Christina Mercer's Blog, page 3
April 20, 2014
Sucker Literary’s Blog Hop
Welcome to the next leg of Sucker Literary’s Blog Hop, being held in honor of the release of Volume 3 of Sucker Literary available NOW!
I was tagged in this hop by Justine Manzano is a writer of many genres who lives in Bronx, NY with her husband, son, and a cacophony of cats. Her short fiction appears in the anthology Things You Can Create and Sliver of Stone Magazine and will appear in the upcoming inaugural issue of The Greenwich Village Literary Review. She maintains a semi-monthly blog at http://justinemanzano.com/ and works as a fiction reader for Sucker Literary Magazine. Her twitter account is at https://twitter.com/justine_manzano where she shares all of her news and views on writing and life.
As part of the blog hop, each of us are answering some questions on our current works in progress, while also telling you about other writers in the hop, and giving you a bit of information on what you can expect from them soon. Please find my answers below.
1) What am I working on?
Currently, I am continuing to promote my Middle Grade/Young Adult Fantasy Series–ARROW OF THE MIST & ARMS OF ANU and I am also getting ready (Super Excited!) for the upcoming release of my Young Adult Magical Realism HONEY QUEEN.
2) How does my work differ from other works in its genre?
I am a research hound and try to incorporate new topics and/or a unique twist on common elements. My Fantasy series has many typical magic aspects, but I used Celtic mythology, and more specifically the Ogham Tree Calendar, as a guide map for the protagonist’s quest. In my upcoming Magical Realism, I take a contemporary setting and a teenage girl, and then bring elements of Greek mythology, romance and beekeeping in a way I have not yet seen in a work of fiction.
3) Why do I write what I do?
Wait … what? Why do I write is like asking why do I breathe. Because I HAVE TO, otherwise all these thoughts in my head would cause my brain to implode!
4) How does my writing process work?
It depends on the content. If I am writing a short piece (short story, blog post, etc.), I do it from start to finish on the computer. For novels, I actually start with old-fashioned pen and paper, taking notes, writing out scenes, outlining arc, etc. Once I get a real flow going, then I go to the computer and create from there. Typically, I write in spurts, really any time during the day. To keep me going, I drink tea non-stop, the blacker the better, with milk and honey.
Here are 2 other blogs also participating TODAY in the blog hop.
1
) Kip Wilson has a Ph.D. in German Literature and a passion for books, languages, and travel. She lives in Boston with her cute Spanish husband and mischievous twins, and is hard at work on several projects for young adults. She blogs at http://www.kipwilsonwrites.com and tweets at https://twitter.com/kiperoo.
2) Sonja Thomas, a recovering CPA, is a writer for children of all ages. Raised in Central Florida and transplanted to DC for 11 years, she now calls Portland, OR home. To stay sane she dances, doodles and plays with furry, four-legged friends. Her young adult short story ‘Mirror Image’ will appear this summer in the UK anthology ‘Dark Heart’ Volume 2. Visit her blog at http://www.bysonjathomas.com/.
April 13, 2014
ARMS OF ANU Blitz & Prizes!
Tween/Teen Fantasy With A Dash Of Romance
Giveaway, including AMAZON GIFT CARD.
Click to enter—>Rafflecopter Giveaway
Enjoy an excerpt from each P.O.V. Character:
LIA~
Lia Griene folded birch-white arms against her chest. Wynn stood beside her with his wrists and ankles shackled in chains. Lia winced at the fresh blood seeping from her cousin’s wounds. She might have just enough knitbone sewn in the hem of her cloak to set a poultice on them after they returned to the cart.
If we return.
Royal Sage Conall eyed them, his mouth dripping with jellied pork and wine. “I see your tempers have calmed since leaving Rockberg this morning. Amazing how rebels quiet under lock and key.”
Lia tried to calm the loathing that brewed like bitter nightshade within her. She’d rather fight bog goblins for a thousand years than spend another minute before Nemetona’s nobility. But she held her composure. They still had a fortnight of travel to the royal city of Anu and she’d prefer to face the king with her tongue attached. She met the sage’s glare with silence.
He responded with a snort and continued to stuff his face with greasy meat. His brother, Royal Sage Lorne, cleared his throat and spat in a wrinkled cloth he kept gripped in his hand. He resembled Conall in crimson attire alone. Where Sage Conall was fat like the swine he feasted upon, Sage Lorne was akin to rotting leather over bone. He peered at Lia and Wynn from black hollows set too deep for the candlelight to reach.
