The Conch shell of Doom! I love it!

 

Hello amazing readers!

Welcome to the Book Blitz for

The Conch Shell of Doom by Ryan Hill!

Join us in celebrating this new release, and enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Happy Book Birthday, Ryan!!

 

 

 

Bailey didn’t mean to catch his parents plotting to unleash the sinister Trenton Maroney and his powerful oceanic army on the world. It was an honest mistake. Now, he’s got the horribly disfigured Mr. Lovell on his trail, which is doing wonders for Bailey’s anxiety.

His only ally is Franklin, a burn-out several decades past wishing his brother Trenton was destroyed for good. Franklin has battled his brother for two thousand years, and has nothing to show for it except his beloved Mustang. To stop Mr. Lovell from awakening Trenton, Franklin and Bailey will have to get past his parents, a one-eyed stoner, crooked cops, giant Scotsmen, and Trenton’s army, which can only be summoned by one thing: the mysterious Conch Shell of Doom.

The Conch Shell of Doom by Ryan Hill Publication Date: May 24, 2016

Available for Purchase: Amazon

 

 

 

Growing up, Ryan Hill used to spend his time reading and writing instead of doing homework. This resulted in an obsession with becoming a writer, but also a gross incompetence in the fields of science and mathematics. A graduate of North Carolina State University, Ryan has been a film critic for over five years. He lives in Raleigh, NC, with his dog/shadow Maggie. Ryan also feels strange about referring to himself in the third person.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads

 

 

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Release Day Celebration: Artifacts by Pete Catalano with Giveaway

 

Happy Release Day to

Artifacts by Pete Catalano!

Join us in celebrating this new release from Tantrum Books!

Enter the giveaway found at the end of the post.

 

Happy Book Birthday, Pete!

 

 

It's funny how one little letter can change a person's life. Jax and his friends have been planning the summer of a lifetime at Camp Runamuck. However, when one of them is facing summer at a school desk for failing English, they watch those plans crash and burn!

At the last moment they're given a way out.

An extra credit assignment to find several fake artifacts for a fairy tale display their teacher is presenting at the local library.

Thinking they've hit the easiest-extra-credit-ever jackpot, they begin rummaging through any piles of junk they can find. As they start putting the clues together, they realize that what they're really searching for is one authentic artifact that can rewrite fairy tales!

Enlisting the aid of the Lost Boys, Jax and his friends battle fairy tale villains to see who can get their hand, or their hook, on it first.

Artifacts by Pete Catalano Release Date: May 17, 2016 Publisher: Tantrum Boooks

BAM | Google Play | Chapters | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | TBD | iBooks

 

 

Pete Catalano’s books are written for kids of all ages — and adults who secretly never grew up. He lives in Charlotte, NC with his adorably funny wife and two neurotic dogs. Pete was a theatre major in college and tries to keep the ‘suspension of disbelief’ in his life as much as he can.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest |Goodreads

 

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A Rights Reversion~

A bit of news about Vessel...the publisher is reverting the rights back to me shortly, so if you've been meaning to download a copy, you may want to do that pretty quick! I may self-publish it in the future or work it into a larger book, but for now, it will soon become unavailable.

Many thanks to those who reviewed and enjoyed the book! I have always appreciated your support and  rest assured, I'll keep on writing~

Rainbow Bridge

Man, I'm so tired of writing pet eulogies. Can this be the last one for awhile, please Universe??  I've lost 3 elderly pets in 2016 already. Yesterday, the last remaining member of a litter of three stray kittens born in an old burn barrel in our yard 16 years ago crossed the rainbow bridge. She and her sister left me just three weeks apart.

Domino was my writing buddy. She loved to curl up on the bed next to me while I worked on my netbook. She wasn't much for hugs, but she enjoyed being by your side and loved roaming the countryside.

Kameko had the longest hair of the three sisters and she got a little tubby in her middle years, so she got a yearly haircut, which she hated. Here she is giving me the evil eye for one of those haircuts. This isn't the best picture of her, but I'm having trouble finding a better pic with hair at the moment. Kameko was a little persnickety. She didn't put up with any crap from kids or dogs. She was the boss.

I'm gonna miss those girls. They've been through a lot with us. They were older than my kids and grew up with them. They were my first children. Love you sweeties~

A Friday Reveal on Sunday~

Today Leigh Statham and Month9Books are revealing the cover for THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL, book 2 in THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE NOT SO INNOCUOUS GIRL Series! Which releases October 11, 2016! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to be one of the first readers to receive an eGalley!!

Here’s a message from the author.

Why I love the cover: Hello, GOGGLES! I love how artist Christel Michiels captures Marguerite's amazing fashion sense and tech gadgets. Plus this cover, like the first, is just the right mix of danger and fun. Who doesn't love leather gear cuffs and a good tophat?

On to the reveal! 

