Showing posts with label allyson gottlieb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label allyson gottlieb. Show all posts

Friday, August 1, 2014

A Young Adult Christmas Anthology

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'll be in my writing cave producing a short story for an anthology hosted by the ever affable Allyson Gottlieb. This post will be short. If you don't know who Allyson is, click her name to read my interview with her.

Anywho, I'm gonna give you a little information about my title that'll be included in this awesome collection of works (and there are some amazing authors in this book).

Title: The Frivolity Fairies
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Length: 6k-10k words
Short Description: What happens when fairies pay you a visit on Christmas Eve? Shirley Beaux is about to find out what the creatures behind her mother's Christmas bedtime story are really all about.

Releases in November of this year (exact date TBA). We also don't have a working title for the collection yet. I'll be bringing you more information as we get closer.

The price? That'll also be determined later. However, all proceeds will go to charity. That's right, every author is donating their stories!

How exciting is this? Kudos to Allyson for the great concept and her generous heart.

If you're a writer: What anthologies do you have coming out?

If you're a reader: Do you enjoy reading anthologies?

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

Jo

Friday, November 1, 2013

Cover Reveal - Darkest Shadows by Allyson Gottlieb

Today you get two great posts! This one and another that'll be coming shortly! I'm so excited to bring you a cover reveal for the next novella in an awesome series by Allyson Gottlieb. I wrote a review here on the blog a while back for the first book, Darkest Legacy, you can read here. There's a little surprise for you in this post, too! Enough of my jawing! Let's get on to the good stuff!

Title: Darkest Shadows by Allyson Gottlieb
Genre: Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Release date: December 7th 2013

Blurb
The missing story...
A would-be dictator has gone to prison. The dimension is safe from a tyrant's control. But not everything is as perfect as it appears on paper. Tamara Kingsley is supposedly a hero. But she's about to discover that her good deed doesn't actually mean much when it comes to rebuilding a life for herself. No matter how hard she tries to escape it, the stigma of her past is always lurking, holding her back from fully embracing a new life.

And even in Alpha, Valentine hasn't given up. He'll spend the next twenty years planning and scheming, waiting for the opportunity to rejoin the world and have his vengeance. On the top of his hit list? Tamara, of course.

Also in Darkest Shadows, there will be an exclusive short story (called Darkest Before Dawn) that takes place after the ending of Darkest Legacy.

Allyson has given us an interview with her character Valentine, the bad guy from the series. Read on and enjoy!

1. What is your greatest fear?
Being insignificant.

2. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My eye color. Women like it, but even having lived with them for so many years, I don’t think I’ll ever come to like having gold eyes. It is the sole thing where I wish to be ordinary.

3. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Tamara Kingsley.

4. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Overconfidence.

5. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Disloyalty.

6. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Morality—the so-called morality of ordinary people, which is really no more than an excuse for those in power to impose their values and beliefs on the rest of society. Morality is a nebulous and subjective thing, not a true virtue in the real sense of the word. I don’t believe in complete lawlessness, but I also don’t wish to obey an authority that knows nothing of my life and circumstances yet tries to tell me how I am allowed to behave.

7. What living person do you most despise?
Tamara Kingsley.

8. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Do you really have to ask? Alpha. There’s a reason all its nicknames involve some variation of the word “hell.”

No, I correct myself. The absolute lowest depth of misery is being in Alpha and knowing that the person you were closest to is the reason you are there. Knowing that there’s not a single person in the universe missing you.

9. What is your greatest regret?
The obvious answer is “trusting Tamara.” But even though she’s the reason I’m in this hellhole, I’ll never regret the time I spent with her. She is the only person I have ever truly loved, the one who taught me what it is to love and be loved.

No, my greatest regret is for her—that she had to do what she did. Because now she’s left me with no choice. I do still love her, but that doesn’t mean I’ll excuse her betrayal.

10. How would you like to die?
This is a truly ridiculous question. Who thinks about how they want to die?

Sometimes I wonder if living forever really isn’t so different from dying. What good are working lungs and a heartbeat if you can never better your circumstances? Life is dynamic, beautiful for its fragility. Without that capacity for growth and change, what is the point to living?

11. What is your motto?
Nothing but death is insurmountable.

Now, a little about the author, Allyson Gottlieb:
Allyson Gottlieb was born in California, but can't wait to go away to college and trade sunshine, bikinis, and fruit smoothies for autumn leaves, winter coats, and hot cocoa.  When she's not busy working on her next bestseller, she can be found devouring books, obsessing over far too many TV shows, spending time with her family and friends... and occasionally doing some homework.  She has been writing since second grade and has no plans to stop until she runs out of stories to tell--so basically never.

