Luck o' the Release Indie-rific Giveaway

Happy St. Paddy's Day, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'm sharing with you all a little bit of fun happening over on Facebook. There are a ton of great books and prizes to win so hop on over and check it out here:

Luck o' the Release Day Extravaganza!

Casey L. Bond and Cassy Roop will be partying it up until 11pm. It's happening right now, so get your booties on the move!

These two new releases by Cassy and Casey will be up for grabs along with the donated books from the many authors:

Reap by Casey L. Bond ($0.99 for a limited time on Amazon)

Synopsis:
The remnants of the United States of America have been divided. From five enormous, technologically-advanced cities, the Greaters rule over the Lessers.

In the Lesser village of Orchard, things are not as perfect as Abby Kelley thinks they are. When the apple harvest draws near and the Greater’s engineered fruits become too much for one village to handle alone, reinforcements from neighboring villages are called upon.

Having to choose between her best friend, whom she has no romantic feelings for, and mysterious newcomer Crew, Abby finds herself in the middle of a harvest that she had no intention of becoming a part of. She becomes involved in a situation that threatens the strict rule of the Greaters, and just might give the Lessers hope for a better tomorrow. But, can she help the Lessers without losing Crew? And if she chooses Crew, will she lose her best friend? 

The Price of Love by Cassy Roop ($2.99 on Amazon)

Synopsis:
Two short months before graduating high school, Kendall Jones’ world is ripped apart at the seams. A stranger rescues her from a near brutal attack, but is unable to save her parents from death. Eight years later, Kendall moves to New York, hoping to put her past behind her, and once again finds herself in need of rescue.

Tristan Price saves the life of a young woman, who then haunts his dreams for eight long years. When she literally falls at his feet, Tristan decides that he will protect her, no matter what the cost. When her past comes back to threaten her, his plan to keep her close could cost his heart.

Can Tristan save Kendall a second time, and at what cost? Can the price of love overshadow the darkness of her past?

Although this book is part of a series, it can be read as a Standalone and has a HEA.

I mentioned there are many Indie authors participating. Here's the most recent list:

And, in case you want to enter the fabulous Rafflecopter giveaway, here's the link to the form:

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway!

Good luck and have a lot of fun, guys!

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

Jo

Friday Funday

Happy Friday, everyone! The weekend is almost upon us and I figured I'd give you a few things to do in your downtime that will help your writing skills. Just a little weekend fun to keep your writerly brain engaged and on target for the workweek ahead. I know you don't really want to think about Monday, but it behooves us all to be prepared. I'll begin by giving you the name of the exercise, and then move on to how you can accomplish it (and maybe have some fun, too). Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going.

Exercise #1: Dialogue Dissection
Grab a friend or family member and chat with them. Be sure you have a recorder of some kind running (voice notes on an iPhone work great for this). Give yourself ten to fifteen minutes then shut the recording device off. End the conversation and move to a room where you can be alone. Play back the recording and recall what each of you were doing as you spoke. Mentally add commas and periods where you think they belong. Listen to it again. Pay attention to the words used, pronunciation, and inflection. Think about how you might write the conversation out. If you feel so inclined, you may do so; but, this is more of an exercise to get your brain thinking about dialogue in general.

Exercise #2: Title Trivia
Sit down with a friend or family member and grab a couple of sheets of paper or 3.5"x5" index cards. Cut them into pieces and have everyone write one word on each piece. Fold them up and throw them into a bowl. Take turns picking out two pieces and sticking them together. Pretend it's the title of a book and come up with a synopsis to support it. This is all verbal, so no need to write anything down (unless you hit upon the next great novel idea!).

Exercise #3: What's That Word?
This, again, is a two or more person game. Grab a sheet of paper and write down a sentence with at least ten words in it. Exchange with others. Now, try and come up with as many words as possible in place of the ones written. Whoever has the most variations (accurate ones) wins! Don't cheat and use a thesaurus! I find chocolate is a great motivator as a prize for this game.

