Book Release "Unforeseen Obsessions" by Valerie Clarizio!

Release and Giveaway:

$10 Amazon Gift Card

2-Ebook Copies of Unforeseen Obsessions

Rafflecopter Giveaway 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/f79c8f1/

Title: Unforeseen Obsessions     Author: Valerie J. Clarizio

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press     Release Date: May 15, 2014

After Alex Polecheck’s police officer husband, Sam, is stabbed in cold blood, she vows to see the murderer brought to justice.  Peter, Sam’s best friend, and fellow police officer, seems to be the only member of the Police Department interested in catching the killer.
Peter sets out on a perilous hunt for the killer, while trying to protect Alex, who appears to be next on the murderer’s list.
The mystery begins to unravel when Peter finds a connection between the murder of Sam and two other law enforcement officers, who were all part of an internet crime taskforce. Peter and Alex find themselves alone in the battle for justice and truth when they discover members of the local police department cannot be trusted.  Will Peter piece together the puzzle before Alex is silenced?  While battling to protect Alex, will he be able to continue to conceal his love for her?

Buy Links:

Amazon
Whiskey Creek Press

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

Excerpt 4

Peter glanced toward the EMTs. Alex looked in that same direction to find that they’d loaded Sam onto a gurney and covered him up. She could no longer see his precious face. She watched through cloudy eyes as the EMTs wheeled the gurney through the yard and around the corner of the house. A crater the size of the Grand Canyon filled her chest. Her knees grew weak. Peter grabbed her and held her up. She was sure she would have fallen if he hadn’t.

Alex glanced around her backyard to find several of Sam’s fellow police officers milling around her property. One of the officers was taking photographs, one was writing something on a piece of paper attached to a metal clipboard, and two were inspecting the patio and sliding glass doors leading to their bedroom. They’d begun dusting the door for prints.

She could hear the officers whispering but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Whenever she caught a glimpse of their gaze, their eyes read disbelief.

Alex stared into space. “This can’t be happening. Tell me this isn’t happening. This is small town Wisconsin. We read about this sort of thing, not live it,” she murmured.

Peter squeezed her hand.

About the Author

Valerie is a writer of romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and women’s fiction novels.  She lives in beautiful Door County Wisconsin with her husband and one very spoiled cat.  She loves to read, write, and spend time at her cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  She’s lived her life surrounded by men, three brothers, a husband, and a male Siamese cat who required his own instruction manual.  Keeping up with all the men in her life has turned her into a successful hunter and fisherwoman.
She is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Wisconsin Romance Writers of America. Additionally, she was a finalist in the 2011 Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, Novellas Need Love, Too! Contest.

Ms. Clarizio’s Links:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

New Book by Nancy Pirri - Release and giveaway!!

I first met Nancy at the RT Convention a year ago when I pitched my book during a pitchapalooza- speed dating for authors and publishers and agents, LOL. She and Denise immediately put me at ease when they told me they were both writers as well as publishers...and here's the proof. Congratulations, Nancy, on your latest release! You've been an extremely patient mentor and publisher, and obviously, no slouch as a writer!

Release and Giveaway:

Prizes:

2-$15 Amazon Gift Cards

2-Ebook Copies of Bait Shop Blues

Click the link below to enter the contest!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/01288e12/ 

