More Than Just A Kiss blogfest and The 13th Floor collection poll results

“A kiss, when all is said, what is it? 'Tis a secret told to the mouth instead of to the ear.” ~ Edmond Rostand 

The wonderful Cecilia Robert and I would like to invite you to the MORE THAN JUST A KISS blogfest!

Sweet, sizzling, fiery, awkward, mind-blowing. We want to read your kissing scenes.

The rules are simple:

1. Sign up on the linky list and post the badge on your blog.

2. On one of the days of the week of September 9th, post a kissing scene on your blog. It can be either fiction or non-fiction.

3. Please do not exceed 250 words.

4. This is a blogfest, so visit the other participants and have fun!

But wait! This is more than a blogfest.

We're offering prizes!

The scenes will be judged by these amazing romance authors: Cecilia Robert, Laurelin Paige, Kyra Lennon, and Christine Rains. (Hey, that's me!) We will choose three posts to win these awesome prizes.

Prize 1 - A critique of a kissing/intimate scene from your WIP (not exceeding ten pages). Critiques will be done by Cecilia Robert, Kyra Lennon, and Christine Rains.

Prize 2 - A critique of a kissing/intimate scene from your WIP (not exceeding five pages). This critique will be done by Laurelin Paige and Christine.

Prize 3 - A critique of a kissing/intimate scene from your WIP (not exceeding one page). This critique will be done by Cecilia and Christine.

BONUS PRIZES:
Cecilia, Kyra, Laurelin, and I will each choose one of our favorites to give out some fantastic ebooks.
Cecilia – TRULY MADLY DEEPLY YOU and REAPER'S NOVICE.
Kyra - IF I LET YOU GO
Laurelin - FIXED ON YOU
Christine – All six volumes of the 13th Floor series.

Sign up at the bottom of this post!

 Now on to the 13th Floor tenant poll!

Thank you to everyone who voted. It was very clear that each of my readers have their favorite characters, but the majority of you voted for a new tenant just moving in!

I already have my character and a story idea. A character unexpected considering I had tenants I already considered for this series standing by. I do hope you'll be as enchanted by her as I am.

I've been making progress on the cover for the collection. So many designs and none of them fit. I think I'm close to finding the right one now. I hope! *knocks on wood*

Don't forget to enter the HUGE giveaway at A Buckeye Girl Reads. You could win the entire 13th Floor series!

And in case you weren't able to keep up with the tour this week, here's the list of my marvelous hosts!

July 13 - TF Walsh and M. Pepper Langlinais
July 14 - Kyra Lennon and Aubrie Dionne
July 15 - Nutschell and Heather Holden
July 16 - Carolyn Brown, Nick Wilford, and Graeme Ing
July 17 - Cherie Reich, Heather M. Gardner, and M.J. Field 

July 18 - Colette Chmiel and Clare Dugmore  

Don't forget to sign up for the blogfest! 

Day five of The Ghost blog tour and Taking Time excerpt and giveaway

Thank you for joining me on day five of my tour.
 Don't forget to answer the poll I posted last week on my blog.
Whose origin short story would you like to see in the 13th Floor collection?

It's a big day today with three fabulous hosts.

Join me at Cherie Reich's blog for Chiharo and Jeremy's first kiss.

Heather M. Gardner has written her own post about the 13th Floor novellas. Find out what a reader thinks about the series.

My ultimate dream is to have Joss Whedon make my series into a TV show. I've shared a few casting ideas with you at M.J. Fifield's.

Today's tidbit: I dedicated the book to Cherie's mom. When I was discussing the concept of the series with Cherie, I had the six tenants already planned out. Cherie mentioned my idea to her mom, and her mom said the series needed a ghost. She was absolutely right. THE GHOST wouldn't have been written without her suggestion

 

 

Book blurb:

Science fiction stories of time and space...

The future of humanity must be decided in Next Phase. Winning the Planetary Lottery is not as lucky as it first seems in Schrodinger's Gamble. An apocalypse and its aftermath threaten to tear one couple apart in Daiker's Children. In Life As I Know It a reclusive man finds both his heart and home invaded during an alien harvest. In Taking Time a demon seeking shelter on a distant planet finds himself facing a very different kind of demon, after answering a frontier settlement's plea for help.

Stories range from flash fiction to novelette in length.

Excerpt from Daiker’s Children

I picked up the heavy bundle of survival rations left for me in the exit corridor, took one last look at the door to The Facility through which one kind of future was offered, and then walked out into the yellow-tinged atmosphere of Southern England. The aliens’ offer of a safe living environment and human facsimiles stopped being an option the moment I learnt Jen had not made it to their facility. I had to find her even if it cost my life. She was my world, and a world without her was not one I wanted to live in.

