Welcome to day EIGHT of my Blog Party!
Lots of really super great stuff going on this week! Come back every day to see what I'm going to give away next! Tomorrow, I am giving away Kindlegraphed copies of Linda Leander's book INZARED Queen of the Elephant Riders. Come back to see how many we have available and how you can win one!
Make sure to enter this contest for two printed, signed books, this contest for a book on how to make money with your blog, and to get your free gift here.
Today, my contest goes like this: If you will comment on ANY post on my blogger blog with your twitter handle and go add Ms. Ashley Howland's book Obi the Super Puppy and the Mystery of the Red Mist to your Wish List on Amazon, I will enter you in a drawing to win a copy of the book. When the winner is chosen, I will order you a copy via your wishlist. Like always, I will use random.org and a numbering system (based on your order of comments) to choose the winner. You can enter more than once in this way. You have until 11:59pm ET on 7/25/2012 to enter. GOOD LUCK!
If you would like to purchase a copy on your own, please go here. Check out YouTube videos of Ms. Howland's books! Ghostnapped! and Obi the Super Puppy and the Mystery of the Red Mist. Very cool! Connect with Ashley on LinkedIN as well or like her FaceBook page.
Now, some information about Ms. Ashley Howland and Obi the Super Puppy!
Bio:
Ashley Howland lives in Adelaide, South Australia. She and her dogs, Obi and Stitch, work for Labs ‘n Life, a nonprofit organization that works with youth at risk to train Labradors as autism assistance dogs (www.labsnlife.com). She is inspired to write by her husband Ross, her daughters, Maddy and Aijay, and of course, Obi and Stitch. They are a constant, endless source of material and happiness. She is also the author of Ghostnapped! Her next two books are The Homework Goblin, for young children, and a novel for teenagers titled It’s What You Do Next That Counts.
Synopsis:
Obi is a yellow Labrador who loves adventure, helping people and solving mysteries. He also loves his kids, Maddy and Aijay. This is the story of his first adventure, his new family and how a mysterious red mist entered into his life. The evil red mist has many scary abilities, it can possess animals and toys, but who is behind it? Obi and some new friends must save the day before it is too late. Maddy and Aijay listen patiently as Obi relives this amazing tale and they learn how their faithful friend became a real super puppy.
On to our regularly scheduled list of AWESOME blogs. As always, I will begin with Ms. Howland, my promo for today:
Her blog is filled with great author interviews and great information about being published as well as how she came up with her ideas for her various books:
Ghostnapped blog On Twitter: @AshleyHowland
Another couple of author blogs:
Bonnie R Paulson On Twitter: @bonnierpaulson
Diapers, Bookmarks, and Pipe Dreams On Twitter: @KirkusMacGowan
JD Stockholm On Twitter: @JD_Stockholm
Beauty and Books On Twitter: @LazenBeauty
And a blog about books. I love reading this blog because it's full of useful reader information for writers. Go check out their smuggling ways:
The Book Smugglers On Twitter: @booksmugglers
That's all for today, folks! Come on back tomorrow for more great giveaways and blogs! Until then, WRITE ON!
Jo
A blog dedicated to the education and support of Indie authors.
Also striving to providing great book recommendations and reviews for readers.
Links and Books by Jo Michaels
Showing posts with label ghostnapped. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ghostnapped. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
A Few of My Favorite Blogs Part 8 of The Blog Party
Labels:
ashley howland,
author,
author blog,
book,
book blog,
dee ankary,
free book,
ghostnapped,
jo michaels,
kindle,
Obi the super puppy,
randi g fine,
the abigale chronicles,
the indie authors guide,
yassa
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Reader Interview
On to the next prompt in the Author Blog Challenge...
Find someone you know, either online or in the real world, who is a true bibliophile and interview them about their reading habits. Ask questions such as:
How many books do you buy per month?
What I learned from this interview is that people who buy tangible books, read them.
While you're on my blog, go check out the review I wrote for Ashley Howland's Ghostnapped!
That's all for today, folks! I hope you enjoyed reading this one!! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
Find someone you know, either online or in the real world, who is a true bibliophile and interview them about their reading habits. Ask questions such as:
How many books do you buy per month?
Five
How many do you actually read?
How many do you actually read?
