Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Meet Peri June




1- How long have you been writing and what made you start?

I have always jotted down ideas whenever they came along, but I'd never followed through with them. A couple of years ago I had the idea for my first book and I didn't want to forget any details, so I simply started writing and before I knew it, I had an actual novel on my hands!

2- Did the story happen organically or did you know the plot beforehand?

I had all the basic plot points already prepared, but the little details of the story came as I was writing. One character that was supposed to be only mentioned in passing became my favorite supporting character, so that was a nice surprise.

3- What are the biggest hurdles for indies and how have you overcome them?

Getting the word out about my book is the biggest hurdle for me; asking people to review it is just so scary. As for how I overcome it, just by having patience and amazing support from author groups on Goodreads.

4- Where and how do you write?

I like to write at night in my living room when the whole world is asleep (ha!). I outline the story by hand and then I type it out in all its details on my laptop.

5- How do your friends and family feel about your writing? Are they supportive?

They are immensely supportive and very excited for me. They're all happy that I finally published the book instead of just talking about maybe taking that step sometime in the future.

6- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Hopefully I would have a couple more books out, and they are being well received.

7- Who is your favorite writer and what books have made an impact on your life?

This is always a tricky question for me to answer; it's impossible for me to name just one. Lol. But I will say that two of the very first authors I've read when I was in college were Judith McNaught and Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I love how they craft their stories and their sense of humor. If I could have a tenth of their talent someday I would be a very happy girl.

8- Biggest mistake as an indie?

Inundating people with requests to read your book; you have to take it nice and slow and let them get to know you first.

9- What are you working on now?

I just finished outlining a story set in college and, like its predecessor, it has some darkness to it. Turns out I like me some darkness. (There maybe something wrong with me. Lol).

10- What is your takeaway from becoming an indie?

Independent authors work a lot harder than I had previously thought. All the respect I had for them has increased tenfold since I published my book. It's still surreal for me to be known as an "author", but each and every one of them has been very welcoming to the newcomer in their midst. Love to everybody!

Thank you so much.






Sunday, February 26, 2017

Take the time to try a new something you've never read before

Reading is all about personal tastes and choices, which means reviews are totally subjective. Many books and authors careers are made or destroyed based upon opinions made by reviewers.
Personally, I never noticed reviews until I started writing and needed them to market my own books. Reviews do sway people to purchase a book. The more reviews on a page, more more apt people are to take a chance, even if there are some low rankings in the group.
I buy a book based upon my personal interest. I read it and keep the book in my library if I loved it. I give it away if I didn't in the hope that it will strike a chord for another reader.
It never occurred to me that anyone would value my opinion.
Knowing the sting of a negative review, I won't leave one if I actively disliked the book. True, I haven't enjoyed everything I've read, I still feel a responsibility to anyone who reads my review to evaluate a book fairly. Just because I didn't enjoy a book doesn't mean someone else might find something they loved. I would hate to be the reason they chose not to try a book that may bring them pleasure.
I start by telling a few highlights about the plot and characters without giving any spoilers away. I try to describe what I did like about the book, and if it warrants it, mention the parts that didn't suite my taste. I want to add that does not make a book good or bad. There are no bad books. There may be poorly edited books and while that's annoying and may end up being a deal breaker for some readers, for me, not so much. In extreme cases, I've written authors and suggested they send it in for another round of editing, so I can leave a review in good conscience.
I have read best sellers that leave me puzzled by their rampant success, the succession of books that follow in a series that I found unreadable, yet other liked it. I have read books skewered by mean-spirited trolls with no regard to the author who poured their deepest, most soul-wrenching feelings. The selfish joy they get mocking the author, swaying readers to steer clear,without regard they could be destroying someone's chance at making a living.
No doubt, honesty is important, so is grace, humility, and constructive criticism. While I personally have no problem with a negative review, I think they are not a place to air grievances about politics or personal agendas. A reviewer doesn't have to trash a book if you don't agree with the authors point of view.
The truth is that a book will sell better if it has substantial amounts of reviews. As I said before, it doesn't matter if there are a few negative ones in there, most people will evaluate and invest based on what the majority is saying.
My point is, there are a lot of indie choices out there. There are a variety of new and exciting genres that traditional publishers won't take a chance on. There is opportunity to discover something great and leave a review that will encourage others to read it as well. This website is about exposure. Here all indies are equal. We are giving you a smorgasbord of new voices and raw talent, some better than others, but all with the intent to entertain you. Take the time to try a new something you've never read before and remember, your review is the fuel to send some writer's rocket into the stars.


