Christina Mercer's Blog, page 5
July 28, 2013
Blog Swap with Author Tahlia Newland
I am honored to “Blog Swap” with the talented Tahlia Newland from Awesome Indies. She is kindly hosting me over at her site HERE, so be sure and check it out!
A Post From Tahlia:
Would you ever start reading a series in the middle?
I usually prefer to begin reading a series with the first book, but I have started a few at a later part of the series without feeling that I’d missed something important. In each case, I bought the book because it sounded really good and I didn’t realise it was part of a series until I was nearly finished. The characters referred to things that had happened before, but it didn’t matter to me that I hadn’t read about them in detail.
Would I knowingly pick up book three in a series of four? I might if I heard there was something special about it.
It seems, according to reviews, that this might be the case with the latest edition to my Diamond Peak Series, Demon’s Grip.
Yes, I’m going to boast, just a little!
Kevin Berry, author, said, “Demon’s Grip is the third (of four) books in the Diamond Peak series, and it is the best so far, both in terms of the action-packed storyline and the quality of the writing.”
Clive S Johnson, Awesome Indies reviewer, said, ‘“A most exemplary work, a real joy to read. The colour, depth and vitality of both the writing and the narrative is stunningly good: the exploration of motives, outlooks and hopes of the characters quite intoxicating. It ranks as a true work of literary accomplishment.”
Wow, someone called my book literary! My work has been compared to Cassandra Clare, J.K Rowling and Rick O’Riordon, but this is the first time anyone has called it literary. It seems that my writing is improving and that’s nice because the reviews of previous books have been pretty awesome.
“Newland shows she is a master at the English language.” Katie French, Underground Book Reviews on my YA novel, You Can’t Shatter Me.
“Tahlia Newland has a poetic deftness with language & beautifully edited prose.” Tim Greaton, author
But, back to Demon’s Grip …
Kevin Berry goes on to say, “It is more than a standard YA fantasy story; the characters’ internalisations and dialogue,
and the progression of the plot itself, lead the reader to be more contemplative, even meditative, about the emotional issues involved. So it is certainly for readers who want greater depth in a novel.
Overall, a nicely-paced novel, well-written, with memorable characters and the chance, perhaps, to reflect more deeply on life while enjoying the story.”
I’m glad it’s being well received because it wasn’t an easy book to write due to its exploration of addiction and t
he nature of true love.
So what is Demon’s Grip about?
Demon slayer, Ariel Malony, thought she knew her friend and travelling companion, Nick, but she discovers that at the University of Sheldra, he is a respected translator with little time to spare. Now that he isn’t at her side all the time, she wishes he was, and when she finally admits her love, powerful emotions sweep her away like flotsam in a raging torrent.
An army of demons force them to cut short their stay and from the gothic architecture of Sheldra, they travel between enormous standing stones, and across a vast dry plain to the ancient granite walls of the Hermitage where Ariel meets her greatest challenge yet.
There, the demon lord, Emot takes advantage of her inexperience in matters of the heart and preys on her desire for pleasure, setting off a struggle with addiction that threatens to break Nick’s heart and turn Ariel into the demon’s mindless slave. She mus
t reach deep into her soul and find the mystical power she needs to kill the one who promises pleasure but delivers only pain. Fail, and she will lose the one she loves and spend an eternity in the demon’s grip.
Demon’s Grip is available at your Kindle Store , Smashwords, B&N and Kobo
You can pick up a FREE short story prequel to the Series here.
The first book in the DiamondPeak series Lethal Inheritance, is just $2.99. It’s also available in paperback from all major booksellers worldwide.
Post by Tahlia Newland, Australian award-winning fantasy and magical realism author. If you enjoyed this blog post, you can join her on Facebook , Twitter or Google+ You can even fan her on Goodreads. When not reading, writing, reviewing or mentoring authors you may find her being an extremely casual high school teacher, making decorative masks or sitting on her veranda staring at the rainforest.
