Sunday, March 27, 2011

March Paranormal and Fantasy Event: The Sapphire Flute, Book 1 of The Wolfchild Saga by Karen E. Hoover

It has been 3,000 years since a white mage has been seen upon Rasann.


In the midst of a volcanic eruption miles outside of her village, Ember discovers she can see magic and change the appearance of things at will. Against her mother's wishes, she leaves for the mage trials only to be kidnapped before arriving. In trying to escape, she discovers she has inherited her father's secret--a secret that places her in direct conflict with her father's greatest enemy.

At the same time, Kayla is given guardianship of the sapphire flute and told not to play it. The evil mage C'Tan has been searching for it for decades and the sound alone is enough to call her. For the flute to be truly safe, Kayla must find its birthplace in the mountains high above Javak. The girls' paths are set on a collision course...a course that C'Tan is determined to prevent at all costs.



Read the reviews!

"Teens and fantasy readers will find interesting magic and a creative mythology in this book and readers of all ages will find appropriate content. It is a fun, safe read in a market where that is not always the case in YA fiction. Both girls face difficult decisions morally and ethically. Though they are not perfect, they learn from each mistep and are supported in each right choice. "

--Inking Cap

"My ultimate test of the quality of a YA book is whether I would recommend it to my teenage daughter. In the case of The Sapphire Flute, the answer to that question is a resounding “YES.” I can hardly wait for the second book in the series. Karen Hoover deserves congratulations for a wonderful debut."

--Craig Everett's Anopisthographic Chronicles

" it is very well done, creative, and delivers a satisfying, climactic ending with enough resolution to hold the reader over until the next installment. There's an anticipation for the sequel, but the characters are in a good enough place...for now. It was a good reading experience, and I look forward to the next book."

--Nancy Campbell Allen


You can read my review at http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/2010/03/20/the-sapphire-flute-book-one-of-the-wolfchild-saga-by-karen-e-hoover/.


Karen E. Hoover has loved the written word for as long as she can remember. Her favorite memory of her dad is the time he spent with Karen on his lap, telling her stories for hours on end. Her dad promised he would have Karen reading on her own by the time she was four years old … and he very nearly did. Karen took the gift of words her dad gave her and ran with it. Since then, she’s written two novels and reams of poetry. Her head is fairly popping with ideas, so she plans to write until she’s ninety-four or maybe even a hundred and four.


Inspiration is found everywhere, but Karen’s heart is fueled by her husband and two sons, the Rocky Mountains, her chronic addiction to pens and paper, and the smell of her laser printer in the morning.

Visit Karen online at http://karen-hoover.blogspot.com/ . Karen is on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-E-Hoover/131784307933?v=wall&ref=ts and Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/karenehoover.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Pump Up Your Book! March 2011 Facebook Party Tonight!


Pump Up Your Book will be hosting the March 2011 Authors on Tour on Friday March 25, 2011 at 9 - 11 p.m. (eastern time - adjust to your time zone). Tell your book friends that not only will this give them an opportunity to chat with their favorite authors there will be a huge giveaway at the end of the chat!


Here's how it will work:

The party will kick off at our Facebook Party Page with a 2 hour chat in which all authors will get a certain time slot to answer questions. All time slots will be listed on the party page so that you'll know who is going to be up next. After the party, everyone is invited back here to find out who has won our fabulous prizes with directions on how to claim them. Easy peasy!

What you must do before the chat if you're going to attend:

1. In order to participate in the chat, you must "like" our Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/pumpupyourbook.

2. Sign up before the chat so we have time to approve you which will be the second step.

3. Once you're approved, head on over to the Facebook Party page at http://www.facebook.com/thewriterslife#!/note.php?note_id=10150097454282449 and leave a comment so we know you made it in.

Note: If you wait to sign up too late, you might not get in because once the party starts, it will be nearly impossible to get back into email to see if anyone needs getting in, so do this early please.

What to do when the chat ends:

Once the chat is over, head back over here to find out if you have won a prize. All prizes and winners will be announced in the body of this blog post. If you are a winner, you have 72 hours to contact me at thewriterslife(at)yahoo(dot)com to claim your prize. If we do not hear from you during that time, we will find another winner.

