Michael C. Bailey's Blog, page 81

Weekly Update – November 15, 2016

Another quiet week, but I’m back to a regular writing schedule this weekend. Woo!

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins:  Audiobook recording in progress.

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: First draft in progress.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: The only movement here is that I think I have a decent subtitle. Unless something better strikes me, book eight will be known henceforth as Crawling from the Wreckage.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: Rough plotting in progress

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

Saturday, November 26: Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA will host local authors for readings and book signings to coincide with Small Business Saturday 2016.
Saturday, December 10: The OtherWhere Market at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. I will be there, sharing space with my wife. This will be Storied Threads‘ last show for the foreseeable future, so come visit and grab some great holiday gifts from us.
Friday, January 13 – Monday, January 16: Arisia 2017 in Boston, MA.

MISC.

After chatting with a friend last week about murder mysteries, I remembered a spec script I wrote several years ago for a WWII-era murder mystery show (A Star-Spangled Murder) and took it out to see if it was still any good. It was, which was a pleasant surprise. If anyone happens to be in the market for a short, three-act show with interactive elements for a small cast, contact me.

Final thought for the week, inspired by posts I’ve seen on other writers’ various social media outlets: it doesn’t matter how many Facebook followers you have, it doesn’t matter how many Twitter followers you have, it doesn’t matter how many newsletters you send out each week, it doesn’t matter how many books you crank out, it doesn’t matter how many likes or shares or retweets you get. Success isn’t all about raw numbers. Stop worrying about quantity and focus on quality.

A Writer’s Anti-Scam Checklist

I’m writing this as an indirect response to a Facebook scammer who made an appearance on one of the writers’ pages I follow. She (if she was indeed a she) asked people to PM her if they were interested in an easy writing job that promised big money in return.

I was instantly skeptical and smelled a scam in the making. My instinct was confirmed to my satisfaction when I visited the poster’s FB page and found it curiously empty. I posted a warning to fellow page members. This prompted a brief exchange between the OP and me, and soon thereafter the OP was banned from the page as a scammer — after at least two people took the bait, unfortunately.

Scammers like this prey on aspiring and novice writers and depend on their naivete and inexperience to score some free labor and maybe a quick buck or two before vanishing into the Internet aether. Fortunately, having encountered quite a few of them, they’ve shown themselves to be fairly obvious if you know what to look for, so as a service to my less experienced fellow writers out there, here are some key warning signs that someone might be a con artist.

1: They ask the mark for money.

Neil Gaiman has a simple rule when it comes to writing professionally: money flows toward the writer.  Someone offering a writing job should never ask you to cough up any kind of fee or to cover costs associated with the publication of the end product (your writing). If any part of a writing gig involves you paying them for anything and getting reimbursed later, it’s a scam.

Similarly, a legit publisher shouldn’t ask an author to cover the cost of anything, from editing and cover art to distribution costs and comp copies to — and I’ve seen this before, no kidding — office supplies allegedly used in the course of working with the writer. All those expenses are supposed to be recouped from the sale of the writer’s work, not from any up-front charges to the author.

2: They ask for personal information.

If someone posing as an employer says they need a Social Security number as part of an application process or a bank account number so they can pay you via direct deposit, cease all communications immediately. Give them nothing and, if it’s a conversation over social media, report them.

3: They are stingy with details.

The FB post I referred to in the opening read something like this: “Want to work from home, control your own schedule, and earn big money writing? Contact me privately!” When I asked for specifics about the job, the poster got rather pissy (more on that later) and refused to say anything about the jobs they were offering — not the nature of the job, what kind of pay they were offering, not the name of the company — nothing. Even when asked directly she refused to say anything. Well, almost…

4: They behave unprofessionally

When I asked for more information, the OP became immediately defensive. I was told to back off, berated for expressing my doubts about her legitimacy, and shamed for not letting the adults on the page “make their own decisions.” The OP even threw an implied threat at me that she would wield “the power of my pen” (actual quote) against me if I gave her any more grief.

Despite what our recent presidential election might lead some to believe, responding to simple questions with belligerence is not mature or professional; it’s a warning sign that this person is offering nothing and knows it and didn’t expect resistance, so now he’s doing what teenagers trying to buy cigarettes at a convenience store do when asked for ID: they feign indignity to try and scare and intimidate the cashier into giving them what they want.

