{Author Fest} Amy Leigh Strickland @nimbuschick

Amy Leigh Strickland is a writer and teacher from Townsend, Massachusetts. She has a BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Amy currently lives outside Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, Kyle and their terrier, Apollo.

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When Royer Goldhawk witnesses a fly-by kidnapping, he becomes inextricable entangled in a madman's plot to break the barrier to another world and harness an unimaginable power. With the help of his friends, Royer embarks on a mission of rescue and revenge that will lead him across the country and plunge him into a world of magic, machines, and danger.

Interview with Amy Leigh Strickland
How did you get interested in writing this particular genre?
I've always loved the aesthetic of steampunk, but I never had a steampunk story to tell until this one. It just fit so perfectly, using the time in our history where magic and faith faded to the background and science became king. This was the time of Darwin and Edison. It's always fascinated me how some people can't make room for both science and magic in their hearts.

What's a typical working day like for you? When and where do you write? Do you set a daily writing goal?

I pay my bills with teaching, though writing has been slowly making up more and more of my income. When I wrote this novel, last fall, I sat down straight after work and knocked out 1,700 words before giving myself a reward. This summer I got into a good routine with it my days off. I woke up, took care of my dogs, sat down, wrote, took a break to do some promotion and website maintenance, and then wrote again until roughly 1p when I allowed myself to quit and do housework. I tried to do all my writing in the morning because I knew that once I napped or started watching Youtube videos, it would be all over.

What’s the best thing about being an author?

I love telling stories. Everything I'm really passionate about has to do with storytelling in some way. What I love most about being an author is the ability for others to read my stories and enjoy them. When I get a message from a fan, it makes my day. It feels better than any paycheck I might get, because I remember all those years of fan art and roleplaying Harry Potter in my life and I remember the excitement of loving a good story. If I can bring that to even a handful of people, I'm happy.

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Write. Even when you aren't "feeling it," write.

Who would play the cast?

My friend Peter Moffatt is the cover model for Royer, and he is an actor living in LA, so I'd give him the job. For America Loveguard I'd want someone like a younger Bethany Galeotti. For Benjy, someone like Anton Yelchin because the hair is more important to me than the facial structure. For Major Bedloe, I'd cast Kevin Spacey.

 

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{Review} {Giveaway} Daylighters @rachelcaine

Hey guys today marks the LAST day of a 1 week review!  Each day I will post a review for two of the Morgainville Vampire books ending on Nov. 3rd with Daylighters coming out Nov. 5th!  During this you can enter to win one of two sets of the entire series. 1 is for the USA which will all be in PRINT and one is for INT which will be Ebook!  All you have to do is comment to win!  

So Follow, Like, and Share! Then comment with your email and what you did!  Ill choose two people at the end of this to win the goodies.  

PS. if you have any issues commenting just use the form in the side bar to comment 

and ill log it in the hat! 

While Morganville, Texas, is often a troubled town, Claire Danvers and her friends are looking forward to coming home. But the Morganville they return to isn’t the one they know; it’s become a different place—a deadly one…

Something drastic has happened in Morganville while Claire and her friends were away. The town looks cleaner and happier than they’ve ever seen it before, but when their incoming group is arrested and separated—vampires from humans—they realize that the changes definitely aren’t for the better.

It seems that an organization called the Daylight Foundation has offered the population of Morganville something they’ve never had: hope of a vampire-free future. And while it sounds like salvation—even for the vampires themselves—the truth is far more sinister and deadly.

Now, Claire, Shane and Eve need to find a way to break their friends out of Daylighter custody, before the vampires of Morganville meet their untimely end.....

So this starts where the other left off.  This one is jam packed with action twists and turns.  No cliff hanging for fans of this series.  I do think a lot of it was tied up a little to neatly.  But all in all I did enjoy the series. I would also love a small novella down the road!!  I wish Eve would have grown a little more as a character.  I think she really was set in her ways from book one.  Claire has grown so much over the course of these 15 books that she is now a woman.  Shane and Michael have both gone through more issues in this book then the girls in my mind.  From going from a gang member bent on destroying all vamps and a ghost going full vamp.  It has been hard for both of them.  I love that the book ended on a happy note but again I felt like it was just a little to neat.  This series was a very long story of survival and is now over I'm going to go cry!

For both books!

› Visit Amazon's Rachel Caine Page

Biography

Rachel Caine is the #1 internationally bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the bestselling Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, and the new upcoming Revivalist series. She was born at White Sands Missile Range, which people who know her say explains a lot. She has been an accountant, a professional musician, and an insurance investigator, and until very recently continued to carry on a secret identity in the corporate world. She and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas.

