Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I've Been Tagged

The wonderful and talented Karen Hoover tagged me on her BLOG. This is a new one for me--my first tag, so I'll do my best.

Do you think you're hot? Seriously? Is this high school? lol. Um, NO.

Upload a picture or wall paper you are using at the moment

I'm getting ready to change it though.

When was the last time you ate chicken meat? Yesterday.

The Song(s) you listened to recently? I listen to music to help me fall asleep.
"The Climb" by Miley Cyrus
"Within You" David Bowie
"Wanted Dead or Alive" Bon Jovi
"Never Say Die" Bon Jovi
"As the World Falls Down" David Bowie
"Best I can" Queensryche
"Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" Trans Siberian Orchestra
"Standin Outside the Fire" Garth Brooks

What were you thinking as you were doing this?
Exactly how much I wanted to reveal :)

Do you have nicknames? Really?
Cher-Bear (shortened to Bear)--long story
my kids call me Mommy
hubby calls me--ha! you didn't actually think I'd put that on here, did you? lol

Tag eight Blogger friends
Laura Bastian
Canda Mortensen
Angie Lofthouse
Deirdra Coppel
Ali Cross
Elana Johnson
Nichole Giles
Elizabeth Mueller

Who's listed as number one?
Laura Bastian--mommy, author and really insightful critiquer!

Say something about number 5.
Incredibly sweet. Really supportive.

How did you get to know number 3?
Through various writing circles.

How about number 4?
AMAZING-ly talented lady! She did two of my e-book covers, and writes pretty dang good stuff, too!

Leave a message for number 6.
So looking forward to your book release, Elana!!

Leave a lovey-dovey message for number 2.
I plead the 5th. lol! Love ya, Canda :)

Do number 7 and number 8 have any similarities?
Yes! They are both caring and really upbeat people. I love that!

Now, in all honesty, I'm not going to check up on anyone to see if they are continuing the fun. It's not that I don't care about you all, but I am crazy busy with edits this week. If Karen hadn't emailed me to tell me I'd been tagged, I'd probably STILL not know! :)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

My review: NIA by Mella Reese



Nia, a 16 yr old princess with a penchant for healing, is stunned to learn that the "gift" her father's conquered enemy has offered is in fact a man. His name is Garreth, the fourth and therefore worthless son of a conquered king.

Nia is furious. He is not a gift--he is a man. And what does she need with a giant, muscular shadow anyway? But as kingdom intrigues unravel and Nia learns more about the world around her, she will become grateful to have Garreth by her side.

Nia is a good story. I found myself entertained, and did not close the book wishing I’d never opened it to begin with. The characters stayed with me for a time afterward; I wondered about them and whether Nia’s next venture would meet with success.

There were, however, two things that nagged at me. One, I found the language to be distracting at times. The more formal language would occasionally pull me out of the narrative. The other issue was, in the entire book, I can't recall what Nia looked like. I have, in my own stories, occasional forgotten to describe a minor character for my readers--but to not recall the main character's description bothered me. I even went back and re-read the first 30 pages and still didn't find one. Still possible I missed it, but it lessens the odds. :)

Overall, I liked Nia. The characters are entertaining; the plot plausible and definitely full of interesting twists. You can order your copy HERE. I would also strongly recommend you check out author Mella Reese's WEBSITE and BLOG.
Mella Reese is a native Nevadan and proud survivor of Cushing's Disease. She attended Brigham Young University in Utah and Hawaii before completing her decree in Special Education at The University of Nevada Las Vegas. Ms Reese lives in Southern Nevada with her husband, son and daughter.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Easiest Way to Give

I want to introduce you to someone. Her name is Rebecca White. She's married to a kind man, and they have three young children ages 10 to 3. Becky home schools, she does awesome crafts, and she makes jewelry. She even made me this necklace.
She's 35 years old.

And she has breast cancer.

Becky found a lump and wanted to ignore it. She's young, younger than the recommended age to get a mammogram. But she had to have it checked out, because she's conscientious that way. Because, even when scared, she does what she knows she has to do.

She got the call the afternoon of Wednesday, May 11th. Thursday she went to see the surgeon. Friday morning they did a mastectomy. That's right--two days after finding out.

As I type this, she's still up at the hospital recovering from surgery. I'm desperately resisting the urge to hover in the hospital hallways, because I know I can't do any good there.

Here's why I am telling you about Becky. This diagnosis has come at one of the worst times possible (as if there is such a thing as a good time to have breast cancer). her husband recently had back surgery, and is still recovering. And we all know medical treatments and procedures are expensive.

For the sake of Becky's family, for their well being and to help prevent financial devastation, I am donating ALL my royalties from my book and e-book sales to them to help pay their medical expenses. This includes all royalties and sales through August 31, 2011. Here's where you can help. In as little as a couple of clicks of your mouse, you can purchase a book or e-book and contribute to my cause.

