Mara Valderran's Blog, page 31

A Teaser! An E-Book Extravaganza! Another Heirs of War (and more!) Giveaway!

I swear, I just can't help myself. I finish one giveaway, and I can't help but think of how I want to do the next one. This time, I've decided to make the giveaway as special as can be in two different ways:

1.) I'm not just giving away my e-book. One of the most amazing things about this whole writerly experience has been the vast amount of support I've received from all around the web. So I am also giving away three purchased e-book copies from three incredible people that have supported Heirs of War (and me) along the way. So you can not only win an e-copy of Heirs of War, but the following titles from authors that continue to inspire me:
Coldness of Marek by Rachel O'Laughlin First of Her Kind by K.L. Schwengel Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh by Katie Hamstead2.) Heirs of War became a feature on Wattpad September 11th, and I have been overwhelmed by the amount of support and encouraging words people have given me. As I am writing this, I have 789 followers, 524 votes for Heirs of War, and over 46k reads. My jaw hits the floor every day when I look at it. So, as my way of showing how incredibly appreciative I am of all my new followers and readers, I decided to include a way to enter the giveaway with Wattpad. It isn't really intended to gain new followers so much as give the followers I already have a chance to enter their own way. In fact, if you've never used Wattpad before, I would encourage you to use the other ways to enter.

I'm also doing something else a little bit different. I'm not including an option to tweet about the giveaway. I know this is a great way to earn entries, but it is also kinda spammy, so I'm not a fan of it. If you want to continually comment on my blog to earn entries, that's cool. But I don't want to clog people's Twitter feeds. =)

And now, without further blabbering from me, here is the teaser for Heirs of War, and the Rafflecopter giveaway! If you want to enter the giveaway with a comment, here are the questions to answer:
What books are at the top of your TBR list? What is your preferred genre? Do you prefer e-books or physical copies? Why?
(Note, answer whichever ones you choose, let's just keep the conversation going!)


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Guest Post & Giveaways: Kate Roth's Soundtrack for Reckless Radiance

Today on the blog, I'm happy to have Kate Roth! She's here to talk about her soundtrack, and giveaway some awesome prizes (see the Rafflecopter entries below). Don't forget to check her blog for exclusive daily content during the tour!

Thanks so much for hosting me today, Mara! This is such a fun stop on the blog tour!This soundtrack is made up of songs I imagine would be in the movie version of Reckless Radiance. I listened to this playlist as I drafted and edited and I still turn it on every now and then! Head over to my blog today to enter the drawing to win a CD copy of this soundtrack and a copy of the e-book! www.katerothwrites.blogspot.com

Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop by Landon PiggHeadlights on the Highway by Ron PopeThe Moon by The Swell SeasonSparks Fly by Taylor SwiftRun Away by Sara JaroszFull of Grace by Sarah McLachlanTreacherous by Taylor SwiftReady to Fall by Meredith EdwardsOnly Girl (In The World) by Boyce Avenue feat. Alex GootStay by Sara BareillesTurning Page by Sleeping At LastI Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab for CutieThe Light by Sara BareillesMy Heart With You by XIV HoursBeen A Long Day by Rosi GolanReckless Radiance is a story of love and loss, secrets and healing. Read more about the book and be sure to pick up a copy, now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance E-books! After the loss of her childhood love, Valerie Gilmore runs away from the life she's always known to try to start again. Between her job as a diner waitress and her toxic relationship with the first guy to help her forget her past, Valerie feels more alone than ever before until she meets Russell. He's sweet but strange and Valerie can't help but think he's hiding something. He acts as though he knows her and he seems to be looking past her broken heart, straight into her soul.

Russell has pushed aside the ancient laws of his angel brethren to find Valerie and stay as close to her as possible. He’s forced to contemplate sharing the truth about what he is after a deadly turn of events cause Valerie to run away once more. His feelings for her and a promise he made long ago help him to realize he longs to leave his life as an angel behind for a chance at love.You can purchase Reckless Radiance on Amazon in paperback and e-copy.






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Blog Tour: Because of Lucy by Lisa Swallow

Synopsis: *Recommended 17+ due to strong language and sexual content*

Ness’s parents are shocked when she turns down her place at Leeds University and takes on a full-time job in a call center. Determined to begin her adult life the way she wants, Ness moves to Leeds to live with her best friend Abby.

One night she meets Evan, who is everything she hates about guys. He may be hot but he’s also drunken, arrogant, and on top of that, he apparently has sex with girls and forgets about it. But Evan isn't what he seems and Ness soon discovers they have more in common than she thought.