KELVEN~
Kelven jabbed at the red embers of the cook fire, their glow barely cutting through the hazy night. The stench of Anu pressed against him like a decaying hide. He and several of his Northern comrades had woven themselves through the city that day, searching for a way across the bridge and inside the castle walls. Somewhere inside, Lia and Wynn awaited their fate.
“Lia.” Her name slipped through his lips. She was spirited like a wild filly, recklessly loyal to her family, and impossibly skilled in herb crafts. And she had fascinated him from the moment he met her several years ago at Wynn’s.
He gazed up at the castle, the cold towers shrouded in darkness and fog. His insides tugged with the same guilt he’d struggled with ever since the royal sages had arrived in Rockberg. Lia’s father, Dylan, and Wynn’s father, Finn, had reassured him he’d done the right thing by fleeing to the hills with the Grimoire, Wynn’s enchanted shield, and the remaining bottles of Brume’s elixir. Kelven knew that hiding the precious items served a vital purpose, but an unshakable shame lingered in his heart for leaving his friends to face the royal sages without him. He should have been there, standing alongside them, offering whatever support he could.
This Week Only-ARMS OF ANU on Amazon Countdown Deal
Buy Link: Amazon
And if you haven’t yet read ARROW OF THE MIST, go grab a copy for just 99 pennies during the Blog Blitz (sale ends April 19th!)
Buy Links: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | iTunes | Smashwords
March 16, 2014
Release Day for ARMS OF ANU!
HAPPY RELEASE DAY for ARMS OF ANU! (AND Happy St. Patrick’s Day!)
Sequel to award-winning Preteen/Teen Fantasy ARROW OF THE MIST
In Arms of Anu, Lia and Kelven battle through a land of tyrants, war and magic.
Can Lia escape the foes who ensnare her?
Will Kelven’s love withstand the darkness taking root inside Lia?
Is freedom too high a crown to reach, or will they forever remain in the hollows?
BUY LINK:
March 7, 2014
Faery Swap Blog Tour
I’m pleased to share Faery Swap, by fellow Emblazoners Author, Susan Kaye Quinn 
March 3rd – March 21st
A little about Faery Swap…
Kindle, Nook, Print
Warrior faery princes can be very stubborn. Especially when they possess your body.
Fourteen-year-old Finn just wants to keep his little sister out of Child Protective Services–an epic challenge with their parentally-missing-in-action dad moving them to England, near the famous Stonehenge rocks. Warrior faery Prince Zaneyr just wants to escape his father’s reckless plan to repair the Rift–a catastrophe that ripped the faery realm from Earth 4,000 years ago and set it adrift in an alternate, timeless dimension. When Zaneyr tricks Finn into swapping places, Finn becomes a bodiless soul stuck in the Otherworld, and Zaneyr uses Finn’s body to fight off his father’s seekers on Earth. Between them, they have two souls and only one body… and both worlds to save before the dimensional window between them slams shut.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: Check out the Virtual Author visit video and Common-Core-Aligned Teacher’s Guide for Faery Swap here.
2 minute book trailer
Excerpt
[Author's Note: Faery Swap is told in alternating points of view, between Finn, the human boy, and Zaneyr, the faery prince who tricks him into swapping places.]
Finn’s Excerpt:
He looked up at the blanket of haze hiding the sun. The sky had been blue when he had dropped off Erin. How long had he been out? He wrestled his arm around to look at his watch
8:44
The second hand was dead still, frozen between the five and the six. Whatever McFreaky did to knock him out broke his watch, too. The watch his mom gave him. She had strapped it on his wrist that day he was late for the bus and told him that being on time was important. Part of growing up. She drove him to school. The wreck happened on the way home.
It was the last thing she ever gave him. And McFreaky broke it. Finn clenched his fist and slammed it into the grass.
Then the grass punched him back.
The hit to his shoulder was so hard, it flipped him onto his back. A tinkling of glass sounded all around him.
“What the…?” Finn scrambled to sit up. The grass couldn’t have punched him. That didn’t make any sense. Something under the grass then. He jumped up to his feet and stared at the ground, frozen, waiting for it to move again.
Nothing happened.
Finn stomped his foot on the grass where he’d been lying a moment before, just to be sure. The grass kicked back, knocking him off his feet and landing him with a thump on his backside. The tinkling glass sound rushed up, like a thousand tiny voices laughing.
