Maggie Thom's Blog, page 6

Meet Nicola from the Orchard Book Club

A Book Bloggers Journey Through Reading


Today I am really excited to introduce to you one of eight women who started the Orchard Book Club, approximately six months ago. I am going to be doing a series over the next couple of months so that you can meet all of them. If you haven't checked out their blog, you need to. They do a lot to help authors, not only by reading and writing good, honest reviews but they help authors by hosting interviews and getting the word out about their books. What I really like is that often two or three of the ladies will leave their review on the same book. Very cool idea. They're pretty funny ladies as well. I 'met' them when I sent them Tainted Waters to review. I have been chatting with them on Twitter and I have to say they make my day when I do. I pretty much always have a smile after our talks.

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I'd like you to meet: Nicola Higgins

Book Blogger's Bio:Books ripe for the picking

Orchard Book Club Book Reviewer Website:http://orchardbookclub.wordpress.com/
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1. When did you start reading?

I have always enjoyed reading, but when I was younger it had to be something I wanted to read and not something I was forced too. I remember at school we were asked to read Jane Eyre for English, I could have cried! It wasn't my kind of book and if I'm honest I only skimmed the book..... But don't tell my English teacher that!

2. What was the first book you remember reading?

Urm........ I think it was called Forever. It was a little bit naughty (not like the smut today) but I did have to hide it from my Mum.

3. What attracted you to or got you started reading?
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Captured Lies up for Rone Award

Captured Lies needs your vote. It is up for the Rone Award in the Best Suspense/Thriller Category through InDtale Magazine. This is a free magazine that does a lot to help small and indie published authors.

I received an email from InDtale Magazine, who reviewed Captured Lies about two months ago - "Maggie Thom writes a fast-paced thriller laced with romance that keeps the reader interested and on edge..." So I'm asking for your help.

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Here's part of the email they sent me:

This is to inform you that your book’s genre is open for voting beginning tomorrow (Friday)! It will only be open for votes for exactly one week, so it is extremely important that you let all your friends and fans know! We would hate to think a superior quality book was lost only because people were unaware of the time limit, so we are including the link for voting so you can pass it along!

http://www.indtale.com/rone-awards/20...

The finalists in this round will then be read and judged by a group of professionals in the industry to determine the very best in indie and small published books of 2012. They will then be awarded the prestigious RONE award, itself, at the formal ceremonies, August 9th, at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Thank you. Captured Lies is under the Best Suspense/Thriller category. You must first sign up at InDtale and then you can vote. It's a great, free magazine. I really appreciate your support. Voting opens today, May 17th and closes Thursday night, May 23rd.

Click here to vote: http://www.indtale.com/rone-awards/20...

Thank you for helping me achieve my dream!

A Life Less Ordinary - Review

A Life Less Ordinary
by Victoria Bernadine

My Review: I truly loved this story...

Excerpt:

…Manny wondered if Craig truly understood what he’d gotten himself in for by promoting Steph rather than Manny.

Cleavage and legs.

She mentally rolled her eyes at Harvey’s dry, cynical tones.

Maybe–but that’s not really fair to him, is it? He’s not a bad guy.

But he is just a guy.

She does bring a new perspective–a new way of thinking about things. She’s not a bad choice–and I can’t argue with Craig’s idea that shaking things up could make things better.

And where does that leave you?

No worse off than I was before.

And no better.

If you’re not going to be helpful…

Harvey glanced down at his suddenly ruffled shirt opened to the middle of his muscled chest and skin-tight breeches. He glanced back at her with a ruefully amused smile.

Watched the Ice Pirates again, did you?

Oh, shut up–it’s a classic no matter what anybody else thinks!

I’m just sayin’–if I was real and regularly wore pants this tight, I’m not sure I’d be of any use to you. If you know what I mean.

Manny groaned and shook her head, and Harvey blinked out of existence. She wondered when she’d managed to lose control of a figment of her imagination–one she’d eventually felt compelled to name after an invisible rabbit.

She groaned again, rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. It was going to be another long day tomorrow.

Complete with dancing.
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Midnight Special by Tawny Webber

Midnight Special by Tawny Weber - Super Book Blast

BLURB:

Somewhere on the train is a key witness for a crime involving arson, murder and a high-profile businessman. And reporter Marni Clare will do whatever it takes to get the story—even if it means crashing in a sleeper car that’s she’s not sure she’s reserved. But when she wakes, she finds herself curled up with the man she’s seeking…and he’s hot enough to derail all her plans!

FBI special agent Hunter won’t complain about the wickedly hot blonde in his arms. And maybe it’s the medication he’s on, but he’s even agreed to share his room for the entire journey….

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“So you’re leaving?”

“No, you are.”

Her cupid’s bow mouth dropped open and she stared for so long, he wanted to blow on her face to make her blink.