5: They have no distinct identity.

I checked out the OP’s Facebook profile and it immediately smacked of a fake account. There was no personal info, the profile pic was a stock photo (“professional woman with laptop”), she had all of 15 friends from several highly disparate geographical locations, and the page was only two weeks old, indicating that it had been set up very recently. Scammers regularly set up fake profiles for the express purpose of pulling a hit-and-run scheme, so if you’re suspicious about someone, look for telltale signs that a profile page might be bogus.

Added FYI: if someone’s profile photo looks a little too slick and professional, try using Google’s image search feature. Just right-click over the photo and choose “Search Google for image.” If a stock photo comes up, you know you’re being duped.

6: The company has no online fingerprint.

Someone might claim to represent a company, but far more often than not this is a Vandelay Industries type of thing. Run a Google search and see if the alleged business has full website rather than just a Facebook page or a Twitter account, which are much easier to set up for a quick con. If it doesn’t have a full-fledged website or any kind of serious online presence, be suspicious.

7: It has an online presence, but not the good kind.

I regularly advise neophyte writers looking for job opportunities, agents, or publishers to Google their prospects with the terms “writer beware” or “water cooler” attached, which will bring them to the Writer Beware and Absolute Write websites, which are great resources for ferreting out scammers and less-than-reputable businesses. Scammers either don’t realize writers talk to one another, or they hope that their current target is too naive to think of conducting a due diligence check.

Weekly Update – November 8, 2016

Kind of a quiet week this week.

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins:  Audiobook recording in progress — and is in fact close to done! My narrator had a sudden attack of the ick just as she was getting ready to finish off her recording session and had to take some time to rest and recover her voice. After Jen is done I have to listen to her stuff, take notes on anything I’d like redone, send the notes to her, and give her time to re-record sections, so there is still a lot of process ahead, but we seem to be on-track for releasing this in time for the holidays.

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Got some good work in on The Black End War over the past week. I had to put it away for a while to give myself time to lay out the second half of the story, but I have a solid game plan and I’m eager to get the ideas down on metaphorical paper.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: On the back burner for a while so I can focus on book seven. Still toying with subtitles but nothing’s jumping out at me.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Because I’m a bit of a workaholic, I’ve been working on some rough plotting for book nine, which will feature Dr. Enigma and the return of a couple of old enemies. I’m also planning to transplant a few subplots I’d originally set up for book eight into this story. The subplots in question did not really have time to develop in book eight so I’ll be using them here.

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – book three: Yep, I’m also doing some rough plotting on the next S&L book, which is currently going under the working title of Blades of Glory. Once I have first drafts of AF seven and eight out of the way I plan to get to work on this next.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

Saturday, November 26: Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA will host local authors for readings and book signings to coincide with Small Business Saturday 2016.
Saturday, December 10: The OtherWhere Market at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. I will be there, sharing space with my wife. This will be Storied Threads‘ last show for the foreseeable future, so come visit and grab some great holiday gifts from us.
Friday, January 13 – Monday, January 16: Arisia 2017 in Boston, MA.

MISC.

Nothing to see here. Move along.

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Weekly Update – November 1, 2016

Happy NaNoWriMo!

National Novel Writing Month is underway as of today, and if you’re participating, best of luck to you and I hope you enjoy the experience.

A lot of you will do this and never do anything with the finished product, which is okay. A lot of people do it for fun rather than as a first step toward becoming a published author, but if you’re hoping to parlay your work into success through traditional, small press, or indie publishing, I’d recommend you check out this piece I wrote last year about the considerable follow-up work you have ahead of you.

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War and Action Figures – Issue Eight: The weekend was a loss due to the last weekend of the Connecticut Renaissance Faire (I was working for my wife) but I got a little work in Friday on The Black End War.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins:  Audiobook recording in progress

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

Saturday, November 26: Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA will host local authors for readings and book signings to coincide with Small Business Saturday 2016.
Saturday, December 10: The OtherWhere Market at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. I will be there, sharing space with my wife. This will be Storied Threads‘ last show for the foreseeable future, so come visit and grab some great holiday gifts from us.
Friday, January 13 – Monday, January 16: Arisia 2017 in Boston, MA.

MISC.

I hope everyone enjoyed my Halloween short Reverie Radio. It’s gone for now but I suspect it’ll be back in some form at some point.