Carole P. Roman

Friday, February 24, 2017

FORBES FEATURE: BLS Limousine Company Co-Founder Reinvents Herself In Her Sixties As Indie Author




“Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction.”~Germany Kent
Carole P. Roman started out as a teacher. Then she helped her husband start and grow a multi-million dollar company. Then she became a mother.
To say she is in her second act would be an understatement. Roman has had many acts in her 62 years, and as they say, the show must go on. Now with more than 35 children's books to her credit, 100-plus book awards, her own radio tour, 3,000 online reviews and some 15,000 likes and followers on social media, the Amazon indie-published author and top book reviewer has reinvented herself again.

Read the complete article In FORBES HERE!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Meet Kay MacLeod. Author Interview



1- How did the writing bug bite you? How long are you writing?
I’ve always loved reading and I think that there’s something inside every reader that wishes they could write a book of their own. Even in primary school I was inventing characters and worlds, then I moved on to drawing them and making family trees or timelines.
In my teens, I had my first taste of sharing my creations, a load of my friends and I started playing Dungeons and Dragons (the pen and paper kind with no computers!) and I fell in love with the role of Dungeon Master right away. I was the one that came up with the stories and built the world, and people enjoyed what I was doing. I think this was the first step in me believing that my ideas were interesting and shareable.
It still took me a good number of years to get around to writing anything, even though I had more plans than ever. The final push came when I was in church one day and the speaker was talking about passion, she said we should do something with what we have inside of us, no matter what it is. It takes me time to make decisions but once I have my mind set on something, I go for it- ten months after hearing this I had the first draft of Heirs of Power completed and never looked back!
I started writing around the end of 2014 and I don’t think I can ever stop, some days not even for food or sleep.
2- How long did it take to create your fantasy world? Did it morph into a land all at once, or did it grow as your book developed?
I purposely spent a month before I even began writing just to plan, this included working on my characters and plot as well though. In a fantasy world, anything can happen but it still has to feel realistic inside itself, I like to work out things like how populations support themselves and how people get around, adding little snippets within the context of the plot make the world come alive to readers too. And I try to give each settlement its own feel so they don’t get mixed up in reader’s minds.
The world that The Constellation Saga is set in isn’t wildly different from ours so it didn’t take me as long as some other projects will that I have lined up, one of the main things is designing the landscape so you know what is where and how long it takes to get there- I have many badly-drawn maps laying around, but it works for me!
Everything came together pretty easily from the start but I’m always happy to add to my stories and settings if I come up with other ideas as I go.
3- Do you write full-time or do you have another career?
I have another job, I haven’t been writing long enough to support myself full-time with it yet but I’m aiming to get there. I’ve never had a job that I would really call ‘a career’ because I couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do, now I’ve finally found my calling!
4- Who are your favorite authors? Favorite books? Did they influence your style?
This is always such a hard question! There are so many great books out there. I’ll leave out the big authors you’ve all heard of and mention a couple I adore that are not so well-known.
The Matthew Swift books by Kate Griffin are a fantastic urban fantasy series that really hooked me, they aren’t like anything else I’ve ever read. The magic system is so imaginative and the point of view character is…more than just himself, I won’t spoil it for you ;)
Another series I love is Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shadows of the Apt, it’s ten books long and keeps you gripped to the end. The characters are all well-rounded and realistic people, anything can happen (don’t hold onto your favourite characters too tightly) and there are so many cool powers- literally everyone has them, it’s awesome.
I don’t know if any other authors have influenced how I write but I know that the books I enjoy most are the ones with unpredictable storylines and characters that have strengths and weaknesses and quirks. I guess I like a story to feel real, rather than engineered with perfect protagonists and baddies that are evil ‘just because’. Well, real but with magic, of course. The things I’ve read have helped me to know what I do and don’t want from a novel, so they influence me that way.
5- How do you research a fantasy world?
By spending a lot of time there! I have a forty-minute walk to work so I have a good opportunity to hang out with my characters and do some world crafting. Because it is a fantasy world I don’t stick too closely to historical accuracy or worry about little details like if a certain fabric or terminology was used during that time period, it’s not Earth so there’s bound to be differences and if I want bunny slippers in a medieval-ish world, I’ll have them!
I do aim to make the settings believable and I do that by thinking about the wider picture instead of the point where the action is happening. Some novels can leave you with the feeling that the place you are in was made just for the plot, but I like to design an area that works for the people that you never meet but who spend their whole lives there, and then fit my story into it.
6- What are you working on now?
I’m about three-quarters of the way through the second book of The Constellation Saga, The Mage-Lord’s Legacy. I’m really enjoying writing this series and I just can’t wait to get it out there!
7- Where do you see your career in five years?
This series will be finished, I’m planning for it to be four books long. And I should have a book or two of my next one done by then too. I’m hoping that after I have a full series out I’ll be earning enough to be able to drop a few hours at my full-time job so I have more time for writing and I’ll be able to publish more frequently.
8- If you could tell your middle-school self something- what would it be?
One day you will be an author. When you say that’s what you want to do and people laugh or tell you it isn’t a proper career, just do it anyway. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see results and even the little first steps will feel more incredible than you’ve ever dreamed.
9- What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Write. Don’t aspire to write, don’t wait or make excuses. Sure, you may not be great when you start but, like anything, it’s a learning process- so get practicing! Think about your favourite books and how they made you feel… you get to do that for someone else, how amazing is that?
10- What has been the biggest challenge in writing?
In actually writing, I have a pretty good flow with plot, characters or dialogue, then I get to what I call ‘a middle bit’- a place between two interesting things that I definitely know what I’m doing in, and I just can’t link them! It drives me crazy. It usually doesn’t need that much to shift it forward but I spend so much unnecessary time trying to figure it out, any advice would be helpful!
There are plenty of much bigger challenges outside of writing though, finishing the book is the easy bit, there’s still redrafting, editing, marketing, cover design and loads of other things to do. It’s all made easier with the help of other people though, I’d definitely recommend getting alongside some other authors and having some kind of support network. Come and have a chat with me sometime!

