Lizzy Ford's Blog, page 56

Winners of last week's ebook giveaways!

I love this time of the week, because I get to make a couple people happy! Yay!  Below, I've posted the winners of the two giveaways from last week.  Congrats to the winners!

Winner of the Heather Marie Adkins Collection (Best eBooks of 2011): Crystal Young (who 'liked' the post)

Winner of "Terra Incognita" by Joshua Corey Mays: Tia Aulia (who commented and shared on FB)

 Crystal – please send me an email! LizzyFord2010@gmail.com

Kindle Fire Giveaway – Enter to win thru 14 Feb!

The Eclective, a group of awesome fiction writers, is hosting a Kindle Fire Giveaway now through 14 February. International entries are welcome! Details below and at the Eclective's website.

Kindle Giveaway – Come On Baby Win My Fire!

Valentine's Day is coming up.  That's right.  We love it.  We hate it.  But it comes around every year whether we like it or not.

This year The Eclective will be giving away one Kindle Fire to one of our readers.  Just because we love you!

To enter:

Easy! Just enter your details in the Rafflecopter below between 12:01am (EST) 21 January 2012 and 12:01am (EST) 14 February 2012.

You get one entry for each of the following:

Leave a comment on this blog.
Tweet about the giveaway.
Like The Eclective Books on Facebook.  (http://www.facebook.com/IndieEclectiveBooks)
Like Ebook Deal of the Day on Facebook. (http://www.facebook.com/Ebookdealoftheday)
Like UK Ebook Deal of the Day on Facebook. (http://www.facebook.com/EbookdealofthedayUK)

You get 25 extra entries if you email us a proof of purchase for any one of The Eclective member's books (purchased during the giveaway – does not count free books).

You can browse the books on the Eclective's website!

The winner will be announced here and on the Eclective's website on Valentine's Day. Will win one brand new Kindle Fire shipped directly from Amazon.com to the physical address provided by you. (This includes only the Fire and shipping, no additional taxes or extras.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Guest Post and Book Feature: "Cold My Heart" by Sarah Woodbury

Please welcome Sarah Woodbury on her first visit to Lizzyland!  Sarah was kind enough to write a guest post about the historical background of King Arthur's existence, research she also used while writing her historical fantasy, Cold My Heart. Here's Sarah!

Set in sixth century Wales, Cold My Heart tells the story of Myrddin and Nell, a journeyman knight and a former nun, who share a vision of a terrible future—one which encompasses the death of their King and the loss of their country . . . 

Writing historical fantasy set in the dark ages requires research that goes beyond the world building of epic fantasy, but carries with it similar characteristics, since we know so little about that era in Britain.  For my Arthurian novel, Cold My Heart, I start with the knowledge that the Saxons (in actual fact, a combination of several Germanic groups) invaded Britain after the Romans abandoned the island in 410 AD.  King Arthur, if he existed, would have been born around 480 AD, but whether the real Arthur—the living, breathing war leader who defeated the Saxons for a generation—ever existed has never been proven.

The paucity of historical documents from that time period is to blame.  What we have are three sources:

1) Y Goddodin—a Welsh poem by the 7th century poet, Aneirin, with it's passing mention of Arthur. The author refers to the battle of Catraeth, fought around AD 600, and describes a warrior who "fed black ravens on the ramparts of a fortress, though he was no Arthur".

2) Gildas, a 6th century British cleric who wrote De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae (On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain). He never mentions Arthur, although he states that his own birth was in the year of the siege of Mount Badon. The fact that he doesn't mention Arthur, and yet is our only historian of the 6th century, is an example of why many historians suspect that King Arthur never existed.

3) Taliesin, a 6th century Welsh poet, who wrote several poems about Arthur.  Including the lines:  " . . . before the door of the gate of hell the lamp was burning.  And when we went with Arthur, a splendid labour,  Except seven, none returned from Caer Vedwyd."

From these seeds grew the myth of Arthur, which the Normans (and then the French) co-opted, adding the Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur love triangle, the sword in the stone, Merlin, and Arthur's incestuous relationship with his sister Morgan along the way.

By 1191, the monks of Glastonbury were claiming knowledge of his grave, and soon after, the link between Arthur and the Holy Grail, which Joseph of Arimathea supposedly brought there. By 1225, monks in France had written The Vulgate Cycle, telling of the holy grail from the death of Jesus Christ to the death of Arthur. This story became the standard version used throughout Europe.

