Stephanie Abbott's Blog, page 13
January 27, 2013
Free Kindle Books and Tips
Reblogged from Author Jolea M. Harrison:
The folks over at Free Kindle Books and Tips are featuring Chosen today, which is the first book of the Guardians of the Word epic fantasy series, so here's a shout out to them and the support they give authors of all stripes. It's a fantastic service for readers who may want to check out a new writer. If you do use the service, please share, and as always, if you like a book you get for free, leave a review.
A book you should definitely check out. It's free!
January 20, 2013
Preview of Michelle Muto’s DON’T FEAR THE REAPER
Description:
Haunted by memories of her murdered twin, Keely Morrison is convinced suicide is her only ticket to eternal peace. But in death, she discovers the afterlife is nothing like she expected. Instead of peaceful oblivion or a joyful reunion with her sister, Keely is trapped in a netherworld on Earth with only a bounty-hunting reaper and a sarcastic demon to show her the ropes.
When the demon offers Keely her ultimate temptation–revenge on her sister’s killer–she must determine who she can trust. Because, as Keely soon learns, the reaper and demon have been keeping secrets and she fears the worst is true–that her every decision changes how, and with whom, she spends eternity.
Chapter One:
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for they are with me.
I repeated my version of the psalm as I watched the ribbon of blood drift from my wrist. I’d hoped it would be a distraction—something to stop me from wondering what my sister’s dying thoughts had been. Exhaling slowly, I let the emptiness consume me.
Jordan had kept my secrets and I had kept hers. In the end, it came down to just one secret between us that took her life. Now, it would take mine. I should have said something, but nothing I said or did now could bring her back or make anyone understand what she meant to me.
Are you here, Jordan? Are you with me? Tell me about heaven…
I told myself Jordan was gone, never coming back, but her memories continued to haunt me. I had no idea if there even was an afterlife. If God existed, I was convinced he had given up on me. Not once did I sense he’d heard a single one of my prayers. I wasn’t asking for the world—I only wanted to know if my sister was safe and at peace. What was so hard about that?
She should still be here. It wasn’t fair.
I’d been the difficult one—much more than Jordan. For a while, I’d even gotten into drugs. Mom and Dad had worried I’d get Jordan into drugs, too. But I wouldn’t. Not ever. Besides, that part of my life had been over long before Jordan’s death. A small gargoyle tattoo on my left shoulder was all that remained of my previous lifestyle.
Mom and Dad started treating me differently after Jordan’s funeral two months ago. She and I were twins, so I understood how hard it was for them to look at me and not see her. Sometimes, they wouldn’t look at me at all. Mom went to the psychiatrist, but no one asked if I needed to talk to someone about what happened. No one asked if I needed sleeping pills or antidepressants. Yeah, sure. Don’t give the former addict pills of any sort.
Not one person saw the all-consuming suffering that gnawed at my soul. Why couldn’t anyone see? Jordan had been more than my sister—she’d been my Samson, my strength. I would have done anything for her, and yet, I’d failed her. I wasn’t the one who’d killed her, but I might as well have been. How could I ever live with that? My heart had a stillness to it since her death.
I shall fear no evil.
I couldn’t very well recite the first part of Psalm 23 because it said I shall not want, and I did want. I wanted to go back in time. I wanted my sister back. Clearly, goodness and mercy were never going to be part of my life ever again. In my mind, I saw myself walking through the iron gates of hell with demons cackling gleefully all around.
I didn’t want to die. Not really. I was just tired and didn’t know of another way to stop the pain. Doctors removed a bad appendix. Dentists pulled rotten teeth. What was I supposed to do when my very essence hurt, when the cancer I’d come to call depression made every decent memory agonizingly unbearable?
Before I’d gotten down to cutting my wrist (I managed to only cut one), I’d taken a few swigs of Dad’s tequila—the good kind he kept in the basement freezer. I’d used another swig or two to chase down the remainder of Mom’s sleeping pills in the event I failed to hit an artery or vein. Then I’d set the bottle on the ledge of the tub in case I needed further liquid encouragement. Instead of using a knife or a razor, I attached a cutting blade to my Dad’s Dremel. The Dremel was faster, I reasoned. More efficient.
