Magan Vernon's Blog, page 37

#Tweetsforthesoul

I hit a milestone this weekend with 400 twitter followers!

My incentive to followers was that if I hit 400 I would give away a signed copy of SoulKeepers by GP Ching and now that day has come!

So what can you do to win?

With all that has gone on this past week in the blogosphere with GoodReads drama, book blogger drama, and just so much bad juju, I thought we could all use some #tweetsforthesoul

All you have to do is sent me a tweet with the hashtag #tweetsforthesoul saying something uplifting. It could just be

@maganvernon SMILE #tweetsforthesoul

or something even more thought provoking

@maganvernon The best things in life are always worth fighting for #tweetsforthesoul

From now until WednesdayI will be looking through the tweets. Then by next Monday I will pick a winner. You can tweet as many times as you want and the more you tweet the better your chances are to win!

Happy Tweeting!

Coffee Talk with Dori from Seaweed!

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Alex: Okay, Dori, since this is Coffee Talk, let’s start out with your coffee drink of choice.
Dori: I prefer Dulce tea. It's green and made from seaweed..
Alex:  Moving on, so you’re an athlete? A swimmer? How does that even work? Okay I get it, it’s a team or whatever. But can you explain your swim club and all that entails?
Dori: If you've ever watched the Olympics you'll see what it's like. We compete against each other and ourselves, always trying for the best possible time. It's very competitive and takes up your whole life if you want to be the best. Which I do.
Alex:  And there are guy swimmers, too? Like Michael Phelps? I promise I’ll shut up about him… but there has to be some guy on the swim team that has the body of Michael Phelps, but maybe not the ears? If there is, have you scooped him up?
Dori: Well, there's this guy, Colby. He's cute and a great swimmer. I've known him my whole life. He'd like to be more than friends, but the problem is, I just don't like him that way.
Alex: Sounds sort of fishy too me. I have my own boy problems, but there is always something that happens when you date a boy who isn’t exactly human. How do you deal with it?
Dori: Oh, you're talking about Tor Riley now. Ooo la la. I can't ever go there.
 Alex:  Merboys are complicated. How does that even work? I know, I know I date an alien but he breaths air. Doesn’t Tor need to be underwater or something?
Dori: He spends about equal time in and out of the water, still it's difficult to have our worlds so separated, y'know?
Alex:  Okay, so moving on, if you and Tor and you friends were to be cast into a movie based on your life, who would you have play you?
Dori: Amanda Siegfried, maybe, or Emma Roberts, if she died her hair blond.
Alex: Let’s round it out with best memory that you’ve had in the past year?
Dori: July 1st which is Canada Day. You'll have to read my story to find out why, but it has to do with fireworks and kissing and a  late night ocean swim.
Thanks for visiting with us, Dori! And everyone should be sure to check out Seaweed!
******************************************************************************

Announcing SEAWEED by Elle Strauss!

 A teen swim athlete discovers a merfolk world that threatens to keep her out of the ocean forever.
 

Dori Seward can’t wait to get out of Eastcove, a sleepy fishing village on the border of New Brunswick and Maine. She bides her time by hanging out with friends, attending swim club, and holding her biggest competition, Colby–who wants more than just friendship, at arm’s length. Then Tor Riley comes to town and he has everything Dori dreams of in a boyfriend–looks, athleticism and mystery. But Tor also has a tantalizing secret and Dori is determined to find out what it is. The truth is crazier than her wildest imaginations and more dangerous, too. Dori has new fantastical enemies , and they will do anything to get to her. Her life, her dreams and her love for Tor are all weighing in the balance. Will Dori risk it all in order to have it all?

 SEAWEED is FREE for a limited time on Amazon! It's also free on itunes and smashwords.



Elle Strauss writes time travel and merfolk chic-lit, light SF and historical YA fiction. To ward off writer's butt she does a bit of hiking, biking and yoga. Elle is married with four children and divides her time between British Columbia, Canada, and Germany.

Writerly Wednesday: Prompts

Writing prompts are great to hone up on your writing skills. I went to a workshop a few years ago and Carrie Lofty gave us writing promps with pictures or with a scene idea and we had to go from there.

I also recentlly entered a novella for a submission with a writing prompt and I had to complete a 10-15K novella with that prompt.

Sometimes it works to write a story, sometimes it doesn't. So here we go.

First let's start with a picture. Give me a 100-200 word story/description/whatever to go with this picture.



The sunset over the mounttops just as Dorothy lay her weary head on the pillow. Tomorrow would be the same thing over and over again: milk the cows, gather eggs, and can the vegetables. She longed for a new life outside of their small cabin, but with Ma still struck with the fever and Pa in the war, there was no sense in even hoping.

