Showing posts with label M. Show all posts
Showing posts with label M. Show all posts

Monday, March 28, 2016

Interview on YouTube and M is on Sale!

Happy Monday, everyone! EEP! I'm running a bit late today, but I made it. I have some awesome, exciting news for you all, so let's get to it. No jabbering today!

First up, I did an interview with Book Nerd Paradise for their YouTube channel that I think you might enjoy! I did a reading from M, too. There's also a chance to win a book in there (physical or digital)! Here we go!



Second, in honor of my appearance on BNP, I've put M on sale for just $0.99 until tomorrow at midnight.

You can get it here.

Here's more info about the book and a little teaser!

Title: M
Author: Jo Michaels
Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Blurb:
In 2026, it finally arrives, the drug promising to make life easier for the masses. One dose of M and anyone can gain an ability. There are no promises made as to what the power could manifest as, but people are crawling over one another to take a chance.

There's a problem: One pill costs a million dollars. Only those with extraordinary wealth are afforded the luxury of cleaning house with a click of their diamond-adorned fingers or solving a puzzle by talking to it.

A knockoff begins circulating in 2038 that does the same thing as M. Hundreds of thousands of people have mutated for a mere one hundred dollars.

Enter the year 2042.

Seventeen-year-old Griffin is a normal kid, who has a regular job, and dreams of going to college someday. When his girlfriend of three years succumbs to peer pressure, they break up.

He believes the body is a temple not to be messed with outside of nature, and she wants to fit in. Once he meets the supplier, things take a turn for the worse.

He's left with nothing but pain in his heart and the desire to make them suffer when his plans for payback blow up in his face.

Thirst for revenge consumes him, and he finds himself locked in a battle he never anticipated with a merciless kingpin as they struggle to gain the advantage.

How far is too far?



Happy reading!

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

Jo

Thursday, June 18, 2015

New Release - M

Happy Thursday, good people of the blogosphere! I can't even begin to tell you all how stinking excited I am for the news I'm sharing today. Ready? Grab a cup of coffee and let's get going!

M has officially been released! You can grab a copy on Kindle for just $3.99. Want more info? Keep reading! *grin*

Title: M
Author: Jo Michaels
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal/Urban Fiction/Sci-Fi
Length: 318 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $3.99  ~  Paperback $16.99

Blurb:
In 2026, it finally arrives, the drug promising to make life easier for the masses. One dose of M and anyone can gain an ability. There are no promises made as to what the power could manifest as, but people are crawling over one another to take a chance.

There's a problem: One pill costs a million dollars. Only those with extraordinary wealth are afforded the luxury of cleaning house with a click of their diamond-adorned fingers or solving a puzzle by talking to it.

A knockoff begins circulating in 2038 that does the same thing as M. Hundreds of thousands of people have mutated for a mere one hundred dollars.

Enter the year 2042.

Seventeen-year-old Griffin is a normal kid, who has a regular job, and dreams of going to college someday. When his girlfriend of three years succumbs to peer pressure, they break up. He believes the body is a temple not to be messed with outside of nature, and she wants to fit in. Once he meets the supplier, things take a turn for the worse.

He's left with nothing but pain in his heart and the desire to make them suffer when his plans for payback blow up in his face.

Thirst for revenge consumes him, and he finds himself locked in a battle he never anticipated with a merciless kingpin as they struggle to gain the advantage.

How far is too far?


***This book is a standalone novel, suitable for those over the age of thirteen. There is some violence that may not be appropriate for younger children.*** 
 TEASER IMAGE!



What are you waiting for? Go check it out! Free to sample.
What do you think? Sound interesting?
Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!
Jo 

Monday, June 15, 2015

Author Interview - Jo Michaels

Happy Monday, everyone! I know I said I was done with the author interviews, but I figured I'd put one up with myself. *grin* This is so you get to know a little about ME before utopYA Con. It's just three days away now, and I want you to be able to recognize me if you happen upon a lady in a hat like mine. I also took questions from friends and fans on Facebook, so I'll be dropping those in as we go along with the name of the person asking.


Ready? Grab a cup of coffee and let's get going!

JoQ: Hi there, you! Rather than give you a long introduction, I'm jumping right into the questions. Here we go! Where might someone be able to find you at utopYA Con this week?

JoA: Hello, yourself! Thanks for not letting everyone know all about me! Rude. I'm sure we'll be getting to that soon, right? To answer your question, folks will be able to find me at GB3: Jo Michaels & Tia Bach/Indie Books Gone Wild. That means Tia and I will be in the Grand Ballroom Thursday and Friday at the IBGW table (#3). I'll also be there Saturday for the Authors Are My Idols book signing. Look for me in my new, black hat!