Would you ever start reading a series in the middle?
July 24, 2013
Tara Fox Hall & Promise Me
Happy to host Tara Fox Hall on her Blog Hop. Here’s a little about her newest book Taken For His Own, the 4th installment of the Promise Me Series (Vampire Romance) released April 2013:
Blurb: After learning Theo is alive, Sar immediately embarks on a mission to find him. Reunited, the lovers return to New York, Danial, Terian and Theo uneasily combining forces to protect Sar from Al’s assassins who still seek her. But when Sar is taken prisoner in an all-out attack, only one man can save her—her old adversary, Devlin.
And here’s a FULL EXCERPT to wet your appetite:
“What about what you did to me?” I whispered, gazing at him and biting my lip.
“That wasn’t a whim,” Devlin said, dropping his eyes. “That was my bad judgment. Sadly, it wasn’t the worst mistake I’ve made in my life.”
“What was?”
Devlin didn’t answer. I reached out and took his cool hand in mine.
“When you lead others you must do whatever you have to in order to save your people,” he said with a sigh. “Compromising values should matter less than saving lives.”
“I agree with you,” I said. “If you rule others, you have a responsibility to them above the responsibility to yourself. But even then, I think your family should come first.”
“They should,” Devlin said in a cracked voice. He swallowed hard. “But the past can’t be undone.”
I squeezed his hand. “What happened to Danial wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was,” he said softly.
“How is it your fault?” I said curiously, easing closer to him.
“Because I should have known what the thing was when it attacked. I didn’t know anything back then, except strategy and tactics. I was too concerned about rising through the ranks as fast as possible, so I could leave my family behind and become someone important.”
“What did you want to be?”
“A commander of men, either soldiers or police.”
I was surprised that Devlin would want to uphold the law or spend his life guarding others. Yet it made sense. When he’d taken me from my house years ago, he’d insisted on taking me to Danial, because I wore the choker. He was here putting himself in danger now to keep me safe.
“I knew something had attacked a few people on that road in that last month,” he continued. “I knew that there was a chance we might be attacked transporting the prisoner. But the road was the quickest way to our destination. I’d been assured that if I made the journey in good time, I’d get the promotion I wanted, and Danial would get my old position.”
“You aren’t at fault for what you did. It wasn’t for an evil reason.”
“Yes, I am,” he said despondently. “It was my greed and pride that doomed us.”
Carefully, I reached for Devlin and put my arms around him. He tensed at my touch, then relaxed.
“You did the best you could. You aren’t damned.”
“Yes, I am. You have no idea what I’ve done.”
I shifted uneasily.
“And I wouldn’t want you to,” Devlin added, his arms snaking around me loosely. “My ends have always justified the means, no matter what they were. I’ve done great evil in the hope of averting worse evil. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not. Still, it’s likely that given the chance to do my life over, I’d do the same things, make the same choices. I’d find myself here, at this same point in time, a fallen king.”
“In case you’re wondering,” I said deliberately. “I’m waiting for you to add into your speech somewhere that you regret everything you did to me while you were king…um, ruler.”
“I regret hurting you,” Devlin said quickly. “Yet I don’t regret coming for you that night or taking you to Danial.” He looked up at me. “You might not have gone back to Danial after Theo went missing, if I hadn’t. Theoron might not be here. I can’t regret any action of mine that led to him being born.”
I didn’t reply, considering his words.
Devlin laid his head against my chest, and his arms tightened on me slightly. We lay there like that for a few moments, not speaking, then I slipped into sleep.
I woke sometime later when Devlin stirred. According to the bedside clock, it was almost dusk.
“I have only one regret,” Devlin said finally, propping himself up on his elbow, his expression intent.
“What’s that?” I said, covering my yawn with my hand.
“That it wasn’t me you found in your quarry that night,” Devlin said, kissing the back of my hand with cool lips. His golden eyes locked on mine, transfixing me, as he drew my hand away from my face.
