Heidi Angell's Blog, page 20

Teaser Tuesday: Welcome to the Chaos of Being an Author

Hello Lovelies,I apologize, the posts will probably be out late every day this week. Why? Well, because I am in a mad dash with preparations for the launch of The Hunted and all the joys that go along with a tour.I am working 18 hour days, my house is a disaster, and I can't remember to eat. This is not how I imagined life as an author would be, but I LOVE IT!Have any of you seen some variation of this meme?I love this one, in particular, because my friends aren't wrong. My mom is pretty close (Laptop instead of typewriter) I WISH it was the way society thinks (Do you know how hard it is to read a laptop screen in direct sunlight? I keep trying, but man!) I have dreams that the media will look at me the way they look at JK Rowling, and in my fantasies writing is a lot of "pondering" like the second to last image shows.But I have never seen a single one that has the "What I really do" right. Probably because it is impossible to catch that in one image, I suppose. Here is the closest I have been able to find:Image courtesy ofPower of PositivityAs much as I love this image, it doesn't include the juggling act of family in the mix. Seriously, the life of an author is crazy! I have this awesome blog that I manage, an authors-only blog that I manage, networking groups to connect with other authors and help one another promote, book launches to plan, artists and editors to keep up with, events, bonus materials for you guys, marketing, reaching out to media, reaching out to bookstores, writing three or four stories at one time, reading to do reviews on the blog, whew!I also have laundry to do, meals to cook, homework to check, a house to clean, and the list goes on and on. I know, most of us are overworked and I am sure that many of you have similar juggling acts to perform. It seems to be the way society is going.But the weird part is that I thrive in this chaos. I love being busy, my brain never stopping. I love working through my checklist and marking things off. I love seeing my google calendar booked with things to do. It is an addiction and I get a rush doing interviews, doing book launches, connecting with readers, and writing.Until I take on 1 too many projects and that careful juggling act gets thrown off kilter and all comes crashing down. Then I pick things back up and start juggling again!Do you love the rush and bustle of daily life, or am I alone in this joy of the insane? Let me know in the comments below.Until next time,Keep Reading!

Meet the Author Monday: L E Fitzpatrick

Hello Lovelies,So much fun has been happening on The Hunters Saga Tour! Did you get to see "Why my Vampires Don't Sparkle"on Notes Around the Bend? It was a fun piece, if I do say so myself!Today I am excited to introduce you to L E Fitzpatrick, a writer of dark adventure stories and thrillers. Under the watchful eye of her beloved rescue Staffordshire Bull Terrier, she leaps from trains and climbs down buildings, all from the front room of a tiny cottage in the middle of the Welsh countryside.Inspired by cult film and TV, L E Fitzpatrick’s fiction is a collection of twisted worlds and realities, broken characters, and high action. She enjoys pushing the boundaries of her imagination and creating hugely entertaining stories.THE RUNNING GAME, is the first in her paranormal thriller series, set in dystopia London under the Creativia label and now BORDER LINES is the second installment of the Reachers series.Genre:Dystopian paranormal thriller 

Book Description
BORDER LINES.When the perfect job comes up, Charlie doesn't think twice about taking it. This is the break he's been looking for and nobody, not even the rest of his team, can persuade him otherwise.The job means working for an old enemy and crossing the border into London. Both are risky, but Charlie has no idea how high the stakes really are. The team will have to confront their past, each other and a killer who is closer than they realize. But can they all make it out of the city alive?"We all remember that kid in Piccadilly. That determined look he had on his face as he willed all those people to him. Just using his mind, he pulled them close then blew them all to pieces. It could be anyone. Your neighbour, your friend, your lover. Remain vigilant. Reachers are everywhere."Border Lines is the second book in L.E. Fitzpatrick's Reachers series.Want to learn more about L E Fitspatrick? Visit herauthors pageand join herFacebook Fan Page, or follow her onTwitter. Want to keep up with her new releases? Follow her onAmazonor subscribe to herauthor website.Until next time,Keep Reading!

