Laurisa White Reyes's Blog, page 29

FALLING IN LOVE $100 KICK-OFF GIVEAWAY!

Falling In LoveA Clean Romance EventHosted by I Am A Reader & Clean Wholesome RomanceSeptember is going to be an AWESOME month for clean romance lovers! I'm excited to kick-off this month-long celebration with this $100 Giveaway. Before we get to the giveaway...

Just look at this amazing list of authors who are participating!Elizabeth JohnsJulie WrightJo NoelleLaurie LewisBria QuinlanBeth LabonteSariah WilsonD.E. MaloneDelaney CameronDonna HatchKimberley MontpetitRachael AndersonMylissa DemeyereDaniel BannerDanielle ThorneAubrey WynneKimberly KreyJennifer GriffithJen Geigle JohnsonCindy Roland Anderson
Are you excited? I hope so because it's going to be a great month!
Each Monday through Friday for the rest of the month one of these authors will be spotlighted. There will be a $25 giveaway along with each spotlight which means there will be $500 given away in addition to this $100 giveaway! That's a total of $600 being given away plus you will have the chance to learn more about 20 AMAZING authors!

So let's start this off with the $100 Kick-Off Giveaway!  Giveaway Details One lucky winner will receive a $100 Amazon Gift Code or $100 in Paypal Cash. Ends 10/1/18 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use money sent via PayPal or gift codes via Amazon.com. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, PayPal, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. This giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader & Clean Wholesome Romance and sponsored by the participating authors. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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BOOK REVIEW: KILLING PATTON by Bill O'Reilly

KILLING PATTON
Bill O'Reilly
Audio CD
Macmillan Audio

General George S. Patton, Jr. died under mysterious circumstances in the months following the end of World War II. For almost seventy years, there has been suspicion that his death was not an accident―and may very well have been an act of assassination. Killing Patton takes readers inside the final year of the war and recounts the events surrounding Patton's tragic demise, naming names of the many powerful individuals who wanted him silenced.

MY REVIEW:

While the premise of O'Reilly's book is about the strange death (some suggest murder) of World War II's greatest general, this is really the story of the last year of the war in Europe. Told in incredible detail, Killing Patton is an enthralling journey through the battles and engagements that led to the end of the war and to Patton's untimely death shortly thereafter. A fantastic book!

$50 AMAZON GIVEAWAY - THE GENES OF ISIS by Justin Newland

The Genes of Isisby Justin NewlandGenre: Epic Fantasy
Akasha is a precocious young girl with dreams of motherhood. She lives in a fantastical world where most of the oceans circulate in the aquamarine sky waters.

Before she was born, the Helios, a tribe of angels from the sun, came to Earth to deliver the Surge, the next step in the evolution of an embryonic human race. Instead they spawned a race of hybrids and infected humanity with a hybrid seed.
Horque manifests on Earth with another tribe of angels, the Solarii, to rescue the genetic mix-up and release the Surge.
Akasha embarks on a journey from maiden to mother and from apprentice to priestess then has a premonition that a great flood is imminent. All three races – humans, hybrids and Solarii – face extinction.
With their world in crisis, Akasha and Horque meet, and a sublime love flashes between them. Is this a cause of hope for humanity and the Solarii? Or will the hybrids destroy them both? Will anyone survive the killing waters of the coming apocalypse?


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JUSTIN NEWLAND writes historical, fantasy and speculative fiction with a supernatural bent. His first novel, The Genes of Isis (Matador, 2018), is an epic fantasy set under Ancient Egyptian skies. His second novel, The Old Dragon's Head (Matador), is a historical fantasy set in Old China and is due out in November 2018. His work in progress is a historical novel set in Prussia during the Enlightenment in the 1760’s. His stories add a touch of the supernatural to history and deal with the existential themes of war, religion, evolution and the human’s place in the universe. He lives with his partner in plain sight of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England.
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Follow the tour HEREfor exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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WRITER 2 WRITER: 4 STEPS FOR GETTING YOUR STORY UNSTUCK

A friend of mine has been working on his novel for years but can’t seem to finish it. “I just get bogged down,” he says. “I don’t know where the story is going.”

Too many potential authors face the same problem. I say potential because an unfinished manuscript is nothing more than a good idea. We all have good ideas, but how do you turn that idea into a saleable novel?

Some writers like to write as they go, a process called pantsing (or writing by the seat of their pants). But this doesn’t work for everyone. I prefer the plotting method—planning a story in detail from beginning to end before the actual writing begins. I also call this ROAD MAPPING.

Writing is like driving a car. Get behind the wheel without knowing where you want to go, and you may end up wandering aimlessly around town, or you might never leave your driveway at all.

