Melissa Bowersock's Blog, page 23
July 25, 2013
Book Launch Party - Part V
Welcome to the Friendly Ghost Party, a celebration of the launch of my new book,
Stone’s Ghost
on July 26, 2013!
We can’t have a party without food, right? As I have said before, the great thing about an online party is that you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to wear. The bad part, of course, is that you can’t take up a stance at the buffet table and eat yourself into oblivion. Regardless of that, I've got some ideas for ghostly food items that are both yummy-looking and fun. This buffet is a sort of movable feast; several friendly bloggers have offered to co-host the buffet, so you’ll want to hop over to the other sites for more food items. As you’ll see below, we've got appetizers, main meals, drinks and desserts, and we've provided links to the recipes. (Good ideas for your next Halloween party!)
Blogger Blog Website Topic Melissa Bowersock http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com Ghost-Appetizers, overview Carolyn Schriber http://www.katzenhausbooks.com/blog Ghost-Main Meals Lorraine Reguly http://lorrainemariereguly.wordpress.com/ Ghost-Drinks Laurie Boris http://laurieboris.com/blog/ Ghost-Desserts Carol Wyler http://facing50withhumour.com/ Book information Yvonne Hertzberger http://newfantasyauthor.com/melissa-bowerstock-invites-us-to-a-friendly-ghost-party-and-blog-tour/ Book info, review
Please share the love by visiting the co-host blogs, browsing through the food items, leaving a comment if you like, sending out a tweet and telling your friends. (If you right-click on a link above, then choose “open in new window/tab,” you won’t lose your place here.) And, just to keep it interesting, anyone who visits all the blogs above and leaves a comment on each will be eligible to win ghost candy! I'll make random awards throughout the day. Take a look:
Now … to get the buffet kicked off right, here are …
APPETIZERS
Stuffed potato ghosts! Chocolate-covered ghost pretzel rods! Ghost chips! Click for recipe. Click for recipe.
Click for recipe.
Now, this party is about more than food. If you don’t already know, there are a couple of contests you can enter. One is on the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/142948992566792/) where you can post pictures of anything ghost-related. Encourage your friends to “like” your post, because the one with the most likes toward the end of the day wins a prize package. The second contest is here on my blog: http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com. Here you can post a ghost story in the comments section, and again, toward the end of the day, I will pick a random winner of a prize package. (If you don’t have any of the profiles in the dropdown box when you comment, just choose Anonymous, but please put your name in your comment so I’ll know who you are!) I’ll be tweeting the winners and other announcements throughout the day using hashtag #FriendlyGhostParty.
Here’s the Stone’s Ghost Prize Package: a mouse pad, autographed book, bookmark and magnet. How fun is that?
And, just to share the love, there’s a giveawaygoing on at Goodreads. The winner will be chosen at midnight on July 27, so if you haven’t entered, hop on over there and do that.
Finally, to celebrate the new book, I have put the Kindle version of Stone’s Ghost on sale for just 99 centsfor today only. And, just for fun, I've discounted the Kindle versions of all my previous books as well. You can find them all from my author page at Amazon.
And just to reiterate, I'm using Mountain Standard Time because I'm in Arizona (and we don't do Daylight Savings Time here--yeah, I know, we're weird), so the party will start at 5am MST (same as PDT) on Friday, July 26, and will go until 5pm. For my friends "across the pond," that means it starts at 1pm London time (if I've done my calculations correctly). For my friends across the slightly larger pond, that means it starts at 8pm on July 27 in Perth, Australia. Is that perfectly clear? I hope so.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the party!
We can’t have a party without food, right? As I have said before, the great thing about an online party is that you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to wear. The bad part, of course, is that you can’t take up a stance at the buffet table and eat yourself into oblivion. Regardless of that, I've got some ideas for ghostly food items that are both yummy-looking and fun. This buffet is a sort of movable feast; several friendly bloggers have offered to co-host the buffet, so you’ll want to hop over to the other sites for more food items. As you’ll see below, we've got appetizers, main meals, drinks and desserts, and we've provided links to the recipes. (Good ideas for your next Halloween party!)
Blogger Blog Website Topic Melissa Bowersock http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com Ghost-Appetizers, overview Carolyn Schriber http://www.katzenhausbooks.com/blog Ghost-Main Meals Lorraine Reguly http://lorrainemariereguly.wordpress.com/ Ghost-Drinks Laurie Boris http://laurieboris.com/blog/ Ghost-Desserts Carol Wyler http://facing50withhumour.com/ Book information Yvonne Hertzberger http://newfantasyauthor.com/melissa-bowerstock-invites-us-to-a-friendly-ghost-party-and-blog-tour/ Book info, review
Please share the love by visiting the co-host blogs, browsing through the food items, leaving a comment if you like, sending out a tweet and telling your friends. (If you right-click on a link above, then choose “open in new window/tab,” you won’t lose your place here.) And, just to keep it interesting, anyone who visits all the blogs above and leaves a comment on each will be eligible to win ghost candy! I'll make random awards throughout the day. Take a look:
Now … to get the buffet kicked off right, here are …
APPETIZERS
Stuffed potato ghosts! Chocolate-covered ghost pretzel rods! Ghost chips! Click for recipe. Click for recipe.Click for recipe.