JoQ: That's great! Yeah, we'll get to the stuff about you here in a bit. Please, try to be patient. So, I hear you're releasing a book at utopYA. Care to share the deets with us?

JoA: *drums fingers on table impatiently* Deets! Yes! The novel is titled M, and it's about a mutating drug by the same name and the human desire to fit in. My main character is named Griffin, and he's so blinded by revenge, he often loses sight of what really matters: love, friends, family, etc... You just have to read it. I've already sold a number of copies via pre-order, so it seems like it'll be well received. It's also the featured book this week here on the blog. Yay!

JoQ: That's amazing news! So, tell me a little about you. Why do you write in the genres that you do?

JoA: I write whatever I get a story idea for. Mostly, my books revolve around strong women and/or lessons on being a better human being. I write to inspire, empower, and educate.

JoQ: Sounds like a big task! Now, I've taken the liberty of asking other people what they'd ask you in an interview. So, I'm gonna open the floor up to them. First up, we have B. J. Sheldon. B. J. asks, "Where'd you get those sick dance moves?"

JoA: She must be referring to the 80s dance off we had last year after the awards. Ah, fond memories! Well, I've taken dance classes my whole life, and I used to go to clubs and dance like there was no tomorrow. I learned by watching and repeating what I saw. Practice is a Godsend.

JoQ: Hopefully, you'll win this year! Ms. Liz Long wants to know: "What inspires you?"

JoA: Yeah, not likely. B. J. has the 80s down pat. *grins* Hmmm, what inspires me... I'd have to say my inspiration comes from the world and people around me. I'm blessed to be surrounded by so much love and positive reinforcement. I've also always been overly intrigued by the human condition. I wonder why people do the things they do, and what would happen if. When I see something I may be able to change with a pen, I try my very best to make it happen.

JoQ: There you go again with the empower and educate stuff. Well, this next question will be right up your alley. Natasha Hanova asked, "How do you stay so motivated?"

JoA: Oh, Natasha! I have my days like everyone else, when I just want to say, "To Hell with it!" But every time a reader of my blog tells me they learned something or how finding my corner of the blogosphere helped them through their Indie struggles, it pushes me to hit the keys once more. Every time a reader of my books tells me how they connected with one of my characters, it makes me want to write another word. It's all about the positive impact I hope I'm having. That's what keeps me motivated. I love paying it forward.

JoQ: Nice! Your next question is from Layla Renee. She asks, "What do you do when you get stuck on a project?"

JoA: Stuck? If you mean writer's block, I don't really have it. There's a point sometimes where I don't know where a story is going next, and I have to step away from it for a minute to work that out, but I usually draw up a beginning and an end and go from there. If I still can't work it out, I write on something else for a while. I firmly believe this is because I write at the same time each day, with a warm up here on the blog to kick it off. Once words are flowing, it makes it easier to craft a novel.

JoQ: It's good to be in the zone. Your next question is from Shawn McGuire: "How do you balance blogging with writing and the rest of your life?"

JoA: I'm a meticulous planner, and I schedule my weeks accordingly. I don't work after 5pm or on weekends; that time is reserved strictly for my family and house stuff. My blog is actually a warm-up and works well to motivate me to write. But, when something's gotta give, it's my blog that does so. There are times I have life stuff get in the way, and there are those times when I'm on a deadline with an edit. My clients trump all else. I meet my deadlines. Period. *grin*

JoQ: It's true. Schedules make the world go 'round! Next up is two questions from Ms. Heidi Lea: "When did you decide to become a writer? What's your method of writing?"

JoA: Great questions, Heidi! Love them. I decided to become a writer in college. It was a World History class, actually. I did this great research paper on Genghis Khan, and I found out so many interesting details I just had to write the story (with a fictional twist, of course). A year after graduation, Yassa was born. Since then, it's been a whirlwind of fun.

My methods vary as widely as my subject matter. Some books I write off the cuff, and some I write one or two chapters of and let them simmer on my brain until I dream the story out. Once I have it, I sit down and write until I'm done. I, Zombie was started way back before it was written (NaNo novel), and I finished it in just seven days. I'm a total pantser. No way can I outline and keep my novels as organic as I want to. Then, of course, you have the characters who are pushy and tell you what they want you to write. I can't deny them!

JoQ: You're such a softy! Your next question comes from Jolene Buchheit. She wants to know: "What's one thing you would tell new authors about sales expectations?"

JoA: Jolene, bless you! There's no such thing. My best advice on this is write the best book you can, use an editor, give it a beautiful cover, have a kick ass marketing plan, and cross your fingers. Do not expect anything. If it happens, and you sell thousands of copies, that's awesome. Let it shock you. If you don't, you're more likely than not to be disappointed. But never, ever give up.

JoQ: Never giving up is a must. Truly. Too many authors throw in the towel too soon. Okay, onward! Your next question is from Stormy Smith. "Why did you decide to share so much advice and information on your blog? That takes time away from your writing, so how do you find balance between the two?"

JoA: For the answer to the second part, see Shawn's question above. For the first, oh my. You may love my answer; you may hate it. Nonetheless, here it is: My blog is my baby. It's kept me going through the darkest and lightest times of my life. Through it, I've met some of my best friends. I don't just share advice with others, I share it with myself. It's a constant reminder of things I should be doing, how to get to where I want to be, and one tiny, itty bitty way I can pay it forward. There have been a ton of people who've helped me get to where I am today, and my blog is one way I can educate and promote others in an effort to help spread the word/share the love. It's a huge part of my writing life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

JoQ: Truth. The blog is the baby! The lovely Kelly Martin asked your next question. She said, "Some writers focus on readers, some on other writers. Do you have a mailing list/fb page/ anything that is reader only or do you focus just on authors?"

JoA: Kelly, you're outing me here! *grin* I have my author page on Facebook, of course, and that's geared toward readers, but IBGW also has a super secret weapon we unveil for clients: A reader only subscription where we give away books. Every IBGW client gets a giveaway (we buy and gift the books), and their release goes out to our massive subscriber list made up of readers. It's really quite something. We started it because we wanted to go the extra mile for our clients--do the thing no one else was doing: help them promote their book once it's published. Sign up here.

As a bonus, those readers are getting well-edited books in the giveaways they enter. It's win/win.

Plus, the blog has reviews (used to be once a week until deadlines started piling up and reading went the way of the wind), and those are geared toward readers. This is a rare kind of blog. It's really about all things books.

I also curate a Flipboard magazine with book reviews for readers. I harvest all reviews from my Time for Books 2015 Review Team. They're an amazing group of readers, and write wonderful reviews.

There! I'm out of the closet. Thanks a lot. haha!

JoQ: Blog baby! *grin* Your final two questions are from Ms. Snowa Fox. They are: "Where do you get inspiration from for books and for blog posts? What advice would you give your pre-published self if you could go back in time?"

JoA: For books, see the answer to my own question up near the top. For blog posts, well, that's another matter entirely! I write about things I learn as I learn them. If I'm editing a book and see the same mistake being made over and over, I'll write a blog post with a tip to keep others out of the hot seat with that error. If I come upon some awesome digital tool, I check it out and recommend it. If I have a marketing idea, I share. When I see someone struggling with something, I find the answer and post it here on the blog. So, everywhere, I guess. haha!

What advice would I give myself? Find a book like The Indie Author's Guide and read it before you do anything else! Seriously. I wrote that pocket guide out of my own frustrations so other authors wouldn't have to struggle like I did with finding stuff. I priced it low so it would be affordable for authors to learn from. It's a newbie's best friend.

JoQ: Yeah... Struggles... *wipes brow* I did a lot of that in the beginning, huh? Well, it's time to wrap this up! Be sure and look for me at utopYA in two days! I'll be the one in the hat! This was me last year!

Time to tell you about the featured book of the week!

Title: M
Author: Jo Michaels
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Length (print): xxx pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $3.99 Paperback $14.99


Blurb:
In 2026, it finally arrives, the drug promising to make life easier for the masses. One dose of M and anyone can gain an ability. There are no promises made as to what the power could manifest as, but people are crawling over one another to take a chance.

There's a problem: One pill costs a million dollars. Only those with extraordinary wealth are afforded the luxury of cleaning house with a click of their diamond-adorned fingers or solving a puzzle by talking to it.

A knockoff begins circulating in 2038 that does the same thing as M. Hundreds of thousands of people have mutated for a mere one hundred dollars.

Enter the year 2042.

Seventeen-year-old Griffin is a normal kid, who has a regular job, and dreams of going to college someday. When his girlfriend of three years succumbs to peer pressure, they break up. He believes the body is a temple not to be messed with outside of nature, and she wants to fit in. Once he meets the supplier, things take a turn for the worse.

He's left with nothing but pain in his heart and the desire to make them suffer when his plans for payback blow up in his face.

Thirst for revenge consumes him, and he finds himself locked in a battle he never anticipated with a merciless kingpin as they struggle to gain the advantage.

How far is too far?


Want to follow me on social media? Here ya go!

Twitter: @WriteJoMichaels
Facebook: WriteJoMichaels
Website: WriteJoMichaels
Pinterest: WriteJoMichaels
Blog: Jo Michaels Blog

How fun was this?

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

Jo

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Cover Reveal - M

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, it's all about the cover for my new novel titled M. What's the book about? Well, keep reading!

Title: M
Author: Jo Michaels
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal/Urban Fiction
Publication Date: June 17, 2015
Length: 55k words
Blurb:
In 2026, it finally arrives, the drug promising to make life easier for the masses. One dose of M and anyone can gain an ability. There are no promises made as to what the power could manifest as, but people are crawling over one another to take a chance.

There's a problem: One pill costs a million dollars. Only those with extraordinary wealth are afforded the luxury of cleaning house with a click of their diamond-adorned fingers or solving a puzzle by talking to it.

A knockoff begins circulating in 2038 that does the same thing as M. Hundreds of thousands of people have mutated for a mere one hundred dollars.

Enter the year 2042.

Seventeen-year-old Griffin is a normal kid, who has a regular job, and dreams of going to college someday. When his girlfriend of three years succumbs to peer pressure, they break up. He believes the body is a temple not to be messed with outside of nature, and she wants to fit in. Once he meets the supplier, things take a turn for the worse.

He's left with nothing but pain in his heart and the desire to make them suffer when his plans for payback blow up in his face.

Thirst for revenge consumes him, and he finds himself locked in a battle he never anticipated with a merciless kingpin as they struggle to gain the advantage.

How far is too far?
***This book is a standalone novel, suitable for those over the age of thirteen. There is some violence that may not be appropriate for younger children.***

Ready for that cover? Wellp, here it is!


Now, it's time for the full wrap! Oooooooh yeahhhhhh baby!


Isn't it lovely?

Release date is set for June 17, 2015. That's right, you can pick up a copy at utopYA con or online at Amazon.com in June.

For now, you can keep an eye on its page on Jo's site!

What do you think? Like it? Interested in reading it?

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

Jo

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Talking Sci-Fi

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm gonna talk with you about gadgets and science fiction, and I'll give you links to some interesting articles about emerging technology. If you're a sci-fi author, you've probably read a bunch of these already. I just want to share with my lovely readers some of the futuristic things I found while writing M. Ready? Grab those cups of coffee and let's get going!


First up, my MC has a pair of cool goggles integrated with gloves he uses to play his favorite VR war game. While doing some research to see where we are now with the technology (so I could make assumptions about where we'd be by 2042), I found this awesome site:

Oculus Rift

To make the technology even sweeter, I got an e-mail about this one:

Microsoft HoloLens

You MUST watch the commercial/video on that link. Dear me. Mind=blown.

My MC also has a watch he can talk to that sends text messages or accepts phone calls. Sound familiar? Yeah, I started writing this novel back in 2013 before any of this stuff was even thought about. Can you say visionary? I totally felt like Nostradamus for a hot minute. *grins* You can find information about the Apple Watch here (why didn't they call it the iWatch?):

Videos galore!

I've been waiting for the NSA to break down my door because of the things I've searched to make this book possible. If you'd like to see my search bar history post, it's here:

Indie-Visible - Search Bar Confessions

Yeah, a lot of fun there! Not to mention, as the plot goes on, I have huge battle scenes I had to research weapons for. *facepalm* Check out some of the fun on that site while you're over there. Oh, man!

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I could buy napalm online. What a world we live in, huh?

What technology have you written about that you think will come to fruition in the next twenty years or so?

I hope you all have some fun on those links! Go find an alien! *grin*

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

Jo

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Fractured Glass and M Preorder Goodies

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm gonna tell you about some awesome goodies you can get when you buy my books at utopYA Con in June. I'm also gonna talk about the awesomeness IBGW will have at our table at the con. This is an image heavy post, so be prepared! Ready? Let's get going!

First up, here's the link to pre-order my books: Get Books by Jo Michaels

As you can see, anyone who buys Fractured Glass will get either earrings (we'll have many styles) or a bookmark of their choice. Here's what they look like:
 Earrings:

 Bookmarks:

Here's the goodie bits. For the first two people that pre-order M, I'm giving away this awesome t-shirt:

Everyone who pre-orders one or more of my books will have their name put in a drawing to win a copy of Fractured Glass signed by all five authors and a copy of M.

Now, for the IBGW table, we have this collection of books, these two awesome t-shirts (large - regular cut), and this cool canvas tote bag:


And will be adding these:



There are more, including a copy of M (cover not revealed yet), but we're waiting until the authors either publish or reveal their covers to add the images. All are signed by the authors and are paperbacks!

