Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Blood Will Tell ~ by Meredith Mansfield!!

Hey bloggy friends!!  One of my amazing crit partners just put one of her novels up on Smashwords and Amazon.

If you're in the mood for a great contemporary dragon fantasy with a twist - you NEED to check this out!



Here're the links to finding BLOOD WILL TELL by Meredith Mansfield:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/154196

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Will-Tell-Chimeria-ebook/dp/B007WGBNII/ref=sr_1_20?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1349898063&sr=1-20&keywords=blood+will+tell

Thanks and I'm audi!!  (although, I will be back shortly with a fascinating comparison of dog pics and writing novels...stay tuned!!)

Happy Tuesday!

Monday, September 17, 2012

GUTGAA ~ round 1.... :)

Hey, everyone!!  Hope you're all having a FANTASTIC week!!  (so far, right?  It's only Monday....)

I'll make this short and sweet.  I'm asking favors, here. 

I made it into the 1st round judging of GUTGAA's Agent Pitch contest ~ woo hoo!!


TWO submission windows for 100 entries each and they BOTH filled up in under 1 minute!!  Crazy...  I feel pretty lucky to have been among the lucky few to get in.  And there are SOOO many amazing entries!

I really have to give props to Deana Barnhart, again - for organizing this and clearly, all the work she's putting into it.  KUDOS, Deana!!  (*and for those still interested in pitching - she's doing another contest in a few weeks to pitch to small press publishers - so visit her site soon!!)

Deana also has a group of people helping her out and many are hosting the 1st round of to-be-judged entries this week.  My entry happens to be posted on the awesome Falling for Fiction blog ~ #14.

So, yanno, if you find yourself having a little free time this week and want to hop on over there and take a look...I wouldn't mind so much.  :)

Best of luck to ALL the entrants!!  And hope y'all have a wonderful week!!  Thanks!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Dual Spires/Twin Peaks... :)

Ah, Netflix.  How I adore thee...

Ok - so, I've been watching Psych on Netflix...LOVE IT!!!  If I wasn't married and James Roday wasn't dating the adorable Maggie Lawson - I would SO be all over him!! (oh, and have to give love to Dule Hill, Timothy Omundson, and Corbin Bernsen, too!...but, I digress...)  If you aren't watching this show...WHY NOT???


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But - that's not exactly what I'm writing about and I'll quit being pushy.  To each their own taste in television shows...(but, seriously.  Watch Psych today.  You won't regret it!)

I'm actually writing about their spoof episode "Dual Spires".  Now, I never watched Twin Peaks back in the day - so I totally didn't get it.  Of course, being me, I needed to be in on the joke.  So - ala Netflix - I just got done watching the entire series of Twin Peaks!! 


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And then rewatched Dual Spires - SO much funnier the second time!!  Ok - but, still not exactly what I'm writing about.

What I really want to know.....how many Twin Peaks fans out there?  Did you watch it with the same "WTF - face" that I did?  (my "F" in WTF actually stands for "frack", btw...) And if you could write one more episode to follow that blasted cliff-hanger!!!  What would it be??  Thoughts?

(How's everyone doing, by the way?  Good, good - I hope!)  Happy Writing/Reading/Living out there, my friends!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Checking in for GUTGAA!! :)

Long time, no...blog.  :)  How's everyone doing??  So, so good, I hope!  I know it's been a while since I've checked in ~ no excuses.  It just kind of worked out that way.  But, my friend Deana Barnhart has such a fabulous event going on for the next 6 weeks that I just HAD to join in! (and, I've missed you all terribly, of course!)

If you haven't heard of it already - you need to get involved with GUTGAA, stat!



Gearing up to get an Agent - if you don't have one, of course, is going on now.  For all of my writer friends out there still querying and wishing/hoping/praying to work with an agent-extraordinaire - you simply have to get involved in this event.  You can access the master sign-up link HERE.

