UTOPiAcon 2016 - Nashville, TN, June 22-26 - Hot Venues, Food, and Celebrity Sightings

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today, we're touching on some of the amazing places you can visit in Nashville, and a couple of celebrity type topics. Ready? Let's get going!

First off, if you don't have tickets to the event, what are you waiting for? Get them here. Right now. Here's a little infographic that'll tell you what you get!

So, as you may know, Nashville is home to some big stars (like Blake Shelton, for example), but it's also home to some rather amazing food and some pretty cool star owned venues. I'm going to highlight one such venue, and tell you a little bit about the amazing food I had while I was at Utopia last year.

Let's start with pop star Tiffany. Y'all remember her from the 80s, right? Well, it just so happens she has a little clothing store in Nashville called Tiffany's Boutique. You can find it on Facebook here.

They're located at 1106 Fatherland Street, Nashville, TN (which is about 11 minutes from the Millennium Maxwell House hotel), and you can check out all the new stuff on their website here. Yes, it's very BoHo, but it's also pretty cool!

Now, as far as food goes, I'm sure you've all seen the commercials lately about KFC's Nashville Hot Chicken, right? Well, there's a place called Hattie B's, and Reagan Claire (a Nashville native) took me over there for some amazing food the day I arrived. A few other people joined the party (you don't go anywhere alone when you're at Utopia), and we had a fantastic time! Here's a photo of us being goofy and one of the sign.

We did have to drive there! But, as an alternative, if you're not a huge fan of hot chicken (experience it IN Nashville just once, I beg of you), and you don't have a car or a ride, the hotel shuttle will take you downtown to the strip. From the stop there, you can walk around a corner and have darn near any kind of food you want (and go Honkey-Tonking if you choose to do so). Well, the Fractured Glass ladies and I had a dinner date, so we hopped into a shuttle and moseyed on over. Of course, several people joined the party! It was amazing! Here's a couple of pictures from Jimmy Buffet's.

What's that you say? You want more about celebrities? Okay!

Just a couple of miles down Rosa Parks Blvd. (five minutes from the hotel), there's a place that does tours of Nashville called NashTrash Tours. You can find their website here, and I hear they have an uncanny knack of finding celebrities around the city. They ask that you book a few weeks out, so if you wanna do it, be sure you plan ahead.

If you'd like to hit a couple of hot spots on your own, here's a short list of celebrities and places they might be seen:
Nicole Kidman likes the Starbucks at 5 points in Franklin, along with the Country Boy restaurant in Liepers Fork, and she and Keith have been seen at J. Alexanders on the West end, and they like the Green Hills area on Sunday mornings.
Racecar driver Darrell Waltrip can be found at Famous Dave’s BBQ and at J. Alexanders.
Layla R'ul (weekend nights - guaranteed sightings of several celebrities).

If you want more, the other bloggers will be highlighting hot-spots, too! Be sure and pay them all a visit this month!
Week 1: Jo Michaels and Maria Pease
Week 2: Shana Benedict and Delphina Miyares
Week 3: Toni Lesatz and Ren Reidy
Week 4: Ashley Bodette and Kathryn Grimes

Award-Winning YA Paranormal Shifter Series on Sale

Happy Tuesday! Today, we're talking about a lovely series you can start for free, and then grab the follow up books for less than three bucks. I know, it's one hell of a steal! Ready? Here we go!

From the awesome Tia Silverthorne Bach:

I get the winter blues about this time of year (yes, even in California... it's our rainy season, and I miss the sunshine). 

So, I thought it was a good time for a sale.

Plus, Chasing Eternity is slated to publish 5/25/16. It's the last in the series. For anyone who hasn't caught up (or hasn't started), this would be a good time.