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{Author Fest 2013} Amy Freeman @AmyVedunyWriter

Amy is a writer, wife, mother and dancer- mesmerized by the endless potential of the human spirit. She lives in St. Augustine, Florida with her husband and the youngest of her five children. DREAM CAST FOR "SHINE, the Knowing ones"- Annable Odette as Sam, Liam Hemsworth as Trin, and Chris Hemsworth as Anvil and Ashbel Stolchev.

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"We walk among you. Wherever your lives take you within this world, we are there, and we are many. We are not superior, we simply know more...far more...and none of you are safe." Sam has always had the gift of reading auras and seeing future events. But since beginning college, her gifts are strengthening-becoming more foreboding. Dark visions she can't explain haunt her daily. She senses danger but doesn't know why. Meeting gorgeous Olympic swimming star Trin Kosolov, who shares her extra sensory abilities, only seems to intensify the imminent peril. Sam soon discovers she was born with an identity she never knew she had and finds herself fighting for her life as she and Trin struggle to save humanity from an evil that could ultimately destroy them all.

Interview with Amy Freeman
How did you get interested in writing this particular genre?
I am fascinated with the untapped power of the human spirit. I believe we are capable of creating change and causing havoc merely with our thoughts and intentions. I believe in good and evil. I believe we can fall victim to evil, allowing it to control our thoughts and decisions, or stand up and exercise our right to choose what path we will take and what we will contribute to the world.

What's a typical working day like for you? When and where do you write? Do you set a daily writing goal?

I write several hours a day. I am also involved in many online writing groups and social media. Being organized and sticking to a schedule is paramount to getting anything done. I try to get as much accomplished as I can while my son is at school and my husband is at work. But inspiration comes when it wants to and sometimes I wake in the middle of the night or pull off the road with a pen and any scrap of paper I can find to record the eureka moment that just came out of nowhere. :0)

What’s the best thing about being an author?

Sharing my stories with everyone and meeting the coolest people. Writers are choice individuals- so creative, unique and so kind! And let's face it- without our readers we can't go anywhere. Your fans are you life's blood! Appreciate them!

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Do not quit. The road to publication can be long and frustrating. If writing is what you want to do, you are just as capable as anyone else. Write. Read. Revise, share, critique and never, never quit!

Who would play the cast?

If the SHINE series were to be optioned for film I would want Annable Odette or Megan Fox to play Sam. I would want Liam Hemsworth to play Trin and Chris Hemsworth to Play Anvil and Ashbel Stolchev. They are both large, beautiful men and they are brothers in real life making for amazing on screen brotherhood chemistry. :0)

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{Review} {Giveaway} “Beloved” iPad Mini Giveaway from Robin Lee Hatcher!

Diana is ready to begin a new chapter in her life—until the husband she believed dead reappears at her engagement party.

Diana Brennan came west on the orphan train and was given a home with a loving couple who cherished and spoiled her. At 17, she fell hard for Tyson Applegate, the son of a wealthy mine owner. After a whirlwind courtship and marriage, Tyson took off for adventures around the world, including fighting with the Rough Riders in Cuba. Receiving no word from him in years, Diana’s infatuation with her dashing husband died an ugly death, and she is ready to move past the old pain and marry again, just as soon as Tyson is declared legally dead.

But when Tyson returns, claiming to be a changed man, he wants to reunite with his wife and run for the senate. While Diana suspects the election is his real reason for wanting her by his side, she agrees to maintain his home and to campaign with him, but when it is over, win or lose, she wants her freedom.

He agrees with one condition—she must give him a chance to change her mind about him.

Purchase a copy here.

Learn more at Robin’s website.ROBIN LEE HATCHER

Robin is the author of 65+ novels and novellas. Her home is in Idaho, where she spends her time writing stories of faith, courage, and love; pondering the things of God; and loving her family and friends.

I enjoyed this book.  The author did a great job of not only telling the story but making it come alive for the reader.  This being book three in the series was just another great story to add it it.  With romance, mystery, some humor and a little spiritual talk this is a great book for anyone to read.

"*I received a copy of this book for free to review, this in no way influenced my review, all opinions are 100% honest and my own."

Robin Lee Hatcher is celebrating the release of her latest novel, Beloved, with an iPad Mini giveaway! 

 
  One winner will receive:

• An iPad Mini
• Beloved by Robin Lee Hatcher

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 15th. Winner will be announced November 16th at Robin's blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Robin's blog on the 16th to see if you won. (Or, better yet, subscribe to her blog and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox!)!

{Review} {Giveaway} The Morganville Vampire Series Vol. 7 @rachelcaine

Hey guys today marks the seventh day of a 1 week review!  Each day I will post a review for two of the Morgainville Vampire books ending on Nov. 3rd with Daylighters coming out Nov. 5th!  During this you can enter to win one of two sets of the entire series. 1 is for the USA which will all be in PRINT and one is for INT which will be Ebook!  All you have to do is comment to win!  

So Follow, Like, and Share! Then comment with your email and what you did!  Ill choose two people at the end of this to win the goodies.  

PS. if you have any issues commenting just use the form in the side bar to comment 

and ill log it in the hat! 

Thanks to the eradication of the parasitic creatures known as the draug, the vampires of Morganville have been freed of their usual constraints. With the vampires indulging their every whim, the town’s human population is determined to hold on to their lives by taking up arms. But college student Claire Danvers isn’t about to take sides, considering she has ties to both the humans and the vampires. 

To make matters worse, a television show comes to Morganville looking for ghosts, just as vampire and human politics collide. Now, Claire and her friends have to figure out how to keep the peace without ending up on the nightly news… or worse.

Claire never thought she’d leave Morganville, but when she gets accepted into the graduate program at MIT, she can’t pass up the opportunity. Saying good-bye to her friends is bittersweet, especially since things are still raw and unsettled between Claire and her boyfriend, Shane. 

Her new life at MIT is scary and exciting, but Morganville is never really far from Claire’s mind. Enrolled in a special advanced study program with Professor Irene Anderson, a former Morganville native, Claire is able to work on her machine, which is designed to cancel the mental abilities of vampires. 

But when she begins testing her machine on live subjects, things quickly spiral out of control, and Claire starts to wonder whether leaving Morganville was the last mistake she’ll ever make..

So this one we get to see inside Oliver's head!  Not to sure how I feel about that one even after reading it!  These two books are just the OMG of this series!  From people turning to the dark side to their lives just turning upside down  These are two of the BEST BOOKS in this amazing series!

For both books!

› Visit Amazon's Rachel Caine Page

Biography

Rachel Caine is the #1 internationally bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the bestselling Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, and the new upcoming Revivalist series. She was born at White Sands Missile Range, which people who know her say explains a lot. She has been an accountant, a professional musician, and an insurance investigator, and until very recently continued to carry on a secret identity in the corporate world. She and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas.

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WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RACHECAINE
HTTP://RACHELCAINE.LIVEJOURNAL.COM

{Author Fest 2013} Amber Argyle @amberargyle

Welcome to the first day of the November Author Fest!  Today we have non other than Amber Argyle author of both the Witch Song Series and the new Fairy Queen Series.  Today she is here to talk about book one in the Fairy Queen Series Winter Queen!  Make sure to come back tomorrow while we chat it up with Amy Freeman! And dont forget to enter the Giveaway! 

For the first twelve years of my life, I lived in a two bedroom ranch house at the base of a mountain. Besides my parents, my family consisted of three brothers--the oldest of which enjoyed beating me up. Ironically, the younger two were terrible wimps. I rode horses, moved sprinkler pipe, and mucked out barns (when they could catch me). We didn't have a lot of money, and the part of the ranch we lived on was eventually repossessed by the bank. Subsequently, we had to move to town (I know. I should have written Westerns).

I graduated from Utah State University with a bachelors degree (English and physical education), a husband, and a two-year old. I was a member of the collegiate honor society and graduated cum laude (which basically means I'm an overachiever).

My second son had severe colic, often crying for 16 hours a day. By the time he was four months old, I was in a very dark place. I discovered that I could prop him up between my arms and type for brief periods of time. Creating stories quickly became a cathartic addiction I couldn't function without.

It took seven manuscripts and five very long years before my debut novel, Witch Song, came out.

I currently live in Northern Utah with my husband and three children. I exercise because I like to eat chocolate and fit in my jeans (often rotating between Zumba, running, and basketball). I have a thing for vintage inspired clothes and firmly believe that one can never have enough shoes or jewelry. Also, I can't fathom why people eat tootsie rolls.

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~Becoming a winter queen will make Ilyenna as cold and cruel and deadly as winter itself, but it might be the only way to save her people from a war they have no hope of winning.~

Mortally wounded during a raid, seventeen-year-old Ilyenna is healed by winter fairies who present her with a seductive offer: become one of them and share their power over winter. But that power comes with a price. If she accepts, she will become a force of nature, lose her humanity, and abandon her family.

