Lizzy Ford's Blog, page 59

Cover for upcoming release: "Elle's Journey," (The Foretold Trilogy, Book One)

I couldn't wait to post this!  "Elle's Journey" will be the first book in The Foretold Trilogy, a Young Adult Fantasy trilogy I'm launching between Christmas and New Year's.  In a week or so, I'll post the official synopsis.

Cover by Dafeenah of Indie Designz.

Darkness comes from the east and from the west – hope. The girl-mage must find the five stones, before the Darkness consumes the realm.

Note: I'm writing this under the name "Eliza Ford" to keep my paranormal romances and YA fantasy lines a little separate, so readers will be able to identify which line they're picking up!  (Lizzy Ford = Paranormal Romance; Eliza Ford = YA Fantasy!)

What fictional characters reveal about the readers who love them

A few months ago, I completed the exercise of defining my target audience.  The summary of the results: my readers are mostly women who still believe in true love, despite knowing Cinderella probably lost her half of the kingdom in the divorce after Prince Charming

cheated on her. When I posted this to my blog, I received quite a few responses from my readers who heartily agreed!  It was a truly fascinating discovery for me, because I learned something important in this process.  I learned there was a direct connection between my characters and my readers, and this was why my readers loved my books.

After this exercise, I realized how much fictional characters reveal about the rabid fans that love them.  I've read a few articles where people criticized the lead female characters created by Stephanie Myers (Twilight series) and Amanda Hocking (Trylle Trilogy), because the characters seem to have no definable motivations or personalities.  I tend to believe Ms. Myers and Ms. Hocking are speaking the same language as their shared audience, which consists of young women who are just forming who they are and what life beyond themselves is like.  It's a rather scary time of life.  They're learning as they go and

not sure what to expect, just as the characters in Ms. Myers and Ms. Hockings books are.  Readers are given the ability to explore a new world and convey their own characteristics, personalities, fears and fantasies onto characters like Bella in a way where they won't be judged or discouraged.

Meanwhile, my readers are probably a bit more jaded and beat-up by Life.  They cheered when Sofi (from "Damian's Oracle") was kidnapped, when she put her foot down and refused to take more, and when she ultimately was rewarded by falling in love with a man who truly appreciated her.  My readers also cheered when Rhyn("Katie's Hope," Rhyn Trilogy)  – a self-loathing half-demon surrounded by people who feared or hated him – finally overcame his self-doubt to realize he was worthy of being loved and respected, and that he did have something positive to offer the world.

My books feature characters who definitely aren't given an easy lot in life but who find the personal courage to hope for something better and to persevere.  As Rhyn says, "Sometimes life is full of bad choices, but you still have to choose."  This message reverberated with my target audience, because my readers have wrestled with Life – and not always ended up with the hand of cards they expected.

I can picture my readers and characters sitting together at the local café, commiserating

over their life challenges, heartache and loss then getting back together in six months to share their tales of redemption, hope, and triumph.  Good fictional characters speak to readers.  As an author, I create something for them to talk about, but it is the readers who will choose whether or not to invite those characters out for a cup of coffee.

I originally wrote this as a guest post for the Cocktails and Books blog.

Book feature and giveaway: "Life, Love and the Pursuit of Chocolate" by Caedem Marquez

Welcome to Lizzyland, Caedem!  His book has chocolate in the title, so you know it's good!  Ha!  Today's feature is Caedem Marquez's "Life, Love and the Pursuit of Chocolate."

Caedem's book is available on: Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

To enter the giveaway: leave a comment on this post OR share with your social media networks via the buttons at the bottom OR RT my tweet OR like, share or comment on FB OR +1, share, or comment on G+!

Chocolate shop owner Rachel McDaniel buried herself in her work after the death of her boyfriend. Three years later, she's not ready to rejoin the world–but the world is more than ready for her. Three men are competing for her, including handsome writer, Daniel Martinez, who rekindles feelings Rachel thought were buried.

Compelling and rugged stranger, Matthew Danforth, hints that all is not well with her love life but won't tell her more, and Rachel finds herself losing her temper as she tempers her chocolate. Rachel must decide who to give her love to, and in the process, try and find closure and healing. It may come from the most unexpected place.

About Caedem: Caedem spends his time reading, writing and enjoying life. He has traveled to South America and over half of the states in the United States. One of his favorite trips was up Highway 1 in California.

He has made a 1,200 mile road trip on a whim, given his hand-made coat to a homeless man, and saved a friend that was about to drown. All these make him sound more interesting than he really is!

His greatest delight is meeting fans and sharing a laugh.

Caedem can be reached via his website, Facebook, or Twitter.

