Missing you~

I had a dream last night about a friend I hadn't seen in years. In the dream, he suddenly appeared, bedraggled, maybe even homeless, and I took him in and gave him a place to sleep. Later, I'm dismayed to learn that he's leaving with a random group of other people I know and I haven't got to spend any time with him.

When I awoke, I realized the friend I dreamt about is dead now. I learned third hand that he died of cancer a year ago and I'd never even heard he was sick.

I'm not a superstitious person, but I know I have regrets in my heart. Not being able to say goodbye is hard.

I just want those that I've lost, who are no longer with us, to know~ you live in my dreams ~

Halloween is coming~

I know, it might seem like a long ways off, but Halloween is just around the corner. Soon the nights will be getting cooler, the days will be getting shorter, and that spooky feeling will be in the air once more.

Halloween always makes me think of my book Storyteller, which begins at Halloween time. This year I have some exciting Storyteller news. The entire Storyteller series will be coming to print in a single volume, just in time for Halloween reading!

The Storyteller Series tells the story of a young fairy hidden in the human world who has to save her home world- The True World- from forces that threaten to destroy everything. It's an epic middle-grade tale to appeals to all readers that's been compared to The Chronicles of Narnia and Fablehaven.

~Praise for Storyteller~

This story blew me away. As a middle grade story, it's a success with plenty of social strife and a little innocent romance. But what really gets me is the world building, the fantasy and the adventure. Plus, there is an element of danger that soon builds into quite a gripping story, nothing at all what I expected in the early chapters. The writing is smooth and easy to read without being simplistic. The plot development is solid, and I really enjoy the unique way Lily learns about her mother.

The character development is also noteworthy. Each person, friend or foe, is unique and believable. The good guys aren't perfect and the bad guys are scary, but not invincible.

Overall I loved this story because it's exciting and reminds me of The Neverending Story. It's one I know I'll read again and again. I recommend this to young and old, anyone who loves fantasy and modern fairy tales. ~ Goodreads reviewer

Be sure to follow me on Goodreads for updates on the print book coming soon!

World Weaver Press cover reveal for Volume 2 of their #Scifi Anthology Series

Welcome to another great cover reveal, this time for World Weaver Press!
I love the colors in these. Nice work~
 

Praise for Far Orbit: 

“Successfully captures the kinds of stories that were the gateway drugs for many of us who have been reading science fiction for a long time. Well done!” — Tangent 

“Daring adventure, protagonists who think on their feet, and out of this world excitement! Welcome to Far Orbit, a fine collection of stories in the best SF tradition. Strap in and enjoy!” — Julie E. Czerneda, author of Species Imperative “Spectacular. 

One anthology no sci-fi library should be without!” — Night Owl Reviews (Five Stars) 

“Put aside all of your preconceived notions of what ‘sci-fi’ is—whether you think you love it or hate, it doesn’t matter—pick up this book and get to reading!” — Good Choice Reading 

“Need a quick fix of good old-fashioned science fiction? Far Orbit is it!” — Sporadic Reviews

World Weaver Press (Eileen Wiedbrauk, Editor-in-Chief) has announced Far Orbit Apogee, volume two of the Far Orbit Anthology Series, edited by Bascomb James, will be available in trade paperback and ebook Tuesday, October 13, 2015.

Looking for science fiction stories like they used to write? Far Orbit Apogee takes all of the fun-to-read adventure, ingenuity, and heroism of mid-century pulp fiction and shapes it for a new generation of readers. Follow the adventures of heroic scientists, lunar detectives, space dragons, robots, interstellar pirates, gun slingers, and other memorable characters as they wrestle with adversity beyond the borders of our small blue marble. Fun, engaging, pithy, and piquant, we’ve got it all. Featuring stories from Jennifer Campbell-Hicks, Dave Creek, Eric Del Carlo, Dominic Dulley, Nestor Delfino, Milo James Fowler, Julie Frost, Sam S. Kepfield, Keven R. Pittsinger, Wendy Sparrow, Anna Salonen, James Van Pelt, and Jay Werkheiser.

Far Orbit Apogee will be available in trade paperback and ebook via Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, WorldWeaverPress.com, and other online retailers, and for wholesale through Ingram. Bascomb James is a clinical virologist, author, and editor who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His daytime persona has authored or edited four scientific textbooks and more than 60 scientific articles and chapters. His nighttime persona is an author, editor, and science fiction fan. Bascomb is the anthologist and editor of the Far Orbit anthologies published by World Weaver Press. The first Far Orbit volume, Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures was published in 2014 and has garnered many outstanding reviews. A science-fiction fan since childhood, Bascomb credits his interest in science, engineering, and invention to the science fiction stories he read as a child. Bascomb blogs about writing, editing, storytelling, and life in a Northern state (Up North Stories) at bascombjames.com. He also tweets occasionally @BascombJ.

