Kim Iverson Headlee's Blog: Book Musings from the Maze of Twisty Passages, page 27

Angusel settles a score in RAGING SEA Ch 7/Sc 5B #amwriting #Arthurverse

Graphic overlay (c)2015 by Kim Headlee. As a cadet at the US Air Force Academy, many decades ago when doolie (i.e., freshman) discipline was nowhere near as lenient as it is these days, I learned firsthand the meaning of self discipline. Because if I didn't discipline myself, someone else—usually an upperclass cadet—was going to do it for me, an experience to be avoided at all costs.

It was a necessary evil to be endured, however, because rigid discipline forges soldiers who are infinitely better equipped to handle the rigors of combat.

Doolie punishments, however, do not as a rule involve deliberate bloodshed.

The US military models much of its organization and policies upon the most famous professional armed force in history, the Roman army, but I for one was very glad that corporal punishment for "everyday" infractions didn't make the list.

Another fine ancient tradition among armies the world over involves what we cadets called hazing: the practice of bullying the newcomers to test their mettle. In combat, soldiers need to know they can rely upon each other, and hazing is a way of weeding out those individuals who aren't suited for the particular demands that define the military life.

At the Air Force Academy, the hazing officially ends upon the conclusion of "Hell Week," the period (no longer a week, alas) of the most intense hazing of doolies as a rite of passage to become recognized as bona fide members of the Cadet Wing.

In today's installment of Raging Sea, Angusel uses his punishment to effect his own rite of passage for recognition.

Previous excerpts of Raging Sea  Chapter 7: Sc 1 | Sc 2 | Sc 3 | Sc 4 | Sc 5a |
Raging Sea Chapter 7, Scene 5b©2015 by Kim HeadleeAll rights reserved.
The grin soured as he directed his attention toward the practice field, where the rest of First Ala had gathered.

He left Stonn in his stall and, clutching the fouled tunic in his white-knuckled fist, stalked off to join his unit.

The most frustrating thing about the pranks—the humiliation and stripes aside—was that Angusel had no clue who was responsible. He would have preferred to have confronted the man or men privately; brawling was punished with ten stripes and ten days’ confinement to barracks at half pay, with no guarantee that the pranks would stop.

After what had happened to Drustanus, Angusel didn’t care what anybody thought of his actions.

“You’re late again, Optio. And this time you have forgotten your horse.” Several of the other horse-warriors snickered. Centurion Cato silenced them with his glare, though a few continued smirking. Cato dismounted and removed the whip from his belt. “That has earned you ten stripes.” He began to close the gap.

“As you will, sir.” Angusel flung the tunic at the centurion’s feet, halting the man’s advance.

“What in hell is this piece of filth?”

“When you report my punishment, you can also report that the nephew of Centurion Marcus slipped and fell in my horse’s stall because of a muck bucket that had been rigged to fall on me.”

“What!” Cato rounded on the others. The smirking men adopted serious demeanors, but not fast enough. By name he called them out of formation. They dismounted and hastened to line up before the fuming centurion. “This foolishness ends now. Ten stripes for each of you.” Cato held up a gloved fist, forestalling any protest. “I don’t give a bloody damn if you are responsible or not.” He leveled his glare on the rest of the unit. “If I hear of one more incident like this, the entire ala will get the lash. Understood?”

After a resounding chorus of, “Yes, sir!” Cato ordered the chosen men to strip to the waist and kneel. Angusel prepared to join them.

“Optio, what are you doing? This is their punishment, not yours.”

“I was late, and not mounted. I deserve ten lashes too, sir, just as you ordered.” In spite of the cost, Angusel needed the favoritism far less than he needed those damned pranks. He’d grab the whip and flay himself, if the centurion wasn’t going to wield it on him.

“Very well, then. Kneel,” said his commander, though Angusel thought he heard a note of respect as he obeyed the order.

In the moments before he shut his eyes to gird himself for the stinging blows, he saw the same sentiment glimmering on the other men’s faces.

*** The end of Chapter 7 ***

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Spotlight on The White Gull by Laura Strickland #historical romance #newrelease

The White Gull
Author: Laura StricklandPublisher: The Wild Rose PressGenre: Historical RomanceRating: Sensual


When the trawler White Gull was lost in a storm off the coast of Lobster Cove, Lisbeth O'Shea's husband, Declan, was lost along with it. At least that’s what Lisbeth believes until, a year later, she hears Declan’s voice in the night and sees him haunting the shore near their tiny cottage. Then she wonders… Has grief affected her mind? Or is someone playing a cruel trick?
Town blacksmith Rab Sinclair has loved Lisbeth ever since he arrived in Lobster Cove. Lisbeth has never had eyes for anyone other than the charming, feckless Declan O’Shea, but Rab knows Declan was not faithful to Lisbeth. How can he convince the grieving widow she’s pinned her heart on the wrong man? And when dangerous secrets come to light, how can Rab protect the woman who means more to him than his own life?

