#YAIndieCarnival: Indie Author Series: Kindle/Amazon

25.1.13



I love my Kindle and I love Amazon. Ever since Amazon introduced the KDP programme, it has pretty much changed my life. I know that sounds extreme but it's true. It has enabled me to live my dream of becoming a published author.
Publishing through Amazon's KDP is extremely easy. All you need is a fabulous book in Word format (edited, proofread and ready for the world) and a great cover and you're ready! Seriously, it's as easy as that.
Naturally, there's a lot more to the marketing of your book but once it's out there, well then the world's your oyster, right?
Amazon I heart you!

Oh, and don't forget to download your FREE copy of Daisy Madigan's Paradise here and your FREE copy of Raven here.
1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self

Monday Mortals: Vanessa Finaughty

21.1.13

I'm delighted to have the lovely Vanessa Finaughty with me today. 
Hi Vanessa! Can you tell us a little about your latest book.
My latest book is a fantasy short story anthology called Sorcery & Subterfuge. The anthology contains all my favourite fantasy elements, like dragons, magic, elves and, of course, the ryokin from my Legends of Origin series. Some of the stories were written on commission for Oxford RSA (though I retain all rights other than educational). Those stories are Prince of Runeguard, The Enemy Crown and Ryokin Master.

What inspired you to write it?
Some of the stories were commissioned by Oxford, but all were inspired by my love of anything fantasy, because I believe that many of the things we consider to be fantasy are merely another form of reality we've yet to fully grasp. Such as magic - there are people out there who can move things with their minds (telekinetic) and those who can see into the future (psychic); these things could easily be called magic and, in fact, appear in many fantasy works.

Is it part of a series?
Sorcery & Subterfuge isn't, no, though the stories that involve the ryokin from my Legends of Origin series are sneak peeks into future characters in the series. These stories can be considered an introduction to those series characters, before they met Liam MacAskill, my series MC.

If your latest book was made into a movie, who would you like to play the main characters?
I haven't really thought about Sword & Sorcery being turned into a movie, to be honest. When it comes to movies, I see Legends of Origin as a TV series; as a movie, the series is likely to end up as three-part, three-hour movies. As for the main character in the series, Liam MacAskill, I haven't actually found an actor I think fits the role perfectly, but Darren Criss comes close. I could easily see Josh Hutcherson playing Arthean, the series' other MC.

What made you want to become an author?
I've always loved reading. My mom reads a lot, so that's possibly where I obtained my first love of books. Ever since I could read, I wanted to wow and entertain people the way I was wowed and entertained by authors like Enid Blyton, CS Lewis and Willard Price. Of course, once you start writing, the ideas never stop (for me, at least), so I can end up feeling rather psychotic when unable to write for long periods of time. It's part of me now, part of who I am, and I'm not me if I'm not writing.

Name one of your all-time favourite book covers?
That's a hard one. I don't usually remember covers as well as I remember the stories themselves (the same way I'm terrible at remembering faces). One cover I really love is TC Southwell's cover for The Queen's Blade II, Sacrifice.

Name one book that made you think 'wow'? Why did it have such an effect on you?
Almost every Dean Koontz book! Seriously, though, if I have to pick just one book, it would be Catherine Webb's Mirror Dreams. It was the first of her books I'd read, and I think she was only 14 years old when she wrote it - considering the easy humour, smooth flow and excellent plot, along with her young age, I think that's pretty impressive!

Who, or what, inspires you?
The short answer is: life, the universe and everything. Inspiration is all around us, seen and unseen; it's just for us to open our minds to it. I'm lucky, because I never have to sit and think about what to write - my stories pop into my head, starting with just one scene, and they take off from there with a life of their own.

Where is your favourite place to write?
I don't use my laptop as much as I should, considering the freedom it gives me to write wherever I want, so I usually write in my office at the desktop PC. I'm also not fond of driving when it isn't necessary (probably due to an accident in 1995 in which we were hit by a drunk driver and our car ended up a write-off), so I'm happy to write at home at my desk; it's all the same to me, as long as I'm comfortable and my back is properly supported.

What is your favourite movie that was based on a book?
Panic Room - although I'm not sure if the movie was based on the book or the other way around.