Exercise #4: Acting Gone Awry
Take a character from one of your favorite novels and pretend to be them for the day. Respond to other people the way you think the character would, do things you think they would do, and really try to walk in their shoes. Take little notes as you go if you want. At the end of the day, reflect on your actions and try to flesh out the character in your head. Were there circumstances that made you wonder about the character's personality or how they would react or did it all flow very naturally? What part of the book let you know that? Use this knowledge the next time you're building your own characters (or when writing scenes of discovery).

Exercise #5: Cover Collection Craziness
Go online and take a look at other books in your genre. Save images of the covers. Print out a quick copy on regular paper or pull them up in a photo editing program. Make notes about what you like and don't like about each one. If you wanna get crazy, cut them up and glue together a whole new cover with some of the elements. Kids love this one.

These are just a few games you can play with your friends or family members to help you become a better writer. An added bonus is: You get to spend time with your loved ones while sharpening your skills!

Which one of these sounds the most fun to you?

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

Jo

New Release - Evermore by Amy Miles

Happy Thursday! I bet you're all looking forward to tomorrow, huh? I know I am. I need a weekend to recharge my batteries. I've been busier than a one-armed paper-hanger this week. Bronya (book 1 of the Mystic series) is getting a major overhaul in both the editing and cover department. I'd like to take the newest versions of the series with me to UtopYA Con in June so I'm busting it out. Busy, busy! I'm planning to do a raffle for a couple of special things at the con, so be sure and visit my table in Area 51. I'll be sharing space with the ever awesome Tia Silverthorne Bach and we'll have some IBGW goodies to give you all, too!

But, today, I'd like to tell you all about a new release by Ms. Amy Miles titled Evermore. It's the fourth book in her Arotas series. Without further ado, I give you the info!

Title: Evermore (book 4 of the Arotas series)
Author: Amy Miles
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Coming of Age
Length (print): ~91 pages
Buy Links: Amazon Kindle $0.99  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Barns & Noble $0.99  ~  iBooks $0.99

Synopsis: I pledge my heart, my life, my soul to you on this day and all the days to come. My life, bonded to yours, if you will have me. ~ Gabriel, Redemption

With a single vow and a swift blow, everything Roseline Enescue held dear is stripped away. The battle is over, but the victory is far from sweet. Laying Gabriel to rest in the Enescue family mausoleum beside her beloved friend and former lover, Fane is the hardest thing she has ever had to do. With an eternity of loneliness stretching out before her, Roseline withdraws into herself, shutting everyone out. Even Elias, Gabriel's guardian angel leaves her to mourn by herself, but his sudden return brings about a series of thrilling and terrifying events, the likes of which will forever change the course of her life.

Follow Roseline and Gabriel as they are reunited after death, enjoy Sadie and Nicolae’s fiery romance, experience William's growing feelings of uselessness and discover what happens when there is no one left to control the forces of darkness.

With a single vow everything changed. A prophecy yet to be fulfilled. A new legacy to last the ages.

EVERMORE, an Arotas novella. The final installment.

Sounds like a pretty awesome book, eh?

What do you think? Will you check it out?

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

Jo

Writing Your Ending First

Happy Wednesday, good people of the blogosphere! Today we're gonna talk about an interesting way to write a novel that goes out with a bang. All you pantsers out there are probably gonna love this. Those of you who work with a strict outline will most likely cheer. I'll admit to using this trick only once; but, I loved the results so much, I figured I'd share what I did and how I did it. Grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Imagine this:
You have your story idea in your head. All the research has been done and you may or may not have an outline ready and waiting. Cracking your knuckles, you sit at your computer and start banging out your first chapter. Then another flows out. Then another. You take the rest of the day off because writing those nine thousand words really took it out of you.
Day two rolls around and you grab your coffee, determined to crack out as many words as you did on day one. This day you get two chapters written before you push away from your desk, exhausted, but loving the story on the pages.
By day three, you're back to rolling out words like a Lorem Ipsum generator (but yours makes sense, of course).

Fast forward a couple of months.