World Weaver Press is an independently owned publisher of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction. They believe in great storytelling.

The Mark of Noba cover reveal!

Guess what? Today is the cover reveal for The Mark of Noba by GL Tomas brought to you by

Lola's Blog Tours. Be sure to scroll down for an excerpt!

The Mark of Noba (The Sterling Wayfairer Series #1)
by GL Tomas
Genre: Fantasy
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: 25 August, 2015

~About the Book~

Sterling Wayfairer has one goal for his senior year: make his mark. He’s been slipping into the background his whole high school career—distracted by his mother’s mental health, unsettled by the vivid dreams that haunt him at night, and overshadowed by the athletic accomplishments of his popular best friends. But this year is going to be different. He’s going to break a few rules, have some fun, and maybe even work up the nerve to ask his crush out on a date.

But things don’t go exactly as planned. Students are disappearing, Sterling starts losing time, and it all seems to center around Tetra, a girl no one else seems to notice but him. When he finally tracks her down for answers, they aren’t what he expects: He and Tetra hail from a world called Noba, and they’re being hunted by a Naga, a malevolent shapeshifter that’s marked them for destruction.

Tetra and Sterling have distinct abilities that can help them fight back, but their power depends heavily on the strength of their bond, a connection that transcends friendship, transcends romance. Years apart have left their bond weak. Jumpstarting it will require Sterling to open his heart and his mind and put his full trust in the mysterious Tetra.

If he doesn’t, neither of them will survive.

You can find The Mark of Noba on Goodreads

You can pre-order The Mark of Noba here:
- Amazon

~About the Authors~

 

Guinevere and Libertad go by many superhero aliases. Whether you know them by G.L. Tomas, the Twinjas, or the Rebellious Valkyries, their mission is always the same: spreading awareness of diversity in books. Oh, and trying to figure out the use for pocketless pants! They host other allies and champions of diversity in their secret lair in Connecticut.

You can find and contact with GL Tomas here:
- Website
- Facebook Author
- Facebook book blog
- Twitter account Libertad
- Twitter account Guinevere
- Twitter account YA book blog
- Twitter account NA, romance and adult books
- Goodreads
- Author Pinterest
- Pinterest Book Blog
- Book Blog Tumblr

~Book Excerpt~

The morning announcements were centered on the kid that went missing from our school. He was a sophomore so I didn’t know him, but I still felt horrible. My tablemate Rebel Lee scribbled down an array of unintelligible notes, probably both profound and meaningful. Rebel was someone I knew since junior high, and even though we were pals, he didn’t talk much. Which was odd because he seemed to be understood by everyone. Correction. Everyone except for Grey.

I witnessed a sea of sorrow amongst my classmates. No one was in the state of mind to be here, and the cheerless announcements added to our already despondent moods. Man, I hoped they found this kid.

The teachers opened up the floor to talk about it, prolonging any collections of homework assignments that I didn’t do. The more others talked about it, the lower our spirits got. It bothered me that we didn’t have any more information on what had happened. Was it connected to the other boy who disappeared? Did they run away? Were they abducted? Were they going to be all right? Thinking back to what my mom said earlier, I was lucky to be sitting here. I listened, but didn’t contribute. I had so much on my mind.

My attention drifted across the room until I settled on someone I hadn’t noticed at the beginning of class. She wore her hair in a high, messy bun and had on gray sneakers with three blue stripes. She felt familiar. Did I say felt familiar? I meant looked familiar. Looked…familiar. Because how does someone feel familiar?

A Type 5, she had this flawless dark brown skin that made me question how no one else seemed to notice her. If I judged her off her face alone, she was one of the prettier girls at school. She didn’t seem interested in the discussion we were having in class, and she, like me, faded into the background. I’d never given it much thought before but…I always kind of looked for her. There was just something about her that… Y’know what? Never mind.

Summer's Last Hurrah on #MondayBlogs

I know I always say go somewhere you've never been before, but this year I went somewhere I haven't been in a long time - Yellowstone.  The last time I was there was 2005, so it's been ten years. It's changed some. Now, three million people visit Yellowstone a year, so it's getting really crowded with people. So much so that the parking lots couldn't even hold everyone's vehicles and folks are parking along the highways, making trails where they aren't supposed to. As a result, we saw a lot less wildlife than usual.  We did see these lazy elk in Gardiner, Montana.

And finally after much searching, we found the bison on the east side of the park. I was starting to wonder where they all went! I almost asked the activists who were demonstrating against hazing of buffalo that leave the park.

Old Faithful was magnificent as always and the hot pools/springs were impressive, although they seemed to have less water than I remembered from years ago. I hope it's not because of the drought.