Bio-
Confession time, I’m a fantasy addict! For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved the concept of magical worlds. I was the kid with dragons doodled around the edge of her school work, the one with her head constantly buried in a book. As a teen, I shunned partying to play Magic the Gathering and DM Dungeons and Dragons games.
Through the years, I’ve always made up stories and took characters on amazing adventures, in the privacy of my own mind. Now I want to share them with other people.
I live with my husband and cat in Nottinghamshire in England. When I’m not writing (or planning something I’m writing) I’m usually working, reading, playing bass for my church’s worship team, playing computer games (World of Warcraft, Dragon Age, Pokemon, Minecraft) or drinking tea.
Mmm, time to put the kettle on…





You Can Find Here Here:
Website- http://kaymacleodbooks.com/
Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15975307.Kay_MacLeod
Amazon US- https://www.amazon.com/Kay-MacLeod/e/B01MDSNQ0A/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Amazon UK- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kay-MacLeod/e/B01MDSNQ0A/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1486248511&sr=8-1
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/KayMacLeodFantasy/

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Poetry, in its simplest form, is love expressed.



Today is Valentine’s Day and Carole has generously offered us a spot on her blog to come and share our book, Poetry of Love: The Engagement Year. It’s a collection of love poems MR N wrote to MRS N during our engagement.

MR N worked eighteen hours a day as a chef for a downtown restaurant while MRS N tried her best to acclimate to a new city, job and being engaged. We barely saw each other, except when we slept. Every day, MR N wrote MRS N a poem. These poems brought us closer as a couple as well as documenting our love for each other. Insecurities, budgets, wedding prep, families, desire are all part of our love journey. This book is a testament of unconditional love and growing as a couple.

On today, Valentine’s Day, we’re giving our poetry book away for free (February 13-15)! Love and romance is only a click away.



Title: Poetry of Love: The Engagement Year

Author: N. N. Light

Genre: Poetry, Love Poetry

Book Blurb:
Amazon Best-Seller and Hot New Release

I had been searching for love my whole life. It took the opening up of the world via technology for me to find my soulmate. Once I laid eyes on her, at the arrivals gate, I knew I was never going to let her go. The following is a collection of poems I wrote to my angel, from our first meeting up until our wedding day. I was working crazy hours as a chef and I had a long commute. I chose my commuting time to pen her a poem each day. These poems speak of our life, our challenges and our growth together...in every aspect they speak of our love.

May this book give someone the courage to let their special someone know how much they care for them and how much they mean to them. Saying I love you is a gift you can give many times a day.

Excerpt:
When Souls Unite

Two become one
When souls unite
The connection is pure
Such beautiful delight.

The warmth
The expression
Of total devoted love
Proves to us both
That the Lord is above.

It was God’s plan
That two become one
The perfection of two
Is how God wanted it done.