Who is your favourite author (s) and why?
John Connolly, Dean Koontz and Terry Brooks. I enjoy all these authors for their smooth writing styles and enhanced imaginations, and because their characters are ones I'm easily able to relate to. I also like that Connolly and Koontz include random humour where you least expect it.

If you could have a dinner party with any authors from any time in history, who would you choose and why?
HP Lovecraft, because he's really the Father of Horror, in my opinion, when it comes to original horror. As far as I know, he was the first to ever invent creatures that no one else was writing about, in a time where all horror books and movies contained the usual ghosts, werewolves or vampires. Nowadays, of course, everyone is inventing creatures (which is good, because it prevents readers from being bored, since almost all plots are now done to death too), but back in his time that must have been quite a step to take. I'd love to delve deeper into his mind. The other would be John Connolly - a few years ago, I had the honour of interviewing him over a cup of coffee, and he kept me in fits of laughter for at least half of the interview. His fame hasn't gone to his head; he's down to earth and a really lovely person with similar views of life to mine, all of which makes him not only easy to talk to, but interesting too.

Tell us a random fact about yourself.
I've recently become addicted to bunnylicks (frozen flavoured 'ice sticks').

Tell us something interesting about the area where you live.
I live in Cape Town, which I think is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, with the most diverse plant life. I've heard it said that just the Table Mountain National Park alone boasts more plant species than the whole of New Zealand and the British Isles. Then there's the Cape Floral Region, which has been described by the World Heritage Committee as having 'outstanding universal significance to humanity' and 'one of the riches areas for plants in the world'. Those are just two areas...
WOW... it sounds AMAZING, Vanessa! 

Links to your website / facebook / twitter / youtube, etc:
My website (a forum for all writers)
Facebook
Twitter
Smashwords

The ABCs of me

16.1.13

I just read this great post by the beautiful Emily of The Freckled Fox and thought I would have a go too...
Me on the set of The Right Juice
Addictions:  rooibos and vanilla tea
Bed size: super king
Chore you hate: ironing
Dogs or cats: cats, even though we also have two dogs
Essential start of your day: banana and strawberry smoothie
Favorite color: at the moment it's midnight blue
Gold or silver: Silver
Height: 5'4"
Instruments you play (or have played): I pretended to be able to play the recorder at school when I was really copying the girl next to me
Jobs titles you've had: flight organiser, trainee journalist, assistant editor, features editor, magazine editor, script supervisor, author
Kids: sadly, none
Live: Algarve, Portugal (but we're selling up and moving to England YAY!)
Mom’s name: Dillyse
Nickname:  Suze / Sooze
Overnight hospital stays:  when I had surgery on a ganglion (a type pf cyst on my wrist)
Pet peeve: impatient, pushy drivers and captchas
Quote from a movie: "You better start believing in ghost stories Ms. Turner, you're in one." Barbossa
Right or left handed: right
Siblings: older sister, younger brother
Time you wake up: about 7.30
Underwear: H&M
Vegetables you dislike: love all vegetables
What makes you run late: swapping handbags
X-rays you’ve had done:  spine
Yummy food you make: raw 'cheesecake' made almost entirely from nuts
Zoo animal: I don't think I've ever been to a zoo but I'd probably go with Polar Bear.

Join me by copying the 'alphabet' above and answering the questions on your blog. Share it with me in the comments below so I can get to know you a little better :D

#YAIndieCarnival: New year, new format for this awesome YA club

11.1.13

It's a new year and a new format for YA Indie Author Club . We'll be rotating our weekly posts in order to spice it up at bit for our members/followers. With our new setup, we'll alternate biweekly between our Indie Author Series and our Indie Author Spotlight.
With the biweekly Indie Author Series, we'll continue our current mission where we write topics geared toward helping other indie authors. In the spirit of paying it forward, we'll make a special effort to share/promote people, sites, software, etc. that make our jobs a little easier. Whenever possible, we'll provide coupon or referral codes for discounted services from the people we depend on to help us with our writing, editing, book covers, marketing, etc.
With the Indie Author Spotlight, we'll be interviewing a new indie author every other week. You'll want to visit the YA Indie Author Club Sponsor's sites in order to participate in any potential giveaways.
Below, you'll find the tentative schedule for 2013. We're looking forward to your visits, comments, and support.