Buy Links

Chasing Memories (#1)

Chasing Shadows (#2)

Chasing Forgiveness (companion novella)

Chasing Destiny (#3)

To sum up the series... it's about accepting your destiny and fighting with faith. Sure there are shapeshifters, witches, vampires, and angels, but it's also about taking what life gives you and making the most of it. With Faith, We Fight.

Reagan's fate was determined long before her birth, and she must study and harness her powers in order to face what has been foretold. Although she comes to accept her destiny, she refuses to let it define her path. To save the world, she must: 

Gather powerful allies.
Call forth a team of angels.
Form an unholy alliance.
Discover an angel sword.
Survive devastating losses. 

Along the way, Reagan will discover that strength comes from faith, from believing in the unbelievable, and a new battle cry emerges… With Faith, We Fight.

*****

If you've already read and enjoyed the series, please spread the word. Happy reading!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How awesome is that? Why are you still here? Go get your copy right now!

Have you already read it? What did you think?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo 

News Post #4 2016 - Instagram: Author Life Month

Happy Monday! Today, I'm giving you the news from Instagram! Let's rock! By the way, you can follow me on IG here. Yeah, username WriteJoMichaels. Original, right? LOL

So, there's this cool challenge over on IG this month that was started by missdahlelama. Check it out below and join in!

Here's my first IG post ever. Breaking this in the right way ;)

What do you think? Will you participate? Comment with your IG handles!!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Cover Reveal - Much of Madness by S. E. Summa

Cover Reveal

Much of Madness

by

S.E. Summa

Much of Madness, Book 1 of The Conexus Chronicles will be releasing on February 29th

Blurb

Seraphina Pearce doesn’t know what’s more frustrating: her magic’s affinity for death, her best friend’s transformation into an albino Sin Eater, or that even touching a guy she loves means someone’s headed to the morgue. After a sin eating job gone wrong, she casts a risky spell and butts heads with a handsome stranger to win an infamous grimoire. Marceau L’Argent is the last person she should confide in: he has a mysterious past, he’s made it no secret he is after the grimoire, and he causes butterflies in her stomach—a feeling she’d thought long dead. He also understands her dark magic and offers help no one else can, as an occult cat burglar and rare cursebreaker. Seraphina was only trying to break her curse—not piss off Death himself. MUCH OF MADNESS is a Southern Gothic Horror story about loyalty, sacrifice, and discovering the courage to love no matter the odds.

About the Author

S.E Summa lives in Tennessee with her husband and a menagerie of spoiled pets. After her daughter left the nest, she rediscovered her love for writing. Growing up in Nashville, she always felt the city’s unique culture and landmarks would be the perfect setting for monsters to play. S.E graduated magna cum laude with a BBA from Belmont University. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), and serve’s as the Volunteer and Membership Coordinator for my local chapter, the Music City Romance Writers (MCRW). Inspired by her fantastic experience at UtopYA Con 2015, S.E started The Debut Collective, an online community of authors committed to publishing by June 2016. The Debut Collective is a supportive tribe of authors (both published and aspiring), editors, formatters, and cover designers working together to foster a new generation of stories and authors.

Author Links

Website | GoodReads | Facebook

Twitter | Pinterest | Google

Hosted by S.A.S.S.

Facebook

Prisoner of Prophecy - New Release and Sale

Happy Thursday, everyone! This day is all about a new book I think you should check out. Grab your coffee and a donut, and let's get going!

Title: Prisoner of Prophecy

Author: Casey L. Bond

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: CHBB

Hosted by: Lady Amber’s PR

Blurb: The only two things that seventeen-year-old Solara longs for, are the very things that she can’t have. True love isn’t an option when you’re told who to marry. Freedom isn’t possible when you’ve been held captive your entire life. Just when things in her life seem to be falling into place, she learns that she’ll never be free to live or love as she would like. She is a prisoner of prophecy. The dead have been resurrected to guide her. The fallen angels who prowl the Earth want to manipulate her. And the most frightening monsters of all are human. Can Solara love the one boy prophesied to betray her? Will she learn to embrace her destiny, or will she be crushed by the weight of the world on her shoulders?