 Title: THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE MUCH TOO SPONTANEOUS GIRL (THE PERILOUS JOURNEY OF THE NOT SO INNOCUOUS GIRL #2)

Author: Leigh Statham

Pub. Date: October 11, 2016

Publisher: Month9Books

Format: Paperback & eBook

Find it: Amazon | B&N | TBD |Goodreads

Lady Marguerite Vadnay and her trusty automaton, Outil, have settled into life in New France rather well. Marguerite is top of the class at flight school and her future as an aerpilot is nearly secure. She has everything she wants— except a commission on the pirate hunting dirigible The Renegade. Using every card in her aristocratic arsenal, Marguerite wiggles her way onto the finest warship France has to offer. But as usual, Marguerite’s plans endanger the lives of those she holds dear— only this time no one else is going to save them. As Marguerite and Outil set off on a rescue mission they may not return from, she finally realizes it’s time to reorder her cogs.

This steampunk adventure is littered with facts from The Golden Age of Piracy and follows (not too closely) some of the lives and adventures of the brave men and women who sailed the seas as privateers, pirates and soldiers.

Leigh Statham was raised in the wilds of rural Idaho, but found her heart in New York City. She worked as a waitress, maid, artist, math teacher, nurse, web designer, art director, thirty-foot inflatable pig and mule wrangler before she settled down in the semi-quiet role of wife, mother and writer. She resides in North Carolina with her husband, four children, five chickens and two suspected serial killer cats. If the air is cool and the sun is just coming up over the horizon, you can find her running the streets of her small town, plotting her next novel with the sort of intensity that will one day get her hit by a car.

Where you can find Leigh:  Website |Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

And now for something completely different...breast cancer

I know this isn’t my usual blog about writing, but sometimes life smacks you up against the head and you have to pay attention. One in eight women will get breast cancer. This year, I became one.

Think about that: one out of eight. If you know eight women, you know someone who’s had or will have breast cancer. Maybe even you. Cancer doesn’t care if you’re young or old, if you eat right and exercise or not. It just happens and no one really knows why.

You’ve probably heard the slogan “early detection is the best protection” and it’s true. The smaller the tumor is when it’s found, the better the result can be if you’re treated right away. I’m not done with my treatment yet. I was only diagnosed in March, but I had surgery immediately and my tumor was very small.

I wish I could tell you I was religiously doing my self-exams, but I wasn’t. My doctor told me to get a mammogram when I was 40, so I did that. It was normal at the time. I do, however, get my yearly gynecological exams. My last one was normal too. The only reason I found my tumor was I happened to wake up one Sunday morning lying on my hand in such a way that I felt a tenderness in my breast. I thought “That’s weird.” I felt around the tender spot and wondered what a lump would feel like. Would it be round like a bead? This didn’t seem to be round, but it did feel like a knot of tissue that was harder than the surrounding area. And it hurt when I pushed on it. I had never noticed it before so I thought I’d watch it that day and see if it changed. It didn’t.

I went to work on Monday thinking I needed to call for an appointment and have it checked. Then I got busy at work and forgot about it. The next day it was still there and I finally called. It would have been an easy thing to ignore for awhile. There was no rash, no weird breast appearance, nothing on the surface. I felt perfectly fine. I was convinced it was nothing. I think the only reason I went in was because I’ve been told all my life, if you find a lump, get it checked! I guess I’ve been well trained.

The nurse practitioner I saw was pretty sure it was normal too, but referred me for a mammogram anyway, thank goodness. It wasn’t normal, which goes to show you, no one knows what’s inside you by only touching the outside. Not even a health care provider.

Since then, I’ve had ultrasounds, MRIs, biopsies, blood tests, and surgery, all in less than two months. Once the result is positive, they don’t mess around. I was potentially facing chemotherapy too, but the doctor decided the size of the tumor was small enough (less than 1 cm) that I can just have radiation treatment for it. After that will be chemo-prevention drugs, to reduce my future risk of a recurrence. I may need to take that for five years or more, which I will gladly do. The drugs reduce future risk by 50%.

I’m not going to lie to you. It’s been a scary couple of months, learning about all this stuff. I’m already sick of getting poked with needles. Waiting for lab results is grueling. Getting bad news is even worse, but not knowing is worse than knowing. All in all, I know am very, very lucky. I found my own tumor. I felt it only because there was a larger area of pre-cancer around it and I don’t have much breast tissue, so it caused the tenderness I was feeling. Women with more tissue may have felt nothing at all and ended up with a much larger tumor. That’s why mammograms, self-exams, and check ups are so important ladies! I know mammograms are uncomfortable and awkward, but all the technicians I’ve had are women. You can handle it, I promise you.

