Nancy S. Thompson's Blog, page 4

Launch Day: PRECIOUS EMBRACE by Dana Mason

Please, come help me celebrate launch day withmy dear friend and pub-sister and the release of her second novel...
PRECIOUS EMBRACEbyDana Mason

Book Two in the Embrace SeriesRomantic Suspense/Thriller
“A new love, a missing child, a family found.”
A second divorce and a new baby wasn’t the vision Alison Hayes had for her future. Now a single mother with two young boys, she wants to focus on her kids and what’s left of her stagnant career.
When Detective Johnny Rhay Bennett breezes into her life with his country-boy accent, she wants to run. She doesn’t need another man in her life, or another reason to make people talk. But when her worst nightmare becomes a reality, Johnny is the only person who can pull Ali out of her despair, forcing her to stay strong and not give up hope of finding her missing child.
Who falls in love after a one-night stand? Johnny Rhay doesn’t believe it’s possible until it happens to him. With Nashvillein his rear-view mirror, he’s determined to convince Alison she loves him too, even if it means moving to the West Coast.

Ali’s not easy, and she’s living on just this side of bitter after her divorce, but Johnny doesn’t care. He’s up for the challenge. At least, he believes he’s up for it until baby Micah is stolen right out from under his nose. Now Johnny has to keep it together and get that sweet little boy home safe before his dreams of having a family vanish too.
Find Precious Embrace on: Amazon US   Amazon UK  Amazon CA  Goodreads  B&N Nook  

And coming soon to:
Kobo   iBooks

To celebrate the release of Precious Embrace,we’re offering Dangerous Embrace
FREE
from July 11th to July 14th

Sarah Jennings wants nothing more than a quiet life--alone. Raised by an eccentric mother, their life on the road only taught her how to run away from hard times. When she finds herself in an abusive relationship, this lesson serves her well. Eight years later, she’s settled back in her hometown and less fearful than she’s ever been in her life. She’s a first grade teacher, and with few friends and less family around, she has what she wants, a quiet life under the radar where she can be free of her past and live quietly. Until one night and one brutal act of violence changes everything. 

Injured and afraid, Sarah wants to run again, but Mark Summors refuses to let her go.

Mark was born and raised in Santa Rosa. He married his high school sweetheart and never questioned his life, until he found his wife with another man. Now divorced, he wants something more. He's passionate about his job, he wants to protect people, and he devotes his life to it. This time he's protecting more than just another client, he's protecting his future; at least, Sarah Jennings will be his future, once he convinces her she loves him.

When Sarah agrees to let Mark help, she doesn’t anticipate just how important of a role he’ll play in her future or how the violence in her past will come back to threaten them both.
Find Dangerous Embrace on:
Amazon US  Amazon UK  Amazon CA  Goodreads

Dana Mason
Dana Mason starting writing to prove to her computer geek husband and her math & science geek kids that she actually has a brain; it’s just a right functioning brain instead of a left. She’s lived all over the country and uses that experience in her writing and character studies. Her debut novel, Dangerous Embrace is the first in a contemporary romance series about a group of friends from Northern California who learn just how short life can be when you don’t hold on to what’s important.
When not writing, Dana specializes in professional development and training. She’s also a board member on the local Art’s Council and does what she can to support the art community.
Find Dana on:Her website  Facebook  Twitter  Amazon  Goodreads  Sapphire Star Publishing

THE MISTAKEN 99 Cent Sale and Giveaway!

It’s finally here…the 99 Cent Salefor my romantic thriller,The Mistaken,on Amazon US, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble!


This sale is for a limited time and runs from now until July 16th 12:00a. PDT.
I’m also running a giveaway!
Enter below for a chance to win a $10 gift card from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winner’s choice).

There are several ways to increase your chances, so enter NOW! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Cover Reveal, a New Author Page, a Sale, and Some REALLY Cool News!

Present PerfectbyAlison G. BaileyRelease Date: August 6, 2013New Adult Contemporary RomanceCover by Robin Harper of Wicked by Design
Synopsis:
Amanda Kelly spent her entire life trying to control every aspect of it, while striving for perfection. Her obsession with being perfect, along with her feelings of worthlessness, consumed her. The one thing she thought was perfect in her life was the bond she shared with her best friend, Noah.
Everything was going according to her life plan until she woke up one day and realized she had fallen in love with him. The one thing she couldn’t control was the affect he had on her. Noah had the power to give her one hundred lifetimes of happiness, which also gave him the power to completely devastate her. He was the one thing in her life that was perfect, but she couldn't allow herself to have him.
Her life begins to unravel. Events take over and force her to let go of her dreams and desires. She needs to realize that a person cannot control the events in their life, only their reaction to them...but will it be too late for her to save her relationship with her best friend? Present Perfect is a story of how past events have present consequences and how perfect your present could be if you stopped fighting and just allowed it to happen.