Lightning flashed once more, flooding her eyes with brightness. In the doorway of the bedroom stood a figure wearing dripping oilskins with only the sou’wester missing from his bare head.
Declan.
In the sudden darkness that followed the lightning she moaned his name and then shouted it.
“Declan? Declan, Declan!”
She heard movement, the scrape of a boot on the floorboards, the flap of his coat as he turned and left the doorway.
With a sob, she followed. Hands stretched before her like a blind woman, she felt for him, stubbed her bare toe on the leg of the bedstead and faltered. She blundered from the room in his wake.
The cottage boasted but three rooms: this bedroom they had shared, another smaller bedroom she’d dreamed of someday using as a nursery for her children and the main room which combined parlor and kitchen. The darkness of the main room enfolded Lisbeth like black velvet. She had but a glimpse of paler darkness as the front door opened and closed again.
“Declan!”
She followed after him, her heart torn between gladness and pain. He was here! But if he truly were here, returned by some miracle from the same sea that had stolen him, why would he go from her?
She reached the door, tore it open and stared out into the storm. Waves and salt spray poured over the stones in front of the cottage. Static filled the air and lightning arced overhead, the thunder competing for dominance with the crash of the rain.
Wearing only her nightgown, Lisbeth was immediately soaked to the skin. The wind tore at her hair and she strained to catch sight of the figure she had glimpsed in the doorway.
From the cottage, as well she knew, a path led either north to a narrow strip of shingle or south towards Lobster Cove. Which way might he have gone? She could see nothing but storm, the raging elements that matched the furor now in her heart. Would he head down to the sea? Most this coast consisted of sheer rock but the O’Sheas possessed that stony beach where they had hauled up their boats and readied their lobster traps. 
The boats were all gone; the White Gull lay in pieces. Why would Declan go there? Having come home to her, why would he leave at all?
She walked barefoot to a break in the rocks where the sea poured in like a gray beast, alive and wild. No one but a madman would be down on that strip of shingle now.
She turned her head toward the track but saw nothing. The thought came to her: maybe I imagined it. But she had heard the scrape of his boots on the floor. She had seen his hair ruffled by the force of the storm.
A dream, then. She’d had them before, yes, but never, never so real. She returned to the cottage where she shut the door and hurried to the fireplace. With clumsy hands, she searched for matches and the stub of a candle. Her fingers shook so violently it took her three attempts to put flame to the wick.
The light took hold slowly and seemed pitifully inadequate. Thrusting it aloft, Lisbeth retraced her steps to the door of her room, careful to keep her now-sodden garments swept back, her eyes on the floor.
A trail of wet led its way to the bedroom door and culminated on the threshold.
The very place where he had stood.
The candle tumbled from her suddenly numb fingers and the flame went out.

Amazon US ~ Amazon CA 


Born in Buffalo and raised on the Niagara Frontier, Laura Strickland has been an avid reader and writer since childhood. To her the spunky, tenacious, undefeatable ethnic mix that is Buffalo spells the perfect setting for a little Steampunk, so she created her own Victorian world there. She knows the people of Buffalo are stronger, tougher and smarter than those who haven’t survived the muggy summers and blizzard blasts found on the shores of the mighty Niagara. Tough enough to survive a squad of automatons? Well, just maybe.

       

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The Business of Writing: DIY Blog Tours by @Liza0Connor #ampromoting

Last week on The Maze, 
I featured author KR Thompson's 
7 Steps to an Awesome Facebook Party. I enjoyed it so much (and I hope you did too!) that I have invited my virtual author-friend 
Liza O'Connor to discuss the…
Do it Yourself Blog Tour

My first book got several blog tours: publisher organized, do it myself organized, and professionally organized.

It was my first book and I was certain if it could get attention it would sell like crazy.  That didn’t happen, but honestly, I don’t think any blog tour has ever sent a book into the top 100.

However, a blog tour does have purpose:

It reminds your followers that you have new book out, or you have an old book that needs attention. But it has another value. Marketing wisdom says the average person doesn’t buy a book until it’s been mentioned at least 7 times.

So even though blog tours don’t sell a lot of books for the majority of us, they have a purpose.  They wheedle away at the seven mentions needed to trigger a buy.

When I eventually went indie and had to pay for my own editors and covers, I needed to reconsider where my limited money should go.

Since it seemed to me that I was doing most of the work involved with a blog tour, I began there. I first began doing tour posts just as the professionals do them. But over the next two years, I questioned the value of many things.

First, I stopped offering cash gifts. I found most of the people signing up for my Rafflecopter were just looking for prizes. They had no interest in the book, and many of them never stopped by a single blog stop. They would get the link for my Rafflecopter and go directly to it. While dropping the prize meant fewer people stopped by, those that did were real followers.

Over the last two years, actual sales during a blog tour have gone up, but that could be because I’ve been doing this longer, and if the book belongs to a series, I run a 99-cent promotion for its first week.

Personally, I find visiting the exact same blog post over and over on a blog tour boring, so I take the time to personalize each and every post. No two are the same. [Note: Creating unique posts for a tour also helps the Search-Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings, and publishing identical posts across several blogs actually hurts your book in those rankings. ~kih]

I get my unique topics from my book. Some are based on questions my editor wrote in the comments. Some are facts or situations discussed in my book, and sometimes a blogger will give me a topic (like today’s blog).

At first, I tried to line up blogs for every day of three weeks, but that was exhausting. So instead I reduced the total number of blogs, placing them with three or four days between them. That way, I can continue to promote a host longer.

For example, my first post for Surviving Terranue has had over 2000 views. [And this post for Surviving Outbound on The Maze has gotten almost 3,000 views, but that is also due in part to my potential 2M Twitter reach via Triberr membership. ~kih] I wouldn’t have gotten that many if it had showed for a single day and then I moved on promoting something else. Thus, this change is a win for me and my host bloggers.

Since I now do fewer blogs, I try to snare the best bloggers I know in the genre of my book and spread the blogs over a entire month.

The professional blog tours can offer to place the same post at 50 sites in a single day.  That increases the chance of reaching new readers but I would die of exhaustion contacting 50 people for blogs, so if I ever think this is worth doing, I’ll use a professional blog tour.