Whether or not King Arthur was a real person is an either/or query.  He either was or he wasn't.  Many scholars, researchers, and Arthurophile's have strong opinions on this topic, both for and against though much of the academic work has come down on the side of 'wasn't'—or at least if Arthur was a real person, his name was not 'Arthur' and he possible wasn't even a king.

For the purposes of my book Cold My Heart, I choose to believe that Arthur was real, that he was backed into a corner by his duplicitous nephew, Modred, and did not die at Camlann as the Norman/French/Anglo version says, but lived to see his country securely in the hands of a worthy heir.  At the same time, the world of Cold My Heart rests in the balance between the historical Wales of 537 AD, and the quasi-medieval Arthurian world that readers have grown to love throughout the ages.

Cold My Heart

By the autumn of 537 AD, all who are loyal to King Arthur have retreated to a small parcel of land in north Wales. They are surrounded on all sides, heavily outnumbered, and facing near certain defeat.

But Myrddin and Nell, two of the King's companions, have a secret that neither has ever been able to face: each hasseen that on a cold and snowy day in December, Saxon soldiers sent by Modred will ambush and kill King Arthur.

And together, they must decide what they are willing to do, and to sacrifice, to avert that fate.

Purchase from: Amazon, Amazon UK, BN, iTunes, or Smashie. Paperback version available from Amazon or Createspace.

About Sarah

With two historian parents, Sarah couldn't help but develop an interest in the past. She went on to get more than enough education herself (in anthropology) and began writing fiction when the stories in her head overflowed and demanded she let them out.  Her interest in Wales stems from her own ancestry and the year she lived in England when she fell in love with the country, language, and people. She even convinced her husband to give all four of their children Welsh names.

She makes her home in Oregon.

Chat with Sarah via her website, Facebook, or Twitter!

Guest post and book feature: Stephanie Abbott

Today, I'm featuring something a bit different: an essay by an author who writes male-male romance books. Stephanie was polite enough to not think I was crazy or rude when I ventured to ask her, "what on earth makes you write m-m romance??" What I found out: like me, she loves the challenge of writing something different.  Please welcome Stephanie Abbott to Lizzyland!

Why I write M/M Romance

by Stephanie Abbott

I get this question a lot.  Partly because in the "real world" not everyone is aware that M/M romance exists.  To these folks, a romance is always between an unmarried M/F couple.  They've never glimpsed a paperback featuring two gorgeous males in the mass market section at Walmart or Target!  And when these denizens of the "real world" learn about the genre, they tend to assume it's written by men for men.  No chicks allowed.  Yet here I am, female, gay, and writing my own m/m offerings.  The next question is always, why?

Because writing m/m romance lets me escape my own life and live an altogether different one.   Let's face it, being female comes with its own unique set of issues.  If I'm writing to escape, to enjoy myself while creating something new, I know the female side of romance a little too well.  Besides, in real life, I'm blessed to be living out my own HEA with the woman of my dreams.  When I tell a story, I want to express new things and experience them vicariously.  In Something Different, it was fun for me to "become" an unhappily married father of two who simply cannot endure the status quo for one more minute.  At the same time, I got to step into a second completely alien life – a young male hustler who knows he won't be pretty enough to stay on the game forever.

Because it's sexy.  Maybe it's just me, but m/m romance creates some gorgeous imagery.  The muscled bodies, the high cheekbones, the huge – um, talent.  There's a frisson of pain, danger, and domination.  Top or bottom?  True love or pure lust?  A romance for the ages or an exercise in quick, dirty desire?   Sometimes when I say this, talking with my hands as I do when I'm excited, people give me a certain look.  Then they say, "Um, if you're gay, you shouldn't like the idea of two men together."  Nonsense.  Plenty of straight people adore it, after all.  As far as I know, there's no human sexuality handbook that lays out in exquisite detail what each of can – and should – find sexy.

Because it's a challenge.  In Something Different, the protagonist, Michael, starts out as everything I'm not – compulsively neat, shy, rigidly logical and afraid to speak up for himself.  But the more deeply Michael becomes involved with the rent boy, James, the more Michael's cool intellectualism helps him cope.  Imagining how Michael – not me! – would react to each new situation was a wonderful creative exercise.

In Protection, I decided the protagonist would be a double murderer.  Also the survivor of an abusive home life and a devout Catholic, too.  For the record, I'm not a murderer, my family wasn't abusive and I'm not particularly religious.  But imagining those traits was easy compared to deciding how a blue collar man in the 1930s would talk, behave, and conduct himself as he falls in love with another male.  I did more period research on emotional attitudes of the time than on prison life – and I did a lot on prison life.  But writing both books was a labor of love, worth every minute.  So there's my answer in a word.  Why do I write m/m romance?  Love.

