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Literary Addicts Stalker Day!

literaryaddictsmeme

 

 

Welcome to Stalker Day Wednesday, the kick off for LITERARY ADDICTS weekly meme!

So which authors do *I* stalk? Hmmm. . .hard to narrow it down. . .

Traditionally pubbed authors first. And the top of that list has to be Diana Gabaldon, because I actually did stalk her way back in the early days of the internet, when she had her email still open to the public. She was (and still is!) sweet and gracious to answer questions and return emails. I stalk her now via Facebook and Twitter. . .mostly to find out when the next book might be coming out.

Next would be Nora Roberts/JD Robb, because again, I’m always waiting on the next book.

Tied for third place would have to be Julia Spencer-Fleming and Mary Balogh .

On to the wonderful world of indie authors. This is in no particular order, but my favorites are Olivia Hardin, Colleen Hoover, Liz Schulte, Jesi Lea Ryan, Stephanie Nelson and C.G. Powell.  Shifty Business, Hopeless, Dark Corners, Arcadia’s Gift, Coveted  and Immortal Voyage. . .ahhhh. . .

I could stalk all day, but sadly, I have some writing to do. . .so until the next releases, I’m slipping back into my shadowy stalking corner!



Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

 

27 books dropped to $0.99 for Valentine’s Day. Get yourself a little something!

Shhhh. . .Fearless is part of this promo. . .but it’s FREE today and tomorrow and then 99 cents on the 16th. Grab it now!

Click on the books to read more about them and buy.

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SHIFTY BUSINESS Book Blast!

Shifty BusinessShifty Business (Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy Book 3)

Gerry Hinton thought she had the perfect career as an operative for the Company. Her next assignment should have been another “mission accomplished”, but hell was delivering hand baskets that day.

When a little girl gives a mysterious silver box to Gerry, her world self-destructs. Suddenly under constant mental attacks, the only person who can save her is her partner, Nicky–but nothing comes without a cost. Secrets buried deep in the past begin to rise, threatening everything she holds dear.

If she can’t out run her past, can she save her future?

About Author Olivia HardinOlivia Hardin

About the Author – Olivia Hardin realized early on how strange she was to have complete movie-like character dreams as a child. Eventually she began putting those vivid dreams to paper and was rarely without her spiral notebooks full of those mental ramblings. Her forgotten vision of becoming an author was realized when she connected with a group of amazingly talented and fabulous writers who gave her lots of direction and encouragement. With a little extra push from family and friends, she hunkered down to get lost in the words. She’s also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and is sometimes accused of being artistic, though she’s generally too much of a perfectionist to appreciate her own work. A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband and their puppy Bonnie.

Connect with her Online – Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Witch Way Bends (Book 1 of the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy)

Bitten Shame: (Book 2 in the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy)

Shifty Business: (Book 3 of the Bend-Bite-Shift Trilogy) (Volume 3)

Tour prizes include $75 Amazon Gift Card, 3 paperbacks, and bookmarks. Fill out the form below to enter Open INT for GC but US for print books and bookmarks

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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My Author’s Journey, Part 4

I told someone a story tonight, and it reminded me that I needed to finish this series of posts!

I last shared that we had had a horrible year of loss and change. My family had just moved to central Florida. Within a few months, the job that had brought us down there ended; the economy was beginning to tank, and since my husband was the last hired. . .well, you know the rest.

Our first year passed in a blur; we had visitors, we got through holidays. I traveled with my sister to Maui to spread my parents’ ashes. As a family, we drove across the country and back on a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

In late July of 2008, I had just returned from a wedding in California and a trip to New Jersey. My husband was beginning seminary. And everything seemed to catch up with me. I came down with a virus that I just couldn’t shake. My doctor recognized exhaustion and ordered me to bed for two weeks.

Next to my bed were two books I’d been meaning to read. In utter boredom, I picked up the first one. . .and I was hooked. It was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I tore through it and then through New Moon (I sobbed; clearly it was a much-needed catharsis). And then I broke doctor’s orders and drove to the bookstore to get Eclipse. I kept telling my daughters that they needed to read these books, but only my oldest showed any interest.

After I finished the third book, I had about a four week wait until the release of Breaking Dawn. I was missing that rush from the romance and drama of these books; I hadn’t read YA lit since I WAS a young adult, over twenty years earlier.  Devouring information on line about Twilight, I read Meyer’s story of writing the books, and it struck a chord.

Just like thousands of other women, I thought, I could do that.

I still had all the character sketches and story ideas I’d saved for twenty plus years. One was especially appealing to me, and taking a page (pun intended) from Stephenie Meyer’s experience, I didn’t try to start at the beginning. Instead I wrote a chapter right in the middle, where Tasmyn and Michael are at Lake Rosu and she is telling him the story of her life.

I finished it, and then I began to write from there on. . .and then I went back and wrote the beginning. I knew roughly where the story was going, but a few twists, turns and new characters came along.

I didn’t tell anyone much. After all, I had written before without it going anywhere. And I liked having this shiny new project all to myself. I took my laptop everywhere with me: to doctors’ appointments, hair salon visits, baseball practices. . .I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning.

The first people I tentatively shared my story with were my two middle daughters. I told them a little about it as we drove to the grocery store or library, and their enthusiasm fueled my passion to finish. My daughter Catie in particular was determined to help me by guarding my writing time. In return, all she asked for was a yellow Porsche once I was published. She always did dream big!

While waiting for the release of Breaking Dawn, I had joined an on-line community called Twilight Moms. That autumn, someone began a thread there called “Did TWILIGHT inspire you to write your own book?”  The originator of the thread and I began chatting, and together we launched a separate group and site called Twi-Writers (I know, very original). Having that accountability and cheering section was awesome and changed my life.

I wrote the last lines in late October, and I played with the story for a little while. The title came to me shortly before I finished, inspired by the Taylor Swift song. I printed out copies and put them in binders for my daughters and my sister and gave them as Christmas gifts.

I didn’t know quite what to do next. I researched the publishing process at the same time I was writing the second book, Breathless.

Querying, I found, was not nearly as fun as writing a book. Neither was struggling over a synopsis, a blurb or any number of the other things all the books said I needed to do. But I did them. And I wasn’t surprised when the rejections rolled in. In the meantime, I kept writing, finishing Breathless in late 2009.

In 2010, I wrote Restless, and our life had become so much busier that I actually had to go away from home to finish it. I continued to query, but I was trying to get smarter about it. I had delved into social media, and I began chatting on line with some agents and editors. Their input helped me tweak Fearless. 

By that autumn, when I traveled to New York City for the Backspace Conference, I had a new beginning and a new query letter.  I had a few agents express interest and ask me to query them, but what I mostly took away was how subjective the process really was. One group of agents and editors loved my opening pages. Another did not. There was no rhyme or reason; just the way it went.

What I took away from that conference would ultimately influence a huge shift in my publishing paradigm.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Now go read.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS! While you’re opening those new ereaders, take a moment to download a fabulous book–for FREE today and tomorrow!

Don’t miss SPELLCHECKED by the talented and intriguing C.G. Powell. Go download it now! And have a wonderful and blessed Christmas day.