Urban Fantasy Fans, Join The Hunters Re-release Tour!

Hello Lovelies!Woohoo! The The Hunters re-release tour has begun! And following in short order, is The Hunted Tour! We are getting so close!Don't forget that you can get a free e-copy of the new version of The Hunters. Simply subscribe to the blog. If you are already a subscriber, justemailand let me know you would like your free copy. I will get that right over to you!If you haven't supported the Thunderclap and entered to win a free limited edition signed copy of The Hunters paperback, be sure to do thathere.Here is what we have so far:1/13 Announcing the Tour atwww.heidiangell.com(That's us, right now!)1/13 The Hunters appears in theJanuary New Releaseson PD. Workman's blog.1/14 Character Spotlight of Chris forLinda Bloodworth’s blog.1/15 Why My vampires don't Sparkle onNotes Around the Bend1/15 Reading byFiatcelebrityon Twitch1/16 Character Spotlight of Carissa forL.Ryals1/19 Character Spotlight of Terah onNotes Around the Bend1/20 A Brief History of Vampires onAltered Instinct1/21 Author interview and review of The Hunters fromAndy Peloquin1/22 Character Spotlight for Lucas onKanundra’s blog1/23 Interview withTimothy Bateson1/24  (Character Spotlight) Fireside chat with Havoc andRichard Dale1/25 Youtube Live talk withJoshua RobertsonAnd here's what we have for The Hunted, so far!1/28 Announcing the full tour list for The Hunted tour here!1/28 Guest Post: A Brief History of Werewolves onTimothy Bateson’s blog1/31 Interview onAuthor First Radio at 7 pm EST.2/12 Author interview onBehind the Pages2/14 My Bloody Valentine Facebook Hop with A.F. Stewart.2/15 Author interview withMichael Dellert2/16 Coffee Break with Joe ofGo Indie Now.2/17-2/19Facebook Partyfor The Hunted Release. Go ahead and join us today!2/18 Guest Post Man’s Fascination with Immortality onAndy Peloquin’s blog.2/20  Author interview withDaniel M. Quilter.2/24 Author interview withAdan Ramie2/25 Book review onNotes Around the Bend3/1 Nerd Wisdom withDaniel M. Quilter.There will be sample chapters released on Figment and Wattpad.A panel on Youtube Live with other horror/ urban fantasy authors talking about why we love monsters.Releasing the book trailer.Goodreads Ask the Author event.What else would you like to see on the tour? Let me know in the comments below.Until next time,Keep Reading!

Thoughtful Thursday

Hello Lovelies,There is so much excitement popping up here next week! I have several exciting new release announcements from authors, am participating in several Facebook takeovers, and gearing up for the book tour for The Hunters re-release, as well as hard at work on the launch tour for The Hunted!I think that a lot of authors publish first of the year, as part of a new year's resolution, maybe! It has been frenetic! I have gotten invited to dozens of events in the last three weeks, and have felt bad at having to decline quite a few.But it got me to thinking. Last week I participated in a Facebook takeover and even though over 750 people were invited, only around 85 said they were going. During the whole event, I only saw about 4 people actually engaging regularly and (because I'm a bit of an old hat at this whole author marketing thing) I noticed that the vast majority of participants were authors. (I only know of four people who attended the event that were not authors.)So this got my thoughtful self wondering. What do you as readers think of these things?Do you get excited and follow along on blog tours? Do you enjoy going to Facebook takeovers? Are bookish scavenger hunts and puzzles fun?I ask because sometimes I think we authors have a hard time separating our reader selves from our author selves.I used to do cover reveals over here because I saw them on tons of blogs and thought that's what readers liked. But I never liked them. I thought they were stupid. I looked at the traffic on the blog, and I recognized that my audience at the time also didn't seem to care for them. So I stopped doing them.I get a hit and miss response on author interviews, but I see a lot of you reading the sneak peeks, the character spotlights. I encourage authors to do those. But authors like to do interviews. If I didn't get a decent response from them, I wouldn't do them. But I don't do more because I recognize that about half of you don't really care for them.But with events away from my blog, I can't look at stats to see what you think. So I am left with asking you. And hey, the whole reason this blog is here is to entertain you, the readers. So let me know. What types of author engagement do you like the most? What do you like the least?Share in the comments below!Until next time,Keep Reading!