Writing a novel is no different. Every story is a journey with a specific destination. Writers can avoid common obstacles like writers’ block and meandering story lines by planning their destination and the best route to get there before they start writing.

Here are four simple steps to Road Mapping:

Step 1: Brainstorm
Next time you get a good idea for a novel, resist rushing over to the computer to write. Instead, let the idea mull around in your brain for a while. Spend as much time as needed to develop the characters and plot details. Try jotting down your thoughts on sticky notes or in a journal. Knowing how the story will end is vital. Only once your are certain of your destination should you move on to step number two.

Step 2: Outline
An outline is the easiest way to visualize an entire novel from start to finish on a single page. Break down the story into 5 sections: the hook (how the story begins), 3 plot points (these are the three biggest moments of conflict in a story, and the conclusion (how the story ends—the destination). Add in other specific details as desired.

Step 3: Synopsis
Once the outline (or story skeleton) is finished, the next step is to flesh it out. This is where the actual writing process begins. Describe the characters, setting, and storyline by using complete sentences and paragraphs. Think of your synopsis as a short story or condensed version of your novel.

Step 4: Summary
The final step is to breakdown the entire novel into individual chapters or scenes. Assign each chapter a number and a title that reflects what occurs in that scene. The titles are for quick reference while writing and revising, and can later be deleted from the finished manuscript. Also include a brief description (a sentence or two) of the setting, events and/or conflict for each chapter.

Once these four steps are complete, you are ready to write your novel. I like to write one complete chapter each day, but I don’t always write them in order. By referring to the chapter summaries, I can write any chapter I like and compile them in order later. Remember, a road map is a tool to get you out of the mud and moving. You are always free to follow a different path than the one you’ve planned, if your story demands it.

For more details about how to plot your novel, check out Cathy Yardley’s Rock Your Plot: A Simple System for Plotting Your Novel .

$20 AMAZON GIVEAWAY - THE WITCH'S TOUCH by Rosie Whylor-Owen

The Witch's Touchby Rosie Wylor-OwenGenre: Urban Fantasy
Criminals are going missing. Felons or not, Detective Meeks is duty-bound to find them, with little to go on but a suspicious encounter between the latest missing person and a local business owner. As the case unravels, Meeks struggles to make sense of a world he thought he understood. Yet this twist of fate could be his chance to truly making a difference to the community he holds dear.

Amanda Solanke is used to making waves, but never with the police. The last person to see the latest missing criminal, she is dragged to the heart of a police investigation. A small business owner in the eyes of the community, behind closed doors Amanda and her partner Leona guard a magical secret. The closer they are watched, the closer Amanda and Leona come to facing the ultimate danger: exposure.

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Rosie Wylor-Owen was born in Worcester, England at the height of baggy jeans and boy-band popularity. Her work has been featured in the literary magazines The Fiction Pool, Anti-Heroin Chic and Ariel Chart, and the Manawaker Studios Podcast. Her short story "Arm-in-Arm with Alchemy" was accepted for publication by Otter Libris for inclusion in the anthology "Magical Crime Scene Investigation." In February 2018 she won third place in the Fiction Writer's Global flash fiction contest for her story "In Exchange for Your Sins".
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Follow the tour HEREfor exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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$25 AMAZON GIVEAWAY - SEE by Lee Ann Ward

Seeby Lee Ann WardGenre: YA Paranormal
**SEE was voted The TBR Pile Review Site's Book of the Year for 2017!**
Carlie Henson is pretty, popular, and an All-American girl. She has a gorgeous boyfriend and a mother who lives to keep her safe. Probably because everyone is drawn to Carlie…including the murderers she has the ability to identify when she looks in the eyes of their victims.

Keeping Carlie’s secret is pretty simple when all she has to do is avoid dead people. But when a cheerleader at her high school is murdered and the killer seems to have gotten away with it, Carlie knows what she has to do. With the help of her boyfriend, Dillon, she devises a plan to see what she must, no matter her personal safety.
But when Dillon is the one who’s injured in the showdown with the killer, Carlie vows to never help anyone again…until the next young woman attacked is her best friend, Jenna.

