Celebrate: Hail Storm & Giveaways

I'm celebrating an emergency net connection.

Yesterday, my Egyptian town had a thunder storm with rain and lightning---and hail! Egypt gets only about 5 rain days a year and has no drains to deal with a heavy rain. There were floods.  I lost TV reception, then the electricity. It came on after 6 hours, but---horror of horrors!---my net connection wouldn't come back. 

I ended up having to go out, brave lakes of water, non-working streetlights, and find a taxi to take me to another wifi company I used to use. I paid for a new month of service, but ended up walking for almost an hour until I found a taxi to get me home.

At home, the taxi had to drop me off behind my building because the front parking lot was underwater. When the taxi began to drive away, it fell in a large hole hidden by the water and got stuck!  For all I know, the poor guy's still out there...

But thank goodness I have a working net now!  Whew!

Does anyone else lose net connections in bad storms?

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.simply-linked.com/listwidget.aspx?l=79cd691b-a101-48a4-8603-4d22bb6626d8"> </script>

** To see who’s posted for the hop look at my Celebrate The Small Things Blog Roll, left sidebar bottom **

 Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then 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! (Originated by VikLit)

Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net. 

When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Friday Freebies posts -

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

Here are Foxy's suggestions for Oct 28, 2016:

Free Download of Horror Short Story Collection – Download your FREE copy of Celebrate’s own Tamara Narayan’s short story collection Heart Stopper and Other Stories. The disappearance of random household items baffles Dallas Radner and his eleven-year-old daughter, Tessa. Ten plastic bags, nine ballpoint pens...what's next? This odd countdown should end on November 1, The Day of the Dead. That's also Tessa's birthday and the one-year anniversary of her surgery, the day her heart stopped on the operating table. Dallas almost lost Tessa then. On this November 1, one thing will vanish forever. Will it be his daughter?
Download the collection FREE from Monday Oct 31 - Friday Nov 4 on Amazon.

Free Download of Time-Travel/Paranormal Romance Novel – Download your FREE copy of MOONLESS (1st book in the Maiden of Time series) by Crystal Collier. A girl in 1768 England is amazed by her transformation into a beauty and horrified by the arrival of murderous wraiths. She must decide whether to escape an arranged marriage and join the man she loves to fight off the dangerous threat. (MOONLESS is free to promote the release of TIMELESS, the 3rd book in the series). 
Download the book FREE from Tues Nov 1 – Saturday Nov 5 on Amazon.

Free YA Biblical Dark Retellings Collection – Eight authors have stories in the collection In The Beginning, a group of dark YA short stories inspired by the mysteries, faith, and darkness found within the Bible. Old Testament and New Testament, iconic and obscure figures alike are illuminated, explored, and re-envisioned. There are 5 digital copies for giveaway. Enter via rafflecopter on the My Book Addiction blog. (ends Oct 30)

Free YA Fantasy Novel or $10 Amazon Gift Card & Many, Many More! – The novel and gift card are offered by Natalie Aguirre of Literary Rambles. Choose 1 book of 15 offered or a $10 Amazon card. PLUS, there are 93 more people on the blog hop and EACH is offering books or gift cards for free. To see the whole list, go to the Literary Rambles blog. (ends Oct 31)

Free $50 Amazon Gift Card – To celebrate the release of Dekkir by Lara LaRue, a science fiction alien-erotic romance, the author is giving away a $50 Amazon card on the Romance Novels Giveaway blog. (ends Nov 8)



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

Celebrate: Veggies & Giveaways

This week I'm celebrating:
1) Like my beaver friend above, I'm trying to eat more veggies on my diet. They aren't very appetizing. :P  But then I thought -- "Wait! Guacamole and salsa are made of vegetables, and they're yummy!" So I made some ... and then I ate them with tortilla chips.  But don't worry, I ate the corn kind not the flour ones.  After all, corn is a vegetable... ;)
2) Library Journal's starred review of Bloodwalker was published last Saturday! My publisher sent me a jpg of the magazine page, and I transcribed it. You can read it HERE.  
3) I'm thrilled to announce that my publisher, Freedom Fox Press/Dancing Lemur Press L.L.C., has released a new book -- Cling to God by Lynda R. Young.  Congrats to Lynda!!!

