Celebrate: Bloodwalker Giveaway & More Giveaways!

My great publisher, Freedom Fox Press (Dancing Lemur Press), is sponsoring an audiobook giveaway for many of the books they've published -- and it's BLOODWALKER's turn!

The giveaway is on Twitter and a winner will be chosen in one week (June 8). If you have a Twitter account, here are the super easy directions to enter for a chance to win:

Go to Dancing Lemur Press's pinned tweet HERE and click the ReTweet button.

That's it!! You're now entered in the giveaway!!

This week I'm celebrating how I have the best, most helpful, and hard-working publisher ever --  L. Diane Wolfe of Freedom Fox Press!

If you listen to audiobooks, where do you do it? In the car? On the bus? While you're exercising?

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 June 2, 2017:

Free Middle Grade Comedy Adventure Novel – Be one of 10 winners of Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce, about  a foster kid who meets an alien (that looks like a dog) and learns that the Earth is slated for destruction unless he can come up with 10 reasons it should be saved. Enter via rafflecopter on the My Book Addiction blog. (ends June 11) 

Free YA Fantasy (Mermaid) eBook – Win Breakwater by Catherine Jones Payne, about a mermaid living in an underwater city shaken by a murder that leads back to her and her fiancé. Enter via rafflecopter on the Mythical Books blog. (ends Jun 19)

Free 1 Signed Novel and 3 YA Contemporary Romance eBooks – To celebrate the release of About Last Summer by Patricia B. Tighe, she’s giving away a signed paperback novel (US only) of Life in the No-Dating Zone, ebook copies of the Zone series (3 books, open internationally), and an ebook copy of her newest book, About Last Summer. Enter via rafflecopter on the Mythical Books blog.  (ends Jun 12)

Free $50 Amazon Gift Card – To celebrate the release of Damned Either Way (Book 3 of the Harker trilogy) by Erin Hayes, about vampires taking over the world and the only one who can stop them — the Harker! — the author is giving away a $50 Amazon card via rafflecopter on the Romance Novel Giveaways blog. (ends Jun 18)

Free $100 Amazon Gift Card – To celebrate the release of Hard Proof: Notus Motorcycle Club by Debra Kayne, about twin sisters getting involved with a biker who’s secretly working with the police to catch a serial killer, the author is giving away a $100 Amazon card via rafflecopter on the Mythical Books blog. (ends Jun 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

IWSG: Everything Old is New Again

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time for the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. This month, the question hoppers can answer is: 

Have you ever pulled out a 
really old story and reworked it? 
Did it work out?

My answers: Sort of, and Yes.

Incarnation #1. About 7 years ago (2010), I had a story idea about a young woman who was a monster slayer (original, huh?). The villain was a monster called The Ratman, who preyed on children. The premise sort of followed the Pied Piper story, and as a nod to the musical aspect, I wrote song lyrics (a short poem, actually) to start the story. After fiddling with it for a few months, I had no enthusiasm and put it away.

Incarnation #2. Two years later (2012), I picked up the story, titled it Ratman, and decided I could solve the lack of originality by adding Sci-Fi elements to it, something about world wide nexus points that could transfer you from place to place... I dunno. I love Sci-Fi, but I totally failed at developing a believable scientific basis for the novel.

Incarnation #3. A little over two years ago (2014), I entered a contest on Writing.com for a 400-word novel opening. I got out my creepy Ratman poem but needed to write the actual start of a novel. I thought, What's the most riveting opening I can imagine? Believe me, it's a lot easier to think up a beginning if you don't have to worry about writing the rest!  The contest was decided by popular vote from a lot of writers--and I won!  Then I decided I'd use my 400-word winning entry and try to expand it into a novel.

Final Incarnation.  BLOODWALKER, Thriller/Mystery novel published October, 2016.

That's right, my whole novel began as a poem written 7 years ago--and here it is:

School is out, no books today.

Boneyard’s where the children play.

Marta’s there and Peter, too,

Silent faces, cold and blue.

Shut the doors. Lock them tight.

Ratman prowls the streets tonight.