To ensure you are invited back for your next tour, make publishing your post easy.  Don’t send 3 Word docs which your host must assemble. If you have the ability and know-how to create HTML blogs that work on various the blog types (Blogger & Word Press are different), offer those. I tried to do that, but it proved to be a disaster for many of my hosts. So now I submit one Word doc with everything laid out, and wherever I want a picture I include its label in red print. That way, they only have to drop the Word doc into their blog and attach the pics where it says they should go.
 
Ensure the experience is easy for your hosts and that your post is well promoted. Then, the next time you ask for blog space, they’ll probably say yes.

Ah. One last bit of advice. Active bloggers tend to fill their slots at least a month in advance, so ask for a blog slot early. If they are really popular, ask two months in advance.

There is no reason you cannot do a blog tour on your own. To be honest, even if you use a professional service, all the content still has to come from you. And I do recommend you try a professional service before you do your own so you’ll know the standard you need to set.

So get blogging to help get through the seven times a person needs to read your title before they buy.

Here’s a mini-version of what my blog posts look like:
(Banner)

 To avoid being redundant, imagine everything you just read above is written here.


(Book Cover)

Surviving SojournBy Liza O’Connor
BlurbAn alien species is removing human colonies from planets, but to where, no one knows. Sojourn, along with the Emperor’s daughter and their crew, must find this unknown species and negotiate a treaty before the Empire’s army declares war on all non-human races.

Those who do not follow the Path of Light would prefer to kill all the non-human sentient beings before they are even aware they are under attack.

Matters turn bleak for the Path of Light when Sojourn’s ship crash-lands on Terranue before their journey even begins.

Excerpt(While the blurb stays the same, all excerpts are different)
Brenner burned with resentment as he watched the King of Sargon, the giant bull named Blue, carry Saran to the land cruiser resting at the far edge of the valley. A parade of Sargon followed, porting Tamsarandem’s possessions to the other side.

Once the small ship whisked Dmitri and Saran away, he sensed a change in his people. Their faces pinched with fear, and they constantly whispered to one another rather than working on their assigned tasks.

His lackeys soon updated him about their worries.

He called his colonists inside for a meeting. “I understand some of you tremble like children because Tamsarandem has decided to favor the ship-people over us. First, I will tell you why that is not a concern, and second, I will tell you why they did so.”

The colonists went silent with trepidation. He loved the power he held over these people. It made his blood rush with exhilaration. “When we first arrived, we needed Tamsarandem to negotiate peace with the Sargon. After that, we took over. We determined how to survive the deadly three seasons. We brought the meat and furs of bears home to hold us over Cold Days and Angry Days. Truth is, we’ve been doing it all for two years now.”

He waited as almost everyone nodded and agreed that was true. “The reason Tamsarandem went to the other side was for personal reasons. The son they sent away last year was on that ship—but not as a baby. They did something to the boy so he turned into a man overnight.”

Their frightened looks pleased him. “Now calm down. The Gods won’t hold us responsible for their actions. They will see that we’ve cast them out. My best advice is to avoid Tamsarandem entirely. Come next year, I’ll let you know what we need to do long-term.”

(If the book is part of a series, I provide links for all prior books as well so the reader can grab the one they need.)
Sales LinksBook 4 : Surviving SojournAmazon
Book 3: Surviving TerranueAmazon
Book 2: Surviving OutboundAmazon
Book 1: The Gods of ProbabilitiesAmazon
All books are free for KU subscribers
About AuthorLiza is a multiple genre author of 17 novels. A Late Victorian Series, The Adventures of Xavier & Vic, plus a spinoff, A Right to Love, is an ongoing series.   A Long Road to Love is a humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance series of five books. She has two single books. One is a humorous, bad boys contemporary novel with ghosts, called Ghost Lover, the other is Untamed & Unabashed, a spinoff from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Now, she’s rolling out her Science fiction series (with romance & humor) called The Multiverses. The first four books are slotted for last half of 2015.  In addition she hopes, if she hasn’t dropped from exhaustion by then, to re-release a sometimes humorous/suspense thriller called Saving Casey.

Social NetworksFOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUTLIZA O'CONNORInvestigate these sites:Liza’s Multiverse BlogLiza's Blog and Website   Facebook   Twitter
(Insert 4 books of series here)

Thank you, Liza, for sharing your wit and wisdom today.I wish you and everyone the best of luck with book sales and fan networking for all your tours, DIY and otherwise!And stay tuned, Mazeites: next month I hope to have Liza back to discuss how she creates her lovely DIY Book Covers!
If anyone else has tips or tricks to share, please post them in the comments below. We would all love to hear about them. :)
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All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
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...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Morning's Journey . Please enter often, and good luck!

Announcing scads of winners, upcoming blog tours for THE CHALLENGE! #MFRWOrg

Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Today on The Maze I'm excited to announce the winners (already notified) of various contests! Please join me in congratulating: 

Cindie G: An e-book of her choice by Kim Headlee.Amy H: An autographed copy of Liberty .Lisa R: A set of autographed note cards featuring art from Liberty , Snow in July , and King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court .Amie S, Jacky P, Mai T, Mary P, Shawn G: An e-book of his or her choice by Kim Headlee.Brandy D, Kathy C, Laura T, Caroline T, Katherine R, Dana L, Joy F, Nikita J, Renee G, Lenni D: One note card featuring art from Dawnflight .
Didn't win this time? Don't despair; I'll have more chances to win later this month during blog tours for Morning's Journey and The Challenge !

In fact, these two one-day tours featuring The Challenge still have plenty of openings and will feature a teaser from its forthcoming graphic novel edition:

October 27, coordinated by Goddess Fish.October 28, coordinated by My Family's Heart.
The Challenge will be a worldwide free Kindle download both days too. It's a short 6K, standalone read, and the 27th is my birthday, so the best gift ever would be for you to sign up for either tour and write a review; thanks! :)

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Enter this giveaway for an autographed copy of Morning's Journey !

