Introducing the next Lords of Shifters Novel - Dark Horse

Writing. It's one of the most difficult jobs I've ever had. It doesn't come easy to me like it does so many other writers. You know, the awesome authors who can put out several books a year. Difficulty is one reason I love it so much. It's a challenge. Sometimes a downright battle, but it's so worth it. The satisfaction of creating a story that touches a heart or makes someone think or entertains for a short while makes all that hard work seem like no big deal.

That said, I'd like to introduce you to my new work in progress. I'm giving you the title, the lead characters, the blurb, and the cover (created by my favorite cover artist, Robin Ludwig Design). You'll have to wait until late summer / early fall for the book.


Say hello to Amethea and Cerus.

Dark Horse - A Lords of Shifters Novel

by Angela Carlie

Amethea thought she was the last of her kind, a creature from mythical stories, from light, peace, and magic. But, Amethea isn't a myth, and she doesn't hold any peace in her heart. She watched as her family was murdered for the magic of their horns. She'd give anything to avenge their deaths. She just hasn't figured out how yet.


When she meets another, Cerus, everything changes.


Together, they harness more power than Amethea ever dreamed. But is it enough to take down the Lords of Shifters?

 

FALL, 2012

And now, Amethea has a few words before I let you go...

I am Amethea--the last of the unicorns. The only living daughter of Grane and Epona. My family was slaughtered before my eyes for their magic. Xifan saved me and raised me in the dark underworld of Hornbrood where I learned to use some of my magic in ways to inflict harm on those who must suffer for their sins. I made a vow to avenge my family, and I will keep my promise. No matter the cost. Even if it kills me.

Introducing DRIVEN by Lisa Nowak

The last thing on 16-year-old Jess DeLand’s wish list is a boyfriend. She’d have to be crazy to think any guy would look twice at her. Besides, there are more important things to hope for, like a job working on cars and an end to her mom’s drinking. Foster care is a constant threat, and Jess is willing to sacrifice anything to stay out of the system. When luck hands her the chance to work on a race car, she finds herself rushing full throttle into a world of opportunities—including a boy who doesn’t mind the grease under her fingernails. The question is, can a girl who keeps herself locked up tighter than Richard Petty’s racing secrets open up enough to risk friendship and her first romance?

~~~~~~~~~~

“The first romance is captured beautifully—just the right combination of natural and awkward, of eager and scared.”

~ Bob Martin, writing professor, Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Buy it on Amazon
• Buy it on Barnes and Noble
• Buy it on Smashwords

~~~~~~~~~~

In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and stout beer and constantly works toward employing wei wu wei in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an oxymoron. Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she’d use it to tend to her expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four feline companions, and two giant sequoias.

• Lisa's blog
• Follow Lisa on Twitter
• Like Lisa's Facebook page
• Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter for upcoming releases

Introducing The Indelibles

THIS HOP IS NOW OVER. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED! I'll email the winner of my giveaway this weekend.

Welcome to The Indelibles Blog Hop!

In celebration of our official launch, we are giving away a KINDLE FIRE! If you’d like to start at the beginning of the INDELIBLES ON FIRE GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP, then please start here: http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/

If you are already mid-hop, then welcome to your next stop! By following the link at the bottom of this post, you can proceed to the next author (and check out the awesome, individual giveaways we are doing along the way!). If you are entering to win the KINDLE FIRE, don’t forget to make a note of the keyword at the end of every blog post - the words spell out a phrase you will need to enter the contest on the last stop.

Who are we?  Marketing guru Shelli Johannes Wells has teamed up with twenty-four other indie and small press authors to bring you the Indelibles.

“We are indie authors who write middle grade and young adult fiction.

We are dedicated to leaving a permanent mark on the world with our stories and words.

We are The Indelibles.”

Each week, we’ll explore fun, fabulous, and fierce topics for today’s teens, drawing on pop culture and themes from the books we write. Check out our official launch on Monday, January 9th, for fun giveaways at http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/. We’ll also be having a “blogger” chat on January 11th and a writer/author chat on the 18th to answer questions about self and indie pubbing. See our blog for details.

  *The hop begins at 12:01 AM EST on Monday, January 9th and ends 12:01 AM EST Thursday, January 12th.

 ________________________________

This is the part I introduce myself. My name is Angela Carlie. I write fiction about young people. Hanging out with my almost thirteen-year-old son and my forever thirty-year-old (ha!) husband, reading, hiking, kayaking, and traveling are some of the other activities I enjoy most.

  We can hangout together too! Just follow my blog, or join me on Facebook.

I'm giving away two of my ebooks this week: Loramendi's Story -- A Lords of Shifters Novel and Dream Smashers. To find out more about these books, click on the titles. If you'd like a copy of either of these books, please comment below. Tell me which book you are interested in and leave your email so I may contact you if you win. I'll enter your name in a drawing and announce the winner on Saturday, January 14th. 

This blog will self-destruct on Thursday, January 12th, at no particular time.