Book Review: Dream Walker Land of Mystica Series volume 1 by Michelle Murray

Genre:FantasySynopsis:Miranda is having vivid dreams of a world she's never been to. A world full of castles, Forests, Ice Caves, and Dragons. She goes to a bookstore to see about these dreams, and discovers she is a Dream Walker. She has been called to save this mystical, magical world. On Mystica, the evil wizard Midnight has been released. Midnight is gathering an army, and preparing for war. Miranda needs to find and release the white wizard Lightning from his stone prison to save Mystica. Follow Miranda as she travels through Mystica. Can she find and release Lightning and save Mystica?My Take:I felt that this was a great book and was quite indeed stunning. My take from the book as I envisioned it was about a girl who takes on a burden that most wouldn't be able to take,  to keep an unknown world that may be connected to hers safe even though she doesn't know where or what that place is and she becomes the guardian spirit so to speak of the world Mystica. My favorite part was how the dragon instead of eating her comrades during the last battle he asks if he can feast on the enemy soldiers and she obliged his request. Things I thought could be changed or perfected is by giving more detail and possibly add more main characters, also I would like them to correct some mistakes within the book such as misspellings and some of the time the font size is different in the middle of the word. I also would make the lines in the book more traditional single space instead of double spaced. The ending however is the perfect hook to make others be like "seriously I need to know what happens next" which is a very smart idea. I can't wait to get the next book! I honestly recommend this book to anyone and everyone as it would probably be enjoyed by all ages.The author was really cool and sent my mom a set of cards she created. I think all my mom did was email the author and request them. The cards are really cool as they show how the author envisioned characters, and there was a map. There were character descriptions on each card and it was really neat.You can get your copy of Dream Walker: Land of Mystica Series Volume 1 in paperback for $6.25 or e-book for $4.99 onAmazonUntil next time,Keep Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: #B2BCyCon2017 is Coming!

Hello Lovelies,As some of you OG folks will remember, I attended B2B CyCon last year and I had a blast! I am so excited that I will be going again this year. I am amazed by how much the event has grown! Last year the event was mostly on Goodreads, with a bit of expansion onto Facebook, Youtube and twitter.This year, they have decided to have everything hubbed on their very own website and will branch out to tons of awesome social media goodness from there. The panels will still be on Youtube, along with Word Wars and Joe Live. They will still have author booths on Goodreads, and several fun facebook takeover events, but whereas last year it was hard for readers to keep track of all the awesome bookishness going on, this year EVERYTHING will be linked on the website.Another cool thing is that the event has grown so big that they will be dividing a lot of the events up by categories. This year, cover wars will be done by genre. So will the character battles. (They are getting real with this! For Romance it won't be a character battle, but a matchmaker pair up! How cute!)There are also some pretty cool new events being added. There will be several write-offs set up kind of like a Live Action Role Play, where authors will come in representing their characters in a melding of worlds. Readers will get to vote on "events" to happen to the characters randomly along their adventure and Mark McQuillen will be our dungeon master!There is going to be a Gadget Gamble for Steampunk fans. Steampunk authors will be submitting their finest gadgets for authors to vote on which is best.Thriller is doing a Biker Wars and a Biker Run. There is going to be tons of fun!Horror is going with a theme of The Blood Spring and will be hosting  a Monster Walk, a scavanger hunt, and much more fun!We are going to see a new category represented big time this year, Science Fantasy! Author Richard M. Mulder just stepped forward to manage this category and the ideas flying about are quite exciting. There will be a Choose Your Own Adventure Game, awesome panels, a genre tour showing how amazing this genre is, and so much more!There is sooo much for readers to look forward to!The event is April 7,8, and 9th, but they are offering a Save the Date to send you a reminder. The best part, is that if you enter the Save the Date, you are entered into a raffle to win a $100 Amazon gift card. Do you know how many books you could buy at the convention?!Sign up today! Until next time,Keep Reading!