Cling to God: A Daily Devotional

by Lynda R Young

Blurb:
Cling to God in the chaos of life…

Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still be able to spend time with the Lord each day. It will appeal to a wide Christian audience, to those new in their faith as well as those matured beyond milk and honey.

BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle   Amazon (Ppbk)   Amazon Australia   

B&N Nook   B&N (Ppbk)   Kobo   iTunes   

Author Bio: Lynda R. Young, a Christian first, writes devotionals, articles, and speculative short stories. In her spare time she is also an editor, game developer, artist, and dabbles in photography and all things creative. She lives in Australia with her sweetheart of a husband. You can find her here:

Blog    Twitter    Facebook    Goodreads

Removed from the Celebrate list – Update your blog rolls
Sharon Himsl: Shells, Tales, and Sails (https://shells-tales-sails.blogspot.com/)

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.simply-linked.com/listwidget.aspx?l=79cd691b-a101-48a4-8603-4d22bb6626d8"> </script>

** To see who’s posted for the hop look at my Celebrate The Small Things Blog Roll, left sidebar bottom **

 Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then 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! (Originated by VikLit)

Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net. 

When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Friday Freebies posts -

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

Here are Foxy's suggestions for Oct 21, 2016:

Free $25 Amazon Gift Card and Horror eBook – Win The Harvesting by Melanie Karsak, about a woman trying to survive a zombie apocalypse with her sword and psychic powers. The author is giving away an ebook and a $25 Amazon card via rafflecopter on the My Book Addiction blog. (ends Oct 25)

Free $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash – To celebrate the release of The Sapphire Blade by Dorine White, about a boy’s adventures in London and Alexandria where he must solve the puzzle of Cleopatra’s gemstones, the author is giving away a $25 Amazon card or Paypal cash via rafflecopter on the My Creatively Random Life blog.  (ends Oct 30)

Free $75 Amazon or B&N Gift Card – To celebrate the release of A Wedding at Meadows Shore (Romance) by Eva Charles, about a headstrong woman managing a domestic violence agency and the insufferably arrogant playboy she is determined to change, the author is giving away a $75 Amazon or B&N card via rafflecopter on the Romance Novel Giveaway blog. (ends January 20)

Free $100 Amazon Gift Card and 19 MG Paperbacks – Win 1 of 14 paperbacks, a bundle of 5 paperbacks, or a $100 Amazon Gift Card. Enter via rafflecopter on the Ripley Patton blog. (ends Nov 2)

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

Celebrate: Giveaways & More Giveaways!

I have lots to celebrate this week!
1) The temperature finally dipped to the point where I can open the window late at night and let in fresh, COOL air.  Yay!
2) I'm very pleased that my publisher not only got my book in front of a Publishers Weekly reviewer and they gave Bloodwalker a good review (I can't link to the site because it's subscriber only, but it's on my page HERE), but she also sent the book to Library Journal and their review will come out in the Oct 15th edition of their magazine. She's been informed that it will be a featured, starred review with a picture of the cover! Both media sites are hard to get onto (and harsh critics), so I feel very fortunate they liked Bloodwalker so much! Woohoo!

3) I did a guest post for 2 Book Lovers Reviews where they asked me to pick 5 favorite horror books. To plug the guest post on Twitter, I included the handles of the authors, including J.A. Konrath, and I was thrilled like a schoolkid when he retweeted me! J.A. Konrath is the godfather of Indie Publishing, a multi-published bestselling author, and has an influential blog called A Newbie's Guide to Publishing. 