Okay that's all you get today, maybe I'll come up with another one next week. Happy writing.

My Paper Heart Blog Tour

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The release of My Paper Heart is fastly approaching (August 6th eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!) You can read more about this New Adult title and add it to your GoodReads.

Which means E-ARCs have gone out and it's time to get ready for a blog tour!

This will span from August 13th-August 24th visiting ten blogs. Each participant will receive an EARC copy of My Paper Heart and I'll even throw in Ecopies of How to Date an Alien and How to Break up with an Alien to sweeten the deal.

Just fill out this little formy-dealy below and I should be announcing the participants and getting back to you all by the end of next week!

This form

The My Alien Romance Series gets a makeover

Now don't get me wrong, I LOVED my original covers for How to Date an Alien and How to Break up with an Alien, but to some people it was giving off the impression that it was a cutesy MG book.
If you still loved my original covers, the beautiful designs by CA Marshall will still grace my paperbacks. To up the stakes and grace my covers with a hot alien boy, I enlisted the help of the awesome Steven Novak who has designed covers for Rashelle Workman, Megg Jensen, and Angela Carlie.
He understood my vision and my NEED for Ace to have guyliner on the covers. These new covers will be uploaded to Amazon ASAP so hopefully the rest of the world can understand the hotness of aliens.
What do you think of the new covers?
Have you hopped over to Amazon yet and picked up How to Date an Alien for FREE?

Rashelle Workman cover reveal

You may have read RaShelle Workman 's first novel in the Immortal Essence series entitled "Exiled." If not, check it out, it's free on amazon. If you have read it, and are anxiously awaiting book 2, "Beguiled,"or haven't read it, that's okay. She has a new series out. Blood and Snow. Here's what a few reviewers have said about the series so far: "...A fun, smart, and sexy read!"  "This book will definitely suck you in (no pun intended) instantly." "Best books that I have read!"
The Blood and Snow series Summary:"Lips red as rubies, hair dark as night. Drink your true love's blood, become the Vampire, Snow White." Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she's chosen Snow White. *******
Each volume is novelette length. Book 1 is "Blood and Snow," book 2 is "Revenant in Training," and book 3 is entitled "The Vampire Christopher." All three are now available.Today is the big reveal day for book 3...Ready!                Set!                        Here it is!!! To purchase Blood and Snow, click HERE .Revenant in Training (book 2), is FREE from July 11th through the 13th. Pick it up by clicking  HERE . And, The Vampire Christopher (book 3), click HERE .Twitter: @RaShelleWorkmanFacebook: RaShelle Workman AuthorWebsite: http://www.rashelleworkman.com
About the author:  Lover of books, baking, and toffee-making. The author of Aligned: An Immortal Essence Short Story, Exiled, Sleeping Roses, and the BLOOD AND SNOW series. Honorary nerd with attitude.

Free as a bird, now

HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN IS FREE ON AMAZON!

Free you say? YES Free as a bird, now! It's slowly creeping up the charts and making a statement in the Love & Romance category, so I'll make a deal with all of you...

Get me to number one free in Love & Romance and I will release the title of Alien Book 3 and synopsis THIS MONTH!

What are you waiting for? Head over to Amazon NOW! And tell your friends!

Happy Birthday to Dream Smashers!

Dream Smashers celebrated her first birthday in March all alone. I'm a horrible book parent and didn't even throw her a party. To make up for it, I gave her a facelift. I hope she likes it. And I hope her readers like it, too.



Take a look. Isn't she pretty?









Dream Smashers has needed a new cover for a while now. It's an important story, but often gets overlooked. The original cover, which I love, wasn't sitting well with the readers. It even was nominated for a most ugly cover list over on Goodreads. The second cover was an experiment, something I whipped up myself, and not very professional.  I believe this new cover captures the emotion of the story, but also has appeal for the readers. I adore it!




About Dream Smashers:



Letting go is hard to do, but sometimes, it's all you can do.



Sixteen-year-old Autumn is a human heartache. Everywhere she turns people are stomping on her hopes and dreams. Her mom's a tweaker. She's lived with her chain-smoking grandmother for as long as she can remember. Even her best friend has issues. Autumn seems to be the only responsible person she knows and she's sick of putting up with it all.




When she meets Evan, a hot guy without a worry in the world, she can only wonder if he's for real or just another Dream Smasher.




A girl who no longer wants to care and a boy who cares enough for the both of them. Dream Smashers is a love story, but most of all, it's about letting go.