Meet the Author: James Dorr

Hello Lovelies,Today we get to meet the delightfully deep James Dorr. Born in Florida, raised in the New York City area, in college in Boston, and currently living in the Midwest, James Dorr is a short story writer and poet specializing in dark fantasy and horror, with forays into mystery and science fiction. HisThe Tears of Isiswas a 2014 Bram Stoker Award® finalist for Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection, while other books includeStrange Mistresses: Tales of Wonder and Romance, Darker Loves: Tales of Mystery and Regret,and his all poetryVamps (A Retrospective).He has also been a technical writer, an editor on a regional magazine, a full time non-fiction freelancer, a semi-professional musician, and currently harbors a cat named Wednesday whose hobbies include mousing and playing with her toy spider collection.Talk about a well-rounded fellow! Let's get to know him a little bit better! Welcome to an Angell's Life, James, what is the current book you are promoting?On a far-future, exhausted Earth, a ghoul -- an eater of corpses -- explores the ruins of one of its greatest cities in hopes of discovering what it was that made its inhabitants truly human.  This is the world of Tombs: A Chronicle of Latter-Day Times of Earth, a novel composed of stand-alone chapters in the manner of Christopher Barzak’s The Love We Share Without Knowing and Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club or, more directly, Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.  Based on Edgar Allan Poe's concept in "The Philosophy of Composition" that "The death ... of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world," and written in a deliberately baroque style, Tombs is aimed toward lovers of fantasy, especially in its darker shades, as well as romantic (if sometimes grotesque) science fiction.Wow, what an interestingly twisted plot point! If you could have your book made into a movie, who would you want to direct it?Coming to mind first, Jim Jarmusch for the sheer beauty of a film like Only Lovers Left Alive.   But then, given the fragmented nature of a novel-in-stories, two other possibilities:  Michael Gondry for beauty again as well as use of non-linear time in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Japanese director Eiichi Yamamoto for near-psychedelic vision as well as artistic risk in his animated Belladonna of Sadness.Oh, Eiichi Yamamoto would be amazing! Who inspires your writing?There are four I would single out:  Ray Bradbury, as already mentioned, for the poetry and beauty in his expression as well as the love that comes through in even his darker works; Edgar Allan Poe, again, for a juxtaposition of beauty and horror – a nexus of Eros and Thanatos in Freudian terms, of sex and death both in his tales and his poems; Allen Ginsburg in poetry combining Biblical cadences with images of the ugliness of life alongside the beatific; and German playwright Bertolt Brecht for his ideas on “epic theatre” and artistic distance, but combined with emotional intimacy in such works as Mother Courage.  Then many, many more in addition, down to and including the Greek tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. .What did I tell you, guys, he is deep! What is one great lesson you have learned as a writer?We live in polarizing times, and one thing I’d like to think writing fiction has helped me with is empathy.  There’s an expression, that you shouldn’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in his or her boots, and I think that’s a key part of creating fictional characters too:  imagining myself as different people and learning to empathize within their stories, to see through their eyes instead of my own, to hear through their ears, to feel with their emotions, to (taking into account the backgrounds I’ve given them) think with their brains. What would I do if I were that person?  It isn’t easy in life or in art, but by increased practice within my art, I think I’m better in the real life part of it as well.That is so true! There was an interesting study that showed that people who read across genres tended to be the most empathetic people. I think that the authors who do that probably top that list! If you could never write again, what would you do?I think one thing I’ve always felt a need for is self-expression.  When I was younger I thought I might be a painter or graphic artist, or something in the visual arts, even perhaps something like a cartoonist (as an undergraduate, I was Art Editor on my college’s humor magazine for a couple of years, for instance). I might also mention, I currently lead and play tenor in a Renaissance recorder consort.  So I think I’d try to stay close to the arts in one way or another, perhaps to explore more in different branches like opera or balletA man after my own heart! Do you want to see more of his musings?FollowJames Dorr's BlogYou can follow him onFacebook, andAmazonLearn more aboutTombs: A Chronicle of Latter-Day Times of EarthThe city had once lived, blazing with light. The books all described this. The Ghoul-Poet sat in the midst of a heap of them, pages torn, rotting, spread out all about him. This was a library, the pride of New City, or rather a square that had faced the library, that had received this avalanche of thought -- words embossed on parchment -- that cascaded down when the library burst, its walls weakened by age. It was a treasure trove, this mountain of dreams and abstracts, histories and myths. Some true, some perhaps not.These, then, were the legends of the Tombs, the vast Necropolis and its environs . . .. . . of corpse-trains that plied bridges crossing the great river, bearing the City’s dead, braving attacks from flesh-eating ghouls. . . of ratcatchers, gravediggers, grave guards, and artists. . . of Mangol the Ghoul, of musician-lovers Flute and Harp who once played back a storm, of the Beautiful Corpse. . . of seas filled with monsters, a mass-death of animals, secret tapestries teaching children about a past great war, the dangers of swamps. . . a city consumed by a huge conflagration, a woman frozen for thousands of years. . . a mission by airship to rescue a man’s soul. . . a flower that ate memories. . .These are just some of the wonders, the horrors, to be found in the pages ofTombs: A Chronicle of Latter-Day Times of Earth, scheduled to be out from Elder Signs Press in June 2017.Stay tuned, because we will definitely try to get James Dorr to join us again and keep us posted on his launch!Until next time,Keep Reading!

