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Win ebooks: Readers of new adult and YA fiction

buttonDo you read the shampoo bottle, the cereal box and every piece of text you can get your beady eyeballs on? I know you do and I’ve got something wonderful to tell you.

Elle Casey id having a contest where you can win ebooks. All you have to do is pick the ones that interest you and consider writing a review once you’ve read it.

Easy Peasy.

Even Water With is there. In fact there’s nearly 200 titles and 1,554 books to give away and a couple best-selling authors to boot.

Details: May 10-15 (contest closes on May 15 at 11:59pm EST)
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by Thea Atkinson on May 11, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on May 11, 2013

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Villians never get old at GonzoInk

Last post on villains was so successful, gaining lots of attention and folks letting me know how much they enjoyed it, that when Deb Nam-Krane offered to do another, I said, “Absolutely.” No lie. So welcome her with  her own take on writing villains; I promise you, it’s good. Leave her tons of commentary to chew over.

SmartestGirlFinalBuilding a better villain

by Deb Nam-Krane

What is a villain? Various dictionaries give different answers: a deliberate criminal or scoundrel; one blamed for a particular evil or difficulty; a character in a story who opposes a hero. My favorite comes from, of all places, Google: a person guilty or capable of a crime or wickedness. Because, when pushed far enough, I think most of the characters I write for are. Depending on how we define “wicked”, Emily, the main character of my book The Smartest Girl in the Room might be accused of being a villain; certainly, stealing someone’s drugs and punching another in the jaw right before you blackmail them are criminal. But, I submit, Emily isn’t a villain at all: she’s a young woman trying to protect her friends. If her actions are questionable, her motives aren’t.

Which leads me to my first observation:

1. Villainy is about perspective. You, the reader, know immediately that Emily isn’t a villain because you know what led her to her actions. Someone else (say, law enforcement) might not be so forgiving. Emily is trying to protect her best friend Zainab from someone she hasn’t trusted since the first chapter. What she does is ill-advised (breaking the law should be avoided at all costs), but you know why she did it. If someone else did the same things but for a different reason- they really wanted to get their hands on a stash of drugs, for example- your conclusion might be different.

2. Chillingly, though, that doesn’t matter to the person in question. In my experience, most villains don’t think they’re evil. In the minds of most villains, they are completely justified in what they’re doing. They may even feel pangs of guilt over some of their actions. It is, perhaps, their ability (and willingness) to push aside those feelings that connect them to their humanity that make them villainous. I’ll stay silent on whether we need to break eggs to make an omelet, but once you stop thinking about acknowledging the eggs, I wonder how good the omelet tastes.

3. The best villains have a recognizable focus. In that way, they are just like your protagonist. In my upcoming sequel, The Family You Choose, the “Big Bad” is justifiably loathed by more than half of the other characters. But while the reader might not like him, they’re guaranteed to be a little more sympathetic because they’ll understand why he did what he did, even if they don’t agree with all of his choices. They’ll cringe when they see him make the transition from emotional to calculated, but they’ll get it.

4. Which leads me to another requirement: a good villain has a back story. Of all of the Harry Potter books, the second and sixth were my favorite. Why? Because they dug into how promising young Tom Riddle became serial killer Voldemort. (I’ll also add that the fifth and seventh books’ focus on Snape’s backstory made for fascinating reading.) The present day focus is what drives your characters actions, but the backstory gives you a feel for why that focus developed. It doesn’t have to be a past filled with tragedy (in fact, please don’t; most victims of tragedy don’t grow up to be villains), but there has to be something that lets the reader draw a through line to the character’s present day actions.

5. Know your villain’s happy ending fantasy. As I wrote before, you have to know what a character’s idea of a happy endings is, even if you have no intention of delivering it. In the case of a villain, that is even more important. For most villains, the goal isn’t the same thing as the happy ending, unless you’re writing about a megalomaniac (“I won’t be happy until I’ve taken over the world.”). In The Family You Choose, the villain’s original crime was keeping two people apart without understanding the truth about their relationship. Although it’s never explicitly stated, his idea of a happy ending would be forgiveness from the people he hurt. That he’s never going to get this is what moves him to his later actions. You will completely agree that he’s trying to make things better while you’ll know that he only made things worse.

