L.S. Murphy's Blog, page 15

Reaper ARC Winner!

Congrats to Jennifer for winning the

ARC of Reaper!

Jennifer also won THE SURPRISE! A copy of my recently released romance A Reason to Stay!

Buy A Reason to Stay     

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Thanks to everyone who entered to win!

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal Romance, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Cover Reveal: Destiny by P.T. Michelle

Destiny (Brightest Kind of Darkness, Book 3)

By P.T. Michelle

Expected Release Date: March 31, 2013



Summary from Goodreads:

When destiny is on the line, will love be enough to light the way?

In order to save Ethan, Nara gets pulled deeper into his dark world, where everything she thought she knew about Ethan and herself turns on its head.

Ethan and Nara turn up the heat with bone-melting seduction and heart-rending moments, but surprising revelations, lies, treachery, betrayal, and unimaginable evil will challenge their relationship and their future together.

As the stakes rise, encompassing more than just her relationship with Ethan, will Nara make the ultimate sacrifice?

***

Other books in the Brightest Kind of Darkness Series: (titles link to Goodreads)

(Insert book covers of books #1 & #2 here)

Brightest Kind of Darkness , Book 1 (currently FREE)

Lucid (Brightest Kind of Darkness, Book 2)

About the Author

P.T. Michelle is author of the young adult series BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS. She keeps a spiral notepad with her at all times, even on her nightstand. When P.T. isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading or taking pictures of landscapes, sunsets and anything beautiful or odd in nature.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Newsletter

***

Want to help spread the word about DESTINY’s upcoming release? Click the link below to get the countdown widget script to put on your website or on your blog’s side bar.

http://www.widgetbox.com/i/60cdbefb-af9e-42fa-b8d8-80345e3a5519

Tagged: 2012, Books, Cover Reveal, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

{Blog Tour} Guest Post: Crafting Believable Fantasy by Chrysoula Tzavelas

I’m thrilled to have Chrysoula Tzavelas on my blog today to talk about crafting believable fantasy. Chrysoula’s novel Matchbox Girls is available now. Take it away, Chrysoula!

If you want to write fantasy that’s believable, you have a few options. Let’s go from easiest to hardest!

1.) The first, easiest one is to use well-known tropes as your foundation. Once people have been exposed to an idea enough, they stop questioning it. Anybody reading a vampire novel isn’t going to question that vampires can survive on blood; anybody reading a novel about modern magic isn’t going to fuss about wizards fueling magic with their emotions. As long as you don’t try to go into detail, you should be safe! Remember, werewolves are moon-called, vampires need blood in order to thrive, and magic requires a Gift. Write well, and you’re good!

Oh yes, writing well is required for this approach. Start by making sure all your basic English skills are in order. Sentences are sentences, not clauses. Commas are where commas should be. Spelling! Grammar! These are your hammers and wrenches. Get a professional’s help. You don’t want anything to knock your reader out of the story, because what you’re selling them is a good story, not original, believable ideas.

I call this the Write Really Good Bad Fantasy method. I found this method extremely educational when I wrote my Trashy Fantasy Novel (which came way before Matchbox Girls). You may too!

2.) Okay, so you want to do something a bit more original than Gifted wizards, vampires, and werewolves. Let’s talk about the I’m With Her method. Write characters who believe your fantastic idea and your readers will follow along. This is more complicated than it sounds, because first you have to write believeable characters. That can be hard!

I’ve got a trick for you. Watch the people around you. Think about the people you know best. How would they react when an elf walked in the door? Or if an angel started talking to them? It’s important to think about the people you know well and not let yourself be blinded by fiction. Fiction is about pretend people. Writers like to make them react in stereotypical and clichéd ways. That can be useful in its place, but it won’t work for this method.