Rules & Regulations Recap:
  1. If an author does not show up, prizes will still be awarded.
  2. If you do not claim your prize within 72 hours, another winner will be chosen.
  3. You must participate in the chat in order to become eligible to win a prize.
  4. Leaving comments on this page does not make you eligible to win a prize. You must participate in the Facebook chat.
  5. Pump Up Your Book is not responsible for lost or damaged prizes.
  6. We will be using Random.org to determine winners and will be posted on this blog after the Facebook chat.
  7. This contest is in no way affiliated with Facebook and is promoted solely by Pump Up Your Book.
Our March 2011 Authors on Tour who are participating in the chat/giveaway includes:



Caitlin RotherCaitlin Rother is the author of true crime books Dead Reckoning, Body Parts, Twisted Triangle, and Poisoned Love, and the thriller, Naked Addiction. She is also the co-author of My Life, Deleted and Where Hope Begins, soon to be re-released as Deadly Devotion. She is now working on The Makings of a Monster, the story of the rape and murder of beloved teenagers Chelsea King and Amber Dubois. Rother, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, worked as an investigative reporter at daily newspapers for nineteen years before deciding to write books full-time. She is the founder of the San Diego Writing Women blog, and her work has been published in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Daily Beast. She has appeared as a crime expert on E! Entertainment, the Oxygen Network, Investigation Discovery, Greta Van Susteren's "On the Record," and America at Night." She also teaches journalism, narrative non-fiction and creative writing at UCSD Extension in San Diego. She is now working on The Makings of a Monster, the story of how John Gardner grew from a caring troubled boy into an angry man who couldn't control his compulsions to rape and murder beloved teenagers Chelsea King and Amber Dubois." You can visit her website at http://www.caitlinrother.com/

Caitlin will be giving away a paperback copy of her true crime novel, Dead Reckoning!

John AmesJohn Ames has a master's degree in English from the University of Florida, where he was a Ford Fellow. After graduation, he built a rustic house and lived for several years on the edge of a spiritual community located near Gainesville, Florida. John's search for enlightenment ended when he decided that he was too far from a movie theater. He moved inside the Gainesville city limits and taught English and film for thirty years at Santa Fe College. He has produced and acted in numerous short films and videos, including the cable TV series the "Tub Interviews," wherein all the interviewees were required to be in a bathtub. For ten years he reviewed movies for PBS radio station WUFT. He has appeared as a standup comedian and has designed and marketed Florida-themed lamps. He coauthored Second Serve: The Rene Richards Story (Stein and Day, 1983) and its sequel No Way Rene: The Second Half of My Notorious Life (Simon & Schuster, 2007), and Speaking of Florida (University Presses of Florida, 1993). His recent book is a coming-of-age novel titled Adventures in Nowhere. You can visit his website at http://www.johnamesauthor.com/.

John will be giving away a paperback copy of his coming of age novel, Adventures in Nowhere!

Megan van EyckMegan van Eyck lives near Seattle, Washington with her husband and children. Memoirs of a Widowed Mistress is her first memoir. You can visit Megan's website at http://www.widowedmistress.com/.

Megan will be giving away a copy of her memoir, Memoirs of a Widowed Mistress!

Allan LeveroneAllan Leverone is a three-time Derringer Award Finalist whose short fiction has been featured in Needle: A Magazine of Noir, Shroud Magazine, Twisted Dreams, Mysterical-E and many other venues, both print and online.

His debut thriller, titled FINAL VECTOR, is available February 2011 from Medallion Press.

For details, please visit http://www.allanleverone.com/ or his blog at http://www.allanleverone.blogspot.com/.

Allan is giving away an e-copy of his thriller, Final Vector, and 6 e-copies of Postcards from the Apocalypse!




Barbara BarnettBarbara Barnett is Co-Executive Editor of Blogcritics, an Internet magazine of pop culture, politics and more owned by Technorati Media. Always a pop-culture geek, Barbara was raised on a steady diet of TV (and TV dinners), but she always found her way to TV's antiheroes and misunderstood champions, whether on TV, in the movies or in literature. Barnett's regular column, "Welcome to the End of the Thought Process: An Introspective Look at House, M.D." features insightful episode commentaries and interviews with the House cast and creative team. It is the place for intelligent discussion of the hit television series starring Hugh Laurie. Barbara has had an eclectic career. With an undergraduate degree in biology and minors in chemistry and English, she pursued a PhD in Public Policy Analysis after spending a few years working in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Her first professional writing gig was with a food industry trade magazine, and although it wasn't exactly like writing for The New Yorker, it completely hooked her on the profession of writing. She also writes lots of other things, including technology (from a non-geek perspective), the movies, politics and all things Jewish. Based in the north shore suburbs of Chicago, Barnett is married with two brilliant children and a dog. Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. is her first (commercial) book. She hopes it's not her last. Visit Barbara's website at http://www.barbarabarnett.com/.

Barbara will be giving away a copy her television nonfiction, Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide of House M.D.!