Every good story needs conflict, and I enjoy stories in which that conflict includes another person working at cross-purposes from the hero or heroine. No problem calling that person a villain, but the best, most enjoyable villains aren’t mustache-twirlers. Making your villains human beings is going to make your readers go deeper into the story- and the story go deeper into them.

Deborah Nam-Krane was born in New York, raised in Cambridge and educated in Boston. You’re forgiven for assuming she’s prejudiced toward anything city or urban. She’s been writing in one way or another since she was eight years old (and telling stories well before that). It only took 27 years, but she’s finally ready to let the world read her series, The New Pioneers. The first book in the series- The Smartest Girl in the Room- was released in late March.  She can be found at Written By Deb as well as on Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

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by Thea Atkinson on April 24, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on April 24, 2013

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5 tips to build a realistic villain

A guest post today by Anne Michaud. Do welcome her with lots of commentary and read till the end where there might be a goodie for you.

5 tips to build a realistic villain
by Anne Michaud:
HS-Anne_MichaudVillains are my favorite people to write into my stories. No need to check a conscience at the door, they want chaos and nobody can stop them in their mission – nobody but your hero, of course. For readers to believe antagonists are real, villains need to be… well, realistic. So here are my five tips to writing up one of these bad boys or bad girls.

1) Villains are flawed. No one is all good or all bad, we are nuanced, (almost) balanced people with qualities and failings. We work hard to stay on the good side of the line and be able to look at ourselves at the end of each day – and so do villains, in their own twisted way. Since their purpose in your story is to be bad and mean (qualities in their eyes), then their flaws should be a quality in our eyes (to their downfalls). And always remember: subtlety goes a long way.

2) A villain’s identification. To build a plausible villain, readers need to identify with their goal, their relationship, their flaw, their reaction – anything that makes the villain accessible and human to the reader. When a reader understands the villain’s motivation to be mean and do bad things, there’s no need to explain every action. And instead of having the villain angry all the time, play with their emotions, make them more human than not. Because when a villain has a bad day – which is a good day for your protagonist – everybody can relate to that.

3) Villains have lives. And they do: they sleep, they eat, they have friends/coworkers/minions, they have parents/family/lovers, they love certain things and hate others – multidimensional, quite like the hero of your book. As you character-build your scenes, always remind yourself that at the end of the day, your villain will have dinner and go to bed, they have routines and stuff to do. And yes, part of that is being an obstacle to your protagonist, but that’s not all they do, unless they’re obsessed and sick in the head.

4) Villains have goals. To rule the world and kill everyone is getting old. Villains are people, too, and everyone has a goal when they wake up to face a new day. Of course, the villain’s goal will clash greatly with your main character’s, but that’s the purpose of having a villain in your story: an obstacle, someone that brings out the best in your hero by being the worst of human kind. For the villain’s goal to be directly linked to your main character’s is the best way to bring up tension whenever they face off each other.

5) Know your villain as much as you know your main character. To write a believable and strong villain, the writer must know their background, their taste and thoughts, their very reaction to anything happening in the world surrounding them. Bad people are people, too – never forget that doing a villain’s profile can help bring out your story forward, can add depth and maybe inspire a twist or two, just as much as your protagonist’s profile will.

Once you establish that your villain is a powerful, breathing character, their involvement in the story won’t only be crucial as an obstacle to your protagonist’s goal, but their mere presence will heighten your reader’s interest in your story. Regardless of the genre you prefer to write in, never forget: there’s no light without darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
G&MBANNERShe who likes dark things never grew up. She never stopped listening to gothic, industrial and alternative bands like when she was fifteen. She always loved to read horror and dystopia and fantasy, where doom and gloom drip from the pages.

She, who was supposed to make films, decided to write short stories, novelettes and novels instead. She, who’s had her films listed on festival programs, has been printed in a dozen anthologies and magazines since.

She who likes dark things prefers night to day, rain to sun, and reading to anything else.