The keyword for the stop on this hop is: WORLD

Continue the hop and visit the next Indelible author here: Melanie McCullough

 Good luck! :) 

 

 THIS HOP IS NOW OVER. THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED! I'll email the winner of my giveaway this weekend.

Now Available and Heebie-Jeebies

To be extra sure that Loramendi's Story shows up on August 7th, I decided to hit the publish button today. Sometimes it can take a couple days and sometimes, like today, a few hours to become available. Barnes and Noble is still thinking about it while Amazon is already complete. Here's the link!

If you have a Kindle, you can now purchase Loramendi's Story for only .99 cents! Since this is the first book in the series (Lords of Shifters), I'm keeping the price low. It hurts, but I'm hoping it will help gain new readers.

I've been doing a lot of research into spiders lately for my next novel. They totally creep me out, but the research must be done. So, after spending a few hours reading and looking at pictures of the eight legged creatures, I crashed in the recliner for some much needed time with my Kindle.

My big pooch, Cookie, fell asleep at my feet.

Out of nowhere, a ginormous hairy spider scurried across the floor, straight toward Cookie. I pushed her head so she would stand, but she was out and didn't budge. The spider bolted straight for her cute pooch nose. I pulled her heavy face up to save her from the spider attack. She finally woke and helped me out by standing.

The spider stopped.

I maneuvered my Kindle toward the spider to capture it and then I brushed it off into the front yard.

Afterward, I danced around to make sure it wasn't crawling on me even though I clearly saw it scurry off in the other direction.

Whew.

I pretty much saved my dog's life. I'm a hero.

Have a great night. I hope you enjoy Loramendi's Story!

Sample Sunday -- Loramendi's Story

I'm so excited to be able to participate in Sample Sunday with a new novel. Today, for the first time ever, I give you a glimpse of my upcoming YA Paranormal novel, Loramendi's Story -- A Lords of Shifters Novel.

Enjoy and check it out here.

Loramendi's Story - A Lords of Shifters Novel

It's time to tell you about my next novel. LORAMENDI'S STORY is the first book in the Lords of Shifters novels. It will be out this August. I'll announce some awesome opportunities on how peeps can get their paws on an e-Arc soon! For now, just check it out and enjoy.

 

Lora wants nothing more than to be the wind behind sexy windsurfer Chance's sails. But fulfilling that wish just became...complicated. After seventeen years of normal life, someone wants Lora and her family dead. And the attempted massacre isn't nearly as strange as the reason behind it. 

Available on an eReader near you in August, 2011.

(Someday) Famous YA Author -- Stacey Wallace Benefiel

Last month I read GLIMPSE, a super-cool YA novel by Stacey Wallace Benefiel--the first novel in the Zellie Wells Trilogy. A definite great read. Today, we have Stacey on the blog to participate in the (Someday) Famous YA Author series. Yay us!

Here we go--Q and A style!

Question: I loved reading "Glimpse" and I'm just about ready to read the second book in the Zellie Wells Trilogy "Glimmer." I better hurry because book three will be out this summer. How exciting! Tell us a little about the series and what inspired you to write it.

Answer:  The Zellie Wells Trilogy is about a pastor's daughter with psychic powers. That's the core of it. My sister and the show Roswell are what inspired me to write Glimpse. We were both big Roswell fans and when the show ended, my sister encouraged me to try to write something like it. I didn't want to write about aliens and I was afraid of messing up the lore of vampires or faeries or anything like that. So, I made up my own powers and applied them to a girl who was very much how I was when I was young.

Question: Zellie comes from a Christian family and goes to church. Have you had much criticism for bringing religion into the stories?

Answer:  I grew up in a religious household and went to church three times a week. Many of my friends went to my church and it was a large part of my social life. What I wanted to convey in the books was that someone, even a pastor's daughter, could both be a regular teenager and a Christian. And then I threw in some powers that seriously messed with both of those sides of Zellie. I haven't had any criticism for bringing religion into the stories. Most of the criticism I get is about the sexuality in the books and I think this is moreso because Zellie is a pastor's daughter. Again, my aim is to make her a regular, well-rounded teenager and it's been my experience that crushing on boys in Youth Group is just the same as crushing on a boy in your English class.

Question:  What are your plans after Zellie's story is finished? Will you continue writing YA?

Answer:  I actually never set out to write YA. When I wrote the first draft of Glimpse in 2005, I didn't really know what YA was. Glimpse started out as a Family Saga, but through many editing suggestions from prospective agents and publisher's, it became YA. I think a better term for what I write is Crossover. My books are for older teens and beyond. I do have more plans to write within the Zellie world - Ben, a character introduced in Glimmer is getting his own spin-off. I don't, however, know if I will write what other people consider to be YA. I think I maybe broke a few too many YA rules. :)

Question:  How long have you lived in the Pacific NW and what do you love best about living here?

