Celebrate: It's WHEN? & Lots of Freebies!

Is it really less than a week until Christmas??

Where did the time go?  The holidays snuck up on me!

This week I'm celebrating YOU! - all my wonderful blog friends.  With your comments and posts, you've given me hope, encouragement, and laughs. You're the very best part of my publishing journey! 

Here are some Christmas laughs for you!

Wishing you  
Joyous Holidays!

Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net. 
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -

• Free short stories, novellas, and novels
• Giveaways for books and swag
• Free services for authors

Here are Foxy's suggestions for Dec 19, 2014:

Free eBook of Your Choice – C. Lee McKenzie is offering two winners their choice of any of her ebooks (Sliding on the Edge, The Princess of Los Pulgas, Alligators Overhead, or Double Negative) Go to Carol Kilgore’s Contest Page and enter. (ends Dec 31)

$10 Amazon Card – To celebrate the release of The New Pioneer Series by Deborah Nam-Krane a $10 Amazon giftcard will be given away via Rafflecopter on Juniper Grove Book Solutions. (ends Dec 25)

$25 Amazon Card – To celebrate the release of Hearts in the Storm by Elmer Seward a $25 Amazon giftcard will be given away via Rafflecopter on Juniper Grove Book Solutions. (ends Dec 25) 

One of Three Free Novels – Win either Taking the Cross (Historical Novel about the Crusades) by Charles Gibson, or The Shiro Project (Thriller) by David Khara, or We'll Always Have Paris (Memoir) by Jennifer Coburn on the France Book Tours Blog. (ends Dec 31)

Free Historical Collection Book – Win A Home for Christmas (Historical Short Story Collection) by MK McClintock, enter on the Books And Benches Blog. (ends Dec 31)

FREE Novel – Win 1 of 8 Recently Released Novels:
~ Echo Bridge by Kristen O’Toole
~ Of Scars and Stardust by Andrea Hannah
~ Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly by Stephen Graham Jones and Paul Tremblay
~ Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout
~ God’s Formula by James LePore
~ Reluctant Prince by Dani-Lyn Alexander
~ The Walled City by Ryan Graudin
~ Creed by Trisha Leaver and Lindsay Currie
The giveaway is via Rafflecopter on A Book Vacation. (ends Jan 1) 


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is follow the link and put your name on the Mr.Linky list, and then be sure to post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! 

Celebrate: Knead a Chapter & Freebies!

This week I'm celebrating:
1) My muse is back! She said she's been gone the last two weeks to a Muse Retreat in the Catskills, but the tan lines and the umbrella drink gave it away.  She was undoubtedly just lying on the beach in Ber-Muse-da, enjoying herself.
2) I wrote Ch 2. The fourth version. It's better than the first three versions. Or not. Or maybe? 
3) What's with the upside down, kneading cat, you ask??  I have no idea.  But that's what I feel like. Upside down, but it's cool.  Just hanging.  Writing a chapter.  Might be good, might not be.  Kneading the air.  Kneading the chapter.  It's all good.  :)

What do you think upside down, kneading kitty means?

Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net. 
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -

• Free short stories, novellas, and novels
• Giveaways for books and swag
• Free services for authors

Here are Foxy's suggestions for Dec 12, 2014:

Free eBook of Your Choice – Amazing author C. Lee McKenzie is offering two winners their choice of any of her ebooks (SLIDING ON THE EDGE, THE PRINCESS OF LOS PULGAS, ALLIGATORS OVERHEAD, or DOUBLE NEGATIVE) Go to Carol Kilgore’s Contest Page and enter. (ends Dec 31)

Free Mystery Novel or $25 Gift Card – You have 5 chances to win either the novel, DEADLY RUSE: A MAC MCCLELLAN MYSTERY by E. Michael Helms, or a $25 Amazon gift card via rafflecopter on Book Freebies, Contests, Sweepstakes, and Giveaways. (ends Dec 23)

Free NA Contemporary Romance and $25 Gift Card – Enter to win both BECOMING HIS by Mariah Dietz and a $25 Amazon gift card via rafflecopter on Book Freebies, Contests, Sweepstakes, and Giveaways. (ends Dec 30)

$25 Amazon Gift Card – to celebrate the cover reveal of EVER DARKENING by Janeal Falor, she’s giving away a $25 Amazon gift card via rafflecopter on Mythical Books Blog. (ends Dec 30) 

Free Fantasy Novel & Swag – Win a print copy of CHANDREA - RETURN OF THE AVATAR QUEEN by Marlene Winn, plus a handmade fairy, and cards via rafflecopter of Mythical Books Blog. (ends Jan 4)

For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is follow the link and put your name on the Mr.Linky list, and then be sure to post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! 