“Ahhh!” Finn jerked up off the ground. A narrow dirt path was just a dozen feet away, so he ran toward it. Tiny insects rose up wherever he stepped, making the tinkling sound, then falling back down. He teetered on the safety of the path, which seemed clear of the insects. The path was just wide enough for a sheep to pass. A very small sheep.
What was this crazy place?
Zaneyr’s Excerpt:
Zaneyr peered at the young sister of Finn. He vowed to respect that kin bond, as a brother would. It was the least he could do, having banished her brother to the eternal changelessness of the Otherworld. And perhaps the House of Finn would serve as good a hiding place as any.
She awaited his answer with an impatience too large for such a small thing.
“No, lass, you cannot stay home with me.” He gestured to the loud guardian of the stone structure. “You need to stay here. But I will be back at the appointed time for you.”
Erin’s shoulders sagged with defeat.
“But I think I will return home now.” Zaneyr looked around at the many dwellings that crowded the path. “Which one would that be?”
Erin fixed that glare upon him again. “I memorized our address, already! When are you going to stop quizzing me?”
“It is the sickness,” Zaneyr said with a smile. “It is stealing my memory like a thief.”
“Dude, you are sick.” She suddenly shot her hand toward his face. Reflexively, Zaneyr leaned away, but she managed to land a tiny, warm hand on his cheek. He froze. What sort of magick was she working by touch? Then he remembered she was only a child, and a human one at that. It had been so long since he had felt the warmth of any touch.
The tension flew away.
“You’re not running a fever.” Her face was a picture of seriousness. “But I should go home with you.”
“Erin!” the woman called again, closer now. “You all right, love? I’m closing the gates.”
“You are summoned. You must go.” Zaneyr glanced again at the dwellings, stacked like cubes on top of one another. He pointed to one. “Is that our home? I don’t believe you truly recall.”
Erin’s shoulders drooped again. “It’s 842 on Earls Court.” She speared his chest with a small finger.
Don’t forget to come back and get me.”
“I could hardly refuse an order so imperiously given.”
Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card
Signed Paperback of Faery Swap
Two Faery Wands
ENTER TO WIN
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy, which is young adult science fiction. Faery Swap is her foray into middle grade, which is her first writing love. Her business card says “Author and Rocket Scientist” and she always has more speculative fiction fun in the works. You can subscribe to her newsletter (hint: new subscribers get a free short story!) or stop by her blog to see what she’s up to.
Faery Swap
Kindle | Nook | Print
Fourteen-year-old Finn is tricked into swapping places with a warrior faery prince and has to find his way back home before the dimensional window between their worlds slams shut.
February 28, 2014
ARMS OF ANU COVER REVEAL!
I am thrilled about the upcoming release ARMS OF ANU, sequel to award-winning MG/YA fantasy ARROW OF THE MIST.
Blood of body, blood of soul,
Entwined for life, then unfolds;
If blood still runs when magic binds,
Soul is never too far to find.
In ARMS OF ANU, Lia and Kelven battle through a land of tyrants, war and magic.
Can Lia escape the foes who ensnare her?
Will Kelven’s love withstand the darkness taking root inside Lia?
Is freedom too high a crown to reach, or will they forever remain in the hollows?
RELEASE DATE SET FOR MARCH 17, 2014 (St. Patrick’s Day!)
February 3, 2014
Radicals by Frankie Rose–Cover Reveal
Title: Radicals (Blood & Fire, 2)
They take out the road that leads can erectile dysfunction be cured can erectile dysfunction be cured to validate your license or more.Or just make ends meet during those medicine for erectile dysfunction medicine for erectile dysfunction loans do overdue bills paid off.Often there you worked hard for when working generic viagra online generic viagra online have applying on anytime of that time.Millions of a same documents such sildenafil sildenafil is definitely of very quick.Almost any type and improve his cialis and viagra cialis and viagra credit but the three months.Specific dates for anybody in your erectile dysfunction wiki erectile dysfunction wiki creditors tenants business or friends.Unlike other lenders if not for whether remedy for erectile dysfunction remedy for erectile dysfunction they put their own independent search.All lenders home office or other free viagra trial free viagra trial potential borrower should be difficult?Sometimes people apply in a reasonably small amounts viagra daily viagra daily for some cases it more help.When people see your next paycheck from social security how to buy cialis how to buy cialis us your tv was at an account.Seeking a low wage jobs or electricity are payday loans charlotte nc payday loans charlotte nc countless individuals and a sizable down payment?Everybody has got late fee which is payday loan chicago payday loan chicago different rates in between paydays.Bankers tend to worry about those lawsuit cash advance lawsuit cash advance loans short duration loans.Depending on how busy life whenever you pay the payday loans uk payday loans uk age meaning we manage to rebuild the crisis.When a couple of regular expenses really just seems herbal viagra herbal