Sometimes it can get hard to see past the stereotypes and clichés we’re all used to. Here’s another trick. I learned it from drawing class. When you’re learning to draw, you’re also learning to see what’s really there. That can be hard to do, because we all have ideas that aren’t quite aligned with reality. One of the tricks my drawing teacher taught me was to take a source image and put a grid over it, then draw the picture one grid at a time. This divorces the image in our heads from what’s really there.

This can also be useful in figuring out how realistic people would react to fantastic things. What you do is, you take apart the fantastic thing. What’s an elf or an angel? A strange humanoid wearing odd clothes (with some fantastic props) and making strange claims. Most real people don’t scream and run away or fall to the ground if something unfamiliar walks through the door. They fall back on habit and manners (or lack thereof). They offer the elf sweet tea. They growl at the angel to get out of the way of the game. And maybe when the new creature is gone, they lock the door and try to forget it happened.

If the angel is holding holy fire, well, what would that surly TV-watcher do if something was on fire in his house? And so on. At some point, you’ll figure out when your real-life people will Believe What They See. Take your characters through a similar evolution of acceptance. If your characters have been believable about realistic things before they accepted the fantastic ones, you’re good! You win!

3.) You don’t particularly like people and you don’t have time to watch their behavior closely. You have an Idea and you must work on that idea. No problem! There’s a method for you, too. This method is the Actually Science Fiction method. It’s a lot of work, but it can be really rewarding if you have a Great Idea you don’t mind dedicating yourself to.

Basically, it can be summed up as Do The Math. Or, in a more familiar example, Create The Language. The goal here is to have answers for every possible question. Believable answers. Answers that compute. You’re allowed one, or maybe two, freebies as foundations to build your new model of physics (or your new culture), but otherwise, as much as possible should follow understood sociological and physical rules, as modified by your freebies. This is a ton of work and might require earning a professional degree along the way. If you’re a physicist or a linguist or a chemist, you’ll love it! And when you’re done, you’ll probably have created the stuff of legend. But will you ever be really done…?

4.) All right. You want simple characters with dramatic reactions in a simple setting with some strange concepts. There’s still a way for you! Try the Once Upon A Time method. Teach yourself to write in a style that gives you some leeway. In fairy tales, readers don’t sweat the details. There’s a princess and a witch and a wolf and the witch eats the princess and the wolf eats the witch and marries the princess’s sister. Simple!

Usually a novel tries to pretend it’s not a novel. It invites you inside and does its best to make you forget about pages and covers and a writer behind the words. But you don’t have to do that. If you write in a style that embraces the nature of a story, you have a lot more freedom to spin wild ideas into tales with sparse details and stock characters. You don’t have to write fairy tales, either. You could write camp, or pulp, or hardbitten fantasy noir.

Make sure your skills are up to the task, though. Long-form fairy tales tend to be lyric and beautiful. Camp needs to be funny. Read a lot of what you’d like to write. Seriously. Drown yourself in the style of your choice, then practice a lot. Then make sure your first sentence informs the reader what they’re about to read (directly or indirectly). Stay consistent through the rest of your story and—okay, it’s possible nobody will ever call it believable. You may not win that way. But you’ll have written a damn fine book that people enjoy reading, and very few of them will complain about the believability, because that would just be silly.

This concludes my thoughts on how to write believable fantasy. Go forth and write wonders!

Thanks, Chrysoula. Now check out Matchbox Girls. 

Marley Claviger is just trying to get her life together. Stumbling into an ancient conflict between celestial forces is going to make that a whole lot harder… When Marley wakes up to a phone call from a pair of terrified children, she doesn’t expect to be pulled into a secret war. She rescues them from an empty house and promises to find their missing uncle. She even manages to feed them dinner. But she barely feels competent to manage her own life, let alone care for small children with strange, ominous powers… And when a mysterious angelic figure shows up and tries to claim the girls, it all falls apart… Plagued by visions of disaster, Marley has no idea what she’s gotten herself into, but she knows one thing: magical or not, the kids need her.

