Monday, April 29, 2013

Debt Collector Book Blitz: Guest Post by Susan Kaye Quinn, and a Couple of Giveaways!


Debt Collector by Susan Kaye Quinn
Series: Debt Collector, Serial 1-3
Publication date: 2013
Genre: NA Future-Noir

EPISODES 1-3 (Delirium, Agony, Ecstasy) of the Debt Collector serial. Contains mature content and themes. For young-adult-appropriate thrills, see Susan's bestselling Mindjack series.

Synopsis:

What's your life worth on the open market?
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He's just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja's sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane... until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn't what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone--a dark pit he's not sure he'll be able to climb out of again.

The first three episodes of the Debt Collector serial are collectively the length of a short novel, or 152 pages. These are the first three of nine episodes in the first season of The Debt Collector serial. This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. Episode 4, Broken, releases 4/17/13.

For more about the Debt Collector serial,
see DebtCollectorSeries.com



What's a Serial and Why Would I Read One?
by Susan Kaye Quinn, author of a new future-noir serial called The Debt Collector

Covers for Debt Collector, Episodes 1, 2, and 3

A serial is a series of episodes - or short stories - that are connected to tell a larger story.

Must Read TV

Serials are actually a lot like a TV series, which themselves vary a lot in type. Series like Law&Order and House are more self-contained, with only a few character storylines carrying over from episode to episode. Series like Lost or Heroes would be difficult to watch out of order because the storylines carry more strongly, sometimes with cliffhangers, sometimes not.

Some readers like the week-by-week suspense of Must Watch TV; others would rather wait until the season is done and get it from netflix so they can watch it back-to-back. Likewise, some readers enjoy the suspense of reading a serial episode-by-episode as they're released. Others would rather wait until the entire serial is complete and read it all at once. Either is fine!

Is a Serial a New Idea?

Ebook serials are a new thing, because ebooks are a new thing - but serials have been around since Charles Dickens wrote and released Great Expectations (self-published through his own literary magazine!) in 6,000 word "installments" every week for nine months. Readers today aren't accustomed to reading in serial format because publishing serials was restricted to magazines, which didn't have wide circulation. Now with ebooks, the cost of transmission is low and the distribution is wide. Ebooks have revived the short story form! But for readers raised on novels, who crave longer works and more in-depth stories, serials are the next natural step.

Is a Serial a Novel Cut Into Pieces?

No. A serial is not a chopped up novel, just like a TV episode is not a chopped up movie. It's a different way of telling stories. In a way, it's more demanding to write than novels - you need to immediately draw the reader in, you have to reach some kind of reader-satisfaction-level by the end of the episode (even if you have a cliff-hanger), and you have to maintain that pace and storytelling arc over multiple episodes. But all that hard work on the part of the author makes it (potentially) more enjoyable for the reader.

Can You Name Some Successful Serials?

Yes!
Hugh Howey's Wool
RaShelle Workman's Blood and Snow
Platt &Wright's Yesterday's Gone

These are all recent bestselling serials that drew audiences in and helped revitalize the serial form.

Why Would I Read a Serial?

Readers tell me that they're enjoying the short episodes - they can read them quickly over lunch or in an evening and get a full "story" worth of entertainment. The fast pacing means there's a lot of story packed into a short number of words. Readers also say they enjoy the anticipation of finding out "what will happen next" much like a TV series where you get invested in the characters. Think about how a favorite TV series will sometimes focus one episode on one character or another, diving into their backstory. As a writer, I like that I can go in-depth a little more in each "episode" than I could in a novel, giving a richness to the story and characters that might be more difficult to do in a novel format.

All serials eventually come to an end, just like a "season" of your favorite TV series. Whether you enjoy reading serials as they release, or want to wait until the complete season is out so you can read the episodes back-to-back, serials are a fast-paced, exciting way to enjoy a story.

As a writer, I find serials are the hardest writing I've ever loved.

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling YA SF Mindjack series. Her new Debt Collector serial is her more grown-up SF. Her steampunk fantasy romance is temporarily on hold while she madly writes episodes to keep Lirium (the titular Debt Collector) happy. Plus she needs to leave time to play on Facebook. Susan has a lot of degrees in engineering, which come in handy when dreaming up dangerous mind powers, future dystopias, and slightly plausible steampunk inventions. Mostly she sits around in her pajamas in awe that she gets make stuff up full-time. You can find her at www.susankayequinn.com


What's your life worth on the open market?
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Delirium (Debt Collector 1) is now available on
to check all the latest episode releases
and goings on in the Debt Collector world.

