Build Me A Bloghop!

Today, the uber cool *I'm not worthy* David Powers King is hosting a bloghop for his 800 followers! Congrats David! It's been great to see your numbers grow! Because of his coolness he's giving away a blog makeover to three lucky winners!The only requirement is 200 words on how we want our blog brought to life.

I decided that words alone wouldn't cut it, visuals would also be required. So instead I came up with a recipe for my perfect blog -

First mix one tablespoon of the journey -

with three cups of writing.

Add 1/2 cup of adventure -

and a pinch of Magic.

Mix it all together and bake with this kind of feel.

What do you think? Is it a recipe for success? I've got my fingers crossed!

Nightingale Giveaway!

I know, I've been a posting maniac this week, but there are so many fun things happening that I couldn't help myself. Thank you for bearing with me, and I promise today's post is worth it :)

Do you have books on your Christmas list? I always do! So, today I thought I'd help you get a free book and lots of other great goodies from David Farland, the author of Nightingale and over 50 other books! If you follow my reviews, you'll know how much I love this book!!

David is giving away an AUTOGRAPHED hardcover of Nightingale, the enhanced ebook, and 5 lucky winners will each receive an awesome T-shirt featuring Bron, the main character from Nightingale. A total of 7 prizes will be awarded. Enter by December 17th at midnight!

Just enter using the rafflecopter below. Enjoy!
 
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Purchase Nightingale in time for Christmas!

November Mini-Reviews

For all my talk of how I wouldn't be able to read in November I sure read a lot. I only need two more books to have met my goal of 52 books this year. I think it's safe to say I'm going to make it.

Goodreads

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. I had to finish this series. Sanderson has a way of upping the stakes and understanding people like you wouldn't believe. The great thing about this series is that even though it's technically science fiction, it feels real. There are huge books, I wouldn't have been able to do it with NaNo if my mom hadn't lent me her audio version. If you have a chance to listen, rather than read this series, do it!

Goodreads

All I want by Jolene Perry, Kaylee Baldwin, and Rachael Anderson. Can I just start by saying Jolene is a rock star? Well she is. This anthology is the perfect read to get you're Christmas romance fix it. Three excellent stories, all well developed and well executed. It only took me a couple of hours to read each one. If you do pick it up, I recommend taking a day in between stories. I had a book hangover after I finished each story so it's best to keep them separated.

Side note: Anyone want to write something like this with me for next year? We can all publish together and spread the Christmas cheer :)

Goodreads

Reached by Ally Condie. My husband will attest that I literately said 'Squee!' when I got this in the mail. You know how sometimes you read a book, love it and then struggle through the next two in the series? Not the case with this book. A lot of people didn't like the second book (I understand why, though I disagree) but wow, how could the third book not blow them out of the water? You expect a dystopian to have some kind of revolution, but the authors way of bringing it to pass was so clever, and the ending. Just, wow, she's brilliant.

Goodreads

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. So you know how there are giveways sometimes for huge contests on facebook for books that are just amazing? Yeah, I won! I got all kinds of posters and bookmarks, not to mention a signed book and nail polish, it was awesome!
If I hadn't won, and I checked it out from the library instead, I would have gone out and bought it.
A few things she did masterfully: 1. Back story. That can be so hard, but she had a way of weaving it in that made it seem flawless. 2. Magic. Um, can we say original? Loved it! 3. Romance. It was all so subtle and perfect. She had me flipping the pages to gobble up more of the characters. I was hooked from line 1 you will be too.

Goodreads

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. Funny story about this book -I went to the NaNo write in at the downtown SLC library the first saturday in November. While there, they came to us and told us that they were going to throw away a bunch of books unless we wanted to come claim some for free. And by bunch, I mean an entire library of it's own just going to landfill if we authors didn't save them.
I went straight to the YA section and starting picking up every book I could find and fit in my box that I had to walk two blocks back to my car with. I honestly wish I could have spent more time and picked out more books.