She blogs

She Facebooks:

She tweets @annecmichaud

Girls & Monsters Goodreads page:

Giveaway!! Softcover copy + The Monster Collection Skellies, 5 pieces handcrafted by the author: GIRLS & MONSTERS Giveaway

** Giveaway link for people on WordPress:

The winner will be announced during the LIVE CHAT on release day, April 30th at 9PM east

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by Thea Atkinson on April 12, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on April 12, 2013

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Structural Editing For Self-Publishers

Reblogged from Catherine, Caffeinated:

Click to visit the original post

Following on from last week's very popular guest post, Why Hire An Editor?, Robert Doran, editorial director at Kazoo Independent Publishing Services, is back today to tell us about structural editing. While copyediting and proofreading are absolute musts, I don't think a self-publisher's money is always put to best use by getting a structural edit for their book. So today Robert gives us some tips on, first of all, what a structural edit is, and secondly, what we can do ourselves to ensure our book is structurally sound.

Read more… 1,529 more words

bone witch v2 copyAwesome article just in time for the Bone Witch edit.
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by Thea Atkinson on April 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on April 4, 2013

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A Rosy gift on an Apocolyptic day

I’m excited to be guesting Suzanne Tyrpak today. I read two of her historical novels on my Kindle and just devoured them. I already have a copy of Rosy waiting for me over the holidays. Squeee! Please enjoy this post from a truly gifted writer and consider grabbing Rosy while it’s FREE today. Maybe even gift it to someone while it’s FREE Dec 22 and 23rd.

Rosy photoWriting Rosy—a Fifteen Year Journey

Rosy: A Novel began as an assignment for a writing class. A short story poured out of me, but the words refused to stop flowing and the story demanded to be developed into a novel. The first draft took a few months to write, and I called it finished, but that proved to be only the beginning.

Wanting to hone my writing skills, I signed up for the Maui Writers Retreat and Conference—eager to study with the likes of New York Times bestselling authors including Elizabeth George, one of my favorites, and legends including Terry Brooks and John Saul.

Credit card in hand—along with my word-processer and the paper manuscript of Rosy tucked into my suitcase, I headed to Hawaii. (Poor me.) The six day retreat proved to me more rewarding than I’d imagined. Days were spent in a small class where we went over our manuscripts with our assigned teachers. The intense classroom sessions were interspersed with lectures and interactive critiques by leading writers—many of them (like Terry Brooks and John Saul) offering their expert advice for nothing. In the evenings, after meeting fellow writers at the bar, more events were offered. One night I attended an event called The Dread Overhead. The first page of my novel appeared on a screen and received editing in front of a room of writers—not a pretty sight. I remember Bob Mayer advising me to dump my main character. After being ripped to shreds, I gathered my composure and spent the night rewriting. In fact, I spent every night rewriting.

Upon returning home, I rewrote Rosy, cutting many pages of extraneous information that didn’t progress the story. I added conflict, developed the characters, made the prose more active and compelling.

That summer in Maui, I secured my first agent. She shopped the book around, but never got a deal.

I put Rosy aside. Wrote another novel called Sisters of the Nile (award-winning, but unpublished).

The next summer, I went back to Maui. Studied with Terry Brooks, working on a new idea called Agathon’s Daughter.

Two years later, I rewrote Rosy.

I put the book aside again.

Decided it would never see the light of day.

I went back to Maui. Studied with Terry again. Went again and studied with Dorothy Allison. Went yet again and studied with Karen Joy Fowler

Took a trip to Rome with Terry Brooks, John Saul, Dorothy Allison, and Elizabeth Engstrom Elizabeth Engstrom.

I wrote Vestal Virgin—Suspense in Ancient Rome.

I went through a divorce. Felt depressed.

Went back to Maui and studied with Tess Gerritsen. Tess encouraged me when I felt like giving up. She helped me get another agent.

Nothing happened.

I almost quit writing.

Wrote only short stories and bad poetry.

Lost myself in reading.

For several years.

Then two summers ago, my friend Blake Crouch convinced me to publish a (short) short story collection on kindle, Dating My Vibrator (and other true fiction).

To my amazement, I sold thousands of copies. That Christmas I published Vestal Virgin and the novel took off. Ghost Plane and Hetaera–Suspense in Ancient Athens followed. Each book had success, so last summer I decided to rewrite Rosy yet again!

I’m extremely proud of the resulting book. In fact, I think it’s my best. Because I’ve written the book through so many changes in my life, it contains many levels. I’m especially happy with the character development of Sarah (aka Rosy) and Robin, but I love all the offbeat characters.