Now, this party is about more than food. If you don’t already know, there are a couple of contests you can enter. One is on the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/142948992566792/) where you can post pictures of anything ghost-related. Encourage your friends to “like” your post, because the one with the most likes toward the end of the day wins a prize package. The second contest is here on my blog: http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com. Here you can post a ghost story in the comments section, and again, toward the end of the day, I will pick a random winner of a prize package. (If you don’t have any of the profiles in the dropdown box when you comment, just choose Anonymous, but please put your name in your comment so I’ll know who you are!) I’ll be tweeting the winners and other announcements throughout the day using hashtag #FriendlyGhostParty.
Here’s the Stone’s Ghost Prize Package: a mouse pad, autographed book, bookmark and magnet. How fun is that?
And, just to share the love, there’s a giveawaygoing on at Goodreads. The winner will be chosen at midnight on July 27, so if you haven’t entered, hop on over there and do that.
Finally, to celebrate the new book, I have put the Kindle version of Stone’s Ghost on sale for just 99 centsfor today only. And, just for fun, I've discounted the Kindle versions of all my previous books as well. You can find them all from my author page at Amazon.
And just to reiterate, I'm using Mountain Standard Time because I'm in Arizona (and we don't do Daylight Savings Time here--yeah, I know, we're weird), so the party will start at 5am MST (same as PDT) on Friday, July 26, and will go until 5pm. For my friends "across the pond," that means it starts at 1pm London time (if I've done my calculations correctly). For my friends across the slightly larger pond, that means it starts at 8pm on July 27 in Perth, Australia. Is that perfectly clear? I hope so.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the party!
July 17, 2013
Book Launch Party - Part IV
I am happy to report that all the plans and preparations for the Friendly Ghost Party are coming together. The food has been ordered, the prizes are on hand, the ghostly pics and ghost stories are being added to daily; we're about ready to rock and roll!
Reminders:
If you don’t already know, there are a couple of contests you can enter. One is on the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/142948992566792/) where you can post pictures of anything ghost-related. We've already got pics of haunted places, ghostly images, weird animals, even cartoons and videos. Encourage your friends to “like” your post, because the one with the most likes at the end of the day (July 26) wins a Stone's Ghost prize package.
The second contest is here on my blog. Here you can post a ghost story in the comments section on any of these Book Launch Party posts, and again at the end of the day, I will pick a random winner of a prize package. (If you don’t have any of the profiles in the dropdown box when you comment, just choose Anonymous, but please put your name in your comment so I’ll know who you are!)
I’ll be tweeting the winners and other announcements throughout the day using hashtag #FriendlyGhostParty.
In addition, there is a giveawaygoing on at Goodreads starting today (wow--already 49 people have entered!). The winner will be chosen in the wee hours of July 27, so hop on over there and enter for the chance to win a free book.
Finally, to celebrate the new book, I will put the Kindle version of Stone’s Ghost on sale for just 99 cents for that day (July 26) only. And, just for fun, I’ll discount the Kindle versions of allmy previous books as well. You can find them all from my author page at Amazon.
Check back here on July 26 for a full listing of the co-host blogs and all the friendly ghost food at our virtual buffet feast. We've got fun appetizers, yummy-looking main dishes, spooky drinks and the cutest desserts you've ever seen. And because all this would make a great Halloween party, we're going to have links to all the recipes. How fun is that?
Hope to see you all there!
Reminders:
If you don’t already know, there are a couple of contests you can enter. One is on the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/142948992566792/) where you can post pictures of anything ghost-related. We've already got pics of haunted places, ghostly images, weird animals, even cartoons and videos. Encourage your friends to “like” your post, because the one with the most likes at the end of the day (July 26) wins a Stone's Ghost prize package.
The second contest is here on my blog. Here you can post a ghost story in the comments section on any of these Book Launch Party posts, and again at the end of the day, I will pick a random winner of a prize package. (If you don’t have any of the profiles in the dropdown box when you comment, just choose Anonymous, but please put your name in your comment so I’ll know who you are!)
I’ll be tweeting the winners and other announcements throughout the day using hashtag #FriendlyGhostParty.
In addition, there is a giveawaygoing on at Goodreads starting today (wow--already 49 people have entered!). The winner will be chosen in the wee hours of July 27, so hop on over there and enter for the chance to win a free book.
Finally, to celebrate the new book, I will put the Kindle version of Stone’s Ghost on sale for just 99 cents for that day (July 26) only. And, just for fun, I’ll discount the Kindle versions of allmy previous books as well. You can find them all from my author page at Amazon.
Check back here on July 26 for a full listing of the co-host blogs and all the friendly ghost food at our virtual buffet feast. We've got fun appetizers, yummy-looking main dishes, spooky drinks and the cutest desserts you've ever seen. And because all this would make a great Halloween party, we're going to have links to all the recipes. How fun is that?
Hope to see you all there!
July 11, 2013
Book Launch Party - Part III
The Friendly Ghost Party is ramping up. We’re getting more ghostly pics added to the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/142948992566792/) and more ghost stories added here on the blog in the comment section. Remember to scroll through the pics on the FB page and like your favorites, because the one with the most likes at the end of the day July 26 will win a Stone’s GhostPrize Package. Likewise, one of the ghost stories posted in the comments section of my blog (any of the Book Launch blogs this month) will also be randomly chosen to receive a Stone’s Ghost Prize Package. (BTW, if you don’t have any of the profiles listed in the dropdown box when you go to post a comment, just select Anonymous, but please put your name in the comment so I know who you are!) Now, you may be asking yourself, what the heck is a Stone’s Ghost Prize Package? Well, glad you asked. Here it is:
The Prize Package will consist of a mouse pad, an autographed copy of the book, a bookmark and a magnet. Pretty cool, huh?
