Author Appreciation Month & Giveaway!

Welcome to Author Appreciation Month! One thing I love most is celebrating and supporting fellow authors in any way I possibly can. So, I'm going to try and make this a regular recurring event throughout the year. During any Author Appreciation Month, you will meet a handful of wonderful authors, be introduced to their books, read my review(s) of their novel(s), greet the characters, and, of course, have the chance to win goodies in giveaways! 

For September, I am elated to spotlight Amber Garr, Susan Fodor, Sarah Dalton, and Katie Hayoz. They are not only tremendous authors, but they are truly wonderful people that I feel incredibly blessed to know and work with. 

So, to start Author Appreciation Month, how 'bout we take a look at the prizes?!

One Winner Will Receive the Following Prizes: 

*Signed Paperback of Silver Tides by Susan Fodor
*E-copy of Waterfall by Amber Garr
*E-copy of Waterproof by Amber Garr
*E-copy of Untethered by Katie Hayoz
*E-copy of Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton
*Signed Paperback of Finned by Sutton Shields
*The Merworld Water Wars bracelet 

Terms & Conditions of the Giveaway (also stated on the Rafflecopter Giveaway Terms & Conditions section):

*U.S. & International residents 18 years of age and older

*Not suitable for children. Please keep out of the reach of children.

*Shipping from me within the United States will be Priority Mail, Insured, with Delivery Confirmation and tracking will be provided to the winner via e-mail; International Shipping will either be via First Class International or Priority Mail International.

*Authors are not responsible/liable for prizes lost in the mail

*Mailing times may vary.

*Delivery times may vary.

*Open to Residents of the US and Internationally. Winner will be notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. I will contact participating authors regarding your prize(s). The authors, in most cases, are shipping or e-mailing their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you in obtaining your prize. If there is an issue, please notify the author within 30 days for assistance.

*The products offered for the giveaway are free of charge, no purchase necessary. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are in no way associated with this giveaway. By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone. I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Roundup: Shells, Writing, & Unleashing My Crazy

Um, under a rock…or the bed…or in a cave. Okay, not really, but I might as well have been. This summer has been kind of a rough one; I think, in part, this summer’s ups and downs have made me a little extra shell-bound lately. Lots of worry, tears, and fears. My mom means the world to me, so seeing her not doing so great sends me even deeper into that darn shell.

Of course, it’s no secret that my social media skills need a lot of work. For whatever dumb reason, I’m seriously social media-shy. It’s stupid, I know. But every single time I started to write a blog/FB post, I'd just clam up and think, ‘Okay, this is going to sound stupid and pointless. Literally no one will be interested in my babble.’ I realize how foolish that sounds, believe me, I do…I really do. Reckon I just didn’t want to further highlight my inner idiot, not that it needs any help—it does a fantastic job of rocking the stupid all on its own.

Anywhoo, I’m trying to crawl outside the shell I tend to retreat into, which means…expect babble. Apologies in advance. :/

Anthologies.

I’ve had the great privilege to work with several groups of tremendous authors, and all I can say is…get ready for boatloads of AWESOME! And for anyone who has read my Merworld Water Wars series...you’re in for some extra crazy fun in a couple of these anthologies. 

I’ll have special posts detailing these phenomenal books in the very near future. For now, here’s a brief introduction to three upcoming anthologies:

Celestial. In Celestial, readers will see how the presence of a comet influences life, love, relationships, and beyond. For my contribution, Comet Cotillion, I thought it might be cool to give you a glimpse into Marina’s life before arriving in Saxet Shores. You’ll visit Madame Helena’s institution while Marina, Trey, Polly, and Meikle were patients there. Expect wackiness, some rather unfortunate ball gowns, Polly’s bizarre suitors, a glimpse into the strength of Meikle and her bag…and hopefully lots of fun.