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All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Morning's Journey . Please enter often, and good luck!

Angusel makes a friend in RAGING SEA Ch 7/Sc 5A #amwriting #Arthurverse

Graphic overlay (c)2015 by Kim Headlee. "Tests, enemies, and allies" is what mythologist Joseph Campbell labeled the early action phase of the Hero's Journey. 

Enemies and Allies is what I plan to title Raging Sea part 2 for its Kindle run. 

In this phase the hero undergoes a series of tests, through the process of discovering enemies and making allies, that forge his character to prepare him for the far more challenging, life-threatening events to come. 

No journey of self discovery can be completed without enduring this phase, and in this Angusel—a.k.a. Lancelot—is no different than any other fledgling hero.

Today's excerpt features the onstage introduction of a character only mentioned in Dawnflight , Drustanus—or Tristan, as he is known to legend. The friendship Lancelot develops with Tristan is second only to that of Gawain, and that relationship gets its rather fragrant start here in Raging Sea.

Previous excerpts of Raging Sea  Chapter 7: Sc 1 | Sc 2 | Sc 3 | Sc 4 |
Raging Sea Chapter 7, Scene 5a©2015 by Kim HeadleeAll rights reserved.
Angusel, clad in a clean tunic beneath his practice gear after having discovered that the one he’d planned to wear had been fouled by one of the stray cats that lived behind the barracks—the fouling thanks to someone in his ala, no doubt—hefted Stonn’s saddle and bridle off their pegs in the tack room and hustled toward the stables. With any luck, he could make up the time he’d lost by having to change clothes, and avoid being late for the drill session. Tardiness was punished by three stripes, regardless of the reason’s validity.

“Damn!” came a muffled outburst from inside one of the stalls down the line, followed by a wet thud and ungodly clatter.

Clenching his teeth, Angusel quickened his pace. Though the marks left by his latest punishment had healed, its memory hadn’t.

Frustrated pounding sounded against the stall’s walls as Angusel drew closer, along with a string of Breatanach oaths. One of the cavalry squad’s stable hands, he guessed, had fallen victim of a soldier’s prank inside one of the stalls.

The stall was Stonn’s.

Battle-frenzy boiled up inside him. He dropped the tack and sprinted to assist the unfortunate soul.

He didn’t have to kill anybody this day, thanks be to all the gods. Stonn was fine, mouthing wisps of hay and gazing at Angusel as if to ask what all the fuss was about. The same could not be said for the young man who sat in the muck, his pitchfork all but buried beside him. He was covered from the crown down with even more of the disgusting stuff. Angusel wondered at the strangeness of that, until he glanced up and saw the tilted bucket, still dripping gooey gray-green ooze, which had been perched above the stall’s door.

That muck bucket had been meant for Angusel.

He clamped off his anger, entered the stall, and thrust his hand out. “I’m so sorry,” he said in Breatanaiche. The lad looked at Angusel’s hand as if it were an alien thing. “Come, let me help you.”

“You, sir? You’re an officer. Why should you bother with the likes of me?”

“Nobody deserves this.” He brandished his hand again. “Must I make it an order? And don’t call me sir. I may be an officer, but only just.”

“Yes—Optio?” The young man grasped Angusel’s forearm and hauled himself up. Angusel shook his head. “What, then?”

“What the duty roster reads, Ainchis Sal. And your name is—?”

“Drustanus.” He retrieved his pitchfork. Together they left the stall but paused at the pile of discarded tack. “I’ll put away Stonn’s gear and clean his stall for you after, well . . . after I’m not part of the problem.” The promise was delivered with a rueful grin.

“Drustanus—Centurion Marcus’s nephew?” Angusel had failed to recognize him under the filth. “You should be in the ala too; we’re of an age, you and I, and you look plenty strong. What did you do to draw this thankless duty?”

Drustanus shrugged and peeled off the tunic, which had begun to dry. The action showered the ground with smelly bits, revealing a muscular chest that confirmed Angusel’s assessment. “Uncle Marcus says I should earn my place based on my own merits, not upon family connections.”

Angusel gave a noncommittal grunt. He’d lived in the Pendragon’s legion long enough to keep his opinions about the decisions of his superiors to himself. However, that didn’t mean he couldn’t attempt to influence changing some of those decisions.

“I’ll see you in the old training ring after supper.” His choice was dictated by the likelihood of their not being seen; no sense in running the risk of angering a superior who stood many ranks higher, even if the officer was Drustanus’s kin. “Borrow a practice sword from the armory, and tell the soldier on duty that I ordered it.” Another idea formed. “And let me have your tunic.”

“What? Like this?” Drustanus held it out by a muck-free patch of fabric, the garment pinched between thumb and forefinger.

Angusel snatched it from him. “This should help me settle some . . . other business. Now, go visit the baths and don fresh clothes. I expect Stonn’s tack oiled and his stall to be spotless before afternoon drills are done.”

Drustanus grinned and saluted. “Yes, sir!” The grin widened. “Sorry—Ainchis Sal!”

Angusel felt his answering grin form as he watched his new friend hurry off to fulfill the commands.

***
All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow
...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Morning's Journey . Please enter often, and good luck!

Falling into News from the Dawnflier (Oct. 2015) #ASMSG #IARTG #IAN1

Milo, 5/29/2014 (c) Kim Headlee. Those of you who receive the e-mail version of The Dawnflier know who I will be honoring at this time next month. Today I would like to introduce you to my daughter's favorite cat, Milo, whom we almost lost to a gall bladder issue a few weeks ago. 