2013 Topics
January
1/4/1 3 - Resolutions
1/11/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Introduction To The New Indie Author Series
1/18/1 3 - Spotlight: Laura A. H. Elliott
1/25/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Kindle/Amazon (All In or Diversify)
February
2/1/1 3 - Spotlight: Bryna Butler
2/8/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Nook/Barnes & Noble (What's B&N Done For You Lately)
2/15/1 3 - Spotlight: Suzy Turner
2/22/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Smashwords/All Other E-book Sites (Are They Worth It)
March
3/1/1 3 - Spotlight: T. R. Graves
3/8/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Author Page (Basics and Bonuses)
3/15/1 3 - Spotlight: Rachel Coles
3/22/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Goodreads (What's Good & What's Not)
3/29/1 3 - Spotlight: K. C. Blake
April
4/5/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Formatting (Challenges & Achievements)
4/12/1 3 - Spotlight: Melissa Pearl
4/19/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Editing (Testimonials & Warnings)
4/26/1 3 - Spotlight: Terah Edun
May
5/3/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Keywords & Tags (Making them Work)
5/10/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
5/17/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Categorizing Your Book (Finding Your Audience)
5/24/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
5/31/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Book Length (How Many Pages)
June
6/7/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
6/14/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Pricing (How To Decide)
6/21/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
6/28/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Distribution Lists (Books/Blogs/Emails)
July
7/5/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
7/12/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Social Media (What Works)
7/19/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
7/26/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Blogging (Do's & Don'ts)
August
8/2/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
8/9/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Giveaways (Tricks and Techniques) + A Massive Indie Author Giveaway In Honor Of The Topic
8/16/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
8/23/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Facebook (Family Page or Fan Page)
8/30/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
September
9/6/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Twitter (Keep It Simple OR Get As Many Followers As You Can)
9/13/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
9/20/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Pinterest (Getting It To Work For You)
9/27/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
October
10/4/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Giving Books Away (To Free Or Not To Free)
10/11/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
10/18/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Reviews (Getting Them & What To Do With Them)
10/25/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
November
11/1/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Writing (Point Of View & Tense)
11/8/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
11/15/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Querying (Pitch & Summary)
11/22/1 3 - Spotlight Or Book Tour: (Looking for Author/Release/Book Tour)
11/29/1 3 - OFF
December
12/6/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Sagas (Series Or Not)
12/13/1 3 - Indie Author Series: Shelfari (Character Description Benefits)
12/20/1 3 - OFF
12/27/1 3 - OFF


In the meantime, check out my fellow carnis below. Oh, and don't forget to download your FREE copy of Daisy Madigan's Paradise here or your FREE copy of Raven here.
1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self

Healing Summer Blog Tour

5.1.13

I'm absolutely delighted to be a part of Elizabeth Seckman's Healing Summer Blog Tour. Elizabeth has written a special post using my prompt 'do you believe in ghosts?' So read on and be sure to check out Elizabeth's fabulous new book!

Do I believe in ghosts?
Of course!
There are memory ghosts…you know, those little fragments of our history that turn to full blown remember whens after a little nudge from a subtle clue. A whiff of play dough takes me back to child hood so swiftly and distinctly it’s almost like time travel.
Then there are the ghosty-ghosts with the rattling chains that go boo in the night.
Do I believe in them?
Hmm…
At my brother’s funeral, my cousin, Val, couldn’t be consoled. My brother was a life-long atheist. Val is a devout Christian, and to the devout, there is one way into Heaven…by acceptance of Christ. Poor Val was a mess. I told her not to worry, my brother was baptized at the end (he had cancer, so he had to face death in the eye). But Val kept worrying...did he mean it? In his heart, did he accept Christ? She told us that during her last conversation with him, he told her not to worry, if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it’s a duck.
Val wailed, “But what does that mean?”
My sisters and I had no clue. She wanted to know if he was a Christian and he was talking to her about ducks? Was it the heavy pain meds? End of life delirium?
Poor Val was near shaking. She told us if she only had a sign…anything that would assure her he was safe, saved, and in the kingdom. We sat like we were made of stone. What the heck could we say?
Then in the still quiet of the funeral home, my sister’s phone rang. The first ring was a chime, but then as she dug through her purse it started to quack. So we sat there watching this phone ring, “Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack.”
Val let out a guffaw and a “Praise Jesus.”
To this day she swears it was a sign.
I swear there is more to this world that we can see and I won’t ever rule anything out.
Elizabeth will be posting a link to every stop on the blog tour on my blog tour page (link below) be sure to check out the posts throughout the month and vote on your favorite by commenting on the page!

Maybe Love, Not Time, Heals All Wounds
Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do? Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future? All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Has fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after or will it just break her heart?
“Healing Summer” is the second book in the Coulter Men Series.

Facebook
Goodreads
Amazon
a Rafflecopter giveaway

#YAIndieCarnival: Resolutions

4.1.13



Hey y'all welcome back to the carnival! I hope you had a truly wonderful Christmas.
This week, it's back to business for the YA Indie Carnival and we're talking about 2013 resolutions. To be honest, I don't really have any resolutions as such as I 'changed my life' back in July and haven't looked back since. Basically, I went on a four day raw food detox which made me completely re-think the way I was eating and exercising. This has resulted in me dropping two dress sizes and feeling a heck of a lot better inside and out.
So, unlike many others at this time of the year, I'm not thinking about diet and health because I've already got that covered. My resolutions aren't really resolutions, I guess they're more like ambitions (apart from number one and two that is!):
1. Write at least three novels
2. Write a screenplay
3. Sell hundreds of thousands of ebooks
4. Get noticed by movie producer
5. Become worldwide bestseller
6. Never lose sense of humour

To check out my fellow carnis resolutions, check out their awesome blogs below. Oh, and don't forget to download your free copy of Daisy Madigan's Paradise here.
1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self

Where are they now? Kelly LeBrock

2.1.13

Okay, so many of my younger readers probably won't have a clue who Kelly LeBrock is but those of you who are my age and older certainly will. Do you remember that incredible teen movie Weird Science (1985)? Well, Kelly was the actress who played the woman the two guys 'created'.
I remember, even back then when I was just ten years old, wishing I was as beautiful as she was. With such beauty, it was no surprise that her career began in the modelling industry in New York when she was just 16.  She appeared in many campaigns including an exclusive one for Christian Dior. She became quite well known as a spokesperson for Pantene with the catchphrase 'Don't hate me because I'm beautiful'. Apparently, she was one of Eileen Ford's most sought after models.
Photo credit: Jose C Silva via photopin cc
Her big movie break came when she was cast in Woman in Red in 1986, a hilarious comedy with Gene Wilder. This was followed by Weird Science, then Hard to Kill with Steven Seagal. She also appeared in Betrayal of the Dove (1993), Tracks of a Killer (1995), and Hard Bounty (1995). More recently she had roles in the films The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2002), Zerophilia (2005) and Gamers: The Movie (2006).
On TV, she's also been on Celebrity Fit Club in 2005 and the UK's Hell's Kitchen.
Lately though, Kelly has been dedicating her time to the terminally ill, following the death of her brother in 2008.
Kelly is also a spokesperson for homeopathic medicine, frequently giving lectures on the subject.
Photo credit: GlobovisiĆ³n via photopin cc

2013 is going to be AWESOME!!

1.1.13

Well, 2012 is now behind us and it's been an amazing year for me and my writing. Not only have I released several books, but my latest series is literally 'flying off the virtual shelves'. Since Daisy Madigan's Paradise went free, it's been downloaded more than 12,000 times on US Amazon alone! And that means, those who have enjoyed it, are starting to buy The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw! YAY!
Add to that the most amazing, fabulous, awesome reviews and you've got a very happy gal right here. I'm absolutely delighted - clearly ;)
Since my journey as an author began (two years ago), I've learned so much. My writing has improved and I've made some wonderful connections with readers, authors, bloggers and more online folk. When I think about what has happened over the past couple of years, well, I just can't take the grin off my face.
I've released five books:
With free downloads and sales, there are probably well over 100,000 copies (which goes up every single day) of my books out in the virtual world. How awesome is that?
AND 2013 is going to be an amazing year. I've got plans to release at least three more books, hubby and I are planning a huge move and I'm going to be approached by a movie producer who wants to make my books into awesome movies.... Hey.... a girl can dream can't she?
Happy New Year everyone! I hope all your hopes and dreams come true this year.
Virtual Hugs XXX
Made With Love By The Dutch Lady Designs