Somewhere South of Normal. Here, readers will vacation on an unknown island…where leaving may not be an option. When you visit False Key, you can expect sun, sand, surf…sex…danger…mystery…and pretty much anything and everything you can and can’t imagine. ;) As for my stories (Oversplash & Overbite-Me), well, let’s just say there’s a freaking hot, naughty, Aussie sorta-angel awaiting you. And, yes, he’s working his sexy…oh, Dear God, is he working it. ;)

Candy Cane Kisses. OH HOLY RUDOLPH! I’m going to be part of a Christmas romance anthology! I'm trying to decide whether to write a sexy or sweet story. Hmm. Naughty or Nice. Just can't decide, but I'm totally ready to put on my elf hat!

Author Appreciation Month.

Oh, oh, oh, I’m SO excited to hold my first ever Author Appreciation Month. I will feature four spectacular authors who I feel so blessed to know. Each week will spotlight a different author—we’re talking reviews, character interviews, author interviews, and…a big ‘ole GIVEAWAY! Stay tuned for the next post detailing everything! 

Character voices, that is! And, oh, man, have the characters been talking! I'll have tons more details to come, but basically, there's a little of everything: NA/Adult Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, and, of course...

Book four/Wave four of The Merworld Water Wars! It's  underway! However, there’s an issue—books four and five really should be one book. But, Dear God, it would be absolutely massive! So, I’ve decided to write books four and five back-to-back. The idea is to publish book four when I’m about halfway done with book 5. It may be a longer wait between Rifted and book four, but the wait between four and five will be much shorter.  I just don’t think it would be fair to make anyone who's reading this series wait ages for the final book. I dunno. I just want to do what's right for readers and my characters. Maybe I'm over-thinking. Wouldn't be the first time. lol :/

And finally… If you’ve read my books or any of my blog posts, you know I’m a little wacky. Wacky, crazy, goofy, dorky, or gorky, as Mom says—call it what you want, but whatever it is, it tends to be my comfort zone.

Starting Saturday, I will elevate the weird to a whole other level as LSU takes the field for their first game of the season. I’m a sports fanatic. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m a total girly-girl, but trust me when I say I can scream the stripes off a referee better than half the guys I know. If you’d like to come see the circus, drop by my Twitter page during an LSU game. I’ve been told it’s an unfiltered sideshow. Yeah. Like I said, just point and laugh. I won’t mind.

Box set: Oceans Deep! 12 Full-length YA Novels!

★✩★ Sunday, June 8, was #WorldOceansDay! ★✩★

To celebrate, ten bestselling young adult authors have created a collection of romantic "sea reads" called #OceansDeep. This boxed set has 12 full-length young adult novels (2,500 pages!) that celebrate the sun and sea! They're full of mermaids and surfers, lifeguards and dolphins, sand and waves. These books span a variety of genres including science fiction, fantasy, contemporary and mythology, but they all have one thing in common: they leave readers more in love with the ocean than they were before. 

 

Lani Wendt Young - Telesa

Elle Strauss - Seaweed

Kristen Day - Forsaken

Karen Amanda Hooper - Tangled Tides

Amber Garr - Promises & Betrayal

Cheri Lasota - Artemis Rising

Heather Allen - Just Breathe

Nikki Godwin - Chasing Forever Down

Leigh Talbert Moore - Dragonfly & Undertow

Amy Evans - Clicks

Cover by Starla Huchton

Formatting by Emily Mah Tippett

It's an entire summer's worth of beach reads for $3.99 and all profits will go to TheOceanProject to further the mission of environmental education and ocean conservation. The theme of this years event is together we have the power to protect the ocean. The Oceans Deep collection does that one word, one page, one story at a time. Because while facts may change people's minds, fiction can change their hearts.  

Buy Links: Amazon / bn.com / iBooks / Kobo

Enter the GIVEAWAY!

Enter the rafflecopter to win more books and other prizes too, and please help spread the word about Oceans Deep.

Meet Sarah Dalton's MARY HADES!!!

 

Not many seventeen year old girls have a best friend who’s a ghost, but then Mary Hades isn’t your average teenager.