If you’ve got a family history of breast cancer, (aka you have family members with breast cancer), start your yearly mammograms at 35 years old. If you have no family history like I did, you can wait until you’re 40, but start your self-exams right now, today. Women in their 20s and 30s can and do get breast cancer. Men can too, in case you didn’t know. I want you to be healthy and take care of yourself (no smoking), but if you ONLY do one thing, DO your self-exams!! If you’ve never been taught how, check here.

Even though I feel like I dodged a bullet now, breast cancer will be with me for the rest of my life. I have to go through radiation treatment. I’ll be on medication, have mammograms every six months for awhile, and professional breast exams twice yearly. If it returns, I’ll have to have more treatment and surgery. I feel extremely fortunate to have a good job and insurance to pay for all of this because the price of this treatment without insurance is already pretty unbelievable and I’m not even done! I can’t imagine what it must be like for cancer patients with no insurance. My local hospital actually has financial advocates that help patients through the insurance process, set up payment plans and find financial assistance if needed. I can only hope all hospitals are so helpful and that no one ever hesitates to get care if they need it.

Still, even with all that ahead of me, I have a good life and a lot left to do, including a few more books to write. No matter how scary, the treatment is worth it. I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. I intend to fight like a girl and kick cancer’s butt. And if it ever happens to you, I hope you will too.

Spring 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt Fun!! #YASH

Hey! Welcome to my stop on the YA Scavenger Hunt Trail!

This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors…and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize–one lucky winner will receive one signed book from each author on the hunt in my team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are NINE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! I am a part of the TEAM GREEN –but there is also a red team, a gold team, an orange team, a teal team, a purple team, a pink team, a silver team, and a blue team for a chance to win a whole different set of signed books!

If you’d like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page.

***THE SCAVENGER HUNT FINE PRINT***

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve hidden my favorite number in the post. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the indie team, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 3, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

LET THE HUNT BEGIN!

~MEET RACHEL SHANE, AUTHOR OF RHYTHM AND CLUES~

Rachel Shane is the author of YA books ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH, KASEY SCREWS UP THE WORLD, and RHYTHM & CLUES, plus the New Adult Romance series that begins with PREMATURE EVACUATION. She's been a computer animator, an ebook creator for a publisher, and now she works as a Project Manager for a software company where she enjoys telling people what to do. She lives in NJ with her husband, young daughter, and a basement full of books. Visit Rachel at www.rachelshane.com for more!

~ABOUT RHYTHM AND CLUES~

Seventeen year-old “Moxie" Crane's mother ruins her social life without ever stepping foot into her school. As if driving away her father and lying about it all these years isn't enough, Moxie's classmates discover her mother moonlights as a stripper, branding virginal Moxie with a reputation she can never live up to. Instead of getting upset, she gets tough, owning her outcast status and putting up a care-free front. But loneliness and a band audition advertisement lead her to Gavin Tully, a teen homeschooled for mysterious reasons who defies his parents’ strict rules to secretly start a band.

They each have something the other wants: he's enamored by her free-spirit life, and she’s jealous of his overprotective, yet supportive family. Moxie teaches Gavin how to rebel and Gavin makes her feel like part of his family…until his parents catch them and force him back under their prison-like rules. Desperate to be a free spirit like Moxie, he takes the rebellion too far and runs away from home, leaving behind a breadcrumb trail of clues only Moxie can decipher.

But when Moxie discovers his parents aren’t just strict…they're in hiding from a dangerous enemy, she sets out to find Gavin and rescue him the way he saved her.

~Get the book at Amazon~

~Deleted scene from RHYTHM AND CLUES~

The hotel clerk reaches under her desk and pulls out a box of tissues. “Calm down. What’s your brother’s name?”

Sabrina grabs a tissue, then blows her nose. She abruptly stops crying, peering at the clerk over her tissue. “Gavin Tully.”

The clerk types away at a computer. She purses her lips. “It says he checked out yesterday.”

Sabrina’s eyes widen. “Wait. What?”

“Oh.” The concierge taps a few more keys. “What’s your name?”

Sabrina gives it to her. The clerk bends underneath the desk. She places a puffy envelope on the counter and slides it toward Sabrina. “He left you this package.”

Sabrina snatches it from the counter and waves for us to follow her. My heart thumps as we leave the hotel and crowd around Isla’s SUV. Sabrina tears open the envelope, exposing Gavin’s audio recorder.

His mp3 recorder? I lean against the car to keep my balance, my nerves rocketing. He would never give up these precious items unless he had a good reason.

Predictably, a post-it note covers the front of the audio recorder. It says: Play the files in order. Don’t let anyone else hear. And be careful. If you got this envelope, it means this whole thing is up to you now.

Panic climbs up my spine. If this is all up to us now…did that mean Gavin was in trouble?

Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on Team Green and you’ll have the secret code to enter for the grand prize! I've always been pretty good at keeping secrets.
I could probably tell you 8 secrets right now. ;)

~CONTINUE THE HUNT~

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author!