Alison's dream cast!
Find Present Perfect on:Goodreads  Pinterest  Spotify Blog


Alison G. Bailey, Author

Bio:
Alison was born and raised in Charleston, SC.As a child she used her imagination to write additional scenes to TV shows and movies that she watched. She attended Winthrop Universityand graduating with a BA in Theater. While at Winthrop she began writing one act plays which she later produced. Throughout the years she continued writing and producing several one act plays, but then life got in the way and she hung up her pen for a while. On the advice of a friend, she started writing again. In January 2013, Alison sat down at her computer and began writing her first novel, Present Perfect.
Alison lives in Charleston, South Carolinawith her husband, Jef, and their two furry children (dogs).  She’s addicted to Diet Pepsi and anything with sugar.
Alison's philosophy: Don't let your obstacles define you, let them refine you. At times life can get pretty overwhelming, but with a great support system and a lot of humor you can get through it. If you have humor in your life your spirit stays strong and you can tackle anything.
Find Alison on:Facebook  Goodreads  Twitter  Blog


Promotion by:
Stacy Bailey DarnellLiterary Mania ReviewsLike LMR on Facebook
____________


Starting NOW, I'm running a week-long special promotion.  The ebook version of my debut romantic thriller, The Mistaken, will be on sale for 99 cents on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
That's 75% off!

PLUS...during my sale (if I can figure out how to use Rafflecopter),
I will hold a GIVEAWAY for a $10 gift card for Amazon or Barnes & Noble (winners choice).
I'd love if you'd consider helping me spread the word.

So grab my badge, compliments of the talented Carrie Butler,
and post it to Facebook, Twitter, or your blog.   
AND CHECK THIS OUT...
After much arm-wrangling and cajoling by many of my author friends,I finally agreed to start my own author page on Facebook. 

And so now, I humbly beg, if you're on Facebook,could you do a gal a favor and please, please, please go here and

Thank you!!!!

OH AND ONE LAST THING...

I went online to the King County Library System's website and found this...



Yes, that's my book, The Mistaken, on order,
sans cover art since they haven't received it yet.

But still, I cannot tell you how excited I am by this, because the KCLS doesn't ordinarily stock titles that have not been reviewed by Kirkus, the NY Times, or the Library Journal, yet there it is, on order and soon to be stocked on the shelves of Washington's most popular library system.  

And oh, by the way, in a few months time, it actually WILL be reviewed by the LJ!  

How cool is THAT?!

IWSG - The Backlash of Plagiarism

It’s the first Wednesday of the month. Time for Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
And this month, I’m one of Alex’s minions andwill be visiting as many ISWG posts in my assigned section as I can.
Sooooo…I had all these good things I wanted to share regarding my progress on Amazon.  With the assistance of a well-liked promoter who’s helping me spread the word of a forthcoming event, I was able to reach the attention of a particularly influential book blogger who then subsequently posted her intention to read my book on both her Facebook page and my book’s Goodreads page.  

As a result, I enjoyed a profusion of GR TBRs and Amazon sales, and my rank dropped to its lowest level ever in the mid 4-digit arena.  That was an amazing moment for me.

But then this thingexploded on the Internet at about the same time and kind of sucked the wind from my sails. 
Seems there was a new contemporary romance released on Amazon and Barnes & Noble called Amazingly Broken.  It was all the rage and immediately became an Amazon bestseller.  Shortly thereafter, romance book blogger,  Jane Litte of Dear Author, noticed some passages in this new book that sounded eerily similar to two other books she’d read, reviewed, and loved—Tammara Webber’s Easy and Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster.

Of course, the online book blogging community went ape over this revelation, with good reason, I imagine, as they take a great deal of their time to read and review books for many indie and small press authors who otherwise get very little publicity.  The trouble was, these bloggers, especially Jane Litte, who felt somehow betrayed even though they’d received the books for free and enjoyed it enough to give it 5 stars, immediately became suspicious of allindie and small press authors and proceeded to conduct a witch hunt of sorts, calling out authors who use pen names or don’t use headshots for their avatars as probable fakes and plagiarists. Funny thing is, Jane Litte is a pen name, too.  