Stephanie's books

Unhappily married Michael Maguire decides to do something different. Setting out to hire a female prostitute, Michael instead finds blue-eyed, beautiful James Campbell. Tempted in ways he never imagined, Michael embarks on a sexual adventure with a rent boy from London's East End. No form of pleasure is off the table. Not even love…

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

When Gabriel MacKenna enters Wentworth Prison in 1931, he promises himself two things: never to be buggered and never to turn prison queer. Tough, smart, and ruthless in a fight, he quickly makes a name for himself inside. But Gabriel is serving two life sentences. And life is a very long time.

Enter Joey Cooper. Trained at Oxford as a physician, the young doctor is innocent of prison culture and too handsome for his own good. Joey cannot hope to survive Wentworth without protection. And protection is just what Gabriel MacKenna offers. At a price…

Purchase from: Amazon.

About Stephanie

S.A. Reid is a pseudonym for Stephanie Abbott, a writer of fantasy adventures. Her first book, a reincarnation romance called PAST LIVES #1: RACHEL is now available.

Stephanie also writes cozy mysteries like ICE BLUE and BLUE MURDER (coming Spring 2012) under the pen name Emma Jameson. And as S.A. Reid she writes adult romances like SOMETHING DIFFERENT, PROTECTION, and SOULLESS (coming Spring 2012).

Talk to Stephanie via her website, Facebook or Twitter!

Best eBooks of 2011: Heather Marie Adkins Collection

Today is the final installment of the Best eBooks of 2011 series, and we're finishing strong with one of my favorite authors, Heather Marie Adkins!  She writes about witches and fairies, which are underrepresented in the paranormal genre. Heather also writes touching contemporary fiction, such as her tale about a family forced to move on after the mother of a small child dies.  The winner will receive all four books in the Heather Marie Adkins Collection! I'll announce the winner by the end of the week!  Drop by and congratulate the newly affianced Heather via her blog, Facebook, or Twitter!

To enter the giveaway: comment on this post OR share with your social media networks through the buttons following this post OR RT my tweet OR like, share, or comment on Facebook OR +1, share, or comment on Google+!

Martin's existence has centered on his wife, Sophie, for thirteen years.  Their tumultuous, explosive relationship ends in adultery and her abrupt death, leaving Martin to pick up the pieces of the life she built for them – and a daughter he barely knows.  With the touching insights of his little girl and memories of Sophie to keep him going, Martin navigates the year after her death in a series of lists, finding that happiness is something to create, not expect.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

Anne Marie has issues and they all stem from her mother.

On top of losing the genetic lottery, she's also dealing with an unexpected breakup from the man she thought she would marry.  When the depression sends her spiraling into a self-destructive party phase that rivals the old adage Sex-Drugs-Rock'n'Roll, her parents decide to get her out before she destroys herself.

AnnRee's best friend lives and works abroad where she's just become engaged; Anne Marie is on the next flight out of New York and thankful to be rid of the negativity.  A whirlwind bachelorette trip in Ireland introduces her to a gorgeous man who is too good for her, and puts another one of her friends in the hospital, leaving her just as bereft as before.

AnnRee realizes that in order to be happy, she has to create her own way, and it's not going to be easy.

Sometimes, you have to accept life as it is to get where you want to be.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

When Abigail's supposedly immortal faery mother is found murdered, her human father sells her in to slavery. Bought by a young and wealthy landowner named William, she is whisked away to a Grecian island to play caretaker for his baby sister.

However, the island has a deadly secret connected to Abigail's past. Her budding romance with William is shattered by Abigail's intimate, unwanted connection with the island's faery prince.  Meanwhile the faery king plans revenge upon the family. Abigail must join forces with the very race she's sought to deny, to save the humans she has learned to love.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

Vale Avari has a mysterious past and a laundry list of super-powers, but that's nothing compared to what she finds upon moving from small town U.S.A to even smaller-town England.

A chance dart throw lands her in Quicksilver, an off-the-map place with a big problem – people are dying, and word is, it's supernatural.

At her new place of employment, a temple dedicated to the ancient Mother Goddess, Vale learns something even more shocking – women guards are disappearing at an alarmingly patterned rate; women who possess special gifts like her own.

Supernatural powers aside, Vale isn't ready to believe in the Wild Hunt as the culprit, and she's determined to prove the deaths are acts of human violence.