Hayley RoseHayley Rose grew up in the beach side town of Pacific Palisades , California, to a family of visual artists. In the early 1990's she traveled the U.S. with her band Crush Violet. In 1994, after a family reunion, she was inspired to write a children's book. Looking for a cute and catchy name for a main character, she kept hearing “first in, first out”. Hence, the name Fifo was born. Hayley's mother would often ask her what she wanted to be when she grew up, so Hayley decided to start her series of "Fifo" books with that very question. Her first book, Fifo "When I Grow Up" was published in 2002. Her love of travel inspired her second book in the Fifo series, Fifo "50 States", published in 2010. Along with writing children's books, Hayley has been working in entertainment business management for the past 15 years, specializing in concert touring. She has worked with many "A list" musicians including Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart and Candlebox just to name a few. Hayley hopes to one day soon release an album of children's songs. She is a currently member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and resides in Los Angeles, CA. You can visit her website at http://www.fifothebear.com/.

Hayley will be giving away one copy of her children's book 'Fifo: 50 States' and one copy of 'Fifo: When I Grow Up'!

Kristina McMorrisKristina McMorris lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Her foray into fiction began in the fall of 2006 as a result of interviewing her grandmother for the biographical section of a self-published cookbook intended as a holiday gift for the family. Inspired by her grandparents' wartime courtship, Kristina penned her first novel, a WWII love story titled Letters from Home. This award-winning debut is scheduled for release in trade paperback from Kensington Books (2-22-11; U.S.) and Avon/HarperCollins (5-5-11; U.K.). The condensed book rights have been sold to Reader's Digest, and the film rights are represented by the prestigious Creative Artists Agency of Los Angeles. Prior to her literary career, Kristina acted in numerous independent films and major motion pictures. She began hosting an Emmy-award winning television show at age nine, and most recently served as the six-year host of the WB's weekly program Weddings Portland Style. Adding to her diverse resume, McMorris is a professional emcee, literary workshop presenter, and former owner of a wedding/event planning business. Her previous writing background includes being a contributing writer for Portland Bride & Groom magazine and ten years of directing public relations for an international conglomerate. A portion of Kristina's sales proceeds from Letters from Home will benefit United Through Reading®, a nonprofit organization that video records deployed U.S. military personnel reading bedtime stories for their children. She is currently working on her next novel. You can visit her website at http://www.kristinamcmorris.com/.

Kristina will be giving away a copy of her women's fiction, Letters From Home!

F.M. MeredithF.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of nearly thirty published novels. Her latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, from Oak Tree Press, is Angel Lost. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, including the Internet chapter, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com/ and her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/. You can like Marilyn on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marilyn-Meredith/276444167416.

F.M. will be giving away a copy of her mystery/crime, Angel Lost!




Cynthia KocialskiCynthia Kocialski is the founder of three companies - two fabless semiconductor and one software company. In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups and has served on various advisory boards. These companies have collectively returned billions of dollars to investors. Cynthia has worked with established companies to bring start-up techniques and technologies to corporations desiring to process improvement and efficiency. Prior to her work in the start-up community, Cynthia has held a wide range of technical, marketing, and management positions at major corporations. At IBM, Cynthia began with financial software to facilitate the tracking of sales and inventory for international operations. She later moved into development and engineering management working of scientific workstations. Finally, Cynthia transitioned into technical marketing and strategic planning role for graphics and digital video components for personal computers. At Matrox, Cynthia was the general manager, overseeing the R&D area of digital video and image processing product lines, Cynthia graduated of the University of Rochester with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and applied statistics. She also has graduate degrees from the University of Virginia in both electrical engineering and systems engineering. She also writes the popular Start-up Entrepreneurs' Blog and has written many articles on emerging technologies. Her latest book is Start Up from the Ground Up: Practical Insights for Entrepreneurs. You can visit her website at http://www.cynthiakocialski.com/.

Cynthia will be giving away 10 paperback copies of her startup business book, Startup from the Ground Up!

LainaLaina Turner-Molaski is a businesswoman, mom, author, Professor, and a major supporter of shopping. She has an undying love for shoes and coffee, which is why she created her main character and alter-ego Presley Thurman. With a lot of letters after her name and a ton of student loan debt, she is always working to pay the bills. While she enjoys her day job, her passion is writing, and she uses a lot of company time writing her fiction or working on her social website for women, Chiczofrenic.com. She is hoping to sell her book before she gets fired from her day job for goofing off. Laina is currently living in Indiana, with her family, and is always writing something, whether it's blogs, articles, business journals and books or ideas for her next novel. She is continuously doing what she loves which is writing or drinking coffee. You can visit her website at http://www.lainaturner.com./

Laina will be giving away a paperback copy of her novel, Stilettos & Scoundrels AND a copy of The MS Project: Orange is the New Pink!

Pump Up Your Book will be giving away a $25 Amazon gift certificate!!!!

More prizes to be announced!

If you have any questions, you may leave your question below or email me at thewriterslife(at)yahoo(dot)com

See you at the party!!!!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

March Paranormal and Fantasy Event: The Wolf of Tebron by C.S. Larkin

All Joran wanted was to live a peaceful life in his forested village of Tebron. But when his wife, Charris, is captured by the Moon in a whisk of magic, he must go on a grueling journey to the four corners of the world to rescue her. On his way, he befriends a wolf named Ruyah who becomes a trusted companion while he solves riddles and eventually battles the Moon to save his wife.