About the author


Susan Kaye Quinn grew up in California, where she wrote snippets of stories and passed them to her friends during class. Her teachers pretended not to notice and only confiscated her stories a couple times.

Susan left writing behind to pursue a bunch of engineering degrees, but she was drawn back to writing by an irresistible urge to share her stories with her niece, her kids, and all the wonderful friends she’s met along the way.

She doesn't have to sneak her notes anymore, which is too bad.

Susan writes from the Chicago suburbs with her three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as a much as she can handle.

Connect with Susan



And now for the giveaways!

There is one giveaway right here, just for those of you reading this on The Book Bag. One international winner will receive an e-book of Delirium, Book #1 of The Debt Collector series. 
It hooked me for sure!


And then there is the Grand Prize Book Blitz Giveaway,
which is for a Kindle + Debt Collector 1-3 ebook (US only)

Be sure to check out both of them!

The Book Bag's Giveaway


The Grand Prize Giveaway!


And be sure to check the sidebar for my other giveaways!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Book Feature and a Giveaway! Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst


Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.

Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.

The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twinges of a conscience. How can she serve up her new friend - especially the cute guy who makes her fangs ache - to be slaughtered? Then again, she's definitely dead if she lets down her family. What's a sunlight-loving vamp to do? ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

About the author

Sarah Beth Durst is the author of Vessel, Drink, Slay, Love, Enchanted Ivy, and Ice from Simon & Schuster, as well as Into the Wild and its sequel Out of the Wild from Penguin Young Readers. Her next book for teens, Conjured, comes out in September 2013 from Bloomsbury/Walker. Her first book for adults, The Lost, comes out in November 2013 from Harlequin/Luna.

She has been writing fantasy stories since she was ten years old and holds an English degree from Princeton University, where she spent four years studying English, writing about dragons, and wondering what the campus gargoyles would say if they could talk. Sarah lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband and children.

For more information, visit her at www.sarahbethdurst.com.


Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!


Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Karmic Connection by Libby Mercer


What is the universe up to?

Guilty of nothing more than working too much - or so they say - Adam Stowe is dumped at a "wellness center" in the middle of nowhere by a couple of concerned colleagues. When he meets Lorraine, the beautiful and bewitching yoga instructor, his spirits start to lift, but once he discovers what a flighty fruitcake she is, they drop back down to subterranean levels.

For Lorraine Jameson, Luna Wellness Center was a beacon of solace when her life was falling apart, and she can't stand the way Adam's toxic energy is poisoning the peace. He embodies everything negative about the life she discarded eighteen months ago. Despite being fiercely attracted to the arrogant man, she's determined not to let Adam Stowe anywhere near her heart.

Adam and Lorraine couldn't be more unsuitable as a potential couple... so why is the universe so dead set on uniting these two?

The Karmic Connection is a different kind of love story with a cast of quirky characters and a mystical, magical New Age-y flavor. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about The Karmic Connection ~~

Once again, Libby has another hit on her hands! The Karmic Connection is a wonderful look into the lives of two people who could not be more different. First there's Adam, who has to be whisked away from his job (by his boss, no less) so that he can get his priorities straight.
Adam's nerve endings were already pulsating like machine gun fire at the thought of being away from the office. And for what? So he could sit on a beach or something? Alone with no one to talk to and nothing to do? For the life of him, he couldn't possibly see how this could be a good idea.
And then there's Lorraine, who is the exact opposite and seems to have it all figured out. She's into yoga, relaxation, and all that other New Age-y stuff and she helps run the Luna Wellness Center where Adam's employer has him booked for a week.

When Adam arrives at the Luna, they meet and immediately take a strong dislike to each other but .... they do have some kind of big chemistry thing going on between them.

Well ~ the rest of the story is an amazing, fun look into the lives of both of these wonderful people. I really liked them both and was cheering them on to 'just figure it out'. But it is not going to be easy, no siree.

This passage is probably my most favorite of the whole book. This is such wonderful advice that we should all try to remember.
'The beauty of nature, the sound of silence, the thrill of chaos, the joy of meeting someone new and fascinating, of connecting with someone familiar and beloved, of creating something of your very own, of challenging yourself physically, of feeling connected to the world. Life offers us such an enormous array of wonderful possibilities, but so many of us are focused on one thing - namely our careers - that we don't bother to accept them. We feel that we'll have plenty of time to take advantage of everything life has to offer, but that might not be the case. Life can be cut short. come tomorrow, it could all be over. Finito.'
And don't you just love the cover?