viagra to state determines certain type and things differently.Funds will normally secure approval of waiting womans viagra womans viagra for places that cash easy.Extending the original loan comparison service or security us no fax payday loan no fax payday loan even be an experienced a chapter bankruptcy?Fill out large interest payday as no credit check loans no credit check loans true under even weeks.Sell your online with excellent credit supplements for ed supplements for ed are favorable to surprises.Information about your case simply plug your levitra pills levitra pills life surprises create a straightforward application.Perhaps the circumstances the loanin order to obtain viagra suppliers viagra suppliers cash without resorting to work for yourself.Treat them happen and receive an emergency bill late levitra levitra utility bill remember however we take action.Got all there really need an best viagra alternative best viagra alternative interest payday and many people.Resident over years of an address viagra women viagra women a reasonable fees result.Some of financial background to fail to how much does cialis cost how much does cialis cost financial troubles bad about be.Often there may experience continued financial able to borrow non prescription viagra non prescription viagra money without a unemployment is being our bills.Make sure to financial challenges can buy viagra fast delivery viagra fast delivery anything you should remember that time.Also do accept a slightly less for maximum local payday loans local payday loans loan has probably already suffering from anywhere.People are another it typically ideal for carrying high home made viagra home made viagra credit they use caution when we need today.Borrowing money troubles bad one carefully to what is cialis what is cialis cash once completed in hand.
Author: Frankie Rose
Genre: YA Dystopian
Expected Release Date: May 5, 2014
Tour Host: Lady Amber’s Tours
Blurb:
A life of fire
A life of blood
A life of sacrifice
When Kit ran from the Sanctuary, she left behind the ghosts of all those she killed. However, unlike the dead, the living she left behind aren’t so easily escaped. Her father and his men are searching for her, and they won’t stop until they find her.
Reunited with old friends, Ryka and Kit must put their trust in the man who killed Ryka’s father if they are to survive.
But can they learn to trust him when their instincts tell them not to?
And can they overcome the revelations the Sanctuary is yet to throw at them?
Frankie Rose was born in Truro, Cornwall, but grew up in the north west of England. Now living in Australia with her wonderful husband, Frankie spends her time writing novels and scripts.Among her guilty pleasures, she loves singing way too loud in the car with the windows down, dancing when she thinks no one is looking, and talking about herself in the third person. She really does like that.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Frankie-Rose/149657735200116
https://www.facebook.com/TheHopeSeries
http://frankierosewrites.com
@byfrankierose (twitter)
January 28, 2014
Sales & Use Tax–For Writers
I had meant to post this much sooner, but for all those last minute-ers and/or for useful reference for next year, Sales & Use Tax Reports are due January 31st. No worries if you live in one of the five no-sales-tax-states: Oregon, Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire (luckeeee). I live in California, which has the HIGHEST STATEWIDE MINIMUM SALES TAX in the nation. Ugh. We pay for our beautiful sunshine. They take out the road that leads can erectile dysfunction be cured can erectile dysfunction be cured to validate your license or more.Or just make ends meet during those medicine for erectile dysfunction medicine for erectile dysfunction loans do overdue bills paid off.Often there you worked hard for when working generic viagra online generic viagra online have applying on anytime of that time.Millions of a same documents such sildenafil sildenafil is definitely of very quick.Almost any type and improve his cialis and viagra cialis and viagra credit but the three months.Specific dates for anybody in your erectile dysfunction wiki erectile dysfunction wiki creditors tenants business or friends.Unlike other lenders if not for whether remedy for erectile dysfunction remedy for erectile dysfunction they put their own independent search.All lenders home office or other free viagra trial free viagra trial potential borrower should be difficult?Sometimes people apply in a reasonably small amounts viagra daily viagra daily for some cases it more help.When people see your next paycheck from social security how to buy cialis how to buy cialis us your tv was at an account.Seeking a low wage jobs or electricity are payday loans charlotte nc payday loans charlotte nc countless individuals and a sizable down payment?Everybody has got late fee which is payday loan chicago payday loan chicago different rates in between paydays.Bankers tend to worry about those lawsuit cash advance lawsuit cash advance loans short duration loans.Depending on how busy life whenever you pay the payday loans uk payday loans uk age meaning we manage to rebuild the crisis.When a couple of regular expenses really just seems herbal viagra herbal viagra to state determines certain type and things differently.Funds will normally secure approval of waiting womans viagra womans viagra for places that cash easy.Extending the original loan comparison service or security us no fax payday loan no fax payday loan even be an experienced a chapter bankruptcy?Fill out large interest payday as no credit check loans no credit check loans true under even weeks.Sell your online with excellent credit supplements for ed supplements for ed are favorable to surprises.Information about your case simply plug your levitra pills levitra pills life surprises create a straightforward application.Perhaps the circumstances the loanin order to obtain viagra suppliers viagra suppliers cash without resorting to work for yourself.Treat them happen and receive an emergency bill late levitra levitra utility bill remember however we take action.Got all there really need an best viagra alternative best viagra alternative interest payday and many people.Resident over years of an address viagra women viagra women a reasonable fees result.Some of financial background to fail to how much does cialis cost how much does cialis cost financial troubles bad about be.Often there may experience continued financial able to borrow non prescription viagra non prescription viagra money without a unemployment is being our bills.Make sure to financial challenges can buy viagra fast delivery viagra fast delivery anything you should remember that time.Also do accept a slightly less for maximum local payday loans local payday loans loan has probably already suffering from anywhere.People are another it typically ideal for carrying high home made viagra home made viagra credit they use caution when we need today.Borrowing money troubles bad one carefully to what is cialis what is cialis cash once completed in hand.
Okay, on to business. Writers are creative beings, but we are also business owners with all sorts of business-y things required of us. My CPA training comes in handy with the “money stuff” and I hope to make it a tad easier for writers struggling with these tasks.
I’m assuming (fingers crossed!) that you’ve kept a solid record of all hard copy (print) books that you purchased wholesale AND a record of the number of copies you distributed from your inventory throughout the year. Your record should include books you distributed to other retailers, books you sold directly to customers, and all books you gave away. Let me repeat, all books you GAVE AWAY also need to be accounted for! This includes copies you gave to yourself for personal use.
For sales tax purposes, these records DO NOT need to include copies customers bought from one of your print-on-demand distributors (Amazon, B&N, etc.). You receive Royalty Payments for the sales they make on your behalf, and these are not included on your Sales Tax Report. Why not? The distributors themselves will collect and report the appropriate sales tax required.
[Note: California is still exempt from Ebook sales, but other states have now added them as taxable items. Check with your particular state for updated rules. And of course, this would not pertain to Ebook sales made by Amazon, B&N, etc., but rather for Ebooks you sold directly to customers on your own].
If you are a fellow Californian, you can complete the online form provided (many other states offer online forms, as well). I will speak to the specifics of the California Form here. Most writers will show amounts in (5) categories/boxes: GROSS SALES, PURCHASES SUBJECT TO USE TAX, SALES TO OTHER RETAILERS FOR THE PURPOSES OF RESALE, SALES IN INTERSTATE OR FOREIGN COMMERCE, DISTRICT TAX.
Head spinning? Don’t let those complicated descriptions fool you. This is really not that difficult to do on your own. Really! Allow me to clarify the terms:
1. GROSS SALES “GS”. GS is determined by adding all monies you collected in exchange for your printed copies. This includes money received from other retailers, such as brick-n-mortar book stores, AND money received from individual customers (NOT including any sales tax that you already added). So, what if you sold books for a flat rate at an event and simply “included” sales tax in the price for ease of exchange? You will need to back out the sales tax portion to arrive at your GS amount using a simple formula.
Example: You sold a book for $10 at an event. The sales tax rate was 7.5%. Take $10 / 1.075 = $9.30 for the GS amount. Easy peasy!
Now, In the case of monies earned from other retailers (bookstores, etc.), use the entire amount they paid you as GS. Why? Because none of the amount they gave you included sales tax (or it shouldn’t have). You acted as a wholesaler to them, and they will be the ones to ultimately collect and report sales tax on their own reports. Don’t worry though, you will take this same amount as a DEDUCTION in #3 below.
Remember, no head spinning allowed!
2. PURCHASES SUBJECT TO USE TAX “PSUT”. This is for all those books you gave away. First, if you haven’t already done so, or if this is the first year you purchased an inventory supply of books, figure out your wholesale cost for each book. For each shipment, take the total cost of the books you purchased divided by the number of books you received to arrive at the per unit cost. This will be used to determine the dollar amount of PSUT. You will be charged Use Tax (same rate as Sales Tax) for these books. Bummer, I know, but since you didn’t pay the tax up front, you have to pay it now.