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Lee Ann Ward is an award-winning fiction author with a background in journalism and mass communications. She is also the former Senior Editor of Champagne Books. Her love of books started at the age of three, and she's been addicted ever since. She's published six novels with her seventh and eighth on the way (SEE a YA paranormal by Evernight Teen in June 2017 and GLIMPSES OF WILDERNESS a YA romance by Inkspell Publishing in December 2017) and has written several more. When she's not writing, she's reading, singing, baking designer cakes, bowling and dreaming. She's married to Joe (who also happens to be her publicist) and they have 4 sons whom they adore, and a granddaughter who is the love of their life. They make their home in the small fishing community of Bayou La Batre, Alabama.
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$20 AMAZON GIVEAWAY - A GIRL OF WHITE WINTER by Barb Hendee

A GIRL OF WHITE WINTERA Dark Glass Novel Book #3
by Barb HendeeGenre: Historical Fantasy
Pub Date: 8/7/2018

Kara, as a ward with no parentage and no future, has been raised knowing nothing outside her lady’s chambers. Until Royce Capello, a visiting nobleman, is struck by her ice-pale looks, and demands her as payment for the land the family needs.With barely time to protest, Kara is sold and packed off for a life as a concubine—until a raiding party descends on Royce’s company and she’s kidnapped for the second time in as many days.Whatever happens, Kara will be alone in the world, inexperienced and fearing even the vast unfamiliar sky. But one raider gives her a choice—and a magic mirror appears to show her where each path will lead…She can leave with her protector Raven and journey with his performing troupe, competing for his mercurial affections.She can flee the raiders’ settlement, and return to Royce’s manor, chattel among devious nobility.Or she can stay in the settlement, bound to firm, silent Caine, who is as gentle as he is staid and inscrutable.Her fates twist and turn to affect far more than she could have guessed, tangling the bitter with the sweet—and Kara must choose which consequences she can live with…


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A CHOICE OF CROWNS A Dark Glass Novel Book #2
Olivia Geroux knew her king was reluctant to marry her, whatever the negotiations had arranged. But she never expected to find handsome, arrogant King Rowan obsessed with his stepsister instead. And before she can determine what course to take, she overhears her greatest ally plotting to murder the princess.Olivia must act quickly—and live with whatever chaos results. As the assassin hunts his prey, a magic mirror appears to show Olivia the three paths that open before her . . .If she hesitates only a moment, the princess will die—and she will become queen.If she calls for help, she will gain great power—but she must also thrust away her own happiness.If she runs to stop the murder herself, she will know love and contentment—but her whole country will suffer.As she lives out each path, her wits and courage will be tested as she fights to protect her people, her friends, and her heart. And deciding which to follow will be far from easy . . .
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THROUGH A DARK GLASS A Dark Glass Novel Book 1

On her seventeenth birthday, Megan of Chaumont discovers she’ll be sold as a bride to the brutish Volodane family—within hours. Her father grants only that she may choose which one of the ruthless, grasping lord's three sons she weds:Rolf, the eldest: stern, ambitious, and loyal?Sebastian, the second son: sympathetic, sly, and rebellious?Or Kai, the youngest: bitter, brooding, and proud?As shy, horrified Megan flees the welcome dinner for her in-laws-to-be, she finds an enchanted mirror that will display how her life unrolls with each man, as if she were living it out in a breath. But there is no smooth “happily ever after” in her choices.Deaths and honors, joys and agonies, intrigues and escapes await her in a remote, ramshackle keep, where these rough but complex men reveal one side and then another of their jagged characters—and bring forth new aspects of Megan, too. But the decisions of one teenaged marriage-pawn reverberate much farther than any of them have guessed . . .

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Barb Hendee is the New York Times bestselling author of The Mist-Torn Witches series. She is the co-author (with husband J.C.) of the Noble Dead Saga. She holds a master’s degree in composition/rhetoric from the University of Idaho and currently teaches writing for Umpqua Community College. She and J.C. live in a quirky two-level townhouse just south of Portland, Oregon.
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BOOK REVIEW: FAST INTO THE NIGHT by Debbie Moderow

FAST INTO THE NIGHT
Debbie Moderow
Red Hen Press

At age forty-seven, a mother of two, Debbie Moderow was not your average musher in the Iditarod, but that’s where she found herself when, less than 200 miles from the finish line, her dogs decided they didn’t want to run anymore. After all her preparation, after all the careful management of her team, and after their running so well for over a week, the huskies balked. But the sting of not completing the race after coming so far was nothing compared to the disappointment Moderow felt in having lost touch with her dogs.

Fast into the Night is the gripping story of Moderow’s journeys along the Iditarod trail with her team of spunky huskies: Taiga and Su, Piney and Creek, Nacho and Zeppy, Juliet and the headstrong leader, Kanga. The first failed attempt crushed Moderow’s confidence, but after reconnecting with her dogs she returned and ventured again to Nome, pushing through injuries,  hallucinations, epic storms, flipped sleds, and clashing personalities, both human and canine. And she prevailed.