You stare at the screen. Your energy is drained because you've given your everything to writing this novel you're sure has the stuff of awesomeness. And now it's time to write the ending. Your creative juices are drained and you can't figure out how in the hell you're gonna go out with a bang. *head to desk*
Words begin to meander out of your fingers and you end up with a lackluster finale you know your readers are gonna lift an eyebrow at. But you're so tired of looking at/working on this novel, you don't have it in you to re-write it.

In edits, you may revise that ending. But it'll never have the level of awesome the first eighty or so pages of the novel. Why? Because you were exhausted.

Now, step back in time to day one. You knew exactly where the story was going back then and had a vivid idea about where your characters would end up, right?

Why not write the end and the beginning on that first day?

I heard that gasp.

Let me try and put it another way. If you have a clear path to your character's finale, using your awesome creativity to craft it when you're fresh out of the gate will leave you with something rich and satisfying.

Write the end, then step back and start at the beginning. You'll find you rush less, take the time to choose just the right words, and it may even help give your novel clearer direction.

Try it once. If it doesn't work out for you, I won't take it personally. But this is a cool way to be sure your ending is everything the beginning is.

I used this technique in only one book: I, Zombie. I knew what I wanted to happen by the end and I wrote it, then the beginning. It was one of the most surreal writing experiences of my life. Endings will now always be written first when I start a novel.

Have you ever used this technique? Think you'll try it now?

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

Jo

Book Reviews and Paying it Forward

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Today I'd like to talk a little bit about your book reviews and what you can do for those folks who take the time to read and write a bit about your book. So, grab your mouse and let's get going!

Now, we all know how badly those one and/or two star reviews sting. But we read them, right? Please tell me you're reading them. Why do we subject ourselves to that? Well, if you're an author, it's likely because you want to learn what you did poorly, what you did well, and how you can improve upon future books.

Am I telling you to rip apart your manuscript and start from scratch because one person says how much they hated your book?

No.

What I'm saying is this: If the reviewer takes the time to detail what they liked and didn't like about your book, you should take the time to read what they said and consider it very carefully. When it matters most, is when more than one person says the same thing.

We all know you can't please all of the people all of the time; but you can listen to what your reviewer is saying and not assume they're trolls who are marking your book down in order to boost their own.

So listen to what your readers say.

On to what you can do to show your appreciation for those who review your books!

Go to Amazon's Author Central and click on Customer Reviews. Scan down and see how many of them you marked as "helpful" when you first saw them (you can say you don't look, but we all know you do). If you didn't mark anything, go to the book's page and start clicking. I'm not telling you to do this with all the reviews, but if you want potential buyers to see the good reviews, mark them as helpful.

This does two things: It jumps the good reviews to the top of the review list on your book's Amazon splash page, and it increases the reviewer's ranking. Why does this matter? Well, if I see a review by a top 1000 reviewer on a book, I'm much more likely to listen to what that person has to say. If they rave about the book, I'm also more likely to buy it. While you're helping the reviewer, you're also kinda helping yourself.

Go to Goodreads and check for new reviews. "Like" the new ones. If you feel so inclined, take a moment and write a note to the reviewer thanking them for their time and effort.

I know I'm the exception to the rule, but I usually apologize to a reviewer if they found my book lacking because I feel badly about wasting their time on something they didn't enjoy. Besides, it keeps the friendly lines of communication open between us. No need to be an asshat.

I review a lot of books. I notice the authors who take the time to mark my reviews helpful; and, I'm not ashamed to say, if I go looking for a new book to read and review, I'll go to their books first. I also appreciate those authors who pay it forward by sharing the reviews of others' books, take the time to comment with a simple "thanks for taking the time to write a review for my book" on my blog post, and who share the love once I use my time to write them a review.

Yes, I give preferential treatment to folks who pay it forward. I'm not ashamed to admit that. Authors, think about the reviewers of your work, do your best to help them out, and put away your pride or feelings of awesomeness to take a moment to show your gratitude.

If you're an author, do you always mark reviews helpful? If you're a reviewer, does it bug you when authors are nonchalant about your review?

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

Jo

Book Review - The Witch Who Cried Wolf

Happy, happy Friday, everyone! Today I bring you another book review. I know you're all super excited to get another book to look at. This is part of my Indie Fever Reading Challenge for 2014. I committed to read at least 1-24 Indie books this year. If you want to join in the fun and support great Indie authors, go here, fill out the linky thing, and get to reading! Before I move on, I'm gonna give you a rundown of the books on my list for 2014 along with links to the ones I've reviewed so far:

Rebecca Trogner The Last Keeper's Daughter Amazon Kindle $7.99
Scott Marlowe The Five Elements Amazon Kindle $2.99
L.K. Evans Keepers of Arden: The Brothers Volume 1 REVIEW HERE
Sarah Mäkelä The Witch Who Cried Wolf REVIEW BELOW
Felicia Tatum Masked Encounters REVIEW HERE
Peprah Boasiako The Hitman Amazon Kindle $0.9
David T Griffith The Bestiarum Vocabulum REVIEW HERE
C. S. Janey Surrender To You Amazon Kindle $2.51
Thaddeus White Sir Edric's Temple REVIEW HERE
Gloria Piper Finnegan's Quest Amazon Kindle $4.99
Elle Todd The Elect Amazon Kindle $2.99
Heather Topham Wood The Memory Witch REVIEW HERE
N. L. Greene Illusions Begin REVIEW HERE
J. A. Huss Tragic REVIEW HERE
Morgan Wylie Silent Orchids Amazon Kindle **FREE**
Laura Howard The Forgotten Ones Amazon Kindle $2.99
Pauline Creeden Sanctuary Amazon Kindle $0.99 (Currently Reading)
Casey Bond Winter Shadows Amazon Kindle $7.99
Casey Bond Devil Creek REVIEW HERE
Skylar Hamilton Burris The Strange Marriage of Anne de Bourgh Amazon Kindle $2.99
Christina Marie Morales Ambience Amazon Kindle $0.99
Tamar Hela Feast Island Amazon Kindle $2.99
Molly Taggart Off Target Amazon Kindle $2.99
S. G. Daniels The Druid's Doorway Amazon Kindle $3.99
Misty Provencher The Fly House Amazon Kindle $0.99

I'm not gonna ramble on and on here. Grab a cup of something warm to drink (it's still freaking cold out), snuggle up with your computer, and let's get going.

As always, here's a little information about the book being reviewed today:

Title: The Witch Who Cried Wolf (Cry Wolf Book 1)
Author: Sarah Mäkelä
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
Length: About 105 Pages
Links to Purchase: Amazon Kindle $0.99

Synopsis:
Be careful what you wish for…

A potion gone wrong: Mia Brooks is a reluctant witch, with powers that she tries to hold in check. But when her magic gets mixed up, supernatural forces are unleashed and suddenly she’s being pursued by werewolves—that she didn’t even realize existed…

Hidden emotions: Ethan Parker, Mia’s brother’s best friend, is home from deployment for the holidays. Mia’s not only hiding from werewolves, she’s trying to keep her feelings for Ethan secret; it would be a disaster if he knew she’s been nursing a long-time crush…

The power of love: things take a terrifying turn when Mia and Ethan are attacked by a werewolf. Ethan is amazed when Mia reveals her paranormal prowess as she tries to shield them from danger. But can she really protect them from the darkness that lurks? And how can he tell her that, for ages, he’s been denying what he really wants? Mia...

On to the review!

I picked this book up after the author pitched it to me during my 12 Days of Christmas event. I read the sample and the story intrigued me. I had to know more. I'm not a fan of romance novels, but the paranormal aspect of The Witch Who Cried Wolf snagged me. I love dark things, werewolves, and witches so I was willing to overlook that it was labeled a romance. Paranormal aspects really took the front and center stage, with the romance being like a backdrop draped over the whole thing to give it color (think: Twilight). With that said, I have to move on to the meat and potatoes of my review.