Are you all ready for the super surprise?

Are you sure?

Darkest Legacy is FREE on Amazon right now! Today's the last day you can snag a copy, go get your mouse fingers clickin' and grab one!

I guess you need a link, huh? Okay, okay. Here ya go:

Be sure you're posting and tweeting that you picked it up free. Sharing is caring!
I hope you all enjoyed this post. Doesn't Valentine sound like a peachy guy?

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

Jo

Monday, October 21, 2013

A Guest Post by Allyson Gottlieb

Happy Monday, blogospherians! Today, I bring you a guest post about playlists by author Allyson Gottlieb. If you remember, Allyson did an interview last Monday where she shared her love of music and what it means to her as a writer. In case you're new to the blog, I'll remind you that Allyson is one of the authors attending UtopYA Con 2014. Tickets for that event are now on sale. Click here to get yours! Without further ado, I bring you:

Adding the Second Dimension: The Importance of Having a Book Playlist

by Allyson Gottlieb

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." —Plato

Of our five senses, the two big ones—the ones we are constantly using to perceive and understand the world around us—are sight and sound. To have one without the other would be to get only half the story.

So why should our writing be any different?

Making a playlist can be very fun (it’s also an excuse to do nothing but lie around and listen to music for a couple hours, hello?). My playlists aren’t meant to be listened to while you read the book, but rather as more of a supplementary thing.

When picking songs, I look for lyrics that remind me of certain moments in the story. Maybe a specific character, maybe an important scene, maybe a central theme or idea. I’ve noticed that I tend to use more indie-type artists or obscure songs by popular artists—they just fit the feel I’m going for more. But who knows? Maybe you’ve written a chick lit romance that goes perfectly with Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry.
With Darkest Legacy, since it’s a shorter piece, I decided to do something a little different. Instead of a more general full-book playlist for each installment, I’m doing a series of character-centric playlists to go with every novella specific to the character that features most heavily in it. (For example, the one to go with Darkest Legacy was for Tamara since we see the entire story through her eyes. The one for Darkest Shadows will be for Valentine since it’s told half in his perspective.)

To give you a better idea of what I’ve been talking about, here’s one of the entries from the Tamara playlist:

“Falling” by The Civil Wars

Why am I feeling so guilty?
Why am I holding my breath?
Worried about everyone but me
And I just keep losing myself
Please, please tell me you know
I’ve got to let you go

This song manages to capture the strange and heart-crushing emotion of “falling out of love”, and between the dreamy instrumentals and the softness of Joy Williams’ voice, it does a very nice job of putting you in the head of someone who’s been through what Tamara has. Beautiful and haunting.
You can see the rest of the Tamara playlist here: Linky

See? I’ve got the song and artist, a snippet of the lyrics, and my explanation for why I chose it. Pretty easy, right?

It’s okay if only some of the lyrics fit and not the whole song—that’s why I include the specific snippets. It’d be pretty impossible to find a song where every single lyric fits the idea from your story.

And a word about explanations: It’s likely you will find a song or two that foreshadow or tease some major turning point or plot twist in the novel. (I certainly have.) Don’t shy away from including them by any means. Remember, most of the people who see the playlist will likely be people who’ve read your book. But for those who haven’t, just word the explanations carefully.

Even if the song isn’t about a spoiler, the explanation shouldn’t be too specific. Everyone is going to interpret music differently, just as everyone reads a story differently. That’s why I don’t see my playlists as being a background track for my books. They’re just another way to live inside the world I’ve created, touching another one of the senses.

~ Allyson

Guys, give this little lady's book a shot!
Title: Darkest Legacy
Author: Allyson Gottlieb
Genre: YA Paranormal
Length: Approx 51 Printed Pages
Amazon Link: Kindle $0.99

Description:
A fast-paced, high-stakes novella

Everyone has secrets they'd prefer stayed buried.  But information wants to be free... and so does Tamara Kingsley's ex-lover, incarcerated on the maximum-security prison planet, Alpha.

Tamara has done things she's not proud of, but that was years ago.  Now the headmistress of the Silvermist School of Magic, she has an honest life, one that makes her happy.  For the last twenty years she's fought like hell to keep it that way, and she thought she had succeeded.

She's about to find out just how wrong she was to think her past was dead and gone.


Follow her on the Web

I do hope you all take a chance on this book, it's a great read!

Don't forget to check out the interview with Allyson from last Monday.

Do you have a playlist for your book(s)? Link 'em up in the comments!