                                                           

Scarred physically and mentally from a fire, her parents decide a holiday to an idyllic village in North Yorkshire will help her recover. Nestled in the middle of five moors, Mary expects to have a boring week stuck in a caravan with her parents. Little does she know, evil lurks in the campsite…

Seth Lockwood—a local fairground worker with a dark secret—might be the key to uncovering the murky history that has blighted Nettleby. But Mary is drawn to him in a way that has her questioning her judgement.

Helped by her dead best friend and a quirky gay Goth couple, Mary must stop the unusual deaths occurring in Nettleby. But can she prevent her heart from being broken?

The first in a series of dark YA novels, Mary Hades follows on from the bestselling Kindle Single My Daylight Monsters. A spine-tingling tale with romance, readers will be shocked and entertained in equal measure. 

 Note from me: This sounds like it's going to be a FANTASTIC series! Can't wait to get my hands on this one!  

Pick up a copy of Mary Hades (LOVE the name) today at any of these wonderful retailers:

Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Smashwords

Google Play

OmniLit

Connect with Sarah: 

Twitter

Facebook

Blog 
                                                 

Goodreads

Cover Reveal: RIFTED, Wave 3 in The Merworld Water Wars series!

It's finally here! The cover reveal for Wave 3!!! I've been SO anxious to share it with you!!! Okay, here we go! I hope you like it as much as I do! <3 Notice Marina has her glowing gel shield power activated and ready to throw!

Someone wicked walks among them.

Heartbreak usually requires time to heal. For Marina Valentine, however, time has other plans: like sticking her with a shiny, stubborn accessory, sending her on a surprising date with someone other than Troy Tombolo, and introducing her lips to kisses that could save or destroy everything and everyone.

Marina and the rest of the Mer-Nor gang must find a way to push through the grief caused by The Dealer, for their next mission will take them on a dangerous, scandal-filled journey that may very well be the most significant to date: hunt down the evidence they need to prove once and for all that the tyrannical King Zale breached the water pact.

But with the shocking identity of The Dealer and overwhelming guilt weighing heavily on her, Marina struggles with frightening emotional urges and begins to question whether she is truly strong enough to succeed as the all-important Siren Savior.

Marina is in more danger than ever before—even inside the familiar study with her trusted friends—because unbeknownst to her, someone has been lurking about, waiting for the chance to undo everything the Mer-Nor gang has achieved…and with the Siren Savior’s doubt growing, that person’s chance has finally arrived.

Coming May 27th, 2014.

Author Spotlight: Amber Garr's Cover Reveal for WATERFALL!

I'm SO happy to reveal the cover of author Amber Garr's new book WATERFALL (which, btw, I'm literally drooling to read). Isn't the cover GORGEOUS?! Amber is such a sweetheart--I just adore her! <3

So, let's honor World Water Day with Amber Garr! 

*****************************************************

Happy World Water Day! And happy cover reveal day for The Water Crisis Chronicles Book 0.5. As a part of today's celebration for raising awareness about water and energy consumption, I thought I'd celebrate with a cover and website reveal!

First, here's the cover and blurb for WATERFALL...

Waterfall (Book 0.5)

The water is gone. The wars have begun.

Clean water is a luxury most can no longer afford. Climate change, industrial sabotage, and greed have turned country against country as each one tries to provide for its citizens. Terrorist groups target desalinization plants and frustrated governments hunt those who work against them. Rationing, sequestering, and patrolling have become routine at a time when there are too many people and not enough resources.

While the world around them disintegrates into chaos, Zach and Vivienne hope that their life in a government-run complex will retain some semblance of normalcy. But when attacks on their water supplies bring war to their sheltered community, they must accept their new fate. Stay and fight or flee and endure—it’s a difficult decision with lasting consequences.

Will they choose what’s safe? Or will they choose to survive?

***Coming April 22, 2014***

And now you can learn more about Zach and Vee's world, the government, the timeline, and what you can do help bring clean drinking water to the millions who don't have it (more about that coming later).

www.thewatercrisischronicles.com

 You can also read about how the series began with WATERPROOF sporting its new cover makeover as well!

Waterproof (Book 1)

Dying of thirst is the new reality.