He's thinner these days as compared with the picture taken last year, but fortunately he had the poundage to spare. We're still having to medicate him twice a day, but the course of antibiotics is done now, so he's getting only one pill every 12 hours.

If you've ever had to pill a cat—let alone having to administer two pills twice a day for weeks on end—you're welcome to offer your sympathies in the comments section!

I cannot say that Milo is the easiest cat I've ever had to treat, but we do have an understanding. He understands that he must endure these daily indignities, and I understand that I may not come away unscathed. :D

We will find out next month whether this will be a lifelong therapy for him.

Meantime, in book news:
I have decided to release Raging Sea in installments as I push through to the end of the full-length work. The first part, titled Reckonings, will be approximately 25K words and should be available in Kindle Unlimited next month.I was hoping to have the first "episode" of the Kindle version of The Challenge graphic novel available this month, but the art is proceeding slower than expected. However, a teaser graphic will be unveiled during its next two blog tours, October 27 and October 28. Those tours still have room for hosts, and thank you if you have already signed up! The original Kindle edition will be free again on those two days too.Another tour I have scheduled for December that is looking for hosts is a review-only tour for my three standalone novels, King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court , Liberty , and Snow in July . The signup form is here, and hosts are welcome to review one, two, or all three books; thanks so much!Upcoming appearances include: Rising Star 24 (October 23-24, Bluefield State College, Bluefield, WV, $5 admission)The New River Valley Comic-Con (October 31, New River Community College, Dublin, VA, admission FREE)ChessieCon 2015 (November 27-29, Radisson North Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, MD, admission $55 (adult) until Nov. 15; $60 at door; various discounts for young adults and children)Thank you for your interest in and support of my work, and may your Fall this year have a soft landing. :)

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All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
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...and each action this month is good for one chance to win an e-book copy of Morning's Journey . Please enter often, and good luck!

The Business of Writing: A DIY Facebook Party in 7 Steps #ampromoting

Today on The Maze I am pleased to present the expert wisdom of my in-the-flesh author-friend, K.R. Thompson, on the subject of DIY Facebook parties.

In a recent email exchange, when she demurred about being labeled an "expert," I shared with her the original meaning of the word, from the Latin expertus: "one who has been tested." I have been involved in one of her Facebook parties, and I know she most certainly qualifies by this definition! 

7 Steps to an Awesome Facebook Party
by K.R. ThompsonCreate an event on Facebook.
I suggest setting this up well in advance. At least a month, if possible. This will give everyone a chance to see what you are doing. It also builds suspense and anticipation for your book.

[Note: The day of the week that you select will of course be governed by your schedule, but the common wisdom from professional tour coordinators is that weekdays work best to maximize participation. KR has not observed any significant attendance difference in the party's day of the week among the many parties she has organized and attended, but she has noticed that evenings seem to consistently draw the highest numbers. In any case, it is best to avoid the days before, during, and after holidays, when people are likely to be busy—or playing catch-up. ~kih]Set up your first game.
For me, the best thing that has worked to get people to attend is to post a game of “who invited you?” The person who has invited the most people at the end of the party wins. (Amazon gift cards work well for this.)Decide how long you want this party to last and if you want guest authors to attend.
I've done a few parties and I've found that if you can last for five or six hours, you'll have one heck of a party. Granted, your bum will go numb at some point and you may lose a bit of your sanity by the end, but your guests will have a ton of fun and you'll get some great publicity for your new release.

Now, here is where the guest authors come into play. Having a party with only yourself as the author is going to be tough going if you have to come up with prizes and games for five or six hours. If you are planning on being the sole author at your party, I strongly suggest decreasing your party time to 2 hours, 3 tops. Unless, of course, you are a superhero and simply do not care about your blood circulation. Having those guest authors “take over” at their time slot will give you the chance to get up and stretch, grab a bite to eat, and use the restroom. (Trust me. You'll want to do at least one of these things at some point.)Guest authors. (If you're the superhero with the steel bladder, skip this step.)
Decide who you would like to invite for a time slot. (As far as how long each author should come and talk about their books, I suggest half-hour slots. You can get more authors to participate this way, plus it keeps your guests engaged. I've found hour long slots tend to get a bit dull, with long lapses of silence. One thing you don't want is for your guests to be bored.) Do you want to invite authors who write the same genre as yourself or do you want mixed genres? It's something to think about, but either way works.

A tip to keep in mind is that an author's fans tend to follow them wherever they go. If their favorite author is going to be at your party, you'll have those loyal readers who may have not heard of you and you'll have the chance to meet them and hopefully make new fans out of them.Prizes and Games.
I typically post a “grand prize” and pin it to the top of the page. The grand prize can be anything. (Gift cards, books, jewelry… whatever you want.) Post details on how to enter the contest, such as “to enter, purchase a copy of my new release, and comment below with a copy of your Amazon receipt number.” I always leave this particular prize open until well after the party has ended to give everyone a chance to enter.

During your party, you should also have other chances to win prizes. Everyone loves to play games and have the opportunity to win something cool. These prizes should be smaller than your grand prize, such as an e-book from one of your backlisted titles, autographed swag, etc.

Games can be anything, from “caption this” contests, to posting an excerpt of your new book and having the guests fill in the blanks, or anything else your heart desires. Be creative and try to have the game relate to your book in some way.Reminders.
A few days before your party, touch base with your guest authors and make sure everyone is still planning to attend. (Life happens, and sometimes people forget. :) )

Also, post something on your event every day or two to get your guests amped up to party with you. It can be something as simple as “Three days left until we party! Who's getting excited?” The more interaction you have with people on that page, the more it will be seen by others.Have fun!K.R. Thompson is the author of Pan , one of the Untold Stories of Neverland, and other fantasy/fairy tale/folklore novels.