During the days of alien-enforced quarantine–I have no idea how long it lasted because there were no clocks to tell the time or date–I forgot just how acrid Earth’s atmosphere had become. The toxic air outside the facility scratched my lungs like cats clawing sharp talons down my windpipe. My breathing slowed and became more laboured. I could hear myself starting to wheeze. As my eyes burned and watered and my vision deteriorated, I dropped my heavy backpack on the ground and pulled out the gasmask they gave me. A few fumbling seconds later, the clear plastic mask covered my nose and mouth, and cool, clean air refreshed me. Within seconds, my breathing returned to normal though the mask could not remove my memory of devastation’s stink–the sweet scent of burned bodies and a burnt-out civilisation.

I found it hard to believe there was ever a world, a safe world, as I gazed in horror at the toxic wasteland before me. A sea of atomic destruction blinked back. Nothing remained standing or intact except for the ruins of Exeter in the distance. I’d allowed myself to bask in a happy kind of naivety, ignorant of the destructive power our governments and military harboured. Now I faced the consequences. I vowed never to be so naive or stupid again. To find her meant questioning everything. 

BUY TAKING TIME NOW AT AMAZON AND AMAZON UK

Author bio: A life-long addiction to reading science fiction and horror meant writing was the logical outlet for Ellie Garratt’s passions. She is a reader, writer, blogger, Trekkie, and would happily die to be an extra in The Walking Dead. Her short stories have been published in anthologies and online. Passing Time: Nine Short Tales of the Strange and Macabre was published in March 2013 and contains nine previously published stories. Taking Time and Other Science Fiction Stories is her second short story collection. 

Great stalking places:

Website | Amazon | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Ellie's having a fantastic giveaway! Win one of two $25.00 (£15) Amazon gift cards and a character named after you in an upcoming novella. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Five for July 12, 2013

1. ONE day until THE GHOST blog tour begins. I'm so excited! The final book in the 13th Floor series is already available on all the purchase sites. ( Amazon * B&N * Kobo * Smashwords ) There will be a huge giveaway on the final day. You can enter for a chance to win the entire series.

2. Don't forget to have your say on what short story should be included in the 13th Floor collection. So far, it looks like the majority of people want to see someone new moving in. Oh the possibilities! I have lots of ideas, but none specific yet. The pantser in me loves it!

3. I received three amazing reviews this week from Night Owl Reviews for THE DRAGONSLAYER, THE HARBINGER, and THE ORACLE AND THE VAMPIRE. All of them received 4.5 stars. They're top picks! THE MARQUIS was also one of their top picks. The reviewer compared me to Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan. Whoa. I'm still blushing. I sent them THE GHOST for review. Hopefully they'll love it just as much.

4. I survived the first week of parent and tot swim lessons. It's amazing to see how much a child can improve in just four days. My son has gained a lot of confidence, and getting splashed in the face isn't the end of the world for him any more. My top goal for the lessons is to get him to dunk his head. We're a few steps closer.

5. I have a question for all the parents out there. Have you ever taken your children to a sensory sensitive showing at the cinema? I knew they existed, but I recently learned our town has an AMC theater that participates in it. There's a showing this Saturday morning. I don't know if my son would sit through a whole movie, but just the experience might be fun. He definitely does not like loud noises, and the theaters have gotten too loud for me over the years too. I'm happy to just watch movies at home. (Did you see Sharknado last night?!) The TVs these days are big enough! Yet I have very good memories of going to the theater as a kid. I'd like him to have them too.

Have a great weekend! I'll be back tomorrow to start THE GHOST tour. Woot!

Wicked Wednesday - you decide who's going to be in the 13th Floor collection new short story

Only three more days until the official release of the final book in the 13th Floor series, THE GHOST. I'm excited and anxious, and I'm already thinking about putting together a collection. I haven't found a cover I want for it yet. I might not have it ready to reveal after THE GHOST blog tour. It has to be perfect, though. I'm not going to settle for anything less than what blows me away.

Along with all the novellas, I'm going to include a short story in the collection. Originally, I was going to write about how Kiral came to live on the 13th floor. Yet the story isn't sticking with me as something spectacular. I want to captivate my readers rather than give them a few interesting facts.

Should I do another tenant's? Marc's or Stefanie's? Readers already know how Meira, Harriet, and Chiharo came to be on the 13th floor. I could also do a tenant that lived there in the past. Or even one that's just moving in. Lots of possibilities.

I'm going to let my readers decide. Who do you want to read about? This short story will appear in the 13th Floor collection. (I'm tentatively setting the release date for September 13th.)

Please let me know your choice by answering this poll or leaving a comment below. I'll be running this poll through to the 19th when I'll be announcing the results. (I tried out a new poll widget. Hopefully it works!)

Whose story would you like to see in the 13th Floor collection?
	Marc's
	Stefanie's
	Xan's
	Kiral's
	A tenant from the past
	A new tenant just moving in
pollcode.com free polls