Part love story, part thriller, the book is dark coming-of-age set in New York City in the late 1970s. Each chapter is named for a song, and the chapter headings are linked to an MP3 download of each song. I call the Table of Contents Rosy’s Playlist, and I think the music adds yet another dimension.

Rosy: A Novel will be FREE on Amazon December 21-23, just in time for Christmas (and the end of the world, according to the Mayans). Please pick up a copy!

Rosy: A Novel

Dreams can become nightmares. Small town girl, Sarah, hopes to find love and fame in New York City, but following her dreams leads to a downward slide into the insanity of the late 1970s: nightclubs, sex, drugs, and violence ὰ la Magic Mike.

Desperate to dig herself out of debt, Sarah becomes pole dancer, Rosy Dreams. But the more money she makes, the darker her nightmare becomes as she sinks into a world where no one can be trusted—especially the men who claim to adore her.

As Sarah slips deeper into the underworld, she questions not only her dreams, but her sanity. She battles demons—imagined and real—fighting to survive the city’s brutality, fighting for her dreams, and ultimately fighting for her life.

Note: Chapter Headings are linked to Amazon MP3 of song

Connect with Suzanne on Facebook and on Twitter @SuzanneTyrpak

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by Thea Atkinson on December 21, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on December 21, 2012

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Oh my! Romance, crime fiction, and vampires all on GonzoInk with Debra Martin

I love offering guest spots to other authors, especially ones I enjoy, who I find throughout their social media presence, they are generous, positive, and supportive. Debra Martin is definitely one of those. I do hope you enjoy the character interview she has put together for GonzoInk. Her blog is a wonderful source of fiction, fun, and fantastic stuff. Go visit.

Buy on Amazon

Character Interview with Detective Lacey Gardner

The Silver Cross by Debra L Martin & David W Small

Q: What made you become a police officer?

A: Police work is in my family. Both my grandfather and father were Boston cops. I spent as much time down at the precinct with my dad as I did at our home growing up.

 Q: Isn’t being a homicide detective stressful?

A: Yes, it can be, but my goal is to solve the crime as quickly as I can. Someone needs to speak for the dead and bring some closure for the families. That’s the hardest part—watching the families suffer, but it only makes me more determined to solve the case.

Q: You’re officially listed as a detective, but you’re really a vampire hunter. How did that come about?

A: It came about by accident. My sister was attacked by a vampire, and like most people, I didn’t realize that vampires even existed. I thought they were just stuff of legends. When Captain Jack McMahan offered me a position with the Fringe Division, the division that hunted these beasts, I jumped at the chance.

 Q: You work with two male detectives. How is that?

A: Cole Henderson and Jackson Stout are two great guys. Cole is ex-military and Jackson is a former football player. If I had a choice for brothers, they would be perfect.

 Q: Do you hang out with Cole and Jackson when you’re off-duty?

A: Yes, we’re all great friends as well as working together. As a side note, I am constantly beating those guys at a game of pool and it sets up a good rivalry. It’s also a great stress reliever and we all need that after a vampire nest take-down.

 Q: You recently met Damon Harte at his bar. What did you think of him?

A: Ahh, how much time do you have? Damon is one tall, dark and handsome guy with a dangerous edge, just my type. I’m looking forward to spending some time with him and getting to know him better.

Q: Could Damon be the one?

A: That statement may be a bit premature, but I can tell you that Damon is an excellent kisser.

 Q: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Detective.

A: It’s been my pleasure, but I’ve got to get back out on the streets again. You know, keeping them safe for the citizens of Boston.

Buy links -

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Cross-Vampire-Nightlife-ebook/dp/B009BW6PUW
BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-silver-cross-debra-l-martin/1112922521

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by Thea Atkinson on November 25, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on November 25, 2012

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Touching the taboos: Vivienne Tuffnell guests

Touching the taboos ~ an essential part of novel development or jumping on the bandwagon?

by Vivienne Tuffnell

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At first glance at the literary and creative world it might seem as though there are no taboos left. The recent explosion of literary erotica seems to show that there are few inhibitions left among both writers and readers. Yet it doesn’t seem long ago when the freedom to write about taboo subjects was threatened by certain financial institutions who will remain nameless. That battle was won; literary freedom was maintained.