Evan is struggling to escape from his past too, and when Lucy appears she threatens his new relationship with Ness. Unsure if she can deal with the effect Lucy has on Evan, Ness makes a decision about her future which pulls them apart.

When their new lives don't go as planned, Ness and Evan are both faced with difficult choices. All because of Lucy...

Author bio: Lisa is originally from the UK but now lives in Perth, Western Australia. She splits her time between writing, raising a family and running a business. She even leaves the house occasionally.

Lisa writes romance and is currently working on a series of new adult paranormal romance novels, the first book, Soul Ties, was published in July 2013. She also writes new adult contemporary - Because of Lucy was released August 2013.
Find Lisa on:
Blog     Twitter       Facebook
Buy it on:
Amazon

New Adult Authors: Jaden Wilkes!

Jaden is the pen name of a girl living on the prettiest farm in Brittish Columbia. She shares her space with her husband, her children, and an Irish Wolfhound named Tiberius. She can now be found lurking in the dark corners of the internet looking for artful porn gifs, dirty poems, and places to promo her work.


Sarah Miller is known as a dreamer in her stifling Mennonite community, but she's hiding something from them all. A simple wish to avoid the strictly enforced life path expected of her... early marriage, babies, and work on the farm.

She wants more, so much more. Education, travel, love... sex...

A chance at university hundreds of miles away is too much to pass up, so she follows her best friend Naomi and decides to take her future into her own hands.

She had no idea this decision would change her in ways she never imagined, will the one person she falls in love with hold her back from everything she ever wanted?



To enter the Rafflecopter, please go to each of these blogs and enter the corresponding blog code.



This is Blog #5 and the code is: JADENMARA

Blog #1: www.dawnpendleton.com Blog #2: www.StephanieLawton.comBlog #3: www.chasingemptypavements.comBlog #4: http://lisaswallow.netBlog #5: http://maravalderran.blogspot.comBlog #6: http://www.lgcastillo.comBlog #7: http://sophielira.wordpress.com/Blog #8: http://naughtylittlekisses.blogspot.comBlog #9: http://danielelanzarotta.blogspot.com/Blog #10: http://authoryolandaallen.blogspot.com/Blog #11: http://dawnaraver.com/Blog #12: http://tawdrakandle.comBlog #13: http://midtown-underground.comBlog #14: http://tyffanickemp.comBlog #15: www.authorstiffanyandashley.comBlog #16: www.KristieCook.comBlog #17: www.jlfynn.comBlog #18: www.nancystraight.comBlog #19: www.lisasanchezromanceauthor.comBlog #20: www.adriannejames.comBlog #21: http://jadenwilkes.blogspot.ca/

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Blog Tour: Heaven and Hellsbane by Paige Cuccaro

Heaven and Hellsbane
Hellsbane Series, Book TwoPaige Cuccaro
Genre: Urban Fantasy
  Someone’s killing angels and turning the half human, half angel illorum warriors against their angelic supporters. If the supernatural baddy behind the attacks isn’t stopped soon, Heaven itself could fall victim. The Council of Seven has called in the best they’ve got to find the killers, and no one’s more surprised than Emma Jane Hellsbane when it’s her phone that rings.
But when her own angelic mentor—and off-limits hottie—Eli is targeted, Emma takes it personally. With Emma hot on the trail of the growing army of assassins, though, hackles start to raise around her. Everyone wants to know if she’s in it to protect all angels or just one in particular. The Council has their suspicions…and so does Emma’s boyfriend.
Now Emma isn’t just fighting off demons, rogue nephilim, and Fallen angels, but she’s defending her honor as well. The problem is even Emma Jane isn’t sure of her motives. One thing she does know: if she doesn’t figure out the killers’ identities soon, she may not live long enough to know what, or who, she really wants.
It’s all in a day’s work as Heaven’s ultimate bounty hunter.Amazon  BN

About the Author:Writing was never a foregone conclusion for me. I once had dreams of being a psychologist, a pediatrician, a school teacher, a photojournalist, a bartender, and/or an EMT. And then I met my husband and my world came into focus. Being wife and mother are my highest priorities and greatest joy. But escaping to the fanciful, sexy worlds twirling through my mind is an absolute necessity. Putting those worlds, and the cornucopia of characters that people them, on paper is just plain fun.
Paige lives in Ohio, with her husband, and three daughters. When she’s not writing she can be found doing the mom thing with a book in one hand and a notepad and pen in the other. Ideas come without warning and the best way to stimulate your imagination is to enjoy the imagination of someone else.
http://www.facebook.com/PaigeCuccarohttps://twitter.com/PaigeCuccaro http://www.goodreads.com/PaigeCuccarowww.paigecuccaro.com http://beingpaige.blogspot.com/

Heirs of War Blog Tour Kick Off!