Buy Links:
Available at Amazon FREE February 13 -15:




Author Biography: N. N. Light is the best-selling husband-wife writing team, commonly known as Mr. N and Mrs. N. Mrs. N. has been creating stories ever since she was little. Her grandfather remembers when she was two years old, she would stand at the top of the stairs and tell him a story filled with emotion (and in a language foreign to him) with her hands on her hips. Let’s just say she was a born storyteller.

They’re blissfully happy and love all things chocolate, books, music, movies, art, sports, trains, history, cooking and baking. Their mantra is to spread the Light.

Most of the time you can find them on Twitter or getting new ideas on how to spread the Light on Pinterest. They’re a proud member of ASMSG and Independent Author Network.

In addition to being authors, they’re also book promoters/reviewers, social media marketers/influencers and the owners of N. N. Light Author Promotions. They both love books, have ever since they were young. Matching up books and readers is something that gives them great pleasure.

They’d love to connect with you either via email or via these various social media sites:
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/nnlight   


Monday, February 13, 2017

When You Don't Get Diamonds A Book Is The Next Best Thing

Here are a few of my Valentine's Day Picks.


Monster Love


C.L. Lynch
Stella is larger than life. No, really she larger than anyone in school. Loud and proud she takes no prisoners when teased about her Junoesque proportions. A family move to the other side of Canada leaves her angry and hurt with her parents' disruption of her life.She has to start all over, making new friends which does not come easy. Smart and sassy, her brains are often overlooked by her generous size, that is until she meets Howard. Howard is that weird kid in the corner shunned by the entire school. Howard is different and in his oddness, he is able to see the beauty of Stella's most important asset, her brains.
Delightfully funny, wickedly sharp Chemistry will tickle your fancy. CL Lynch has a way with words that will make you smile at the right time and perhaps even tear up with the unconventional romance that blooms between two people society has thrown away.


I voluntarily read this book in one night because I couldn't put it down.




Bromance


Authors
William Shatner  David Fisher

Friendships like marriages have a heartbeat. There are irregular pulses, blimps, that interrupt the steady pattern of a heart. Shatner and Nimoy were joined at the heart, working together over the years, finding a brotherhood born from understanding each other rather from family ties. This was a tender book, a memorial for life-long friendships of two very different men. Shatner is able to recount Nimoy's early life, his struggles to make a living the insecurities only a fellow actor could understand, filling in the opaque outline of Nimoy's personality. He tells stories of how they began, professional but territorial for the right to top billing. The petty hurts and rivalries that gave way to respect and admiration. The ups and downs leveled out to a tight friendship creating the mother of all bromances that was able to be translated to the larger screen.Star Trek opened new vistas and all kinds of exciting probabilities for us. Star Trek ignited my ten year old imagination when it premiered. It is perhaps, the only program that fills me with nostalgia. The crew, the characters as dear to me as my own family. Shatner recounting of those years held the same effect as a family reunion for me. He manages to paint a lively picture without maudlin sentimentality. It's a window to Hollywood in the sixties and seventies, a glimpse into the life of two working actors and the challenges they faced. Just as you can't judge a book by its cover, you can't measure a relationship on a day or an incident. Nimoy and Shatner's lives tangled as vines do, as they rooted, their characters developed, each supporting and depending on the other, growing stronger, ensuring they both reached the stars together. A lovely book.

Historical Love





Really interesting and well written story about young Margaret Beaufort and her first and second marriages; the first when she was six and quickly annulled, the second to the king's brother, Edmund Tudor. Arnopp develops her characters with realism and depth, and the historical novel depicts their power marriage and the budding relationship between the two.
Margaret is a serious girl who understands her weighty position in regard to the English throne, as well as the responsibly of being a wife. She is married to Henry IV brother in the hope to provide a spare heir should the King's marriage turn out to be unfruitful. In order to gain her enormous inheritance, Edmund needs an heir, and although Margaret is little more than a child, he goes against conventions of the day and they conceive.
Arnop takes two reluctant lovers and builds a slow romance. While the first part devoted to her youth felt hurried and superficial, she more than made up for it with the latter part. Margaret's arc of growing from child to wife was tender, her relationship with Edmund just as sweet. Edmund's change from taciturn spouse to tenderhearted husband was equally endearing. Then reality intrudes and Margaret must face harsh situations, Edmund's premature death and the brutal birth of her son. Arnop captures the flavor of the times, making historical figures come to life and giving us a rare walk in their shoes. Can't wait for the next one.
Unexpected Love

I really enjoyed this book. Anna and her charge TJ are the sole survivors of a plane crash. They wash up on a deserted island and carve out a life for themselves. A sweet romance develops, and oddly their age difference didn't bother me one bit. Told in alternating points of view, the voices feel real, TJ's young voice delightfully enamored with his beautiful teacher. When all of the conditions of society are ripped away, leaving raw survival, things that separate people, cease to exist.When they return to society, Anna must decide whether she loves TJ enough to let him have the life she thinks he might miss and is afraid that if he stays with her, he will be cheated from those experiences. They learn that age is just a number, and the need for human contact overrides preconceptions and prejudices. This is a book about survival, and our need for love and companionship. It's also a book about sacrifice, and what we are willing to do for the ones we love.