In addition, we'll also have 11x17 posters of a couple of covers we'll be giving away.

How fun, huh? I know you see some titles up there you've been wanting to get your hands on. So be sure and visit us.

What do you think? Exciting?

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

Jo

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Markaza and M - Writing Updates!

Happy Thursday, everyone! I know, I know, my post is late! But I was working on something for a client, and I really wanted to get it to them before I took time to write my post. Now, it's a sit and wait game as I chew my nails and watch my e-mail to see if they like my ideas. I thought you might like to have an update on what I've been doing on the writer end. I have a snippet or two for you to check out, and I'm giving you updates for books that have been in the works for a while (in case you've been waiting for them -- yes, the e-mails and PMs about release dates can stop, because I'm gonna give you those, too!). So, grab a cup of coffee and join me!

First up, the sixth and final (maybe) book of the Mystic series, Markaza. Her story comes in at just over 56k words.

Update: Book is slated for release either end of May or early June. It's in the hands of my very capable editor now! EEP! In case you missed the cover and blurb:

Markaza Turner isn't your average seventeen-year-old. She can see the future, the past, and has an eerie propensity for getting people to do things.

But what she sees is the obliteration of mankind. Worse, her visions tell her it's gonna happen on her eighteenth birthday, December 21, 2012.

All six of the ladies forming the elite group, known as WSTW, are finally together under one roof. Bronya, Lily, Shelia, Melody, Coralie, and Markaza must now figure out how to use their strange powers before an evil being rises from the ground in Central Park and destroys the world.

But Markaza's own past is dark and riddled with secrets she'll need to unearth and come to terms with before she can go to war.

In this exciting finale of the Mystic series, the women come face-to-face with a truth that will change their lives forever.

Our fate is in their hands. 

~

And, here's a snippet:



He cleared his throat. “I think we all need bulletproof vests, personally.”
Markaza quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Well, you said that thing has claws, right? What if it comes down to an ability to puncture that wins or loses the fight?”
She snorted. “You haven’t seen the size of those claws. I think they’d rip through a bulletproof vest like a snake gliding through water.”
He blanched.
“Yeah. This thing is taller than The Clementine.”
He turned green.
“And all we have are our powers. I don’t think it has any weakness apart from love and forgiveness. With all our work with the shrink, we’re getting there; but I wonder if it’ll be enough. There are only six of us.”
“Eight,” he said.
She tilted her head.
“You have me, and you have Richard. Don’t count us out because we aren’t superheroes.”


~

Second, we have M. This is a standalone novel (you all know how I love those). It should end up around 60-70k words, but is sitting at almost 35k now.

Update: This title should be finished by the end of next week. Cover reveal will be June 1st, and release is set for June 18th. Here's a peek at the blurb and snippets:

In 2042, it finally arrives, the drug promising to make life easier for the masses. One dose of M and anyone can gain an ability. There are no promises made as to what the power could manifest as, but people are crawling over one another to take a chance.

There's a problem: One pill costs a million dollars. Only those with extraordinary wealth are afforded the luxury of cleaning house with a click of their diamond-adorned fingers or solving a puzzle by talking to it.

A knockoff is circulating that does the same thing as M. Hundreds of thousands of people have mutated for a mere fifty dollars.

Seventeen-year-old Griffin is a normal kid, who has a regular job, and dreams of going to college someday. When his girlfriend of three years succumbs to peer pressure, they break up. He believes the body is a temple not to be messed with outside of nature, and she wants to fit in. Once he meets the supplier, things take a turn for the worse.

He's left with nothing but pain in his heart and the desire to make them suffer when his plans for payback blow up in his face.

Thirst for revenge consumes him, and he finds himself locked in a battle he never anticipated with a merciless kingpin as they struggle to gain the advantage.

How far is too far?

~

Snippets:



Joey stuck his hands in his pockets and bobbed his head up and down. “Yeah, I get it. That’s what you have to hold onto; that’s what’ll help you do the hard things, the things you’ve been told you’ll go to Hell for, the things your mother would smack your face for thinking. At the same time, those are the things that have to be done.”
***


Earring Guy was sitting on the couch, his feet propped on what looked like an antique coffee table. No one said anything because they were at his house, and he could do whatever he wanted to the furniture. Not that anyone would’ve said anything either way. He picked at his teeth as he spoke. “I saw two people shift into lizards then back into humans—one male, one female—and a man who was winking a light on and off every time he blinked.”
Harry wrote the information down. “Well, that makes forty-seven different recorded abilities.” His eyes bulged. “How many possible manifestations could there be?”
“There’s no limit, H,” Ruby answered.



So, what do you think? Sound intriguing?

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

Jo