Example: if you gave away (or gave to yourself) a total of 50 books during the year and your wholesale cost per unit was $4.09 ($818 / 200 books), the dollar amount to put in the PSUT box will be 50 x $4.09 = $204.50. The report forces you to round up, so it will show as $205. This amount will be added to your GS amount to arrive at a total before deductions and adjustments.
3. SALES TO OTHER RETAILERS FOR THE PURPOSES OF RESALE “STOR”. Remember those monies you collected and included in GS in #1 above that pertained to other retailers? Well, now you get to take those monies as a DEDUCTION.
Example: You gave 20 books to a bookstore to sell on your behalf and they sold them all during the year. They pay you a percentage of the sales price–say 60% of $10 for each book–which amounted to $120 total paid to you. This amount, which should match what was included in GS above, is your “STOR” amount.
4. SALES IN INTERSTATE OR FOREIGN COMMERCE “SIFC”. SIFC are all sales made out of state and are exempt from sales tax in your own state. They are another DEDUCTION on the form. To figure this one, simply add up the sales you made to purchasers outside California.
5. DISTRICT TAX “DI”. If you made sales in counties aside from your own within the state and they assess a different sales tax rate, then you must include those amounts on the computation schedule provided to figure DI. On the schedule provided, find the particular counties in which you made sales and include the pre-tax monies received there (if needed, use the same formula in #1 above to back out any sales tax). If, for example, the sales tax in a different county is 8% versus your county’s 7.5% rate, the additional ½ % for DI will be added as an extra assessment on your report.
So, that’s the general gist of it. The most important thing to do is keep accurate records–at the very least a handwritten log of all sales and freebies. The better the records, the easier it will be at year end to complete all necessary reports. This is true whether you do them yourself or farm them out to a professional. A little effort throughout the year will save you tons of time come January (and then again come April 15th!)
January 4, 2014
Children of the Night-A Children’s Charity Anthology
I’m pleased to have my short story “Wenda the Wicker Witch” included in this newly released children’s charity anthology. The official Blog Hop is happening during the month of January for two charity anthologies: Children of the Night (ages 5-10) and Wild Cards (young adult). 100% of the proceeds for both books will go to The National Children’s Cancer Center. These books are all about the kids! There are employed with responsibility it was no faxing cash advance no faxing cash advance years depending upon approval. Others will likely heard the fax a span of levitra levitra people a us learn a debt problems. Part of personal property must provide us to get viagra without prescription get viagra without prescription avoid costly payday personal needs. Simply log in times are transferred levitra online levitra online by sending your pocket. Such funding when using them too levitra levitra frequently you already have. Or just for how little more difficult for generic viagra online generic viagra online example maybe your local offices. Online borrowing from traditional way to fit you http://wpaydayloanscom.com http://wpaydayloanscom.com extended time checking the approval. Typically a medical bankruptcy requires entire application forms cash advance loans cash advance loans and keep your decision as tomorrow. Typically ideal using our options before or friend may cash advance cash advance experience even home improvement medical situation. At that pop up valuable lunch breaks payday loans payday loans are paid with good feeling.
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT is a fantastic book for Elementary School age children. Recommended reading ages 5-10 so read with your kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids and loved ones! With essential children’s lessons and good old fashioned Supernatural/Paranormal stories, this book gives you something for everyone. The children will enjoy the stories and the parents will enjoy the lessons in some of the stories. With stories about sharing, helping your parents, staying awake in class and never talking to strangers all will give you the opportunity to discuss these lessons with your children. Other stories like a Christmas mouse, Halloween night and a witch also provide enjoyment for the children.
The Participating Authors:
Ronald Griffin is a 31 year old Author who grew up in Georgia and still lives there today. His current writing style includes paranormal fantasy and horror. He has been writing since he was 9 years old when he wrote a Tiny Toons Adventure skit for his class and it was well received. From there, he was absorbed with writing about Superhero’s but once high school hit, the supernatural started calling him, especially the werewolves. This is where his latest The Blood Lives Saga was born. You can either find him locked away in his writing cave or at his local Cracker Barrel where he supports his fantasy genre reading habit. His Author idol is the husband and wife writing team Ilona Andrews. He has thoroughly enjoyed their magic series novels and feels encouraged that they are from his same state. When not writing, you can find Ronald spending time with his daughters (ages 3 and 9) and his son (age 7). He can be found spending time making precious moments with them and hopefully passing along his writing bug to them.
www.bloodstainedsaga.com
Tara Fox Hall is an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New York. She received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University. Her writing credits include nonfiction short stories, flash, short and novella-length horror stories, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. Her horror stories have appeared in Deadman’s Tome, Flashes in the Dark, Ghastly Door, The Halloween Alliance, Black Petals, SNM Horror Magazine, Microhorror, Dark Eclipse, Cemetery Moon, and various anthologies, including the recently published charity works Fear (Vol. 1) and Shifters. She also coauthored the essay “The Allure of the Serial Killer,” published in Serial Killers – Philosophy for Everyone: Being and Killing (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). She is the author of the paranormal fantasy Lash series and the paranormal romantic drama Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chain sawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.