Answer:  I moved to the Pacific NW in 1993 to attend U of O in Eugene. I lived there for four years and then moved up to Portland for a little less than a year. I did a four year stint in Los Angeles and then moved back up to the Portland area in 2002. I love a lot of things about living here. I like rain. No. I really do. I'm one of those people that gets sunburnt from being outside for five minutes. I love being able to go to the beach, the mountains, the desert or the city all within less than a day's drive. What I enjoy most about the Pacific NW is that I feel like I belong here more than I ever felt like I belonged in Missouri. I was a weirdo in Missouri. Here, I'm pretty normal. :)

I interrupt this wonderful Q and A dialogue (are you surprised?) to say that OMG! I ♥ this answer! Rain is AWESOME and I'm so happy we have the same outlook on this subject. As many know, I love similarities and we are totally similar now! The Pacific NW Rocks. There is no such thing as weird here. Have you watched Portlandia? Exactly. Okay, I'm done. Back to the Q and A. 

Question:  Why is your house orange on purpose if your favorite color is green?

Answer: An excellent question with an easy answer. Our neighbors painted their house green about two weeks before we were going to paint ours. Orange is my second favorite color. Now, the neighbors house is painted this weird eggplant brown color and totally clashes with ours. The orange paint job still looks good, though, and it was really hard work painting a whole house, so it's gonna have to clash for a few more years.

Thanks for the interview! Fun questions! 

ORANGE and GREEN are totally cool. You should invite me over and we can paint green and orange rainbows on the sidewalks. :) I'm going to crack open my Kindle to read Glimmer now to find out more about this Ben character. Is he that one guy who did that one thing during that one part in Glimpse? Do we ever get to see that guy again?

Thank you, Stacey, for participating in the interview. And thank you, the readers, for checking us out.

For links to Stacey's Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook and to purchase her books, please visit her website: http://staceywallacebenefiel.com/

Who is Evan Laverne?

Evan Laverne isn't the average guy seen in most YA Romance novels these days. He's not the dark and mysterious teen heart throb that every girl salivates over. He doesn't skip class or belong to a rock band or have a super-fast car. He's not a loner or a drinker or a jock. No, Evan doesn't belong to a gang, he doesn't sparkle, nor does he smell like a cute fuzzy wolf.

Evan has a kind heart. He loves to help people. He genuinely cares about the homeless and the less fortunate. Evan is thoughtful, he believes in God, but doesn't push his beliefs on others, he's homeschooled, and volunteers at the local shelter. He's shy around girls and hasn't really kissed one. Until he meets Autumn. And a first kiss can't get any memorable than theirs.


Most importantly, Evan is real. He's that guy. The good guy who girls wish they chose instead of the loser who was fun for just a minute.

He's the opposite of everyone else in Autumn's life and that's exactly what she needs. How much cooler can a guy get? Not much.

Find out more about Evan and Autumn in Dream Smashers -- available in eBook and paperback. Follow the links in the sidebar.

Splash Into Summer

Summer is just around the corner and all of the authors at DarkSide Publishing want to make sure you have plenty of marvelous YA and middle grade books to read poolside. 

As part of the Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Page Turners, I'm giving away Five (5) eBooks of Dream Smashers and Five (5) eBooks of Land of Corn Chips!

 A girl who no longer wants to care and a boy who cares enough for the both of them. Dream Smashers is a love story, but most of all, it's about letting go. 

Eleven-year-old Nate Hansen never believed in dragons before an eccentric man with a purple-feather hat kidnaps him. Spirited to the Land of Corn Chips on the back of a mechanical yellow dragon, Nate must find a way to avoid being ground into compost. His only hope of escape is to earn the friendship of the local wrestling gang and zombie kids, and to believe in a parent he no longer trusts.

Entering is easy:

• Fill out the form below
• You must be 13 years or older to enter
• All entries are awesome (International & US)
• Begins May 25, 2011
• Ends May 31, 2011

Don't forget to check out the other blogs in the Splash into Summer Giveaway Hop including DarkSide authors Megg Jensen, Karly Kirkpatrick and GP Ching.

Also, be sure to mark Land of Corn Chips and Dream Smashers on your to-read list on Goodreads.  

Once you've entered my contest, hop on over to these other blogs and enter their contests:

I AM A READER NOT A WRITER HOP PAGE

Thank you for participating. The Splash Into Summer Giveaway is now CLOSED. The winners will be emailed today, June 1st. :)

Fluffiness of Debut Month

Although Dream Smashers became available to the world at the end of March, I didn't start promoting it until April 4th. That was the "official" launch date. When publishing to stores fronts such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble, the author can't choose the publish day. The novel could show up that same day or the following or in some cases a few days later. I was totally paranoid it wouldn't be available on the right day and submitted it way early.

I discovered that networking and marketing is a huge time suckage. So much that I Facebooked, Tweeted, sought reviews and hit the refresh button on my Amazon sales page probably a million times an hour for the last month. This took away from my gym time and any little time I had prior to April 4th for writing, editing and critiquing. Consequently, I also turned a little fluffier than I was. Well, that's expected when one doesn't have time to cook or go to the gym.

May will be spent trimming some fluff on my bod as well as my next novel, Land of Corn Chips. Remind me to please not schedule book launches so close together next time, would you? Thanks!

Peace out for now.