And speaking of the book, it went live on Amazon today. Here’s the link.
Exciting stuff! I’m still getting the Kindle version up to snuff, but I will have that up in a few days. Of course, if you want to wait for party day to get the e-book for only 99 cents, please do. Or if you want to register for the paperback giveaway on Goodreads July 19-26, that’s cool, too.
I’m still developing the virtual ghost-buffet that’s going to happen on party day. Several bloggers have offered to co-host the party, and some will have ghost-food and ghost-drinks (with recipes included). We’ll have some good ideas to keep in mind for your next Halloween party. I hope you’ll visit the co-host blogs, enjoy the fun food and drink and leave a comment. It would also be wonderful if you want to invite or inform your friends of the party. Everyone’s invited!
And throughout the day on July 26, I’ll be tweeting the winners and other announcements throughout the day using hashtag #FriendlyGhostParty.
More to come. Only 15 more days to go!
July 2, 2013
Book Launch Party - Part II
It’s July, and the Friendly Ghost Party is getting closer! Just so you know, this online party is a celebration of the launch of my new book,
Stone’s Ghost
, not a Tupperware party. What I mean by that is that I hope you’ll all come and have fun, enter the contests, share your stories and mingle with the other party-goers, but I am not expecting everyone to buy the book. If you do, super-duper, but the main thing is to have fun. Just want to get that out of the way.
As promised earlier, I am ready to reveal the cover of the book. I want to thank Brenda Remlinger of www.coversbydesign.netfor her artful expertise in turning my cover design into perfection. I typically snag pics off a Google search and cobble them together to match the idea in my head, then send the whole mess to Brenda to do the full-up legal, hi-res version. As always, she did a fabulous job. I heartily recommend her to any of you who are searching for a cover designer.
So without further ado …
To add to the excitement, I have ordered the first proof and am waiting anxiously for it to arrive. LOVE holding a new book in my hands!
Now, back to the party. It’s already getting started, and will go on all month until July 26.
There’s a lot to it, so I want to plot this out for you.
If you have a blog and would like to co-host the party with me on that one day, please go hereand sign up. I can provide content and graphics and/or am open to suggestions, author interviews, whatever. While my blog and the Facebook page will be the primary locations, I will be encouraging party-goers to visit the co-hosts and share the love.
Contests
The first contest is on the Friendly Ghost Party Facebookpage. I’m encouraging everyone to post ghost-related pics here, and we’ve already got quite an assortment. We’ve got pics of haunted places, pics of possible ghosts and some not-so-ghostly but still fun, and we’ve even got some video. Don’t have a pic of a ghost? No problem. Post pics of your kids in their Halloween ghost costume, your dog or cat doing sneaky, ghostly things, anything remotely ghost-related. Then go through the pics and vote for your favorites by liking the posts. The post with the most likes at the end of July 26 will win a Stone’s Ghost Prize Package.
The second contest is here on my blog (but could spill over to my co-hosts’ blogs, as well). In the comment section below, type in or paste in your short ghost story. This could be something that really happened to you, something that happened to a friend or relative, something you heard about or something you just made up, but share your stories in the comment section here and on subsequent blog posts. (Please keep your story to ~250 words or less.) At the end of the day July 26, I will pick a random winner and they, also, will win a Stone’s Ghost Prize Package. I am going to kick off this contest with my own story below. Please feel free to comment and/or add your own.
The final contest will be a giveaway on Goodreads. I will post the giveaway about a week ahead (and will post a link here) with a giveaway date of July 26, and the winner will get an autographed copy of Stone’s Ghost.
Discounts
To commemorate the launch, on July 26 the Kindle version of Stone’s Ghost will be available for .99 cents for that one day only. I’ll post a link when the sale price is viable. In addition, to further the celebration, all the books in my back list will also be available for .99 cents that one day only. If you’ve seen one of my books that you thought looked interesting but weren’t quite ready to buy, this will be the time.
Timeline
Having an online party is complicated. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to wear, you don’t have to drive anywhere and you don’t have to keep track of how many drinks you’ve had (but you do have to stock your own fridge). The bad news is that a party like this can extend all around the world and we’re not all in the same time zone. I’m using Mountain Standard Time because I’m in Arizona (and we don’t do Daylight Savings Time here—yeah, I know, we’re weird), so the party will start at 5am MST (same as PDT) on Friday, July 26, and will go until 5pm. For my friends “across the pond,” that means it starts at 1pm London time (if I’ve done my calculations correctly). For my friends across the slightly larger pond, that means it starts at 8pm on July 27 in Perth, Australia. Is that perfectly clear? I hope so.
What else?
What else is going on? I don’t know; I’m making this up as I go along. I’ll reveal the prizes later on, maybe announce some spot prizes during the day just to keep things interesting. The most important thing is YOU—I’d love to have you come to the party. I think it’ll be a lot of fun, and the more the merrier. If this sounds like fun to you, please mark your calendar.
See you there!
As promised earlier, I am ready to reveal the cover of the book. I want to thank Brenda Remlinger of www.coversbydesign.netfor her artful expertise in turning my cover design into perfection. I typically snag pics off a Google search and cobble them together to match the idea in my head, then send the whole mess to Brenda to do the full-up legal, hi-res version. As always, she did a fabulous job. I heartily recommend her to any of you who are searching for a cover designer.
So without further ado …
To add to the excitement, I have ordered the first proof and am waiting anxiously for it to arrive. LOVE holding a new book in my hands!