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

Jo

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Book Review - Darkest Legacy

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I bring you another book review. Remember last week when I talked about a super surprise review? Well, this is it. You may remember my post from yesterday and the lovely author I interviewed. I picked up a copy of her book (call me intrigued that someone so young could be so awesome) and decided to write a review for you all. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and relax. Here we go!

Before we get to the review, here's a little about the book on the chopping block for today:

Title: Darkest Legacy
Author: Allyson Gottlieb
Genre: YA Paranormal
Length: About 51 printed pages
Link to Amazon: $0.99 Kindle (Part of Select so if you're a member, you can borrow it for free)


Synopsis:
A fast-paced, high-stakes novella

Everyone has secrets they'd prefer stayed buried.  But information wants to be free... and so does Tamara Kingsley's ex-lover, incarcerated on the maximum-security prison planet, Alpha.

Tamara has done things she's not proud of, but that was years ago.  Now the headmistress of the Silvermist School of Magic, she has an honest life, one that makes her happy.  For the last twenty years she's fought like hell to keep it that way, and she thought she had succeeded.

She's about to find out just how wrong she was to think her past was dead and gone.


Let me start off by saying I LOVE this cover! Not only does it fit the book inside perfectly, it's genre proper and beautiful.

On to the good stuff!

I did an interview with the author, Allyson Gottlieb, on my blog and was so intrigued, I picked up a copy of her book on Amazon. I'm astounded at the level of writing found in Darkest Legacy and I'm looking forward to the sequel; which she assures me is in the works. Now, for my review.

From a reader's perspective:
I could identify with Tamara Kingsley. She came across as a confused young lady and a strong woman. I love tales with strong female leads and this one didn't disappoint. Just when you think she's beaten, she comes back with a vengeance. World building was good, but I did get a tiny bit confused in the beginning of the book and ended up putting it down. Took me two sittings to read the whole thing, and it's pretty short. I know there's a sequel in the works so I'm holding out hope the author delves more deeply into the world in later tales. This one introduced the characters and built them well. For a short story, there was a lot of great development and information. Being a reader who doesn't like a lot of fluff and description (filler), I was pleasantly surprised how much fit between the cover pages. By the end, I cared about what happened to Tamara and was solidly in her corner. I'm looking forward to learning more about her in the next book.

From an editor's perspective:
There are a number of pronoun issues throughout and I'd like to see the author use more contractions (especially in speech). However, there were no redundancy issues or misspellings. It just needs a good proofreader to make it sparkle like it should.

My rating:
1 Star for wonderful world building
1 Star for giving me a character I'm now super curious to learn more about
1 Star for lovely tension (especially at the end)
.5 Star for great writing
- 1 Star for the confusion at the beginning of the novel
- .5 Star for need for a proofreader
Overall, 3.5 out of 5 stars! We all know I round up, not down, so this book gets a 4 overall. Highly recommended if you're looking for a quick, fun, well written read.

I hope you all take a chance and pick up this book. It was a lot of fun to read. At $0.99, what do you have to lose?

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

Jo

Monday, October 14, 2013

Author Interview with Allyson Gottlieb



Hello and Good Monday, people of the blogosphere!  I have a super wonderful guest for you all today!  Author Allyson Gottlieb has agreed to stop by and answer a few questions for me.  I know, she’s pretty brave, huh? *wicked grin*

She’s one of the authors attending UtopYACon 2014.  In keeping with our Monday features through June and the event, Ms. Gottlieb will be returning next week to give us a guest post.  Now, it’s time for you all to sit back, relax, and have a cup of Joe while you meet this amazing author.


Jo: So good of you to join us today, Allyson!  Thank you for taking the time out of your writing schedule to chat.
Allyson: Thank you for having me on your blog, Jo.  I’m so happy to be here.

Jo: So I’m gonna jump right in here and ask you where did your love of music come from and how has it shaped your life?
Allyson: Music has always been a huge part of my life.  I’ve been singing since I was about five years old, sang with my school choir all throughout middle school and high school, and will sing along with the radio whenever a song I know comes on (it annoys my family but who cares?).  Whenever possible, I like to have a background soundtrack.  I can’t entirely describe it, but I feel almost as strongly about music as I do about writing.  It’s just a part of me.

Jo: Does music ever inspire scenes in your books and can we have some examples?
Allyson: Not specific scenes as much as larger plot threads or characters.  I almost always have a couple different songs that fit with the central couple of a story, for example (in Darkest Legacy, Tamara and Valentine’s song is “Poison and Wine” by The Civil Wars).  My muse is strange in that while I love listening to music when I’m doing pretty much everything else, I can’t write in large quantities with music in the background.  So maybe I’ll be listening to my iPod and a song will come on that sparks an idea for a new story, or a plot thread in an existing one, but I’ll have to turn off the music in order to go reason it out or attack it.