So what then is a taboo? A quick trawl of the internet will give you a little to go on: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/taboo

“a social or religious custom prohibiting or forbidding discussion of a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing: many taboos have developed around physical exposure the use of violence must remain a taboo in our society [mass noun]: Freud applies his notion of taboo in three ways

a practice that is prohibited or restricted in this way: speaking about sex is a taboo in his country”

It’s very clear that taboos are a kind of moveable feast, something that shifts and changes according to time and place. Until quite recently in the UK, talking about sex was very much frowned upon, and it’s this that gave us Brits our reputation for being uptight and repressed. This week I sat on a train and listened to a businesswoman on the phone to a chum, talking in some detail about the sex lives of mutual acquaintances. There’s change for you. I squirmed. It wasn’t so much the vague, salacious details that bothered me but the fact that she was sharing them on such a public forum as a very busy train!

The taboos of a country are not fixed and immutable but are slowly fluid. As we change, so do they. Death is possibly one of the most fixed of them in my culture; people seem to feel talking about it will bring the attention of the Grim reaper before their time.

Bookshops often have a whole section of books that are referred rather scathingly as Misery Memoirs, or Mis-Mems, row upon row of heartbreaking covers with emotive titles, each someone’s harrowing tale of abuse. These are big sellers, and I hope that greater awareness of the issues they highlight might be the result of their publication.

When I launched my new novel The Bet  a week or two back, a friend on Twitter commented about the timing. That week there had been a case of a school girl running away to France with her teacher. Now one of the central plot themes of The

Bet was an incident where a teacher made the moves on a teenage pupil. I wrote the novel some years ago, and I’d set the launch date months before the teacher-pupil affair became headline news. My timing for the release was pure coincidence. My Twitter chum saw it as good timing, in that the subject was topical and powerful.

But the novel was not written with that taboo in mind. I did not think one day, “let’s write a novel about….”. The process was far more nebulous, unplanned, and touching taboos deliberately was the furthest thing from my mind. Put simply, it was how the story revealed itself to me. It’s also not the scenario that you might choose if you were bandwagon-jumping to try to be topical. This was a female teacher making the moves on a vulnerable boy who has somehow caught her eye and piqued her vanity because he’s not interested in her.

It’s far from the only taboo in the book. Death, birth, child abuse, domestic tyranny and violence, suicide and severe mental illness all emerge as the story unfolds. They’re needed by the story itself. They’re not there because I decided to put them there, like ingredients for a cupcake mix. I don’t even cook by recipes; I make it up as I go along, letting myself be inspired by what comes to mind.

When it comes to reading matter, people generally find that stories where the challenges faced by the characters are mundane, everyday ones, the effect is one of blandness. They’re unchallenging. They don’t engage you with any emotional tugs, that frantic willing-on for the main character. Books like that tend to be rather meh! But a book that dares to touch on certain taboos risks being branded as sensationalist, of jumping on a bandwagon to gain more visibility.

Shortly after my book came out, there has also be a very high profile scandal about a now deceased celebrity, accused posthumously of a series of serious sexual crimes against young girls. If someone had used this premise as a plot for a novel, BEFORE this hit the headlines, I suspect it would have been treated as unbelievable, while the truth that unfolds day by day proves horribly believable and sickening. Accounts of this will be appearing for months, if not years, after the initial reports emerged, but to be honest, if a writer later chooses to use this terrible story as a basis for a novel, then to me that would be a blatant attempt to cash in on the misery of others.

My thoughts are simply that if a novel demands that you explore taboos, then don your pith helmet and get on with it. But if it’s done to fit in with a Zeitgeist or a movement or a fixation with celebrity misdemeanours, or because it may make the novel saleable, then I believe the effects may be other than expected. A novel that delves into psychologically dark areas can be very different depending on how it developed. One that has deliberately used those dark things as devices will perhaps seem far less real and powerful than one where the dark has bloomed of it’s own volition. And I know which I prefer to read…

 

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by Thea Atkinson on October 17, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on October 17, 2012

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Larry Enright guests on GonzoInk: new book release

I have a guest today: a wonderful writer who is launching a new book. I had to share it with you. I truly enjoyed the first novel: Four Years from Home and this is the sequel. I’m running right out to grab it up.

