Ashley Stoyanoff's Blog, page 6

The Spooky Spectacular Event

The Spooky Spectacular Event will kick off Friday and run through midnight Sunday (Oct 18-20). Featuring 60+ of today's hottest authors, $1,000 in prizes and tons of awesome giveaways (Kindle Fires anyone? Coach wristlets?), the event is going to be a blast!

And most importantly, readers will be able to fill up their Kindles with incredible ebooks, all priced at .99! Check out all the gorgeous books at the event's webpage. Just click here!

RSVP at the event's FB page to be automatically entered into the drawing for one of three Kindle Fires! Click here to visit the event page. Instructions for earning extra entries for the drawing will be on the event page! Additional links to Rafflecopter entries for other giveaways will also be available on the event page as well.

A special thank you goes out to Lisa Markson, Leanne Jacobson, Stephanie Shaw and Emily Rae for all their help with the event. You all rock!

Spooky Spectacular sponsored by ...

Lizzy Ford (Website, Facebook page, Twitter)


Julia Crane (Website, Facebook page, Twitter)

Cover Reveal ~ The Soul's Mark: CHANGED

Quick Facts

Expected Release Date: December 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Formats: All ebook formats and Paperback


Synopsis

Ever since college student Amelia Caldwell moved to Willowberg, her life has been in turmoil. But with the evil vampire hunters no longer terrorizing the town, Willowberg is once again peaceful.

With a little help from Mother Nature and a dream for a better future, Mitchell has found himself in a predicament—after eight hundred years of being immortal, he is now a human while his soulmate is a vampire.

Now all Amelia and Mitchell have to do is hide from the world until his body can handle the change. But when Mitchell gets a cold, all hell breaks loose.

With an unexpected resistance rising, and an unexplained deadline from the spirits, Amelia realizes that this is a fight she cannot win alone. One thing is clear, though: to save Mitchell, he needs to change—again. But if he does, what chance does he have of surviving it?

















To celebrate the upcoming release of The Soul’s Mark: CHANGED, the fourth and final book in The Soul’s Mark Series, Ashley is giving away unlimited FREE eCopies of The Soul’s Mark: FOUND, the awarding winning first book in the series.

So grab the coupon code below and download your eCopy of The Soul’s Mark: FOUND from Smashwords. Share the code with your family and friends, and if you enjoy it and decide to continue on with the series, Ashley would love it if you could post a review on Amazon.com, Goodreads, and blogs for each of her books that you read.


Visit: Smashwords
Simply use the coupon code: LS34W and download your FREE eCopy.
Expiration Date: October 17, 2013










Ashley Stoyanoff, the award winning author of The Soul’s Mark: FOUND, lives in Whitby, Ontario and loves diving into the magical world of creating fiction. When not writing, she can be found reading sappy novels, watching cheesy chick flicks, and buying far too many clothes.

Connect with Ashley Stoyanoff Online
Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Email




Other Books by Ashley Stoyanoff

The Soul's Mark Series
The Soul's Mark: FOUND (The Soul's Mark, #1)
The Soul's Mark: HUNTED (The Soul's Mark, #2)
The Soul's Mark: BROKEN (The Soul's Mark, #3)
Waking Dreams, A Soul's Mark Novella

Deadly Trilogy
Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy, #1)

My First Ever Video Interview

Happy Friday Everyone! 

Sorry I've been MIA again.  I've been busy  working  on the edits for The Soul's Mark: CHANGED and the days  have been flying by.  I can't believe we are already in October!   Good news though ... everything is still on track for a December 2013 release.  Yay! 

But enough of about that.  I have something to share with you all today.  A couple weeks ago I let you all know that Justine @ Shelves of Books Blog asked me to do a video interview with her.  Well I'm thrilled to share that I figured out how to use my camera thingy on my computer and the interview is done.  So as promised, here is my first ever video interview!

 
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE INTERVIEW

 Well I'm off to do some more editing.  I hope you all enjoyed watching the interview.  :) 

Take care my lovelies and happy reading! 

Video Review: Deadly Crush by Ashley Stoyanoff

Hello all my awesome friends!

The other day I received an awesome email from Justine @ Shelves of Books Blog.  She has just started doing video book reviews, and as her very first one she reviewed Deadly Crush!   Justine is also one of the awesome moderators for the Goodreads group Reading for Fun. 