Author Interview with Sara Caudel

Hello Lovelies,Today we are meeting another awesome author! Sara Caudell grew up in a small ranching community in Colorado where she learned to judge beef on the hoof and under wrap.  After moving around the country for her husband’s career and catching college courses as she could, she finally found herself in one place long enough to finish her degree. She was an artist, raised three children, managed offices, and started her own business before weaving her stories and experiences into novels. She now lives in central Texas with her patient husband and four cats.  In her spare time she does genealogy and historical research and nurses orphan kittens back to health for the local animal shelter.Anyone who loves animals, is someone I will definitely love! Let's get to the interview!Welcome to An Angell's Life, Sarah, What is the current book you are promoting?Trail of Defects. A ColdSprings Mystery, It is one of four books about the small ranching community in Colorado. Several crimes are committed with an unusual ending.Ooh, sounds exciting! Who is your favorite character in your book and why?I like most of my characters. In Trail of Defects my favorite would be Sheriff Jim Hobson he is patient and wise fifty-two-year old, He lacks an inch of being six feet tall,  has a stout build, brown hair with hints of grey on both temples caused mostly by being sheriff of Cimarron County for the last eighteen years.My readers get involved with certain characters and are happy when they discover that a suspect is innocent. I get excited when they root for a certain bartender or bouncer, just because they like him or her. The characters I like most, I’ll bring back in another book.I do love lawmen! Sheriff Hobson sounds like a good one! What is your next project?Internet dating with a twist or two or three.Sounds appropriate for internet dating! What one person from history would you like to meet and why?I am a history buff so it’s hard to pick only one.  Can I have three?  They are all Supreme Court Justices: Thurgood Marshall, Earl Warren and John Marshall. I like Constitutional and legal interpretations and I would love to hear them argue certain clauses of the Constitution.Sounds like you like law folks too! How do you write your books?I spend a lot of time procrastinating; I call this my “period of incubation”. Then I send my husband out of town for several days order a large pizza and brew a large pot of coffee. I write the basics of the story (usually around 40,000 words.)  When he gets back, I go over it again and fill it out with more description and fill in any holes in the plot adding another 40,000 to 50,000 words.Sounds like your incubation period is well worth the wait! What is the best compliment you have received about one of your books?“I know that guy!” and “I want to live in Cold Springs.”Ha, ha, that is awesome! Thanks for joining us Sara! Are you as intrigued as I am and want to learn more? Visit Sara's website atWeb site: www.saracaudell.comWant to read some of her books? They are available on Amazon, ibooks, B&N, KOBO or in paperback from Createspace.You can follow Sara on Twitter@caudellsaraFacebookSara Caudell-Cold Springs,Amazon  andGoodreads.Until next time,Keep Reading!

