Loni Townsend's Blog, page 26

Polar Day Release

Hey Everyone! It’s Thursday, so I have a break in my blog tour. I had some very nice offers to host me, but with everything going on and being sick on top of it, I just couldn’t get myself organized enough to reach out.

So instead, I bring you an exciting announcement. Today is release day for the latest by Julie Flanders, Polar Day!

The midnight sun bakes Fairbanks, Alaska as residents gather for the annual summer solstice baseball game. Amidst the revelry and raucous shouts of “Play ball,” a spark alights and a jogger bursts into flames. Detective Danny Fitzpatrick, still reeling from his near death at the hands of vampire Aleksei Nechayev, watches in horror as the man burns alive.

Someone is burning Fairbanks and its residents and leaving nothing but smoldering embers behind. As the city sweats under a record-breaking heatwave and unexplained fires claim more victims, Danny and his colleagues struggle to find an arsonist who can conjure fire out of thin air.

To Danny’s horror, the only one who may be able to help him stop the arsonist is his nemesis Nechayev. Will the vampire help in the hunt for a witch?

Buy on Amazon

Author Bio:

Julie Flanders is a librarian by day and a writer all the rest of the time. She is also a television show addict with a particular fondness for Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead and a slightly obsessive sports fan who cheers for the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Cincinnati Reds. Julie is an animal lover and animal rescue advocate who shares her home with her rescued dog and cat. She has written about the joys of pets for outlets such as Cat Fancy, Thrive in Life, and Best Friends Animal Society. Visit Julie at julieflanders.net.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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IWSG + This World Bites – An Interview!

Today is the first Wednesday of the month. That means, it’s time for Insecure Writer’s Support Group!

You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.

As you may or may not have seen, I’ve been running a blog tour for my new novella release, This World Bites. This in itself is enough to make me insecure. But that’s not my primary insecurity. I trust those who signed up for the tour, and it’s been fabulous so far.

But I can’t help think of all the stuff I’m not getting done. It’s overwhelming. Why haven’t I figured out everything in book 2 of the ninier series yet? Why don’t I have more written on Lust, a novella I have to finish by the fall for The Seven? Why, when I sit down at my computer, do I start to panic?

I’m not blocked, but gosh darn it, I’m not very productive either.

I think the problem stems from the illnesses that has plagued my family since the turn of the new year. We’ve gone a month with off-and-on fevers, hacking coughs, inhalers, runny noses, and sore throats. One person gets better as another person gets sick. Is it just too much to ask that we all be healthy at the same time?

This isn’t like the blog tour. I can’t rely on other people to get sleep and feel better for me. Everyone at the Town’s End is sick and cranky.

On a plus note, my son has laryngitis, so we’ve had respite from his usual ear-piercing scream. Yay?

Please wish me luck at weathering this sick time and getting back to being productive. And then, head on over to Holly Sinclair’s blog and check out my interview!

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This World Bites – Sea Monkey SAT

Happy Tuesday, Everyone! If you haven’t met Ava Quinn, you’re missing out. She’s quirky, funny, and she finds the most interesting topics to blog about. I am honored to be on her blog today answering questions about This World Bites.

Have you read the interview? Did you learn anything new today?

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This World Bites – A Review!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! This week kicks off on a tremendous positive note for This World Bites. Christine Rains posted a review, and her words make me squeal with joy.

If you didn’t know, reviews are everything for an author. A lot of readers base their selection on reviews. If a book doesn’t have any, or has very little, they’ll often pass it up as not worth their time. So if you really want to help an author out, take a moment to write up a review and post it, even if it’s not five stars.

Do you make purchasing decisions based on reviews? Do you review books you read? Did you watch the Super Bowl? Did your team win?

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This World Bites – Excerpt at Julie’s

After taking yesterday off, I’m back with renewed energy! Julie Flanders has an excerpt from This World Bites on her blog. Cera finds out exactly what it was that bit her guardian. Check it out!

Did you like the excerpt? Did you enter Julie’s Goodreads giveaway while you were on her blog?

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This World Bites – Keeping it Short + Geeky Excerpt!

Woohoo! We are halfway through week 2 in the This World Bites blog tour. Today, Liz Blocker has me on her blog talking about keeping it short when I’m used to writing long.

And today, I have a delightful entry from an author I respect and enjoy, Christine Rains! She’s got her blog tour going for Loose Corset. I hope all of you have your fans, because this book is HOT!

LOOSE CORSET EXCERPT

By Christine Rains

Geek girl problem #31: Your flat-chested best friend is a cosplayer who tries to fit you into her costumes when you’re built like Rose Tyler from Doctor Who.