Jo: I can’t write with music, either. It’s too distracting! Congratulations on winning first place in the Central California Council of Teachers of English Young Writer’s Awards!  Tell me how you came across that contest and how you felt when you won.
Allyson: Why thank you!  I heard about this contest in my English class, because the way it works is that to be considered you have to be entered by an English teacher.  My teacher sent in two pieces from all the submissions he received over all the classes he teaches, and then it took a super long time to hear back, so long that I figured I just hadn’t won anything.  Then this letter shows up in the mail with a return address I don’t recognize.  When I read the first few lines I started shrieking with happiness.  The crazy thing is that I didn’t know until I got to the awards ceremony that I’d won first place in my age group; I thought I’d just gotten an honorable mention kind of thing.  So when I saw the program I had another little OMG moment.  (Funny story: the other girl my teacher entered actually also won first place in her age group.)

Jo: That’s amazing. I would’ve been yelping, too! Your book, Darkest Legacy, is the only book you’ve written so far.  How did you feel when you clicked the publish button and when can fans expect to see more from you?
Allyson: I remember hitting publish the night before my release date—advice from a friend, since KDP has that whole 12 hour waiting period thing—and then feeling like I was going to explode out of my skin (I don’t know how I got to sleep that night).  As for what’s coming from me next… a sequel to Darkest Legacy, titled Darkest Shadows, is in editing stages and will hopefully be released in December, maybe late November, depending on the way the cards fall.  After that I have one more story that takes place in this same world, revolving around the younger sister of my protagonist from DL and DS, which I plan to publish by next spring (so we’re looking at having all 3 Darkest Legacy series novellas out before UtopYA 2014).  And lest people think I only write novellas, get that idea out of your head!  I am also currently working on a new series that I’m very excited about, and hope to be able to share more details soon (I have to write more of it first before I’m going to share any details).

Jo: I love my Mystic novellas. They’re so much fun to write! I know about wanting to be a private person and not wanting people to intrude too much into your life, but is there a major reason you aren’t on Twitter (at least, not that I could find)?
Allyson: Honestly, I’m really not a huge person for social media.  It took me until two years ago to get a personal Facebook—this was before I even set up my author page and realized how wonderful Facebook is for self-promotion.  I always used to say that social media was pointless and ridiculous, nothing but a way for stupid people to show off.  (Of course, once I got my Facebook I rapidly became addicted…)  I’ve since learned how useful it can be, but I still don’t see the point of Twitter.  Maybe one day I’ll make the jump, but for now I’m content with Facebook, Goodreads, and a blog.

Jo: Hey, to each her own! I’ve written a number of posts about social media. When you decide to take that leap (if you do), I do hope you’ll reference them! Moving on! What have been your highest hurdles to jump in your writing?
Allyson: Finding time to write!  Summers are the exception (and even then my time magically seems to disappear), but during the school year it’s like an elaborate tightrope walking act to balance school and homework with my writing.  Add on promotion stuff now that I’m actually published and forget about it.  Sometimes it feels like I barely have time to breathe.

Jo: Time is relative. If there were thirty-six hours in a day, I’d wish for fifty. haha! I read that your parents aren’t big readers.  Since we’re usually convinced by another bookworm living in our home that stories are the cat’s meow, where does your love of books come from?
Allyson: When I was five, my family took a trip to Europe and we brought along the daughter of a family friend as sort of a nanny for my younger sister and me.  She read to us at night, the first few books in the Boxcar Children series.  I fell in love with them and immediately picked up the rest of the series, and from there became a regular at the local public library.  And the rest is history.

Jo: Sweet! Thank goodness for the nanny! You have one heck of a nice MacBook!  From my stalker-ish behavior, I found out you prefer working on a laptop.  Why is that?
Allyson: My dad works in computer tech and we live in Silicon Valley, so my house is practically sponsored by Apple, haha.  I think it’s a product of the fact that I was born at a time when computers were already so prevalent.  The very first story I ever wrote—based on a dream I had when I was seven—was typed, not hand-written.  I think I prefer typing because it’s easier to edit as I go along, like if I decide I want to use a particular train of dialogue in a different scene, I can easily take it off my current progress and save it to come back to later.  Also, my hand cramps up when I hand-write for too long.

Jo: Me too! The advent of the computer is an awesome thing. Just so my readers get a good grasp of exactly who you are (I know the answer to this, but want to stun people haha), could you tell the readers your age, please?
Allyson: *laughs* I am seventeen years old.  Do I look it?