“It’s my berth. I was in it first. Out of the goodness of my heart, I offered to share it with you. So why would I give it up?”
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Blood Bound by Melanie Atkins

Blood Bound by Melanie Atkins (book blast)

Fueled by grief after his fiancée is brutally murdered, Detective Sam Walker focuses on finding her killer -- a calculating predator who binds books with human skin. Dani Barrington, the newest member of NOPD's Victim and Witness Assistance Unit and a survivor of another frightening attack, helps him discover the terrifying link between the monster's known victims. Despite his anguish, Sam is struck by Dani's strength and determination, especially when her inquisitive nature makes her the killer's next target. He must find a way to protect her or risk losing the one woman who can bring his dead heart back to life.
Check it out Melanie's new book here: http://wp.me/p2ydBl-fS

Tainted Waters Released Today!

He didn’t commit suicide but who’s going to believe her...

Frustrated at being fired from her latest job and overwhelmed by her consolatory family, Sam decides to move to the family’s cabin at the lake. A place she hasn’t been since her dad committed suicide there twenty years before. Or did he? Snooping is something she’s good at but someone seems to be taking offense to her looking too closely at what has been happening at the lake. What she discovers is shocking. Now she must uncover what’s real and what’s not. All that she learned growing up, may be false. Keegan, who has recently moved to the area to finish his latest book, is also trying to find out if his grandfather, who’d passed away ten years before, died of natural causes or was murdered? The descendants of the four families, who own the land around the lagoon, are dying off. Since Sam and Keegan are the only ones questioning the deaths, they find themselves working together to seek the truth. Are people being murdered? Who would benefit from their deaths? Why would there be barricades and armed guards at the north end of the lake?

To stay alive, Sam and Keegan must find the answers and convince others, before more people are killed... including them.

http://bit.ly/13KsKxm

Cover Reveal - Just One Cup by Cassandra Giovanni

Just One Cup

Emma Walker was a writer who'd lost herself to someone else's anger--who had given up on ever feeling like herself again. Evan Levesque was a rock-god--the one all the woman wanted, but he'd never gotten used to the loneliness between the stage and real life. With just one cup of coffee they'll begin a journey of self-discovery at each others...
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10 Things I Didn't Know About Being a Published Author

It doesn’t matter how much reading you do, how much planning, how much learning you do, until you put the wheels in motion you really have no idea what is going to work and what isn’t. And you really don’t understand what everything means until you are using it in the way it is intended. This is so true for being a published author. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that there is no one rule that fits everyone. Each person who is published or who publishes themselves will find the journey different. There are so many avenues available nowadays to get published that want-to-be authors really have to do their homework as to what works for them.

Here are ten (although I could make this list closer to thirty) things I didn’t know about being a published author:

1. That writing the book was the easy part. Who knew?

2. That once you are published the real work begins. I had to come up with a plan for what I wanted to do with my book. How was I going to market it? Where was I going to find my readers?

3. That formatting is a lot of work and it is very different if you are doing a paperback book versus an ebook. And then each type of ebook, depending on the company, requires a different layout to be done for their specific company.

4. That asking for help was easier than I thought and there is a huge community of authors willing to share.

5. That not everything has to be perfect, that although I read and learned and asked questions, until I was actually published, that’s when I really understood what it all meant. I have accepted that I will learn as I go.

6. That I would have to find that balance of marketing, networking, doing events, writing and having a life outside of my published one. It was really easy to get pulled in to feeling like I had to be everywhere at once. It’s important to choose a few things and make those work for you.

7. That to market my book effectively, I should have started marketing it several months before it was published.

8. That when I started to find my readers, the ones who love my book, that they would...

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Tainted Waters Chapter Four

The count down is on for Tainted Waters. One week until publication day. Yay!

Here is excerpt from Chapter 4:

Chapter Four

Entering her apartment, Sam practically ran up the three flights of stairs feeling unusually hyper and off center. The key slid into the lock easily and after a few quick twists that were now second nature, it opened. As she walked in, she stepped to her right and she tossed her wallet, cell phone, USB and keys into a drawer in the kitchen and put her picture of DD on the fridge. Her gaze softened as her fingers gently brushed out the slightly curled edges. The phone rang. Turning her head, she looked at the flashing red light. It wasn’t her first call. Not bothering to look at caller ID, she walked around the breakfast nook, separating her kitchen from her living room and answered the phone on the third ring.

“Hi, Mom.”

“What happened?”

“I’m fine. Thanks for asking. I was out enjoying the sunshine.” Sam glanced across her living room and out the balcony windows, to see if the sun was even shining.

“Don’t. What happened?”

Sighing, she dropped down onto her plush, blue love seat. She took a moment to allow the comfort of the couch to cradle her.