Now, back to the party. It’s already getting started, and will go on all month until July 26.
There’s a lot to it, so I want to plot this out for you.
If you have a blog and would like to co-host the party with me on that one day, please go hereand sign up. I can provide content and graphics and/or am open to suggestions, author interviews, whatever. While my blog and the Facebook page will be the primary locations, I will be encouraging party-goers to visit the co-hosts and share the love.
Contests
The first contest is on the Friendly Ghost Party Facebookpage. I’m encouraging everyone to post ghost-related pics here, and we’ve already got quite an assortment. We’ve got pics of haunted places, pics of possible ghosts and some not-so-ghostly but still fun, and we’ve even got some video. Don’t have a pic of a ghost? No problem. Post pics of your kids in their Halloween ghost costume, your dog or cat doing sneaky, ghostly things, anything remotely ghost-related. Then go through the pics and vote for your favorites by liking the posts. The post with the most likes at the end of July 26 will win a Stone’s Ghost Prize Package.
The second contest is here on my blog (but could spill over to my co-hosts’ blogs, as well). In the comment section below, type in or paste in your short ghost story. This could be something that really happened to you, something that happened to a friend or relative, something you heard about or something you just made up, but share your stories in the comment section here and on subsequent blog posts. (Please keep your story to ~250 words or less.) At the end of the day July 26, I will pick a random winner and they, also, will win a Stone’s Ghost Prize Package. I am going to kick off this contest with my own story below. Please feel free to comment and/or add your own.
The final contest will be a giveaway on Goodreads. I will post the giveaway about a week ahead (and will post a link here) with a giveaway date of July 26, and the winner will get an autographed copy of Stone’s Ghost.
Discounts
To commemorate the launch, on July 26 the Kindle version of Stone’s Ghost will be available for .99 cents for that one day only. I’ll post a link when the sale price is viable. In addition, to further the celebration, all the books in my back list will also be available for .99 cents that one day only. If you’ve seen one of my books that you thought looked interesting but weren’t quite ready to buy, this will be the time.
Timeline
Having an online party is complicated. The good news is that you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to wear, you don’t have to drive anywhere and you don’t have to keep track of how many drinks you’ve had (but you do have to stock your own fridge). The bad news is that a party like this can extend all around the world and we’re not all in the same time zone. I’m using Mountain Standard Time because I’m in Arizona (and we don’t do Daylight Savings Time here—yeah, I know, we’re weird), so the party will start at 5am MST (same as PDT) on Friday, July 26, and will go until 5pm. For my friends “across the pond,” that means it starts at 1pm London time (if I’ve done my calculations correctly). For my friends across the slightly larger pond, that means it starts at 8pm on July 27 in Perth, Australia. Is that perfectly clear? I hope so.
What else?
What else is going on? I don’t know; I’m making this up as I go along. I’ll reveal the prizes later on, maybe announce some spot prizes during the day just to keep things interesting. The most important thing is YOU—I’d love to have you come to the party. I think it’ll be a lot of fun, and the more the merrier. If this sounds like fun to you, please mark your calendar.
See you there!
June 26, 2013
Book Launch - Part I
My latest book is done. Well, 99.99% done. I'm just double-checking EVERYthing, but it's very, very close to being completely done.
And I really like it.
It's called Stone's Ghost, and it's a modern day ghost story with a twist. Here's the blurb:
Matthew Stone doesn't believe in ghosts … until he meets one. He owns a successful business in Lake Havasu, Arizona, home to the famed London Bridge that was brought over stone by stone and rebuilt over the Colorado River. He has a gorgeous girlfriend, a doting mother, and more money than he needs, but no time for stories about the ghosts who were transplanted from England with the famed bridge. When a chance encounter with a female ghost leads to unexpected friendship, Matt and the ghost find they must rely on each other as they are forced to confront the pasts that haunt them.
In my next post, I'll reveal part of the cover. Gotta keep you guessing, right?
So here's the deal: I'm planning an online launch party. It's going to be July 26 all day long, and it's called the Friendly Ghost Party. I will host the party on a Facebook event page as well as my blog, and I'm hoping that other bloggers will join in and host on their pages, as well. If you're interested in taking part, you can sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/904044DA5AE2CA64-blog. I'll be posting a list of all the blogs that agree to host and encourage partiers to spill over and share the love. I'll share updates and news on the FB page and on Twitter, using the hashmark #friendlyghostparty.
I'll have a giveaway going on Goodreads, plus a couple of contests between Facebook and my blog. You all may know that FB does not allow contests, so we have to be slightly devious about it. What I'd love is for you all to post any photos you have that are ghost-related on the FB events page: https://www.facebook.com/events/142948992566792/As the photos are posted and the page gets longer, please scroll through and vote for your favorites. At the end of the day, the photo with the most votes will win, so encourage your friends to drop by and vote for your pic. (Prizes to be announced!)
The second contest will be here on my blog. On that day, July 26, I'd love to have everyone tell us a ghost story in the comments section. Please keep your post under 250 words, but your story can be real, fiction, fantasy, whatever. Stories told around campfires. Stories told in sofa-cushion forts when you were a kid. At the end of the day, I'll put all the names in a hat and pick a random winner for a prize.
And finally, in honor of the new book, the Kindle version e-book will be available for .99 for that day only. And, just for fun, I'm going to lower the price on every book in my back list to .99 for the day as well. I'll be posting links to make it easy for you.