4) I'm delighted to announce that there are two book-bl0gger giveaways of Bloodwalker this month only. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, run quick like a bunny and enter the rafflecopters on:

Graeme Ing's Blog (ends October 24)

O.D. Book Reviews (ends October 31)

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.simply-linked.com/listwidget.aspx?l=79cd691b-a101-48a4-8603-4d22bb6626d8"> </script>

** To see who’s posted for the hop look at my Celebrate The Small Things Blog Roll, left sidebar bottom **

 Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then 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! (Originated by VikLit)

Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net. 

When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Friday Freebies posts -

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

Here are Foxy's suggestions for Oct 14, 2016:

Free Download of Comedy Short Story – Celebrate’s own Julia Thorley has a free short story out called “Briefs Encounter.” I read it, adored it, and gave it 5-stars! I guarantee lots of chuckles as you read this short tale about a woman being thrust into an embarrassing close encounter with an aggressive escalator!
Three reasons to get this funny short story. 1) It’s FREE! 2) It’ll add laughter to your day. 3) Supporting your fellow Celebrate authors brings you good karma!
Download all formats of “Briefs Encounter” from Smashwords.

Free YA Thriller Novel – Celebrate’s own Yvonne Ventrasca has a great new thriller out called Black Flowers, White Lies, about a girl whose father’s death is raising questions and sparking strange occurrences. Yvonne is giving away the book via rafflecopter on the YA Books Central blog. (ends Nov 8)

Free 45 Science Fiction and 60 Fantasy eBooks – There’s a special limited-time giveaway where over 100 authors are offering free books via InstaFreebie. Go to the page, scroll down to the book covers, click on the cover of the book you want and be taken to an InstaFreebie page. Once there you must leave your email (you’ll be signed up for the author’s email list) and choose the format you’d like (epub, mobi or PDF) and click “Claim!” The book will be sent to your email address. Go to Dean Wilson’s blog.  (ends Oct 18)

Free Thriller Novel – Win Fractured by Catherine McKenzie, about a family moving to new city to get away from a stalker but begin to receive threats. The author is giving away a copy of the novel via rafflecopter on The Book Whisperer blog. Few entries = Good chance to win! (US & Canada residents only; ends Oct 17) 

Free YA Paranormal Romance PDF – Win Sunrise by Scott J. Abel, about an angel who fights to keep a boy’s soul away from the dark things that hunt him in the hours before sunrise. Enter via rafflecopter on the CBY Book Club blog. (ends Oct 30)

Free $100 Amazon Gift Card – Win a $100 Amazon card on the giveaway site: Giveaway Promote. (ends Oct 26)

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

Celebrate: Tuckered Out & Giveaways

Bloodwalker is now out in the world.  

It's slowly gaining sales and reviews on Amazon. 

And I am plumb tuckered out....

This is me,
celebrating sleep.

Love you all.

See you next week.

Zzzzzzzz........

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.simply-linked.com/listwidget.aspx?l=79cd691b-a101-48a4-8603-4d22bb6626d8"> </script>

** To see who’s posted for the hop look at my Celebrate The Small Things Blog Roll, left sidebar bottom **

 Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then 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! (Originated by VikLit)

Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net. 

When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Friday Freebies posts -

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

Here are Foxy's suggestions for Oct 7, 2016:

Free YA SF/Dystopia Novel – Win 1 of 10 copies of The Catalyst by Helena Coggan, about a dimensional rip allowing otherworldly souls to rain down, bonding with some humans, who become green-eyed and magically gifted, which sparks a civil war. The author is giving away 10 copies of the novel vi rafflecopter on the YA Books Central blog. (US & Canada only; ends Oct 10)

Free 2 Horror/Fantasy Novels – To celebrate the release of Ghosts in the Machine by Richard Farr, about a thousand immortal beings showing up on Earth and the young genius Morag Chen and her friend must discover who they are and how to stop them, the author is giving away the first book in the series, The Fire Seekers along with Ghosts in the Machine via rafflecopter on the YA Books Central blog. (US only; ends Oct 12)