Thanks, K.R., for all the great advice!
If anyone else has tips or tricks to share, please post them in the comments below. We would all love to hear about them. :)
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Review: The Princelings of the East by @jemima_pett fantasy #MG #giveaway

BOOK INFORMATION TITLE – The Princelings of the East
SERIES – The Princelings of the East  
AUTHOR – Jemima Pett  
GENRE – MG/Fantasy/Scifi  
PUBLICATION DATE – November 2011 (paperback June 2015)  
LENGTH – 158 Pages/ 37,300 Words  
PUBLISHER – Princelings Publications  
COVER ARTIST – Danielle English
BOOK SYNOPSISThe Princelings of the East
is an adventure set in a world of labyrinthine castles, bustling inns, and the curious Isle of Hattan.

Princelings George and Fred leave the security of their isolated castle to solve the problem of the Great Energy Drain, meeting the dubious businessman Hugo, the young barkeeper Victor, the impressive Prince of Buckmore, and other movers and shakers. Who should these two innocents trust? Their wits and teach other, for sure, but when something comes between them, each is left to his own devices, and some of those devices are very strange indeed – and time is of the essence.

The Princelings of the East is the start of a saga where friendship and intelligence are rewarded, even in the face of treachery and deceit.
EXCERPTFred sat staring at the tunnel, lost in thought. George waited. This might take a while. He could hear soft sounds of crackling flames in the fire on the other side of the wall, and in the distance the occasional pitter-patter of footsteps echoing down the corridors. He wondered what would happen if they ventured out of this castle into the tunnels. When he had been out in the marshes, he’d never gone a long way from home; the castle was always visible in the distance, light glinting on its spires. He’d never been out overnight, either. He identified a strange feeling inside him. They might be on the edge of a Great Adventure, but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t rather be safely tucked up in bed.

Fred stirred. “We need to go and investigate this Great Energy Drain,” he said. “We must find out whether it is a widespread phenomenon, and whether the causes are known.”

George nodded; this was elementary procedure for an investigation. “And then?” he asked.

“And then,” answered Fred, “we shall come up with some ideas for how to solve it.”

“Good idea!” said George, knowing that you can never know exactly how you are going to do something until you have made the preliminary investigation and tested out a few theories. But the aim was set, and all they had to do now was decide... to go or not to go?
My Review ~ 5*
The Princelings of the East is the first installment of a fun fantasy trilogy chronicling the adventures of twin time-traveling young royals Fred and George.

The year is 2009. Or is it 2021? Hm... whatever the year, no one can argue there are Strange Doings afoot. The King's birthday celebration has been ruined by a mysterious Energy Drain. Princelings Fred and George, two bright kids with too much time on their hands to just sit and Think (in Fred's case) or build ingenious machines (that would be George), decide their august adult counterparts have leapt to all the wrong conclusions, and they want to take matters into their own hands.

The question is... how? They are just two mere (if industrious in their own ways) lads; what can they possibly do to solve this Vexing Problem for everyone's benefit? Especially when they have trouble convincing anyone to listen to them, let alone to believe what they say. To say nothing of the possible consequences if they make too much trouble for the King—perhaps even banishment from the only home they have ever known!

In the midst of their ruminations, they find a mysterious tunnel, which in due course leads them to all manner of amazing wheres and whens and whats and whos, many of whom are not who they seem. Most amazing of all, they meet adults who not only listen but even value what they have to say.

Fred and George, in essence, get to live every ingenious, thoughtful kid's dream.

In the book's synopsis on Amazon, it's likened to The Wind in the Willows, and I can most assuredly see that in the characters' interactions and relationships to one another. However, the literary similarity that struck me most, from the very first page, was A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh. Everything from Fred's propensity to sit and Think (Pooh), to various characters' fussing (Rabbit) and pontification (Owl) about the cause of the Energy Drain and how to solve it made me smile all throughout my reading of the book.

The main—and laugh-out-loud zany—scientific issues presented in The Princelings of the East, especially regarding how the world's diet cola becomes "diet" and the process's effect upon the environment, pleasantly brought to mind The Starlight Barking by Dodie Smith, sequel to her much more famous work, The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

The synopsis also describes The Princelings of the East as being "suitable for good readers aged 10 and over," emphasis mine. Girls as well as boys will enjoy following Fred and George's adventures to other castles and eras, but it does require some mental calisthenics to keep everything sorted.

And I view that as a Very Good Thing. In today's culture where the propensity is to dumb down children's programming and literature, the world could do with more Princelings to help our kids hone their mental faculties while presenting fun puzzles and fascinating scenarios. The good news is that there are several more Princelings novels in this series!

Brava, Jemima Pett, and do please keep up the great work.