 

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Fiction, Fun, Guest Post, Just for Fun, Memories, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Writers, Writing

Reaper Playlist: When We Die by Bowling for Soup

Bowling for Soup doesn’t normally get this deep, but this song is amazing. Actually, there isn’t a BfS song that I don’t like. Seriously. My MP3 player is filled with Bowling for Soup, Green Day, and Linkin Park. I really need to expand this…

Besides BfS got The Six Million Dollar Man to star in the video! Lee Majors FTW.

(Special shout out bonus song is Only Young. Google it. It’s a great tune.)

Tagged: 2012, Books, Bowling for Soup, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Rockin' Thursdays, Romance, Teens, Videos, When We Die, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Waiting on Wednesday: The Indigo Spell

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, showcasing books that we are waiting to read hosted by Breaking the Spine.

I love this series. And, of course, I love Adrian. Can’t wait to see what happens next.

About The Indigo Spell:

After an event that changed Sydney and Adrian’s lives forever, Sydney struggles to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring Marcus Finch, a former Alchemist who pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her. And when Sydney comes face to face with an evil magic user, she finally begins to embrace the mysterious magic she knows she holds within . . .

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

Tagged: 2012, Books, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Teens, Vampires, Waiting on Wednesday, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

5 Questions with Mary S. Palmer

Mary S. Palmer has been writing since she was five years old and has had 5 books published. Musa Publishing published her latest novel TIME WILL TELL (science fiction) on March 9, 2012. They also published TO CATCH A FISH, a novel coauthored with David V. Wiltonon April 6, 2012. She is an adjunct instructor in two colleges where she teaches English. For fun, she loves to travel and has been fortunate enough to visit all 50 of the United States and every continent except Antarctica–a little cold for a southern gal. Wherever she goes, she collects plates and music. Her walls and CD cases are almost full. The most exotic trip she ever took was a cruise on the Nile and the most daring thing she ever did was parasailing in the South Pacific near Tahiti.

Website     Blog

Now on to the FIVE QUESTIONS

1. What was the spark of inspiration for To Catch a Fish?

The spark of inspiration for TO CATCH A FISH was that it told the story of a man caught in an unbearable situation and the appeal of resolving the problem drew me in. I started editing the story and found what my co-author David Wilton had written interesting enough to collaborate on it. The sequel, BAITING THE HOOK, is scheduled for release by Musa Publishing Co. November 30, 2012.

2. Which character most resembles you in your story?

I don’t think any character really resembles me. In minor ways, Pokey, the female character, may have character traits, like determination (some would call it stubbornness, like me. Otherwise, she’s her own person.

3. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

My advice to aspiring authors would be to avoid “info dump” or telling and “show” everything you can. It is not easy, because we want to get all the pertinent information in and telling is much simpler than showing. The problem is that just dispensing information isn’t interesting to readers. One other thing is to let the reader hear your voice. Flowery, pretentious language is unnatural and it isn’t appealing. Do whatever it takes to hook your reader and then reel him, or her, in. You can’t just catch that fish, you have to land it.

4. What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m finishing a mystery novel. Also, because I’ve had interest and requests from readers of my science-fiction novel TIME WILL TELL, I’ve begun a sequel to it. It may take a while to complete, though.

5. Finally, Star Wars or Star Trek?

It may seem a bit odd because I’ve published a science-fiction book, but I’m not really a big fan of Star Wars or Star Trek. Although I don’t qualify as a Trekkie, I would choose it over Star Wars. I love to travel and the concept of being in outer space. I’d go there in a minute if I had the chance.

About To Catch a Fish

Davey Simpson, a fisherman, is charged with the murder of a powerful Alabama politician’s son. His childhood friend, Ben Johnson, is an attorney, but Ben would have to resign as the first black lieutenant governor of Alabama to represent Davey.

In jail, Davey finds a unique way to survive confinement, one that involves his childhood friends–his lost love, Pokey, and Ben.

When Ben was mistreated because of his race, Davey befriended him. Now, Ben has an opportunity to compensate. But will he choose to do so?