Book Feature & Giveaway Game: "The Sable City" by M. Edward McNally

Welcome to Lizzyland, Ed!  Today's feature, "The Sable City," is an epic fantasy novel by M. Edward "Ed" McNally.  Ed and I are both members of the Indie Eclective, a guild of nine authors who support each other and write awesome books.  Ed is The Brain – just ask him anything.  He knows more trivia than everyone else (combined) that I know!

In fact, this sounds like a fun game.  If anyone can ask him a question that he can't answer, I'll send you a free ebook.  Hit him up at the bottom of this post, on Twitter or Google+ or facebook.

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.

About Ed: M. Edward McNally is a North Carolinian of Irish/Mexican extraction. Grew up

mostly in the Midwest along the I35 corridor (Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota), and now resides in the scrub brush surrounding Phoenix, AZ, where the scorpions and the javelinas play. Masters in English Lit from ISU and Russian/East European History from ASU, though both date from an earlier era when there was a lot of Grunge on the radio and Eddie wore entirely too much flannel, even in the summer.

Ed can be reached via his website or Twitter.

Winners of G.D. Steel's "Jersey Daze"

Below are the winners of G.D. Steel's "Jersey Daze."

International winner of the ebook version: Selina Barnes (who 'liked' the post)

US winner of the paperback version: Deb Woods (who commented on the site).

Congrats, and thank you both for your participation!

Romancing Christmas Blog Hop

Hello, Lizzyland!  Today is the launch of the Romancing Christmas Blog Hop!  The cool part – all the folks participating are going to be giving away stuff!  And, me, too!

[image error]The Romancing Christmas Giveaway Hop is being hosted by Reading Romances!

What you can win here:

Autographed copy of the "War of Gods" paranormal romance trilogy

How to enter:

Leave a comment on this post; share this post wih your social media networks via the buttons at the bottom; 'like' or +1, share, or leave a comment on the FB or G+ post

Open to: December 16

Enter the other giveaways for this event!

This limited edition trilogy set includes all three books in the War of Gods

series.

The "War of Gods" series by Lizzy Ford is a paranormal romance series depicting the ongoing struggle between good and evil – and the immortals and their human mates who are caugt in the middle. The first book, "Damian's Oracle" (released October 2011) is the story of the White God and his Oracle, the cool beauty, Sofia. The second book, "Damian's Assassin," (released November 2011) is about the White God's assassin and the woman who heals his heart and body. The third book will be released 02 Dec and tells the tale of the White God's chief immortal and the mysterious, beautiful Magician he risks his to save.

Book feature and paperback/ebook giveaway: "Jersey Daze" by G.D. Steel

Welcome to Lizzyland, Gwen (aka G. D. Steel!)  Today we're featuring G.D.'s book, "Jersey Daze," a contemporary erotica novel about a woman who loses almost everything and fights to get her life back.  Ms. Steel has been kind enough to offer up paperback AND ebook freebies.  (A limited edition, paperback proof copy for our U.S. winner and an ebook for our International winner!)

"Jersey Daze" is available in ebook format from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and the Sony eReader library.  "Jersey Daze" is also available in paperback format from Amazon.

As always, to enter: leave a comment at the end of this post; OR share with your networks via the social media buttons following this post; OR RT my tweet; OR like, share, or comment on the Facebook post; OR +1, share or comment on the Google+ post.

Julianna Hastings had to put her grief for her father and stepmother on hold when she had to assume custody of her younger siblings. When she loses them in a custody hearing, her grief is too much for her to cope.

Jeremy Davies runs a successful business. While looking for his next Executive Secretary, he is pulled into the fun and loving Hastings family circle. When Julianna falls apart, Jeremy wants to be the one to help her put her and her family back together.

In the meantime, another man watches and wants Julianna and all that Jeremy has.  Will he break their new family apart?

 

About G.D. Steel: G.D. Steel is a single mom of two and new empty nester.  She is aRegistered Nurse, Esthetician, Reiki Master, Business Owner, and Author.  She started writing 15 years ago after a trip to Scotland, "I got off the plane, picked up a pen and haven't stopped since. It felt like I had come home."

Gwen can be reached via her blog, facebook, or twitter.

Teaser trailer for "Jersey Daze."

Book feature and paperback/ebook giveaway: "Jersey Daze" by G.D. Steele

Welcome to Lizzyland, Gwen (aka G. D. Steel!)  Today we're featuring G.D.'s book, "Jersey Daze," a contemporary erotica novel about a woman who loses almost everything and fights to get her life back.  Ms. Steel has been kind enough to offer up paperback AND ebook freebies.  (A limited edition, paperback proof copy for our U.S. winner and an ebook for our International winner!)

"Jersey Daze" is available in ebook format from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, and the Sony eReader library.  "Jersey Daze" is also available in paperback format from Amazon.

As always, to enter: leave a comment at the end of this post; OR share with your networks via the social media buttons following this post; OR RT my tweet; OR like, share, or comment on the Facebook post; OR +1, share or comment on the Google+ post.