Read the Prologue at http://www.gatesofheavenseries.com/

Read the reviews!

"If this first installment is any indication, The Gates of Heaven promises to be one of the best fantasy series to come along in quite some time. One of the signs of this potential is its ability to hook you into its world at page one and leave you saying, 'just one more page' or 'just one more chapter,' That has happened to me before with Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising. Now C. S. Lakin has done the same."

~ Jonathon Svendsen, Narniafans.com

"The Wolf of Tebron is a fine take on the fairy tale, highly recommended."

~ Midwest Book Review

"The Wolf of Tebron is a grand, sweeping tale of one man's journey to the truth and to rescue his true love. While I joined the dots fairly early on as to the wolf's true identity as well as what he represents in the story, it is carefully constructed to allow different readers to discover the connections at their own pace. This fanciful, whimsical, wild tale can truly inspire you to perseverance - highly recommended. My personal tip: watch this author, she's going places!"

~ Grace Bridges, Splashdown Reviews

You can read my review at http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/2010/12/21/the-wolf-of-tebron-by-c-s-lakin/.


C. S. Lakin writes novels in numerous genres, focusing mostly on contemporary psychological mysteries and allegorical fantasy. Her novel, Someone to Blame (contemporary fiction), won the 2009 Zondervan First Novel competition 2009, with a publication date of October 2010 and soon to be followed by a prestigious Christy Award nomination.


Lakin’s three fantasy novels in the Gates of Heaven series have been contracted with AMG-Living Ink Publishers. The first book in the series, The Wolf of Tebron, released July 2010. The Map across Time (March 2011) and The Land of Darkness (September 2011) are the next installments to follow in this stand-alone series of fairy tales for adults.


Her contemporary mystery, Innocent Little Crimes, made the top one hundred finalists in the 2009 Amazon Breakout Novel Award contest, earning her a Publisher’s Weekly review that noted her book was “a page-turning thrill-ride that will have readers holding their breaths the whole way through.”


Lakin grew up collating television scripts for her screenwriter mother. As an adult, Susanne assisted in developing series for television, and while raising two daughters and running a bed and breakfast inn in northern California wrote her first three novels and a cookbook. She currently works as a freelance copyeditor and writing mentor, specializing in helping authors prepare their books for publication. She is a member of The Christian PEN (Proofreaders and Editors Network), CEN (Christian Editor Network), San Francisco Editors Guild, CAN (Christian Authors Network—regular blogger), ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), and two regional writers’ groups. She edits for individuals, small publishing companies, and literary agents, guest blogs of the craft of writing, and is an occasional contest judge.


She recently completed her ninth book: Conundrum (her fourth psychological mystery) and her tenth: The Unraveling of Wentwater, book four in the fantasy series. She has also written the first book in a Young Adult sci-fi adventure series: Time Sniffers. She is currently writing Intended for Harm, a contemporary take-off on the biblical story of Jacob and Joseph.

You can visit the author online at http://cslakin.com/.

Confessions of an Overworked Mom

Confessions of an Overworked Mom is running a giveaway for Scunci Bendini Clips, a great new hair accessory.

This giveaway runs until March 30th, so hurry on over if you wish to enter. Just click on the link above.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Visit MuseItUp Publishing to Check Out Monthly Specials


I wandered over to the MuseItUp Publishing website today to check out the latest news. Imagine my surprise when I discovered they are running specials this month on some of their titles. I'm not talking a few cents off either.

You can pick up Be Good to Your Elf and Earthly Forces for only 79 cents each! There are great deals on other books too.

Visit MuseItUp Publishing at http://museituppublishing.com/ for more information.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

April is Historical Fiction Month at Books, Products and More!

April is Historical Fiction Month at Books, Products and More!

In honor of one of my favorite genres, I am hosting a special event in April that features historical fiction books in a variety of sub-genres: romance, westerns, family saga, time travel, children's books, and more!

If you would like to see one of your historical books featured here, please email the following to me at cg20pm00(at)gmail(dot)com. Those are zeros, not Os.

* Book blurb - copied and pasted into an email or in Word format (.doc or .docx)

* Short excerpt (1000 words or less) - copied and pasted into an email or in Word format (.doc or .docx)

* cover art in jpeg format

* links to purchase the book

* author bio written in 3rd person - copied and pasted into an email or in Word format (.doc or .docx)

* author photo in jpeg format

* 2 or 3 review blurbs if you have them

* links to your website and/or blog, as well as to Facebook and/or Twitter

Please put "Historical Fiction Month" in the subject line of the email.

Thanks.

Cheryl