Five
What do you read?
What do you read?
Mysteries, Romance, Sci-Fi,
Historical Fiction, Thrillers, Medical Myseries, Crime Novels, Young Adult
Where do you buy your books?
Where do you buy your books?
Amazon now, I used to be a book club
member.
Who is your favorite author?
Who is your favorite author?
Mary Higgins-Clark
What do you like about the author?
What do you like about the author?
Her storytelling style is less
descriptive. She doesn’t go into what color the floors are, grass is, décor style
(unless setting an era).
How often do you attend signings/readings? What do you enjoy about them?
How often do you attend signings/readings? What do you enjoy about them?
Never. I’m a reclusive.
If you could ask their favorite author any question, what would it be?
If you could ask their favorite author any question, what would it be?
Do you do any charity work for
neglected or abused children?
Which book has most recently surprised or delighted you?
Which book has most recently surprised or delighted you?
Yassa. Because it’s historical
fiction and I don’t usually read them. It was thrilling and unexpected. Out of
the last ten to fifteen books I’ve read, it’s my favorite. I just couldn’t put
it down.
Of everything you’ve read so far this year, what would you most recommend?
I tend to recommend things that are freshest in
my mind. So, I would recommend: Yassa by Jo Michaels, Intensity and 77 Shadow Street by Dean Koontz, and Exclusive by Fern Michaels.Of everything you’ve read so far this year, what would you most recommend?
What I learned from this interview is that people who buy tangible books, read them.
While you're on my blog, go check out the review I wrote for Ashley Howland's Ghostnapped!
That's all for today, folks! I hope you enjoyed reading this one!! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
Book Review - Ghostnapped!
Book Review: Ghostnapped!
By Ashley Howland
Get ready for a
ghastly, ghost-hunting mystery that will chill the very marrow
in your bones! Ashley Howland makes her debut with a sensational
spectral adventure that will ‘fright and delight’ kids and teens
everywhere.
My Rating: three out of five stars
Ghostnapped! has a
wonderful, weaving plot that caught me after just the first few pages and held
me until the end. Trying to figure out what the monster was had me scratching
my head and turning the page. This book will resonate with young readers
everywhere. Alex’s adventure leads her to understand what it means to love your
sibling and the book ends on a happy note. A good lesson for children.
However, there are a few errors in the writing that took me
off guard. A few small things could be changed to give the story a smoother
flow.
Overall, an enchanting read. I recommend it.
Synopsis:
Ten-year-old
Alex loves to explore, but when her younger brother is
mysteriously ghostnapped on their camping trip at the
beach, it is up to Alex and her trusty Labrador, Thuds, to
investigate her brother’s sudden disappearance.
As she surveys
the grassy hills and dangerous rocky cliffs near their camp,
Alex uncovers a hidden secret to other disappearances that
occurred at the very same campsite – over 50 years ago!
A chilling
mystery that can only be solved by Alex, Thuds, and a ghost girl
named Susan, Ghostnapped! explores mysteries of the past,
present and beyond the grave.
Ashley Howland grew up in
Adelaide, South Australia, where she now lives with her husband,
Ross, their daughters, Maddy and Aijay, and her faithful
Labrador, Obi. When not writing or spending time with her
family, Ashley is busy working for Labs ‘n Life, a non-profit
organization that trains Labradors as assistance dogs.
If you'd like to purchase Ghostnapped! here are some links:
For other books by Ashley Howland (@AshleyHowland) visit her author page here. To read an interview with Ashley done by me, go here.
That's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
Friday, June 15, 2012
Author Interview with Ashley Howland
Today, a little something extra for my readers.
Ashley Howland is the author of Ghostnapped!
and Obi the Super Puppy and the Mysteryof the Red Mist.
Welcome, Ashley! Thank you for stopping by to visit with us today!
You write children’s
novels. What attracts you most to that genre?
I write for children because that’s where the pure enjoyment
of reading begins. Reading was also so much a part of my childhood, I always
loved getting a new book. This is something I have been able to share with my
daughters and love every step on this journey.
Ghostnapped! is
set in South Australia at Rapid Bay. Why did you choose that setting?
