Vote for The Harbinger, please!

I am honored to have one of my books chosen as a nominee in BigAl's Books & Pals (review site) Readers' Choice Awards in the fantasy category. They've chosen the fourth book in The 13th Floor series, THE HARBINGER. From all the reviews and emails I've gotten, this is by far the favorite of my readers' too.

In the twelve months ending February 28th, 2014, BigAl and the Pals will have received over 1,400 books to consider for review and published 368 book reviews. From those, they chose the books they felt stood out from the pack as exceptional examples of indie (self-published and small press) writing and divided them into thirteen categories.

Now here's where I need your help. To win, I need your votes. Voting starts today at 10:00 a.m. EST and goes through to the 12th. I'll be reminding you throughout the next ten days.

BigAl's Books & Pals is a huge supporter of indie authors. A great place to get your books reviewed. I'm eager to find out who all the nominees are.

Please go vote for THE HARBINGER.

VOTE HERE

Breathless cover reveal

BREATHLESS by Krista McLaughlin

Book Summary: Eighteen-year-old Lainey is the only witness to her best friend losing her life to the depths of the ocean. She stays close to the water, a small part of her hoping to surrender to the same fate. On her birthday the waters almost overtake her, but a mysterious young man rescues her and disappears.

Lainey can't stop thinking about the stranger from the beach, and one night she finds her rescuer naked and bleeding on the shore. Jon doesn’t know what pancakes taste like, how microwave popcorn cooks, or own shoes, but he seems to be just what Lainey needs. As the anniversary of her friend’s death looms, Lainey opens herself in ways she never thought possible. But when Jon’s identity comes to light, Lainey has to save him before she loses another love to the sea.

Publication Date: April 1, 2014

About the Author:

Krista McLaughlin graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Child, Adult, and Family Services, and a minor in English. She was born and raised in the Midwest with her nose stuck in a book and her hand smeared in pencil lead. When she is not cuddling with little ones she nannies, she is reading or cross-stitching. She loves J.R.R. Tolkien and all things Star Trek.

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/kristamclaughlinauthor

Twitter – www.twitter.com/kjmclaugh

Website – www.kjmclaughlin.com

Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4659722.Krista_McLaughlin

Friday Five for February 28th, 2014

1. I did a happy dance on Wednesday after I unchained myself from my desk. I finished the 3rd draft of my superhero WIP. Woo-hoo! I sent it off to my CPs and betas. Then I celebrated with peanut butter cookies. On Monday, I will start revising WIP #1 again. I'm right on track with my writing goals so far this year.

2. It's been a tiring week. I've been babysitting every day. It only reminds me I no longer have the energy of my youth. I just wish the youths understood that!

3. My husband was sick on the weekend, and with stuffed up nose, he snores more than usual. So I spent two nights on the couch. I love my couch. It's amazingly comfy, but it always gives me weird dreams. One dream had 5 good versions of myself fighting 5 bad versions. Not clones. (I don't have access to Alex's cloning machine!) It was more like a spirit battle. It was unsettling. Thankfully when I'm sleeping in the bed, I only fight monsters and not myself, er, my selves.

4. I've been reading a lot lately, and I realized I have a favorite bookmark. Until recently, I didn't care what I marked my pages with. A lot of the time it was just a strip of paper ripped from a recycled scrap. Now I have to have a certain one. Do you have a favorite bookmark?

5. I got some BIG news this week: the 4th book in the 13th Floor series, THE HARBINGER, has been nominated for a BigAl's Books & Pals Readers' Choice Award in the category of Fantasy. I'm honored and excited. Voting starts on March 2nd and runs through to the 12th. Please consider voting for my book. I'll share my cookies with you!

Bloodlust blog tour - guest post by Nicole Zoltack

Barbarian Love Story?

I bet love isn’t the first word you think of when you hear “barbarian.” Maybe anger or rage or berserker or something along those lines.

Writing a romance featuring a barbarian heroine wasn’t easy. I had to be true to her

character as her barbarian self but I also had to make her have weaknesses and

compassion and a reason to root for her. Ivy, herself, fights against love. She has spent all of her life without feeling that emotion, not even toward her parents.

But she does find love. And the battle for her heart is one she is doomed to lose.

What is the first word you think of when you hear “barbarian”? Tell me and be entered to win some swag!

Oh, and the first ten people who email (Nicole.Zoltack@gmail.com) proof of purchase of BLOODLUST will be gifted another one of my stories. Spread the word about this and you might win another novel!

Blurb:

In a world torn by prejudice and hatred, six races struggled for supremacy.
 

Desperation…

Barbarian-Princess Ivy is unwilling to allow her father to provoke the other races into war and forms an unlikely alliance with Lukor the goliath to save her people from utter destruction.
 
Betrayal…
 

Unbeknownst to her, Lukor blames the barbarians for murdering his sister and plans on sabotaging her goal.

Bloodlust…

Almost despite each other, they grow to respect each other on their journey to decode secret messages from the trolls. But nothing Ivy can do will prevent the war as her father is blinded by Bloodlust and incites it himself. Not even killing him and becoming Barbaroness can stop the tide. And when Bloodlust claims Ivy, forcing her to kill everyone in her path, she must make a choice to destroy even Lukor, who she may have started to fall for and him in return.

Add it on Goodreads.

Buy BLOODLUST here:

Amazon, B&N, and Kobo

Bio:

Nicole Zoltack loves to write in many genres, especially fantasy romance. When she's not writing about knights, superheroes, or zombies, she loves to spend time with her loving husband and three energetic boys. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they're unicorns!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire, dress in garb. She'll also read anything she can get her hands on. To learn more about Nicole and her writing, visit her blog.

Wicked Wednesday - original PNR heroines

I love the kick-butt heroines of paranormal romance (PNR). I love their physical and mental strength, their immense supernatural powers, their intelligence, and their wit. But sometimes they start to blur together.

It's fun to read and write about a strong female character, but there are a lot of them in this genre. When you get so many of the same type of protagonists, the books don't stand out from one another. It's the author's job to make sure their heroine is unique and memorable.

Here are a few tips to having a fantastic and original PNR heroine:

- Give her an unexpected job. We see many assassins, spies, and law enforcement officers. While those careers provide a good background for fighting experience and opportunities to mix with the dark side, there are several other jobs to choose from. What about a teacher or a nurse? Or even a rattlesnake milker. That's a dangerous job!

- Don't make her a loner. There are too many orphans and women from broken homes in PNR. Everyone needs some support. Give her good (smart!) friends and/or a decent family.

- Wit and sarcasm is fine. So is a little attitude. Yet don't go overboard. If the protagonist gives sass back to everyone, no one is going to like her. If she never follows her boss' orders, she's not going to keep her job no matter how good she is.

- Don't make her a glamor queen or a scarred beautiful killer. Not every man needs to lust after her. What's important is that her love interest finds her gorgeous.

- Make her strong, smart, and brave, but most importantly, make her flawed. Everyone has flaws. Protagonists become boring if they're perfect. Give the powerful characters flaws equal to or greater than their strengths. It'll be much more worth the reader's while when the protagonist overcomes them.

What types of heroines do you see too much of in PNR? Any additional tips on how to make them unique?

Teaser Tuesday with The Darkest Kiss

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I'm gobbling these books up! This is the sixth book in the Riley Jenson Guardian series by Keri Arthur. Dark and gritty paranormal romance with very steamy hot scenes. While a lot is standard PNR, Keri throws a lot of twists and turns in. Things I expected to happen have happened, but not in the way I expected them to happen. So far, I've enjoyed each book equally.

Here's your teaser:
"Not into motorcycles?"
"No." But my treacherous hormones were certainly into all that leather. (page 45)

Bloodlust cover reveal

Hi, everyone! Nicole Zoltack here and I'm so happy to share with you the cover for my upcoming release.

Isn't it just beautiful? And it's perfect for the story.

Here's the blurb for BLOODLUST, a NA epic fantasy romance.

In a world torn by prejudice and hatred, six races struggled for supremacy.

Desperation…

Barbarian-Princess Ivy is unwilling to allow her father to provoke the other races into war and forms an unlikely alliance with Lukor the goliath to save her people from utter destruction.

Betrayal…

Unbeknownst to her, Lukor blames the barbarians for murdering his sister and plans on sabotaging her goal.

Bloodlust…

Almost despite each other, they grow to respect each other on their journey to decode secret messages from the trolls. But nothing Ivy can do will prevent the war as her father is blinded by Bloodlust and incites it himself. Not even killing him and becoming Barbaroness can stop the tide. And when Bloodlust claims Ivy, forcing her to kill everyone in her path, she must make a choice to destroy even Lukor, who she may have started to fall for and him in return.

The cover is so fitting, am I right?

The story will be released on February 24th. Ack! So excited. I'd love for you to share this and I'd even kiss you if you add it on Goodreads.

What do you think about the cover? The blurb? Does it sound like something you'd like to read?

Bio:

Nicole Zoltack loves to write in many genres, especially fantasy romance. When she's not writing about knights, superheroes, or zombies, she loves to spend time with her loving husband and three energetic boys. She enjoys riding horses (pretending they're unicorns!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire, dress in garb. She'll also read anything she can get her hands on. To learn more about Nicole and her writing, visit her blog.