S.J. Pajonas's Blog, page 155

Teaser Tuesday: Empty Apartment

Lee lives in a super swanky, high-rise apartment in one of the hottest, ritziest place in Seoul, Cheongdam-dong. He’s successful, he makes a lot of money, but he’s never home. He spends some money on nice clothes, but his apartment is empty. No photos on the walls. No nicknacks. No art. Just some plants he’s […]

REMOVED is FREE on Kobo for a Limited Time!

Good news! If you’ve been thinking about trying REMOVED, it’s currently FREE on Kobo until March 30th. My U.S. audience probably doesn’t know much about Kobo but it’s a big player in Canada, U.K., and many other places overseas. If you want to check them out, they have a free app for most tablet devices. […]

Teaser Tuesday: The Moment

Everyone has a past and Laura’s is more colorful than most. She’s tried to date and hasn’t had any luck with any of the men she’s met. There was one relationship that worked really well until he learned about the past she was hiding and dumped her. It’s hard to trust again after something like […]

REBOOT Cover Reveal

Here’s a book I’m really curious about! You know I love scifi, and REBOOT is cloning and mystery and wow. I read some of the reviews this morning, and it sounds like the kind of scifi that I really enjoy. The kind that makes you think. Really looking forward to this! • • • • […]

IF ONLY Release Day!

Super excited for A.J. Pine’s release day today! She’s another member of the New Adult Authors FB group I belong to, and we’ve all watched her journey to publication. It’s really cool to see a book make its way from idea to the shelves! • • • • • IF ONLY by A. J. Pine […]

Dealing With It

Lots of thoughts have been pouring into my head lately, and I’m having trouble dealing with them. They circle around and around. First comes self-doubt, which is to be expected in the weeks before I launch a book. It happened before REMOVED and RELEASED, and now it’s happening again before FACE TIME. I hear the […]

Let’s talk SUUUUPERPOWERS!! With S.A. Huchton

Have you guys all seen EVOLUTION: ANGEL, the first book in the new superheroes series from S.A. Huchton? I’ve promoted and reviewed her other series The Endure Series (MAVEN, NEMESIS, and PROGENY) which I loved, so maybe you remember her. She writes in the same sort of time-space that I do, New Adult Science Fiction Romance, so we’ve become colleagues This new series sounds really cool, and EVOLUTION: ANGEL is next up on my brand-new Paperwhite Kindle to read. Starla is on her book tour now, and I asked her to stop by today and tell me about her favorite superpowers. Let’s hear what she had to say!

• • • • •

Honestly, asking me what superpower I like the most is like asking whether I like chocolate-covered toffee or chocolate-covered caramels better. It sort of depends on my mood, but, c’mon, it’s still chocolate-covered sugar, so it’s all delicious!

Hmm. That metaphor got away from me a bit, but I think you know what I’m saying. No matter what superpower you get, it’s still a superpower. So… basically awesome. However, each superpower also comes with a superdrawback. Let’s make a little list and you can decide for yourself which blessing/curse combo you’d opt for.

1. Superstrength! It’s fairly standard as far as superheroes go. It makes moving furniture and parallel parking much easier, and really comes in handy when there’s a villain about that needs his face smashed in. But, what would it be like to have that power for real? For one, attempting anything that requires a light touch would be right out. No fine art and antique restoration for you. It would probably make cooking meals a pain too. I’d likely spend 90% of my time cleaning up the crushed cans and jars and eggshells from the kitchen floor because I’d just break stuff all the time. So while this one’s awesome in cases of rescuing building collapse victims and beating up thugs, it’s probably not very useful for everyday life.

2. Superspeed! Never be late for anything ever again! Gotta get your kids to school in 2 minutes? BOOM. Done. Need something from the store you forgot? It’s yours in seconds. Boss informs you there’s a big meeting in 30 seconds and you’ve had to use the bathroom for HOURS? So not a problem. However, while all of that is fine and good, that’s kind of like owning a supersonic car but still having to work around the rest of the world that’s traveling at 50 mph. You’d either develop the patience of a saint or a serious case of road rage. I’m already at my wits’ end trying to get my kids out of the house on any given day. If I had superspeed, I’d probably go bonkers.

3. Telepathy! You’d never have to wonder if someone was lying to you ever again. While parents have had this ability in regards to their kids for millennia, imagine having that power with anyone. You’d know when that car salesman can make a lower offer, and you’d know that your neighbor has no intention of ever returning your incredibly expensive leather-bound collector’s edition of The Lord of the Rings complete with hand-drawn maps and author’s notes. You’ll know exactly when people are up to no good. Then again, you’d also know exactly what people think of you, and personally, I have approximately ZERO desire to hear the real thoughts of hetero dudes I pass on the street or know when the chick next to me is wondering if anyone’s looking so she can fix her really uncomfortable wedgie. There’s something to be said for a certain amount of ignorance, and while telepathy might come in handy at times, it’s probably more hassle than it’s worth, especially if you have no way to turn it off.

5. Pyrokinesis! Here’s a superpower that flat out looks amazing. You’d be the hit of any party for sure. You’d probably never have to worry about getting attacked on the street, either, because with a single thought, you can turn your enemies to ash. Conversely, though, it might be hard to make friends when a hug or handshake can result in first degree burns. And, really, how useful is this one unless you’re fighting crime or waging war every day of your life? Could come in handy in the kitchen. Once you got that whole control thing down, you’d be a master of creme brulee.

6. Atmospheric Manipulation! As a kid, you could potentially have unlimited snow days if you have the power to control the weather. Conversely, as a parent, no more snow days EVAR. Parts of the world hit hard by drought could pay you bucketloads of money to provide relief to parched landscapes as you direct the rains from flood-drenched areas to the places that need the water desperately. Sounds awesome, but what if you get a little too road-ragey one day and your slip-up with your temper causes lightning to strike that minivan taking the kids to soccer practice? And what if getting a little too caught up in an amorous moment could level a small town with a tornado? You’d basically have to live your life with no extremes in emotion. Sounds kind of boring, but it’s either that or wipe out life as we know it forever.

7. Time Travel! Oh goodness. No. I see no good coming of messing with the space-time continuum. Even going back thirty seconds can change the course of the human race! You don’t know what could happen! Do not mess with this. Leave it to the Doctor who understands this “fixed point” business. I prefer the universe not unravel because someone got a hankering for a bottle of Orbitz (Google it) and wound up triggering a nuclear war by accident. I suppose if you went forward in time knowing you’d be going back and doing whatever and looking to see if you changed anything major, you might be able to get away with it, but that seems like a LOT of work just to get a drink of something that wasn’t really all that tasty in the 90s anyway.

I could probably keep going on and on here (I have written three whole books about people with superpowers, LOL), but I think you can see where this is headed. While any superpower is supercool on the surface, I think when it came down to it, I’d probably pass on having one for real. That whole “with great power comes great responsibility” thing would probably be more than I can handle, and the world would end up with a supervillain on its hands instead. So, really, you’re welcome for me not having a superpower. LOL

• • • • •

Ha! Me, too, Starla. Me too. Thanks for stopping by today! It was great having you.

U.S. Giveaway!

There’s a really awesome giveaway for this tour, so don’t forget to enter! (International giveaway is below this).

*All packs include ebook and print copies of Evolution: ANGEL. *U.S. Only.

Prize Pack #1

Movies: Green Lantern, Fantastic Four, X-Men First Class

Batman, Flash, and Superman Figures (because no one should have to watch movies alone!)

Prize pack #2

Avengers backpack

Avengers notebooks

Iron Man & Captain America figures

Spiderman pencils

Spiderman holographic sticker

Prize Pack #3

Wonder Woman journal, pens, and caped coffee mug

a Rafflecopter giveaway

International Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More About the Book

Candace Bristol has always been obsessed with comic books, but in a world where the nightly news often mirrors these inked stories, her dreams of becoming a real superhero could actually come true. After being rescued by members of the government’s AdvaNced Genetic EvoLution (ANGEL) Project four years ago, getting recruited for this elite team is all she’s wanted.

Now 18, she’s finally reached her goal after years of study and physical training, but little could have prepared her for life as a genetic experiment. As though coming to terms with her new ability to manipulate water isn’t tough enough, she never expected to be swept off her feet by one of her fellow recruits.

With genetic alteration, the threat of physical and mental instability hangs over every superhero like a shadow. When one of their own tumbles over the edge of madness, Candace will have to choose between protecting the world, and saving the one who holds her heart.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20412199-evolution

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-ANGEL-The-Series-ebook/dp/B00ITS86H4/

Amazon Paperback: http://amzn.com/1495980936

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/evolution-s-a-huchton/1118759956?ean=9781495980930

About the Author

A geek of all trades, Starla Huchton has been crafting stories in various genres since 2007. Her first novel, THE DREAMER’S THREAD was released as a full cast audiobook podcast, becoming a double-nominee and finalist for the 2010 Parsec Awards. After releasing short fiction of steampunk, noir fantasy, and other varieties, she released the first three books of the Sci-Fi Romance ENDURE series in 2013. All three books of the EVOLUTION series will be released in 2014, as well as a Steampunk Fantasy novel, MASTER OF MYTH (the Antigone’s Wrath series, book 1), which was the first place winner of the Crested Butte Writers’ contest, The Sandy, in 2012.

When not writing, Starla trains three Minions, a black lab, and a military husband whilst designing book covers for independent authors and publishers at designedbystarla.com.

Website: http://www.starlahuchton.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Starla-Huchton-Author-Page/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/riznphnx

BREAKING FENCES Cover Reveal

I have two posts today but the first one here is for Juliana Haygert’s BREAKING FENCES. This is a companion book to BREAKING THE REINS which I loved. I read it last year and was glued to my Kindle for a few days. So good. I’m looking forward to picking this one up too.

• • • • •

BREAKING FENCES (The Breaking Series, #2) by Juliana Haygert

Genre: NA contemporary romance

Word Count: ~80,000

Release date: June 2014

Cover: Okay Creations

All Beatriz “Bia” Fernandes wants is to prove herself—to her family and friends—though it’s hard to prove anything with an overbearing father and three famous polo-playing older brothers. After her acceptance into college results in a heated family argument, the Brazilian girl leaves everything behind to find her own American dream.

College life away from home is perfect until the people she believes to be her friends turn on her. With lies and rumors threatening to suffocate her, Bia turns to her only freedom. Riding.

But one thing gets in the way of her escape. Garrett Blackwell and his bad cowboy attitude. Working at the ranch is his obligation, bugging Bia is his newfound hobby. His thick skin and easy grin don’t hide what Bia already knows—this misunderstood and lonely cowboy fights his own demons. Brushing horses’ coats and mucking out stalls shouldn’t be this sexy, and it isn’t long before he becomes a part of her distraction.

However, escaping won’t solve her problems, and it’s up to Bia to break down the fences around her and prove her strength—not to her family and friends, but to herself … and for Garrett. Because standing on her own doesn’t have to mean standing alone.

Check out the Pinterest board: http://www.pinterest.com/julianahaygert/the-breaking-series/

Queue it on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20482754-breaking-fences

BREAKING THE REINS on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17730510-breaking-the-reins

About the Author

While Juliana Haygert dreams of being Wonder Woman, Buffy, or a blood elf shadow priest, she settles for the less exciting—but equally gratifying—life of a wife, mother, and author. Thousands of miles away from her former home in Brazil, she now resides in Connecticut and spends her days writing about kick-ass heroines and the heroes who drive them crazy.

Website: http://www.julianahaygert.com/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6609948.Juliana_Haygert

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Juliana_Haygert

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/juhaygert

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/julianahaygert/

Teaser Tuesday: Take A Picture

As you may have guessed from the blurb, FACE TIME is about two people who date over FaceTime, the Apple equivalent of Skype. In one of the many conversations Lee and Laura have, they each give tours of their apartments via FaceTime and what they see reveals a lot about their past and personalities. When it’s Lee’s turn to give the tour, he passes a large mirror in his bedroom and Laura gets the chance to look at him again. She hasn’t seen him in a week and this opportunity to soak him in is too good to miss. I remember writing the scene and thinking how hard it must be to date virtually. It’s moments like these that I love about this book.

This is the second of six teasers for FACE TIME! I’ll be sharing one each week till launch. Want to read the first chapters of FACE TIME before it’s available? Each Sunday evening, I’m publishing a chapter on Wattpad until the book publishes (6 or 7 chapters total) http://www.wattpad.com/story/11816594-face-time

Three Tips For Making An Effective Book Teaser

I feel it’s time to put my past job as a web designer and coder to good use here and give three brief tips on making effective teasers for your book. I’ve got news for all y’all, people surfing the internet have the attention spans of gnats. If you don’t capture them in the first millisecond, you’ve lost them. I’ve seen many user test cases where people couldn’t even find basic information that was right in front of them, so a book teaser image has to grab them right away. You’ll need to decide what images work best for your book, so I can’t give you many tips there. Perhaps you feel like a hot, muscular guy is your thing since you write romance or a kick-ass woman in leather because you write urban fantasy, or whatever. Your image will either appeal to a reader or not. But if you’ve grabbed them with the image, here’s how you can keep them long enough to digest your information.

Keep your text short and sweet! Please do not be that author that makes a 600 pixel wide image and 80% of that image is 10px type with 5 paragraphs of text. Here’s a tip: make your image, and then load it on your iPhone or other mobile device. If you can’t read it without zooming, don’t use it! 25% of the traffic on my website comes from mobile users. When you put your image on Twitter or Facebook, most people view that on their phone. Make it easy for them to glance at it and get it right away. I wouldn’t go over 100 words for your teaser. Anything more, make it an excerpt on your website.
Go big with contrast! And learn to love white space! Low contrast between text and the image it’s on (i.e. dark grey text on light grey or red on pink) means people can’t see your text especially if the image is small on a mobile device. Go with black and white or red on white. Etc. Be sure the text is readable or people will move on. And don’t crowd the image. Leave breathing room and keep it balanced with some white space (blank space) around your text or image. Believe it or not, a cramped image makes people feel claustrophobic. Not exactly the happy feeling you want to give people when looking at your image!
Make sure to include important details! I once saw a teaser image that had the name of the book but not the author’s name or website! WHAT? Why would you spend the time making an image and then have the reader have to hunt you down? I don’t care how famous you are, at the very least your name and/or your website URL should be on every teaser image. Fit it in there somewhere. If a reader loves your teaser and wants more, you want them to hit your website, sign up for your newsletter, etc. Don’t do everything right (right image, right amount of text, right contrast) and then leave them hanging. Now, some people will Google you, but the vast majority of users will not. Most don’t want to be bothered. Give them your URL, just in case. You don’t want to miss that opportunity!

Other than that, it’s up to you what else you want to add or how you design it. Release date. Series information. Landscape, portrait or square. Black and white. Vintage. There are so many choices! But if you make sure to do at least these top three things, you will hook in your reader and keep them long enough to find out more.

Do you have effective teasers you want to share? Link to them in the comments! Here’s are all of the teasers I have made for my books.