What do you think? Sound like fun? I'll be posting more about it over the next several weeks. Stay tuned!
And I really like it.
It's called Stone's Ghost, and it's a modern day ghost story with a twist. Here's the blurb:
Matthew Stone doesn't believe in ghosts … until he meets one. He owns a successful business in Lake Havasu, Arizona, home to the famed London Bridge that was brought over stone by stone and rebuilt over the Colorado River. He has a gorgeous girlfriend, a doting mother, and more money than he needs, but no time for stories about the ghosts who were transplanted from England with the famed bridge. When a chance encounter with a female ghost leads to unexpected friendship, Matt and the ghost find they must rely on each other as they are forced to confront the pasts that haunt them.
In my next post, I'll reveal part of the cover. Gotta keep you guessing, right?
So here's the deal: I'm planning an online launch party. It's going to be July 26 all day long, and it's called the Friendly Ghost Party. I will host the party on a Facebook event page as well as my blog, and I'm hoping that other bloggers will join in and host on their pages, as well. If you're interested in taking part, you can sign up here: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/904044DA5AE2CA64-blog. I'll be posting a list of all the blogs that agree to host and encourage partiers to spill over and share the love. I'll share updates and news on the FB page and on Twitter, using the hashmark #friendlyghostparty.
I'll have a giveaway going on Goodreads, plus a couple of contests between Facebook and my blog. You all may know that FB does not allow contests, so we have to be slightly devious about it. What I'd love is for you all to post any photos you have that are ghost-related on the FB events page: https://www.facebook.com/events/142948992566792/As the photos are posted and the page gets longer, please scroll through and vote for your favorites. At the end of the day, the photo with the most votes will win, so encourage your friends to drop by and vote for your pic. (Prizes to be announced!)
The second contest will be here on my blog. On that day, July 26, I'd love to have everyone tell us a ghost story in the comments section. Please keep your post under 250 words, but your story can be real, fiction, fantasy, whatever. Stories told around campfires. Stories told in sofa-cushion forts when you were a kid. At the end of the day, I'll put all the names in a hat and pick a random winner for a prize.
And finally, in honor of the new book, the Kindle version e-book will be available for .99 for that day only. And, just for fun, I'm going to lower the price on every book in my back list to .99 for the day as well. I'll be posting links to make it easy for you.
What do you think? Sound like fun? I'll be posting more about it over the next several weeks. Stay tuned!
June 25, 2013
Author Interview - Jill Sanders
As part of a blog tour, today I’m interviewing prolific author Jill Sanders, about her new book Returning Pride. This is the third in a series of books that take place in the town of Pride, Oregon. The other titles are Finding Pride, Discovering Pride and Lasting Pride.
Tell us about Returning Pride.
Everything seems to be going Iian’s way, he has a successful restaurant, a beautiful home, family, and friends. He’s even overcome the loss of his hearing, but why does he still feels like something is missing.
Allison has worked hard to make a name for herself in the art world, now all she wants is peace and quiet to work on her passion. But, with her mother overtaken by illness, she has less time than ever. When everything is stripped away in one tragic blow, and she’s being stalked by a mad-man, she’ll need the help of her hometown and an old flame, to turn everything around and find what she’s been looking for.
What are the challenges of writing a series of books about the same place?
None really. Each book still needs details and descriptions so they could stand on their own.
What are the advantages?
You get to tell other great stories about characters people grow fond of.
In all your books, who is your favorite character? Why?
Iian Jordan. Because he is so damn sexy. He was also my most challenging, because he is deaf.
What's your favorite non-writer thing to do for fun?
Hang with my family, play in the sun with them and my dogs and take pictures.
What's next on the horizon? What projects do you have planned?
I'll be editing Lasting Pride and getting it ready for its release in October. Then I'm starting on Katie's story and the next three books in a new series. In this new series there will be adventure, excitement, a little sci-fi & paranormal activities, and as always, romance.
For more links to the blog tour, see below. Please visit these blogs and share some love!
About Jill
Jill Sanders survived 80's pop music, and life as an identical twin in a chaotic family of nine. A feat by any standard! She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, relocating to Colorado for college and a successful IT career at IBM in Boulder.
Narrowly escaping before all creativity was squashed, she jumped at the chance to trade the mundane world of computers for the sexy, exciting world of her own imagination. She now lives in charming rural Texas writing wonderful novels such as the Pride series.
Her debut novel, Finding Pride, was shortlisted in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2013, and has received glowing industry and reader reviews from around the world.
Connect with Jill:
website: http://www.jillmsanders.comemail: jill@jillmsanders.comtwitter: https://twitter.com/jillmsandersfbook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jill-Sanders-Author/544154822265045
Retruning Pride's Blog Tour: http://bit.ly/13AGThi
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6/24/2013 Http://www.ontheprecipice-leslief.blogspot.com http://marilynslagel.wordpress.com/ www.conleycorner.blogspot.com http://elodieparkes.blogspot.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://4horsemenseriesbr.blogspot.com/http://kindlebookpromos.luckycinda.com
6/25/2013 www.conleycorner.blogspot.com http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com http://waynelmurphy.blogspot.com/ http://thoughtsbyj.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/
6/26/2013 www.conleycorner.blogspot.com http://glynissmyauthor.com/blog/ http://comaescritaemdia.blogspot.pt/ http://blog.jonestales.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/
6/27/2013 http://sarah-janelehoux.blogspot.ca/ http://jamie-marchant.blogspot.com/ http://darkerpassions.net http://tometender.blogspot.com/ rainydayreadingreviews.blogspot.com
6/28/2013 www.krystalmilton.weebly.com ajwiliamsromanceauthor.blogspot.com http://robertasdreamworld.wordpress.com http://www.michelleabbott.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://purejonel.blogspot.ca/
6/29/2013 www.1bookloversopinion.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://allwehaveisstories.blogspot.co.uk/ http://stephsbookretreat.wordpress.comwww.afternoonbookery.blogspot.com http://www.empowernetwork.com/titandevelopment
6/30/2013 MeganSJohnston.wordpress.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://understandingshaestory.blogspot.com/http://justanotherrabidreader.info
7/1/2013 https://booksandnails.wordpress.com writtenbydeb.blogspot.com ilovetoreadblog.com hello-booklover.tumblr.com
Tell us about Returning Pride.