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AUTHOR BIOI’ve been writing since I was 8 years old. I still have a small booklet I found in my mother’s box of treasures, written in a very childish hand, entitled The Little Stream. It reads very much like the story of Smetana’s Vltava, or The Moldau as it was called when I was young, so I must have been into classical music at an early age (I blame my brothers’ influence). My early fiction attempts failed for want of suitable inspiration: I couldn’t get characters or plot that seemed interesting, and my first attempts were derided by a ‘friend’. I had the bug for writing, though, and wrote articles and event reports for newsletters and magazines whenever I got the opportunity. My career in business and in environmental research kept me chained to a desk for many years, but also gave me the opportunity to write manuals, reports, science papers, blogs, journals, anything and everything that kept the words flowing. Finally the characters jumped into my head with stories that needed to be told…

I now live in a village in Norfolk, UK, with my guinea pigs, the first of whom, Fred, George, Victor and Hugo, provided the inspiration for the Princelings stories.AUTHOR FOLLOW LINKSAMAZON AUTHOR PAGE | WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | PINTEREST | GOODREADS | SHELFARIGIVEAWAY PRIZES1 x $25 gift card/PayPal cash (paypal cash is much easier for me to deliver) 1 x set of the six Princelings of the East paperbacks 5 x 1 signed print of a chapter illustration of the winner's choice (approx. half letter-sized/A5, unmounted) a Rafflecopter giveawayOTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIESTITLE – The Princelings and the Pirates
SERIES – The Princelings of the East
AUTHOR – Jemima Pett
GENRE – MG/Fantasy/Scifi
PUBLICATION DATE – January 2012 (paperback June 2015)
LENGTH – Pages 181 / Words 39,000
PUBLISHER – Princelings Publications
COVER ARTIST – Danielle English BOOK SYNOPSISThe second book of the Princelings of the East series shows our heroes, Princelings Fred and George, enjoying life with their inventions at Castle Buckmore. Oblivious to the kidnap of a princess from Chateau Dimerie, they are despatched there by Prince Lupin to discover why the wine hasn't been delivered and solve the case of the missing messengers.

What follows is the stuff of nightmares. Captured by pirates, sent off on different ships, Fred endures hardship and shipwreck while George has a dangerous night escape. They discover treachery at their home castle, and lead the people they have rescued to safety, only to end up fighting for their lives in the Battle of Dimerie. EXCERPT“Right, you lubbers!” said the black guy. “My name’s Frankie and if you know what’s good for you you’ll listen hard, work hard and keep your mouths shut.”

He passed round eight bits of stale biscuit and a bucket of fairly clean water and a scoop. They each took a drink, and some of them nibbled the biscuit. George found his stomach settled down a bit, and tried to see whether Fred and Victor were among the party in the darkness. He rather thought they weren’t, and frowned. The haughty guy refused the biscuit, saying it was disgusting, and one of the other guys took it off him, and wolfed it down.

Frankie waited for them to recover their senses a bit more, then started talking again.

“You are now aboard the Golden Guinea, the prettiest barque that ever sailed the seven seas. You will do as you are told, you will work hard, and if you don’t, you will walk the plank. That means you will find yourself swimming, possibly in shark infested waters, a thousand miles from the nearest land. You won’t last long.” And he laughed again. It was not a pleasant laugh.

BUY & TBR LINKSAMAZON KINDLE US | AMAZON KINDLE CA | AMAZON KINDLE UK | AMAZON PAPERBACK | BARNES & NOBLES NOOK | SMASHWORDS | ITUNES | GOODREADS | SHELFARI | BOOK DEPOSITORY PAPERBACKTITLE – The Princelings and the Lost City
SERIES – The Princelings of the East
AUTHOR – Jemima Pett
GENRE – MG/Fantasy/scifi
PUBLICATION DATE – May 2012 (paperback June 2015)
LENGTH – Pages 270 / Words 58,600
PUBLISHER – Princelings Publications
COVER ARTIST – Danielle English BOOK SYNOPSISBook 3 in the Princelings of the East series is the completion of the trilogy. A mystery is uncovered in the Prologue (which is unravelled in Book 5), then the story moves to more familiar territory as our heroes, Princelings Fred and George, wait at Castle Buckmore for the arrival of Princess Kira from Dimerie in a flying machine. George's power plant invention is overtaken by his enthusiasm for flying, but Fred is upset by Kira's strange behavious after the visit a legendary 'lost' castle in the middle of a forest.

What is the secret of the Lost City? Are the old wives' tales, of a civilisation ruled by females where no male dare set foot, true after all? Will Fred and his friend escape with their lives? How many times can Princess Kira be kidnapped in one story? The path of true love runs anything but smoothly in this tale of love, bravery, cruelty and loss. EXCERPTA strange noise crept into their consciousness, a sort of buzzing. It changed tone, skipped a beat and sometimes stopped altogether. The princelings looked out, straining to see what was making the noise. Fred stared down the road as far as the bridge; George gazed up into the sky as if he was dreaming.

“There… there… they… ther…” he stuttered and pointed for Fred to locate.

“What?” said Fred, following the direction and wondering why he was pointing into the sky. There was some sort of bird flying towards them.

“I w-wond-ered … a ffly-ing ma-ma-sheen.” In his excitement, George was having trouble getting any words out at all. He slipped off the window seat and went over to a pile of papers beside his bed. He selected one near the top of the pile and brought it back to Fred.

“M. Bleriot demonstrates flying machine at Fortune,” read the headline. Underneath was a picture of a very dashing French person with a helmet and goggles standing next to a funny tube with two boards sticking out of it on either side.

Fred glanced at it, held it close to look at the machine in more detail and dropped the paper to look at the sky. A very similar machine was now approaching the last stretch of road before it turned to come into the castle itself.

“Oh my goodness,” said Fred, his eyes wide in panic. “She’ll be killed!”

BUY & TBR LINKSAMAZON KINDLE US | AMAZON KINDLE CA | AMAZON KINDLE UK | AMAZON PAPERBACK | BARNES & NOBLES NOOK | SMASHWORDS | ITUNES | GOODREADS | SHELFARI | BOOK DEPOSITORY PAPERBACKThis Event Was Organized & Hosted By: Special Thank You To Carly's Book Reviews For The HTML Creation

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Musings from Morgan le Fay aka Morghe in RAGING SEA Ch 7/Sc 4 #amwriting #Arthurverse

Graphic overlay (c)2015 by Kim Headlee. Hm. The way I've been creating these excerpt posts, I wait until a character first appears before preparing their blog graphic. 