Plagued by a brute with a history of domestic violence and lusting after a dark-eyed man with a secret, Vale has a limited amount of time to discover the killer before he strikes again. In the process, she'll learn things aren't always what they seem and the supernatural might not be so extraordinary after all.

The Hunt could ride for her.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

Book Feature and Giveaway: "Terra Incognita: The Abyss" by Joshua Corey Mays

Please welcome Joshua to Lizzyland! Today's book feature and giveaway is a contemporary fantasy entitled "Terra Incognita: The Abyss," the first book in a trilogy by Joshua Corey Mays. This is a fun one, for those who like their fantasy dark, about a young man who stumbles into a treasure hunt that could get him and those he loves killed, if he doesn't find the magical items he seeks. (And I hear book two will be out really soon – I included a sneak peek of the cover!) Purchase from: Amazon or BN.

To enter the giveaway: comment on this post OR share with your social media networks via the buttons following this post OR RT my tweet OR like, share or comment on the post on Facebook OR +1, share or comment on Google+!

Benjamin Harking is an independent teenager who often comes home from his boarding school to an empty house. During one lonely Christmas vacation, he finds a hidden room, secreted away beneath the stairwell. Inside is an ancient book that opens a doorway into a dark world of myth and magic. Forced on a quest for four magical items, Ben will face danger at every turn, meet new allies, and do whatever it takes to complete his goals before the evil Azothothus has a chance to exact his plans -the awakening of the primeval beings known only as the Hollow.

About Josh

"Hello, my name is Joshua Mays. Ever since I was about 16, writing was the only thing that made sense to me. Call it a penchant for something I was good at, or just nature. I'm not really sure. Either way, I didn't start taking myself seriously until last year when i decided to give up my childish ways of partying and such to write a novel.

It took me about a year to finish it, and then i decided it wasn't good enough. Now, I'm in the process of rewriting the whole thing from scratch and my enthusiasm was so great that i decided to self publish it in pieces. I guess i just got tired of the waiting. I just published the first part (of three) of my novel titled Terra Incognita.

Its a story of a young man who discovers a way into a forbidden world sealed off from our own thousands of years ago. All the stories and myths we've heard can exist in some fashion here. Ben (The main character) finds himself caught in the middle of a situation where one man is trying to resurrect an ancient evil that lies in the very hearts of all mankind: The hollow. All he wants is to get home, but in order to do so, he has to go through the very thing that threatens this world.

Its and epic journey in a world that allows me a lot of freedom to create as i see fit. I like to think of it as a sand box story, because there is a way to make everything work here as long as I use a fair amount of tact.

It is my goal to be a successful, working writer and hopefully move on to other endeavors with the skills and talent I learn by writing." From Josh's official Amazon bio.

Chat with Josh via his website, Facebook or Twitter!

Winners of last week's giveaways

I'm a bit slow on the draw. My apologies for slacking!  Ha! In any case, the winners for last week's giveaways are below! Grace and Angie – you should have emails from me in your queue. Carolyn, please send me an email: LizzyFord2010@gmail.com!

Winner of "100 Unfortunate Days" by Penelope Crowe: Grace, who commented on the post

Winner of "No Way Out" by Christine Kersey: Angie Edwards, who commented on the post and shared to Facebook

Winner of the Best eBooks of 2011: M. Edwards McNally Collection: Carolyn Cleverley, who 'liked' the post

Book feature and giveaway: "100 Unfortunate Days" by Penelope Crowe

Please welcome Penelope Crowe, author of today's book feature, 100 Unfortunate Days, a truly unique, journal-like book about a woman – and life.  Welcome, Penelope!

To enter the giveaway: comment on this post OR share with your social media networks via the buttons at the bottom of this post OR retweet my tweet OR like, share or comment on Facebook OR +1, share or comment on Google+! I'll announce the winner on Saturday!

100 Unfortunate Days is the diary of a woman on the verge of a breakthrough–or breakdown. Her musings are at times surreal and dark, and other times beautiful and dream-like. She allows herself to admit the secret thoughts that cross our minds, but we often censor. She speaks of her abysmal marriage, her regrets of becoming a mother, and wonders if she can kill people with her mind. 100 Unfortunate Days makes us question our sanity, or at least our definition of who is good and who is terrible.