Celebrate: Walking Shadow & IWSG Freebie

This week I'm celebrating:
1)  A clean apartment!  I even scrubbed the kitchen floor.  Hubby said, "It looks great! Too bad it can't stay this way."  (Yeah, too bad there's a 250 lb toddler wandering around who tracks in dirt, makes messes, and spills things...)
2)  I cooked enough food to last a week.
3)  I promo-ed my book sale, have done crits for my CPs, and wrote a newsletter for the writing site I use. (Writing.Com -- see all my newsletters on writing craft on my Writing Advice page).
4)  Now that I'm finally ahead of the game, I'm hoping to work on Ch 2, which will be my 4th version. The darn thing is just not coming together.  (Muse!! Where did you go??)

What do you do when a piece of writing isn't working and your muse has taken a vacation?

Walking Shadow

Urban Fantasy

Curiosity Quills Press (Nov 30, 2014)

Blurb:
When you have a connection to the Darkworld, nowhere is truly safe.

Ashlyn has found a new home in Blackstone, but when a spate of grave robberies across the country spark fears that someone is practicing illegal sorcery, she comes under the radar of the Venantium, the protectors of the Barrier between her world and the Darkworld, who are suspicious of any sorcerer unaware of their origins.

The trouble is, what Ash does know might just get her killed.

Sufferers of the dangerous condition known as the vampire’s curse are being brutally killed, and the latest victim is Leo’s guardian, the ex-head of the Venantium. Ash determines to help Leo find out what’s really going on, but it isn’t long before events are spiralling out of control. The dead are rising from their graves, and the barriers around Blackstone are threatened by a demon which looks exactly like Ash herself…

Buy Links:   Amazon     Amazon UK 

Add on Goodreads!

Darkness Watching
Note from Lexa:  I read the first book in Emma's series, Darkness Watching.  It was very exciting, had great characters, and was very well written -- I truly enjoyed it and have been looking forward to the next in the series!

Buy Links: Amazon   Barnes & Noble 

Add on Goodreads
Read Chapter One

Fear's Touch: A Darkworld Novella is a standalone novella, intended as a prequel to the Darkworld series. As it takes place one year before the events of Darkness Watching, it doesn’t contain any spoilers (although it does hint at things which will come into play later in the series).

Buy Link: Amazon

Add on: Goodreads

Author Bio:

Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing bizarre, fantastical stories. She was born in Birmingham, UK, which she fled at the first opportunity to study English Literature at Lancaster University. In her three years at Lancaster, she hiked up mountains, skydived in Australia, and endured a traumatic episode involving a swarm of bees in the Costa Rican jungle. She also entertained her creative writing group and baffled her tutors by submitting strange fantasy tales featuring dragons and supernatural monsters to workshops. These included her first publication, a rather bleak dystopian piece, and a disturbing story about a homicidal duck (which she hopes will never see the light of day).

Now a reluctant graduate, Emma refuses to settle down and be normal. When not embarking on wild excursions, she edits and proofreads novels for various publishing houses and reads an insane number of books. At the age of 21, she signed a publishing contract with Curiosity Quills Press for the first book in her creepy urban fantasy Darkworld series. DARKNESS WATCHING was published in October 2013, the first in a five-book series. Emma’s books tend to contain monsters, magic, and wildly inappropriate humour.

Emma's Links:

Website  Blog  Facebook  Twitter  Google+  Tumblr  Goodreads  Newsletter 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now Available!!!

And it's FREE!!!

Tapping into the expertise of over a hundred talented authors from around the globe, The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond contains something for every writer. Whether you are starting out and need tips on the craft of writing, looking for encouragement as an already established author, taking the plunge into self-publishing, or seeking innovative ways to market and promote your work, this guide is a useful tool. Compiled into three key areas of writing, publishing, and marketing, this valuable resource offers inspirational articles, helpful anecdotes, and excellent advice on dos and don'ts that we all wish we knew when we first started out on this writing journey.