Unwilling to pay such a high price, Ilyenna is enslaved by one of the invaders, Darrien. While in captivity, she learns the attack wasn’t just a simple raid but part of a larger plot to overthrow her entire nation. 

With the enemy stealing over the mountains and Darrien coming to take her to his bed, Ilyenna must decide whether to resurrect the power the fairies left behind. Doing so will allow her to defeat Darrien and the other invaders, but if she embraces winter, she will lose herself to that destroying power—forever.

Interview with Amber Argyle

Tell me about your book. How did you come up with that (story, angle, idea)?

Winter Queen came to me with this powerful image of a girl lying in the snow, her body turning blue with cold, snow slowly covering her in a blanket of white, a bright stain of crimson in her middle. 

It was as beautiful as it was disturbing. I had to tell this girl's story. Tell the story of how she came to this place. And what happened after, because of course, there had to be an after. 

What kind of research did you do for this book?

My character, Ilyenna, is a healer, so I had a ton of research on herbs and wounds. The book is high fantasy, so a lot of research went into the place my book's landscape is based off (Triglav National Park, Slovenia). I also researched clothing (ie, the footware people in extremely cold climates wore), weapons and fighting, drowning, distances traveled per day on foot, wagon, and horseback, etc.

What is the hardest part of writing for you?

Finding enough quite time to write. I have three children and all the work that comes with them.

What are you working on now?

Witch Fall, the final book in my Witch Song Trilogy.

 

GIVEAWAY
Now it is Giveaway time!  All you need to do is follow these instructions!

1. Enter the rafflecopter however you wish!  The more ways you enter the more entries you get.
2. Comment below with What q and a you cant wait for and dont forget to add the highlighted word!

Thats it!  Come back tomorrow for another entry and another secret word!

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Witch Song, Witch Born, and Winter Queen are such great books!  We get to see two entirely new worlds where magic rules and singing is power!  (Witch Song Series)

In Winter Queen we get even more action that just doesnt let up as we follow Ilyenna!  With wonderful descriptions to a book that just doesnt hold anything back!  

{Review} {Giveaway} The Morganville Vampire Series Vol. 6 @rachelcaine

Hey guys today marks the sixth  day of a 1 week review!  Each day I will post a review for two of the Morgainville Vampire books ending on Nov. 3rd with Daylighters coming out Nov. 5th!  During this you can enter to win one of two sets of the entire series. 1 is for the USA which will all be in PRINT and one is for INT which will be Ebook!  All you have to do is comment to win!  

So Follow, Like, and Share! Then comment with your email and what you did!  Ill choose two people at the end of this to win the goodies.  

PS. if you have any issues commenting just use the form in the side bar to comment 

and ill log it in the hat! 

With her boss preoccupied researching the Founder Houses in Morganville, student Claire Danvers is left to her own devices when she learns that three vampires have vanished without a trace. She soon discovers that the last person seen with one of the missing vampires is someone new to town-a mysterious individual named Magnus. After an uneasy encounter with Morganville's latest resident, Claire is certain Magnus isn't merely human. But is he a vampire-or something else entirely?

Ever since the draug—mysterious creatures that prey on vampires—took over Morganville, the lives of student Claire Danvers and her friends have been thrown into turmoil. Most of the town’s residents have evacuated, but Claire, Shane, Eve and Michael have chosen to stay and fight.Using the city’s water system to spread, the draug have rapidly multiplied. Things in Morganville look grim, especially since vampire Amelie—the town founder—has been infected by the master draug’s bite. 

Now, if Claire and her friends don’t figure out how to cure Amelie and defeat the draug, it looks like Morganville will become little more than a ghost town…

These two books took me a little longer to get through.  If you follow my Facebook page you know that I was really cutting it short with these date to post.  So I closed the door on my room and tied myself to the bed to read.  These are two books that should be in a bind up!  I would have died if I had to wait for them!!!!!!  Well with the introduction of a new character and creature.  I don't know how the gang is going to fair for the next three books!!!!  

In these we still have the muti POV which I LOVE!  However these were a little bit slower than the other books.  

For both books!

› Visit Amazon's Rachel Caine Page

Biography

Rachel Caine is the #1 internationally bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the bestselling Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, and the new upcoming Revivalist series. She was born at White Sands Missile Range, which people who know her say explains a lot. She has been an accountant, a professional musician, and an insurance investigator, and until very recently continued to carry on a secret identity in the corporate world. She and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas.

WWW.RACHELCAINE.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/RACHELCAINE
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RACHECAINE
HTTP://RACHELCAINE.LIVEJOURNAL.COM