Award-winning author Casey L. Bond resides in Milton, West Virginia with her husband and their two beautiful daughters. When she’s not busy being a domestic goddess and chasing her baby girls, she loves to write young adult and new adult fiction. You can find more information about Bond’s books via the following links:  

Website  
Facebook 
Twitter

Amazon Author Page
Instagram: @authorcaseybond 
Goodreads

Pinterest

Buy Links: .99 cents 1/25-1/27, 1.99 1/28-1/30 Amazon.

The behemoth of a man, extremely tall, broad, and muscular with long flowing amber hair and cobalt-blue eyes walked toward me. I countered his progression by moving backward toward the fire, toward Faric, and toward safety.

His skin was luminous and without flaw. He was dressed in what I could only describe as a white loincloth with a golden plate of armor over his chest and some sort of engraved gold-armored plates on his forearms and shins. His enormous feet were clad in leather sandals with laces crossing one another on their journey up his ankles.

He inched toward me, and I heard a loud whoosh rush past my ears. I grasped them and sunk to my knees, unsure of what had caused the loud sound and wind turbulence at the same time. I looked back up at the mountain of a man and saw a pair of beautiful stark-white wings spanning at least ten feet to his sides. I clasped my mouth at the sight of him.

I could hear Faric approaching hurriedly, and then I heard him cry out as if in pain. The angel glowered in his direction, and his arm extended toward Faric, who was pinned against a tree by some invisible force. He panted and grunted in battle against the pressure of the invisible restraint.

“It is time, Solara,” the man said with a melodious tenor voice. He stepped toward me, lowering his hand.

I looked at Faric, still plastered to the tree despite the angel dropping his hand.

Before I could look back at him, I was hoisted into the air by an invisible force as well. With one strong beat of his wings, the angel lifted himself off the ground and hovered across from me, maybe twenty feet away. I looked down at Faric, and terror flashed through his eyes as they met mine. I started to panic. My breath expelled in short, ragged huffs. I frantically tried to look for whatever was suspending me in the air but could see nothing.

The angel smiled and lifted me higher toward the canopy.

“Let me down. Please, I beg you. Let me down.”

He just looked at me before turning to survey the area behind him. I heard another whoosh before my hair lashed my face.

Hovering beside the angel was another beautiful man with short dark hair, light-gray eyes, and sun-kissed skin. His armor was similar, except had black metal to match his onyx wings.

He smirked and looked arrogantly at the white-winged angel. “Sorry, I’m late.”

 The white angel laughed heartily and said, “Do you not grow tired of hell, brother?”

The dark angel laughed and said, “My hell is currently situated on Earth, and so I am thoroughly enjoying the sins in which I am currently able to partake.”

“Excuse me, I hate to interrupt, but put me down.” I pointed toward Faric. “And let him go.”

Both angels burst into laughter as I was whipped around to face away from them. My hair was blown over my shoulder, exposing my back completely.

The white angel’s voice resounded through the forest. “Chosen one, you will now receive the mark of the Creator.”

Terror flowed through my veins as just as his voice boomed and reverberated through the forest. Crows flew from their perches, blending with the black of the sky, leaving an ever-fading cacophony in their wake.

It can’t be that bad to get this mark thing, right? I mean, the examiner looked over every square inch of my back to try to find it, so it must be small.

I looked back over my shoulder in time to see the white angel draw a long, glistening sword from behind his back. It shone with light, and he approached so fast, I couldn’t even comprehend how he’d moved. Deep, hot pain flashed down the length of my spine.

Before I could even scream, I heard a sickening crack behind me and looked back still trying to recover from the sword’s slice. The dark angel’s whip dripped with flame before I saw a flash. A searing pain blazed across my shoulder blades from left to right. The scream released from my throat didn’t even sound human. My vision blurred, and my muscles fell limp and useless against the blinding pain.