It would have been easier to OD, I suppose. But I felt closer to my sister this way, to suffer as she’d suffered.
I recited the line from Psalms 23 again. It had become my personal mantra.
The words resonated in my parents’ oversized bathroom. I’d chosen theirs because the Jacuzzi tub was larger than the tub in the hall bathroom. Jordan and I used to take bubble baths together in this same tub when we were little.
Innocence felt like a lifetime ago. I searched the bathroom for bubble bath but came up short. Soap might have made the laceration hurt more so it was probably just as well. Besides, the crimson streaming from my wrist like watercolor on silk was oddly mesmerizing.
The loneliness inside proved unrelenting, and the line from the psalms made me feel better. I prayed for the agony inside me to stop. I argued with God. Pleaded. But after all was said and done, I just wanted the darkness to call me home.
I tried not to think of who would find my body or who’d read the note I’d left. I blamed myself not only for failing Jordan, but for failing my parents, too.
My lifeline to this existence continued to bleed out into the warm water. Killing myself had been harder than I’d imagined. I hadn’t anticipated the searing fire racing through my veins. I reached for the tequila with my good arm but couldn’t quite manage. Tears welled in my eyes.
Part of me foolishly felt Jordan was here. The other part feared she wasn’t.
Give me a sign, Sis. Just one.
I imagined seeing my parents at my funeral—their gaunt faces, red-eyed and sleepless. How could I do this to them? Wasn’t the devastation of losing one child enough?
No. Stop. A voice in my head screamed. Don’t do this. Don’t. Please…
I shifted my body, attempted to get my uncooperative legs under me. I could see the phone on my parents’ nightstand. I could make it that far. Had to. The voice was right. I didn’t want to do this. I felt disorientated, dizzy. Darkness crept along the edges of my vision. Focusing became difficult. A sweeping shadow of black caught my attention. Someone stood in the bathroom—not my sister. A man. Had I managed to call 911? I couldn’t remember getting out of the tub. And why’d I get back in? Did I use a towel?
Mom is going to be pissed when she sees the blood I’ve tracked all over the bedroom carpet.
“I’m sorry,” I told the man in black.
“It’s okay, Keely. Don’t be afraid.” Not my father’s voice. It was softer, with a hint of sorrow. Distant. Fleeting. Later, I’d feel embarrassed about this, but for now I was safe from the nothing I’d almost become. My teeth clattered from the chill. My eyelids fluttered in time with my breaths. The tub water had turned the color of port wine. The ribbons, the pretty, red watercolor ribbons were gone.
Dull gray clouded my sight.
A voice whispered to me, and my consciousness floated to the surface again.
“—okay, Keely.”
Cold. So cold.
“I’m right here.”
There was no fear in me as the man bent forward, his face inches from mine. He was my father’s age, and yet strangely older. His eyes were so…blue, almost iridescent. The irises were rimmed in a fine line of black, and the creases etched at the corners reminded me of sunbeams as he gave me a weak smile. The oddly. Dressed. Paramedic. A warm hand reached into the water and cradled mine. My fingers clutched his. I sighed, feeling myself floating, drifting. Light—high and intense exploded before me. No! Too much. Too much! I shuddered and labored to catch my breath, but it wouldn’t come.
Finally, the comfort of darkness rose to greet me.
Links:
Filed under: Books, Writing Tagged: Books, Don't Fear The Reaper, Kindle, Michelle Muto
January 7, 2013
Smashwords - the big smash-up
Reblogged from Author Jolea M. Harrison:
Writer Beware!
The complaints are piling up over the unresponsiveness of Mark Coker’s Smashwords publishing company, which touts you’ll get “Your ebook. Your way.” Authors send emails through the proper contact and wait for a reply. And wait. And wait. Sometimes, for weeks, there is no response. This is not how to run a business that is trying to compete with Amazon.
I am a bit under the weather today, but let me just say, if you're an indie author who is using Smashwords, or considering using Smashwords in 2013, please read this first.
There's a Heel For Everyone!
Reblogged from yourstylejourney:
There really is a heel for everyone!
Filed under: Stephanie Abbott
A nice little guide,,,
December 30, 2012
Jillian Dodd: An Extraordinary Author
Jillian Dodd
An Extraordinary Author
By Christine Claire MacKenzie
Did you ever watch Gossip Girl? Or Beverly Hills 90210 in the early days?
Well, if you enjoyed those, you’re going to love the steamy Keatyn Chronicles. Readers have gone wild for Keatyn and her complicated life, never mind her even more complex love life.
Jillian’s ability to write such a fabulously drawn character has readers coming back for more again and again. Keatyn may look as if she has it all, but she hasn’t and she has the smarts to know it too. This is no timid little doormat. This is a girl who’s on life’s journey to understand herself, her sexuality, to figure out where she fits in to a complex world and how she deals with being separated from all she holds dear.
It’s the sign of a great author when he/she deals effortlessly with a protagonist’s flaws. And Keatyn has plenty, which made me laugh out loud at times and brought a lump to my throat, too.
The secondary characters are incredibly well written, especially the guys. The men are so drool worthy, fans of Keatyn are busy on social networking sites posting photos of who they think should play them in a film or television series. And right there is the magic. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a television series in the books’ future.
There’s plenty more to come and I cannot wait.
Book one is Stalk me and it has garnered over 138 five star reviews.
Here’s the blurb:
Gossip Girl meets Hollywood in this steamy new series by That Boy author, Jillian Dodd.
Keatyn has everything she ever dreamed. Her life is following the script she wrote for the perfect high school experience. She’s popular, goes to the best parties, dates the hottest guy, and sits at the most-coveted lunch table.
She’s just not sure she wants it anymore.
Because, really, things aren’t all that perfect.
Her best friend is threatening to tell everyone her perfect relationship is a scam.
Her perfect boyfriend gets drunk at every party they go to.
It’s exhausting always trying to look and act perfect.
And, deep down, she isn’t sure if she has any true friends.
To add to the drama, her movie star mom has a creepy stalker.
A hot, older man flirts with her and tells her they should make a movie together.
And she’s crushing on an adorable surfer. Dating him would mean committing social suicide.
So she writes a new script. One where all the pieces of her life will come together in perfect harmony.
But little does she know, there’s someone who will do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Book two of The Keatyn Chronicles is Kiss Me. Since it’s release on the 26th of November, it has 157 five star reviews.
Here’s the blurb:
I’ve always written scripts for my perfect life.
But no way could I have ever scripted this.
My life is so far from perfect, it’s not even funny.
All because of a stalker.
I’m at a boarding school, where I have to lie about who I am.
I can’t see my family.
I’m tutoring a hottie god that tortures me with his smile.
The most popular girl already hates me.
But there’s this boy.
This hot, sweet, sexy boy.
So I’m going to stop trying to script my life and just live it.
Because who knows how long I have left.
The stories might be categorised under young adult. But I can highly recommend them for anyone who loves to be entertained by a truly memorable character and adores a rip roaring rock and roll read.
CC MacKenzie, romance author.
Links: Stalk Me http://www.amazon.com/Stalk-me-Keatyn-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0090SXRXK/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1
Links: Kiss Me http://www.amazon.com/Kiss-The-Keatyn-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00AEEFKZ2/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1
Links: Jillian Dodd website http://jilliandodd.net/
Links: Jillian Dodd facebook http://www.facebook.com/jillian.dodd.3
Links: Jilliand Dodd goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4833990.Jillian_Dodd?auto_login_attempted=true
Filed under: Stephanie Abbott
December 22, 2012
December 20, 2012
Load Up On GREAT 99 Cent Books and ENTER TO WIN PRIZES!
These prices are available on Amazon only.
For a listing of books offered and to enter to win, click here!!
Hello, all!
I can’t tell you how excited I am to take part in this promotion. For one day only, December 21st starting at 12:01 PST, Amazon will be offering my first mystery Ice Blue for just 99 cents. It’s a great time to pick up a copy or gift it to someone special — Amazon has a “gift” link, all you need is the recipient’s email address. What’s more, if you follow the link above, you can win great prizes, including a $500 Amazon gift card (you read that right!!), a Kindle Fire HD 7″ ($200 value), a Kindle Paperwhite ($120 value), or other valuable Amazon gift cards.