He was going to kiss me. My lips parted as my breath caught in my throat.
Tara Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, horror, suspense, action-adventure, erotica, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.
Her Website: www.tarafoxhall.com
Buy Links For Taken For His Own:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Taken-For-His-…dp/B00CZ4IGC8/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taken-For-Hi…dp/B00CZ4IGC8/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/319416
Melange/lulu link for Print, PDF and HTML copies: http://www.melange-books.com/authors…forhisown.html
All Romance E-books: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/pro…15939-140.html
Barnes and Noble.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/take…all/1115457885
July 22, 2013
Emblazon–Stories for Children
I am so excited to become a part of the new Emblazon group. Here’s a little “About Us” taken directly from the Emblazon web site:
Emblazon is a collection of authors–some indie, some traditionally published–who have each produced at least one children’s novel. Our audiences range from fifth grade to young adult, but we have a particular focus on ages 11 to 14. Some call them upper middle grade; others call them low young adult. They’re somewhere in the middle and can lean either way. We call them Tweens.
I believe the Tween readership is a special one and deserves attention. “Tweens are ready to empathize, to problem solve, to experience real life in a sheltered way.” Having been described as “Lower YA” or a ”Middle Grade Crossover”, my own found a perfect home within the catalog of books found on this site.
Many of the authors are currently participating in a Launch Giveaway (until July 23rd), so if you enjoy Tween books, hurry and enter to win!!
July 13, 2013
Woman of Mystery–Julia Park Tracey
I am honored and excited to host my lovely Indie-Visible author-sister, Julia Park Tracey. Indie-Visible Ink released Julia’s novel, TONGUES OF ANGELS, as a 10th anniversary edition in May 2013. Julia gives us a (very!) memorable account of a book signing she did not long after the original edition was published.
Post:
I waited till I got out the door, across the parking lot and into my car before screaming. I had just left the book-signing from hell, held, appropriately, on Friday the 13th. I was supposed to participate in a “romance tableau” in honor of Valentine’s Day and was looking forward to reading a short, evocative excerpt from my contemporary novel at the event. Alas, it was not to be.
Despite the foul weather and appalling traffic, I arrived on time at the bookstore, where the manager said they were expecting a big crowd. The other reader was a romance novelist who has written about 24 books in less than 10 years. The writer asked if this was my first book, and when I said yes, she gave me a lecture about how I should always bring freebies to give away to the audience and my publisher should provide those. Then she looked at my photo on the back of the book and said, “That’s not very good.” She flipped through the pages and criticized my writing. She was also not thrilled to have to share the spotlight with the likes of me. By this time I felt we were on the road to a solid friendship and I took my seat.
Fabulous Romance Writer apparently has a big fan base, as the entire audience came out to see her, not me. No one knew who I was or why I was there except the owner, and she was late. When the owner arrived, she introduced us to the audience, first, Fabulous, who the owner said would tell about the joys of being published by a major house, and then she pointed at me and said — and I quote, “This is Julie Parker and she wrote a mystery and published it herself. Now they’re going to tell about their very different experiences…”
I was, um, speechless, to say the least. Which to correct first? My name? The fact that I don’t even read mysteries, much less write them? That the book is at least under the auspices of an indie publisher? That I came prepared to read my novel, not compare my miserable existence to that of the Fabulous One? But there was no time for that; it was time to hear what Fabulous had to say.
She talked for a good half hour about herself and her books and herself and her editor and publisher and herself and herself, mildly interesting to me though clearly exciting to all her fans. Since I was sitting with her in front, I smiled and nodded and looked interested the whole time while feeling like the fifth wheel. I wondered, if I had written a mystery, what it would be about. I toyed with the notion of legally changing my name to Julie Parker, in hopes of hearing it pronounced, “Julia Park.” And I thought about my novel — which takes on some contemporary issues in the Catholic Church: the nun who wants to be ordained, the priests with celibacy issues, the power struggles, the politics — and thought, “I’m at the wrong reading. I’m at the wrong bookstore. These people don’t want to hear what I have to say. They are lighting pitchforks and sharpening torches as we speak.”
When I got to speak, I skirted the story itself and instead gave a little background, then just talked about writing and the difficulty I had with finding an agent with the controversial subject matter. A woman from the audience offered a comment. “I read your book,” she said. “And you’re right. The Catholic Church does hate you.” She said she thought the book was “interesting.” We all know what that means.
Then a minister at the back of the room said he thought I was brave and he admired my courage. Later on, he bought my book, asked me to sign it, slipped me his card and asked me to call him. For a date. “Send me an e-mail and we’ll talk,” he said with a smile. I am going to have some new business cards made up that say, “Julie Parker, Woman of Mystery,” just for these occasions.
But wait – there’s more. Turns out there was an editor for a romance magazine in attendance. I offered my book to the editor and asked if she might like to review it. She looked at me and said, “Oh. Well. I don’t think so. No.”
After I left the bookstore, I reflected back on a past book-signing event, where I had sat for two hours and received more compliments on my shoes than sales of my book. I was wearing those same lucky shoes for Friday the 13th. When I got to the restaurant where I was meeting a friend for dinner, the hostess stopped me to gush over my shoes.
Per the advice of Fabulous, I am planning to give a pair of free shoes with the purchase of one of my books.
AMAZON Buy Link for TONGUES OF ANGELS included in the Indie-Visible book carousel in the side bar—————————>>
July 11, 2013
Sci-Fi Fantasy 99 Cent Kindle Event
CLICK ON THE BANNER TO SEE OVER 50 SCI-FI or FANTASY BOOKS PARTICIPATING (INCLUDING MY OWN!)
YEP, THAT’S RIGHT, ARROW OF THE MIST IS 99 CENTS FOR TWO DAYS!!
Click below to buy now 
July 2, 2013
AUTHORS BLOG HOP
TONS OF GIVEAWAYS!!!!!!!!!
CHECK OUT SIDE BAR FOR ALL OF THE AWESOME BLOG HOP SITES——–>>
MY GIVEAWAY:
ONE EBOOK COPY OF MY DEBUT MIDDLE GRADE/YA FANTASY ARROW OF THE MIST
SIGNED BOOKMARK & POSTCARD (USA)
TO ENTER:
LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST TELLING ME YOUR ALL TIME FAVORITE MYTHOLOGICAL/MAGICAL CREATURE. I WILL USE RANDOM.ORG TO PICK A WINNER AT THE END OF THE HOP. I’D BE MUCH OBLIGED IF YOU’D ALSO THROW A FACEBOOK “LIKE” MY WAY (FB LIKE BUTTON ON SIDEBAR)
AND BE SURE AND CHECK OUT THE BLOG POST BELOW LISTING SITES FOR MY CURRENT BOOK TOUR 
June 25, 2013
JULY BLOG TOUR
Check out these AWESOME blogs hosting my book tour!
JULY 1st
The LUV’NV ~ A Dream Within A Dream ~ OMFG!Books ~ Rondo of a Possible World ~ Literary Meanderings
JULY 2nd
Stephanie Parent YA Author ~ Off the Page ~ Cover2CoverBlog ~ Bookmarks, Spoilers and Happily Ever After ~ Tynga’s Reviews
JULY 3rd
Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf ~ Pieces of Whimsy ~ Alexa Loves Books ~ lilybloombooks ~ The Next Chapter
Little Lovely Books ~ Readers Confession ~ A Backwards Story ~ In This World of Books.. ~ The Bibliophile’s Corner
JULY 5th
Books Beside My Bed ~ Ja čitam, a ti? ~ Late Nights with Good Books ~ Burning Impossibly Bright ~ Why I Can’t Stop Reading
JULY 8th
The White Unicorn ~ Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews ~ Amy’s Book Den ~ Books With Bite ~ Whatever You Can Still Betray ~ Bookish Things & More
JULY 9th
A TiffyFit’s Reading Corner ~ Paperback Princess ~ Rally the Readers
JULY 10th
Pedacinho Literário ~ BoundbyWords ~ Teen Blurb ~ Nazish Reads ~ Library of a Book Witch
JULY 11th
Froggarita’s Bookcase ~ Read it in Houston ~ Book Obsessed Shan in San Fran ~ Wanted Readers ~ Simply Infatuated
JULY 12th
Lola’s Reviews ~ Rolling with the Moments ~ Tressa’s Wishful Endings
JULY BLOG HOP
Check out these AWESOME blogs hosting my book tour!
