I broke a piece of my best friend’s soul.
Six months...”

Nesy has found her memories, her life. Now all she wants is to forget and be human. Only human. But fate holds a different destiny. Forced into a war she wants no part of, Nesy is put to the test in ways she never thought possible as she seeks to fix the mistakes she has made. And the mistakes of her former master, Mikayel. Will she be the Sentinal she was destined to be and put an end to the fighting once and for all? Or will she fail and send humanity into slavery? The future of three worlds depends on the choices, and sacrifices, she must make in this final installment of the Requiem Series.




Author's remarks about Dominus:
"Each character's decisions, each twist of fate has led to this - a time when confusion reigns supreme, when up is down and down is up. And when the fate of humanity rests in the balance. In this final installment, the decisions of the past have come back to haunt the future, and the fate of Nesy and Aydan, Zane and Cass, Celestium and Infernum, hang in the balance. The only question is, who will survive.

This story is filled with anguish and betrayal, love and sacrifice, as I bring the series to an end. It's a story that has been part of my life for many years. Saying "goodbye" to these characters will be a profound experience for me.I hope all of you have enjoyed their stories as much as I have enjoyed writing them." - Christine Fonseca

AUTHOR INFO:
Critically acclaimed nonfiction and YA author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children of all ages find their voice in the world. Drawing on her expertise as an educational psychologist, her nonfiction titles address issues of emotional intensity, resiliency and giftedness. In fiction, she explores the darker aspects of humanity and delivers gothic thrillers that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. In life, she teaches her own children to embrace their unique talents and find their voice by being a force of positive change in the world.

When she’s not writing or developing programs to support children with exceptional needs, she can be found spending time with her family, sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about Christine Fonseca or her books, visit her website –  or her blog.

Free Story Alert!!

My dear friend Christine Fonseca is releasing a FREE short story in celebration of the upcoming release of the final book in her Requiem series, Dominus.

If you've read any of the Requiem series, you don't want to miss this. And if you haven't read any of the series yet, well you still don't want to miss this. It's a free story!! :D

Here are the deets:



Lorelei sees things other girls can't see. She knows about the demons and monsters. She's met them. Up close. And it's cost her everything. Torn between protecting her siblings and avenging her mother's death, Lorelei must decide which path she will take. And no matter what she chooses, her decision will influence more than just her future in this companion short story to the Requiem Series.

**This edition includes a special excerpt from the anticipated book Dominus, the final installment in the Requiem Series

AUTHOR INFO:

Critically acclaimed nonfiction and YA author Christine Fonseca is dedicated to helping children of all ages find their voice in the world. Drawing on her expertise as an educational psychologist, her nonfiction titles address issues of emotional intensity, resiliency and giftedness. In fiction, she explores the darker aspects of humanity and delivers gothic thrillers that take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. In life, she teaches her own children to embrace their unique talents and find their voice by being a force of positive change in the world.

When she’s not writing or developing programs to support children with exceptional needs, she can be found spending time with her family, sipping too many skinny vanilla lattes at her favorite coffee house or playing around on Facebook and Twitter. For more information about Christine Fonseca or her books, visit her website – or her blog.

SMASHWORDS
GOODREADS 

Annnnd a giveaway!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Chain - Can You Handle It?

This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Alyson who wants to know:

Have you developed thick skin as a writer? How do you handle having your work critiqued? Do you love revising? Hate it?
You know, my gut reaction to this was "of course, I've got thick skin! You have to!" But really....a bad crit or review hurts just as much as it ever did. The way I react to that has changed though. Now I give the sting a little time to wear off and then go back and look at everything again. Most of the time, with the emotional part out of the way, I can understand (and often even agree with) where the person was coming from. And I can make revisions accordingly.

I love getting crits because sometimes it's really hard to see the problems a ms might have because I'm so close to it. And by that, I don't mean that I'm overly-attached to it. I just mean I'm so used to the words and story that I sometimes just don't see the problems. But I no longer just edit everything that a crit brings in. If the critter makes a good point, or if multiple critters all point out the same thing, then yes, I'll make the change. But if it's a change that I really don't agree with (even if it's coming from my editor) I go with my gut. Being open to making changes, even drastic ones, is very necessary. But you'll never be able to please everybody so I instead of blindly changing everything that is marked, I think good and hard about it and try to make sure the changes I make are the best for the story.