Thoughtful Thursday: New Year's Resolution Check-in

Hello, Lovelies!How was the first week of New Year's resolutions? Everyone charging along, or is anyone else feeling a little overwhelmed by it, like me?I planned for over a month and was sure I had gotten it right this year. Lol. I started early on my Resolutions, and so technically I am more than a week in, but this week I tried something a little different than I have been doing the last few "practice weeks" to try and really get stuff done.I scheduled all my tasks in Google Calendar. A nice reminder to switch tasks, right?This week was Bananas! I am totally channeling Angela from the office today.I think this is the point where a lot of people give up on their resolutions. (Not week one, but the point where they start feeling overwhelmed.)Giving up isn't the answer to this problem though. The answer is to look at what I can do to tweak my goals.See, I have so much on my plate right now that in order for me to work on everything each day, I was scheduling 1 hour blocks of "work time." Which, when you have 12 projects you need to be working on, is not very practical.This is just a sample of what my calendar looks like! And it goes from 7 AM to 8 pm Every. Single.Day.That is an insane plan. I have no down time. I have no room for contingencies. So when things came up (As they invariably do) and I had to move some of my scheduled stuff, I ended up working until 11 or later every night.No wonder I can't get better. (Stupid, cold! *Glares angrily at NyQuil and Dayquil for failing her. Sniffles*)My husband and I spent a good 30 minutes during dinner discussing what I can do differently because I can't do another week like this, let alone another month.The struggle is that everything on that list is important. Everything needs to be done. And worse, it all has top priority in order for me to achieve my goals. I am over-scheduled.I know this. I know that part of the 90 day work year is that I should only have 3-5 things going at one time... and when I planned my goals, I do only have 3-5... Unfortunately, those three to five goals have a dozen tasks underneath them that all kind of need to simultaneously be happening.So I can't cut anything out. But I can schedule my time better. Instead of trying to work on every single thing every single day, I am going to schedule three things each day and rotate days. Kind of like going back to college! This way I am not changing gears every hour (Which totally didn't happen, not even on the first day. Silly, Heidi, what were you thinking!)That way every task is getting worked on, and getting priority time, but I am not feeling so overwhelmed.I am also doing a hard cut off at 8 pm. Get ready for bed, read a chapter and lights out. This whole burning the candle at both ends just cannot keep happening. It's fine for short bursts, but it cannot be the norm. My brain is already starting to suffer and I am not as effective.I also need to be better about respecting my time. I dropped things several times this week to help other people. And although that is a good thing, and I do not regret doing it at all, and several of those things did help me as well; I still need to be better about capping that. This is a crazy time for everyone. But I need to be better about saying, "I'm sorry you're hurting, but I can only give you 30 minutes to talk." "I understand you're swamped. I am too. I can only do this thing to help you."Now to stick to those goals!How are your resolutions going? Feeling overwhelmed? Feeling not quite challenged enough? Let us know in the comments below!Until next time,Keep Reading!

Poetry Corner: Saturday Night

Sitting at a dim bar top.Silence as the world begins to die.Darkness cloaks the sky.Poison smoke swirls and twists,enraptured in a death dancewith the vents.Blurred visionbrought on by exhaustion,uncertainties...And a few daiquiris.The tortured thoughtsbegin to churn.Where is my life going? What will it bring?Am I strong enough to make it?Will I ever win?I have dreamsthat are getting dimmer every day.I had hopesThat are getting lostin the mad swirlof living.The ashes fall from the buttBurned to the endof it's existence.The embers smolder,Struggle for air.But they can't survivewithout hope to feed them.Until next time,Keep Reading!