While I understand their anger at feeling duped and am just as outraged by this brazen incident as they are, the backlash their reactions are having on indie and small press authors is significant.  Many are now being frozen out, or made to prove who they are and that they actually wrote what they’re claiming is their book.  So now these bloggers, who proudly proclaim to support and promote indie authors, are lashing out at them.  And just as word and reaction to this event has spread like wildfire among the blogging community, so has the fear this backlash has created spread among us hard-working, honest, and legitimate authors.
Compliments of GR user Candace

As if it wasn’t already hard enough to find and convince a highly respected and heavily followed book blogger to consider reading, reviewing, and promoting our books, now we have to prove we are legitimate, all because one wannabe “writer” decided to take the lazy way and steal the work of others.  While I am highly irritated at those bloggers who lashed out so hatefully, especially Jane Litte who continues her march on this witch hunt, I also have an issue with this fake author, Jordin Williams, who's making it hard on the rest of us.  But that’s as much time and effort I’m willing to give these thieves and haters.  Okay, rant over.

GIVEAWAY!

No, I'm still on hiatus, but I wanted to share a little something.  
An Alleged Authoris holding a GIVEAWAY!

Just hop on over to her blog and comment on this post andyou will automatically be entered to win a FREEPRINT or Ebook copy ofThe Mistaken!
How easy is that?!!

a Cover RE-Reveal and a SALE!

Dropping in for a quick post, a RE-reveal of my very dear friend, Julie Richman’s debut, Searching for Moore
Julie decided to give the dashing Schooner Moore a makeover, of sorts.  Isn’t he purty?!!  Yes, those bare-chested cover boys get me every time. 
But Julie’s not done yet.  Along with a little primping, Julie’s slashed her price down to99 centsfor a few days only!
So you can get your Schooner on for less than a buck! 

Find Searching for Moore on:
Amazon Kindle   B&N Nook   Goodreads
Here’s the low down: 
Attended by reality TV star wannabes and Southern California social climbers, Schooner Moore knows the party his wife is throwing for his forty-third birthday has little to do with him and everything to do with her social standing in Orange County. The evening turns out to hold more surprises than just his wife's Botoxed friends groping at his privates, when a conversation with his old college roommate, Beau, reveals the biggest surprise of the night.

Beau has had contact on Facebook with Mia Silver. Just hearing her name sends Schooner into a tailspin, as he is now just a Friend Request away from the one who got away when she disappeared without a goodbye, leaving him wondering why she left.

A serial failure at romance, Manhattan boutique ad agency owner, Mia, gets a blindside of her own when a Facebook Friend Request from first love, Schooner, appears in her email. Going with her gut reaction, Mia hits accept, propelling her past to catch up with her in a New York minute, as a forceful Schooner is determined to understand what tore them apart and to explore the possibility of a second chance at love.

From a 1980's Southern California college campus and a devastating first love to present day New York City, Searching for Moore explores how technology has eradicated the divide between our past and our present, and asks whether you would give up everything to reconnect with The One in a single keystroke?
And a little sumpm sumpm about my girl, Julie: 
Author Julie A. Richman is a native New Yorker living deep in the heart of Texas. A creative writing major in college, reading and writing fiction has always been a passion. Julie began her corporate career in publishing in NYC and writing played a major role throughout her career as she created and wrote marketing, advertising, direct mail and fundraising materials for Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations. She is an award winning nature photographer plagued with insatiable wanderlust. Julie and her husband have one son and a white German Shepherd named Juneau.


Find Julie on:Goodreads   Website   Facebook   Twitter

Aberration Book Launch and Bloghop!

Today’s the big day, the release of Lisa Regan’ssecond novel, the super creepy crime thriller,
Aberration.

I LOVE this book, and actually had a bit of a hand in it, working extensively with Lisa over the last couple years to help her get it just right.  And oh, how right it is!!  Go read my Amazon review here.
And now, to celebrate this momentous occasion, Lisa is hosting the Aberration Bloghop.  On June 6th  & 7th, participants will list their top 5 choices for the most aberrant characters in fiction, television, or movies.  If you're a writer, feel free to include a short paragraph about your own aberrant character.
Participants will be entered to win an Amazon gift card for either $25, $15, or $10, plus, 1 of 3 signed copies of the Aberration paperback and 1 of 5 ebooks.  How cool is that?!
Here’s my entry:
#5 - Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
A cold, heartless monster who revels in her power over those in desperate need of compassion.
#4 - Max Cady in Cape Fear (formerly The Executioners) by John D. MacDonald
I love revenge stories, but this guy is insanely twisted and obsessed.
#3 - Tom Ripley from The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
A seriously insecure and manipulative psychopath who gets away with murder.
#2 - Professor Joe Carroll, from the FOX television series The Following. 