After blotting my chest with a cool paper towel, I realized I couldn’t do the corset back up myself. And I’d left my cell back in the room.

Think clearly. Be rational. What would the Doctor do?

He wouldn’t be wearing this ridiculous contraption to begin with.

The hallway where the bathrooms were was pretty dark. Maybe I could wave Emily over. If Emily could turn her attention away from the guys.

Taking one more deep breath, I stepped into the hall and peered over at their table. I bit at my lower lip. Emily’s back was to me, but Sydney might be able to see me. I waved, holding onto the corset with one hand. When no one noticed, I wondered if I should shout.

Wait. There was an empty chair. His chair.

“Did you need a hand?” Dean’s breath was warm against my bare shoulder.

I turned slowly. My arm brushed him as he stood so close. With my heart pounding, I couldn’t find my voice. God, he was glorious. And when he smiled, an impish glint shone in those sexy hazel eyes.

Two cold showers tonight. No, three.

Wetting my lips, I forced myself to say something, anything that would be less embarrassing than just standing there drooling. “Come to kill me in a dark alley, Sir Thorton? Catch me unaware and undo the resistance in one silent motion?”

Dean’s grin widened. “Who said my plan was ever to kill you? You always assume, but you know so…

—–

Geek girl Morgan Reid has been to many conventions, but none that had her wishing it would never end.

Dressed as their characters from the online game Steampunk Quest, Morgan and her best friend meet the other players for the first time in real life. Morgan’s attraction to the gorgeous Dean Bradley is immediate, making it difficult to breathe in her tight corset. Even after a few dice shattering orgasms, she doesn’t believe this can be anything more than a con fling. But Dean is making her feel things she’s only read about in books. Can Morgan let go of her cool-headed logic and allow herself to fall completely for the perfect geek guy?

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Ellora’s Cave | Goodreads

—–

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She’s married to her best friend and fellow geek living in south-central Indiana. They have one son who is too smart for his parents’ own good and loves to pretend he’s Batman. Christine has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she’s not reading or writing, she’s going on adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She’s a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. (South Central Indiana Fiction Interface). She has several short stories and novellas published. The Dice & Debauchery series is her first contemporary erotic romance.

Please visit her website and blog.

You can also find Christine on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

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This World Bites – Excerpt

For today’s stop on the This World Bites blog tour, I’m at Aldrea Alien’s with an excerpt. Cera’s just met the first of the new world’s locals, and my cannibalistic pygmy gives his input on the situation.

Have you hopped over to Aldreas? What did you think of the excerpt?

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This World Bites – Passive Zombies

We’re into the second week of the This World Bites blog tour! Today, I’m at C.M. Keller’s. She once shared a tip about finding passive voice using zombies, and my mind took it to extremes at an inappropriate time.

Has your mind ever run away with zombies?

If you missed me last week, you can still check out my top 10 zombie influences at Alex’s, guess the the lie at Melissa’s, read about changing my ending at Sarah’s, and (hopefully) laugh at my top 10 romantic moments at Elizabeth’s.

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This World Bites – Awkward Romance

Cera hasn’t had it easy in love. So for today’s stop on the This World Bites blog tour, I’m at Elizabeth Seckman’s, talking about my top 10 awkward romantic moments.

What awkward romantic moments have you had? Any you feel like sharing?

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This World Bites – Silhouettes

I discovered a funny thing. Nobody signed up for any of the Thursdays on my blog tour! Not this week, next week, or the week after! So I am hosting myself. (If you feel so inclined to pick up one of the Thursdays, let me know.)

If you’ve been following me for a while, you might know the following:

I am a DIYer
I like to draw
I make my own covers

I know that last one tends to set off alarm bells with people, since it’s one of the services you should hire out to a professional.

But I don’t want to discuss my front covers today. As I worked on This World Bites, I realized the short blurb left a lot of space on the back. I wasn’t sure what to do with it. After tossing around ideas with my friend, Dani (she’s the model you see on the front cover), I settled on drawing silhouettes of Cera and her gang.

Not only did it work well, but when I inverted the colors and plugged my image and text into Tagul (idea passed along by JeriWB), it made an awesome word cloud.

Do you ever draw your characters? What do you like to see on back covers?

If you haven’t already checked out my other tour stops, swing by Alex’s to see my top 10 zombie influences, Melissa’s to guess when I’m lying (you could win a free e-copy of This World Bites), and Sarah’s to see how I had to kill my darlings.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy the tour!

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