And to kick-off, Deana has asked participants to post a little meet-and-greet info.  Here's mine:

Questions for the Meet and Greet

-Where do you write?
Wherever I happen to be when I just need to get the words down.  I'm working on making my new home office space my writing haven...we'll see. :)
-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
Desk reference set - dictionary, grammar, thesaurus...

-Favorite time to write?
Every time I'm doing it - especially when I'm on a roll!

-Drink of choice while writing?
Boring - but, I try to drink a lot of water...

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?
When I'm in my writing zone - I can tune just about anything out, but it's nice to have my favorite music playing in the background.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?
A while back, we had a crazy wind storm where I live that knocked down hundreds and hundreds of trees.  A lot of tall, old trees were uprooted at one of our local cemeteries.  Don't ask me why, but my daughter and I went driving through it one day and took pictures.  Some of the tree roots had grown under headstones and uprooted the grave markers as well.  That's just what brought us to the cemetery.  While there, I told my daughter about a local ghost and we stopped by her grave to pay our respects.  The seeds of a story idea were planted and my current wip "The Graves", was born.

-What's your most valuable writing tip?
Try to hammer out your first draft before you go back and edit anything.  Getting the WHOLE story out is usually the most difficult thing (for me, anyhow) and also the greatest accomplishment for a writer.  Give yourself the full story to edit to death, first.
 
Deana also asked for a short bio - I guess I'm the girl who's been writing stories for as long as I've known how to write.  YA/MG contemporary fantasy are my stories of choice, lately.  When I'm not writing ~ I'm a working stiff (aren't we all?), mother to a gorgeous teen girl, Alex, to the only boy I could have (his name is Sam, he's small and furry, and his ears are his best feature), and wife to a guy who does a killer chicken impression.  In addition to writing, I LOVE to travel!!  I wish I could do it more.  I also love to bake, spend time with family, watch clever t.v. shows, and read great books.
 
And, that's it!  Hope to see you all on the GUTGAA train.  Thanks, much, to Deana for organizing such a great event, thanks to the participating agents, and also to Deana's buddies helping her out with the judging.  And to those participating in the agent pitches ~ best of luck!! :)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Mi Cassafire, Es su Cassafire ~ :)

Hello, my bloggy friends!!  Oh, how I've missed you ~ :)  And I figured, if there was any one day to stage a comeback - it just had to be the day of my bloggy friend, Alex J. Cavanaugh's launch party and release of his second novel, CASSAFIRE!


Here's some info you'll definitely want to know about Alex and his newest book:

CassaFire
by Alex J. Cavanaugh

 CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

 The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities.

 To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy.…

 Available today!

Science fiction - space opera/adventure

Print ISBN 978-0-9827139-4-5, $15.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 240 pages
EBook ISBN 978-0-9827139-6-9, $4.99, available in all formats

CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:
“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

I'm sure if you stroll around the blogosphere today, you will see CassaFire posted nearly EVERYWHERE!!  Don't worry - a bad case of Tgren mind control has not taken over our humble little on-line world.  It's simply that Alex ROCKS!!  He's one of the coolest ninja bloggers out there and a good guy to have in your corner.  So - check out his book, will ya???

 The goal of this massive blog party is to help CassaFire “catch fire” on the best seller charts and achieve the success of the first book, CassaStar. There’'s also a special package of prizes being given away at the author’s blog (copies of CassaFire, CassaStar, tote bag, mug, and bookmarks) as well as book giveaways during his two-week blog tour. See Alex'’s site for details: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/  Check out this awesome prize pack:



The blog tour runs until  March 9th - and if you'd like to follow more info/comments on the book via Twitter - the party hashtag is #CatchFire

So, my friends - do Alex a solid (good heavens, did I seriously just type that???) and check out the blog, the book, and everything else you can get your hands on.

And I'll be back to post more exciting QoP quips soon!  Heck - I might even join in that A-Z blogger challenge thingy...you know the one, right?

Ciao for now.  Happy writing/reading/living out there today!!