Happy Halloween!

The best day of the year is here at last! Hope you’re all doing something fun tonight.

If you need a little something spooky to get your Halloween off to a creepy start, here’s a short I’ve been working on for a couple of weeks just for this occasion. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it’ll only be up through Halloween…and then, it’ll vanish. Whhooooooo…

(PS: This hasn’t been through an editor so my apologies for any stray typos.)

REVERIE RADIO

I found the station soon after I left my sister’s place in Virginia.

Every year we tossed a coin to determine who had to travel to whom for Thanksgiving and I’d lost for the fourth year in a row. I left after lunch on Friday, figuring everyone would be crowding the malls rather than the roads and I’d have a clear, easy drive back to Connecticut. I was cruising along a stretch of secondary highway surrounded by greenery and flanked by low faux stonework walls where steel guardrails should have been, trying to find a radio station to keep me company during the first leg of what would be a long journey. All I could find was talk radio and country music but that was almost irrelevant; the stations would fade out soon after I landed on them, dissolving into a sharp hiss of static within minutes of finding the signal. I kept pressing the scan button, looking for something with a little bite to it — a classic rock station, preferably, something that treated bands like Van Halen and AC/DC as fresh new finds and played their songs into the ground. It wasn’t the perfect substitute for a hot cup of coffee, but at least the radio wouldn’t force me to stop every few hours to hit the restroom.

The digital display cycled off the high end of the FM range and back to the low end over and over and over until it stopped, impossibly, in the rollover point between 107.9 and 87.7 FM. The numbers flickered and stuttered but the sound that drifted from my speakers was clean and pure and crystal clear.

I’d never heard the song before, I was certain of that, yet the tune was somehow familiar, and even though there were no lyrics, I found myself mumbling along with the music the way you do when you don’t quite know what the singer is saying. It was as if the vocals were there, buried somewhere within the melody, and had wormed their way into my subconscious.

As I listened and mumble-sang along, a memory that had long ago been consigned to the distant recesses of my mind resurfaced. It was a date with a fellow college freshman that began with dinner and drinks and ended with us in bed. It was the first time for both of us. It was clumsy and embarrassing and anti-climactic, but that only encouraged us to try again. And again. And again. We wound up spending the entire weekend in my room. It wouldn’t be the only time we’d do that. When we parted ways at the end of the school year, we did so amicably. What we’d had was fun but we both knew we wanted something more, something we couldn’t give each other. We stayed friends throughout college and for a little while afterward and then, as often happens, we drifted off onto our own paths. It’s been maybe twenty years since we last spoke.

The tune was earworm-worthy, as catchy as anything the Beatles ever produced, but I promptly forgot everything about it as soon as the next song began. It too felt familiar on such a profound level, like something I’ve heard a million times, and again, it conjured up a long-forgotten moment from my past. It was a day from my childhood, the last day of what had otherwise been an unremarkable summer at camp. The giant end-of-summer bonfire had dwindled to embers, every last s’more had been consumed, and the counselors had ordered us back to our cabins so they could go partake of a more private and adult celebration of their own. As I trudged back to my cabin with the only real friend I’d made that summer, I stole a kiss. It was a sudden, brazen move that surprised us both, but it wasn’t unwelcome. We smiled and fidgeted awkwardly, and for a moment I considered returning for a second kiss but decided against it. We exchanged awkward goodnights, went to bed, and that was that. We saw each other the next morning when our families picked us up to take us home, but we didn’t have time to talk or even say a proper goodbye. I passed the car ride daydreaming of what might become of this tiny seed of young love after school resumed in a couple of weeks, but that dream came to a cruel end when my parents informed me we were moving to another state at the end of the month. I spent the rest of the day crying into my pillow.

As the song settled into an extended outro, the feelings of helplessness and betrayal that forever tainted that truly magical moment came roaring back, every bit as raw as they’d been that day long ago. I had to pull over so I could purge the bittersweet anguish without worrying about veering off the road.