Today kicks of the Heirs of War blog tour! I am so excited! There are so many great stops along the way, and I am so thrilled by how many people signed up to host.

As some of you might already know, I decided to push back my release date from today to October 13. Before I share the blog tour calendar with you, I'd like to let you know why. Put simply: Kriscinda Everitt is an amazing editor who has a knack for knowing exactly how to get through this hard head of mine. One of the biggest problems with Heirs of War has been POV. At first, it was head jumping. After I fixed that, I still had too many POVs. Some people had issue with this, but others didn't. On my last rewrite, I narrowed it down to eleven POVs. Eleven.

That's still pretty crazy. Unless you are George RR Martin. (Hint: I'm not.) I didn't know what to do with this problem. Write it off as "to each his own"? Rewriting would ruin all the little suspenseful tidbits I feed the readers through POVs like the Cynewards and Kyle.

Only...those POVs might be ruining that suspense. There is such a thing as giving the readers too much information, as it turns out. And I am definitely guilty of this. Kriscinda explained it all very well, and she gave me the choice of keeping the book as is to meet my release date, or rewriting it to narrow down the POVs to just the five girls (Terrena, Isauria, Rhaya, Zelene, and Ariana). I chose the latter because I agree that this will make the book so much better.

So there you have it. I did my rewrites during Dragon Con (sometimes waiting in line for hours can be a good thing for productivity). I'm applying the previous edits now, and then Kriscinda will get another go at it. Come October 13, a much better book will be released.

Up until the release, I have some very cool tour stops planned. I would like to take this moment to thank each and every one of my hosts and reviewers for taking part. You guys are awesome, and I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I have behind me as I move forward.

Heirs of War is on Goodreads and available for preorder on Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. It will be available through Amazon and other retailers after the release date. You can still find the previous version, with all eleven POVs, on Wattpad.

And now, the tour calendar:


September 13:
Heirs of War Blog Tour Kick Off
Mara Valderran

September 15:
Carolyn Brown
http://cmbrown-books.blogspot.com.au/
Guest Post on Music Inspiration

September 16:
Priya Kanaparti
http://priyakanaparti.com/
Guest Post on POV

September 17:
Sharon Bayliss
http://sharonbayliss.blogspot.com/
Guest Post on World Building

September 18:
Vicki Trask
http://madamewriterofwrongs.blogspot.com/
Review


September 19:Jaycee DeLorenzohttp://blog.jayceedelorenzo.com/
ExcerptSeptember 20:Beth Winokurhttp://bethwinokur.blogspot.com/
Author InterviewSeptember 21:James Wymorehttp://jameswymore.wordpress.com/
Guest Post on Music InspirationSeptember 23:Katie Tellerhttp://kjhstories.blogspot.com/
Character Interview
September 25:Crystal Collierhttp://crystalcollier.blogspot.com/Truth or Lie

September 26:Thea Gregoryhttp://nerdygnome.wordpress.com/
ReviewSeptember 27:Kai Strandhttp://kaistrand.blogspot.com/Character InterviewSeptember 28:Kate Rothhttp://www.katerothwrites.blogspot.com/
Guest Post on World BuildingSeptember 29:
Lisa Swallowhttp://lisaswallow.net/Guest Post on World BuildingSeptember 30:
Jason Kinghttp://www.authorjasonking.com/
SpotlightOctober 1:Leigh Stathamhttp://leighstatham.com/Review

October 2:Vicki Traskhttp://madamewriterofwrongs.blogspot.com/
Guest Post on POVOctober 3:Aja Hannahhttp://ajahannah.blogspot.com/Guest Post on PublishingOctober 5:Courtney Younghttp://www.courtyoung.com/
ExcerptOctober 6:Britni Hillhttp://www.britnihillwriter.blogspot.com/ExcerptOctober 7:L. Blankenshiphttp://discipleofthefount.blogspot.com/
Character InterviewOctober 9:Kate Tiltonhttp://katetilton.com/category/kate-tiltons-blog/
Guest Post on SistersOctober 10:Katy Sozaevahttp://katysozaeva.blogspot.com/Guest Post on Music

October 11:K.L. Schwengelhttp://myrandommuse.wordpress.com/Character InterviewOctober 12:Katy Sozaevahttp://katysozaeva.blogspot.com/ReviewOctober 13:Jamie Ayreshttp://jamieayres.com/
Guest Post on Music Inspiration

Blog Tour: Excerpt from The Lure of Fools by Jason King

Jason King is stopping back by to give us a look at his latest book, The Lure of Fools, which you can purchase on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. I've already added it to my Goodreads TBR list. Be sure to follow Jason on Twitter, Facebook, and visit out his website to stay up to date on his writerly exploits. Here's a reminder of what The Lure of Fools is about, and then you can find the excerpt below. Happy reading!