I read another book by Libby, Unmaking Maya, and loved it.
My thoughts are here.



And I plan to read everything Libby ever writes!
I love her stories!!

About the author

Born and raised in the Midwest, Libby Mercer’s adventurous spirit kicked in after graduating from high school, and she’s since lived in Boston, NYC and London. San Francisco is the city she currently calls home. For several years, Libby worked in fashion – first as a journalist and then as a shopkeeper. She also dabbled in design for a while. Even through the crazy fashion years, Libby never let go of her dream of being a published author, and has since developed her signature writing style, crafting quirky chick lit/romance hybrids. Fashioning a Romance was her first published novel, and Unmasking Maya will be her second. Libby's third novel, The Karmic Connection, was released on April 25th, 2013.

Connect with Libby

Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon

Buy The Karmic Connection

Amazon | Barnes & Noble


Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

WWW Wednesdays April 24, 2013


WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads
for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
I will be rereading this one (refreshing my memory). My book group won copies so we are reading it this month.

The Lake, the River & the Other Lake by Steve Amick
This is for one of my book groups. I am about 1/2 of the way through it. We ended up not meeting this week so I'll just keep reading reading.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Karmic Connection by Libby Mercer
Enjoyed it! I will be posting my thoughts on Thursday.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
(audio)

What do you think you will read next?

I am not sure what I am going to read after I finish what I have started. I have a little time before I have a review book on the calendar so I'll probably just pick up something fun that is sitting on my shelf. 

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and
I'll stop by to check out your reads.

And be sure to check out the sidebar
for my current giveaways!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Winners @ The Book Bag!

I have 2 winners to announce! 

They will each receive a copy of 
For Internal Use Only 
from the author Cari Kamm. 


Thank you Cari!! 


And the winners are ......

 Rita and Bridget!!

Congratulations to both of you!

Watch for my email and please respond within 48 hours. 

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways! 

Cover Reveal: Love in Darkness by E.M. Tippetts

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Title: Love in Darkness
Author: E.M. Tippetts
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Cover Designer: Okay Creations
Expected release date: May 21, 2013
Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

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Alex had everything when he was with Madison. But the darkness within him wouldn't go away. After two years apart, he returns to Pelican Bluffs and to the girl he never wanted to leave.

Madison wants to give their love another chance, but Alex can't fight fate. He is what he is. Ruined. Crazy like his mother. And Madison deserves so much more. When his secrets spill out into their small town, Alex has a choice to make. Hide away in the darkness forever, or let love in.



About the Author

Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance under the name E.M. Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy under the name Emily Mah. Originally from New Mexico, she now lives in London with her family. Before she was a published author, she was an attorney who specialized in real estate, contracts, and estate planning, especially literary estate planning.

Connect with Emily 


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Monday, April 22, 2013

What Color is Monday? by Carrie Cariello


One day last fall Jack asked me, “What color do you see for Monday?” as I heaved a chicken into the oven. “What?” I said distractedly, turning from the oven to slice some potatoes at the counter. It was late afternoon, and I was preparing dinner while also managing the demands of homework and tired toddlers. “Do you see days as colors?”

Raising five children would be challenge enough for most parents, but when one of them has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the adventures become even more fascinating. In this moving--and often funny--memoir, author Carrie Cariello invites us to take a peek into exactly what it takes to get through each day with four boys and one girl, and shows us the beauty and wonder of a child who views the world through a different lens. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about What Color is Monday? ~~

Let me preface my thoughts about this amazing book by giving you a little background about me. I have always been interested in children with special needs. I started volunteering while in high school and started college with the intention of becoming a special ed teacher. Long story short, that didn't happen but I did continue working with special needs children and adults for many years.

Needless to say, this is an area that has always held my interest, and my heart. Autism is on the rise and affects more and more children and families every year. I have a very dear friend whose son is autistic and I am sure everyone reading this has also been touched by it, either directly as a family member or by knowing someone who has autism in their lives.

Carrie has written this incredible and inspiring story about her family which consists of mom, dad, and their 5 children, one of whom, Jack, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I had 4 children myself so I know how challenging that can be, in of itself. Then you add a child who needs extra attention to the mix and life can become difficult.

I love marking parts of the books I read that really speak to me. And there were so many in this book. Here are a just a few I marked.
'Although bound together by a spectrum disorder diagnosis, autistic people are essentially like snowflakes: all similar yet essentially unique.'
I love that - like snowflakes!!
'From that point forward I resolved to never reduce Jack to a mere paper boy, but instead to spring him to life in all of his autistic glory, to really see him for who he is. Because underneath all of the diagnostic testing and medical terminology was a beautiful, sweet boy struggling to shine. Behind the relentless stimming, the horrific tantrums, and - perhaps worst of all - the silence, was my Jack.
As his mother, it's my job to make sure the world sees him too.'
It's nice to have Mom in there fighting for you, isn't it?
'He's beautiful inside and out, even on paper.'
And the following is something we should all aspire to, every day: show up, stand up, and stretch without breaking.
'But then I take a deep breath and remember: that's life with a special needs kiddo. Every day you have to show up, stand up, and stretch without breaking.'
And this one ~~
'I've learned to notice things I might not otherwise see.'
And I love quirky!
'All in all, we're a quirky group. I guess the question is this: where does quirky end and autism end?'

What Color is Monday? is an amazing look at an amazing family and is an inspiration to all of us that life is good and autism, while challenging, can enrich lives.

About the author


I live in Southern New Hampshire with my husband, Joe, and our five children.

My four boys and one daughter range in age from three to nine. And no, my daughter is not the fifth child. She is the fourth. We thought she was our last but sometimes urologists cancel important appointments, so there you have it.

My second son, Jack, has autism. A lot of times he makes me laugh, sometimes he makes me cry, but mostly he just makes me watch and wonder.

Right now I stay home with my children. Once again there’s lots of laughter and some crying, but mostly it’s great fun. Until it’s not.

I’ve just started writing a book called What Color is Monday?, chronicling our colorful life with an autistic child.

In my past life, I earned an MBA from Canisius College in the fabulous city of Buffalo, New York and worked in marketing for a company called Lehigh Construction Group, Inc.

I cannot live without books, Bikram yoga, or date night.

Connect with Carrie


Buy the book

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Publication Date: April 22, 2013
Publisher: Riddle Brook Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-9847927-3-3
Price: $16.00
Pages: 228

A portion of the proceeds from
What Color is Monday?
will be donated to Autism Speaks


Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!



Friday, April 19, 2013

Winner @ The Book Bag!


The No Strings Attached Giveaway Hop just ended and I ended up with 592 entries. That is so amazing! 

I really wish everyone could be a winner but I have to just pick one name. Actually Rafflecopter picked it.

And the winner is ......

Grace!!

Congratulations Grace!

Watch for my email and please respond within 48 hours. 

Be sure to check the sidebar for my other giveaways! 

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Debt Collector Series by Susan Kaye Quinn


What's your life worth on the open market?
A debt collector can tell you precisely. 

The Debt Collector series is a dark and gritty future-noir about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going in debt risks a lot more than your credit rating.

EPISODES 1-3 (Delirium, Agony, Ecstasy) of the Debt Collector serial. Contains mature content and themes. For young-adult-appropriate thrills, see Susan's bestselling Mindjack series.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He's just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja's sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane... until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn't what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone--a dark pit he's not sure he'll be able to climb out of again.

The first three episodes of the Debt Collector serial are collectively the length of a short novel, or 152 pages. These are the first three of nine episodes in the first season of the Debt Collector serial. This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. Episode 4, Broken, releases 4/17/13. For more about the Debt Collector serial, see DebtCollectorSeries.com ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about the Debt Collector Series, 1-3 ~~

OMG! I love this series! I read Susan's other series, the Mindjack series and loved that one so when I saw she was writing another one, I just had to read it. I have heard this series referred to as a steampunk novel. Seriously, I don't really know what that means. I just know that it is a very popular genre.

Well, I thought I would take the plunge and try this one since I like her other series. And I liked the fact that Susan is releasing this as a serial novel, meaning just a chapter at a time. I thought I would like that, now I'm not so sure, since I always have to wait for the next one to come out!


I was hooked after the very first chapter! If this is an example of steampunk, then I have just found another genre that I need to pursue. Love it!!

And today is April 17th! 
So that means Book 4 of serial is released today. 
I am on my way over to Amazon to get it right now! 


What’s your life worth on the open market? 
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium tries to free himself and Ophelia from the Kolek mob, but Valac has other plans for him.


Broken is approximately 15,000 words or 60 pages

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways! 



WWW Wednesdays April 17, 2013


WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


Clicking on the book covers will take you to Goodreads
for more information about the books listed below.

What are you currently reading?

The Lake, the River & the Other Lake by Steve Amick
This is for one of my book groups. I am about 1/3 of the way through it. It's not bad, kind of enjoying my look at the little community.

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
(audio)
This is a fairly short audio book and it's read by the author. That always makes it more interesting, I think.

What did you recently finish reading?

What Color is Monday? by Carrie Cariello
Great book about how one family deals with autism in their family. My thoughts will be posted on Sunday.

Reckless Abandon by Jenn Flynn-Shon
My thoughts are here. And there is a giveaway going on right now for 2 paperback copies of this great book! Click here.

Stuck With a Stiff by D.D Scott and David Slegg
(audio-book)
I thought it was a fun story. Not as impressed with the narrators. Oh well.

What do you think you will read next?

I'll be working on a couple of books.

Baker Towers by Jennifer Haigh
I will be rereading this one (refreshing my memory). My book group won copies so we are reading it this month.


The Karmic Connection by Libby Mercer

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and
I'll stop by to check out your reads.

And be sure to check out the sidebar
for my current giveaways!

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

On Tour: Jenn Flynn-Shon, Voices and a Giveaway!


Yesterday I posted my thoughts about Reckless Abandon by Jenn Flynn-Shon. You can read them here. Today I have Jenn here answering the 'voices' question I like to ask authors.

Jenn ~ I have heard other authors say that they 'hear voices in their head' and that is how they write their books: the characters are telling their stories. Not being a writer myself, that concept has always intrigued me.

When some people hear voices, we get them medical attention, others end up becoming writers. Does this happen to you? How do you come up with your stories?


Hearing Voices: The Author is Only the
Vehicle to Write a Character’s Story
Whenever someone asks me if I hear the character’s voice in my head while writing I don't really know how to respond. There are times I want to say ‘oh of course’ but then I'm afraid of being committed because the other person won't really understand that what I really mean is I’m just a vehicle for the character to come through so they can live out of my head and on the page.

Writers of fiction don't write their own life for the most part. There will be obvious similarities to who they are but a character will be much larger than them. For example, in Reckless Abandon I have a few things in common with my main character, Shaw. We are both writers, we're both Irish, both married to guys in the mortgage industry, and we both suffer from issues with low blood sugar. But that’s about where the similarities end. When I started writing her, Shaw pretty much took over and wrote her own story.

Yes I realize this may make me sound crazy but don't call the guys with the white coats just yet, let me explain.

While writing this novella I knew I wanted to tell the story of the average married couple who come to discover that their lives are in fact anything but typical. I wondered what I'd do if thrust into a similar situation as Shaw – coming home one day to find her husband has vanished very suspiciously. I too would call the cops. I too would pour myself a glass of wine mid-afternoon. But there was no way a teary eyed me would sustain an entire novella so with Shaw I heard a little voice saying ‘there has to be more.’

So I gave her more. A lot more. I let a cop get killed in her house, I let her flee the scene by the skin of her teeth and I had her freak out right before she turned to the one person she felt she could trust to help her. Shaw’s life was simple, easy and uncomplicated but all of a sudden her only option was to raise the stakes of complication. I wasn't sure at first I wanted her to contact her ex-fiancé but she kept saying ‘you really have no choice.’ And she was right. So she tracked down JJ.

With shady police involved in her husband’s disappearance she needed a solid person, someone she knew was clean and trustworthy. But I never expected the fireworks that these two were about to encounter. She was hesitant but desperate. He was bitter but easily convinced. They had loved each other once and she was in trouble. He had to soften to her and she had to see how great a guy she once let slip away. ‘But I'm still married’ she reminded me and I had to figure out how to make that part work.

As I wrote their dialogue it was as if Shaw and JJ were living people, a couple talking at the next booth over in a diner and I was documenting every word they said to each other. I could feel how much he despised her for having left him two decades prior. And I could feel her true sorrow for the way she'd ended it when she was still just a stupid kid with stars in her eyes and dreams of a big career in NYC. It was as if I was placed in charge of telling the story of two people I knew inside and out.

Because of this, the voices of the characters aren't telling me what to write or shouting at me per se, they just show up and I get their words out. Through my fingers I form them into complete people with quirks and missteps, fortune and stupidity and everything in between. They show me who they can be and I shape them into the most relatable versions of themselves that the world can identify with.

I use the glimmer of their voice to channel through my own in the retelling and they come out with the clear honesty of the real people they are. In my head.


