Tag: authors

Author Interview with Katie Holland

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Happy Tuesday everyone. Hope you are having a blessed day. Today I am sitting down with YA Fantasy author Katie Holland in her very own interview. Hope you will stick around to get to know this very talented author. Happy reading :).

Author Interview

Tell us about yourself?
I’m lucky enough to be a full time author right now. I also take care of my family and two very spoiled dogs. I love baking and taking pictures. Popcorn is my favorite snack and love anything sweet! I started writing in elementary school but didn’t get serious about it until 2015.

What genre do you write? Why?
I write YA fantasy and paranormal romance as well as adult contemporary, NA and paranormal romance

How does your normal day look like?
After finally getting up later than I planned, I start writing or editing. I try to do that most of the day while still doing boring things like laundry and cleaning. After dinner I try to read (that is when my hubby isn’t needing something (lol).

What books do you like to read?
All kinds of romance and YA.

Who is your favorite character you have created?
Alix. She was my first and I’ve loved seeing her evolve in the Nykara series.

Who are your top favorite authors?
Abbi Glines, Laurell K. Hamilton, Cassandra Clare

What do you have in the works right now?
I’m editing the fourth and final book in the Nykara series which will probably be out early in 2020.

What should we expect from you in the coming months?
I plan on writing the second book in the Bay State University series. After that I think it’s going to be the start of a shifter series by various Kingston Publishing authors. And I’m working on a couple of children’s books.

What would you like to say to your fans?
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea what it means to me that people like what I write. Becoming a published author was a dream come true and because of you I can keep doing it. Also, it’s crazy that I actually have fans!

About the Author

Web Resolution Headshots-4Katie is an author of Young Adult and Romance books. If she’s not writing you can find her reading, cooking or baking for her family. Her love of writing goes back to elementary school and her love of books goes back even farther than that. She takes inspiration from the everyday and lets her imagination take over. She loves seeing new places and enjoying what nature has to offer.

Connect with the Author

Website | FB | Twitter | Instagram | Amazon | Bookbub | Goodreads

The Book

417EBtqb0nLBorn the most powerful witch in a century, Briar’s power is potentially limitless. With her mother coveting her power, Briar will do anything to stop her mother from using it for her own evil purposes. On Briar’s eighteenth birthday she manages to escape the coven she was raised in. She spends the next two years on the run, hiding her power and hoping her mother doesn’t find her.

Mystic Haven, Louisiana was supposed to be just another stop, but she was offered a job at the nearby school for witches and warlocks. Since Waverly Academy placed the security of it’s staff and students as their top priority she felt safe enough to stay. Briar slowly let her guard down and allowed people into her circle. With the help of her best friend and new boyfriend she begins to find out who she really is. But will living as her true self allow mother find her and drag her back into the life she wants nothing to do with?

Purchase Today for $2.99!

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Author Interview with Shawna Robison Young

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Welcome to another eventful Tuesday. Are you enjoying your week? I have been struggling with keeping everything in order between writing and my day job. Wish me luck as I continue the journey. Now to bring you some entertainment, I am sitting down with debut author Shawna Robison Young in her very own interview. Hope you enjoy the read and keep your eyes peeled for her very first book to hit the stores here soon.

Author Interview

Tell us about yourself?
Hello. I’m a Navy veteran’s wife, a preschool teacher, and a busy mom of four children and two dogs. I love all things chocolate and could spend the entire day writing, lost in another world. I enjoy watching my kids participate in theatre, soccer, basketball, softball, voice, cheer, and anything else their hearts’ fancy. My guilty pleasure is the Bachelor. The ladies and men drive me crazy, but for some reason I watch it every season. Ha. Ha.

What genre do you write? Why?
Contemporary Fiction with a big dose of romance. I enjoy writing stories that make the reader feel deep in their soul. Stories that show we can make it to the other side of unexpected tragedy and heal. Also that we are more than our past mistakes. And of course I always have to throw in a love story.

What is your favorite hobby?
Going to craft shows and fairs. I mainly browse, but I love to see people’s creativity, and eating all the delicious foods is a plus too.

What is your favorite food?
Pizza. I could probably eat it everyday. Thin crust, sausage is my favorite.

What is your favorite type of fantasy creature? Why?
I do like the unusual, so for me my favorite fantasy creature would be anything hybrid that is part human part beast who is fighting against it’s evil side to find it’s humanity. Those stories of good vs. evil intrigue me.

Do you like to write with a pen and paper or computer?
I prefer the computer, but during any process of writing a story I have handwritten notes all over the place.

Who is your favorite character you have created?
Chuck Stone, the Navy Officer missing in action in my book Waiting Aming Ashes. He’s a protector, handsome, and strong and has loved his wife for as long as he can remember. Hopefully, this book will release in the next year.

Who are your top favorite authors?
I love Nicholas Sparks, Kristin Hannah, Gina Holmes, but I don’t have one particular genre I like over the other. Give me a good story with a little romance and I’m hooked. My other guilty pleasure is speculative type stories with romance: The Twilight Saga, Sunday’s at Tiffany’s, The Time Traveler’s Wife, and The Hunger Games to name a few.