After composing myself, I got back on the highway and a new song came on. By the end of the first verse I was bathed in cold sweat, my hands had a death grip on the wheel, and I was pushing thirty miles over the speed limit. Back in middle school I endured two and a half months as the target of a school bully, Chris Mintz. Chris decided to pick on me for reasons I never learned and made it a daily ritual to “accidentally” bump into me whenever we passed in a stairwell. Even when I took alternate routes to a class, Chris somehow managed to find me. Chris would body-check me into a wall and warn me to be more careful because the next time I might go tumbling down the stairs and break my neck. I stopped telling the teachers when it became clear they had no real interest in putting an end to it. On the rare occasion an adult looked into the matter, Chris would always feign innocence, and because they didn’t actually see what happened, the teachers would shrug say there was nothing they could do. The torment ended when Chris simply didn’t show back up to school after Thanksgiving break. The family moved out of town, according to a friend of a friend of Chris’s, but that knowledge didn’t dispel my fear. Every time I went up or down a stairway in that school, I took it at a run and climbed the rails hand-over-hand just in case Chris popped up to give me a body-check for old time’s sake.

The next song brought back memories of my first dog, Lester, a goofy basset hound that galumphed around the house and drooled constantly and bayed at the slightest provocation. My parents thought Lester was an idiot, but I loved that dog to death. The song after that took me back to my high school prom and my disastrous first encounter with alcohol, courtesy of a bottle of vodka my date stole from home. After that I revisited the funeral for one of my best friends in high school, who was struck by a car and killed while bicycling home from work.

The songs flowed one into the next without pause, each one evoking with stunning power and clarity some moment from my life. My first relationship. My first break-up. My first real paycheck, earned working a register at the supermarket and immediately spent on tickets to my first real concert. My father’s fatal heart attack. My wedding. My divorce. The time I stole a CD from Walmart on a dare, resulting in a burly loss prevention officer putting the fear of God into me for a solid hour before letting me off with a warning to never show my face in there again. The night I discovered the unique bliss of oral sex performed well. A pointless fight at a party that ended with a black eye and several friends refusing to speak to me for weeks. Winning two thousand dollars on a lottery ticket purchased on a whim. Taking my cat Roscoe, the best pet I ever had, to the vet to be euthanized after sixteen years of love and companionship. Beating out Ross Devens, the office asshole, for a big promotion that came with a huge salary increase.

I stopped only once, long enough to gas up the car at a highway rest stop in New Jersey, and even then I kept the radio on. I had to know what was coming next, which episode from the story of my life would be replayed for me, regardless of whether it brought joy or misery.

I passed through Connecticut three, four hours ago. I hit the Massachusetts border and kept driving. I hit the Vermont border and kept driving. I couldn’t stop listening. I didn’t want to.

I have no idea exactly where I am now. I see mountains in the distance, looming over me as shadowy titans in the darkness. A galaxy of dazzlingly brilliant stars populates the sky. The gas gauge creeps toward empty. The radio plays on.

As night creeps toward morning and the first hint of sun tints the horizon blood red, the music at last stops and a voice I can’t pin down as male or female comes over my speakers. The announcer thanks me for listening — thanks me by name — and dedicates one last song to me.

That song is every high and low I’ve ever experienced. It’s every triumph, every tragedy, every wrong committed by me or against me, all my discoveries and all my losses. It’s every last moment of happiness, sadness, contentment, anger, comfort, hope, fear, pleasure, and pain. It’s everything.

The final note dissolves into a soporific cloud of warm static.

I spot on the side of the road a tree, thick and towering, standing there like a hitchhiker, beckoning to me for a ride. My hands slip off the wheel. My car pulls to right as if it knows where it’s going. It lurches as it jumps the shoulder. I press down on the accelerator. The engine roars as I tear across the grass. My headlights show me right where I’m going.

The tree looks solid enough.

The static fades to silence.

Copyright © 2016 Michael Bailey

Weekly Update – October 25, 2016

Halloween, the best holiday of the year, is next Monday! I mention this because I’m going to be posting something special that day, so check back then — or click on that handy button on the right to follow this blog and get the post delivered right to your e-mail inbox.

Next I’d like to remind everyone that the Young Adult Book Heist has one more week left to run, so if you haven’t already entered, go take care of that now! Head over to the Facebook page to learn how you could win a Kindle, free print and e-books — including copies of Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins — swag, and more, or go to the sign-up page now to enter.

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War and Action Figures – Issue Eight: After focusing on book eight for so long, I jumped back to book seven this weekend. Book seven continues to be a challenge because I’m pushing out of my comfort zones a lot on this one so it was nice to make even a little bit of progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins:  Audiobook recording in progress

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

Saturday, November 26: Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA will host local authors for readings and book signings to coincide with Small Business Saturday 2016.
Saturday, December 10: The OtherWhere Market at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. I will be there, sharing space with my wife. This will be Storied Threads‘ last show for the foreseeable future, so come visit and grab some great holiday gifts from us.
Friday, January 13 – Monday, January 16: Arisia 2017 in Boston, MA.

MISC.

Speaking of the Annie’s Book Stop event, here’s a link to an interview I did to promote the day if you’d like to go check it out.

“Make Good Art” – Neil Gaiman

Today I’d planned to post something about the shows I’ve done over the past year. I had insightful analysis, a lot of statistics, some advice for other writers doing shows…I spent an hour or so writing it up and was quite pleased with how it came out, even if the subject matter was a little dry and definitely for a select audience.

I just trashed it and I’m posting this instead.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year — and if you have been, I kind of envy you — you know there’s an election going on and it’s ugly at every level, from the discourse between the candidates themselves down to voters who are can’t articulate clearly and in a civil manner why they support their chosen candidate. It’s depressing.

So instead of boring people with writerly business crap, I’m going to use this space to encourage everyone to ignore the political crap, just for a little while, and go make some art. I don’t care if it’s a poem or a doodle or you singing that annoying-as-hell 1-877-Kars-4-Kids jingle off-key in a YouTube video. We’re absolutely flooded with negativity and nastiness and ugliness right now, so it’s time to make something beautiful to counter all the crap.

When you make your thing, whatever thing that is, post it here in the comments section. If you already have something handy, be it something you wrote or drew or painted or sang or played or filmed or sewed or knitted or whatever, throw it on up here.

Weekly Update – October 18, 2016

The New Bedford Book Festival is done, and all in all it was a good event — well-organized and well-publicized, and there was decent traffic. If anything kept people away it was the weather — not because it was bad; just the opposite. Both days were sunny and cool, so folks might have been more inclined toward outdoor activities. Nevertheless, I did well enough there I’ve already penciled in the spring show.

I also talked to a lot of cool people, including an aspiring author or two who I hope keep going on their projects so perhaps one day I’ll see them on the other side of the table at a future show.

I’d also like to give a quick shout-out to fellow writers and Cape Codders K.R. Conway (Cruel Summer, the Undertow series) and Ray Bartlett (Sensets of Tulum), who I chatted with at the show. Hope to see you guys again at a future event!

Before I move on, I’d like to remind everyone that the Young Adult Book Heist is still going on and will be throughout October. Head over to the Facebook page to learn how you could win a Kindle, free print and e-books — including copies of Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins — swag, and more, or go to the sign-up page now to enter.

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War and Action Figures – Issue Eight: Still in progress and I have a writing weekend coming up, so let’s see how much more I can get done.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins:  Audiobook recording in progress

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

Saturday, November 26: Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA will host local authors for readings and book signings to coincide with Small Business Saturday 2016.
Saturday, December 10: The OtherWhere Market at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. I will be there, sharing space with my wife. This will be Storied Threads‘ last show for the foreseeable future, so come visit and grab some great holiday gifts from us.
Friday, January 13 – Monday, January 16: Arisia 2017 in Boston, MA.

MISC.

The NBBF got me thinking about the ups and downs of doing any kind of show at which authors sell their wares, in part because it reminded me how bad some people are at it.

I mean that as a gentle criticism, speaking as someone who is an introvert at heart. I find interacting with complete strangers extremely uncomfortable and in daily life I try to avoid it. I’ve managed to get over that psychological hump well enough that I can function at shows, but there other elements that go into succeeding at book festivals, conventions, etc., beyond being personable and having a solid elevator pitch.

For any fellow authors who do or are thinking of doing shows, here’s a quick hit list of tips for making the most of them.