I'm afraid people are loving Yellowstone to death. It is worth seeing, but wow, there sure are a lot of us.  No trip is complete without checking out the historic lodges. Here's a pic of the inside of the Old Faithful Lodge where we enjoyed huckleberry ice cream. Pretty cool. *apologies to the random people in the pic- you were in my shot! ;)

I took the opportunity to take a break from writing and editing, which I've been doing all summer it feels like!  I have two manuscripts I'm querying and I third I need to get edited for query, not to mention the two books I'm getting ready to self publish. (If anyone is a Microsoft Word format wizard, please help!)

When I got home, I did a bit of editing on Crawdad, mostly just adding dates to the chapter headings. Reading back over it, I realized how much I loved the story. Oh man, it's good stuff. I really want to share it with you. Cross your fingers I get someone to publish it cause it's some of my best and I don't say that lightly. C'mon publishing gods! Bring me some good news!

Feels like summer is coming to an end. My kids go back to school next week, but I'm not ready to let it go. At least I have my pictures to help hold on to the memories~

Spooky cover reveal from World Weaver Press ~ SCARECROW

Yay! Fall is coming! And with it, lots of spooky stories from World Weaver Press. Their newest anthology, Scarecrow, Volume Three of Rhonda Parrish's Magical Menageries will be released on Tuesday, August 4th.

~About the Book~

Hay-men, mommets, tattie bogles, kakashi, tao-tao—whether formed of straw or other materials, the tradition of scarecrows is pervasive in farming cultures around the world. The scarecrow serves as decoy, proxy, and effigy—human but not human. We create them in our image and ask them to protect our crops and by extension our very survival, but we refrain from giving them the things a creation might crave—souls, brains, free-will, love. In Scarecrow, fifteen authors of speculative fiction explore what such creatures might do to gain the things they need or, more dangerously, think they want.

Within these pages, ancient enemies join together to destroy a mad mommet, a scarecrow who is a crow protects solar fields and stores long-lost family secrets, a woman falls in love with a scarecrow, and another becomes one. Encounter scarecrows made of straw, imagination, memory, and robotics while being spirited to Oz, mythological Japan, other planets, and a neighbor’s back garden. After experiencing this book, you’ll never look at a hay-man the same.
Featuring all new work by Jane Yolen, Andrew Bud Adams, Laura Blackwood, Amanda Block, Scott Burtness, Virginia Carraway Stark, Amanda C. Davis, Megan Fennell, Kim Goldberg, Katherine Marzinsky, Craig Pay, Sara Puls, Holly Schofield, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, and Kristina Wojtaszek.

You can find Scarecrow on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25360944-scarecrow and on the World Weaver Press site: https://www.worldweaverpress.com/scarecrow.htm. It will be available for purchase from Amazon, Barnesandnoble.com, Kobo.com, and other online retailers.

~Cover Reveal~

M9B Friday Reveal: Month9Books Fall Books Preview with Giveaway #M9BFridayReveals

M9B Friday Reveal: Month9Books Fall Books Preview with Giveaway #M9BFridayReveals

Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!

This week, we are sharing the

Month9Books Fall Books Preview!

Check out these amazing titles coming from Month9Books this Fall!.
They look amazing!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

SERPENTINE is a sweeping fantasy set in the ancient Kingdom of Xia and inspired by the rich history of Chinese mythology.

Lush with details from Chinese folklore, SERPENTINE tells the coming of age story of Skybright, a young girl who worries about her growing otherness. As she turns sixteen, Skybright notices troubling changes. By day, she is a companion and handmaid to the youngest daughter of a very wealthy family. But nighttime brings with it a darkness that not even daybreak can quell.

When her plight can no longer be denied, Skybright learns that despite a dark destiny, she must struggle to retain her sense of self – even as she falls in love for the first time.

“Vivid worldbuilding, incendiary romance, heart-pounding action, and characters that will win you over–I highly recommend Serpentine.” Cinda Williams Chima, best-selling author of the Seven Realms and Heir Chronicles fantasy novels

“Serpentine is unique and surprising, with a beautifully-drawn fantasy world that sucked me right in! I love Skybright’s transformative power, and how she learns to take charge of it.” ~Kristin Cashore, NYT Bestseller of the Graceling Realm Series

“Serpentine’s world oozes with lush details and rich lore, and the characters crackle with life. This is one story that you’ll want to lose yourself in.” ~ Marie Lu, New York Times bestselling author of Legend and The Young Elites

Amazon | B&N | BAM | Chapters | Kobo | TBD | Mysterious Galaxy

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in April 2011. Serpentine, the first title in her next Xia duology, will be published by Month9Books in September 2015. She is the co-founder of Diversity in YA with Malinda Lo and on the advisory board of We Need Diverse Books. Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade. Visit her website at www.cindypon.com.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Goodreads

Four clans have been at war for centuries: the Kodiak, the Raven, the Wolf and the Ram. Through brutal war tactics, the Ram have dominated the region, inflicting death and destruction on their neighbors.

