Seven Summer Reading Freebies!

I've gone a little bonkers with all this summer fun. But in a good way! I'm off soon to spend a week by the lake reading. Glorious peace and calm and books!

I want you to have some blissful reading time this summer too. So I've set up a schedule to provide you with seven free ebooks!

Relax and enjoy.

June 21st - 25th - Of Blood and Sorrow (Book #1)

June 25th - 29th - Dark Dawning (Totem #1)

June 26th - 30th - Silent Whispers (Totem #2)

June 28th - July 2nd - Ghost Dancer (The Paramours #1)

July 1st - 5th - Cloak of Snow (Totem #3)

July 5th - 9th - Big Yearning (The Sasquatch Susies #1)

July 10th - 14th - Loose Corset (Dice & Debauchery #1)

Wicked Wednesday - choose wisely thy notebook

It's that exciting moment when you have a shiny new idea. It's growing so huge that it's starting to get too large for your mind. So you reach into your drawer and pull out a notebook.

I don't know about other writers, but I do have a drawer filled with paper, pens and pencils, rubbers, and notebooks. It's a weird collection of different styles. Mainly leaning to the people that gifted me these items and not to my tastes. But that's okay. Paper is paper and I am happy to write on anything.

My newest project is a big one. Nine paranormal romance novellas. A big cast of characters. A wide range of settings and a thickly entangled plot. It gets bigger every time I think about it. And it's dark. I'm basing it on Inuit lore. Most of those myths are not happily ever after tales.

So what do I pull out of my drawer? A notebook with pretty butterflies and pink pages.

....

Yeah, I know. What was I thinking? The design does not fit the story. Come on, butterflies?! And it's not a very big notebook. Clearly I hadn't been thinking about what I was writing in when I pulled it out.

But it amuses me to write the notes for this story in that notebook. I smile to see it on my desk. I feel the little butterflies of excitement in me.

Maybe it is the right notebook for this story.

Sidenote: The black composition book on my desk holds five of my completed story ideas. I use it to reference things when promoting or answering questions. My Kindle does have an ad for Susan Kaye Quinn's book there. (How do you get your ad to show up on people's Kindles like that?) And yes, that is an old Gameboy Color. I'm currently replaying Dragon Warrior Monsters. It's a bit like Pokemon but cooler.

Friday Five for April 17, 2015

1. Progress on my current WIP has been steady as a snail. I'm near 10k now and it's just getting into the thick of things. Usually I just throw my readers right into it, but with the weight of this story, it needs the slow start.

2. I've been trying to catch up on my reading. I have a lot of writer friends' books on my Kindle. Please don't think I'm forgetting about you! I also review everything I read. So know when I do read your book, you will know.

3. It's going to be a busy week for me. My mom's arriving tomorrow for a week long visit, and it's my son's 5th birthday on Monday. We're having a party at the park for him on Sunday. (Hopefully the weather will cooperate. *knocks on wood*) Lots of fun!

4. For all of you who are participating in the A to Z Challenge, you're over halfway through! Yay! You can do it. I've been having a great time reading people's posts and meeting new bloggers. In case you missed it before, I'm doing it with the Untethered Realms group. Our theme is teasers from our books, and wow, these books are amazing.

5. Don't forgot today's #SpecFicChat hosted by @UnRealms and @EllieMGarratt at noon EDT. The topic: What happened to the future? The flying cars and time machines? We want to hear what you have to say. And I really want my own hover board.

Friday Five for September 19, 2014

1. Thank you so much for all your congratulations about my big news. I love this community. Your support and encouragement mean so much to me.

2. My wrist is doing well, but healing still leaves me utterly exhausted. I haven' t done any writing, but I've managed to get some critiquing done. My local critique group meets tomorrow, and I can only hope I don't doze off as I do at that time of day!

3. I've been cleaning out my Kindle. I had a lot of ebooks on it that I didn't get past 10%. I've also had a few that really surprised me with how great they were. Rarely in the past did I ever not finish a book, even if it was horrible, but with my huge TBR list, I have to be picky. It is difficult for me to do because I know how much work authors put into their stories.

4. I received another rejection for my urban fantasy novel earlier this week. I sent it to the publishers I really thought might like it. It's quirky and unusual and tells a powerful story. I will be self-publishing it next year. So be ready for a huge year of releases in 2015 from me!

5. Have you taken your Shelfie yet?

When: From Now until October 6th, 2014

What: Take a picture of your favorite book(s), your bookshelves, or you with your favorite book(s). We understand if you're shy and don't want to be in the picture, but you get bonus points if you are. Then share it on your blog, Facebook, or Twitter. It's as quick and easy as that!

I'm excited to co-host this blog hop with seven amazing authors: Tara Tyler, Heather Gardner, CD Coffelt, M.J. Fifield, Elizabeth Seckman, Rena Rocford, and Vikki Biram. We'll be offering prizes for various categories. The grand prize winner will win $40! I'll be giving away a digital copy of The 13th Floor Complete Collection for the geekiest Shelfie.

I have several bookshelves in my house. I have too many books to fit in them. This is but one of my overstuffed shelves. Double-stacked, if you can tell!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

IWSG for November 2013, Interview, & Realms Faire reminder

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is the brilliant idea of Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the group is to share doubts and insecurities and to encourage one another. Please visit the other participants and share your support. A kind word goes a long way.

Take a nap.

That's right. Get comfy, curl up under your favorite blanket, and snore.

Sleeping will help your insecurities. It will chase away your blues, increase your mind power, and boost your metabolism. We function better on all levels when we have enough sleep.

Plus, dreams are terrific inspiration for stories. That's where most of my story ideas originate.

Researchers at Harvard University have found that sleep does increase your creativity. (Make sure to use this article as proof when your family wonders why you need to snooze more often.)