A Cape May Diamond

New release: A Cape May Diamond

Genre: Literary fiction/mystery

Appropriate for: Age 18+

 

Sequel to the best seller, Four Years from Home, A Cape May Diamond picks up the Tom Ryan story two years after its tragic ending in the discovery of the fate of Tom’s youngest brother, Harry. It is not required that you first read Four Years from Home before A Cape May Diamond, since it is recapped in brief in the first chapter of the sequel.

 

The result of a chance encounter, A Cape May Diamond can best be described as a story of life, love, and a journey of a thousand years. Here is the narrator’s perspective on it:

It was Monday, May 19th, 1975. I’ll never forget that day. The Vietnam War had ended with the fall of Saigon that April, and the world was mired in one of its worst recessions ever. Unemployment in the United States was nearly nine percent, inflation even higher, and leadership lacking. The Watergate scandal had cast a smear across American politics, resulting in Richard Nixon’s resignation in August 1974 to avoid impeachment, and his successor’s immediately pardoning him to close the book on an unhappy chapter in U.S. history.

It was not a good time for anyone and a particularly hard time for the old Victorian town of Cape May. The crown jewel of the New Jersey shore had fallen into neglect and disrepair and was dying a slow death. Once the elegant summer home to presidents and kings, it had become the last refuge of the deposed.

That’s where I met Tom Ryan. Tom was a king, or so he would have you believe, but unlike Richard Nixon, when Tom was dethroned, he wasn’t sent home with a slap on the wrist. He was sent to prison. He was a convicted draft dodger, but one of the lucky ones released early by President Ford as part of his mass clemency after Nixon’s pardon. The problem was, Tom had nowhere to go when he got out, so he took the money his dad mailed to him and spent it on a bus ticket to get as far away as possible to a place where nobody cared who he was or what he had done, a place where nobody cared about anything. That place was Cape May.

As hard a time as it was for everyone, it was harder for me because that was the day I met Tom Ryan. I should have turned and walked away. I knew it when he first looked at me, but I didn’t, not my first mistake, but one that would make Monday, May 19th, 1975 the hardest day of my life.

This is the story of how Tom Ryan and I met and how things never quite work out the way you think. You might find a love story in here somewhere. You might not. You might find a message hidden in one of the nickel pop bottles collected by the beachcombers from some of the most beautiful white sand beaches in the world. You might even find a little mystery, but life is a mystery, isn’t it?

 

About the author:

Larry Enright was born to Irish Catholic first-generation immigrants and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His works include: the best seller Four Years from Home (2010), A King in a Court of Fools (2011), Buffalo Nickel Christmas (2011), 12|21|12 (2012), and A Cape May Diamond.

 

 

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by Thea Atkinson on September 26, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on September 26, 2012

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8 award winning books for 99cents

Readers! Eight award winners in the 2012 eFestival of Words “Best of the Independent eBook Awards” have grouped together to offer you an amazing opportunity. They’ve reduced the prices of their award-winning novels to 99 cents for August 27 and 28th!

Whether you like to read mysteries, romance, horror, young adult, women’s fiction, or fantasy, this group has it. Are you a writer yourself? Do you want to learn all about digitally publishing your next masterpiece? They’ve got you covered there too.

Get all eight award-winning ebooks for the price of one single paperback!

Award Winners

Best Mystery/Suspense: Dead is the New Black by Christine DeMaio-Rice
Best Non-Fiction: DIY/Self-Help: Let’s Get Digital by David Gaughran
Best Horror: 61 A.D. by David McAfee
Best Romance: Deadly Obsession by Kristine Cayne
Best Young Adult: The Book of Lost Souls by Michelle Muto
Best Fantasy/Urban Fantasy and Best Novel: The Black God’s War by Moses Siregar III
Best Chick Lit/Women’s Lit: Carpe Bead’em by Tonya Kappes
Award for Best Twist (“I’ve Been Shyamalaned”): The Survival of Thomas Ford by John A.A. Logan

Here’s a one-stop shopping link for your convenience: http://amzn.to/MO7qBY

Happy reading!

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by Thea Atkinson on August 27, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on August 27, 2012

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I have a guest: new book launch

Or: Thea’s too lazy to write a blog post

Today a guest post from the inspiring writer, Patricia Lynne (Website) who is launching a new book today! Huzzah! Note the gratuitous !!!s.