Win your own audiobook version of BLOODWALKER 

by the entering the giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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.

Celebrate: AudioBook Giveaway & More Giveaways!

AudioBook released!
BLOODWALKER

Narrated by Jonathan Waters

Produced by Dancing Lemur Press L.L.C.

I'm excited to announce the release of the BLOODWALKER's AudioBook and a giveaway for 2 of them! Read on for more info...

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.

BUY LINKS:   Amazon      Audible      iTunes

Enter the rafflecopter below to win a FREE copy of the new Bloodwalker AudioBook! (Mobile-friendly link to FB Giveaway Page)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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 Feb 24, 2017:

Free 5 YA Dystopian Novels – Win 5 novels by New York Times bestselling authors: Ann Aguirre’s Vanguard, Victoria Aveyard’s King’s Cage, Samantha Shannon’s The Song Rising, Jessica Sorensen’s Forbidden, and Rachel Vincent’s Brave New Girl. There are five other authors sponsoring the giveaway; an entry will sign you up for their newsletters (no obligation to read them though). Enter via Entry Form on Megan Crewe blog & reply to the confirmation email. (ends Mar 3)

Free Historical Mystery/Thriller Novel & 1 Historical  Novel – Win Viper’s Blood (Master of War series) by David Gilman and Kingmaker: Divided Souls by Toby Clements. Enter via rafflecopter on the Historia Magazine/Historical Writers of America blog. (ends Feb 28)

Free Gourmet Foods Package and Signed Romantic-Comedy Novel – Win Hooked by Allen Wolf, about an autistic man who finds his true love—only she’s a hooker. Can love triumph? Enter via Entry Form on the Romance Novel Giveaways blog. (US only; ends April 6)

Free Your Choice of a New February Release – Win your choice of any new book released in February 2017 that’s under $17. Enter via rafflecopter on the It Starts at Midnight blog. Few entries = Good chance to win! (US only; ends Feb 28)

Free Kindle Paper White – Win a Kindle Paper White, a $120 value. Enter via Entry Form & answer the simple question on the SFF Book Bonanza blog. (ends Feb 28)

Free Kindle Fire & 50 Thriller Novels - Win 50 Contemporary Thriller Novels and a Kindle Fire. Enter via Entry Form on the BookSweeps blog. (ends Feb 28)

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

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.

Celebrate: Card Deck Winner, LOLDogz & Giveaways

The winner of the BLOODWALKER card deck is:

Lily Wolfe

Congratulations!




I've decreed this week as my official Goofing Off Week. I need a break from social media and writing and promo-ing and all that stuff.  Sometimes, I think all of us just need to laugh and enjoy ourselves, so here are some cute LOLDogz for you!

      THE SENSUAL LAMBADA DANCE!

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 July 22, 2016:

Free YA Supernatural/Thriller Novel – Win a copy of How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather, about a girl moving to Salem, Massachusetts and discovering she’s related to a witch hunter and then becomes the enemy of a group of girls called The Descendents who are related to witches killed during the Salem Witch Trials. The author is giving away a copy of the book via rafflecopter on the YA Book Central blog. (ends Aug 2)

Free YA SciFi Novel – Win a copy of The Seige by Mark Alpert, about a boy whose new cutting-edge digital mind was programmed by the government to enable him to fight the deadly AI program determined to wipe out the civilization of a new planet. The author is giving away a copy of the book via rafflecopter on YA Book Central. (ends Aug 1)

Free $10 Amazon Gift Card – To celebrate the release of Bottled by Carol Riggs, about a girl cursed to be a genie in a bottle, the boy she loves, a villain who wants to use her powers for evil, and the new boy protecting her who she might be falling for, the author is giving away a $10 Amazon card via rafflecopter on the Medeia Sharif blog. (ends Aug 6)

Free $100 Amazon Gift Card – To celebrate the release of The Last of the Firedrakes by Farah Oomerbhoy, about a girl who’s kidnapped and taken to a new world where magic reigns and evil awaits, the author is giving away a $100 Amazon card via rafflecopter on the Mythical Book blog. (ends July 30)


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