Free YA SF/Dystopia Novel – Win The Ones by Daniel Sweren-Becker, about 1% of the US population’s babies being allowed genetic-enhancement, but as they grow up, perfect, beautiful, and healthy, the aggressive Equality Movement jealously writes laws to  curtail their freedoms. The author is giving away a copy of the novel via rafflecopter on the YA Books Central blog. (US only; ends Oct 12)

Free Signed Psychological Thriller Paperback – Win 1 of 5 paperback copies of The Experiment of Dreams by Brandon Zenner, about a man who joins a scientific project where an AI named Lucy records dreams but suspicious doctors threaten his sanity and his life. Enter via rafflecopter on the Brandon Zenner blog. (ends Oct 21) 

Free $75 Amazon or B&N Gift Card – To celebrate the release of Temporarily Insane (Romantic Suspense) by Vicki Batman, about a woman who gets a job at a New York accounting firm only to have coworkers turn up dead, the evidence pointing at her, and the murders being investigated by her detective ex-boyfriend, the author is giving away a $75 Amazon or B&N card via rafflecopter on the Romance Novel Giveaways blog. (ends Oct 14)

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

Bloodwalker Releases! & IWSG: Ready or Not

I'm excited to announce Bloodwalker

is released and live on all vendors!

Yeah, baby!

Let the Celebration Begin!

Special thanks to my publisher, 

Freedom Fox Press (Dancing Lemur Press L.L.C.)

for believing in me and in Bloodwalker!

Blurb:

Lightning flashes. Another child disappears…

When Zorka Circus performs, its big top roars with laughter and cheers, but when it moves on, there are fewer children in the European towns it leaves behind.

Circus Security Chief Rurik suspects a killer hides among the international performers, but they close ranks—they’ve always viewed lightning-scarred Rurik as the monster. Nevertheless, he's determined to find the culprit and stop them before anyone else dies and the only place he can call home is ripped apart by the murders.

Into Zorka Circus comes the Skomori clan, despised as gravediggers and ghoulish bloodwalkers. A one-day truce allows bloodwalker Sylvie to marry. Instead, she finds a body. Alerting others will defy her clan’s strict rules, break the truce, and leave her an outcast.

When more bodies turn up, the killer's trail becomes impossible to ignore. Rurik and Sylvie must follow the clues—even if they lead to something unimaginable...

“YA horror novelist Cain (Soul Cutter) steps right up to the center ring in this captivating shocker of children disappearing after the circus comes to town.” 
~ Publishers Weekly

BUY LINKS:

Amazon   ~   Amazon (Kindle)   ~   Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble   ~   Kobo   ~   iBooks

Powell's Bookstores   ~  BAM  ~   Dancing Lemur Press

Author: L.X. Cain was born in the U.S. but now lives on the Red Sea and busily taps away at a laptop, coming up with stories to thrill and entertain readers. 

Contact L.X. Cain at: 

Blog   ~   Facebook   ~   Twitter

Want to know how I thought up 

the bizarre Skomori rituals in Bloodwalker?

Read my guest post on Sue Bursztynski's blog:

Weird Rituals

IWSG - Ready or Not, Here I Come!

The Insecure Writers Support Group asks an interesting question this month: 

When do you know your story is ready?

I think most writers will agree that if we had our way, we'd never stop editing -- even on books that are already released.  We're convinced our work can always be a little better with a tweak here or there, and we want to polish it until it achieves a dazzling brilliance.

Because it's natural for writers' abilities to improve as time goes on, that means our books improve too.  But that actually makes it harder to write---knowing more means we expect more from ourselves---and makes it harder to ever feel our stories are truly "ready."

At some point you have to push your baby bird out of the nest and let it fly.  The best way to stop editing it (once you've given it 150%) is to find a new project that is exciting.  Then it's a little easier to tame the OCD that make us crazy, peel our death grip off the manuscript, and move on...


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.