Thanks to my good friend, Megg Jensen, for inspiring me to get 'er done, and Rashelle Workman who referred Megg who then referred me to the cover artisan Steven Novak. Go check him out. He's awesome.


Dream Smashers is available on Amazon Kindle and wherever else eBooks are sold.  It may take a day or two for the new version to be available.



So tell me, do you like it?

INDIEpendence Day

To celebrate with The Indelibles for INDIEpendence Day I am going to highlight YA author Chelsea Cameron and her book NOCTURNAL.

I came across Chelsea's series like an good writer should, on Twitter. She is very active on #Indiechat and feeds my ego when I need it. Which is alot because I'm kind of needy, if you all haven't noticed.





Seventeen-year-old Ava-Claire Sullivan isn't one for doing the expected. Especially when she finds out her mother's cancer is terminal. After a crying session in the local cemetery where she's attacked by one strange guy and saved by another, she doesn't call the cops. Because those guys definitely weren't your average hooligans.

And the one who sort-of saved her? Well, he's odd. He doesn't seem to breathe or smile or have anything better to do than wait in the cemetery for Ava to come back, which she does. Morbid curiosity? Even after he warns her that he's dangerous, she can't stop wanting to see him, talk to him, be with him.

There's just something about Peter that provides a much-needed escape from her mother's diagnosis and her tenuous relationship with her father. Her best friends, Jamie and Texas, don't know what it's like to face death. Peter does; he already has. But a promise he made a long time ago could destroy both of them.

 Quick Twitter pitch desctiption of Nocturnal.
Girl with dying mother meets immortal boy who changes her view of life, and death. 
What inspired you to write this book?
It's going to sound really, really dumb, but I was watching TV and there was an ad for Desperate Housewives. They showed a character plucking an apple off a tree, and I had this image in my head of this guy with really black hair doing the same thing. That was my first visual of Peter, my immortal guy in Nocturnal. I knew he was not human, but it took a while to figure out what that meant. It's odd that I saw him first, and Ava came later, because the book is mostly from her POV. 
If this book were to be made into a movie who would you cast?
Okay, so my almost-perfect Ava is Lexi Ainsworth, who used to be on General Hospital. She has the wide-set eyes and oval face that Ava does. We'd just have to dye her hair black and give her some green contacts. For Ava's best friend Texas, my pick is Lauren Alaina. She's got the right sassitude, even if we'd have to tone down that southern accent. For Peter, I'm still searching. He's tough because he's half-Japanese, so I have to find someone with just the right look. If anyone finds someone who reminds them of Peter, please post it on my Facebook or message me on Twitter! I'd love some help finding him :) For Viktor, Peter's brother (my tall blond Russian), I picture a young Alexander Skarsgard. Yum.
Is there a soundtrack you have for this series?
I'm in the process of creating playlists for the book, so I don't have a complete playlist, but there are a few songs that are very significant. First is "Poison and Wine," by The Civil Wars. That is THE song for the entire series. The song is haunting and so heartbreakingly beautiful. Here are some of the lyrics:I wish you'd hold me when I turn my back
The less I give the more I get back
Oh your hands can heal, your hands can bruise
I don't have a choice but I still choose you
Oh I don't love you but I always willOther songs include "Arms" by Christina Perri, "Everytime We Touch" covered by Patent Pending, and "Just A Kiss" by Lady Antebellum.
Why Indie?
Why not? It came down to two things, for me. One was control. I love the fact that I can design my own covers, hire my own editor, have the final say in how I market and how I brand myself as an author. My mother is a small business owner, and I always knew one day I would follow in her footsteps. I'm doing it as a writer.The second reason is that I didn't want to have to wait forever to get my book out there. Even if I got an agent, even if I got a publisher, it would still be at least a year and more like two before my book would see the light of day. And then I would have to pray I'd earn out my advance, however small that would be. Being a traditionally-published author requires you to rely a lot on other people. I like relying on myself, even if it is a TON of work. I love it, and wouldn't change it for a second.
Favorite book, movie, and food.I could never pick a favorite book, so I'll list a few: Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel, The entire Harry Potter series, Pride and Prejudice, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor. My favorite movie is a tie between Gone With The Wind and Anne of Green Gables. Favorite food is easy! Red Velvet Cheesecake :) 
Words to live by?
It is always darkest before the dawn. It's a quote I say a lot in Nocturnal, and it's one my grandmother used to say. When I lost my dad to cancer six years ago, my mom wrote it on a piece of paper and had it taped next to the door. It really helped me get through that time.Another, less serious piece of advice is from my dad: Anything worth having is worth working for. Anything that's truly worthwhile can't be easily obtained. It takes work to get what you want. That's my philosophy as an author.