What should we expect from you in the coming months?
My book, The Unsuspecting Heather Meyers, will release in February/March. I’m looking at February 27th, my birthday. What a present that would be, but it depends on all the behind the scenes details. I’m also going to continue working on several manuscripts and hope to release at least one more book in 2020.

Do you have any special closing statement you would like to share with your fans?
Like the song, Reasons by Unspoken says, “This year has felt like four seasons of winter…”, it’s been a hard one, but spring is on the horizon and I’m excited for what is blooming in my writing career for 2020. When all hope seemed lost I didn’t give in and I kept reaching for my goals. Thank you for taking a bit of your time to learn a little about me.

About the Author

36228608_2274366012616145_8725219189876326400_nFollow Shawna on her writing journey. Her love of storytelling began in fourth grade when she wrote her first short story for a young author’s contest through her school. Throughout the years she’s written numerous stories. Most recently she’s completed several full-length contemporary fiction novels.
Shawna is the mother of four, a preschool owner and teacher, and a former children’s minister. She is the wife of a navy veteran, and lover of all things chocolate. Whether it’s singing the ABCs, sharing what she’s learned with new writers, or passing along Bible truths to her children’s ministry classes, she’s a teacher at heart. Her novel Waiting among Ashes was a finalist in the 2012 Women of Faith contest, and her short story Michael was a finalist in the 2012 Christian Choice Writing Contest.
Shawna enjoys writing a little bit of the unexpected. Why be normal? In a world of conformity, a touch of something out of the ordinary can make a work of art astonishing.

Connect with the Author

Website | FB | Twitter | Instagram

The Book

The Unsuspecting Heather Meyers cover PNG

Author Spotlight with Elaine Marie Cooper

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Today I have a special treat. I am doing an Author Spotlight on Historical Fiction author Elaine Marie Cooper. Check out some fun facts about her and browse through her books she has available. Happy reading everyone!

About Elaine

IMG_7364-1Elaine Marie Cooper has two historical fiction books that released in 2019: War’s Respite (Prequel novella) and Love’s Kindling. Love’s Kindling is available in both e-book and paperback. They are the first two books in the Dawn of America Series set in Revolutionary War Connecticut. Cooper is the award-winning author of Fields of the Fatherless and Bethany’s Calendar. Her 2016 release (Saratoga Letters) was finalist in Historical Romance in both the Selah Awards and Next Generation Indie Book Awards. She penned the three-book Deer Run Saga and has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies. Scarred Vessels, a novel about black soldiers in the American Revolution, will release in 2020. You can visit her website/ blog at www.elainemariecooper.com

10 Fun Facts

  • She hates mushrooms
  • She loves avocadoes
  • She’d rather get together with a small group of friends than attend a big party.
  • Her favorite date with her husband is a movie with popcorn and coke.
  • Her favorite movie is “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The ending still makes her cry.
  • Her favorite pets are dogs. No, cats. No, dogs, … Her favorite pets are both dogs and cats. ☺
  • She L_O_V_E_S being a GiGi. She has 5 grandchildren and treasures each one of them. Her favorite song to sing with them is “The Tortilla Song.” 😉 She made it up to encourage the nine-year-old triplets to eat their lunch when they were little.
  • Her favorite vacations spots are historical sites. (Forget the cruises!)
  • She watches almost NO network TV (except some news) but can binge watch Masterpiece Theater episodes.
  • The best thing she ever did—besides becoming a Christian— was to give birth to three wonderful children.

Connect with Elaine!

Website | FB | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

The Books

9781938499920_cvr_v2Fields of the Fatherless

In the early months of 1775, war is brewing in the American colonies. Although frightened, eighteen-year-old Betsy Russell (an ancestor to actor Kurt Russell) of Menotomy Village, Massachusetts, wants to be prepared in case of attack by British troops. Her father, prosperous farmer Jason, is the fourth generation of Russells on this land yet their very rights as British Colonials are being stripped away one by one. Will the King of England take their land as well?

Tensions are growing here in the countryside west of Boston and the outbreak of battle seems a certainty. Jason desperately wants to protect his family his wife, children and grandchildren and their future. Betsy makes every attempt to be prepared for the worst. But not even the American militia could have predicted the bloody massacre that was about to occur right on the Russells’ doorstep. If Betsy loses everything she holds dear, are the rights of all the Colonists endangered?

Fields of the Fatherless is based on a true story.

FREE on KU or $2.99!

9781938499142Saratoga Letters

1777: The Battle of Saratoga, a turning point of the Revolutionary War, gives the American Continental Army its first great victory. But there seems little to celebrate for Abigail, a woman forced to tend to a wounded British soldier. While nursing William back to health, Abigail finds herself pursued by others in the enemy camp who have less than gallant intentions toward her. Fearful of who she can trust and who might betray her, she leans on her faith and God’s Providence for survival.