Just so you know, Smashwords.com offers books in ALL e-reader formats, so you can just go there and get whatever you need. I offer the other links in case you prefer to buy directly from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.

Ghost Bride is a short story, a ghost story even. It's a fun, quick read that's sure to entertain. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. You can buy it on Amazon, Smashwords or BN.com.

The Peasant Queen is my first print novel, but is also available as an e-book if you prefer. Discover the magic. Here's the summary: After running away from home, Krystal is transported to a faraway kingdom where an evil tyrant is bent on taking the crown - and Krystal's hand in marriage. But when she falls in love with the rightful heir to the throne, she must make an impossible choice: sacrifice her one chance at happiness or face the destruction of an entire kingdom.

You can purchase the PRINT version, or the KINDLE or NOOKBOOK.

The Wild Queen is an unofficial prequel to The Peasant Queen and my first novel length e-book. Roweena is the crown princess of Norvallen, a tiny kingdom with only one thing of value—the Healer’s Grove. The trees in this small section of forest are enchanted, giving a sap that can be mixed into potions or salves to heal almost any wound.

And it’s in high demand.

Lucien, the young king of neighboring Demarde, comes to Roweena’s father seeking an alliance, but comes away with a marriage contract for young Roweena’s hand. Furious and stubborn, this untamed beauty vows he will never conquer her. But the contract purposely gives her time to come to terms with her fate.

Before Lucien can return, Roweena’s home is attacked and her parents are murdered. The Healer’s Grove is also attacked—burned to the ground. With nothing more than her horse and the clothes on her back, Roweena goes to the only person she knows can help her. Lucien.

Purchase The Wild Queen for KINDLE, NOOKBOOK, or at SMASHWORDS.

Thank you. Remember, a little click can go a long way.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Home Stretch

Launching an e-book can be complicated. You want to make sure you're not just putting a story up for the sake of saying you've done it. You want--at least I want--to be sure I'm putting the best story out there that I can.

But, we're in the home stretch now. On Friday, May 13th, readers will be able to purchase The Wild Queen for their e-readers or even home computers.

In case I haven't shared yet, (or if you missed it) The Wild Queen is the story of King Lucien and Queen Roweena--Gregory's parents.

Roweena is the crown princess of Norvallen, a tiny kingdom with only one thing of value—the Healers' Grove. The trees in this small section of forest are enchanted, giving a sap that can be mixed into potions or salves to heal almost any wound.

And it’s in high demand.

Lucien, the young king of neighboring Demarde, comes to Roweena’s father seeking an alliance, but comes away with a marriage contract for young Roweena’s hand. Furious and stubborn, this untamed beauty vows he will never conquer her. But the contract purposely gives her time to come to terms with her fate.

Before Lucien can return, Roweena’s home is attacked and her parents are murdered. The Healer’s Grove is also attacked—burned to the ground. With nothing more than her horse and the clothes on her back, Roweena goes to the only person she knows can help her. Lucien. But he can do nothing with no legal claim to Norvallen, so they marry.

Lucien and his army destroy the invaders and rescue what remains of Roweena’s people. He then makes Norvallen a part of his kingdom, but separate, ruled by a man Lucien trusts who answers only to him.

Roweena tries to carve a piece of life out for herself in Demarde, but her wild ways often clash with Lucien’s calm, reasoning manner. They have a son, Gregory, and then a daughter, Falina. When Roweena is pregnant for the third time, she vanishes. Speculation runs rampant. Was she kidnapped, fallen victim to a mysterious enemy? Or did she run away?

Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

May Day

Actually, that was 2 days ago. And I'm really not in any kind of panic. Mostly. :)

It's May now, and we're winding down the school year and my writing time. I don't get any writing done in the summer when the kids are home, so I'm really not planning to do any from May 26th through August 20th (or whenever school starts again). This is a self-preservation technique to save me the stress and aggravation of trying to write and not succeeding.

But my plans have been a little redesigned.

Last week, I posted about my writing doubts while I waited for the publisher to get back to me for The Tyrant King. They did, with a list of suggested changes and a request to resubmit when I make the changes. At first, I was sad. I mean, I didn't WANT to have to do any more work on it, but that night as I was driving (another epic story for another day) to an author event one of the more inspirational songs I use spontaneously played on the radio. For me. I know it was just for me. :) And I'm honest enough to admit my writing isn't perfect, and the story DOES have issues, so I'd much rather fix them now rather than have it published full of plot holes. (slight exaggeration) So while I wait to hear back from my beta readers for my e-book, The Wild Queen, I'm going to work on fixing The Tyrant King--with the hope of resubmitting it by the end of this month.

What has changed? My 3rd planned e-book, The Price of Love, has been put off indefinitely. And I'm not going to start The Lost Princess, my (hopefully) 3rd print book, until I've resubmitted The Tyrant King to the publisher. I'm still hoping to get it all done this month, but I'm also cutting myself a little slack.

I may also be writing a little into June. Hopefully the kids will forgive me. :)