From a Reader's Perspective:
This novella was told in first person, alternating viewpoints (Mia and Ethan). I kinda liked that I got to see the whole situation through two peoples' POVs because it showed me how grossly misunderstood many of the situations/remarks were. I liked connecting with the characters in this way. Mia wasn't someone I could get a good handle on, one second she's whimpering in a corner and the next she's fighting with everything she's got. I didn't see enough to really grasp the sudden change in her attitude. I could relate to Ethan and found him to be a good guy on the surface. I would like to see him with more flaws; but perhaps those are unveiled in later books. Oftentimes, the seemingly good guy has some vein of bad boy running through them. I hope to see him come into his own. World building was good for such a short book and I enjoyed discovering the hidden world of the paranormal among us. I could've done without some of the language in the book. It was pretty strong. I wouldn't recommend to those under age 18. Tenses jumped at times, and I found that rather jarring, and it felt like a lot of things were skimmed over or left out (what about Grandma?). There were also a number of sentences that made no sense at all. Which leads me to...

From an Editor's Perspective:
There were a lot of noticeable grammar and structure issues throughout. I mark these on my Kindle as I go, so I'll give you two out of the many I found: Was I thrilled about my relationship as much Greg was? and I set aside the empty beer can aside, then popped open a new one. This novella needs a once over. But, the story was entertaining and something enjoyable to read on a cold and rainy afternoon.

Rating:
+1 Star for giving me an entertaining read
+1 Star for using alternating viewpoints successfully
+1 Star for world building
-1 Star for the tense hopping, and things left out that were mentioned
-1 Star for the need for an editor
Overall: 3 out of 5 stars. Like I said above, it was something fun to while away the time on a cold/rainy afternoon.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

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

Jo

Two Hats to Wear and Finding the Perfect Cover

Happy Thursday, everyone! I know I missed my post yesterday, but I have great reason. You see, I wear two hats: My writer/editor hat and my designer hat. When it's necessary for me to be in designer mode, I have trouble writing. Not just blog posts, but everything. I begin to think about typography and imagery. Photoshop plants seeds in my brain I have trouble shaking off until the design is done.

In other words, I can't write until my designer hat comes off. Well, I can, but it ends up sounding like gibberish and meanders in a billion different directions.

So, today you're getting a post about book design; because that's where my head is at.

Recently, I got a job editing a Poetry book for teens titled Tbinkerknese 101 (giveaway to come after publication), for the cover design and print formatting for that book, and the editing and cover design for a Young Adult Paranormal book titled Chasing Shadows (which I, hopefully, will also be doing the interior print book formatting for).

After a couple of weeks wearing my editor hat, I had to shift gears and put on my designer hat.

Now, it's probably pretty obvious to you that these two books are aimed a the same audience but have very different requirements.

Talk about your designer head-case! I was going back and forth between the two, trying to work out how to speak to the target audience without coming off preachy for the first, and too vague for the second.

It wasn't easy. But both of those authors now have 3 comps each to look at and choose from. Once we narrow it down to one, I'll move on to giving the cover finishing touches, tweaks, and creating the full wrap for each of them. Of course, my greatest fear is that both of them will come back and say they don't like anything I created. Then, I'll have to switch gears entirely and come up with a whole new concept to throw behind each one.

I stared at my blog yesterday, but the words wouldn't come. My brain was locked in design mode.

I know (from personal experience), when they see the cover they want, they'll gasp and say, "That's it! That's exactly what I love and what will speak to my audience!"

When you find the perfect cover or image for your novel, you know it right away. It'll be everything you hoped for. If you have a good designer, it'll be everything you hoped for plus some you never thought to include.

I love when my authors come back and tell me they found that little thing I added to the cover that speaks from the book. Yeah, I like to read the books I design covers for. I feel it gives me great insight.

I've studied typography for a long time. Still, I struggle with getting a handle on it. So I'm gonna start working on my digital swipe file and building things from the inside out.

I don't design book covers very often, I prefer to make the inside type/pages sing. But when I get the chance to design for a book I've read, the imagery on the front always speaks to the story inside.

So, here's your tip for today: Even if you have to go through ten covers, wait for the one that makes you gasp when you see it. That one will be the perfect cover, and you'll be glad you waited.

What's your favorite cover of yours so far? Who designed it? Give us links!

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

Jo