“Adventure is the lure of fools, and excitement glamour to the gullible. The siren song of the world is as music to the wanderer’s feet, but that dance leads only to the soul-less grave.”

So Jekaran’s uncle has warned him. But that doesn’t stop him from leaping at the exhilarating chance to single-handedly rescue a beautiful woman from a gang of lecherous thieves.

But the bored farm boy quickly finds that he is no match for the group of angry street thugs, and only escapes death by bonding a magical sword that grants him the strength and skill of a master swordsman. Unfortunately, a peasant wielding such magic is forbidden and punishable by death.

Thus Jekaran finds himself a fugitive with his fate tied to that of the exotic and mysterious, Kairah; a fey woman who must deliver a dire warning to the king that, if heeded, could prevent the very extinction of humanity.





Excerpt: “Well, I suppose this proves the gods have a sense of humor,” Gymal drawled.Jekaran flexed his brain in order to think of a biting comeback witty enough to make the entire on looking camp laugh aloud, but nothing came. He was too exhausted, or maybe it was worse. Maybe Gymal had finally broken him. “No clever cheek, Jekaran? Maybe you have begun to learn your place.” He smirked.Again, no retort would come. That frightened him.“What of the reward?” one of the men called out.Gymal smiled, not taking his eyes off Jekaran. “I did promise something to the man who first found the well, didn’t I.” Jekaran didn’t like the dangerous note in Gymal’s tone.“Jekaran was the first to find it, and being a man of my word, he will get the reward!” Gymal’s announcement ignited angry murmuring, and one well finder went so far as to jeer. “Quiet!” Hort shouted and the camp fell silent. “Well, Jekaran?” Gymal asked. “What is it that you want?”He’s baiting you, Jekaran warned himself. He’s going to turn whatever I ask for around on me. He tried to think of everything he could ask for and how it might be turned ill. If I ask for freedom, he could kill me, and if I ask for rest, he might have me knocked unconscious. I definitely don’t want to ask for my sword or extra water. Asking for food would also grant Gymal a wonderful array of options. Jekaran looked down at Irvis’ filthy, tattered robe. “I would like some new clothes,” he said, confident there was no way Gymal could twist that into a punishment. He was wrong.The soldiers and some of the well finders laughed, hooted, and catcalled as Hort shoved him out of one of Gymal’s tents. He clenched his jaw, looking down at the humiliation Gymal exacted on his request. Velvet and green, Jekaran could only guess why Gymal would own the evening gown, much less have brought it on the expedition. The weaselly little lord was thoroughly enjoying this; even going so far as to tie red ribbons in Jekaran’s hair and fitting him with a black choker. He reached up and twisted the thin crimson material between two fingers and dropped his hands to the side. Gymal had his eager vengeance for the pranks the year before. At least they had needed to remove his manacles in order to dress him for the spectacle.Jekaran stumbled to the ground, quickly deciding it best to stay down and keep his eyes shut. If hard labor and half starvation hadn’t broken him before, this would almost certainly do the trick. He listened hard for Vestus’ laughter and was grateful when he didn’t hear it among the derisive chorus. The laughing seemed to go on without end and Jekaran retreated inward to escape. He fixated on his psychic bond to the sword talis, instantly knowing where it was and how far away he was from it. That didn’t make him feel better, but the power of the distraction took the edge off the ridicule. It worked so well, that Jekaran didn’t even hear the voice whispering in his ear until it repeated itself a third time. “Uska stupid human boy be ready,” Karak hissed into his ear.Jekaran opened his eyes and glanced toward the sound. He had expected to see a slight wavy distortion to the air marking Karak’s presence in his veiled form, but there was no sign of the Vorakk shaman. He was about to chalk the voice up to intense wishful thinking when he caught movement on his right periphery. Jekaran looked to his right and found a small, marble-sized ball of light hovering just above his ear. It looked like a glow fly, but glow flies didn’t shine bright enough to be seen during the day. Jekaran squinted at the sight and then gasped. There was no mistaking it, it was one of Karak’s spirit orbs.It zipped away and Jekaran half lifted a hand as if to catch it. Be ready for what? A sound like rumbling thunder stilled all of the laughter and Jekaran snapped his head up in time to see Gymal, the soldiers, and all of the well finders glancing around in confused silence. The rumbling grew louder and then the ground began to shake. Jekaran sat back on his haunches and looked around stupidly.What was—?A cracking sound accompanied an explosion of dust from the ground and Jekaran saw a fissure form, snaking its way across the camp and tearing open the earth. What followed was pure pandemonium as the soldiers and well finders scattered to find safety.

Adventures in Fangirling: Dragon Con 2013

It's been almost two weeks, and I am just now getting around to writing my Dragon Con post. What can I say? No rest for writers! Especially writers preparing for release.

When my husband and I first decided to go to Dragon Con, I was a bit nervous. We're not exactly very social, and tend to shy away from events that have large crowds. Heck, we go to the movies during the day for that reason. So you can imagine how anxious I was at the thought of sticking us in large crowds packed together like sardines.

Surprisingly enough, it didn't bother us that much. We had a few moments of being completely overwhelmed, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn't matter. It did keep us from certain events, like the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Ball. We tried to go, but the entire bottom floor of the Marriott seemed to packed with people who were trying to get in. We couldn't even discern where the line was through the massive crowd pushing their way towards the door and being redirected by the Dragon Con volunteers (poorly, but in their defense, there were A LOT of people to herd around).

This is me, all smiles as we set out for Atlanta.
I didn't take anymore pictures after we hit traffic.But I'm getting ahead of myself. We started out Thursday to Atlanta, getting a bit more of a late start than we wanted. Pre-registration was until 10pm, so we weren't really worried about it since we'd still be there by four or five o'clock. Well, what was supposed to be a three hour drive turned into seven hours because of a wreck and a GPS that insisted on taking us around our ass to get to our elbow. By the time we finally got to the hotel, the Dragon Con Facebook feed said they were shutting down the pre-registration lines. So we decided we would get an early start in the morning to register and then head to our panels.

We met two really cool people at the MARTA station who were also first timers, Amanda and Joel. We decided to stick together and headed to registration. The line was HUGE. It wrapped around the building twice. We were pretty sure we were going to be there all day. Luckily, the pre-registration and registration system is very effective. We ended up only being in line for I think about an hour or so. We took one look at the John Barrowman line after that, and decided to go grab some lunch instead. I'm kinda bummed that we didn't get to see him, but we were convinced that there was no way that many people in line would fit into the room for his panel. Turns out, we were wrong. I had a friend who jumped into line 15 minutes before the panel started and still got in. Lesson learned: Trust the lines. But our tummies were full and we did a little bit of exploring, having fun with our new friends until we all got in line for Richard Dean Anderson.

I love that guy. I wish I had pictures, but our camera and our phones weren't agreeing with the lighting, so they are all blurry. He was a hoot. We split up with our friends after that (the guys exchanged numbers) with plans to meet up at the Doctor Who ball. We headed to the Timey Wimey Puppet Show, which was hilarious! I seriously suggest you check them out on YouTube.


After that, we headed to Exploring Folklore in Stargate, which was very interesting. We got a message from our friends saying they were pooped and heading back to their hotel, and then we headed to the Doctor Who ball. And then we promptly fled to the MARTA station. Which is a shame, because we were dressed in the style of Doctor Who (I like to call it cosplay light hehe).

Clara and The Tenth Doctor. Sort of.


We decided to sleep in the next morning. I think we finally made it there around noon. We visited the vendors, scoring two Doctor Who shirts and various other stuff I can't think of at the moment. Then we headed off to get our picture taken with Richard Dean Anderson and Christopher Judge. Yup, I got myself in the middle of a scifi fangirl sandwich. =D It was awesome and that picture will be on our wall in a frame soon. After the picture, we went to the Stargate SG1 Reunion panel. Richard Dean Anderson and Teryl Rothery were both late (traffic was a nightmare and they were driven around, obviously), so the rest of the panel told us not to cheer when Richard Dean Anderson came out, but to do a slow clap. Then they asked one girl near the front to be the lone crazy fan, which she did perfectly. It was hilarious. Directly after the panel, I was thrilled to see a sizable group of Stargate cosplayers joining together for a picture.


Then I took a picture with a Daniel Jackson look alike, meaning I've come that much closer to making my dream of meeting Daniel Jackson (or at least the actor who plays him) come true. He had a British accent, too. So I met a British Daniel Jackson. Amazing how much hotter Daniel became in my eyes with that accent...



We stayed in the Westin (our favorite hotel of all, by the way--we are staying there next year) for a writerly panel from the Urban Fantasy track called Supernatural Playlist: Music in Urban Fantasy. Now, I don't write urban fantasy (yet), but I do read it a lot and was very happy when Within Temptation was brought up and referred to as pretty much *the* sound of urban fantasy in general. I recognized a few of the authors from local panels. It was a lot of fun, so my husband and I decided to stick around for the world-building panel afterwards. I was going to go to the Buffy Horror Picture Show in the same building, but I was overwhelmed by the lines again. But I'm glad we stayed with the urban fantasy track. It was a lot of fun and a nice reprieve from the large rooms and masses of people.

We called it a night after that, but MARTA was so packed that it took us two hours to get a train. I think that alone convinced us to stay in a host hotel next year.

We slept late Sunday morning (since we didn't get back to the hotel until around 3am). When we got to Dragon Con, we basically milled about. I decided to take a look at the Walk of Fame. This is where the hubby got a bit overwhelmed. We did one round and he took pictures of me with a lot of people (only the cheaper ones--I can't exactly afford to pay $40 for a photo op, even if it does come with an autograph). James Marsters was there signing autographs, but not taking pictures. Since I missed him on the Buffy panel and we hadn't blow our budget yet, I decided to pay for a Froggy Photo with him. I didn't get a digital copy, though, so you'll have to use your imaginations. Oh, heck. Or I'll post the picture I took of it with my phone.

 I continued to make my rounds, getting pictures with Noel Clarke (Doctor Who), K.C. Collins (Lost Girl), Paul Amos (Lost Girl), Kristine Sutherland (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Alex Zahara (Stargate SG1, Once Upon a Time, Arrow, Sanctuary, Blood Ties, and much more), and Christopher Judge (Stargate SG1--yes, I had to get another picture with him). You can check those pictures out below, along with some of the awesome cosplay we came across. After I was done squeeing like the fangirl I am, we went to the Defiance panel. Those guys are awesome. They talked about a lot of stuff, including their process (Jaime Murray had an awesome answer using animals for movement). Some where along the way, my husband and I realized we had failed to watch the last two episodes....so, yeah. Got spoiled. Oops.

Moving on! The Defiance cast got a kick out of the cosplayers for the show. So much so that Grant Bowler got some of them to come up afterwards so he could get pictures with them. He even had his phone out so he could get some.
We picked up my picture with James Marsters after that and called it a night. Then we fought with the GPS again since it insisted on telling us that there was a TGI Fridays where apartments clearly were. We ended up at the Fuddrucker's we had passed over an hour ago.

Monday was an early day for us since it was the last day. We packed everything up, checked out of the hotel, and headed to the MARTA station. We got there in time to be one of the first in line for the Annual Stargate Hangover Panel, which was hilarious. I absolutely adore Dan Payne, I really do. He's so funny. Then I headed to the Lost Girl panel, where Paul Amos had decided to cosplay as Zoie Palmer since she had to cancel.
He kept the wig on the entire time, and even answered some questions as Zoie. I was entertained. But I was also sitting next to a very smelly person, so I was ready to get the hell out of there.

And that was it for our panels. I had something lined up for every hour so we'd always have back up plans, and that worked out really well. We got to see the things we most wanted to see (with the exception of Mythbusters and John Barrowman) and had a lot of fun. We met up with Amanda and Joel one more time to browse the vendors, then I was thrilled to meet a writerly friend Katy Sozaeva and ended up tiredly rambling a lot more than I intended to. After that, it was definitely time to go home.

I'm so glad we went though. We've already recruited two friends to come with us next year, bought our memberships, and booked our room at the Westin. Let the countdown to DragonCon 2014 commence!

Doctor Who Cosplay:








Claras! Or rather, Clara and Oswin. =) Stargate Cosplay:

She's a Stargate! Complete with an unstable vortex! How awesome is that??


Other Cosplay:
 
A Tale of Two Wookies:  





My husband actually thought I had run into the real Abby from NCIS Look closely...wait for it...wait for it...
The first person to guess who this is gets an ebook copy of
Heirs of War (after the release date)

Waving My Fangirl Flag High:
 Alex Zahara was so incredibly nice and down to earth. He heard me say I run a fan thing for Stargate (it's a small thing, but was bigger a few years ago), so he gave me a free autograph. How cool is that?
 The Lost Boys..er, the Boys from Lost Girl, er...Men of Lost Girl? Hotties, dammit!
 Mrs. Summers herself (aka Best Mom of a Supernatural ever) and Mickey (aka best transition to badass ever)

When Christopher Judge's agent said he wanted to take another shot just to be sure he got it, I didn't argue at all.

New Adult Authors: Kate Roth!

Kate Roth's debut novel, new adult romance The Low Notes, was released by Rebel Ink Press in May 2012 and landed her on RIP's Best of 2012 (the publisher's best-sellers list). Her second novel, new adult paranormal romance, Reckless Radiance, has been contracted for publication by RIP and will be released in September 2013. And Kate is hard at work on her third novel, Natural Harmony, another musically themed romance!
    She is inspired by music, film, art, and of course, other authors as well as the wealth of stories she has heard through her years as a professional hair stylist.
    She writes romance in the New Adult, Young Adult, Contemporary and Paranormal genres. Kate is a small business owner and lives in Indiana with her husband, Adam, and their dog, Sampson. 




 The Low Notes:
   When a chance meeting between high school teacher Kevin Reed and singer Nina Jordan ignites an instant spark, they must decide if it's more important to follow your heart or follow the rules.
    After caring for his dying father, Kevin Reed returns to his hometown of Wexley Falls, bereaved, unemployed and exhausted at the thought of starting a new life. After a failed blind date, Kevin meets young singer, Nina Jordan, who takes his breath away with the sound of her voice. The connection is instantaneous and mutual on their first date, but both are crestfallen when they discover, to their horror, Nina is Kevin’s student at the local high school.
    Deciphering between notions of love and lust, fate and coincidence, Kevin and Nina find themselves unable to turn their backs on what they can't deny in a once in a lifetime feeling. Told from both perspectives, The Low Notes explores a love that feels right even though it seems wrong. 


This is blog #5 and the blog code is: KATEMARA
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Blog Tour: Interview with Jaden Wilkes, Author of Like Falling

New Adult seems to be the name of the game lately on my blog (happily!), and I have another wonderful New Adult author to promote. Today Jaden Wilkes is stopping by to answer all of my questions about her books, her process, and her life. Her new book, Like Falling, is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and don't forget to add it on Goodreads. Be sure to add Jaden on Twitter, Goodreads, and follow her on Facebook for more updates.

Sarah Miller is known as a dreamer in her stifling Mennonite community, but she's hiding something from them all. A simple wish to avoid the strictly enforced life path expected of her...early marriage, babies, and work on the farm.

She wants more, so much more. Education, travel, love...sex...

A chance at university hundreds of miles away is too much to pass up, so she follows her best friend Naomi and decides to take her future into her own hands.

She had no idea this decision would change her in ways she never imagined, will the one person she falls in love with hold her back from everything she ever wanted?

***As with all my work, this novel is intended for those 18+. It is New Adult, but contains depictions of graphic sex, drug use and underage drinking.

****This is not a stand alone, it is a cliffhanger, the first of three books.

Author Bio: Jaden is the pen name of a girl living on the prettiest farm in BC. She shares her space with her husband, her children, and an Irish Wolfhound named Tiberius. She can now be found lurking in the dark corners of the internet looking for artful porn gifs, dirty poems and places to promo her work.


MV: You’ve worn a lot of different hats in your life. Archeologist, teacher, photographer, poet. What made you decide to turn writing into a career?


Jaden Wilkes: I suppose out of that list, I would only consider Archaeologist my career...teacher and photographer were only done for a couple of years each, and poet has always been a hobby, but a constant part of my life. Writer, well that remains to be seen if I end up calling it a career. I found myself back in a small town after our family made the decision to leave the city and buy a small farm. I have been obsessed with the homesteading movement for years and decided I needed to garden and can and raise our own food. I was at home at this point, and spending way too much time online on mommy boards. A close mommy board friend decided in February to write her novel, and I was inspired. I had always talked about writing a book, and started a few different ones, but never finished. I always imagined I would write a heavy handed post apocalyptic warning for all humankind...who knew my brain preferred to write erotic romance? I told myself I'd just be happy writing and publishing, and that would be it. As any writer knows, the moment you open the floodgates, the more characters and stories start showing up. I knew I couldn't stop at that one, and I had to keep going. So now, I suppose I'm hooked on being a writer! It's funny though, I still think of it as a hobby even thought it's consumed my life. I'm not sure when I'll allow myself to consider it a career.

MV: You published your first book, Reverse Cowgirl, in April of this year. A lot of authors say there is a bit of a learning curve with your first book. Did you find this to be the case? What did you do differently for your second book?

JW: It was a very steep learning curve, and I'm almost embarrassed by some of the literary faux pas I committed. I was so enthusiastic and sent my book off to a million and one blogs to review without even noticing if they reviewed my type of book. At first I was all about the "ZOMG buy my book" marketing, but that doesn't feel natural to me at all. With the second book I established more of marketing plan, and I approached blogs interested in New Adult spcifically. I also worked more on actually getting to know people on facebook and twitter instead of blasting them with my book all the time. At this point I always forget to mention my book, I've become the world's worst self promoter. I just figure if they like me on facebook, they'll find my books...and if they like my books, they'll find me on facebook. So yeah, buy my books or something.

MV: More and more authors are leaning towards indie publishing. What advice would you give them?

JW: It's much easier than you anticipate. There are a million and one services out there that want you to pay for formatting and converting and advertising, don't pay for that. Use your budget on polishing your work with editing and cover design. Also, find yourself a group of writers in a similar spot as you. There will be times you feel like throwing in the towel, or thing your work is pure crap, you need a safe place to vent or ask for opinions. Honest opinions. Not just your mom telling you that you're a superstar.

And ultimately, don't be afraid to push the button and publish. It's not the end of the world if your book isn't the next best thing the world has ever seen. As they say, onwards and upwards, keep moving and improving and doing what you're passionate about.

MV: What inspired you to write Like Falling?
JW: Sarah did. I was sitting on my back deck thinking about my own Mennonite family, we had just been visiting, and how strange it was that there is this entire group of people living in our world, but not completely in it. I started to imagine what it would be like to grow up in the community without feeling connected to it, and Sarah popped into my head. Mennonites vary greatly in their commitment to the religion, and each region seems to have different ideas of how to live a proper and righteous lifestyle. I called up my best friend who is also Mennonite and we started talking about the story, and how it was for her to go from living with severely fundamental parents to becoming her own person in the world. I have to say though, Sarah is not like my friend at all, she was not based on anyone I know, she ended up having a very strong voice of her own.

MV: You are a wife, a mother, and you live on a farm, which must take up a lot of your time. How do you balance your writing career now?  What can you tell us about your writing process? (Do you have a set time to write each day, or do you write when inspiration strikes?)

JW: I have an insanely busy life, sometimes I don't know how I manage it all. We are just opening up a bed and breakfast in our guest house, so the last year has been crazy planning and learning about managing a small business. Of course, twin teen aged boys and a toddler thrown into the mix means I have very little time for myself, let alone my writing. What I have found is that I work on the business end of things in the morning, social media, marketing, cover ideas, etc. Inspiration strikes all day, so I work in Google Drive on my iPhone and write sentences or ideas that pop into my head. The actual writing happens at night after everyone is in bed. I generally write from 9 to midnight and seem to get a fair amount done.

MV: Are you more of a pantser or a plotter when it comes to your books?
JW: I a panster who has an overall idea of the main story arc when I go in. At times though, the characters take me in directions I never saw coming. There was a point part way though Like Falling when I stopped writing for three days because Sarah was making an idiotic decision. I tried to force the story in a certain way, but kept getting dragged back, so her being deliberately obtuse is still in the book. *dramatic sigh* :)

MV: What was the last book you read?
JW: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. Loved it! 

MV: What made you decide to write with a penname? How did you choose it?
JW: As my brain apparently likes writing dirty stuff, I decided to keep it separate from my real life business. I don't want people we encounter in the real world thinking of me any differently if they find out I write smut.
MV: Like Falling is the first of a trilogy. Any hints as to what is to come?
JW: Sarah's frustrating journey into herself will bring great satisfaction to those who wish to see her grow and blossom. Book one was about her being unleashed and feeling free for the first time in her life, books two and three will allow her to find the middle ground with all this new found freedom. That's all I can say. :D
MV: Do you have any other projects you are working on, or hope to be working on soon?

JW: I am working on a historical western romance where a BC ranching girl has to take on a role she's not sure she can handle. She meets a smoking hot cowboy from Texas with memories that haunt him. I am also working on a story about a really really dirty girl with a wild streak who secretly yearns to settle down and have the white picket fence in the suburbs. She doesn't quite know how to get there, until she meets the crazy hot punk of her dreams with secrets of his own.