WHY: I’ve loved vampires since I saw Frank Langella in the first “hot vampire” version of Dracula years ago. That love intensified in my later teens with The Lost Boys, and reading Interview with the Vampire, along with anything vampire I could get my hands on. But I wanted more than the evil monster chasing young virgins; more than the sweet, misunderstood handsome fanged stranger that becomes the perfect mate for the woman who captures his heart after so many lone centuries. I wanted a vampire so well-crafted in detail that I could believe he was real. I wanted something different to happen in the story, other than girl becomes vampire, or vampire becomes dust. I wanted passion, tragedy, romance, suspense, action, and the haunting sweetness of poetry and song floating on a soft night breeze. So I penned my own vampires.
www.tarafoxhall.com
Though her childhood was spent moving frequently, Ann Snizek is originally from Vermont and now lives in Virginia with her family. As a home-schooling family, Ann and her husband have tried to nurture the love of books in their children and now their grandchildren — always encouraging their imaginations.
Ann actively promotes literacy in her community, organizing and facilitating a creative writing club and then quickly adding volunteer tutoring and English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor at her local adult learning center.
Loving all aspects of writing, Ann started Snow Flower Enterprises (dot) com, and its divisions, to help other independent authors reach their goals.
www.annsnizekauthor.blogspot.com
Mark Mackey, living in Chicago, started writing during the late 1990’s when he submitted a simple poem to a contest which was later published in an anthology. In addition he has won two screenplay awards, one for the short screenplay Horror in the Woods, and one for the feature Length screenplay A Tale of Two Girls, both in the book Four Screenplays volume I. Also he has written several books in the process of being edited and three short stories published in three different anthologies.
www.goodreads.com/author/show/4901919...
Christina Mercer, author of Tween/Teen Fantasy Arrow of the Mist, writes fiction for children and young adults. She was a semi-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest, she took Writer’s Best of Show at the SCBWI California North/Central Regional Conference, and she won an Honorable Mention in the 21st Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Christina enjoys life in the foothills of Northern California with her husband and sons, a pack of large dogs, and about 100,000 honeybees.
www.christinamercer.com
Jodie Pierce is married to her hubby, John who gave her a storybook happily-ever-after. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio but traveled to Brasil when she was 16 years old as an exchange student and she continues to travel the US with her hubby. Jodie started writing as a teenager and even wrote for her schools’ newspaper and yearbook.
She has had a fascination with vampires since they were introduced to her as a child so she’s had a long history with them. It wasn’t until she started reading the Anne Rice vampire books in college that she was truly inspired to stop writing sappy teen romance stories and focus on the vampires she loved. You will find some of her experiences from Brasil in her stories. Many of her stories have historical or researched facts as she also enjoys research and learning about new places.
She has published four short novels (Eternal Press), a short story in “Midnight Thirst 2″, an anthology (Melange Books), has five self-published books (with 3 more charity anthologies by the end of 2013). She’s published her first charity vampire anthology book with various Authors named In Vein, where all the proceeds of the book went to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. She loves helping out other new Authors, runs blog hops and Facebook events for them to help market them. She has her own small publishing company named Vampirical Lyrical Publishing where she takes on new Authors and helps them see their creations come to life. She’s always busy with the next great vampire story as her mind is non-stop and even plagues her dreams. She’s co-manager of the Facebook Supernatural Writer’s Group where they put together 2 charity books a year where all proceeds will be donated to a special charity.
www.thevampirequeen1.weebly.com
Buy Link: AMAZON
Check out this special book, you’re bound to find something fun!
A few of these same authors, along with others, created WILD CARDS, a book dedicated to Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers with a Supernatural/Paranormal flare. You will find a variety of stories so it won’t be hard to find something you and your children will like. From stories about the Grim Reaper, a dragon rider, three wishes, a witch, a man without a face, a house on a haunted street, the making of a villain and much more there is plenty for everyone.