As writers, sometimes we get up extra early in the mornings or stay up late to find the time to write. While that gives us our quiet time, it takes away from our sleep time. Lack of sleep will eventually catch up to you, and the price will be steep.

So take a nap.

You'll be less stressed, have more energy, and find your muse equally refreshed.

* * * * *

Join me at the the awesome TB Markinson's today for a great interview. We talk about the 13th Floor series, self-publishing, and what book do I wish I had written.

* * * * *

 Don't forget the Realms Faire is next week!

9 events with 9 chances to win prizes every day.

Plus Untethered Realms is giving away a Kindle!

HUZZAH!

Just over a week until Realms Faire 2013

Tighten your corsets and fluff those beards, it's almost time for Realms Faire 2013!

We have 9 amazing events with 9 chances to win prizes every day. Then there are grand giveaways at the end of the week. You can win fabulous ebooks and a Kindle. Woot!

THE EVENTS:

The Joust - M. Pax

 Masquerade Parade - Angela Brown

Collective Stage Performance - Samantha Geary

Dragon Hunt - River Fairchild

The Stockade Brigade - Gwen Gardner

Castle Jumble - Laura Eno

Phasers - Untethered Realms

Dueling Bards - Cas Webb

Soak-a-Bloke / Drench-a-Wench - Me!

My event is a quick and fun one. Each day a person is selected to be soaked with blog love. You click on the link provided and leave a blog comment for the lucky dunkee. Everyone who comments is entered into a drawing - one for each of the five days - and winner is chosen. For those people who participate all five days, they will be entered into a grand giveaway.

I'm also participating in the Joust this year. Please come cheer my champion, Sir Xanthus Ehrensvard. He'll be riding shirtless!

Friday Five for June 14, 2013

1. My WIP is coming along. Not quite as fast as I need it to, but it's been a busy week. Maybe I can convince my husband to take our boy out for a few hours so I can write. If I get five good days in a row, I can finish it. I'm a fast writer if I have the time and inspiration.

2. I've been catching up on some reading on my Kindle this week too. It's nice the boy is loving his new bigger pool and is happy to splash around while I sit in the shade reading. I've a lot of indie books on the Kindle. Only a few of them have more than a couple of reviews. I make sure to review books after I read them now, but I wonder how to get people motivated to write more reviews. (Oh! I shall write a post about that!)

3. I had a wonderful visit with my family last week in Canada. It was a little rough not sleeping in my own bed and sharing a room with a toddler that talks very loudly in his sleep. We stopped at a hotel with a water park on our way back home thinking the boy would love it, but nope. My husband enjoyed it far more than any of us! My son loves the water. The spouts, slides, and splashing. These hotel water parks are geared more to older kids, though. He doesn't like to get water in his face nor did he like all the noise. If anyone wants to start a business, here's an idea for you: build a hotel for families with toddlers with toddler-friendly attractions. There are only a few places made for the little kids. Sometimes it's difficult to find things to do for a special trip.

4. I took my son to a local event called Touch A Truck on Wednesday. It gives kids a chance to explore all different sorts of trucks like fire engines, ambulances, tow trucks, etc. I like the idea, but there were long lines in near record-breaking heat. We didn't stay too long. My boy's favorite thing was the helicopter. My favorite thing he said was when he walked into the local library's Bookmobile: "This looks like our house!" Yes, we do have a lot of books!

5. Don't forget that Monday is the June W4WS event! Help your fellow writers with just a tweet. It's fast and easy.

Have a great weekend!

Fearless now FREE on Amazon Kindle

FREE! FREE! FREE!

FEARLESS is now free on Amazon Kindle!

YAY!

Thank you to everyone who helped with the

price-matching.

E-readers - your choice?

My birthday is coming up at the beginning of October. I might ignore it other than the fact I'm getting my first e-reader. I'm excited about it. I'm finally catching up to the electronic generation. I'll be so hip groovin' cool. Is cool still cool to say?

So Kindle or Nook? Kindle or Nook, hmm. I thought a long time about it. My husband is a gadget guy. We had many conversations. We did research. For just a simple, black & white e-reader, the Kindle is a good buy. Yet I wanted more to the tablet. I wanted color, net access and Angry Birds. Hey, a girl has to have her priorities! The Nook Color is more expensive than the Kindle, but it has all those things plus more.

This morning when reading the morning paper, I saw a different e-reader in the Best Buy ad: an Android Pandigital. Oh, it's got almost everything the Nook has, it's color and it's a hundred bucks cheaper. Curious and excited about this discovery, my husband did some of his techie guy searching. The Pandigital recently had an upgrade. It wasn't anywhere near in the running with either the Kindle or Nook until last month. An Android tablet with all its apps and an e-reader. Nice. Plus, the price!

We took a field trip to Best Buy this morning to get some hands on time with the tablets. While the Pandigital has a lot of the same functions as the Nook, it's slower, choppier and buggy. I don't like how it's set up. It might be able to better compete if it had another overhaul, but it was too annoying to get around on. The Nook Color, on the hand, blew me away. It's smooth, fast and sensitive. It has all its B&N apps plus Android apps. It has a new Netflix app. The e-reader is easy to use and fun. You can even have it read to you.

I can play my games on it. Yay for Angry Birds! I can surf the net and check e-mail. I can watch movies. I can use it as a learning tool with my son. Goodness knows he didn't want to leave the store that had all the techie stuff! Most importantly, it has the best e-reader.

My husband is more excited than I am about my birthday gift. He's already planning on buying extra memory cards to store the stuff he wants on them!

I know people are very loyal to their e-readers. For those of you who do have them, which one do you own? What do you love about it? What do you dislike about it?