But that's enough blabbing from me.  Check out Justine's video review of Deadly Crush!

Video Review: Deadly Crush by Ashley Stoyanoff

 You can also see her written review on Goodreads HERE. 

Now, if you've watched the review, you know that Justine has also asked me to do a video interview.  I'm super excited to do it, and once I figure out how to use the webcam thingy on my new computer, I will be working with her on the interview.  I'll share it with you all once it's complete.  :)  

Happy reading! 

Cover Reveal ~ Broken Beauty by Lizzy Ford writing as Chloe Adams

Hey Everyone!

Today I'm excited to welcome back Lizzy Ford  for another cover reveal.  Check out the awesome cover for her upcoming release, Broken Beauty!

Lizzy Ford, writing as Chloe Adams, is thrilled to release the cover of her upcoming New Adult Drama, "Broken Beauty," the first in the Broken Beauty Novella series, set for release in late Sep/early October. The novellas are being published by Evatopia Press, who also published Lizzy's Witchling and Incubatti Series. The beautiful cover is by Eden of Eden Crane Designs. Click here to add Broken Beauty to your Goodreads TBR list today!

Broken Beauty

**Contains graphic content and the sensitive topic of rape and its aftermath. Not intended for teens under the age of 18.**

Sometimes bad things happen to beautiful people.

When socialite party girl Mia Abbott-Renou wakes up in a garden she has little recall of the previous night -- except that she is naked...hurt...terrified. Not only has she been raped, but she knows one of her assailants: the son of a wealthy politician who happens to be her own father’s political ally.

Mia wants and needs justice. Except this privileged boy has an alibi and her father forbids her from going to the police. It’s a critical election year, one that his party might lose if his image as a doting father is soured due to Mia being labeled a lush or worse, promiscuous.

Devastated at not having the support of her family, Mia finds herself in a tug-of-war with her conscience over what to do, especially since she can’t remember exactly what happened that night. Worse, the men who attacked her have hurt several other girls, and Mia may be the key to stopping them.

Mia tries to forget, until the unthinkable happens, and she’s left reeling once again, faced with a new challenge that will force her to take more control of her life.
Find it on Goodreads.

About Chloe
Chloe Adams is the nom de plume used by Lizzy to distinguish her contemporary, new adult titles from her traditional adult romance and young adult paranormal titles.

Lizzy Ford is the author of over twenty books written for young adult and adult paranormal romance readers, to include the internationally bestselling “Rhyn Trilogy,” “Witchling Series” and the “War of Gods” series. Considered a freak of nature by her peers for the ability to write and release a commercial quality novel in under a month, Lizzy has focused on keeping her readers happy by producing brilliant, gritty romances that remind people why true love is a trial worth enduring.

Lizzy’s books can be found on every major ereader library, to include: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Sony and Smashwords. She lives in southern Arizona with her husband, three dogs and a cat.
 
Connect with Lizzy
 Website
Lizzy Ford Books on Facebook
Fan Club
Twitter
Google+
Goodreads
Amazon author page

Writing Tips and Tricks (2)

Today’s Trick: Write the ending before the beginning.
Some writers only outline as far as they can see. Maybe it’s the first quarter of a story, or the first half. It can be sort of like driving down an old forest road in the middle of the night with no map, only seeing as far as the headlights reach.

I’m not one of those people. I like to see the whole picture and know exactly where I’m going. It’s so much easier to get somewhere if you know where you’re going first.

I use this little trick for each book I write. As part of my outlining process, I found that writing out an ending, typically the last two scenes of the story helps give me a clear vision of the entire book.

Sure the ending that I’ve written doesn’t always stay the same. Sometimes when I've finished the story the ending is way off from what I’ve envisioned, but writing it first lays the path for my characters and gives them solid goals to reach.

Well that’s my trick for the day.

Happy writing!

Cover Reveal ~ Hear No by Lizzy Ford

Good morning everyone! 

Guess what!  Lizzy Ford has a new book coming out!!!  Are you excited?  I know I am.  I found Lizzy's books only this year and I'm so glad I did.  Her work is seriously addictive.  But that's enough preamble from me.  Check out the cover for Hear No! 