Jo: Yes you do. (Are you readers impressed yet?) I know I get annoyed when people ask me how old I am (then give me “the look”) when I tell them I have five kids and the oldest one is eighteen.  What’s your standard answer when someone asks you about being published so young?  Do you find it irritating?
Allyson: I’ve been pretty lucky so far, that most of the adults I’ve met since publishing (who aren’t family, friends, or teachers and predisposed just to be happy for me from the start) have been really, really nice.  I’ve never come across someone whose questions about publishing at my age irritated me—though I’m sure I will eventually.  I’d like to think I’d tell them what’s become something of a motto for me: “I’m going after my dreams.  Since when is that a bad thing?”

Jo: Amen. Favorite snack food?
Allyson: Anything with chocolate.  I’m actually not a huge fan of chips, pretzels, etc (which is good considering the size of my sweet tooth, if not I’d be 200 pounds!).

Jo: I’m with you there. I make myself indulge rarely. haha! Okay, we all have them.  Mine are mostly grammar-related.  But would you mind sharing your pet peeves?
Allyson: I have quite a few grammar-related ones; ever since I decided to self-publish, it takes every ounce of restraint not to correct my friends—or heaven forbid, my teachers—when they make a grammatical mistake.  Another big one is when people spell my name wrong, even though I know this is really stupid since I have such a unique spelling.

Jo: I can identify. I shortened my name to Jo because people always butcher my real name. What’s your favorite alien movie?
Allyson: I haven’t seen too many, honestly.  I think I’d have to go with the new classic: James Cameron’s Avatar.

Jo: LOVE that movie! Great choice. And it matches your alien photo! Ever had soda spew out of your nose?  In your best writerly voice, tell us how that happened and how it felt.  If it never happened, tell us a story about a pet you’ve had.
Allyson: My sister and I adore our cat (her name is Chloe).  But she’s been having problems lately.  Problems that mean we have to clean up a lot of gross stuff.  In the last month alone, Chloe has vomited on my sister’s new bedspread three times.  We think she’s trying to mark her territory.  And that is why I leave my door closed at all times.

Jo: Ew. Vomit. haha! I had a little dog with a sensitive tummy; pet vomit is no fun. Anything you wish I’d asked that I didn’t?
Allyson: Why is my name spelled the way it is?  My dad always wanted to call me Ally, spelled like that, but my mom argued that just Ally wasn’t “formal” enough for a full name.  So they agreed to call me Allyson, but spell it with the two l’s and a y like my dad wanted—and then just call me Ally.  I started introducing myself as Allyson when I was about twelve, though my family and some close friends still call me Ally because that’s what they knew me as originally.  (There are also people who I introduce myself to as Allyson that then decide to start calling me Ally, and that sometimes bothers me unless it’s someone who I think of as a super close friend.)

Jo: That’s all the time we have for today.  Is there anything you’d like to add?
Allyson: I’m honored to be a part of this feature, and looking forward to seeing the rest of the author interviews.  Hope you all enjoyed this little peek inside my head!

Jo: I know I did. You’re one impressive young lady! Thanks for stopping by and chatting with us today, Allyson!  I look forward to meeting you at UtopYA Con next June.

Guys, give this awesome little lady a follow on her social media profiles!  Show the love as only Indies can!
Twitter: Tell her to join! LOL
Pinterest: Meh, many have and don't use (like me).

And don’t forget to pick up a copy of her book!
Title: Darkest Legacy
Author: Allyson Gottlieb
Genre: YA Paranormal
Length: Approx 51 Printed Pages
Amazon Link: Kindle $0.99

Description:
A fast-paced, high-stakes novella

Everyone has secrets they'd prefer stayed buried.  But information wants to be free... and so does Tamara Kingsley's ex-lover, incarcerated on the maximum-security prison planet, Alpha.

Tamara has done things she's not proud of, but that was years ago.  Now the headmistress of the Silvermist School of Magic, she has an honest life, one that makes her happy.  For the last twenty years she's fought like hell to keep it that way, and she thought she had succeeded.

She's about to find out just how wrong she was to think her past was dead and gone.
 
Since it's part of KDP Select, the link above is the only link you can grab it at. What are you waiting for? Get going!
Remember, Darkest Legacy will be the featured book on the sidebar for the next two weeks!

Do you recall the review I was talking about last week? It's of Allyson's book! Be sure you come back tomorrow to read it!

Pop in a comment and tell Allyson hi or ask her a question!
Well, that’s all for today, folks.  Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo