A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: The Authors Guild: Do More Than Hope

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: The Authors Guild: Do More Than Hope: From Authors Guild Prez Roxana Robinson : “In the meantime, it’s our hope that Hachette—in light of the loyalty its authors have shown thr...

NaNoWriMo 2014

I signed up for NaNo in 2013 and pooped out on it. I wound up writing some short fiction instead. I've signed up again this year and am determined to see it through. How about you? Any of you authors planning on NaNo this year?

Review of Niko (The Outsider Chronicles Book 1)

Niko (The Outsider Chronicles Book 1)

by Kayti Nika Raet

A terrific book! Don’t miss!

The first in a planned five book series, Kayti Nika Raet’s “Niko” is a tense and imaginative novel set in the popular field of YA dystopia. The characters are plausible, memorable, relatable, and cleverly written. Even better, the world she has created stands up to scrutiny, making sense where so many others collapse as you move from chapter to chapter.

The plotting in Niko is terrific with tension and story questions raised on the very first page. Not only is the world is bathed in acid rain making food scarce, humans are beset by ‘Slithers,’ fanged and clawed human-like beasts who feed on human flesh. Fortunately, as a proper heroine, Niko gleefully dispatches the Slithers with a nail-studded baseball bat. She joins the Rose Circle, a rogue group of Slither hunters who smuggle her into the presumed haven of Amaryllis City. But, as expected in a dystopian novel, all is not quite as it seems. What she discovers, about herself and the world she lives in, you’ll have to learn for yourself.

Each page is filled with adventure, sacrifice, surprises, and danger. You’ll not want to put this book down because each chapter leaves you wanting more!

5 Stars! Give it a try!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17866959-niko?from_search=true

We Said It:: Review: H. L. LeRoy's "The fountain of the Earth"

We Said It:: Review: H. L. LeRoy's "The fountain of the Earth": Title: A Warrior's Read H. L. LeRoy's " The Fountain of the Earth " Reviewed by T’s Blogging 8/07/14 10:09 p.m. Let’...

Review for Beth Winokur's The Willing Stone children's chapter book

Abby and her younger brother, Dean, along with their parents, have moved from California to Washington State to live with their grandparents. First, Granddad unloads about “The Folk,” a strange people living in the forest, even a ‘trickster’ crocodile that he warns Abby about. Of course Abby, facing a new school, new environment and trying to make new friends, has her own problems to deal with. Naturally, she wants to fit in. However, reality intervenes and she is almost fated to be friends with the school’s outcast, Sofia, otherwise known as ‘Bug-Girl.’ From there, Abby is off on a spectacular, fantasy adventure.Show more

One of the hardest things for many children’s authors is the presentation of serious material in an enjoyable manner. The trick is not to be pedantic. Beth Winokur pulls this off flawlessly. Themes of friendship, loyalty, nature, and even death (fantasy) are touched upon. Other themes of dislocation, fear, school pressure, and to a degree, bullying are all skillfully disguised in a thrilling adventure.

The Willing Stone features a magical and fantastic storyline, filled with positive messages for middle graders.

A terrific book, don't miss it.

2013 Holiday Virtual Book Fair - December 1 - 7

Don’t miss out on the 2013 Holiday Virtual Book Fair December 1 – 7 on the Black Lilac Kitty website www.blacklilackitty.com/

In honor, I’m holding a drawing for a signed copy of The Fountain of the Earth.

How to enter? It’s easy. Simple, just shoot me an email (hollyleroy111@gmail.com) with the subject "Free copy.” I’ll drop all the entries into a virtual fishbowl and draw the winner. I'll email the winner on December 8^th. If you don’t hear back from me, sorry - maybe next time!

Available in eBook and trade paper - THE FOUNTAIN OF THE EARTH, Book one of the Fountain of the Earth series. http://goo.gl/O0ME5n

THE FOUNTAIN OF THE EARTH Cover Reveal

THE FOUNTAIN OF THE EARTH On Sale November 22, 2013

Book Back

Terra Vonn is fighting to survive in a destroyed world,

surrounded by unspeakable horror . . .

and things are about to get much worse.

After witnessing the horrific murder of her mother, fifteen-year-old Terra Vonn has a singular focus—exacting revenge on the killers. But before she can complete her plan, savagery intervenes, and she is cast alone into a brutal post-apocalyptic world. As she trails the murderers south—through a land filled with cannibalistic criminals, slave traders, and lunatics—the hunter becomes the hunted. Terra quickly learns that she is not as tough or as brave as she thought she was. Worse, she may be the only one who stands between what little remains of civilization and destruction.

Excerpt

Ike Shaw, the clan leader, tried to put a stop to the charity toward us by threatening the other women. Thinking, I guess, it would force us to take husbands. It didn’t work, and a little food continued to show up at our hut. I was grateful, but it made Mom embarrassed. We had never needed charity before. It apparently made Shaw angry, because one afternoon he ordered us out of our hut and made us stand in front of the clan.

“You will both take husbands. It is unnatural for you to live without men in your hut.”

Mom tried to push me forward. I shrugged off her hand and walked back to our hut.

After his little speech, a couple of the men in the camp tried to take me as a wife by force, probably believing I was weak and the clan leader would approve. Once, I was able to fight my way free, but the other time, Carson came to my aid.

All of that stopped when Delon attacked me after I had returned from a hunt. In the couple of years since my friend Leslie died, he had turned into a fat drunk with two wives.

I had just walked across the camp center from the latrines when he lurched from between two huts and stood weaving in front of me.

“I have an idea,” Delon said, his breath thick with the smell of alcohol. “I’ve got room for you in my hut.” He reached for my arm.

I jerked back. “Get away from me,” I said.

Apparently, it took him by surprise, because he just stood there with a stupid look on his face. I took the opportunity to walk past him. But I wasn’t quick enough, and he grabbed me from behind. Wrestling me to the ground, he flipped me on my back and pushed his huge, sweaty gut onto my face to hold me down. I could barely breathe.

“You’ll like being my wife,” he said.

Then he touched me.

I bit down as hard as I could on his belly and twisted my head until a big chunk came off in my mouth. Delon jumped up, screamed, and ran into the forest. I stood and spat the bloody gob into the fire pit where it sizzled, smelling a little like roasted pig. That same day, I started carrying Dad’s gun everywhere I went. It would be far worse for him if he ever came near me again. Delon knew it too, because he ran whenever he saw me.

And here is Ravven's (www.ravven.com)  terrific cover!