And to celebrate our INDIEpendence day, I'm going to give away an ecopy of Nocturnal!
Chive on people and enter your name in the little rafflecopter doohickey to win!

And make sure to go back to The Indelibles homepage and check out the authors who are participating!

http://www.blogger.com/%3CA%20href= Rafflecopter giveaway

Coffee Talk with Kira from Open Minds

Alex:  Alright, Kira, since this is coffee talk let’s start out with what’s your coffee drink of choice?
Kira:  Just straight black, but usually I don’t drink coffee. I don’t like anything that might interfere with my mindjacking mental processes– I have enough problems with that as it is.
Alex: Okay, now onto the questions. This session I actually some requests on what to ask you. The first one being what is it like to be a ‘keeper’ mindjacker? I thought I had issues with dating an alien, but that sounds even crazier!
Kira:  Being a keeper means that I can “keep” my thoughts – in other words, other mindjackers can’t jack into my head, although I can jack into theirs. (Not that they particularly like this.) They say my head is really “hard” because jacking is like a physical thing – I reach out and plunge into other people’s brains. Ew, right? This revolutionary jacker named Julian says that it’s the interference of our mind fields that causes the sensation. To me, it just feels like plunging my hand into a bowl of goo. My brain barrier is so hard that no one can get through, so being a keeper means I can’t be controlled by other jackers, at least mentally. They don’t seem to hesitate trying to kill me in other ways, though.
Alex:  Since I’m in to politics and with all the political pressures in jacking, what do you see the future being like for mindjackers and readers alike?
Kira:  I wish that mindjackers and mindreaders could just get along, but I don’t see that happening any time soon. Mindreaders seem to think every mindjacker is some kind of sociopath that would control them into doing horrible things. Most of us just want to be left alone and able to lead normal lives. But politicians like Senator Vellus are bent on stirring up the hatred, playing on people’s worst fears. I really hate that guy. I mean, seriously hate him. I’d probably poison his coffee, if I could. Just sayin …
Alex:  Whoa, heavy stuff. With all that said, what do you think is the scariest mindjacking ability and why?
Kira:  The creepiest jacking skill I’ve come across is Sasha’s ability to scribe people. He can literally rewrite your entire mind in a minute, erasing memories, changing habits, rewriting your entire personality. He can make you into a completely different person. It’s like you’re dead, only you’re not – you’re someone else. *shudder* Just thinking about it gives me the creeps.
Alex:  Ack! Not to be nosey, but how does that affect your relationships? Romantic and otherwise? How does your other half feel about all this?
Kira:  My boyfriend Raf is awesome – he’s a mindreader, but he knows that jackers aren’t all evil. He loves me, after all, and I’m one of the weirder ones. It’s true that I could jack him and he couldn’t do anything about it – but I would never do that. I don’t even link into his head and share thoughts unless I know he wants me to. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean that you will, or that you want to, you know? I mean, I could take this coffee and throw it in your face, right? But I don’t because, well, that would be insane, and really not very nice. Jacking is like that – just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you have to go around, being crazy all the time. Most mindreaders don’t understand that, but Raf does.
Alex:  I promise I’ve totally been paying attention to you, but I noticed the giant Mike Tyson like tattoo on your face. Does that come off? No offense or anything, just not used to seeing facial tattoos here in Winnebago.
Kira:  *laughs* Yeah, well, distraction is kind of the point. I was pretty famous there for a while, and some people weren’t too keen on me telling the world that mindjackers exist. So, I’ve been keeping a low profile, trying to disguise the face that got plastered all over the tru-casts 24/7 for like weeks. But yeah, it will fade eventually. It’s just a synth-tattoo – they only last about 3-4 months. Then I’ll have to get a new one. Or, if I’m really lucky, I won’t have to hide anymore.
Alex:  Okay, I understand all the privacy and the political repercussions of the mind jacker stuff, but one last question.  If you could go back to the beginning and take all of your abilities back, would you do it and why?
Kira:  If I could have stayed a zero – just someone who couldn’t read minds or be read by others – I would totally do that. This mindjacking thing … it’s been nothing but trouble, ever since it started. I don’t want to be able to control other people; it’s just the way I was born.
Alex:  Thank you for joining me today for Coffee Talk and please don’t jack my mind when you leave!
Kira:  Thanks so much for having me, Alex. And don’t worry, your mind is safe with me! But if you ever have someone bugging you, just let me know. I’ll take care of it for you. J
************************************
When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

See the Mindjack Trilogy website (mindjacktrilogy.com) for more information.
Mind Games (prequel short story to Open Minds)Open Minds (Book One)Closed Hearts (Book Two