I LOVE revising. It's my favorite part of the whole process. I actually have a really hard time with the first draft, that initial "get the words on the page" stage. But once I have some material to work with, I do really well. Even if I'm completely rewriting a scene or adding a totally new chapter. I'm a fast reviser and can usually do even fairly extensive edits very quickly and can happily work on them for 10+ hours a day. It's that dang first draft that is torture :)

How about you? Is your skin crocodile thick? How do crits go for you? Do you like revising or do you need a Valium when it's time to edit? :D

Be sure to stop by Demitria's blog to see how see handles these things and check out Alyson's blog tomorrow!

Scandalous Hero Wars!!!

Scandalous is hosting their first ever HERO WARS, and Leo from A Bandit's Stolen Heart is in the thick of it!

Wed April 17th from noon-2pm EST the war will rage to see who is the sexiest hero out there. It will be my own Leo Forrester vs. Robyn DeHart's Justin vs. Diana Quincy's Cam.

To check out their bios, head to the Entangled blog and get the low down on each of them. (Leo is going to win though....just sayin') ;-D

Entangled will also be giving away a Nook to one lucky participant and the three authors will be ponying up some gift cards as well.

Don't miss this epic showdown! It's going to be a blast :D

Blog Chain - How Do You Feel About Non-Fiction

This round's topic was chosen by the lovely Sandra who wants to know:

We all know it's important to read fiction if you want to write fiction, but what about reading non-fiction? How much non-fiction do you read? What kinds of non-fiction books do you read, and why? Has reading non-fiction influenced your fiction writing style?

I read a LOT of non-fiction. Biographies mostly. Most specifically, biographies of historical figures (mostly women). I've always been fascinated with the whole royalty scene, queens in particular. Maybe because historically women are seen as a little less capable of ruling than men (and most of the women who have made history have disproved that in spades. What's that saying? Well behaved women rarely make history? So true). :D

Some of my favorites: Eleanor of Acquitaine (this woman ROCKS), Catherine the Great, Lucrezia Borgia, Isabella of France, the wives of Henry VII (and his sisters), Elizabeth I, Marie Antoinette - to name a few :)

I'm also fond of reading encyclopedias. Researching has always been a bit of a time suck for me because I'll start looking up info on one subject and will find myself sucked into a million other fascinating facts. Back in the old days ;) BG (before Google) when we had to open an actual book to research things, I'd sit down with an encyclopedia and a few hours later realize I'd read through half the volume and still hadn't gotten the info I'd originally looked up :)

As a historical romance writer, research is still a big factor in my writing. I try very hard to make sure all the details in my stories are accurate (even in my contemporary stories, there is usually quite a bit of research to be done). I love this part of the process. But, I'll often just leave myself notes in my drafts such as [research this] - because if I take the time right then to research the details, I'd never get that first draft done. So once I'm in the revision stage I generally go through and spend some time researching (as well as researching before I even start writing, during the outline stage).

I also tend to research things I come across in my reading or tv watching or daily life - anything that strikes an interest that I want to learn more about. For instance, I had a lot of fun watching the Ancient Alien series which led to a bit of research on fun things like crop circles and weird phenomenon. :D I also have books on homeopathic medicines, crafty things, lots of How-Tos, (my hubs has an entire bookcase of cookbooks), a few memoirs, and a few other assorted NFs :)

How about you - do you read non-fiction? What sorts of things do you like to read about?

Be sure to stop by Katrina's blog to see what NF tickles her fancy, and stop by Alyson's tomorrow to see what she likes :)

And don't forget to enter my celebration giveaway! You could win a $25 gift card!!! (scroll down to next post) Entries are being taken until Saturday and the winner will be announced on Sunday the 14th!

Winner of A Bandit's Giveaway!!

To celebrate the release of A Bandit's Stolen Heart, I'm giving away a $25 gift card to the book retailer of your choice! Giveaway will run from Saturday April 6th to Saturday April 13th. Winner will be announced on Sunday April 14th. Easy enter form below! Good luck!!


$25 Gift CardYou need to enable javascript to enter this campaign !
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A Bandit's Giveaway!!

To celebrate the release of A Bandit's Stolen Heart, I'm giving away a $25 gift card to the book retailer of your choice! Giveaway will run from Saturday April 6th to Saturday April 13th. Winner will be announced on Sunday April 14th. Easy enter form below! Good luck!!


$25 Gift CardYou need to enable javascript to enter this campaign !
Powered by PromoSimple.

Friday Funnies

We haven't done one of these in a while :) Here are some funnies for your Friday :)