Julianna Hastings had to put her grief for her father and stepmother on hold when she had to assume custody of her younger siblings. When she loses them in a custody hearing, her grief is too much for her to cope.

Jeremy Davies runs a successful business. While looking for his next Executive Secretary, he is pulled into the fun and loving Hastings family circle. When Julianna falls apart, Jeremy wants to be the one to help her put her and her family back together.

In the meantime, another man watches and wants Julianna and all that Jeremy has.  Will he break their new family apart?

 

About G.D. Steel: G.D. Steel is a single mom of two and new empty nester.  She is aRegistered Nurse, Esthetician, Reiki Master, Business Owner, and Author.  She started writing 15 years ago after a trip to Scotland, "I got off the plane, picked up a pen and haven't stopped since. It felt like I had come home."

Gwen can be reached via her blog, facebook, or twitter.

Teaser trailer for "Jersey Daze."

Winner of Michelle Muto's "Don't Fear the Reaper"

Winner of the ebook giveaway for Michelle Muto's "Don't Fear the Reaper:"

Erin Gideon, who liked the post.

Congrats, and thanks to everyone who entered!

How to Automate Social Bookmarking for Free

Earlier, I wrote an article discussing social bookmarking 101 and demonstrating how quick and easy it was to share your new content with four of the major social bookmarking sites. I also said that there were thousands of smaller sites that probably weren't worth your time unless you could submit your content to several of them in a few seconds worth of work. I promised to share a site with you that would help you accomplish this task and the day to share has come.

After the video I'll talk a little bit more about the site and list the social bookmarking sites that it uses.

It really doesn't get much easier than that does it?

Imautomator.com is a free social bookmarking automation website that lets you submit to 15 different social bookmarking sites in a few seconds. The IM in IMAutomator.com stands for internet marketing and that is the targeted audience for the site. The pro version of the site adds extra options but is a little pricey, the free version only let's you submit to social bookmarking sites but that's just fine by us.

IMAutomator.com picks 15 sites out of the 38 listed at the bottom of this article to submit your site to. By default, it submits one link per day for the next 15 days. both of these things are to avoid patterns and make the links look as natural as possible.

None of these links will drive much traffic to your site but it will give you 15 new links which will eventually find their way into Google. If you have a newer site and your still trying to build those first links to get started this site can be a great help. One of the biggest things social bookmarking sites can offer is helping new sites get indexed by Google quickly.

Social Bookmarking Sites used by IMAutomator

Aviation Central [PR 2] – http://aviationcentral.net/

Bildu [PR 4] – http://www.bildu.net/

Buzzup UK [PR 2] – http://buzzup.com/uk/

Chicken Monkey Pie Bookmarks [PR 3] – http://www.chickenmonkeypie.com/

Clickets [PR 2] – http://www.clickets.de/

DoFollow 008 [PR 2] – http://www.df008.info/

DgDig [PR 0] – http://www.dgdig.com/

Diigo [PR 7] – http://www.diigo.com/

Dropjack [PR 6] – http://www.dropjack.com/

Flashahead [PR 2] – http://www.flashahead.info/

FoxBizz [PR 2] – http://www.foxbizz.com/

Hillera [PR 1] – http://hillera.com/

Hitmarks [PR 6] – http://hitmarks.com/

iFizzle [PR 2] – http://www.ifizzle.com/

Multiply [PR 7] – http://multiply.com/

NewsVoid [PR 2] – http://newsvoid.com/

Online Social Bookmarking Site [PR 2] – http://www.onlinebookmarkingsite.com/

Orangify [PR 4] – http://orangify.com/

Qofari [PR 0] – http://qofari.com/

Suffil [PR 1] – http://suffil.com/

Tagza [PR 6] – http://tagza.com/

URL.ORGanizer [PR 5] – http://url.org/

Vebsky [PR 2] – http://vebsky.com/

Yemle [PR 3] – http://yemle.com/

Bookmarkdig [PR 1] – http://www.bookmarkdig.com/

CCorpcom [PR 1] – http://www.corpcom.us/

Daily News Hype [PR 1] – http://www.dailynewshype.com/

Ebaum's World [PR 6] – http://www.ebaumsworld.com/

Fun.marx [PR 2] – http://funmarx.com/

Informica [PR 2] – http://infomica.com/

Jims Free Links [PR 0] – http://www.jimsfreelinks.com/

Link Bookmarker [PR 1] – http://linkbookmarker.com/

My News Marker [PR 1] – http://mynewsmarker.com/

OneView [PR 6] – http://www.oneview.com/

Social-Bookmarking.Net [PR 6] – http://www.social-bookmarking.net/

Trulili [PR 1] – http://www.trulili.com/

V12 Network [PR 3] – http://v12.me/

Youblr [PR 6] – http://youblr.com/

That's a lot of free, quick and easy social bookmarking!