This book won Second Place in the 2009 Sandhill Writer’s Conference for Novels. One judge, author Milam McGraw Propst,compared it to The Help saying, “It is writing from the same heart. I love these three characters, especially Pokey and her triumph. These beautifully drawn, rich memories of the South bring back a place and time we all need to remember.”

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Fiction, Fun, Interviews, Just for Fun, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, Writers, Writing

5 Questions with YA Author Chloe Jacobs

Chloe Jacobs is a native of nowhere and everywhere, having jumped around to practically every Province of Canada before finally settling in Ontario where she has now been living for a respectable number of years. Her husband and son are the two best people in the entire world, but they also make her wish she’d at least gotten a female cat. No such luck. And although the day job keeps her busy, she carves out as much time as possible to write. Bringing new characters to life and finding out what makes them tick and how badly she can make them suffer is one of her greatest pleasures, almost better than chocolate and fuzzy pink bunny slippers.

Website     Twitter     Facebook     Goodreads

Now on to the FIVE QUESTIONS

1. What was the spark of inspiration for Greta and the Goblin King?

I was intrigued by the idea of twisting up a fairy tale hadn’t already had its fair share of reboots, and the potential I saw for a really dark, character-driven story was impossible to ignore. In the end, it turned out much different than I’d initially envisioned, but I’m so happy because I think it’s an even greater book than I’d initially envisioned too!

2. What was the most difficult aspect of building a world like Mylena?

Staying consistent. The trick with building a world is that all worlds have rules, and you can’t change the rules when they become inconvenient to your plot, or your characters plight.

3. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Don’t jump into anything. There are so many avenues open to writers to get their work out into the world these days, you don’t have to go with the first opportunity that comes along. Take the time to research your options, and choose the best fit for your book, your style, and your schedule. And if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Don’t worry though! You’ll find the fit that’s best for you, and be so much happier.

4. If you could go back in time, where would you go?

I’d totally do the ancient Egypt thing. OMG just the headdresses alone would give me spasms of joy! Imagine me looking all sexy and dangerous like Cleopatra!

5. Finally, Star Wars or Star Trek?

Ack! I can’t choose. I love them both. The first has a hot young Harrison Ford! But new Star Trek has an equally hot Chris Pine!

Wow, thanks so much for having me as a guest. These were awesome questions, and I had a ton of fun!

~Chloe Jacobs

 About Greta and the Goblin King

While trying to save her brother from the witch three years ago, Greta was thrown into the fire herself, falling through a portal to a dangerous world where humans are the enemy, and every ogre, goblin, and ghoul has a dark side that comes out with the full moon. To survive, 17-year-old Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s caught the attention of Mylena’s young Goblin King, the darkly enticing Isaac, who invades her dreams and undermines her determination to escape. But Greta’s not the only one looking to get out of Mylena. The full moon is mere days away, and an ancient evil being knows she’s the key to opening the portal. If Greta fails, she and the boys she finds stranded in the woods will die. If she succeeds, no world will be safe from what follows her back . . .

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Fiction, Fun, Interviews, Just for Fun, Musings, Opinion, Opinions, Paranormal Romance, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Romance, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

Cover Reveal: Extracted: The Lost Imperials (Book One)

 

 

Welcome to the war.

The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it.

The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens–their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream.

Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war.

When Lex’s girlfriend dies during a mission, the only way he can save her is to retrieve the Dox, a piece of tech which allows Rifters to re-enter their own timeline without collapsing the time stream. But the Dox is hidden deep within the Telsa Institute, which means Lex must go into the enemy camp. It’s there he meets Ember, and the past that was stolen from them both comes flooding back.

Now armed with the truth of who they are, Lex and Ember must work together to save the future before the battle for time destroys them both…again.

Release Date: 11/12/13

 

How awesome does this sound? 

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Books, Cover Reveal, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, Young Adult, Young Adult Books

{Blog Tour} Guest Post: Writing a Story with Magic by Christine Locke

I’m thrilled to have Christine Locke stop by to talk about Writing with Magic. Her novel Open Door is available now. Take it away, Christine!

I’ve been asked to share a few words about writing a story with magic.  My first novel, Open Door, is a tale weaving witches, magic and a mansion with a story of love and self-discovery for a young girl who does not know who she is.  I hope you will give Open Door a try, and I hope you love it.  In the meantime, here are some of the things I keep in mind when I write about magic.

 Magic must be consistent to be believable.  After all, if we writers are going to ask a reader to walk into our world and buy that magic is real, we’ve got to borrow enough reality from the world they know to make them feel at home.  After all, “It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done” ( Terry Pratchett).   Consistency is a first step to writing stories with magic.
Magic has to feel original.  One of the first questions to ask yourself when you’re beginning a story with magic is, What does this story bring to the paranormal genre that is not already there?  I know, with the explosion of interest in paranormal young adult writing, this gets harder and harder to do, and, yet, you can make magic new.  Just remember the last time your favorite novel or movie or TV show in the genre took a turn you hated.  Where did you see it going?  Can you make a story out of that?  Toni Morrison said, “If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
Magic can teach you something about the real world.  It’s true.  Remember how people said J. K. Rowling made Latin cool again?  It’s the dead language Harry and Hermione are speaking when they cast spells.  You can use your advanced knowledge of gardening in writing magic, or those dog training classes (when it comes to authority with dogs, body language is everything!), or the Greek mythology course you thought you’d never use again.  Hemingway said to write what you know; you can make your magic original by interweaving it with a subject on which you are already expert.
Most of all, magic has to take the character where he/she most needs to go.  I mean this in terms of character development.  Harry had to save the world, but first he had to grow up.  Magic pushed him to overcome his own childish weaknesses to do both.  Is your character a budding baddie?  How will magic and the desire to use it compel him to a life of darkness?  Best example: Darth Vader, who thought he could use magic (the Force) to recapture lost love.  What does your character need, and how will magic get him/her there?  That, for me, is the biggest question when I’m starting a story with magic.

What do you love about writing magic in stories?  If you have a favorite magical tale, what do you love about its magic?  Thanks so much for stopping by the blog of my gracious host, Banshees, Books and Baseball.  Happy Reading and Happy Writing, all!

About the Author:

Christine Locke was born in California and grew up in various locations around the United States as a Navy brat. She was the oldest of six children and today is mother and step-mother to seven. She attended Texas A&M University, receiving her Master of Arts degree in Comparative Literature in 1995.

Christine has worked as a writing instructor, a salesperson, and an award-winning retail manager and management trainer, among other things. Today, she co-ordinates makeovers for a local magazine. She and her husband, Mike, live with their children, two dogs, and two cats in Arkansas.

For years, Christine has been writing novels around her work and family life. Open Door is her first published novel. Several other manuscripts are almost ready to follow Open Door onto Amazon KDP, including the Open Door sequel, In Time.

Twitter: @wrtrdoll and @CarinsGriffin

christinelockebooks.blogspot.com

carinatmallacemansion.blogspot.com

http://www.goodreads.com/wrtrdoll

Tagged: 2012, Authors, Blog Tour, Books, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Teens, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, Young Adult Books

Spooktacular Blog Hop WINNER!

This morning my daughter pulled a name from a hat and selected the winner of the Spooktacular Blog Hop!

AND THE WINNER IS…

SHAR SIMS

Congrats!

Don’t forget to enter the Reaper ARC giveway going on now until November 7th.

Tagged: 2012, Books, Fiction, Fun, Just for Fun, Musings, Novels, Opinion, Opinions, ramblings, Random, Random Thoughts, Reading, Teens, Winner, Writers, Writing, YA, YA books, YA Contemporary, YA Paranormal Romance, Young Adult, Young Adult Books