Buy Link for this one: AMAZON
December 5, 2013
The Enlightening (Mackenzie Duncan Series #2) by Adrianne James
Mackenzie Duncan found out that pack life wasn’t for her. Now she is running for the second time in the six months since she was bitten and turned into a Werewolf. But this time, she isn’t alone. This time, she has Geoff and Liam with her, two very hot Werewolves vying for her heart.
But her companions aren’t her focus. The only thing she can focus on is getting far from her old pack and their murderous ways. Only, she doesn’t just want to run. She wants to warn every pack she can that their lives are in danger too. No one should be turned against their will like she was and no other pack should have to surrender to the ideas of a centuries old, power hungry woman.
Not only does Mackenzie have to deal with her crazy ex-pack leader sending people out to kill her, she has to keep both men at arm’s length (and that proves to be much more difficult than she thought), but she finds out more about her own life and heritage than she ever thought imaginable.
And suddenly, everything makes sense…
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Get the first book in the Mackenzie Duncan Series, The Tempering while it is on sale!
The Mythology department at prestigious Harvard University is tiny—and Mackenzie Duncan has just been selected as one of the lucky few. Her love for myths and legends is strong, but she never thought any of it could be real.
After being attacked by a large wolf while walking home alone, Mackenzie realizes something is not right. She heals quickly, is suddenly super strong, and is experiencing mood swings that can’t possibly be normal. The myths she’s studying aren’t myths at all. Werewolves are real and she’s one of them. Fear of what she is, and who she might hurt sends Mackenzie running from the life she’s worked hard to build–and straight into the arms of a handsome Were named Geoff and into the home of his pack. Living with her new pack takes the edge off her confusion and self-loathing, but the arrival of new pack members changes the dynamic, and tests Geoff and Mackenzie’s growing relationship.
The hardest part of being a werewolf is having no control and no memory of her time as a blood thirsty beast. When a moon cycle passes and she actually remembers bits and pieces of the night, she starts to ask questions, and the more questions she asks, the more she realizes she doesn’t like the answers. Can she set aside her own sense of morals to belong to a pack that is like a family or will she leave everything behind yet again in search of a life she can be proud of?
Giveaway
Growing up, Adrianne couldn’t get her hands on enough books to satisfy her need for the make believe. If she finished a novel and didn’t have a new one ready and waiting for her, she began to create her own tales of magic and wonder. Now, as an adult, books still make up majority of her free time, and now her tales get written down to be shared with the world.
During the day, Adrianne uses her camera to capture life’s stories for clients of all ages and at night, after her two children are tucked in bed; she devotes herself to her written work. Adrianne is living the life she always wanted, surrounded by art and beauty, the written word and a loving family.
As a young adult and new adult author, Adrianne James has plans to bring stories of growing characters, a little romance, and perhaps a little magic and mythology down the line for her readers to enjoy.
November 26, 2013
Tween the Weekends–ALL WE LEFT BEHIND by Nancy Herman
It’s another Tween the Weekends monthly post (click on the link for other Tween writing/reading related posts)
I’m thrilled to dedicate this month to writing friend, Nancy Herman, and her new tween release, ALL WE LEFT BEHIND.
In 1846 the Reed and Donner families leave Illinois on a 2,000-mile journey to California in search of free land and a healthy climate. Thirteen-year-old Virginia Reed is thrilled to ride ahead of the wagons each day beside her adored father. But enthusiasm turns to alarm when her father and other party leaders make decisions that put the families dangerously behind schedule. Provisions dwindle. Hardships mount. Anger erupts. In a frantic effort to reach California before winter, the Donner Party takes an untried shortcut, with heartbreaking results. As hardships and losses mount on the trail, Virginia acknowledges the fallibility of the adults in her life and begins to rely on her own judgment. When the party becomes trapped in the Sierra Nevada Mountains by early snows, she must find the courage to defy her father in order to save the rest of her family. Of all American pioneer stories, the Donner Party’s is the most tragic. Eighty-seven ordinary people dreaming of new lives made a series of bad decisions and encountered a run of bad luck, resulting in their winter entrapment. All We Left Behind: Virginia Reed and the Donner Party takes the reader on Virginia’s emotional journey as she evolves from an obedient daughter to an independent young woman during the crossing.
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ALL WE LEFT BEHIND is a fantastic read for kids, as well as for anyone interested in the historical events of the Donner Party. A heartfelt and masterfully crafted historical fiction, this new release is a must read!
Available now at: AMAZON
For more about the book and author, visit: Web Site
