Thursday, January 31, 2013

A-Z Challenge



Okay you guys, I'm going for it! One month of blogging from A - Z = total blog pandemonium. Every year I say I want to do it, but as you can see from my once a week blog posts that, blogging every day scares the baajeez out of me. I figured the best way to tackle this, is to pick a theme. It was a no brainer for me. I've been wanting to do a blog series on spooky and interesting places (Like for four years). The series was inspired by one of my very first blog posts, "spooky settings" (and it has became my most popular post).

I'm really excited about this challenge. I hope someone will be inspired to use one of the locations I'll be blogging about, in their story.

Go visit Alex J. Cavanaugh and sign up. Don't forget to add the code after your name to label what kind of blog you have *slams head on desk* Yeah, I forgot.

Who is doing the A-Z challenge? Come on, don't be shy. Let me know so I can follow along. If you are, what tips can you give us.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Cover Reveal for The Dragon Empire by Heather McCorkle

It's a pleasure to get to reveal the cover of Heather McCorkle's epic fantasy novel,  The Dragon Empire (February 2013, Compass Press)


So without further adieu, here it is!


On Yacrana, dragons stand at the top of the evolutionary ladder instead of humans. Such an advanced species is not without its issues though.

There's trouble in the Dragon Empire, the kind that could start a war between dragons and the races of people. Hidden factions of dragons believe they should rule the lesser races, not simply stand aside and allow them to develop as they will. Having lived so long in peace, the Emperors turn a blind eye, many oblivious that such attitudes even exist.

Despite being only an architect class, emerald dragon, Grendar is willing to risk banishment and death to stop that which his rulers refuse to see. The hope of peace lies not within the scaled breast of a dragon however, but within the hands of a group of people. But if the hidden factions have their way, these people won’t live to fulfill such a destiny. With a reluctant seer at his side, Grendar must leave his precious Empire for the outside world to save those that will one day save his kind. 


AUTHOR BIO
Heather McCorkle
I am an author of fantasy, in all its many sub-genres. Living green, saving endangered species, helping other writers, and supporting fabulous authors are a few of my passions. I am also a volunteer for the IS Foundation which works to make the world a greener place. When I'm not volunteering, writing, or surfing my social networking sites, I can be found on the slopes, the hiking trails, or on horseback. As a native Oregonian, I enjoy the outdoors almost as much as the worlds I create on the pages. No need to travel to the Great Northwest though, you can find me here, on my blog, and Monday night's on Twitter where I co-moderate the #WritersRoad chat.

Cover designed by CP Design

Great cover Heather! Good luck to you.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

It's a Launch Party for The Mist On Bronte Moor

I'm very excited for my fellow WiDo author Aviva Orr, and her book The Mist On Bronte Moor. Let's send her book into the world with style today. I'm passing around the hors d' oeuvres and some sparkling soda.


When fifteen-year-old Heather Jane Bell is diagnosed with alopecia and her hair starts falling out in clumps, she wants nothing more than to escape her home in London and disappear off the face of the earth.
Heather gets her wish when her concerned parents send her to stay with a great-aunt in West Yorkshire. But shortly after she arrives, Heather becomes lost on the moors and is swept through the mist back to the year 1833. There she encounters fifteen-year-old Emily Bronte and is given refuge in the Bronte Parsonage.
Unaware of her host family’s genius and future fame, Heather struggles to cope with alopecia amongst strangers in a world foreign to her. While Heather finds comfort and strength in her growing friendship with Emily and in the embrace of the close-knit Bronte family, her emotions are stretched to the limit when she falls for Emily’s brilliant but troubled brother, Branwell.
Will Heather find her way back to the comforts and conveniences of the twenty-first century? Or will destiny keep her in the harsh world of nineteenth-century Haworth?

    
Aviva's website Click here.
Buy it on Amazon Click here
Add it to Goodreads Click here

Monday, January 7, 2013

ARC Giveaway of Deadly Kisses

If you are interested in an ARC of Deadly Kisses head on over to my good friend Crystal Collier's blog to sign up. The Giveaway will run for two weeks. 




And if you haven't seen the cover. Here it is. I hope you like it as much as I do.



Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Owning the New Year!




Happy New Year, friends!

Every January first I write a post—usually how I detest resolutions. I’m a believer that we make our own destiny instead of making resolutions that most likely won’t be fulfilled. So, no resolutions. Only reflections.

2012 was an interesting year for me. I spent the majority of my time writing book two of the Deadly Kisses series, while doing edits on book one. I had no clue how hard it would be to an author. It’s more than just sunshine and rainbows. It’s a lot of time, sweat, and sometimes tears. Since most of my followers are other writers, I’m sure you can relate. As to my family, well, I have to laugh. When I first told them my book was being published, they wanted to go to the bookstore that day to buy it. So I explained the publishing process, and that it took about a year, if not more before they could buy it. Every month, after that first time I explained it, they asked, “why is it taking so long. I want to buy it.” So again I explained the process. Yeah, after the millionth time, I gave up and stopped talking about my book.

Suffice to say at the family Christmas party last month, I had a horde of Italians tackling me at the door asking when they could buy Deadly Kisses, but this time I could tell them. Yes, you can pre-order it and it will be released on March 5th! I even gave my grandma a picture of the cover so she could remember the name of it. Bless their hearts. My family rocks!

More 2012 reflections.

What I was doing last year for time management wasn't working, and I had a hard time multi-tasking which ended up with me hardly blogging. This year I’m going to multi-task more efficiently, so I don’t lose touch with my blogger friends. 2012 was a toss up—feed the kids or blog. I couldn't starve the kids.

2012 was also the year my farm fell apart. I lost most of my herd of goats, and decided I couldn't breed them anymore due to my broken heart. I’m still in the process of selling off my herd. It takes some rough skin to be a farmer, and I don’t have it in me anymore. Everyone support your local farm, they deserve the profits more than the supermarket.

 But a new year is upon us, and a chance for another beginning because the Mayans were wrong and the world did not end in a fiery doom, a zombie apocalypse, or meatballs raining from the sky.

My motto for 2013 is I’m going to own the year!

Yup, sure am. 

Who wants to own 2013 with me? I’ll raise my glass to that.