This is a great chance to get well-reviewed, quality novels for only 99 cents, and possibly win an amazing prize. Please click on the link about and take a look!
Filed under: Books, Emma Jameson, Ice Blue, Kindle, Lord and Lady Hetheridge Series Tagged: amazon, cheap ebooks, Ice blue, Kindle, lord and lady hetheridge series 
December 7, 2012
FREE today via Bookbub...The Sable City
Also, I would be remiss if I did not thank Bookbub for featuring THE SABLE CITY today among its FREE titles.
You can just click the cover or title there and it will take you to the links for Kindle, Nook, the iStore, Smashwords, etc, and feel FREE to help yourself to Volume I of the Norothian Cycle.
Filed under: Stephanie Abbott
A great book, free! What are you waiting for?
December 3, 2012
The Twelve Movies of Christmas
Author’s note: if you know of any terrific winter holiday movies that don’t revolve around Christmas, please let me know. I’m always glad to expand my horizons.
#12: Miracle on 34th Street (1947): A classic by any yardstick. Doris (Maureen O’Hara, that most beautiful of women), plays a divorcée so damaged, she believes in nothing. Yet her boyfriend John Payne, plus a mysterious man who calls himself Kris Kringle, and her own child Susan teach Doris the folly of unbelief. Watch and try to be unmoved.
#11: While You Were Sleeping One of those movies that validates the existence of both Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman as movie stars. A charming romance about a loser (Bullock) who lets her cat eat out of her bowl, because she hasn’t Found the Right Man. Except in this case, the Right Man includes the Right Surrogate Family. Try and resist this one, you stone-faced troll.
#10: How the Grinch Stole Christmas A movie that affected me deeply as a four-year-old. How would the Whos down in Whoville respond to the theft of Christmas? WHAT would they do? Let me tell you, the response (to my secular toy-cherishing four year old heart) was a surprise.
#9: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer A stop-motion animated feature from the primordial mists. Herbie is a transparently gay elf, though he never asks or tells. There’s an amazing amount of sexism, re: the “women and children,” as the frozen emasculated narrator explains. Still, the bunnies do a cute little palms-up dance while the principals sing. Besides, I’ve always had a soft spot for Yukon Cornelius.
#8: Lethal Weapon Yes, I remember the days before Mel was a scary zealot/anti-semite who called a police officer “Sugar ___”. This was 1987, when I was 18 years old and Mel’s agony, as a widowed detective THIS CLOSE to eating a bullet really meant something to me. Besides, it’s a fun cop story, with Mel, Danny Glover and Gary Busey at their best.
#7: The Vicar of Dibley: Christmas Okay, this is just a shameless attempt to get you to watch the entire BBC series. But the Christmas special is really good, too!
#6: Bad Santa: I dare you not to laugh. The black elf (played by Tony Cox) is reduced to wearing white plastic elf ears, because apparently black-toned plastic elf ears aren’t in wide circulation. Santa (Billy Bob Thornton) is a safecracker at the end of his rope. And then he meets a boy…
#5: Christmas Vacation: Okay, I admit it. I am not a huge fan of Chevy Chase. Having said that … everything Randy Quaid says and does in this movie makes me laugh. Especially the huge trouser snake, bag of Ol’Roy Dog Food, and visible dickey.
#4: It’s A Wonderful Life: Think what you will. Deride Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed as you will. But remember that moment when Clarence says, “Every man on that transport died. Harry wasn’t there to save them, because you weren’t there to save Harry?” See if you can face up to that without tears.
#3: The Nightmare Before Christmas: I dare you not to marvel at this one. What’s truer to the Christmas spirit? Jack Skellington wants to be top gift-giver and thinks he has the stuff. But when Santy Claus is taken, Jack realizes his mistake. A true classic.
#2: Arthur Christmas: A modern take on the old chestnut. Is Santa Claus real? Yes, of course, but excessively mechanized, digitized and consumerized. Leave it to bumbling Arthur, St. Nick’s youngest son, to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas.
#1: A Christmas Carol, starring George C. Scott, David Warner and Roger Rees. I defy you to find a more correct or accurate version, especially with regards to Victoriana. As perfect as TV is very likely to get.
Filed under: Movies
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