Anyway, this blurb looked the best to me, and I am so glad I read it. Some moving and serious ideas presented in a way that can both be related to the life of a teen, and changed in the world around us. It pulled at my heart strings, it made me giddy, and it made me cry more than once (in a good way). I will forever view the world differently after reading this. I would compare it to John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. It does take the Lord's name in vain and there are references to teen sex, but it doesn't crowd the book like other YA's in the same genera would. I'm so glad I saved it from sitting in a pile of trash for the rest of eternity!


Bloggrls - nugrl90 (Sadie) by Cheryl Dellasega. I originally wrote this post on November 29th thinking I would be done reading for the month. I was wrong. This one was another salvage pile save that I picked up becasue of the blogging thing it's short so I was able to finish it in a few hours.For the first time this year, I've read a book that I wouldn't really recommend.

I will give the author props becasue it's hard to write a book in just blog posts and convey the emotions of every character, but she did well, considering the style. The subject matter was deep (parents getting divorced, and an abusive boyfriend) but the story just wasn't really my favorite. Someone out there may love this book, just not me.

What was your favorite read in November?

Fraction of Stone Cover Reveal!

Today I'm honored to assist the wonderful Kelly Lynn with the cover reveal for her book FRACTION OF STONE. Take it away Kelly!

Wow. I can't believe the day is here! Time for the FRACTION OF STONE cover reveal.

Before we get into that, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far. All the fine people who are helping with this cover reveal, my CPs/Betas, family and friends. And of course, thank you to Sapphire Star Publishing for helping make my dream a reality. (And also letting me have a huge say in how this cover looks.) I am so, so excited and feel so blessed.

To thank you all, there is a drawing for 2 ARCs of FRACTION OF STONE which you can enter to win at the bottom of this post! You can enter until December 14th at which point the winners will be chosen.

Okay, now that, that has been said. Here we go!

Fraction of Stone by Kelley Lynn

Release Date: March 21st, 2013 by Sapphire Star Publishing
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:

Wind tunnels, torrential rains and earthquakes tear apart Casden. The cause of the world’s imbalance is unknown, but the mounting occurrences suggest there’s little time before life ceases to exist.

Rydan Gale and Akara Nazreth are the only humans with the ability to wield magic. The tattoo on their necks and the discovery of an ancient book, dictate they are the key to the world’s survival.

But the greatest obstacle for saving mankind isn’t the bizarre creatures, extreme betrayals and magic-fearing men hunting them.

It’s that Akara doesn’t believe the world is worth saving.

Goodreads

Book Trailer:

About the Author:

Eventually the day came when the voices in Kelley Lynn’s head were more insistent then her engineering professor’s. So instead of turning to her Thermodynamics book, Kelley brought up a blank page on her computer screen and wrote. Somewhere along the way she became a Young Adult author.

Kelley was born and raised a Midwestern girl. She’s not afraid to sweat and fills her free time with softball, soccer and volleyball. (Though you probably don’t want her on your volleyball team.) She occasionally makes guest appearances as a female vocalist for area bands.

You can find Kelley hanging out at her blog, titled in her name, as well as the group blog she shares with her fellow critique partners, Falling for Fiction. Kelley is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators.

Kelley Lynn's Links: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Yay! Thanks for stopping by Kelly. I can't wait to read your book! 

Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest!

Hosted by David Powers King, Morgan Shammy, Mark Koopmans, and Stephen Tremp. I think the title speaks for itself. Here's the rules:

On Dec 10-12, answer these four questions as creatively as you'd like:

·         In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like?

 ·        In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary (living or dead)?

·         In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of?

·         In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts: Cavanaugh, Ninja, IWSG, Cosbolt, Guitar. 

 

- Be a Follower

- Join the Linky List

- Post your 200 word contribution (on Monday, December 10, if you would)

- Have fun!

So, what does Alex look like? From the one picture I've seen of him, I'd say Nick Carter in the 90's with his hair dyed black ;)

Who could Alex play in a documentary? Greg Ginn. I really have no idea who that is. I googled guitar players and he was in the top 100.