Played by deliciously sexy Brit, #1 - Hannibal, from the NBC television series (based on Thomas Harris’ character in Red Dragon,) 

This character is suave, charismatic, and brilliant.  He loves the culinary arts, and, when not assisting the FBI in solving serial murder cases, prepares extraordinary carnivorous meals for his friends and colleagues.  Trouble is and unbeknownst to his guests, the main ingredients are harvested from his many victims.  The food preparation and dining scenes, while beautifully choreographed and filmed, totally gross me out.  
Those are all long-standing villains, of course, but if you want to sink your teeth into a few new members of this elite Club Aberration, check out Lisa’s books.  
Finding Claire Fletcher has the worst kind of monster, one who preys on children.

  And in Aberration,you’re dumped deep into the psychopathic mind of an obsessive creep who’ll have you constantly looking over your shoulder for crazed stalkers.


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IWSG: Blazing a New Trail and Meeting a New Friend!

It’s the first Wednesday of the month. Time for Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
This last month has been a mixed bag for me.  Some ups.  Some downs.  It all levels out in the end.  At least, I hope it will.  My worst bit of news is something I can’t really share, not without possibly hurting those who’ve been good to me thus far, even if I now find myself in a big, dark, black hole of insecurity. 
What I can share is that I sold the audio rights to my novel, The Mistaken, to Cherry Hill Publishing.  Just look, The Mistaken has been added to their website's homepage as “In Development”. 

Pretty cool, right?  Now, I’ve never listened to an audio book before.  But then again, I’d never read an ebook before I was published either. 
Anyway, before signing, I found out a few interesting facts about CHP.  In the past, their catalog has consisted primarily of public domain titles—think Moby Dick, War of the Worldsand Pride and Prejudice.  Because of this, they have 100% coverage of the USpublic library market.  That’s huge!  100%! 
Now, CHP is venturing into the world of private titles, such as my own.  Besides physical forms (CD), they distribute electronically via Audible and iTunes, where most people purchase from these days.  Best of all, out of the blue, this publisher came to me, instead of me querying them.  That was very gratifying, let me tell you, and definitely helped relieve some of my insecurity.
So now, in 7 or 8 months, barring any problems, I should have an audiobook version available of The Mistaken!  That’s very exciting to me and helps make up for the rather devastating news I received a couple weeks ago.  Like I said, it all kind of levels out.
In addition to that good news, I got to meet one of my online bloggy buddies & Facebook friends.  None other than the vivacious Tammy Theriault!  We’d been emailing and FB messaging and texting a lot lately, and have grown to be good friends, though only virtually, as in the Internet, even though we only live about an hour or so apart, something I only recently discovered.

Well, on Saturday, I noticed Tammy had posted a picture of a Bellevue, WAlandmark on her Facebook page, so I suspected she was very near my home.  I commented on her photo, and the next thing I knew, like an hour later, we were having lunch together at Outback! 

And you know what, we clicked.  Just like that.  Very natural.  Very easy.  Very comfortable.  I had a blast!  My only regret was that she had to run home after only 90 minutes—long drive and all.  But I’m thrilled to have met in person yet another “virtual” friend, and another writer, not to mention one so genuinely sweet and terribly funny!
That’s just the kind of fuel I need to get me through those insecure days.Happy June, you guys!

Donna K. Weaver's "A Change of Plans" Blog Tour!

When twenty-five-year-old Lyn sets off on her cruise vacation, all she wants is to forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. What she plans is a diversion uncomplicated by romance. What she gets is Braedon, an intriguing young surgeon. He's everything her fiancé wasn't, and against the backdrop of the ship's make-believe world, her emotions come alive.
Unaware of the sensitive waters he navigates, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship—on the very anniversary Lyn came on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs off in a panic.
But it's hard to get away from someone when you're stuck on the same ship. Things are bad enough when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions. Then paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped, and Lyn's fear of a fairy tale turns grim.

Find it: Amazon| B&N| Goodreads| Rhemalda Store
Genre: New Adult / Adult Contemporary Romance


About Donna K. Weaver :



Donna is a Navy brat who joined the Army and has lived in Asia and Europe.

Because she sailed the Pacific three times as a child, she loves cruising and wishes she could accrue enough vacation time to do more of it with her husband.

