H.S. Stone's Blog, page 13

Books with unusual formats: The Themis Files

This post is a followup to my post from March about books with unusual formats. I recently read The Themis Files, and the two books in the series (so far), Sleeping Giants and Waking Gods, were awesome! Although the format isn't as unique as the books I mentioned in the original post, I like how The Themis Files are told through journal entries and interviews. At first, I wasn't sure how effective that would be in conveying the plot, but it turned out to be very well done.

Admittedly, a big re...

Abandon ship!

I don't like to abandon a book once I've started writing it. (Heck, I don't even like to abandon books I've started reading.) I will plow through the first draft at least before deciding whether to spend the time and effort in revising it. However, I made a decision this week to stop working on a novel in progress. That novel was meant to be the first book in a new YA Fantasy series that I hinted about in February. After months of working on it, I'm no more than a quarter of the way through,...

Summer book sales!

I want to let you know about two sales involving my books.

        
To celebrate the 4th of July, two of my books, Gifted and Keep Your Enemies Close , are on sale at Amazon from July 1 to July 8. During the week, you can purchase either e-book for only 99 cents!

Smashwords is also having their Summer/Winter Sale, which will take place throughout the month of July. Some of my books are 50% to 100% off as part of the sale! Many other authors are also participating in thi...

Reading amnesia

Not too long ago, I borrowed a book from the library because the description sounded interesting. I started reading it, and about thirty pages in, I ran across a scene that seemed familiar. I couldn't remember if it just resembled a scene in another book I'd read or if I had in fact already read this book. Fortunately, I've been recording all of the books I've read the last few years on Goodreads, and when I looked it up, it turned out that I had read the book already!

This isn't the first tim...

Fantastic Young Adult Fiction promotion

Fill up your e-reader with free YA books and enter for a chance to win a $10 gift card from Amazon, iTunes, or Barnes & Noble! Between now and June 20, you can download lots of free YA e-books through the special Fantastic Young Adult Fiction promotion, including one of my books, All That Remains of Me . Enjoy!

Release Announcement: Believe Me

I'm happy to announce the release of my latest book, Believe Me!

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What if you could see into the future, but no one believed you? 

When Cassie was six years old, she discovered that she had the gift of prophecy. But with that gift came a curse. No one believed her predictions. 

Ten years later, Cassie doesn’t bother telling anyone about her powers. Not even her best friend believes in what she can do. Cassie is content living the life of a normal teenager until she meets Ryan, a new bo...

Explore New Worlds

Do you want free Sci-Fi and Fantasy ebooks? How about a chance to win a $50 gift card from Amazon, iTunes, or Barnes & Noble?

I'm part of a multi-author promotion from May 1 through May 15 where you can download lots of free ebooks from Sci-Fi and Fantasy authors! Just visit the group's page here. Enjoy!

Cover reveal: Believe Me

I'm in the final stages of releasing my next book! It's called Believe Me, and it's a modern day retelling of the Cassandra myth. Check out the cover and description below.

Believe Me will be available at popular book retailers next month!

[image error]
What if you could see into the future, but no one believed you? 

When Cassie was six years old, she discovered that she had the gift of prophecy. But with that gift came a curse. No one believed her predictions. 

Ten years later, Cassie doesn’t bother...

Books with unusual formats

I'm a sucker for books with unusual formats. It's one thing to come across a great story, but it's way more awesome to find one that's told in a unique style rather than the normal prose format. Here are five books with unusual formats that I recommend, in order of how much I enjoyed them:

1. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff - This was my favorite read last year. Even if there was nothing special about the book's formatting, I would've loved it. The fact that it's told through messag...

A Spoonful of Stories update

In January 2016, I embarked on a writing project on Wattpad called "A Spoonful of Stories." The premise was to write a compilation of flash fiction, where the title of each piece represented a letter of the alphabet. I'm happy to say that, over a year later, the effort is still going strong. I just published the letter O story, "An Offering to the Ocean", making it fifteen out of twenty-six planned parts. The genres have varied, some whimsical, some serious, and some even scary.

One thing that...