buying links

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Hope’s Daughter by Mel Cusick-Jones

Life should be simple for Cassie.

For the small population of Earth survivors who live on the Space Station Hope everything they do is planned and scheduled, down to the cyclical food menus, their roles in the station, even how many children they have.

Despite rigid controls directing her life, Cassie feels more out of synch than ever and worries she won’t find a place for herself within the station community. Perhaps that’s because she’s hearing things inside her head that can’t possibly be real. Or maybe it’s the regular elopements of her peers, heading off to a romantic future in the Married Quarter of the space station, whilst she’s never even been attracted to a boy – no matter how hard her best friend Ami pushes them at her. Then there are the odd questions her work placement partner Balik keeps raising. His questions are just as troubling for her as his distracting smiles and eyes that seem to see inside her.

As Cassie draws closer to Balik she finds that everything else in her life begins to shift. He tells her things that call into question the system they live within. She can’t believe he is right, but at the same time she finds it hard to deny the sincerity of his ideas. Could there be a connection between Cassie’s problems and Balik’s questions? The truth will drag them both to a terrifying and deadly conclusion beyond anything they could have imagined.

Remember…you could win a copy of Hope’s Daughter in the main event giveaway, so make sure you’ve entered to win! Follow us on Facebook / Twitter and get vocal on the Indie Author Event comments to earn yourself additional entry points 🙂 

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***EXTRA GIVEAWAY – Visit the Giveaway Site to Win Hope’s Daughter – EXTRA GIVEAWAY***5  copies to be won***EXTRA GIVEAWAY***

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 Gimme 10 – Mini-Interview

Please answer each question in 10 words or less – that’s what makes it tough but fun! 🙂

Where do you find your inspiration? All types of people, books, life, films, family and love.

What is your favourite aspect of Hope’s Daughter? The complimentary relationship between Cassie and Balik – love conquers all…

Who is your favourite character from Hope’s Daughter and why? Cassie, because it is her story, her world, her life.

What are you working on now? Rainbow Maker’s Tale, which is Balik’s story and Outlanders.

What do you love about most about writing? Solving character’s problems – the freedom to go wherever you want

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About the Author

After graduating from The University of Sheffield with an English Literature Masters in 2003, Melanie has been writing fiction – time permitting – ever since.

The Ambrosia Sequence (started in 2008) and The Elementals (begun in 2004) are both ongoing, extended projects each containing several novels, aimed primarily at young adults and hover somewhere in the middle of sci-fi, futuristic and fantasy genres. Hope’s Daughter, released in December 2011, is her debut novel and the first of The Ambrosia Sequence, with the sequel – Outlanders – due in 2012.

When she’s not writing Melanie enjoys the wet weather of the north of England with her dogs or disappearing into a book for a few hours (no surprise there then). Unfortunately, all too often the ‘day job’ gets in the way of the nicer things in life!

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Find the author:

Website – http://cusick-jones.com

Blog – http://melcj.wordpress.com and Aside from Writing!

Facebook – Hope’s Daughter and Mel Cusick-Jones

Twitter @melabupa

 

Buy the book:

You Tube Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/kLuf6DKg8I8

Amazon.com   Amazon.co.uk   Apple iBooks   Barnes and Noble

Also available at: Kobo, Sony Reader, Copia, Ebook Pie, Baker & Taylor

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Shades of Grey by Michael Cargill

John is not a very nice man. He works for the government. So who has tied him to a chair and what do they want? James is a British soldier during WWII. Tom is a young boy with a terrible secret. Three stories. Three very different people. All of them battling to survive.

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 Gimme 10 – Mini-Interview

Please answer each question in 10 words or less – that’s what makes it tough but fun! 🙂

Where do you find your inspiration? Imagine eating spaghetti with a knife.  Everything just falls out.

What is your favourite aspect of Shades of Grey? Hearing people say they enjoy it.

Who is your favourite character from Shades of Grey and why? John the Baptist.  He is the action-man’s Don Draper.

What are you working on now? A mixture of sleep, brain storming and exercise.

What do you love about most about writing? Turning ideas into words is the world’s greatest magic trick.

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About the Author: Living in England, Surrey and about to break the 33-years old barrier.  I can honestly say that coming to terms with getting older is worse than puberty.  At 14 every extra hair was greeted with rapturous applause and a desire to show it off at school.  Every time a small breeze blew I would worry that it was going to blow away.

These days whenever I spot a new nasal hair I can hear it laughing at me.  I even have to make use of electronic devices to prune it back.

A profile picture? I am too shy.  I might pluck up the courage later though.

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

http://michaelcargill.wordpress.com/

Twitter – @MichaelCargill1

 

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/134401

US Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Shades-of-Grey-ebook/dp/B007BFJ45E/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329831640&sr=1-3

UK Amazon – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shades-of-Grey-ebook/dp/B007BFJ45E/ref=sr_1_5?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329831691&sr=1-5

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Pretty Killers: Diamonds by Jordan McKinney

Book One: Diamonds – Life had not been too kind to little Tomika Drake. Other than growing up in one of the most ill-reputed cities in the state, at age 13, she lost her beloved mother and soon after, her father was incarcerated. For the next three years, she lived her life stuck in a suburban hell with her narcissistic half-sister and her equally evil mother, but on her 16th birthday, her life changed when she was forced to unwrap the powerful superhuman gift that was bestowed upon her at birth. Pretty Killers examines millennial American pop culture, politics, and society through a whirlwind week starting when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with a famed fashion mogul brings the feuding family to the sparkling metropolis of Queen City. But the shine quickly fades when they learn that the neighbouring burg has been tackling an issue with humongous mutants and other terrors, including a gang that Tomika’s half-sister gets caught up in. When the fate of the city ends up on Tomika’s shoulders, will she find it in her heart to save her half-sister, or take the chance to finally do away with the scourge while saving the city from her gang’s tirades?

Remember…you could win a copy of Diamonds in the event giveaway, so make sure you’ve entered to win! Follow us on Facebook / Twitter and get vocal on the Indie Author Event comments to earn yourself additional entry points 🙂 

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 Gimme 10 – Mini-Interview

Please answer each question in 10 words or less – that’s what makes it tough but fun! 🙂

Where do you find your inspiration? Strangely, I find my inspiration mostly in  music.

What is your favourite aspect of Pretty Killers:Diamonds? I like the double meaning. How pretentious of me, right?

Who is your favourite character from Pretty Killers:Diamonds and why? Tomika. because she’s overtly sardonic, but still sensitive inside.

What are you working on now? Currently, working on the follow-up to Diamonds.

What do you love about most about writing? I love how you can stretch the limits of reality.

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About the Author

Jordan McKinney is that quintessential ’90s kid. You know, the kind of person who repeats ad nauseum how cartoons and the economy and just everything was better up until the year 2000. But with growing up in a small city just outside of Detroit, Michigan, there isn’t much to do but observe, and analyse. Maybe that’s why he grew up to study Sociology in college and then, in turn, used that knowledge to scrutinize subjects in popular culture against sociological and psychological concepts in his writing. Maybe he likes to eat burgers and uses writing to pay for his habit. Who knows anything, but the fact that  he’s a writer who tries too hard to be funny. But, no, seriously, Jordan McKinney became a writer because books are such an important–or used to be an important–part of life. They pass on information, and create worlds that you thought could not exist. And to speak on life from a young Black kid’s perspective is Jordan’s goal.

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/PancakeMcKennz

Amazon: http://amzn.com/1463734018

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/119698

iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pretty-killers/id496761737?mt=11

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/948069.Jordan_McKinney

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The Weeping Empress by Sadie Forsythe


Chiyo Alglaeca was happy in her life. That is, until it was all taken away. Forced into notoriety, stalked by a mysterious cult, hunted by the emperor, and facing betrayal at every turn she clings to the only safety she can find: two enigmatic men and the sharp bringer of death, Salvation.

The Weeping Empress explores the devastating effects of loss, the hunt for redemption, and the price of destiny. It questions the true meaning of evil and asks what monster is not also an innocent?

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 Gimme 10 – Mini-Interview

Please answer each question in 10 words or less – that’s what makes it tough but fun! 🙂

Where do you find your inspiration? Everywhere and nowhere, even I don’t always know.

What is your favourite aspect of The Weeping Empress? I adore the cover. I find it beautiful & symbolic.

Who is your favourite character from The Weeping Empress and why? Senka, I like his unassuming strength.

What are you working on now? The sequel– it addresses why Chiyo and how it happened.

What do you love about most about writing? Getting the story out of my head.

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About the Author

Sadie Forsythe hails from the Southeastern United States, lives in Northwestern England, and is a fan of all things Japanese. She holds degrees in Anthropology/Comparative Religion, International Criminology, and Social Change. She loves local coffee shops, geek culture, everything bookish, and tea (steaming with milk and sweet iced). She is married with two daughters and an imaginary dog.

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Website: http://sadieforsythe.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/SadieSForsythe

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SadieForsythe

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Blue Sky Days by Marie Landry

A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother – studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing – and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn’t have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn’t know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn’t helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it’s time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she’s stepped back in time.

When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes – he’s unlike anyone she’s ever met before, the kind of man she didn’t even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don’t always need a plan – sometimes life steers you where you’re meant to be.

Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it’s time for her to help Nicholas the way he’s helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

(Read the Aside from Writing review of Blue Sky Days)

Remember…you could win a copy of Blue Sky Days in the event giveaway, so make sure you’ve entered to win! Follow us on Facebook / Twitter and get vocal on the Indie Author Event comments to earn yourself additional entry points 🙂 

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 Gimme 10 – Mini-Interview

Please answer each question in 10 words or less – that’s what makes it tough but fun! 🙂

Where do you find your inspiration? Life, love, art, family, music, travel, books.

What is your favourite aspect of Blue Sky Days? The love story. Emma and Nicholas make my heart happy.

Who is your favourite character from Blue Sky Days and why? Emma. She learns and grows and changes so much.

What are you working on now? Chick-lit about lifelong best friends…and a hot guy! 😉

What do you love about most about writing? The creative outlet, freedom, and simply the act of writing.

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About the Author

Marie Landry has always been a daydreamer. She has created imaginary worlds for as long as she can remember, so it only seemed natural that she would become a writer. With a passion for words that started in early childhood, Marie has written a varied range of works, and has been freelance writing since 2009. She resides in Ontario, Canada, and most days you can find her writing, reading, blogging about writing and reading, listening to U2, or having grand adventures with her two precious nephews.

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Facebook – Author Page

Facebook – Blue Sky Days – Book Page 

Twitter – http://twitter.com/SweetMarie83

Book blog – http://sweetmarie-83.blogspot.com

Author blog – http://marielandry.blogspot.com

Buy Blue Sky Days…

Amazon.com – http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sky-Days-ebook/dp/B006U97B20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325915568&sr=8-1

Amazon.uk – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blue-Sky-Days-ebook/dp/B006U97B20/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1

Smashwords – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120238

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blue-sky-days-marie-landry/1108336817

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Guest Post…Why I Write for Boys

Mikko Azul, author of Askari (Book 1 – Child of Muralia Trilogy) joins us today with a guest post why she writes for boys…

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Boys: The Forgotten Heroes of Young Adult Literature

Since the publication of Twilight and the subsequent exponential explosion of the Paranormal Romance genre in the YA marketplace, heroes of the epic fantasy have nearly become extinct. Rare are the newly-published tales of conquest by a young hero over his personal, metaphorical or, heaven forbid, actual demons. Despite the recent success of such movies as The Lord of the Rings and their encouragement of real-life heroes to find kinship between the pages of the original books, boys and young men are still largely ignored in the YA marketplace. Why is this?

After speaking to over 50 literary agents and a handful of YA publishers, I got an answer…one that disturbed me greatly. In their esteemed opinions, boys over the age of 13 don’t read books. Really? Why not? The demographic data shown to me by the agents indicates that boys at or over the age of 13 are into sports, girls and…you guessed it…video games. I think there are a couple really good reasons for this. First, there really aren’t a whole lot of great books being published right now that will appeal to boys of that age. With the exception of a handful of really great titles in the Middle Grade level including Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, Michael Scott’s Nicholas Flamel series and Jenny Nemmo’s Charlie Bone series, there are few that portray strong male leads that our young boys and men can aspire to or identify with. Even so, these are all written for younger boys at the middle grade level. How do we capture the interest and excitement of teenage boys? I’m not convinced that teenage boys aren’t reading…they’re just getting their books in the specific genre sections instead of age level sections of the book stores. Go to any Barnes and Noble or, better yet, Powell’s World of Books and see how many teens and men are roaming between the sci-fi/fantasy aisles.

I can see the attraction to video games. Boys and men are, and will always be, warriors at heart. Where else can they possess amazing physical prowess with magical abilities and opportunities to wield extreme weapons? Where else can they triumph over adversity or overcome incredible odds? Video games totally rock! But, they’re so expensive that they aren’t accessible to everyone who would want them. The athletes who excel in the courts and on the fields at the Junior and High School level are excellent role models, but the recognition is limited to the talented few. Perhaps another venue for the rest of our kids who aren’t superstar athletes and who don’t have access to the expensive newest video game craze would be a return to the escapism of the written word. One that would appeal to our culture’s forgotten heroes…boys. The trick is how to get boys to sit still long enough to make their way through 300+ pages of text!

Personally, I have four boys; one with ADD, one with ADHD and two with the natural attention spans of gnats. Writing in such a way to keep my boys interested and engaged has always been a challenge. My oldest son gave me the key: keep it moving. He had a good point. Stan Lee of Marvel Comics gave me the best advice for writing for boys, “Take your guy, your main character, and get him into trouble…just keep getting him into trouble. Everything follows from there.” So, after writing a book that should appeal to boys, how do I convince them to read it?