Five years after the last drop of clean water disappeared, global societies collapsed and nuclear war shattered all hope of recovery. In a place now only a skeleton of its former self, survivors fight to avoid capture by the government. Forced to work in factories that produce the only drinking water available, those who go in, never come out.

Zach and Vivienne have lived as deserters since they were teenagers. Fighting amongst their own and scrounging for the necessities of life, they’ve learned to rely on each other in every way. Yet when tragedy strikes and the true objectives of the government facility are revealed, their world is ripped apart.

A fate once thought to hold their demise may be the sole answer to their survival. Who can they trust? Who can they believe?

In this life, it pays to be waterproof.

Watch the Trailer

Buy at Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Smashwords

Cover by Creative Book Designs and Amber Garr

Find Amber at:

Her Website

On Facebook

On Twitter

 

Book 3 updates, Satanic Sinuses, & an Epic Migraine

First off--and I know this is waaaaay late--I hope EVERYONE had a wonderful holiday season, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, and/or Happy Kwanza! I miss the holidays.

Big hugs and many thanks to all who entered the 12 Authors of Christmas Giveaway! The winner was drawn, notified, and was super excited. I hope y’all had fun with all of our author spotlights and discovered new books to devour on our bookshelf posts.

So, it’s been a while, huh? Where the heck have I been?! Well, I’ll tell you…

Some of you may remember I was down and out in November with sinusitis. Okay, I know what you’re thinking: Uh, a sinus infection? Dude, that’s lame. I would totally think the same thing…if I hadn’t gone through one myself.

This sinus infection was of the evil variety. We’re talking stuffy nose (lame), scratchy throat (lame), sinus pressure so terrible that it radiated nearly unbearable, shake-until-you-feel-faint PAIN straight down into my jaw and teeth (definitely not lame), and facial swelling to the point that I couldn’t move my mouth into a smile on one side of my face (now we’re talking Halloween-scary, folks). This thing was no freaking joke.

After going to the doc and getting some meds, it finally started responding…and so did my system when it decided to sprout hives in allergic reaction fashion. Yeah. So much cuteness, let me tell you. *Note the sarcasm*

Fast forward past New Year’s Eve and it’s hello sinuses. They’re ba-ack, though, thankfully, not to the extreme evil they achieved in November. This time they simply knocked me sideways with sinus pressure and a migraine I couldn’t kick. Lovely. My eyes haven’t been able to tolerate a computer screen for quite some time now…

…until…

…my mom came to the rescue. God, I love her! She found a little personal humidifier for me, which was something the doc recommended, but, um, I’m really bad about changing filters and all that nonsense. Well, this personal one is filter-free! Just fill with water, plug it in, and you’re done! Genius. Isn’t it cute?! 

After about a couple months with this little workhorse and I’m already noticing significantly less pressure in my face and no nagging headache, which means I can look at a computer screen again!!! Hurray! 

Annnnnnnnnnnd then my sinusitis came back. Yeah. BUT it wasn't as bad, and I swear it's because of the little humidifier. Well, after taking the new meds, I seem to be back on track...for now...until the next round of acute sinusitis attacks. And let me tell y'all: there is nothing 'cute' about acute sinusitis. 

What about Book 3?!

Here’s what we have:

*The most gorgeous cover on the planet which is currently getting all dolled up with typography.

*Hook

*Blurb

Um, you didn’t mention the actual book.

That’s because I can officially say…IT’S DONE! Dude, it has taken me forever because I haven’t been able to be on the computer much. So, I turned to handwriting. Of course, the migraine kinda destroyed any sort of eyeball-usage. So, I employed a recorder—I used one before Christmas when things were too chaotic to sit at a computer for any length of time and found it really helpful.

The problem? I’ve learned a few things while transcribing from said recorder: I hate my voice. I sound stoned, even though I’m not; my attempt at an Australian accent is completely hideous; and I’m an even bigger idiot than I thought I was, so…yeah...good times.

Bottom line: I’m working my rear off on this book. I feel AWFUL for the delay. Stupid evil sinuses. Seriously. They’re evil monsters from the depths of the devil’s toilet.

A cover reveal and release date is just around the corner! I promise! <3