Everything seems to be going Iian’s way, he has a successful restaurant, a beautiful home, family, and friends. He’s even overcome the loss of his hearing, but why does he still feels like something is missing.
Allison has worked hard to make a name for herself in the art world, now all she wants is peace and quiet to work on her passion. But, with her mother overtaken by illness, she has less time than ever. When everything is stripped away in one tragic blow, and she’s being stalked by a mad-man, she’ll need the help of her hometown and an old flame, to turn everything around and find what she’s been looking for.
What are the challenges of writing a series of books about the same place?
None really. Each book still needs details and descriptions so they could stand on their own.
What are the advantages?
You get to tell other great stories about characters people grow fond of.
In all your books, who is your favorite character? Why?
Iian Jordan. Because he is so damn sexy. He was also my most challenging, because he is deaf.
What's your favorite non-writer thing to do for fun?
Hang with my family, play in the sun with them and my dogs and take pictures.
What's next on the horizon? What projects do you have planned?
I'll be editing Lasting Pride and getting it ready for its release in October. Then I'm starting on Katie's story and the next three books in a new series. In this new series there will be adventure, excitement, a little sci-fi & paranormal activities, and as always, romance.
For more links to the blog tour, see below. Please visit these blogs and share some love!
About Jill
Jill Sanders survived 80's pop music, and life as an identical twin in a chaotic family of nine. A feat by any standard! She was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, relocating to Colorado for college and a successful IT career at IBM in Boulder.
Narrowly escaping before all creativity was squashed, she jumped at the chance to trade the mundane world of computers for the sexy, exciting world of her own imagination. She now lives in charming rural Texas writing wonderful novels such as the Pride series.
Her debut novel, Finding Pride, was shortlisted in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards 2013, and has received glowing industry and reader reviews from around the world.
Connect with Jill:
website: http://www.jillmsanders.comemail: jill@jillmsanders.comtwitter: https://twitter.com/jillmsandersfbook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jill-Sanders-Author/544154822265045
Retruning Pride's Blog Tour: http://bit.ly/13AGThi
**************************************
6/24/2013 Http://www.ontheprecipice-leslief.blogspot.com http://marilynslagel.wordpress.com/ www.conleycorner.blogspot.com http://elodieparkes.blogspot.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://4horsemenseriesbr.blogspot.com/http://kindlebookpromos.luckycinda.com
6/25/2013 www.conleycorner.blogspot.com http://mjb-wordlovers.blogspot.com http://waynelmurphy.blogspot.com/ http://thoughtsbyj.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/
6/26/2013 www.conleycorner.blogspot.com http://glynissmyauthor.com/blog/ http://comaescritaemdia.blogspot.pt/ http://blog.jonestales.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/
6/27/2013 http://sarah-janelehoux.blogspot.ca/ http://jamie-marchant.blogspot.com/ http://darkerpassions.net http://tometender.blogspot.com/ rainydayreadingreviews.blogspot.com
6/28/2013 www.krystalmilton.weebly.com ajwiliamsromanceauthor.blogspot.com http://robertasdreamworld.wordpress.com http://www.michelleabbott.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://purejonel.blogspot.ca/
6/29/2013 www.1bookloversopinion.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://allwehaveisstories.blogspot.co.uk/ http://stephsbookretreat.wordpress.comwww.afternoonbookery.blogspot.com http://www.empowernetwork.com/titandevelopment
6/30/2013 MeganSJohnston.wordpress.com http://tometender.blogspot.com/ http://understandingshaestory.blogspot.com/http://justanotherrabidreader.info
7/1/2013 https://booksandnails.wordpress.com writtenbydeb.blogspot.com ilovetoreadblog.com hello-booklover.tumblr.com
June 18, 2013
Best Children's Books I've Seen in a While
I have recently found a wonderful series of children's books that star a captivating curly-coated Jack Russell terrier named Mr. Pish. These books are pure joy. Mr. Pish embodies all the wonder and excitement of children discovering the larger world around them, and draws his young readers in with questions about their own surroundings and their own discoveries. Mr. Pish teaches about geology and geography, flora and fauna, history and culture with little bite-sized tidbits of fun. Never heavy-handed, Mr. Pish invites his readers to come along and share in his adventures and the results are several books that promise to spark a child's brain with a love of reading and knowledge. How cool is that?
Reblogged from http://facing50withhumour.com/2013/06/16/of-dogs-and-writers/
Check out Mr. Pish's webpage here.
Reblogged from http://facing50withhumour.com/2013/06/16/of-dogs-and-writers/
Check out Mr. Pish's webpage here.
June 12, 2013
Self-Publishing Goes Mainstream
Those of us who have discovered the joys of self-publishing could probably talk about it all day and the nay-sayers would never agree that it’s an idea whose time has come. Luckily for us, more “validating” sources are jumping on the bandwagon, and the issues of legitimacy are shrinking more every day.
Even the Big 6 have finally realized that self-pubbing is a viable option, and they are moving quickly to get their fingers in the pie. You can bet your bippie that they are not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, anxious to help newbie writers and low-listers escape from their dungeons of obscurity, but because it has become a money-maker. They are finally realizing what we all knew long ago—that readers don’t really give a rat’s patootie who publishes a book. Think about it: when was the last time you wrestled with a book purchase, turned it to the back or the publication page to find out who had published it, and made your decision based on that? Anyone? Ever?
Didn’t think so.
So anyway, the Big 6 are now moving into the realm of the unwashed. In November of 2011, Penguin announced its addition of BookCountry, its self-publishing subsidiary.
“Book Country provides users with three self-publishing packages: $99 for a user-formatted e-book; $299 for a user-formatted print and e-book; and $549 for a professionally formatted print and e-book. Those who select the $549 option can choose from six styles created by Penguin’s in-house designers. Each style corresponds to a certain book genre: “The Sensation” for sci-fi/fantasy titles, for example, or “The Riddler” for mysteries and thrillers. Users can make up to 15 free formatting changes before the book is published.”
Likewise, a blog entry from November 2012 documented Simon & Schuster’s announcement of its new self-publishing arm, Archway.
"Through Archway Publishing, Simon & Schuster is pleased to be part of the rapidly expanding self-publishing segment of our industry," said Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster. "Self-publishing has become a viable and popular route to publication for many authors, and increasingly a source of content for traditional publishers, including Simon & Schuster. We're excited that we'll be able to help more authors find their own path to publication and at the same time create a more direct connection to those self-published authors ready to make the leap to traditional publishing." (Emphasis mine)
Obviously this is not new news, but the point is that it’s trending. Self-publishing is no longer the red-haired stepchild that lives under the stairs. She’s standing up, dusting herself off, putting on her dancing shoes. She’s already got her ticket to the ball, and has plenty of dance partners to choose from. Hugh Howey, author of the indie hit Wool, has broken through the barriers in a stunning way. His book, originally self-published, is now being translated into 19 languages and Ridley Scott is slated to do the movie adaptation. Not too shabby.
Also not too shabby is the Self-Publishing Book Expo. This year marks the 5th anniversary of the book expo, slated to run in New York in November. It promises to be a cornucopia of panels, seminars, exhibitors and presenters. Sounds like the perfect place to rub shoulders with other unfettered, risk-taking, brave indie writers.
Whose time has come.
Even the Big 6 have finally realized that self-pubbing is a viable option, and they are moving quickly to get their fingers in the pie. You can bet your bippie that they are not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, anxious to help newbie writers and low-listers escape from their dungeons of obscurity, but because it has become a money-maker. They are finally realizing what we all knew long ago—that readers don’t really give a rat’s patootie who publishes a book. Think about it: when was the last time you wrestled with a book purchase, turned it to the back or the publication page to find out who had published it, and made your decision based on that? Anyone? Ever?
Didn’t think so.
So anyway, the Big 6 are now moving into the realm of the unwashed. In November of 2011, Penguin announced its addition of BookCountry, its self-publishing subsidiary.
“Book Country provides users with three self-publishing packages: $99 for a user-formatted e-book; $299 for a user-formatted print and e-book; and $549 for a professionally formatted print and e-book. Those who select the $549 option can choose from six styles created by Penguin’s in-house designers. Each style corresponds to a certain book genre: “The Sensation” for sci-fi/fantasy titles, for example, or “The Riddler” for mysteries and thrillers. Users can make up to 15 free formatting changes before the book is published.”
Likewise, a blog entry from November 2012 documented Simon & Schuster’s announcement of its new self-publishing arm, Archway.
"Through Archway Publishing, Simon & Schuster is pleased to be part of the rapidly expanding self-publishing segment of our industry," said Carolyn Reidy, president and CEO of Simon & Schuster. "Self-publishing has become a viable and popular route to publication for many authors, and increasingly a source of content for traditional publishers, including Simon & Schuster. We're excited that we'll be able to help more authors find their own path to publication and at the same time create a more direct connection to those self-published authors ready to make the leap to traditional publishing." (Emphasis mine)
Obviously this is not new news, but the point is that it’s trending. Self-publishing is no longer the red-haired stepchild that lives under the stairs. She’s standing up, dusting herself off, putting on her dancing shoes. She’s already got her ticket to the ball, and has plenty of dance partners to choose from. Hugh Howey, author of the indie hit Wool, has broken through the barriers in a stunning way. His book, originally self-published, is now being translated into 19 languages and Ridley Scott is slated to do the movie adaptation. Not too shabby.
Also not too shabby is the Self-Publishing Book Expo. This year marks the 5th anniversary of the book expo, slated to run in New York in November. It promises to be a cornucopia of panels, seminars, exhibitors and presenters. Sounds like the perfect place to rub shoulders with other unfettered, risk-taking, brave indie writers.
Whose time has come.
June 6, 2013
How Do You Choose the Next Project?
So I just finished my latest book, a ghost story (woo hoo!), and aside from waiting on beta-readers and fiddling with the cover and blurb, I’m ready to start my next project. But which one?