I started writing Ghostnapped! on a camping trip at Rapid
Bay. A friend and I both wrote stories that weekend, it was great fun to go and
explore the local area. When I got home and did some research into the old mine
and the local habitat the story just kept evolving.
Where did the idea
for your protagonist, Alex, come from?
Alex is a strong girl, she loves to explore and gets annoyed
by her younger brother, who like lots of kids wants to be just like their older
sibling. She developed along with the story, but there are certainly aspects of
her personality that I can relate to.
Obi in Obi the Super Puppy and the Mystery of the
Red Mist is patterned after your own dog. What is your favorite characteristic?
Obi is an amazing dog, he has always been a little bit
different from other Labradors. He likes to sit and observe, or supervise as we
now believe. It is so hard to put into words exactly what he does for the
children he works with, but the best think about Obi is that no one gets
missed.
You participate in
Labs ‘n Life – a non-profit
organization that works with autistic children (BRAVO!). How has that
interaction shaped your writing?
Labs ‘n Life does so much, we train Labradors as companion
dogs for children on the autism spectrum. However we also work with at risk
youth to do this training, they are the ones who train the dogs for other
families. This way so many people benefit from the training of a single dog. We
also have a curriculum that centers on training the dogs, which can provide our
students with credit into further study. This curriculum is rich in literacy
development and in some ways this has helped shape my writing. I certainly get
lots of material from the amazing dogs and students I work with.
Have you ever
considered featuring an autistic child in any of your books?
I probably will at some stage, as I am currently writing a
sequel to Obi, so it may happen. When I am writing I tend to just see where the
book will take me, so you never know.
I see that you
published Ghostnapped! with SBPRA.
Can you tell us about your experience with them?
To get a book published is an amazing thing, I was very
happy when Strategic took on both of my books. I have to thank them for giving
me a go, there are some aspects I know other authors find difficult, but I tend
to think along the lines of proving myself as an author. That is generally what
Strategic are interested in. I have met the basic requirements of both books,
in terms of numbers sold, so now I need to prove I can sell more books in order
to have my next one published. For some authors this approach may seem
difficult, and while it’s not easy I am happy to give it a go.
What methods have you
used for advertising your book, Ghostnapped!?
I have an author web page, Facebook page, twitter (@AshleyHowland), blog and
a YouTube channel. I also have press releases and a YouTube video that were made
by the publishing company. This advertising process is the most difficult,
hopefully it is something I will get better at as I work on my writing. The
publishing company has provided me with many ideas, it’s just trying to find
the time to get things done, and after all writing is a hobby.
Have you considered a
giveaway on Goodreads for Ghostnapped!? Why/Why not?
I have only just joined Goodreads, so I guess anything is
possible. It is something I will be looking into.
Do you have any
events (book signings, meet the author events, sales, etc…) planned?
I am hoping to be available to present some reading
challenge medals at a few schools later in the year, this is something I really
enjoy. I would also be more than happy to do book signings and meet the author
events, it would certainly be an experience.
What types of things
do you discuss on your blog?
At the moment I am doing an author blog challenge, so I have
used a few of their prompts. This has given me a chance to blog about my
writing process, and learn about the processes of others. I will never claim to be a complete author, just
someone who wants to share a story. Most of my blogs outside of the challenge
tend to be about the dogs, and the crazy things they do.
Is there a specific
message you’re trying to send with Ghostnapped!?
What is that message?
I wouldn’t say there were any specific messages, but there
were two themes that developed. I enjoyed touching on the natural rivalry
between siblings. Now that I have two daughters I will get a lot more material
in this area. It’s fun to explore that love/hate relationship brothers and
sisters have. The other was an environmental theme that fit into the local area
of the beach.
What are some of the
books you’re planning for the future? Where will we be able to find them?
At the moment I am editing two more children’s books. One if
for younger readers and I am having a friend do some illustrations. I hope to
begin the publishing process with this one towards the end of the year. The
other will take longer, as it is more of a teenage novel, but one I am really
enjoying. I am also writing that sequel to Obi, so I have lots of writing to
keep me busy.
Thank you, Ashley, for taking the time to answer my
questions. I wish you the best of luck with your books and look forward to
having you back for a visit soon!
A review for Ghostnapped!
will be appearing on my blog tomorrow with a synopsis so come on back for that.
That's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo
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