Donna and her husband have six children and eight grandchildren who live all over the world.
At fifty, Donna decided to study karate and earned her black belt in Shorei Kempo.

After recording city council minutes for twenty years, Donna decided to write something a little longer and with a lot more emotion--and kissing.
Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website
What people are saying about A CHANGE OF PLANS...
"A Change of Plans will keep readers up way too late in this fast-paced tale of love lost and found again." ~Melanie Jacobson, author of The List, Not My Type, Twitterpated, and Smart Move
"A Change of Plans is lots of romance sprinkled with pirates, shipwreck and adventure. Donna Weaver spins a tale that you will fall in love with, think about for days afterward, and then go back and read again. I laughed, I cried, and I couldn't put it down." ~Betsy Love author of Identity and Soulfire
"A captivating tale of love, grief, and hope that will tug at your heartstrings until the very end." ~Laura Josephson, author of the Rising series and Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld
"When someone says pirates and novel in the same sentence, I usually say, "Thanks, but no." Not in this case. Ms. Weaver brings a warm humor to her story of romance, travel and overcoming skeletons in one's past with her vivid characters and delightful scenes." ~Shaunna Gonzales, author of Dark Days of Promise
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Happy AND Healthy!

Hey, I’m back!  No, not really, but I do have a couple things on the calendar today.
First, Alex Cavanaugh, Stephen Tremp, L. Diane Wolfe, and Michael Di Gesu have teamed up for a Blog Hop that focuses on health.
This is an issue with many bloggers who have expressed gaining weight over the holidays and other negative health issues that they are dealing with. Here is a Blog Hop that can help us make 2013 a year that we can help turn the tides!

The Objective: Share with everyone something you have done that affected your health in a positive way. You can share an awesome low cal low fat tasty recipe. Post simple tips to lose weight. Or a testimony on what has helped like joining Weight Watchers. Recommend a routine like P90X or Insanity. Or stretches one can do while sitting in their office chair working or writing. We’re sure people have countless great tips and ideas they would love to share. 

Well, I can’t say I’m the healthiest writer on the planet, ‘cause I’m so NOT, but a few years ago, before I started writing, and after I’d gained too much weight to be comfortable with, I joined up with Positive Changes to help get my head back into proper perspective.  PC is a hypnosis center, and before you scoff, it really, REALLY works!
My father used hypnosis to get over a 30 year smoking habit.  He did so in two weeks, cold turkey, without any problem whatsoever.  So I decided to give it a try for weight loss, since that’s what PC specializes in and is most noted for. 
I went in for monthly hypnosis sessions, about 30 to 45 minutes each, which were recorded to a CD that I uploaded to iTunes and put on my iPod.  I listened to that recording every single day.  Plus, I attended weekly classes they offered on nutrition and exercise.  That’s what the sessions focused on, as well.  From there, I found it easy to focus on my diet and exercise and I lost over 50 pounds in 8 months. 
So if you have a problem committing yourself to eating better and exercising everyday, consider hypnosis.  I really does work!  During your sessions, you are always in total control and are completely aware.  It’s all about relaxation and being open to suggestion.  That’s it.  Of course, you have to stay vigilant, even after your program is complete.  I’ll always have my session recordings to listen to whenever I want or need to.

Second, I’m way out of practice on this sort of thing but…I was tagged by the effervescent Tammy Theriault in the Happy Meme and have been nominated for the Happy Award!  
Must be all that happy dancin’ I’m always doing on Facebook every time someone posts an awesome review! 
Not much to this one, really, just thank the one who tagged you—THANKS TAMMY!!—list 5 things that make me happy, and tag five more shiny, happy people.  So here goes…
5 things that make me happy :  having my son back home for college, watching my 125-pound  submissive snow dog play with my 7-pound alpha cat, having writer friends who understand the joys and pitfalls of publishing, selling the audio rights to my book, when readers tell me how much they enjoyed my story.
Tag, you’re it :
Alex Cavanaugh, who, I know, never does these sorts of things, but come on!  Who else do you know who always seems so happy?  Donna Weaver, who’s only days away from releasing her debut!  How could she NOT be happy?Heather M. Gardner, another happy, soon to be published author!Mary Pax, who’s the most prolific author I know.  No wonder she’s always smiling!
L. Diane Wolfe, who always seems to have her act together, which = happinessI'll be back on Monday for Donna's launch, next Wednesday for the IWSG, and then on Thursday for Lisa Regan’s Aberration Bloghop which has lots of cool prizes!!  Until then...