I’m guessing most of us writers have a backlog of ideas tucked away in their brains. I've got a good half dozen interesting ideas for books. There’s the novel I’m about half-way done with that concerns a past life as a Holocaust victim, the fictionalized version of the January 8th mass shooting here in Tucson, a western romance about a British girl who lands in tiny Bisbee, Arizona, and falls for the local sheriff, a biography of my father-in-law, and a time-travel story about a western actor who slips through a vortex in Sedona and ends up in the old west.
Did I ever mention the fact that I never write the same story twice?
Now you might think that the logical process would be for the No. 1 item, once it’s completed, to come off the list and then No. 2 rises up to take its place.
But, no, it’s not that easy. I've found that the next project chooses me more than I choose it.
Rather than a rational to-do list like above, I find that my ideas are more like a simmering cauldron that bubbles and boils. I’m never quite sure which one will rise to the top and catch my attention like a delectable slice of carrot or a savory baby red potato. Whatever rises to the surface will entice me with a mouth-watering aroma, leading me gently to the keyboard.
Or it’ll grab me in a headlock and drag me to my computer, handcuffing me to the chair until I pour out its story onto paper.
And, to make it worse, the bubbling and boiling doesn’t stop there. I might be knee-deep in a story (as I was in the Holocaust book) when another idea (the ghost story) rises up and refuses to go away. Roiling merrily away, the new idea keeps drawing my interest away from the story at hand until I end up staring at the now abandoned story and typing nothing because I’m imagining the new story instead.
A writer’s progress is never smooth.
Which project sounds like the best one to you?
I’m guessing most of us writers have a backlog of ideas tucked away in their brains. I've got a good half dozen interesting ideas for books. There’s the novel I’m about half-way done with that concerns a past life as a Holocaust victim, the fictionalized version of the January 8th mass shooting here in Tucson, a western romance about a British girl who lands in tiny Bisbee, Arizona, and falls for the local sheriff, a biography of my father-in-law, and a time-travel story about a western actor who slips through a vortex in Sedona and ends up in the old west.
Did I ever mention the fact that I never write the same story twice?
Now you might think that the logical process would be for the No. 1 item, once it’s completed, to come off the list and then No. 2 rises up to take its place.
But, no, it’s not that easy. I've found that the next project chooses me more than I choose it.Rather than a rational to-do list like above, I find that my ideas are more like a simmering cauldron that bubbles and boils. I’m never quite sure which one will rise to the top and catch my attention like a delectable slice of carrot or a savory baby red potato. Whatever rises to the surface will entice me with a mouth-watering aroma, leading me gently to the keyboard.
Or it’ll grab me in a headlock and drag me to my computer, handcuffing me to the chair until I pour out its story onto paper.
And, to make it worse, the bubbling and boiling doesn’t stop there. I might be knee-deep in a story (as I was in the Holocaust book) when another idea (the ghost story) rises up and refuses to go away. Roiling merrily away, the new idea keeps drawing my interest away from the story at hand until I end up staring at the now abandoned story and typing nothing because I’m imagining the new story instead.
A writer’s progress is never smooth.
Which project sounds like the best one to you?
May 28, 2013
The Rise of IndiePENdents
Self-publishing is on the rise. It is a force to be reckoned with, illustrated by the increasing presence of traditional publishers buying or creating their own self-publishing subsidiaries. More and more self-published books are finding their way onto the NYTBS list, and are sparking viral interest in readers around the globe. The reign of the gatekeepers is coming to an end.
Yet the nattering continues. Over and over you will hear that self-published books are only those that were repeatedly rejected by traditional publishers, and rightly so. Self-published books are frequently panned for having disjointed stories, typographical errors, misspelled words, horrible grammar and badly in need of editing. To this I say:
Sometimes.
But not always. Lumping all self-published books into this category of the unpolished and unwashed is just like lumping all traditionally published books into a category of stunning success; neither is true across the board. What is true is that a traditionally published book may have more eyes proofing it, more minds evaluating it, and therefore may have a better chance of being well-written and grammatically correct.
But that does not mean self-published books will not.
Enter the IndiePENdents. This is a non-profit organization that has taken on the daunting task of evaluating self-published books for basic standards of spelling, grammar, punctuation and formatting. In a recent e-mail, they encapsulated their efforts:
We began in December 2011 and a year later acquired a 401(c)3 non-profit status. In the meantime, we have been evaluating self-published books to separate the chaff from the worthy ones to recommend to the public. We work in teams of volunteer evaluation panels; our membership is free, writers don’t pay any fees, and our judgment is therefore without any bias. Those titles which meet our basic standards are given a Seal of Good Writing, and published in a catalog under the title Well Written, Well Edited, Unknown Books.
In this grass-roots way, self-published books may acquire a first step of legitimacy not normally available in the DIY universe. I applaud the IndiePENdents’ dedication to the craft and their willingness to start this conversation about standards in a free-for-all landscape. It’s a much-needed effort, and all the more validating because it comes from this non-profit, non-paid, volunteer group.
Unfortunately, the unpaid volunteer staff of the IndePENdents is no match for the cascade of self-published books that now swamp the reading world. They need our help. In a couple of weeks, they will launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise a modest $1,000 in order to print and mail their catalog of Well Written, Well Edited, Unknown Books to libraries everywhere. This is a worthy effort, and if you are an indie writer or enjoy indie books, I encourage you to check out their web page and join in the Kickstarter campaign once it gets going. I will post more about it as the campaign develops.
What do you say? Want to read good books but not be confined by the “old guard” gatekeepers?
Support IndiePENdents!