Enjoy and leave a comment. A Random winner will receive a copy of the ebook

Just launched!

Snapshots Blurb

My name is Cyclop Blaine and I am a real person.

“You are mine.”

I am a real person: heedless of a childhood spent under the supervision of an old man I only know as Master.

“You belong to me.”

I am a real person: regardless of my teenage years bound by violence as the adoptive son of the Victory Street Gang’s leader.

“You will obey me.”

I am a real person: despite the visions I see in others’ eyes. Snapshots of their futures.

“You will cower before me.”

I am a real person: my life will be my own. I belong to no one.

“You. Are. MINE.”

Excerpt

“Cyclop, how do you stay so skinny with all that food you eat?” Meemaw Cheryl asked. The ice in her glass clinked as she motioned to my food. Her gaze turned to the girl’s parents. “I swear this boy could eat a horse and not gain a pound.”

I ducked my head as heat rushed up my face and neck. I adjusted my hat, hoping to hide the blush.

“Always wearing that hat too. Even in church. I tell Tyler all the time, if he don’t make you take that hat off, I’m gonna whoop his behind. I did it when he was a baby and I ain’t afraid to do it now.” Meemaw pointed her glass at me again. “And then I’ll whoop yours. You don’t wear a hat in the Lord’s house.”

“God ain’t gonna care if someone is wearing a hat in church. He’s just glad the person is there,” Darryl said as he joined the group with his own food. For a moment, his gaze met mine. Guilt nipped me at the hurt in his eyes.

“Darryl Paul Blaine, don’t you sass me,” Meemaw Cheryl snapped.

“I’m not sassing you, ma’am,” he innocently replied.

“No,” Meemaw Cheryl said with mock disapproval. “You just sticking up for your brother.” Her attention turned back to the girl’s parents. “These two were thick as thieves from the moment Tyler brought Cyclop home. Found the poor boy huddled in a dumpster in the middle of winter. Barely a scrap of clothing on him. Abandoned.”

More heat crawled up my face. I kept my gaze on my food, trying to sound casual. “I wasn’t abandoned. My mas… the person caring for me died. No one wanted to take me, so they left me on a street corner.”

“You was abandoned,” Meemaw Cheryl insisted. “I pray the Lord have mercy on those cruel souls because I sure won’t show any. Don’t matter if you don’t want to; if you have to, you take your family’s child in, care for them as your own. That’s what I taught my children, and I expect them to teach theirs.”

Meemaw Cheryl’s friends voiced their agreement. By now, my face was blazing and embarrassment coursed through me like a tsunami. Some of the humiliation eased when Darryl laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Thankfully, conversation turned away from me. Meemaw Cheryl and her friends coaxed the girl’s parents into talking. She remained quiet as she picked at her food. Even though her plate was half full, she stood and walked back to the table. I abandoned my food and followed. My nerves tightened as I stopped next to her. Play it cool.

“Hi, I’m Cyclop.”

“I kinda figured.”

The heat returned to my face and I mentally slapped myself. Of course she knew my name. They were just talking about me!

No biggie, I assured myself. Just keep playing it cool.

“So, do you have a name?”

I was not playing it cool.

To my surprise, she laughed. “Yeah, I do. Amber Smith.”

“That’s a nice name.”

She laughed again and I mentally punched myself this time. What was wrong with me? It was no wonder she was laughing. I sounded like a complete idiot!

“It’s nothing special or unique,” she replied lightly. “Not like Cyclop. How did you get that name?” She paused, meeting my one-eyed gaze. Her gaze flickered to my hidden eye and curiosity played over her face. “Well, I can guess.”

Links to Snapshots

  About me!

Patricia Lynne never set out to become a writer. In fact, it was the farthest from her mind in high school and college. But now that she has started, she can’t stop. Patricia lives with her husband in Michigan, hopes one day to have what will resemble a small petting zoo, and has a fondness for dying her hair the colors of the rainbow.

Follow Patricia on Twitter

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Thea is the author of several novels that she considers left of mainstream. You can find her on Smashwords, BN, Kobo, Sony, Apple

Anomaly by Thea Atkinson
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by Thea Atkinson on July 31, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by Thea Atkinson on July 31, 2012

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/i-have-a-guest-new-book-launch/

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