Who does Alex remind you of? My older brother, only nicer.

Here's my Flash Fiction, or a double haiku, however you want to think of it. 

Cavanaugh rips chords

Guitars are the ninja way of life

The music carries me away

Cosbolt’s fly, sure wings

Insecure, I-W-S-G

Friendship flies me home

Thanks for being so awesome Alex!!

IWSG: Rewriting

Welcome to the first Wednesday of the month and another round of the Insecure Writer's Support Group!

This month (as the title suggests) I want to talk about rewriting. I'm doing just that with my novel EXISTENCE, in an attempt to tighten it up and make the plot have a better focus. The only problem is now I'm afraid it's going to be way too short and I'm not sure how to add more to it.

I want it to be the best book it can be, therefore, I don't want to pad it with unnecessary fluff, but it needs something ... more.

Has anyone ever had to do this? What suggestions do you have when it comes to rewriting?  

If I Die Young

Sometimes emotion needs to be vented and for me, there's no better way to do that than by writing. So here I am putting it all out to the universe in hopes that someone will learn something from the tragedies that have taken place around me these last few days.

Two days ago my cousin, who was 30 weeks pregnant, very abruptly lost her baby. Last night, a dear friend to the family lost his life without warning. I just saw my cousin a couple of weeks ago and everything was fine, baby was healthy and she was so happy and excited. It was her first child. I also saw the family friend around the same time, he was in his mid-forties and looked as healthy, if not healthier, than any person at his age should look.

When my mom called me last night to tell me the news, suddenly the most important thing in my life was that my husband, lying next to me, knew how much I loved him. I think sometimes I lose sight of that. I get caught up in my to-do's and I worry over things that just don't matter.

Life is what matters.

Even my writing exploits went down a notch. Sometimes I get so worried about how much I'm working on something that I forget to slow down and just be with my children and my husband.

This is a reminder of what is really precious in life. Writing is great way to spend your time, it's a worthy dream and goal, but don't let it overtake everything else. Becasue the lives around you are more important than that.

And you are...? Blogfest

Today is time for a little fun hosted by Emily R. King and Tammy Theriault. They've hired David Spade to ask us some off-the-wall questions that us writers would never have thought of. Thanks David for channeling your 90's SNL side especially for this blogfest.

Without further ado, here are the questions.


1. How many speeding tickets have you gotten? One. The speed limit had just changed from 75 to 65 and the cop was sitting right at the border. It cost me $85 bucks. Now I always slow down at that speed change, but it irks me every time.

2. Can you pitch a tent? (I'm going to answer this question without the insinuations. David you have such a dirty mind!) Believe it or not my dad is Mr. Outdoors man, figuratively. He founded what is fondly known as the Moab MUni fest. If you live in Utah you already know that Moab is the go to place for mountain bikers. But what about unicyclers? Yes, you heard me right, my dad started an event to have people mountain unicycle (MUni) in Moab. He doesn't host it anymore, but people still come. Therefore the short answer to this question is yes.

3. What was your worst vacation ever? My worst vacation ever was also my best vacation ever. My dad, Mr. Outdoors man, wanted us kids to witness a true total eclipse. So we packed up our trooper in 1991 and headed to La Paz, Mexico. When we reached Beaver, UT my mom fell asleep at the wheel and rolled our car three times. My six month old brother wasn't buckled in (my dad was holding him) and somehow we all survived. What did we do when we got home? Packed into a station wagon with no air conditioning and drove to Mexico anyway. I could talk about this trip for hours but I'll summarize by saying it included accidentally catching a squid, combating rats, killing cockroaches, and camping on the lawn of an expensive hotel. And yes, we saw the eclipse, and it was awesome.

4. What was the last thing you bought over $100? I'm pretty cheap so I rarely spend more than that, but recently we bought an Ooma phone (home phone that's free with high speed internet) and we got 4 phones with it for $200. Exciting, I know.