Lizzy is thrilled to release the first cover in her upcoming Hidden Evil Trilogy, a paranormal romantic suspense trilogy. The first book, "Hear No" will be launched in mid/late September. Cover is by the incredibly talented Amanda from Sarian Royale! Click here to add "Hear No" to your Goodreads TBR list!


Hear No (#1, Hidden Evil) 

Save the world or save her?

Nathan’s job for the past three thousand years has been to clean up supernatural messes. Jaded, ruthlessly effective and selfless, he’s seen it all and can handle anything - demons, homicidal angels, even bad bosses.

His latest challenge: A creature named Shadowman is seeking out three keys it believes will open a portal between earth and hell. Nathan must eliminate the human host guiding Shadowman to the keys. Except Nathan isn’t expecting the woman anchoring Shadowman to the human world to be beautiful, innocent and completely unaware of the creature manipulating her. Worse, she makes him feel alive for the first time in his long existence.

Kaylee convinces herself stress and a tired mind are to blame for the ominous presence following her everywhere. On a routine visit to a client’s workplace, she stumbles across a deaf girl with a supernatural gift who warns Kaylee about Shadowman – and then stabs her.

No longer able to pretend stress is the problem, Kaylee turns to the mysterious man who promised he can help, only to discover his plans for her may not involve her surviving the ordeal. She has nowhere else to go and no one else to trust. Does she take a chance on Nathan or risk facing Shadowman alone?


About Lizzy 

Lizzy Ford is the author of over twenty books written for young adult and adult paranormal romance readers, to include the internationally bestselling “Rhyn Trilogy,” “Witchling Series” and the “War of Gods” series. Considered a freak of nature by her peers for the ability to write and release a commercial quality novel in under a month, Lizzy has focused on keeping her readers happy by producing brilliant, gritty romances that remind people why true love is a trial worth enduring. Lizzy’s books can be found on every major ereader library, to include: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Sony and Smashwords. She lives in southern Arizona with her husband, three dogs and a cat.





Connect with Lizzy

Website
Lizzy Ford Books on Facebook
Fan Club
Twitter
Google+
Goodreads
Amazon author page

Book Blast ~ The Earth Dwellers by David Estes

Hey Everyone!

Today I'm super excited to be a part of the book blast for The Earth Dwellers, the final book in both the Dwellers series and Country saga! David Estes was one of my top 5 favorite authors of 2012 and I love his books just as much this year! If you haven't read these books yet, then go get them. They are awseome. :)


 

Your favorite Dwellers and Country Saga characters come together in this epic seventh book!

As President Borg Lecter threatens to annihilate the Country tribes in order to expand his glass-domed empire, Adele ventures into the belly of the beast. Her only hope of survival is the consolidation of Dwellers and Country power before it’s too late.

Former demagogue President Nailin is eliminated, yet civil unrest infects every alliance. To save Adele, President Tristan faces his greatest challenge yet: unifying unfriendly Dwellers in the Tri-Realms to raise an army against Lecter. Meanwhile, Dazz must convince the Ice Country leaders to march with Siena and the Tri-Tribes on the gates of the Glass City.

The world sits on the edge of a knife. Will Adele, Tristan, Dazz, and Siena defeat Lecter and his army of killers before the Glassies wipe them off the face of the Earth?

See where it all begun with The Moon Dwellers and Fire Country
To celebrate the release of The Earth Dwellers by David Estes, the fourth book in both The Dwellers series and Country Saga, David is giving away UNLIMITED free eCopies of Fire Country, book one in the post apocalyptic, dystopian, Country Saga. A little over a year ago, David published his first young adult dystopian series, The Dwellers, and it has changed his life forever. Since then, he’s gone from struggling Indie author to fulltime writer, he’s watched in amazement as his Goodreads fan group has swelled from 300 members to over 1,600, and growing. He's been featured on Buzzfeed, as one of the '15 Book Series To Read If You Enjoyed The Hunger Games', and has just signed on to Andrea Hurst and Associates literary agency. Andrea will we working with David to expand both the Dwellers and Country Saga, taking David's career to a whole new level.
So before the two series collide in The Earth Dwellers, grab the coupon code below and download your eCopy of Fire Country from Smashwords. Share the code with your family, friends and literary inclined pets. The only thing David asks for in return is that if you enjoy the read and continue on with the series, to please leave a positive review on Amazon.com, Goodreads and blogs for each of his books that you read.
 