Part adventure, part love story, part inquiry into the mystery of the connection between humans and dogs, Fast into the Night is an exquisitely written memoir of a woman, her dogs, and what can happen when someone puts herself in that place between daring and doubt—and soldiers on.

MY REVIEW:

Gripping true-life adventure story about a middle-aged woman who runs the famed 1,000 mile Iditarod race in Alaska. Twice! Her memoir shares tidbits of her life leading up to the race, how she was eventually inspired to run it after her son completed the Iditarod in 2001, but it also is an intimate portrait of the love and respect between a musher and her dogs.

Moderow's tale pulled me right along the trail with her. I felt like I was the one on those runners feeling the arctic wind in my face. A story easy to get lost in, which is a good thing. Loved every page.

$20 AMAZON GIVEAWAY - DISSENSION by Kristy Centeno

DissensionA Deliverance Novel #2by Kristy CentenoGenre: New Adult Paranormal
In an age where humans dominate the world…

And supernatural creatures exist in the cover of darkness…
He must find a place among his rivals or risk losing it all.Hayden has had his hands tied coping with life outside of the Institutes. He’s come far despite all the bumps along the way. 
He’s allowed himself to believe he could live a normal life…until a new threat makes its presence known.
In an instant, his entire life is flipped upside down once more. Those he cares for are not safe with or without him. There’s no escaping his past. Or permanent solution to his problems. One way or another he’ll become the target for all those looking to destroy the hybrid who endangers their way of life and challenges everything they’ve ever known.
Now he must decide between kill or be killed, and risk becoming the very monster he’s fought so hard to prove he’s not. 
Freedom has come with a price, but is he willing to pay the cost?

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DeliveranceA Deliverance Novel #1
He’s been locked away his entire life.
He dreams of freedom.The only way he can accomplish his goals is by breaking free of the chains tying him to a dark past and gloomy existence. But there’s one catch. He’s not human. And he’s never set foot outside his jail.
Devoted to saving his peers as well as his own life, he sets out to find the one person that can help him achieve his objectives. He knows where she will be and what she will look like, but what he doesn’t anticipate is the fact he finds himself caring for the girl whose life he’s put at risk, more and more each day.
He has no name.He has only known hatred and violence before her.However, she will teach him to have faith in humanity, even if she can’t trust him.Together they will embark on a journey to bring down a corrupt system responsible for the loss of many innocent lives. But when he finds his feelings compromised, can he still move on knowing that doing so will put an end to the life she once knew? How far is he willing to go to be free?

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Kristy Centeno loves to spin tales of creatures that go bump in the night, with a sprinkle of romance to top them off. Her passion for writing stems from a lifelong enjoyment of reading and the pleasure derived from the magical worlds created by authors like her. She prefers her female leads strong, independent, and stubborn who will stop at nothing to save their loved ones and protect those they care for.

Kristy currently resides in Pennsylvania with her five kids and a pair of noisy parakeets. When she’s not working or writing, she juggles her free time between raising a handful of minions and pursuing other career goals.

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WRITER 2 WRITER: BACK TO SCHOOL - BACK TO WORK

At the start of summer, I had every good intention of getting a lot of work done. I’m a college instructor and normally teach during summer, but I took this year off. My “To Do List” was long: declutter the house, repaint the walls, edit/publish my clients’ books, write a new book of my own, and so forth.

I started at a sprint. June and July were pretty productive. In between beach trips and taking my kids to the movies, I did indeed finish editing and formatting two client book projects, and I even managed to clean behind the stove and under the couch.

But then August hit — along with the infamous California heat wave.

My momentum slowed to a crawl. I started sleeping in, I ignored my long list of well-intended household chore list, and I spent more time on Facebook than I did writing.

We are only two weeks into August, but summer is effectively over. My kids started school this week, and I go back to work on Monday. All that wonderful FREE time I had planned to relish is now, sadly, behind me.

Summer wasn’t a complete bust, though. I bought a new bike and have started riding with my son. I did get those two client books published and am a third of the way through revising one of my own novels (though I’m weeks behind publishing it). I got a lot of reading done. And I made many great memories with my kids and family, including an awesome road trip to Washington to see my brother’s family.

Now, it’s time to pack away the fun and laziness and get back to work — not only by clocking into my classroom, but by getting down to business with my writing. I have only three goals for the remainder of 2018:

1) Submit my YA novel to 50 agents
2) Revise and self-publish my fantasy novel
3) Write a rough draft for my new historical novel

These should keep me pretty busy for the next few months. Oh, and I almost forgot — yes, I still need to clean my house.

So, what is your most important goal for the rest of this year?