“Sam?”

“I had a little problem at work.”

“Do you need me to talk to them? Well, I guess I would actually talk to Jecalyn at the court, who is the niece of the mayor, who is a friend of your boss, Mr. Donner.”

She slapped her hand over the mouth piece as she snorted with laughter. It reminded her of grade three when Trevor told her she was an ugly duckling, her mother had been ready to straighten that kid out. Which she must have done somehow because he’d apologized the next day and he’d never ever treated her badly again.

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Tainted Waters Chapter Three Excerpt

Tainted Waters (to be published April 30th, 2013)

Chapter Three

Keegan grabbed his book off the passenger seat, his gaze or maybe it was his guilt, caught by the mess in the back. It was so unlike him. Not that he was a neat freak but he did like to know where stuff was and he was generally pretty good at putting things away. Or at least he had been. The obsession to finish his latest book was fed by his need to deal with the real reason he was now living in Bentley. And now he was finally free of those commitments so he could focus on what he’d really come there to do. Get answers. The question was would he get what he’d come there to get?

After taking a minute to collect himself and strengthen his resolve that this was the right thing to do, he rolled his shoulders forward and climbed out of his car. A few cars passed by him on the main thoroughfare. He walked around to the sidewalk and the empty meter. He’d been tempted to pass by it but after watching the place for a few days, he knew that a guy came around fairly regularly to check them. Since he didn’t want to draw attention to himself, he needed to feed the hungry beast. The bit of change he’d thrown in his pocket earlier seemed to have fallen to the far reaches, halfway down his leg. Each coin made a distinctive plunk as he dropped it in the machine. When he saw that he’d only bought himself forty minutes, he swore. It wouldn’t give him much time to snoop around. He’d have to get in and get out. Maybe he’d be lucky and it wouldn't matter as much because it was the end of the day. He hoped so because if the guy talked anything like he did on the phone he could ramble on for hours. Hopefully the devices his army friend had given him really did work and were as easy to use as he’d said.

The scribbler was nothing more than a cheap notebook he’d picked up at the dollar store but it held very important information. He flipped it open, skimming his notes, which was more of an exercise to help him calm his nerves as he’d committed them all to memory. He knew them by heart. Had known them for a long time. Somehow he had to get someone to shed some light on them as he had more questions than answers.

The guilt of not acting sooner had him closing the book with a snap. This was a few years overdue. Pushing away his thoughts he looked at the seven-story building. Sunlight shone off the glass-encased monstrosity – although he was probably the only person who saw it as such – like a light-house beam through a fog. It was almost blinding. He and his grandfather had argued about the design on many occasions. His grandfather had said it had been built that way on purpose and was nothing but elegant. In its day, forty years before, it had been the tallest building in town. It had been in a class of its own. Now it was just one of several.

Keegan took a long steadying breath as the thoughts of his grandfather, his mentor, his friend, left him feeling shaky. The man who meant the world to him... the reason he was doing this.

Stepping forward, he brushed his hand down the tailored suit, a size and a half too big for him but the price had been right for his budget - cheap. To him it made him stand out like a sparrow bird amongst hawks but knew his grandfather would tell him it was the other way around. He was now a hawk amongst the sparrows. When you knew what you were doing you were the one in charge. Keegan just wasn’t sure that he really did know what he was doing.

He tugged at the neck of the shirt and tie feeling like he was choking, when in fact he had enough space to put his whole hand in there. His grandfather had taught him well though – ‘if people think you have money, they are more likely to talk to you than if you look like a bum off the street’. Jeans and a t-shirt were his preference in clothing but wouldn’t have done anything to convince people he had money.

His grandfather had always told him, ‛if people think you’re rich and are kind of pathetic, they’ll be more likely to bend over backwards to help you.’ Play on their pity.

I guess I’ll find out.

The man, whom he wasn’t even supposed to have met but who had turned out to be such a big part of his life. A big secret in his life. His family had no idea that he’d spent twelve years getting to know his grandfather, a man that he wasn’t supposed to know existed. And now he was gone. As it always did when Keegan thought of him and all that
he’d brought to his life, a deep sadness settled over him.

I miss you, Gramps. This is for you.

The smile he pasted on, felt a bit weak and was one he sure didn’t feel. He hunched his shoulders as he reached for the large glass door. A woman came barrelling through, knocking him backwards. She brushed past him without stopping or acknowledging him. Her long mane of auburn hair flying out behind her as she scurried down the sidewalk. He managed to right himself just as a big man came bumbling his way out, chasing after the woman who’d just left. It didn’t matter that the man was calling out to her and asking her to wait up; she wasn’t slowing down at all. About halfway down the block, the man finally convinced her to stop. If she hadn’t, he never would have caught her. The fact that he was...

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