Visit: SmashwordsSimply use the coupon code: WM49N and download your FREE eCopy.Expiration Date: September 15, 2013
 
The Earth Dwellers will cap off an eighteen month journey that has taken me from unknown Indie author to still-mostly-unknown fulltime Indie author. The change is a subtle one for most people, but for me it’s a dream come true. To the hundreds (and now maybe even thousands!) of readers who have come along for the ride with me, either by reading the Dwellers Saga, the Country Saga, or both, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now down to business. There may be some of you who have only read the three books in the Country Saga or only the three books in the Dwellers Saga, and are now thinking you’ll read The Earth Dwellers, which is supposedly the 4th book in BOTH the Country Saga and the Dwellers Saga. Well, that’s awesome! However, I must highly recommend that before reading The Earth Dwellers that you read the three books in BOTH series. Trust me, doing so will greatly enhance your experience, as The Earth Dwellers will be taking significant characters from both series and crashing them together (yes, like a water country wave) into an action-packed tale of struggle and loss and hope and friendship… And maybe a little love, too.

The Country SagaFire Country  Ice Country  Water & Storm Country
The Dwellers Series
The Moon Dwellers  The Star Dwellers  The Sun Dwellers  
a Rafflecopter giveaway


David Estes was born in El Paso, Texas but moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when he was very young. He grew up in Pittsburgh and then went to Penn State for college. Eventually he moved to Sydney, Australia where he met his wife and soul mate, Adele, who he’s now been happily married to for more than two years.
A reader all his life, David began writing novels for the children's and YA markets in 2010, and has completed 13 novels, 11 of which have been published.  In June of 2012, David became a fulltime writer and is now travelling the world with his wife while he writes books, and she writes and takes photographs.
David gleans inspiration from all sorts of crazy places, like watching random people do entertaining things, dreams (which he jots copious notes about immediately after waking up), and even from thin air sometimes! Recently he’s been inspired by some of his favorite authors, like Suzanne Collins, Veronica Roth, and Maggie Stiefvater.
David’s a writer with OCD, a love of dancing and singing (but only when no one is looking or listening), a mad-skilled ping-pong player, an obsessive Goodreads group member, and prefers writing at the swimming pool to writing at a table.  He loves responding to e-mails, Facebook messages, Tweets, blog comments, and Goodreads comments from his readers, all of whom he considers to be his friends.
Where you can find David Estes hanging out:
David Estes Fans and YA Book Lovers UniteBlog/website
Facebook page
Goodreads author page
Twitter
Other Young Adult Books by David Estes: The Evolution Trilogy: Angel Evolution   Demon Evolution   Archangel Evolution
Children’s Books by David Estes: The Nikki Powergloves Adventures: Nikki Powergloves- A Hero is Born    Nikki Powergloves and the Power Council    Nikki Powergloves and the Power Trappers    Nikki Powergloves and the Great Adventure   Nikki Powergloves vs. the Power Outlaws (Coming soon!)

Haven’t read Fire Country yet? Well read on for my review and then go get your FREE copy!

Let me start by saying that I’ve been a David Estes fan since I first read The Evolution Trilogy, but I swear with every book I read of his I love him more and more. They just keep getting better and better.

After finishing The Dwellers Saga, I had pretty high expectations for this book, and David did not disappoint. Fire Country has to be my favorite so far. The characters were awesome. The story flowed wonderfully. I loved, loved, loved it!

We start off this wonderful treat of a book with Siena. She kind of weak, doesn’t have much self-confidence, but I fell in love with her sense of humor right away, and was sucked into her character. She struggles to find her place in her community. Her biggest problem with blending in though, is her wild and rebellious spirit. She grows throughout the story, and by the end, she’s just awesome. Strong. Courageous. I loved her.

The world that David created was amazing. He painted a clear picture and really brought the surroundings to life. Personally, I enjoyed the slang used throughout the narration and dialogue, and felt that it really helped mold characters and the world they live in.

In the end, this was an awesome book and I can't wait to read the next. I would definitely recommend this book to all YA dystopian fans.

Happy reading everyone!
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Book and Movie ~ City of Bones

Warning: This post contains spoilers.

Well, this has to be a first for me. I think I liked the movie more than I liked the book.