Sisterly Love

Liane Moria

Three Wishes is a terrific story about a pivotal year in the life of three feisty siblings who happen to be triplets. Each has a distinct personality and the story uses flashbacks and their relationships to describe how they developed into adulthood. Identical twins Lyn and Cat are seemingly opposites in personality. Lyn is a perfectionist, hard driven to always do the right thing. Hot tempered and snarky Cat does what she pleases without thought to consequence, and Gemma, the fraternal sibling, floats through life trying to keep everybody happy. Their lives are entwined because of their closeness as siblings, and when a series of events unfold, their worlds spark and collide with anger, humor, and tenderness.

I loved this books and found myself enjoying the antics of the three madcap sisters. At times, laugh out loud funny, the story equally tugged my heartstrings. All three sisters find their lives upended and must dig deep to find the honesty of their existence. Each is faced with examining the direction of their life and the soul-searing examination if they stayed true to their dreams. Moriarty is an entertaining storyteller, who really knows and loved her characters. I will admit that I love them too, and was sorry to see the book end.

Star-crossed Love



The Fault in Our Stars is the memorable and moving story about a group of teens in a cancer discussion group and their valiant goal to leave a mark in this earth. Hazel's father tells her "I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I believe the universe is improbably biased towards consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed." Simply put, this is a book about the meaning and purpose of life, it is about the impact of our existence, our footprint in time. When Dick Clark of American Bandstand spoke about death, he said he wanted to live as long as he was relevant. This book is about the teens staring death in the face, knowing of its impending arrival and the question of what was it all for. Both Hazel and Augustus suffer from some form of cancer, they have been robbed a joyous childhood, fun and games replaced by painful treatments and operations. Their lives revolve around the hard work of staying alive and the constant cheerleading from heart broken parents. They are bright, cynical, and understand each other. They fall in love and I don't want to say more, but the depth of their passion, the deep communion of their hearts made the characters come alive. This was a great book. I was not fond of the beginning,but Augustus tenacity won me over and the reader will fall in love with Gus's loyalty and companionship as deeply as Hazel. The ageless yearning of the characters made me forget that they were teens.
Hazel wishes for "a little infinity", the time to savor her budding love with Augustus, knowing instinctively it will end too soon. The dehumanizing treatments strip the patients of their humanity, healthy people distancing from them, remembering only the person who existed before the treatments changed them. Together, Hazel and Augustus carve out a pocket of time to discover the sweet perfection of loving a person so much life seems meaningless with out them. Augustus complained, " I always thought my obituary would be in all the newspapers, that I'd have a story worth telling. I always had this suspicion that I was special." The Fault in Our Stars gives a face to the victims of cancer. The story so insightful, the characters moving, yet without pity. This book reminds us that we are all here for a reason, no matter how much time we have, or what we accomplish, rich or poor, successful or not, that a rut in the road of life has been created with a lasting impression that will be there forever.

 Timeless love



The Girl you Left Behind


Jojo Moynes 


Jojo Moyes has done it again with a wonderful love story. It's about loving too much, and the heartbreak of uncertainly, the grief of loss, the timelessness of honor. The book is about Sophie and her first and only love, her husband Edward, a promising artist. Theirs is an all consuming love, interrupted by war. Sophie is the caretaker of her family, and the village as well. She ends up being the unwanted recipient of an occupying officer's attention. When he demands her honor as the only way to help her husband, she sacrifice's everything to secure his safety, risking her husband's love and respect as well. The story stops when she is in dire straights and fast forwards to the present where a widow, consumed with grief for her husband must return a sentimental gift from him, a painting of Sophie that may or may not be stolen. Their lives connected by the thread of lost art, it being the catalyst for saving an old love or finding a new one. This is a terrific book about the timelessness of love, the deep well that some are lucky enough to fall into and find that one person that they'd be willing to risk it all for. It's the story of bravery, sacrifice, and honor. Some things are more important that money, pride, or social prominence.