I’ve found one way: a teacher at our local junior high school read my book Askari and was so excited about finding a book that she was certain would appeal to her struggling readers that she wrote a grant and ordered copies for each kid at the junior high school. We are working together on a curriculum that incorporates the elements that they need to pass their proficiency exams using a story that (we hope) will keep them interested and entertained. Perhaps if we can get our foot in the door by starting with a captive audience, we can remind publishers and book sellers that our young male heroes are still out there and reading the stories that are worthy of their valuable attention.

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About the Author: I’m a reader and writer of fantasy adventure novels. My first work, which still doesn’t have a satisfactory title, won the San Francisco Writer’s Conference indie publishing competition. So…they’re generously paying to have this first novel published! Writers tend to work in a vaccuum…no input, little useful support and oftentimes marginalized. Winning this competition was a huge boost of confidence for me!

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Website: www.mikkoazul.com

Look out for Askari – Book 1 in the Child of Muralia series

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Guest Post…Where do you get your ideas?

Author Tony Talbot joins us today with a guest post on where writing ideas come from…

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It’s a common enough question, and one I think every writer probably has a half-different answer to. Some of them say from their own life experiences, some of them say from dreams or something they’ve seen or heard that sticks.

For me, it’s anything and everything I see, and most of the stuff that I dream. There’s a school of thought that says everything a writer sees never leaves their heads, but sits in there, waiting to bounce off something else. I like to think of it as my own solar system, the important stuff close to the star…and out beyond where the heat and the life is…ahh, that’s the good stuff.

There are comets out there, innocuous balls of ice and rock, dark against infinity. But give them a nudge, and they hurtle towards the planets, sometimes leaving a trail across the sky of my imagination. Sometimes they hit things. Wipe out whole continents, reshape whole planets and civilisations. Sometimes you think they’re going to smash into a planet only burn up in the atmosphere.

Here’s an example of one of those comets, one that left a bright streak but didn’t do much damage:

A month or two ago, I was eating in McDonalds with my wife on a Friday night, and sitting at the other end of this very noisy and busy restaurant was a woman at a table for two. Nothing very odd or spectacular about that, you would think, but she was wearing a wedding ring, and she was alone on a Friday night eating in a cheap restaurant.

Instantly, the questions about her started in my head: Who was she? Where were her husband and family (if she had one)? Why was she alone on a Friday night?

By the time I got home, the woman had stuck, and I managed to get a decent story out of her. Not bad for someone I never spoke to. And one of the pleasures of writing is this: Give this little snapshot to a dozen writers and they’ll come up with a different answer. That woman gave my little writing group a surprise party mistaken for an affair, a ghost story and a secret daughter. Just from a woman sitting alone at a table in McDonalds.

So next time you’re out walking somewhere, when you glance at something, glance again. You’ll never know when an image will stick and what you’ll do with it. Take that image and nudge some comets. Maybe blow out some continents.

You know, just for fun.

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About the Author: Tony Talbot was born in the 1970s and started writing in 2008 after a dream he had and couldn’t shake. American Girl was his third book, and he’s currently editing his next book and planning the book after, tentatively called, ‘Dome’.

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Website: http://www.tony-talbot.co.uk

Twitter: @authortony

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tonytalbotwriter

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/tony-talbot

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Guest Review…Aladdin’s Samovar

Mikko Azul, author of Askari (Book 1 – Child of Muralia Trilogy) joins us today with a guest review for Aladdin’s Samovar by Lauren Sweet – let’s take a look at what she thought…

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Aladdin’s Samovar, by Lauren Sweet, was one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Lauren Sweet takes paranormal romance to a whole new level in this triumphant debut novel! She masterfully combines the elements of paranormal romance with the impossibly fast-paced action/mystery/thriller elements. There are so many plot surprises and hilarious characters that it was truly heartbreaking to come to the end of the story. I’m anxiously awaiting the sequel!

Amber is a down-to-earth, hard-working girl who has to balance her flower-power mother’s paranoia of authority against the mischievous evil genie’s antics to entice Amber to make wishes for it to grant in whatever twisted way it sees fit. A simple wish to meet her absent father turns into a fast-paced race for sensitive data with the local Mob. Mousy Amber becomes Super Hero Amber as she figures out who is lying (everyone) and who she can trust (nobody) before getting herself killed, or worse, falling for the handsome genie.

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About the Author: I’m a reader and writer of fantasy adventure novels. My first work, which still doesn’t have a satisfactory title, won the San Francisco Writer’s Conference indie publishing competition. So…they’re generously paying to have this first novel published! Writers tend to work in a vaccuum…no input, little useful support and oftentimes marginalized. Winning this competition was a huge boost of confidence for me!

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Website: www.mikkoazul.com

Look out for Askari – Book 1 in the Child of Muralia series