Last week, while I was finishing up the final touches on Deadly Crush, I was also rushing through reading City of Bones, trying to finish it before seeing the movie with my sister. I’ve always loved reading the book first, because, well, the movies rarely (if ever) encompass the entire book, so if I’ve read the book first, I can fill in all those missing pieces.

Anyway, I finished up the book last Friday night, which was actually a forced task. Don’t get me wrong. I loved the book. But that twist near the end kind of ruined my life.

I’m one of those people that gets completely lost in books. While I’m reading, I’m there in the story right with the characters. I’m one of them. So when I found out that Jace was actually Clary’s brother it crushed me. I snapped the book shut, only about 40 pages until the end, and right at that moment, I seriously considered throwing it across the room.

I didn’t actually throw it, but I did glare at it for awhile, and then finally I decided to just do something else. It took me about 7 hours to pick it back up again, and at that point, I was only picking it back up because I was going to see the movie the next day and I wanted to finish it before then.

Right now, it probably sounds like I hated the book, but I didn’t. Actually, I really enjoyed it. City of Bones had me hooked right away. The descriptions were amazing. Not once did I feel as if I was in a black hole of dialogue. Each scene and setting was painted with vibrant colors. It drew me in, and I was quickly lost in the shadowhunter world.

I loved the characters. Clary, Jace, Simon, Isabelle, Alec… All of them were perfect. Each one had their own unique personalities, and they were all easy to connect with. My favorite was definitely Jace. He’s a complex character. He’s tough, a bad boy, and acts like a jerk, but I loved him.

“Don't.” Clary raised a warning hand. “I'm not really in the mood right now.”
“That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me,” Jace mused.
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

The dialogue was awesome and flowed wonderfully. It really kept the book interesting and moving along at a great pace.

“Have you fallen in love with the wrong person yet?”
Jace said, “Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself.”
... “At least,” she said, “you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland.”
“Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

And the story was action packed. There really never was a dull moment. The tattoo runes were interesting. I would have liked a bit more information on them, how they work, what magic is behind them, but it’s only the first book, so I’m sure that will come.

“Is this the part where you start tearing off strips of your shirt to bind my wounds?”
“If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked.”
― Cassandra Clare, City of Bones

So when I finished the book I went to bed, still stewing over that twist and debating on whether or not I was going to read the next one.  I was hoping that in the morning I'd feel differently, but on Saturday morning I woke up still annoyed. So annoyed, that when I saw my sister (who has read all the books) I made her spoil it for me. I just didn’t want to believe that Jace and Clary could be brother and sister.

Of course, my sister laughed, and she happily told me more than I actually wanted to know.

But as it turned out, and this is where I ended up enjoying the movie more than the book, I had nothing to worry about. In the movie we find out that they are not brother and sister. It’s all lies. And yes, I was totally squirming in my seat, thrilled with this news.

Overall, I thought the movie covered the book pretty well. Sure some of my favorite lines of dialogue weren’t in it, and it didn’t cover every single scene that I loved from the book, but it was action packed. If the book had have let me in on the lies, then I mostly likely would have said that I liked it more.

Thankfully the movie and my awesome sister spoiled it for me, because I'm now excited to continue on with the books.  I can't wait to see what happens.

So what about you guys? Have you read the book? Have you seen the movie? Which did you like better? Let me know.

Writing Tips and Tricks (1)

Good morning everyone!

I’ve decided to start a weekly post called Writing Tips and Tricks . In these posts I will share the tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way and use regularly during my writing process. They will encompass my entire process, from the first stages of plotting to marketing the final published book.

Today’s tip: Set a word goal.
Now I don’t necessarily mean set a word goal for the story you are writing. Although I know a lot of author who do this, I usually don’t. My thoughts on story word counts are: when it’s done it’s done. It could be 50,000 words or 150,000. I write until I’m happy with it.

With that said, I suggest setting a daily word goal. Mine varies from 2,000 to 5,000 depending on the day and what stage of the process I'm on.

What are the benefits to having a daily word goal? Writing an entire novel length story can be a bit overwhelming at times. I find breaking it up into smaller pieces that can be tackled in one day helps alleviate this. It keeps me moving at a steady pace, and at the end of the day I never feel like I haven’t accomplished anything.

Well that’s my tip for the day.

Happy writing and reading!