I didn't realize till just now that Arthur's youngest sister, Morghe (Morgan le Fay), doesn't get a viewpoint scene in Raging Sea until chapter 7! 

Not that it's a bad thing, mind; this is just the first I've noticed it in the mumbledy-some years that I've been working on Raging Sea.


Fans of my work will recognize Morghe's glyph from the cover of Morning's Journey . It is a vector drawing I made from a photograph of the Brough of Birsay stone found in Orkney, Scotland, one of more than three dozen ancient Pictish (or Pictish-inspired) designs that I have either adapted or created outright for use in The Dragon's Dove Chronicles.

Although Morghe herself is most certainly not Pictish, this design spoke her name to me with its embedded M, its asymmetrical alignment, and its regal, warlike embellishments.

And in today's excerpt, you get a glimpse of Morghe's regal—and secretly warlike—character as she reacts to the surprise appearance of former-enemies-cum-wedding-guests.


Previous excerpts of Raging Sea  Chapter 7: Sc 1 | Sc 2 | Sc 3 |
Raging Sea Chapter 7, Scene 4©2015 by Kim HeadleeAll rights reserved.
What a disappointment.

The litter resumed its lurching, swaying gait. Morghe closed the curtains and settled back against the cushions. As entertaining as the meeting of Arthur and Gyanhumara with Urien was expected to be, she would have liked to have seen her brother and sister-by-marriage bloodied by those Scots, even though Fergus and others of his ilk had terrified her half out of her wits last year.

But Gyanhumara had made a valid observation: why were they here?

Morghe resolved to find out. As Urien’s wife, she deserved to know what was transpiring inside Clan Moray’s borders. And if Urien didn’t agree, she had a plan for changing that too.
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Pre-Release Blitz: Katie in Denver by @AuthorRColora #contemporary romance

AUTHOR: R. ColoraGENRE: Contemporary Romance
COVER DESIGINER: The Graphics Shed


Katie Blackwell loved Michael Kerrigan from the first moment he stopped her at an outdoor festival. She was fourteen and he was sixteen. For two years Micheal and Katie were inseparable; they were each others first loves. They experienced all their firsts together. 
Finding out she is pregnant at sixteen was not part of Katie's plan. When she tells Michael, he informs her that he has been accepted to an ivy league school; he has no intentions of staying in Denver to play the role of teen dad. 
Scared and alone Katie has to decide if she is going to terminate her pregnancy or keep the baby she already loves. 
Nine years later Katie and Micheal will cross paths and past secrets will come to light. Can mistakes be forgiven? Can first love be rekindled, or will past heartache and betrayal be to much to overcome?


“Please come this way,” the nurse says. “We need to do an ultrasound to determine how far along you are. If you’re under nine weeks, you can choose to take the abortion pill but if you’re over nine weeks, then you need to have an in-clinic surgical procedure.” I can feel the panic starting to set in. The nurse takes my hand.
“Listen, you haven’t made any decision yet. You can walk out of here right now if that’s what you want.” I nod but don’t respond.
I just sit on the examining table in silence. The nurse instructs me to pull my shirt up, and she squirts some kind of gel on my stomach; it’s really cold. Slowly, she moves the wand around.

“You look to be about sixteen weeks so if you wanted to proceed today it would have to be a surgical abortion. I can explain the procedure, we have a coach that can come in and hold your hand while you have the procedure,” she says with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
I look at the small dot on the screen and then she turns a dial, and I hear it: I hear my baby’s heartbeat and everything becomes so clear to me.She goes to turn it off when she sees the tears running down my face, but I grab her hand. “Please, I just want to hear it a little longer.” I reach my hand out and touch the screen. She is clicking buttons, and I see pictures coming out the side of the machine. I don't even ask for them, I just snatch the pictures from the machine and grip them for dear life. I want to remember this moment; I want to remember the moment I stopped living for me, and I started living for my child. I look at the nurse and start getting off the exam table. “I’m not doing it, can I please go?”
She smiles. “Yes, let me get you cleaned up and you can go. You have a few more weeks if you change your mind,” she adds.

“No, I know I want my baby even if no one else does. Thank you for being so nice,” I say before running to the waiting room.


AMAZON US ~ AMAZON CA ~ AMAZON UK

  
Kennedy In Denver ~ Estelle In Denver


Writing a book takes a lot of energy not just the energy of the person telling the story, but the Editor, Proofreader, Beta Readers, ARC Readers, Cover Designer, Formatter, and bloggers or Promotional Team. You can't write a book for free an author has to pay for those words in a Plain Document to become something on your Kindle App or in your Hand.
As a writer, you don't expect everyone to LOVE or even LIKE what you write, but writers don't write to be praised they write because they enjoy it and it's satisfying. when your see something that was in your head transformed into an actual book the feeling is indescribable. I remember when I was young I use to think I would be a writer when I grew up up like most adults learn, Life happens and you have to put aside your childish dreams and work, provide, sacrifice. I live in this real world where every day is is struggle, so I made up a world of Billionaires and Superstars, in my books with all these characters beauty and charmed lives they still face semi-real life situation that is why I write fiction, it suppose to be over the top and unbelievable, if anyone has found any real life Werewolf or Bear shifters let me know!!!!
So with that said no matter how many one star reviews I get I will still keep telling my stories, you don't have to love them and you don't have to like them and I might be the worst author in the history of Amazon, but that's okay because I'm doing what I told my younger self I couldn't do.
         MoB Promosmagicofbookspromo@gmail.com

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