As my head bobbed on my chest, I caught a glimpse of Faric, still pinned against the trunk of the oak below. He was screaming and thrashing against the invisible forces that held him, looking up at me.

Then all went black.

What do you think? Gonna grab it?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Whatever Jo Wants Wednesday #3 - Tips and Tricks on Writing, Marketing, and Much More

Happy hump-day, everyone! Today, I'm talking about my little tips and tricks page here on the blog. I spend one month a year organizing it, adding alllll the posts from the year prior, and giving little descriptions so you can find what you're looking for quickly and easily. Let's dive into what's there, shall we? Get your clicking fingers ready, grab your coffee, and let's roll!

Here are the topics:

WRITING TIPS
This is broken down into Characters, Plot, Craft, and Tips and Tricks (like using MS Word to measure pacing, how to use Google Drive to collaborate, and more).

ADVICE ON EVERYTHING
Where to write, things to do to help you write, book swag, and other stuff. All clearly defined for your reading and browsing pleasure.

EDITING TIPS
If you're in the self-editing stage of your novel, this is where you want to be. Broken down into Punctuation, Dialogue, Pronouns, Variation, and Word Usage, you'll find everything you need to help your editor help you.

ORGANIZATION TIPS
Tips to help you organize yourself, your book, AND your files.

WRITING EXERCISES
Things to help you practice your writing. Games you can play with the family and dialogue exercises, too!

BOOK FORMATTING
What should be there, how you can get your novel ready to publish, and a few warnings.

EDITORS AND CONTRACTS
About the different kinds of editors and a breakdown of several contracts.

BRANDING YOUR AUTHOR SELF
Genres, look and feel, and why how you behave matters.

SERIES POSTS 
All the series posts I've written: Human Nature, Enneagram Types, Branding, Look at your xXx, Becoming a Book Blogger, and Punctuation (that one is fun).

FREE PDFS
All the PDFs I've created here for you to download, keep, and share for FREE!

BLOGGING AND BLOG TOURS
There's one on branding and one is a workbook to help you check your novel and fix holes (THIS IS A NEW TOPIC FOR 2016).

MARKETING TIPS  
Tools you can use to help you navigate the online waters and marketing ideas I've had.

I hope you find useful stuff on these pages. Every now and then, I throw archived posts out there into the ether and hope someone finds them when they're needed. I'm seriously considering focusing on social media how to this year.

Which one is your favorite?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Blog Spotlight #3 - Escape Reality

Happy Tuesday! EEEP! I have another lovely, Indie-friendly book blog (it's strictly a Facebook blog) to share with you all. Without any ado, whatsoever, I present: Escape Reality!

BLOG SPOTLIGHT:

Escape Reality Book Blog

Hi, my name is Shannon and I live in Georgia with my husband of 16 years and my son. We all love to play golf and hunt. It is really nice because we have a lot of family time and we spend a lot of time outdoors.

I read nothing but fiction because I feel the world has enough problems to make me sad, so I want to escape and read about other things (hence the blog name). I like to pimp and introduce others to new books and learn about new books. I love going to book signings and actually meeting authors. I have met some wonderful people through the street teams I am on and the book clubs that I am in.

I was encouraged by my husband and other blogger friends to do my own book blog because of my love for reading and pimping. So in November 2015 I finally did it. I have learned so much and I am still learning (LOL).

I have created open pimping days on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I don’t mind posting for anyone and I don’t mind helping other blogs out by posting their giveaways. We are all in this together. I do hope you will come check out my blog and join in.

I do want to give special thanks to my wonderful husband who helped me come up with the name, and everyone who has be wonderful enough to help me along the way to get it up and going.

So I hope you come for a visit, interact and share your love of books with me.

Social Links

Facebook Twitter

Be sure and give Shannon a visit and hit her up! How amazing is that?

What do you think?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo