Pages

Showing posts with label 'Tis More Blessed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 'Tis More Blessed. Show all posts

Friday, January 24, 2014

Aquinnah's Christopher & Stella and Celebrate the Small Things

Hello and Happy Friday to all!

 

I missed last week's Celebrate the Small Things hop, hosted by Vikki at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author, so I'm celebrating the past two weeks now.


First up, I'm celebrating that I was one of the Blog Blitz recipients last week and that was such a fun surprise! Thanks to everyone who came by here and visited me. And I want to say a special thanks to D.L. Hammons for organizing these fun little blog blitz parties.

Also, I won a copy of the Triangulation Morning After anthology from Stephen Ramey during last month's 'Tis More Blessed giveaway. I got the book in the mail this week and it was a treat to open my mailbox and see the package in there. Nothing like getting free books!

I'm also celebrating that I finally got some writing done on my WIP. It's a prequel to Polar Night and also ties in to the sequel I am planning, so I'm excited to finally be making some progress on both of them. I haven't written steadily in what feels like forever so I'm glad to finally feel like I may have beaten back my writer's block. I think this picture is what inspired me to sit my butt down and stop whining about being blocked. :D

Source: Jim C. Hines

Finally, Heather Holden drew comics of Polar Night's Danny and Aleksei for me last year and I loved them so much that I asked her if she would do another portrait for me, this time of Christopher and Stella from The Ghosts of Aquinnah. I got the finished product from her this week and I love it. Christopher and Stella are the main characters in the 1884 portion of the story. Aren't they cute? :)




If you don't already know Heather, check out her webcomic The Echo Effect. She is amazingly talented and a super-nice person to boot.

I've fallen way behind on my blog reading and commenting lately and I apologize for that, this month has just been a bit of a mess for me and my focus is all over the place. I'm looking forward to getting caught up with everyone this weekend.

Hope you've all had lots of small and big things to celebrate this week and have a great weekend ahead.

Friday, December 20, 2013

'Tis More Blessed #Giveaway and The Labyrinth Challenge


Milo Fowler is back with another round of 'Tis More Blessed Friday giveaways and I'm excited to be participating again this week. I'm giving away an ebook (.epub or .mobi) copy of The Ghosts of Aquinnah and, just like last week, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post to be entered to win. Leave your comment before Monday and I will announce the winner then.

There are lots of authors taking part so please visit Milo's site to learn about all the giveaways going on. Thanks again to Milo for hosting this fun event!

But most of my post today is devoted to helping spread the word about Emilyann Girdner's upcoming release The Labyrinth Wall by taking part in her Labyrinth Challenge. Congratulations and best of luck to Emilyann! I've never seen a cover reveal with an arcade game included like this, it's very creative and fun and I'm impressed! Here is all the info on the book and the challenge straight from Emilyann herself.



The Labyrinth Challenge!

Welcome to The Labyrinth Challenge! This is a cover reveal event celebrating Young Adult Author Emilyann Girdner’s upcoming book, The Labyrinth Wall. What’s the big challenge? It’s to hop around to all sites participating in the event (site links are listed at the bottom of this post) and count how many character quotes are from the main character, Araina. Circle back to Anything Imagined and comment saying how many Araina quotes were posted during the hop. Emilyann will wait to randomly select a winner from the comments on December 23rd at noon (Eastern Standard time). The winner will receive a $15 electronic Starbucks giftcard (just in time for the holidays).

The Labyrinth Wall Character Quote:

“My strings are being pulled, this time by a different puppet master.” ~Araina

Without further delay, let’s kick off the book cover reveal and learn more about The Labyrinth Wall…

The Labyrinth Wall
(Obsidian Series, Book1)
Young Adult Fantasy Novel
By: Emilyann Girdner

This is the tale of a young woman who discovers that although labyrinth walls confine her and her enemies try to repress her, the power of hope can set her free…

Araina’s isolated teenage life is forever altered when she witnesses a man emerge through a rippling wall into the dark labyrinth she calls home. As a result of the stranger’s arrival, Araina’s Creators have unleashed a series of magical attacks using the labyrinth against its inhabitants. Now Araina must decide if she will trust potentially deceitful allies in order to reach safety on the other side of the labyrinth wall.



Release Date:
Ebook: January 2nd 2014 - Amazon (Free download Jan 2nd - 6th 2014)
Paperback: January through Barnes & Noble and Amazon

Excerpt:

(Find a different excerpt at each site participating in this event)

My hand motions for the man in white to follow as we head back into the dark hall. Darith glances both ways, and he propels back down the direction we came in. He launches a door open then disappears into a cell.
“Darith,” I whisper. “What are you doing, come on!” I pause at the doorway to the cell and find him shaking the woman who led us here.
She opens her eyes, staring blankly in a daze before jumping up with surprise. Sharply tightened lips wordlessly convey her attitude as she remembers. Her eyes roll as Darith smugly says, “Okay, lady, I’m gonna make a sweet deal with ya. Get us out of this place and I’ll let ya live. I’ll even give ya back the bag I stole from ya.”
“You’re so kind,” she replies with agitation.
When we head into the hall, she starts back the way we came.
“Think again. The guards will be looking for us that way. I bet you know a safer way out, right?” My dagger grazes her stomach.
She flinches as it almost pierces through her shirt to her tan skin.
“Fine.” She takes off the opposite direction.
The four of us swiftly glide through the halls until we come to a dead end. Despair burns in my stomach, my throat, and my lungs.
That’s it then. She cared more about our capture than saving her own life. Or never knew a good escape route in the first place. My shoulders jolt in response to the sound of Darith’s fist pounding into the wall that denies our escape.

The Labyrinth Wall Arcade Game: can you help Araina escape the labyrinth?


 

To subscribe for more updates, play games, and grab goodies (some are FREE), visit www.thelabyrinthwall.com!

Don’t forget to hop around to all the participating sites, count Araina’s quotes and comment how many you found on Anything Imagined (Emilyann’s website) for a chance to win that $15 Starbucks giftcard J

The Labyrinth Challenge Sites:

Want to participate in the The Labyrinth Wall Monster Party Book Release Event in a couple weeks? Sign up here.





Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Talking Ghosts with Gwen Gardner, 'Tis More Blessed Winner, and Susan Oloier's Latest


I'm hanging out with fellow Untethered Realms member Gwen Gardner, author of Givin' Up the Ghost and Guilty Ghost Surprised, to chat about something we obviously both love - ghost stories. I share some of my favorite ghost books and movies, and Gwen's titles definitely belong on that list. Please come visit Gwen and me here.


I'm also happy to announce that Sherry Ellis won the ebook copy of The Ghosts of Aquinnah that I gave away as part of the 'Tis More Blessed giveaway. Congratulations to Sherry! And thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. I'm on board for another round with Milo this Friday and am looking forward to it.



Finally, it's release day for Susan Oloier's latest novel Haunted.  I'm reading Haunted right now and it is a beautifully written and deeply moving story. Susan has a real gift with words. Congratulations and best of luck on the release, Susan!

Monday, December 16, 2013

A Visit to S.K. Anthony & 'Tis More Blessed

Baker's Island Light (Source: Wikimedia Commons)


I'm visiting Kinetic author S.K. Anthony to share one final ghost story for The Ghosts of Aquinnah blog tour. Visit me there to learn about the ghosts (and beast!) of Baker's Island, Massachusetts. Thank you to S.K. for hosting me!


Also, thanks to everyone who has stopped by and entered my 'Tis More Blessed drawing for an ebook copy of The Ghosts of Aquinnah. If you'd still like to enter, just leave a comment here before midnight tonight and I'll have a winner tomorrow. Thank you again to Milo for hosting the event!

I'm keeping this short today because I'm barely awake as I stayed up late last night to watch the Bengals remind us all that they are the Bengals. As they have proven more times than I can count, no one can choke quite like our pathetic Cincinnati Bengals. Way to make a statement, boys.

Hope to see you over at S.K.'s! :)


Friday, December 13, 2013

Aquinnah Tour, 'Tis More Blessed and Friday Celebrations


I'm super excited to be participating in 'Tis More Blessed today, hosted by Milo James Fowler. I'm giving away an ebook copy (mobi or epub) of The Ghosts of Aquinnah to a random commenter on this post. I'm suffering from Rafflecopter fatigue so I want to make this simple! Just leave a comment between now and Monday 12/15 at midnight and you will be entered to win. If I don't already know you please leave your email in the comment so that I can contact you if you win.

I'm sharing the 'Tis More Blessed stage today with these great writers:


Please stop by and visit everyone who is taking part. Thanks to Milo for hosting this fun giveaway every week in December.




I'm also continuing my blog tour for The Ghosts of Aquinnah today with a visit to Yolanda Renee at Defending the Pen. Yolanda is sharing an interview with Hannah Forrester, the main character in the present-day storyline of the novel. In addition, she is giving away an ebook copy (mobi or epub) of Polar Night as part of the post. Please come visit Hannah and me here and enter to win.

I mentioned yesterday that I owe E.J. Wesley for giving me the idea for these character interviews. Stella Winslow, one of the main characters in the 1884 section of the novel, was interviewed at EJ's site yesterday and you can find that interview here if you haven't read it and would like to. I also interviewed fellow 1884 resident Christopher Casey at Annalisa Crawford's site on Tuesday and that interview is here.

Do you enjoy character interviews? I think they are so fun to do. I love them.

 

It's also time to Celebrate the Small Things with Vikki at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. I was surprised to read on Vikki's blog last week that we are coming up on the one year anniversary of the start of this hop. I can't believe it's already been a whole year! I've really enjoyed it and am glad Vikki decided to continue it for 2014. Thanks, Vikki!

As for my celebrations, I'm celebrating that I had such a great time with my blog tour this week for The Ghosts of Aquinnah. It's been a crazy week but also very fun. Thanks again to everyone who hosted me and visited me at the various blogs.

I'm also celebrating that I only have one week of work left before I am on vacation for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year and after next Friday I will be off until January 2, so I am totally thrilled about that. You can't beat holidays and vacation time. :)

Finally, I'm celebrating that my Bengals are in first place in their division! It's fun to be so close to playoff season and actually feel like the team has a chance. That doesn't happen very often around here. I hope the Bengals don't revert to typical Bengaldom and choke against the Steelers on Sunday night.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Interview at mainewords,'Tis More Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving


I'm interviewed by the wonderful Marcy at mainewords today and talking about The Ghosts of Aquinnah, among other things. It was such a fun experience to chat with her, and as soon as I learned that she is a Best Friends Animal Society fan like me I knew we were a good match. Please come and visit with us here!


Also, Milo James Fowler, the mind behind Creepy Freebies, has decided to hold a similar giveaway during the month of December.  'Tis More Blessed will be held every Friday of the month and numerous authors, including yours truly, will be giving away books or ebooks throughout the month. Visit Milo here to learn more about the event.

Finally, I wanted to find a cute vintage Thanksgiving image to share here and wish my American friends a Happy Thanksgiving this week, but when I found this picture I couldn't resist sharing it instead. I wouldn't really call it cute, as the children look more than a little disturbed. The little girl's smile is especially deranged.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Psychotic smiling children aside, the sentiment is still a good one. I hope everyone has lots to be thankful for this year, and I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!