Show up. I’m always amazed at how often someone never shows up or, more often, does the first day of a two-day event and, if it’s a bad sales day, never comes back. I understand that it’s frustrating to stand there for hours and never move a single book — I’ve been there — but you can’t make sales if you’re not there.
On a similar note: stay the whole day. I see people packing up and leaving with a half-hour or an hour (or more) even when it’s a good sales day. As long as customers are there, the potential for sales is there. You can’t make sales if you’re not there.
Stay at your table as much as possible. It’s always good to see what else is out there and chat up other authors (networking!), but if you’re constantly leaving your table to do something other than represent your work, you’re not there when someone wants to buy something.
Look like you’re happy to be there, even if you’re not. No matter how bored or frustrated you are, suck it up and put on your game face. If you look like you don’t want to be approached, no one will approach you.
Conversely, temper your enthusiasm. I was at a show this year and got stuck next to an author who would literally shout at passing attendees, “YOU! You like books! I have books! Come look at my books! Take one home with you!” It drove away more people than it brought in — and often before they even got near my table. Try and engaging people as a basic human being before you start trying to separate them from their cash.
Don’t get distracted by your phone. When you’re sitting there mucking about on your phone, you look like you don’t want to be bothered (see Rule #3).

I could go on (and on and on), but as I write this it’s Sunday night, I’m tired, and there’s a bottle of Macallan calling out to me. Hold on, single malt bliss, I’ll be right there!

Weekly Update – October 11, 2016

The final countdown to the New Bedford Book Festival has begun! I’ll be there both days and I’ll have copies of all of my books available for sale, so stop on by, say hello, and check out what other local indie authors have available.

Also, remember that the Young Adult Book Heist is in full swing through October. Head over to the Facebook page to learn how you could win a Kindle, free print and e-books — including copies of Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins — swag, and more, or go to the sign-up page now to enter.

WRITING PROJECTS

Action Figures – Issue Six: Power Play: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Live Free or Die: In the editing process.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War and Action Figures – Issue Eight: I got a lot done on books seven and eight during my week off from the Storied Threads studio.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins:  Audiobook recording in progress

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

Saturday & Sunday, October 15 & 16: The New Bedford Book Festival. Runs 11 AM to 4 PM both days.
Saturday, November 26: Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA will host local authors for readings and book signings to coincide with Small Business Saturday 2016.
Saturday, December 10: The OtherWhere Market at Mill No. 5 in Lowell. I will be there, sharing space with my wife. This will be Storied Threads‘ last show for the foreseeable future, so come visit and grab some great holiday gifts from us.
Friday, January 13 – Monday, January 16: Arisia 2017 in Boston, MA.

MISC.

 

 

Young Adult Book Heist!

Guest post by Michelle Lynn

Young Adult books come in all shapes and sizes. Some star werewolves or vampires. Some feature magic. Sometimes the world is new. Sometimes it’s a twist on everything you know. There is family. Friendship shows up in spades. Most of the time, you can be sure you’ll fall in love.

It’s a world of literature that so many miss out on because they think the name describes the reader’s age. In reality, YA books are for those who appreciate the wonders of youth. They strive for the optimism and the courage in the face of danger. Yes, teens read these stories in droves, but they aren’t the only ones who can learn from the perpetual hope these characters see. To see the world through the eyes of someone who wants to make it better is an astounding thing.

Nineteen young adult authors have banded together to show their little corners of the world, their hope and courage and optimism. It is shown through the actions of teenagers who are ever changing. They love with the same fierceness that they hate and forgive easily. They believe they can do anything. Who doesn’t want a piece of that?

When you enter our giveaway, you not only have a chance to win a Kindle Paperwhite, but so many more prizes from paperbacks to swag. Every entrant will also receive five FREE eBooks. You can sign up nineteen different ways.

By entering, you are also helping each author donate books to The Lisa Libraries. It’s an organization that provides books to people in underserved communities who may not otherwise have them. They supply youth centers, women’s shelters, and so much more.

Like our Facebook page where you can learn more about us and where we’ll announce our winners throughout the giveaway!

Introducing our mixed bag of authors!

Michelle Lynn – Dystopian

Rebecca Jaycox – Fantasy

Michelle Bryan – Dystopian

Gina Azzi – Contemporary Romance

Melissa Craven – Paranormal

Kelly St. Clare – Fantasy

Susan Faw – Fantasy

G.K. DeRosa – Paranormal

T.D. Shields – Dystopian

Patrick Hodges – Contemporary

Amalie Jahn – Science Fiction

Claire Luana – Fantasy

K.J. McPike – Paranormal

Michael Bailey – YA superhero adventure

J.A. Culican – Fantasy

Elysabeth Eldering – Paranormal Mystery

Rita Goldner – Children’s

K.R. Conway – Paranormal

T.L. McDonald – Fantasy