S. Cu'Anam Policar's Blog: Cu's Journey From Aspiring to Published, page 8

Today’s Stops on the Rise of Xosha Blog Tour

Our first stops on the tour feature a full spotlight and a Character Bio!

Cu’s Story Corner

Black Words-White Pages YA

Don’t forget to check out the Giveaway while you visit >^.^<

Rise of Xosha Blog Tour & Giveaway

Book Title: The Rise of Xosha

Series: Legend of Xosha 0.5

Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Author: S. Cu’Anam Policar

Publisher: Satalyte Publishing

Cover Art: J.E.Haldeman, Nicole Lutz

Release Date: September 09, 2013

Tour Organizers – Wolf Paw Blog Tours

S.Cu’Anam Policar was born in Brooklyn, NY, but now lives in Washington State. The Mother of three she makes time to write, usually late at night. An avid reader, she not only writes but helps promote other authors with blog tours and reviews of their books. She is Pagan but respects all religions and believes everyone should celebrate their similarities and not care about their differences. When she has the time, she enjoys playing video games, horseback riding, singing, and writing things other than her Legend of Xosha Series. She absolutely loves to make new friends so don’t be afraid to come by and hi on facebook!

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I have often been asked “Why Xosha” and now that the story is finally ready to be told, I figured it’s time to answer that question.. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. The first thing I ever wrote was a poem called “Valentine Bee” which was about one of my favorite small toys. I was either four or five when I wrote it and remember every word to it nearly thirty years later. Around that time I also wrote a Pagan Children’s Prayer because I was so scared to sleep in my room so I would say my little handwritten prayer and hoped the gods heard it. The first time I saw Xosha I was six years old. It was the backdrop for the most vivid and real dreams I have ever had. I had never read about anything that looked like Xosha before, and since I was not allowed to watch anything except pbs growing up, I most certainly never saw anything like it before. I remember waking up with a huge smile on my face and grabbing my dream journal and writing down every minute detail I could remember of that place I wished I lived in. Xosha refused to leave me. As I got older, Xosha became a frequent theme in my dreams. I found that there, I could go anywhere I wanted with no problem. My first “flying” dream happened when I was seven. Until then, the only exploring of this wondrous dream world was what would later be named Caprae. When I was eight, I met Macayla who would later become detrimental part to Xosha’s history. She was who taught me to fly. As we flew over this amazing landscape, she gave me the names of all the places we saw. When I woke up I added those in my dream journal too. Macayla became my teacher when I slept, every night for years I was taught more and more about Xosha. In the summer of 1988, Macayla told me to write the story. I knew this was a hard task, I was only seven and while my reading skills were top notch, my writing was a whole other ballgame. She wouldn’t take “no” or “I can’t” for an answer. In the summer, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house. I told my grandmother about the dream and she immediately sent my grandfather out to buy me a notebook. In her eyes, this was the perfect way to practice my writing. Thus the Rise of Xosha was born. By the time I was twelve, the entire series was handwritten, though when I looked it over, it seemed something was missing, and that’s when the rewrites began to happen. I was missing something and I had no idea what it was. Over the course of the next twenty years I wrote and rewrote the story. I moved around a lot once my late teen years hit and the manuscript got lost more than once. Though the story stayed in my head refusing to leave. Finally settling where I am now, I took out what I had left of the original, the forty page work that was to be the prologue for the start of the series. With the help of memories and dreams, I extended that on msword and made it a short history lesson in the story. Even at thirty two, I still dream of Xosha and still talk to Macayla and the others I have met over the years there. When I wake now, it’s with a heavy heart since obviously I can never really see Xosha, it will forever be a place in my dreams that pulls at my heart strings. I welcome you into my little sanctuary. I hope despite all the troubles and turmoil you found there that you will see what I have seen for the last twenty five years almost every night in my dreams. I hope you fall in love with Xosha just like I did…

There are two songs missing off the spotify soundtrack

// ]]>

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A tale of epic proportions.

The Rise of Xosha tells the tale of Xosha's beginnings.

Where Anjyls are mortal pawns,

Dragons rule the skies,

Wolves and elves roam the forests,

and demons lurk below the surface.

Oceanus, the leader of the last hord of dragons in the realms must find his people a new home. Going only on the word of the odd colored white dragon, Rose, he leads the horde far from their home, over waters that seem to have no end. Pyre, Oceanus' younger, rebellious brother must come to terms with the fact that Oceanus will never see him as anything more than a welp too young to be of any use. Jade the youngest of the three has her own thoughts and inner demons to contend with. Then there's Rose, The dragon with an amazing gift no one will acknowledge. The outcast of her people simply because she's the only one of her color. Will these four ever come to terms with why they had to leave their home? And what strange new beings will they encounter in their new territory? Find out when you read The Rise of Xosha; The story that started the legend.

One to lead...One to see...One to protect...One to Deceive. The Rise of Xosha; The story that started the legend.

"not all allies are friends, not all friends are true, and some enemies will in turn be your greatest allies."

***ADVISORY***

This book contains mild to moderate violence, the concept of death, insinuated sexual contact... Not Recommended for Readers under the age of 16.

Since this is MY book, I obviously can't review it lol. So instead, Here's what others are saying about Rise of Xosha!

“You won’t want to put this book down once you pick it up. There was plenty of mystery, chemistry, and humor to make the story flow and captivate you from the very beginning.”

- Bridgette Ann Bandell (Bookworm Bridgette)

“TRoX is vibrant and addicting. The characters draw you in and will never release you. Even after the story is done, it stays with you.”

-Casse NaRome (Author of The Reborn & The Memory Keepers Series)

“With myth, love and faith permeating its pages, TRoX is a fable meditating on the intrinsic value of family and the incalculable importance of home.”

- Elka Gimpel (Wilde About Reading)

"The Rise of Xosha is a gripping tale of love, loss, betrayal, and new beginnings. The characters and the world are so easy to fall in love with and the words are painted so precisely the experience is almost like watching a painting come to life rather than reading a book."

- Amanda Parker

"Xosha is a captivating new world that will draw you into the story."

- Brandy L. Rivers (Author of Others in Edenton Series)

"It’s a vividly written, detailed and adventurous story that warms us up for what’s to come."

-A.R. Von (Author of Wunder)

 

Obsidian's reverie was cut short as she realized her own grave error. “Pyre watch out!” She yelled. Pyre snapped his head in the direction of Obsidian's frantic yell, but indeed he had been too late. A flurry of white feathers slammed into his right flank sending him spiraling out of the sky. His talons ripped into the side of the feathered beast, which returned the gesture in kind as their forms, a ball of red scale and white feather continued their less than graceful dive. “This ends now dragon!” the feathered one hissed in a feminine voice as her talons dug into Pyre's flank. Pyre growled low in his throat as he finally shook the Anjyl off. “Why are you doing this?! Your kind and mine are practically cousins. Why turn on us like this?” A laugh akin to the tinkling of bells left the feathered dragon, her gray depths burned into the dragon's with malice. “Your kind is thorn in our sides. We cannot fully control the 'God' fearing creatures with you around.” Pyre had heard enough, he flew at the Anjyl and gripped her left wing in with his front taloned paws, his back ones came to land on the feathered female's underside where his talons dug deeply in. His back legs gave a sharp kick outward as his front legs pulled the wing toward his own body. The Anjyl's eyes widened. Her sleek feathered head shook vigorously back and forth causing the thick standalone whiskers on either side of her muzzle to dance in the wind. Then, she gave out of a blood curdling screech of pain as the sound of popping bone, tissue, and feathered flesh broke through the howl of the rushing wind. A smirk crossed Pyre's maw as he released the now useless wing. “Your kind will never be better than us Anjyl. If you survive, tell your Oni we will not fall prey to you... Hunt us again and it will be the Anjyl's that become the prey!” He kicked out once more letting his wings unfurl to catch the upward current of the wind. His talons mucked with feathers, flesh, and gore, he gave a shrug knowing he had wasted his breath. Even as he watched, his wings giving the occasional flap to keep himself aloft, The Anjyl was falling. When she hit the water head first and did not resurface he knew it had been an wasted effort. Above him, where the rest of the fighting sectors of the horde were, he heard growls and the clash of talons. Angling himself he began his ascent back to his brother's side, dodging the many breaths of acid, and the falling of Anjyls. “I'm glad you're okay Pyre.” Oceanus grunted as Pyre came up beside him. Pyre latched his maw on the neck of the large Anjyl male that was trying very much in vain to knock Oceanus from the sky. “I told you I can take care of myself.” Was the muffled reply as the male went limp in Pyre's jaw. Pyre let the Anjyl drop to join his kin in the bottom of the ocean. Pyre's amber depths noted the purple hue to the once blue water and had to wonder to himself if it would ever return to normal after this fight. As the last Anjyl fell to its final resting place, Oceanus let out a strong bellow. The children, Rose, and the others lifted from the small island to rejoin the ranks of the horde. Oceanus knew the browns were a bit miffed at being left out of the fight, He also knew that Rose's Xosha required every brown dragon there to be found. “We no longer have time and distance on our side. I'm sure that horde were not the only ones. Their leader was not among their numbers. We must make haste to our new home now. We cannot afford another battle. Many of you are injured now and the will to carry on is diminished, but you must continue forward! We all seek the freedom and peace of Rose's Xosha, we must stay together to achieve it!” Oceanus' voice was strong, though as he looked over his small band of dragons his heart grew heavy. They had lost at least three in that fight., they could not afford to lose any more.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Rise of Xosha Release Party

The party was HUGE Success! And it was a ton of fun too! In fact it was so much fun, we’re going to do it again next Saturday, Sept 21! So come on and join us for games, prizes, and fun!!! Just click the banner below and it’ll take you to the event >^.^<

 

Rise of Xosha Book Trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don’t think I have ever been more excited in my life!

J.E. Haldeman did an amazing job on this trailer! I absolutely love the song and omg I’m so excited!

I hope you guys like it too!

I Auditioned for Blogger Idol 2013

If you’d like to learn more about Blogger Idol, please check out their site’s About Page

Check out their Prize Page to see what this year’s Winner will win

Follow Blogger Idol On Facebook

Follow on Twitter

Follow on Pinterest

I totally did lol. Call it a “huh?” moment.  I thought it would be an interesting change to audition for something instead of just doing the normal blog touring stuff all the time.  Why did I choose this blog out of my four to audition with?  That answer’s simple really. I chose the Story Corner because it’s my “realest” blog. It not only serves as an author blog but as my personal blog to. So you guys can get to know me better >^.^<

I’m not worried about winning Blogger Idol, it would be nice, but I did it to have some fun and hopefully get this blog more noticed so I don’t feel like I’m having conversations with myself lol.

I know I’m a lot newer to blogging than probably everyone else (most of which I probably know lol) and I’m still learning the ropes, but sometimes inspiration and a wave of courage to combat all the little fears I have, takes over and I do something I normally wouldn’t.

I hope you guys will help me get the top 12 >^.^<

If you’re a blogger and would like to audition

Make sure you check out the Rules

Then check out the Audition Page

We Will Always Remember

Today is a day of remembrance. Today is the day a group of callous, selfish, misled individuals took the lives of thousands of innocent people for the sake of a political move.  Today we need to sit and reflect on the events that took place twelve years ago. The people of all races, nationalities, and creeds whose lives were so mercilessly cut short.

There has always been controversy surrounding this day twelve years ago. Some argue terrorists, some say it was an inside job. Instead of focusing on the controversy surrounding this date, try to think about the lives lost. Look at those you know who share this tragic day as their birthdays and try to make it a happy one for the little ones too young to understand why everyone is so sad.

Explain to the older children what happened and why today should be a day to remember the families that are hurting even after all these years.

I’m a native New Yorker. I grew up in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn in the ghetto. I was in Bensonhurst when it happened. I remember I was bsing on AOL, with my oldest sitting on my lap. I worked the night shift at K-Mart at Caesar’s Bay  back then so I really shouldn’t have even been up, but my dad and my step mom were at work and my oldest wasn’t in day care yet. I remember turning on the tv getting ready to watch some Springer. But Jerry never came on. Instead it the news. I looked at the tv and I saw the North Tower covered in smoke. I was still half asleep and didn’t understand what I was seeing or hearing. Then it registered. They said we’d been attacked in our own backyard. Hit in a place that would kill so many innocent people.

I don’t even remember when I started crying as I held my oldest close to me. All transportation was shut down, trains, buses, everything. My dad was a bus driver. My step mother worked in Manhattan, so did a large amount of my friends. I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t even hear my dad come home. I was glued to the tv watching and listening as planes seemed to go rogue all over the north east of the country. We couldn’t get in touch with my step mother. There were so many calls being made to 911 that virtually all the cell phones and phone lines were useless, no one could get through the clog.

I sat and worried with my dad while we watched the death toll rise and the towers begin to crumble. Landmarks I had seen in person, on tv, and in movies my entire life were suddenly just not there anymore. Then they told us about bombs going off in Grand Central Station which ran beneath the towers. I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid of anything in my entire life.

It was really late when my step mom got home. And while my step mom and me didn’t always see eye to eye I was so happy she was okay. I hugged her so tight and I cried even harder. She told us because they shut down all the transportation to and from the city that the survivors had to walk home over the bridges. Not even cars were allowed to go in and out of the city. The island of Manhattan was cut off from the world by that point.

K-Mart closed its doors that afternoon so I didn’t have work. My dad and step mom had so many phone calls come in to find out if they were okay and to make sure we were all accounted for. They made a ton of the same phone calls to their friends and other family members but not every phone call they made was as good as the ones made to us.

I will remember this day for the rest of my life. This is the day that I not only lost so many friends, but it’s also the day I grew up. I may have been two months shy of twenty-one when it happened, but it really made me grow up. I stopped fighting with my step mom after that. We still had our silly little quarrels and whatnot, but I didn’t not like her anymore. I didn’t not respect her anymore. I saw her for the person she really is.  She is my mom even if it’s not by blood and I love her and thank the gods that I didn’t lose her before I woke up and realized that.

To all the families that were not as fortunate as mine, I pray you someday find closure. I pray you find peace in your hearts to keep you from the pain. I pray you learn to see this day as a day celebrate the lives your loved ones led and not the day they went away. May the gods smile on you all and bring you joy and love until you can see your loved ones again

So mote it be

Message from the Soap Box: Bloggers and Giveaways

Topic: Bloggers and Giveaways

Being an avid reader I’ve entered a LOT of giveaways via goodreads, commenting, rafflecopter etc. Most of the time they are legit, I’ve gotten quite a collection of signed paperbacks, signed bookmarks, and swag and a ton of other stuff I can’t even bring myself to mention online (-eyes Bridgette-)

Anyway, giveaways, while tedious with the amount of tasks a rafflecopter can have, are a lot of fun too. The anticipation of possibly winning, the elation if you actually do. That never wears off, neither does the mild sorrow that comes when you lose something you really hoped to win (case in point, the umteen million kindle fires, and kindle paperwhites I’ve entered to win for the last year and didn’t even place lol)

But who’s responsible when you win something and don’t receive it?

That’s the topic of today’s of Soap Box Message.

Now this is a multi faceted topic. There are many factors to look into. Who offered the giveaway? A blogger? A Tour Company? An Author?

Let’s begin on the lowest rung on the ladder: A Blogger

We bloggers are the lowest rung on the giveaway prize ladder. It may sound odd since you see blog posts everywhere but it’s not often a blogger themselves will run a giveaway without it being connected to an author or a touring company. Most bloggers are legit and will award the prize as soon as they can. There are a few that give us all a bad name though.

The next rung on the ladder are Tour Companies. Many of you know I run Wolf Paw Blog Tours. We are hired by authors to do a certain service, cover reveals, blasts, blitz, tours, etc. Most come with banners for the bloggers to post on their blogs saying “hey this service is brought you by this tour company”. When you win something a tour company organizes, 9/10 times the author is footing the bill for the prize. A tour organizer if legit will ALWAYS contact the winner and tell the winner they’ve won. A few will claim ignorance and assume everyone holds onto a million links for giveaways they enter and that they should have initiated contact without knowledge that they won. And a few.. Very few are false and will claim they sent the prize, or you did something to be disqualified, or didn’t contact and give your prize away. These organizers usually don’t have the mind set to at least remove your name from the rafflecopter.

The top rung of the ladder are the authors and publishers. Every author will run a giveaway at some point or another. I personally have yet to have a problem with the awarding of an author giveway.

But what happens when you have a blogger that runs a giveaway for an author, and the author doesn’t uphold their end of the agreement by awarding the prizes they told the blogger to list? Who foots that bill? Sadly enough this is not as uncommon as one would think. Blogs lose followers due to it all the time. The problem is, while a blogger would love nothing more at that point of being screwed to scream to the mountain tops how wrong the author is, they can’t it would make them look bad. So what happens? Most bloggers will apologize profusely and award the winner(s) their prize out of their own pocket. This is an unfair practice, yet it’s sadly what happens.

Bloggers don’t want to lose followers. After months of seeing these followers comment on their posts and play in games and giveaways, they become a type of friend (and I use this loosely). Followers trust the blogs they follow to be honest and truthful. Even if the blame lay in other hands, it still comes right back to that factor. And instead of outing the author who wanted all this done with a giveaway and then refuses to up the prizes, it falls to the blogger to fulfill the obligation.

If enough bloggers are done wrong by an author, where will that author go to be promoted? Many will claim “I can pimp myself. I don’t need help”. If that were the case, blog tour companies, street teams, bloggers wouldn’t exist. If an author was capable of handling all their promoting by them self, they wouldn’t need the things that help them the most. So please if you’re considering skipping out on a giveaway you sponsored, think about the ramifications of that action. Don’t think of the bloggers or tour organizations that will be hurt by the process, think of your own reputation. No one will want to be part of someone that’s untrustworthy.

This has been a Message from the Soap Box, brought to you by,

Author Rantings: How to Tell if You Have a Shady Publisher

*This by no means applies to Satalyte Publishing or it’s affiliate businesses*

I find it funny that while I’m LOOKING at my Associate Center page and have already confirmed my findings with Amazon (modern technology is amazing isn’t it?) that you’re trying to tell me all my books were refunded and you owe me nothing. According to my Associate Central page which I confirmed with a phone call to Amazon on when it was last updated, There are still 5 of your deliberate attempt to make me look like a crap writer that were miraculously somehow not returned totaling in price to $9.95. The amount of money is irrelevant. It’s the principle that matters. If I had sold even 1 copy that money would still be mine. And don’t even get me into how you don’t even deserve the 30% you’ll take off the lousy 9.95 either when you did NOTHING to help my book. My Cover was gotten outside the company, my editing was done outside the company. You published a faulty work and now you’re taking a cut of my pay for it. That’s shady and it’s unprofessional.

Second order of business. You contracted me to organize tours for your company under contract I might add.  However, I find your word as a business professional can NOT be trusted. I have no idea how many books your clients have sold to know I’m getting the full 10% of them that I’m supposed to. You word no longer means anything since you tried to lie about MY OWN sales. You will deliver me solid PROOF of the sales for the tours I did so I can determine whether or not you’re going to pay me what I’m supposed to be paid.

Further more I have screen shots of our conversations of you agreeing to send me 1 print copy for each tour I do you have yet to fulfill THAT obligation either.

I’m done playing nice. You thought I was a “demanding bitch” when I was there for you to use? Keep being shady and you’ll see what kind of a bitch I can become.

It’s a damn shame I have to post on my blog to get your attention too, because anytime I NICELY bring up the fact that you owe me money, you suddenly have to go and run away, but you never log off.

September 30 is the end of the quarter. I “demand” proof of your companies sales (So I can send you an invoice) and the invoices for the print copies I’m owed by then so I know I’m getting the full amount I’m owed and not being jerked around again. As well as the invoice for the 3 print copies of my book I ordered before I had you pull it.

And if I don’t get paid for my sales while with your company, you can expect my lawyer to be contacting you.

I warned you to stop messing me. I begged you to stop running away when I tried to talk to you about MY book and MY sales. You instead opted to continued to lie and to be shady, and now the whole world knows and I didn’t even have to name you.

A Message from the Soap Box: Bad Reviews vs Bad Attitudes

I totally stole the topic title from Jill Haldeman >.> But it was a valid one >^.^<

This really does fall under the whole Cyber Bully segment of posts I’ve been posting recently.

I watched a friend of mine get attacked, slandered, trashed, called everything but her name recently over a 1 star book review. Oddly enough, the book reviewed was the SAME book my sister gave a 2 star review to with the SAME results. Neither review trashed anyone, both called the author out on going over the line on stealing a well known author’s work with a simple change of the character names locale etc.

The saddest part is it was not the author that attacked either of one. It was someone we are all almost positive that is either a family member or a friend of the author in the outside world, or someone that worked with the author on the book.

As authors we can not possibly expect everyone to like our work. we can only expect our fans to, and MAYBE the people who even like the genre we write. Attacking someone that gives you an honest review is not going to help your sales nor your reputation. It in fact will only harm both. The same goes for family, friends, employees, or even employers of the author. Authors if you see someone trashing a reviewer that gave you a bad review, SAY SOMETHING. Do NOT sit idly by why this person destroys your career.

Jill’s right though, we are taught as small children that bullying, and mocking people is wrong. We are taught to talk out our difference to eliminate a problem. When we join the indie community, we are taught to ignore the trolls and the haters. Yet all I’ve been seeing lately is an over abundance of authors and their PA’s acting like little children when someone doesn’t like the book they put out. I’m pretty sure you haven’t liked every single book you’ve ever read. and don’t pull the “If I don’t like it I don’t review it” because that’s bullshyt and you know it. A REAL Reviewer reviews EVERYTHING they read not just the good ones. So you’re either a fake reviewer, or you’re a liar if you claim you don’t post any bad reviews.

Now keep in mind I’m not talking about the trolls. By all means if you want to tarnish your reputation by mudslinging the trolls and bullies when they do it to you, by all means go for it, just remember it’s not them that suffers for your actions it’s yourself.

Leave the honest reviewers alone. Don’t trash them saying they didn’t read the book when they’ve posted novella sized reviews stating events that happened in the book and what’s wrong with things in it. It’s obvious they’ve read it. A Troll doesn’t read a book, they do what their masters tell them and simply rate a book 1 or 2 and IF they’re told to review, their reviews are noticeably false and only one or two lines along the line of “this book sucks” or some other lame shyt.

Authors, PAs, Editors, Cover Artists, other people involved with a book that gets a bad review, Please, Think before you attack. If you attack every bad review, what does that look like? It will make people scared to post honestly. They’ll feel they have to lie about their opinion of the work and instead of getting the helpful pointers 3 out 5 bad reviews give, you’ll end up getting nothing and keep making the same errors over and over until someone that isn’t afraid of you stands up and says something in less than professional way. Do you really want that? I know I don’t.

Rise of Xosha: Pulled From Shelves

My debut Rise of Xosha is being pulled from shelves within the next few days.

Due to irreconcilable differences between myself and Freaky Fiction Writing, I have requested my contract be nulled and my book pulled due to a breach in my contract on their behalf.

I hold no animosity toward FFW, it’s owner, nor the authors there, I just feel my work will be better off with a company that is more equipt to do it’s job in a proper and timely manner.

The giveaway, Release Party, and Tour are all being put on hold until further notice. I am hoping I to have Rise of Xosha back on shelves within this month.

I apologize to anyone who purchased the atrocity that is being passed off in my name and I assure you there will be a proper edition on shelves as soon as humanly possible.

Thank you for taking the time to read this as well as for understanding.

-A very upset S. Cu’Anam Policar