"Crowe has crafted a journal of 100 days that can make you laugh, sigh, and frown all in one "day". Theological, anti-spiritual, psychological, just plain weird… Crowe has a grasp of the reality and truth of this world and life that many others could never put into words – though they understand it to be true. 100 Unfortunate Days reads like the inner-workings of a dream – lyrical, powerful, and full of lessons, if you only know where to find them."

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

About Penelope

Penelope Crowe is an independent author and artist from New Jersey. She was born in Norwalk, Connecticut.  She writes dark, psychological fiction as Penelope and children's books under the name Dea Lenihan. The Moon is No Place for a Ghost, the first book in the Out of this World series, has recently been released, and Penelope's Garden, book two in the series, will be released next month. She is also finishing up the illustrations for a soon-to-be-released book written by author David Rowinski.

Feel free to reach out to Penelope via her blog, Facebook or Twitter!

Book Feature and Giveaway: "No Way Out" by Christine Kersey

Today is the official launch of the 2012 book features! I've got some awesome authors lined up for the next few months. Please welcome the first, Christine Kersey, author of the  novel "No Way Out," to Lizzyland! "No Way Out" is a suspense novel about a pregnant woman whose husband disappears and leaves behind some mysterious clues.

To enter the drawing: comment on this post OR share with your social media networks via the buttons following the post OR RT my tweet OR like, comment or share on FB OR +1, comment or share on Google+.

Abby Breuner fears the worst. Pregnant with her third child, and having problems at work, Abby is alarmed when her husband, Eric, vanishes without any warning. The police seem unable – or unwilling – to help. And what appeared to be a close-enough-to-perfect life gets permanently turned upside down when she finds an ominous book and a large amount of cash stowed in a forgotten corner of her closet.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or Smashie.

 

About Christine

Christine's first love is reading, but she loves to write too. She also enjoys spending timewith her family, camping, hiking, and watching movies.

Chat with Christine via her blog, website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Best eBooks of 2011: M. Edward McNally Collection

We're drawing down on the Best eBooks of 2011 series, with only two more collections to give away! Today, I'm featuring M. Edward McNally, an epic fantasy author whose books remind me a lot of what I read in high school. Ed's wit shines through his books, and I found myself laughing in several parts of "The Sable City," if for no other reason than because I've corresponded with him enough to appreciate his unique sense of humor! If you enjoy fantasy in its purest form, you'll love Ed's work! I'll post the winner of Ed's three books on Saturday! Visit Ed at his blog or Facebook page!

To enter the drawing: comment on this post OR share with your networks via the social media buttons at the bottom of this post OR RT my tweet OR like, share or comment on Facebook OR +1, share or comment on Google+.

The Norothian Cycle

Volume One of the Norothian Cycle.  Muskets, Magic, and Matilda Lanai.

Tilda Lanai has trained for years to take her place among the Guilders of the Miilark Islands, but now the Trade House she is to serve is imperiled by the absence of a legitimate Deskata heir. Scenting blood in the water, rival Houses begin to circle. The desperate search for an exiled heir takes Tilda across a war-torn continent and to the gates of the Sable City, where centuries ago dark magic almost destroyed the world. Along with a sinister sorceress, a broken-hearted samurai, and a miscreant mercenary long on charm but lousy with a crossbow, Tilda must brave the demon-infested ruins. Only then can she find John Deskata, who may not want to be found at all.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

The Second Book of the Norothian Cycle, and the sequel to "The Sable City."

After a narrow escape from the Sable City, Tilda and company have arrived in Souterm, where the Duchess Claudja is able to contact the Emperor and announce that her home realm of Chengdea has accepted the Code. While such an acceptance may stave-off invasion by Ayzantine forces, King Hughes of Daul will not take the betrayal well, and a new war threatens to erupt between the Empire and the River Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Nesha-tari learns that she must perform additional tasks for her Blue Dragon Master before she will be allowed to return home. Together with others in the Dragon's service, the sorceress must enter the murderous world of Ayzant politics, where Crown, Church, and Cult vie for power.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.

The third volume of the Norothian Cycle, wherein the exile, Jonathan Deskata, returns home to the Islands of Miilark. Sometimes late is not better than never.

With the Trade House disbanded during John's absence and his Law Sister, Rhianne, reduced to poverty, the last of the Deskatas have no choice but to take up the ancient Island right of the blood vendetta, and turn to piracy on the high seas. The people of Miilark say that the Wind governs all lives, and the course upon which John and Rhianne are blown will bring them into conflict with worse things than enemy Houses. But with a little luck, John will cross paths with some old friends as well.

Purchase from: Amazon, BN, or iTunes.