JULY 1st
The LUV’NV ~ A Dream Within A Dream ~ OMFG!Books ~ Rondo of a Possible World ~ Literary Meanderings
JULY 2nd
Stephanie Parent YA Author ~ Off the Page ~ Cover2CoverBlog ~ Bookmarks, Spoilers and Happily Ever After ~ Tynga’s Reviews
JULY 3rd
Jessie’s Book Place ~ Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf ~ Pieces of Whimsy ~ Alexa Loves Books ~ lilybloombooks ~ The Next Chapter
JULY 4th
Little Lovely Books ~ Readers Confession ~ A Backwards Story ~ In This World of Books.. ~ The Bibliophile’s Corner
JULY 5th
Books Beside My Bed ~ Ja čitam, a ti? ~ Late Nights with Good Books ~ Burning Impossibly Bright ~ Why I Can’t Stop Reading
JULY 8th
The White Unicorn ~ Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Reviews ~ Amy’s Book Den ~ Books With Bite ~ Whatever You Can Still Betray ~ Bookish Things & More
JULY 9th
A TiffyFit’s Reading Corner ~ Paperback Princess ~ Rally the Readers
JULY 10th
Pedacinho Literário ~ BoundbyWords ~ Teen Blurb ~ Nazish Reads ~ Library of a Book Witch
JULY 11th
Froggarita’s Bookcase ~ Read it in Houston ~ Book Obsessed Shan in San Fran ~ Wanted Readers ~ Simply Infatuated
JULY 12th
Lola’s Reviews ~ Rolling with the Moments ~ Tressa’s Wishful Endings
May 15, 2013
May 10, 2013
RAKSHA BLOG TOUR FINALE!
Title: RAKSHA (Blood and Fire book 1)
Author: Frankie Rose
Genre: YA Dystopian
Blog Tour Dates: April 26 – May 10, 2013
***Hosted by Girls Heart Books and Lady Amber’s Tours***
Wow, last day of LAUNCH BLOG TOUR for my Indie-Visible Sister-Author, Frankie Rose, and her newly-released Young Adult Dystopian RAKSHA. I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of this one, and it’s pure and simple AWESOME!!
SYNOPSIS…
She has her knives, her training, and her halo.
The first and second give her the ability to defeat the opponents she is pitted against each month. The third frees her from pain and fear. From any kind of emotion at all. Everything is as it should be. Everything is as it should be, until…
Fear… Pain… Anger… Happiness… Desire… Guilt…
Love.
When a newly named Kit escapes the Sanctuary after killing her best friend, the last thing she needs is another knife in her hand. Or Ryka, the damaged, beautiful blond boy, whom she refuses to let save her. The sights and sounds of Freetown are new, yet one thing is familiar: the matches. The only difference? Where the blood in the Sanctuary landed only on the Colosseum floor, Kit will quickly learn that a river of red runs through Freetown’s very streets.
Without her halo, the inhabitants of Kit’s new home consider her saved, but is that really the case? Would she be better off free of the guilt associated with all the blood on her hands, or is the love of one boy worth living through all the pain?
Raksha is the call of the dead. It is the rumbling chant for fresh blood from the other side, the demand for sacrifice. The Colosseum is behind Kit. The fighting pits await.