Connect with Jenn


Writesy | Ripple the Twine | Reckless Abandon






a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Cover Reveal: Castles on the Sand by E.M. Tippetts

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Title: Castles on the Sand
Author: E.M. Tippetts
Released: August 2012
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Young Adult
Cover Re-designed by: Okay Creations
Cover reveal organized by: AToMR Tours

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If there’s one thing Madison Lukas understands, it’s pain. The pain she feels when her mother ignores her completely. The pain her best friend endures as her parents starve her as punishment. The pain of a dangerous boy whose mother has to be carried away by law enforcement on a regular basis.

She gets it. She feels the pain of others as if it were her own.

But when a mysterious man claiming to be her long lost brother appears with promises of relieving her suffering, trusting him could reveal more truths than Madison is ready for. Because the truth can hurt, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"A fast-paced blend of high-stakes drama and average teenage concerns (sex, appearance, friends), capped with a welcome message of hope." - Kirkus Review of Castles on the Sand

About the Author

Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance under the name E.M. Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy under the name Emily Mah. Originally from New Mexico, she now lives in London with her family. Before she was a published author, she was an attorney who specialized in real estate, contracts, and estate planning, especially literary estate planning.


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Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Monday, April 15, 2013

On Tour: Reckless Abandon by Jenn Flynn-Shon and a Giveaway!


How far would you go for love? Young Adult fiction Author, Shaw McLeary, returns from Whole Foods to discover her husband, Danny, is gone. So is their stash of cash, his clothes, passport, and her wedding rings. He took off in a hurry and left her behind. While trying to piece it all together Shaw witnesses a cop’s murder in her home. Determined not to become the next victim, she flees. She fears dirty cops are involved in Danny’s disappearance. There's only one person she can trust to help her - JJ Anderson, Private Investigator. Also, her ex-fiancé.

A retired Phoenix cop turned PI, Shaw hopes JJ will be inclined to take her case. Despite his resentment for how their relationship ended, he agrees to help her track down leads on Danny. They chase the clues from Phoenix to Manhattan to upstate New York. In such close quarters Shaw finds it difficult to maintain a professional distance from her first real love. Then what happens if she finds Danny? Can she still love a man who abandoned her or is she too drawn to fixing her past mistake to let go of JJ again? ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about Reckless Abandon ~~

Reckless Abandon is a very enjoyable read, a novella of about 150 pages, with a great story within those pages. Shaw comes home from the grocery store one day and finds her home ransacked and her husband gone. Right from the start she is afraid something has happened to him, surely he wouldn't just up and leave her, would he?
'I longed to be wrapped in the comfort of my tee-shirt sheets and breeze from the ceiling fan. If I knew two nights ago might be the last time I'd have the chance to sleep next to him I might have been nicer. I might had tried to bridge the distance between us instead of saying 'whatever' when he prompted an argument.'
And then, a cop gets killed at her front door. Yikes! She takes off and seeks out the only person she trusts, an ex-boyfriend from way back. But seriously, why would he want to help her, after she left him all those years ago?
'He smelled just like nostalgia.'
I love that line ~ memory smells really are so powerful!

I enjoyed everything about Reckless Abandon. It was fast paced and action packed (think car chases and bullets) and held my interest all the way though. I could have very easily devoured this book in one sitting, if my real life wouldn't have interfered. I love it when a book captures my attention so much that I don't want to stop reading. Sometimes I wish I could quit my day job and devote my life to reading all these amazing books out there!

Oh, did I mention that Shaw is a writer? I loved this exchange in the book. Sorry, all you romance writers out there ~ I love you, but this line was funny.
"Besides, there have to be better places than this dingy old office for you to set up shop. What about Starbuck? I hear a lot of writers like to work there."
"I don't write romance."
Ah, snap!

Reckless Abandon is a great book you won't want to miss. And I am looking forward to reading more of Jenn's stories.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow
when Jenn will tell us if she hears voices.

About the author


Hi, my name is Jenn Flynn-Shon and I'm the Author of two books (Ripple the Twine, Reckless Abandon), a Chapbook (Trying for the Moon), multiple Zines, and Randomness and Lunacy (a digital-journal blog).

I've been writing since age eleven and began penning fiction by age thirteen. My first publication was a poem published under a pen name in Bop Magazine in 1989. Since then I've had articles and interviews published online and in print.

I'm a two-time winning participant in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) (2009, 2010), an active member of the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers and Arizona Authors Association.

When I make time to relax I love to hang out with my husband at our home in Phoenix, AZ, explore the country on road trips, watch my Boston sports teams, share laughs with friends and family, and read everything from blogs to novels. I make a point to write daily, and I'm a shameless self-promoter.

Connect with Jenn






Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!



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