Seventeen-year-old Zo is a Wolf and a Healer who volunteers to infiltrate the Ram as a spy on behalf of the allied clans. She offers herself as a Ram slave, joining the people who are called the “nameless.” Hers is a suicide mission – Zo’s despair after losing her parents in a Ram raid has left her seeking both revenge and an end to her own misery. But after her younger sister follows her into Rams Gate, Zo must find a way to survive her dangerous mission and keep her sister safe.

What she doesn’t expect to find is the friendship of a young Ram whose life she saves, the confusing feelings she develops for a Ram soldier, and an underground nameless insurrection. Zo learns that revenge, loyalty and love are more complicated than she ever imagined in the first installment of this two-book series.

Amazon | TBD | Chapters | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

"Jenkins brings edge-of-your-seat adventure to this intriguing new world. I can’t wait to read more!”~ New York Times bestselling author Jessica Day George

"Wow....WOW, WOW, WOW! I have no words to describe how much I love this book. Jenkins writes characters who are just so easy to love, and when you love a character it makes the book so much better. And I loved all the characters. Zo, Tess, Joshua and Gryphon. Gryphon is definitely my favorite - but who wouldn't love Gryphon? Of course I do have a soft spot for our heroine, Zo." ~Bri, Blogger @ Once Upon A Twilight

"Nameless destroyed me in the best way possible. The romance was subtle, but written beautifully. The plot was very intriguing and the pacing was spot on. I loved the entire cast of characters, every single one of them added to the story. Trust me when I say you should preorder it, add it to your TBR, request it from your library, do whatever you have to do to get this book in your hands because if you are a YA fantasy fan like me you need this book in your life!" ~Bridget, Blogger @ Dark Faerie Tales

"NAMELESS is epic storytelling at its best. My mind is still reeling from the world that I have just been immersed in and I don't want to leave it. Can I please have the sequel NOW? Because I need to know what happens next but in the meantime I'm just going to re-read it again and again. Is it that good, you may ask? Hell yes!!! And you will think so too. Trust me." Nancy, Blogger @ Tales of A Ravenous Reader

"To say that I love this book is an understatement. It completely blew me away! I am so happy that I took a chance on it. NAMELESS is one book that you can re-read over and over again and it will still feel fresh! I cannot wait for the world to read it and fall under the NAMELESS spell. Because that’s what I feel like I am under, a spell that has me trapped in Zo's world and won’t let me out! I don’t want out!"~Damaris, Blogger @ Good Choice Reading

With her degree in History and Secondary Education, Jennifer had every intention of teaching teens to love George Washington and appreciate the finer points of ancient battle stratagem. (Seriously, she’s obsessed with ancient warfare.) However, life had different plans in store when the writing began. As a proud member of Writers Cubed, and a co-founder of the Teen Author Boot Camp, she feels blessed to be able to fulfill both her ambition to work with teens as well as write Young Adult fiction.

Jennifer has three children who are experts at naming her characters, one loving, supportive husband, a dog with little-man syndrome, and three chickens (of whom she is secretly afraid).

Visit her online at jajenkins.com

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest |Instagram

“Where shall I start?” asked Minotaur.

Ovid made an expansive gesture with both hands. “Where else but the beginning of course.”

Minotaur nodded his huge head. “Yes,” he said. “Yes,” his eyes already glazing over with the weight of thousand year old memories. And then he began.

So begins the story of Asterion, later known as Minotaur, the supposed half bull creature of Greek legend. Recorded by the famous Roman poet, Ovid, Asterion tells of his boyhood in Crete under the cruel hand of his stepfather Minos, his adventures with his friend, Theseus, and his growing love for the beautiful Phaedra.And of course what really happened in the labyrinth.

This is the true story of the Minotaur.

Amazon | B&N | Kobo | BAM | Chapters | Indiebound | TBD | iBooks

“Lovers of mythology will enjoy this coming-of-age adventure and be surprised by the believable, "true story" of the Minotaur.”~ School Library Journal

Phillip W. Simpson is the author of many novels, chapter books and other stories for children. His publishers include Macmillan, Penguin, Pearson, Cengage, Raintree and Oxford University Press.
He received both his undergraduate degree in Ancient History and Archaeology and his Masters (Hons) degree in Archaeology from the University of Auckland.
Before embarking on his writing career, he joined the army as an officer cadet, owned a comic shop and worked in recruitment in both the UK and Australia.
His first young adult novel, Rapture (Rapture Trilogy #1), was shortlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for best Youth novel in 2012.

He is represented by Vicki Marsdon at Wordlink literary agency.

When not writing, he works as a school teacher.
Phillip lives and writes in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Rose, their son, Jack and their two border terriers, Whiskey and Raffles. He loves fishing, reading, movies, football (soccer) and single malt Whiskeys.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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