~~~
I LOVED the settings and characters of this unique Dystopian. Kit’s plight hooked me immediately. Her cold, kick-ass persona comes on strong, creating a tension-packed contrast to the new feelings stirring within her. I can’t wait for the sequel slated to release the end of this year!
FRANKIE WAS KIND ENOUGH TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS BURNING IN MY MIND…
What do you believe draws so many people to the dystopian genre? What drew you to it?
I guess people love the genre because there are so many possibilities in dystopia. And a lot of the imperfections in the dystopian world are a reflection of conflicts and power struggles that are happening today. It’s not a perfect future, and there are many injustices. In a dystopian novel, the hero or heroine generally overcomes the oppressive power, though, which isn’t always the case in real life. It’s kind of like sticking one to the man. I never consciously decided to write dystopia. It just happened to be what the book was classified as by the time I hit, The End!
What developed first for you, the intriguing story setting and/or plot or your kick-ass main character, Kit?
I had an idea for a culture in the first instance–a knife fighting culture, peppered with religious fanaticism–and the characters came next. I invested a lot of time into getting to know Kit, developing her from the ground up, mainly because we as readers get to see Kit develop into a person as the book goes on and I wanted her personality, her strengths and weaknesses to become apparent to the reader as they became apparent to Kit, herself. It was an interesting thing to do.
Ryka, on the other hand… I’ve been a bit cheeky with Ryka. I’m saving parts of his development for the second book. A lot happens with Ryka in Radicals.
Where did the name Raksha come from?
Well, I sat down and made it up. Or I thought I had, anyway, ha ha! I needed a word for the people of Freetown to chant, and Raksha sounded good. I loved the K and SHHH sounds together and thought it would work really well when repeated over and over, sort of flowing into itself, which is what happens in the book. It was only afterwards when I googled the word that I realised it already existed. Apparently Raksha is a Hindu festival, as well as a character from the Jungle Book.
What else do you like to do besides write?
I love reading, of course. I ski and snowboard, and do a lot of hiking and bushwalking wherever I am. I like learning to cook new things, and having friends over. I go to the movies a lot with my family here in Australia. I’m passionate about film, and I would love for one of my books to be on the big screen one day. That’s the dream!
You are dynamo creator, publishing multiple books in a matter of months. Can you give a one or two line blurb on each of your other novels, and also let us know what you have planned after Raksha?
Sovereign Hope
Eighteen year old Farley Hope is searching for her lost mother, but instead finds that she is prophesied to end a line of brutal soul reavers, intent on murdering her before she can fulfill her destiny.
Eternal Hope
Farley and Daniel are working on their relationship, a hard task when ancient reavers keep trying to kidnap them, and Kayden, Daniel’s tortured yet loveable nemesis, keeps showing up at the most inopportune times.
Raksha
Kit’s been battling her whole life, and yet when she escapes the Sanctuary and finds her way to Freetown, she faces her biggest fight yet when she must tackle her new emotions and the sinister priestesses head on.
Icarus Rise
Ashley Patterson figured college would be the perfect escape from her painful past and her dead father, the man who killed four people in cold blood. She didn’t count on running into Jake Stafford, however. The heartthrob of Breakwater High is now an NYPD cop, and has ideas about Ashley and her past that she won’t be able to ignore.
I have three other projects in planning at the moment, but I’m guarding them closely, since I haven’t yet decided on where I’m headed with each of them. I don’t want to jinx them! I can share their titles and genre, however. Stone is a literary fiction, Three Cameras is a contemporary romance, and The After is young adult paranormal fiction/romance!
MORE ABOUT FRANKIE…
Frankie Rose is a British expat, who is currently enjoying the perks of living in Australia- her awesome husband, sunshine, and vitamin D. She spends her time creating fictional universes in which the guy sometimes gets the girl, the heroes occasionally die, and the endings aren’t always happy. But they usually are.
LINKS…