5. We're handing you the keys to what? There's a lot of things I'd like to be handed the keys to, but dreaming about them makes me depressed, so I'm going with "No Comment."

6. What was the last meal you cooked that made even you sick? I pride myself on being a pretty dang good chef! But when I was first married I had no clue what I was doing. I made a lasagna one day and I didn't boil the noodles (which is possible, I just didn't do it right.) Then I forgot to turn the oven off before going to work, luckily my husband came home an hour after I left. You know that Turkey in the movie Christmas Vacation? Yeah, it had nothing on this lasagna.

7. Fill in the blank: Oh my gosh! Becky, look at her butt! It is so big. She looks like  ____? Two beach balls are static clinging to the inside of her pants.

8. What was your first car? My parents were cheap too, we never had a nice car. The first car I purchased at 17 was a 1986 Subaru GL. Before that, (and sometimes after) I drove a 1983 Chevy Suburban, diesel. That thing was a beast!

9. Your best friend falls and gets hurt. Do you ask if he/she's okay or laugh first? My husband's my best friend so I would ask him if he's okay. But I guarantee if I was hanging out with any of you guys, I would laugh.

10. What's the worst song ever? Besides Rebbecca Black's Friday? Probably Nicole Westbrook's It's Thanksgiving. *shudders*

There you have it folks. Now you know some crazy stuff about me. I'm off to hop around!

Winning

It's November 30th which can only mean one thing, the last day of NaNo! Okay so maybe it can mean more than one thing, but you catch my drift. So the question begs to be asked. Did you win?

The answer, is yes and no. Before I go into details, I will preface this by saying how much I believe in the 'something is better than nothing' mantra and I did get a lot accomplished this month.

I thought this picture was hilarious. Maybe it's because I'm tired and everything is funny, but still. Ha!

 
I didn't write 50,000 words in the month of November. I wrote 46,000 words. I know if I really pushed myself I could write 4,000 words today and still count it as a win. But here's the thing, (I know how much you all love excuses) I finished the novel I started for NaNo, and I've been working on fixing EXISTENCE. It doesn't need words added to it so much as a slash and add and slash some more.

So there you have it. I did finish a novel in the month of November. I actually started it and wrote 13,000 words in October and the book ended up being 50,000 words exactly. I wrote those 50K in a month which is why I say that I won, but I didn't win.

Would it be wrong of me to claim that winners badge anyway?

***

On a completely unrelated note, an old friend of mine has started a writing blog that I suspect is going to be all kinds of awesome! She's just getting started and could use some writerly peeps. Since I know my writerly peeps are the best, I urge you to go follow her here. Thanks for being awesome!

The Tyrant King

Today I'd like to welcome a special friend and congratulate her on the release of her third book, The Tyrant King!

Cheri Chesley was the president of my local writers group before she moved, and she is so fun to be around. I've only read The Wild Queen, but I do love her writing style. Here's more about The Tyrant King.

Her heart paused, but Krystal remained defiant. “You lie. You would never do such a thing to my child.”

            “You think not?” He laughed again and she drew back. “I’ve sworn an oath to annihilate my dear cousin’s present and future, take over his kingdom and his crown, and fulfill my father’s dreams. And you think I would hesitate to murder his offspring? Come now, Krystal. I know you are smarter than that.”

Krystal’s peaceful life as queen of Fayterra is shattered when a stranger arrives with a connection to Jareth that threatens to change everything. Soon her loved ones are threatened, her people are under attack, and Krystal must face a devastating loss.

As the future becomes bleaker and the mystery continues to unravel, Krystal’s enemies will learn just how far she will go to defend the people she loves.

You can purchase the Tyrant King here - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/207131 

Cheri Chesley believes in miracles and the magic of books in everyday life. When not writing, she can be found reading the dictionary for fun or devouring any of the many books in her library. She lives with her husband and numerous children in Waurika, OK. Look for updates on her latest works at www.cheri-chesley.com.

 

Find it here

Find it here