Amazon   -   Barnes and Noble  -  Kobo  -  Smashwords

Be a part of the IWSG:
Website  -  Facebook Group  -  Facebook Critique Circle Group

This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is follow the link and put your name on the Mr.Linky list, and then be sure to post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! 

IWSG: What No One Will Tell You

Do you sometimes feel like everyone’s succeeding in the publishing business except you?  They’re getting agents, book deals, enjoying good sales, getting onto top 100 Amazon lists, and getting rave reviews.  You cheer for them and you’re truly happy for their good news … but you wish it was you.

There’s a common belief that once a writer gets “The Call” from an agent and signs a contract, their life will change, it will be unicorns and rainbows, and they’ll be happy forever.

Maybe so. Maybe not. But most authors are too afraid or embarrassed to talk about the not-so-nice things that can happen.


In addition to knowing a number of published authors (including ones pubbed by the big 5), I belong to a forum where authors can vent—even bestselling ones.

Here are some of the not-so-nice things angry authors won’t say publicly:

1.  Agents often take 2-3 weeks to respond to client emails.
2.  Agents and editors who request revisions want them done speedily and give a tight deadline to the author.  If the author is late, not-so-nice emails may appear in their inboxes.
3.  Even if the author sends the ultra-fast, slaved-over revision before the deadline, it isn’t unusual for the agent/editor to then take 1-2 months to read the revised ms.
4.  When giving revision notes on a project, an agent can be vague or confusing, get the title or characters’ names wrong, or get plot points wrong (making you wonder if they might have read some other client's ms by mistake), and the cheerful enthusiasm of the pre-contract wooing phase can quickly become gruff impatience.
5.  If the author’s ms is being subbed to editors and starts getting rejections, communication from the agent can get downright snippy and rude.
6.  If an ms subbed to an editor gets rejected with feedback, the agent may begin pushing for revisions—a new (and possibly conflicting) revision for every rejection.
7.  If the first ms fails to sell (it happens more than you’d think), an agent may okay the blurb/synopsis of a new WIP.  But after months of the author’s hard work, when the agent reads the draft, they may tell the author “I can’t sell this. Trunk it, and come up with something better.”  
8.  If the book finally gets published, but fails to sell a lot when released, the agent may blame the author, suggesting they aren’t doing enough to market it or aren’t spending enough time/money on promotion or traveling enough for book signings.  The reason agents get so upset is because books with bad sales numbers are a black mark against the author.  It’s far harder to sell a future book when publishers see on Bookscan that the last one didn’t make a lot of money for the last publisher. (Robert Gailbraith’s novel The Casual Vacancy sold only 1000 copies *, a very low number in publishing-land, and Robert might never have been published again … but lucky for “Robert,” his real name was J.K.Rowling.) 


Why the bad attitude? It’s simply business.

An agent doesn’t make money unless their client’s ms sells to a publisher and then to readers. If it doesn’t, the author becomes low-person-on-the-totem-pole while the agent devotes more time to clients who are making them money. Even promising projects in the slushpile will get more attention. 

About one in seven authors fires their agent. 


I’m not saying you shouldn’t continue to follow your dreams and search for the perfect agent and publishing deal. 

But if that fabulous day comes, don’t be completely surprised if the unicorns and rainbows aren’t quite as shiny and perfect as you expected.


* From: http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1031237/another-seven-book-series-for-jk-rowling



This is a post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. It exists so the community of blogging writers can share and support each other, blog-hopping to cheerlead and commiserate. To find out more, visit: Insecure Writer's Support Group. Plus, check out the IWSG Website for lots of helpful info and links.

Now Available!!!

And it's FREE!!!

Tapping into the expertise of over a hundred talented authors from around the globe, The IWSG Guide to Publishing and Beyond contains something for every writer. Whether you are starting out and need tips on the craft of writing, looking for encouragement as an already established author, taking the plunge into self-publishing, or seeking innovative ways to market and promote your work, this guide is a useful tool. Compiled into three key areas of writing, publishing, and marketing, this valuable resource offers inspirational articles, helpful anecdotes, and excellent advice on dos and don'ts that we all wish we knew when we first started out on this writing journey.

Amazon   -   Barnes and Noble  -  Kobo  -  Smashwords

Be a part of the IWSG:
Website
Facebook Group
Facebook Critique Circle Group