1977: On the anniversary of the Battle of Saratoga, thousands arrive from Europe and the United States to celebrate the event. Among the re-enactors are descendants of the original participants from both sides of the battle. One young American, Abby, meets the offspring of a British soldier. But when she finds herself almost assaulted by some men at the event, Abby turns to the only person she knows—her British ally. Can she trust him with her life? Or will he betray her in the same way loyalist spies betrayed her ancestors? Perhaps her answer lies in the letters from her ancestor and namesake, Abigail.

Can regrets from the past stir love’s resolve in the present?

FREE on KU or $0.99!

LovesKindling_COVER (1)Love’s Kindling

During the American Revolution, Aurinda Whitney lives with her cold and calloused father, an embittered veteran of the previous war. Aurinda’s life changed forever when her father returned for her after that war, taking her away from the only place she’d ever experienced affection. Since her father blamed Aurinda for the death of his wife in childbirth, Aurinda is convinced she is unworthy of love.

Zadok Wooding believes he is a failure as he tends the smithy at home while others go to battle against the British. Just when he has an opportunity to become a hero, he is blinded in an accident. Now he fears he will never live up to the Biblical “mighty man of valor” for whom he was named.

When the couple meet, they are both challenged to overcome adversity as well as their inadequacies. Unexpected secrets of their past emerge that can change their lives forever. But can they look past their present circumstances to heal—and find love?

Purchase Today for $4.99!

Writing As a Waking Dream

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I very much identified with this post as the way I write–and how feel about interruptions! A very interesting take from Adam at Write Thoughts.

Writing as a Waking Dream #AuthorToolboxBlogHop

 / ADAM

How many here have struggled to “return to their story”? You sit at your table, pen in hand or fingers on the keyboard, but you’re not “ready” to write yet. You don’t “feel” the characters, or their world.

So you review what you’ve written; you do some random low pressure writing exercise, or maybe you just start “babbling” into your medium, and slowly, you feel yourself “returning to that world”. You can “feel” the characters, and “see” their world. Then something snaps you back. Someone has opened the door, walked into the room, and asked you a question, and just like that you’re “awake”. And part of you realizes there’s no quick route back to that “other place”…

Continue reading: https://writet.blog/2018/06/19/writing-as-a-waking-dream-authortoolboxbloghop/

 

World Building: Creating a Mountain Setting

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World building is a lot of fun for me as a writer. It is also important to readers, since a well or poorly written world can make or break a book. I found this post especially interesting, maybe because Ancient Voices takes place entirely in a mountain village. Mine is more an alpine setting, but there are many different types of ranges and associated cultures. Take a look at this article posted on the Mythcreants blog–it’s a good one!

Creating a Mountain Setting

by  and 
Of all the possibilities for building worlds, the same few types appear over and over again: desert worlds, grasslands, globe-encompassing seas. Despite being passed over, mountainous biomes, whether old and eroded like the Blue Ridge range or “new” and towering like the Himalayas, have a lot to offer. So what makes a makes a mountainous region unique for worldbuilding? What kind of people live there and what kind of environments do they inhabit?
Click to read the rest on the Mythcreants blog

Tackle your TBR List and Enter my Giveaway

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The Tackle Your TBR Read-a-thon is well underway! If you missed the start, that’s OK. You can still join through the 20th of September.

Today I’m adding my own giveaway to the event and also making an announcement! The new Clean Reads Repository I’ve been putting together over the last couple of weeks is now LIVE!

It is called PureFiction–check it out! Suggest a clean book to add to the repository to enter my rafflecopter giveaway. You’ll have the chance to win a bundle book with the entire Wind Rider Chronicles, including novella Into the Shadow Wood, and all of the related short stories.

September 11th to 24th sees the fifth TackleTBR Readathon, thanks to Tressa at Wishful Endings.

The goal you set is entirely up to you – maybe you don’t even want to set a goal.  

Apart from reading books to shorten your list, though, the read-a-thon includes challenges from participants (with prizes to enter for), activities to join in, and general fun and mayhem.

Read all about it at Wishful Endings and sign up at any time through to 20th September.

I’ll be setting you a challenge on 19th September, for which I’ll be giving a prize.

Sign up now to reduce the length/size of your reading pile.  

Tackle your TBR pile in September – Sign up now!

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A little something for both readers and writers, shared from Chris the Story Reading Ape’s blog. Join the Read-a-thon, or if you’re also an author, host your own giveaway or challenge.

September 11th to 24th sees the fifth TackleTBR Readathon, thanks to Tressa at Wishful Endings.

The goal you set is entirely up to you – maybe you don’t even want to set a goal.  

Apart from reading books to shorten your list, though, the read-a-thon includes challenges from participants (with prizes to enter for), activities to join in, and general fun and mayhem.

Read all about it at Wishful Endings and sign up at any time through to 20th September.

I’ll be doing a Goals post on the first day of the Readathon, so you’ll see what I’m planning to read then.

I’ll also be setting you a challenge on 19th September, for which I’ll be giving a prize.

Sign up now to reduce the length/size of your reading pile.  

Source: Tackle your TBR pile in September – Sign up now! ~ Jemima Pett