Bait Shop Blues by Nancy Pirri
Finding love shouldn’t be so hard…
What does a successful businesswoman born and bred in Chicago want with half-ownership of a quaint bait shop in northern Minnesota, willed to her by her grandfather? And how will the reclusive half-owner of the shop convince the woman to sell out her half to him? For Cassandra Thompson, a Marilyn Monroe look-alike who’s recently been dumped by her second fiancé in two years, it could mean a well-needed change in life. For Leif Halverson, a handsome man of Ojibwa extraction, and co-owner of the shop, it could mean disaster—like falling in love. Leif is far from happy about this city woman invading his territory so he challenges her to a wilderness survival contest where the winner takes all.
Buy Links:
http://melange-books.com/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K5KS4I0
 Excerpt:
“You know, I was surprised to hear Roy had a granddaughter. He’d told me often during the past fifteen years he had no family.” He raised his brow. “Makes me wonder why you suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”
Cassandra frowned. “The private investigator he’d hired had learned about the car accident that had taken my parents’ lives. After that he managed to track me down. Didn’t Grandpa tell you he’d been searching for us?”
“Yeah, he did.” He gave a short irritable laugh. “About two days before he died.”
“Oh! I’m sorry. You must have been surprised,” she murmured. She tried to imagine how she’d feel if someone had butted into her business, Pretty Woman Cosmetics. She’d be furious.
“Not just surprised, but stunned. Roy then told me he’d had a falling out with his only son years ago.”
“Unfortunately, that’s true. I was three years old at the time.”
“Roy was real torn up when he heard about your father’s death.”
She sighed. “I imagine he was, seeing as my grandfather and father hadn’t spoken to each other in years. He said it was the saddest day of his life, and he’d forever regret they hadn’t mended their fences. I wish I’d had the opportunity to see Grandfather before he passed away. I was so young when my parents took me away from here that I’ve no memories of him.”
As she peered out the window, the beauty of the vivid green treetops caught her interest, but then she shuddered at the grayish-colored water. After awhile she sank back in her seat and grimaced, identifying the pungent odors in the plane. Leather, gasoline and the distinct odor of fish blended together, yet each scent was distinct.
She was uncomfortably conscious of his maleness. Virile and confident, but without being macho and overbearing would aptly describe him—the little she knew of him. Yet, her awareness of him as a very attractive man was starting to bother her. He was just another handsome man. She’d dated plenty of good-looking guys and had learned her lesson well. She bit her lip thoughtfully, gauging her attraction to him and decided, in the end, she must be experiencing some sort of chemical imbalance.

About the Author
Nancy Schumacher is the owner-publisher of Melange Books, LLC, writing under the pseudonyms, Nancy Pirri and Natasha Perry. Nancy started writing eighteen years ago while raising four children. She is a member of Romance Writers of America. She is also one of the founders of the Minnesota RWA chapter, Northern Lights Writers (NLW).
Nancy’s debut historical romance, THE MACAULAY BRIDE, set in late 19th century Scotland, was published in 2003. The debut book received several contest wins and received a TOP PICK award from Romantic Times Book Club publication in Oct. 2004. BAIT SHOP BLUES is her second full-length novel. She has written five full-length novels, and many stories included in anthologies with Melange Books, LLC.

 

Get in Touch With Nancy:
http://www.nancypirri.com
https://www.facebook.com/NancyPirriAuthor
https://twitter.com/MelangeBooks
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/nancypirri/nancypirri.html

Congrats, Nancy, on your new release!

Writing Process - Blog Hop!

Joyce Hertzoff passed the baton to me for this blog hop. Here's her post from last week.

http://hertzoffjo.blogspot.com

And these are my answers to the four questions:

A. What are you working on?

I am working on my second full-length novel, Nectar and Ambrosia. It’s more of an adult urban fantasy than my first YA novel, Song Magick, published last month. It’s something I hope will appeal to adult readers who love Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, like I do.

B. How does your work differ from others in this genre?

 

I’m not afraid to write a little “above” my target audience in terms of vocabulary. If they learn a new word, great! I was told that I needed to use easier words by a publisher that turned me down. If we write down to young adults, I think we’re making a huge mistake.

C. Why do you write what you do?

 I am a lifelong reader, and found my niche as a child in fantasy with Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea books, and many others. As a teen, I learned to love Marion Zimmer Bradley’s fantasy-flavored science fiction. I wanted to live in those worlds. By writing, I was able to create my own worlds to walk, to interact with the inhabitants, and see how they live.

D. How does your writing process work?

Fragmentally! LOL. Song Magick was a serialized romantic adventure that I wrote in bite sized chunks for the amusement of myself and some friends, and then heavily revised over time. Nectar and Ambrosia came from a dream I had, where I met one of the main characters. I found him fascinating and had to write a little to find out who he was. I have lots of scene fragments of other ideas that I want to go back and expand for future books.

And now I pass the baton to:

http://shelleypickens.wordpress.com/

http://erinelliottwriter.wordpress.com/

Song Magick Release and Giveaway!!

Song Magick Release and Giveaway

$5 Amazon Gift Card and ebook copy.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/01288e11/

!

Title: Song Magick
Author: Elisabeth Hamill
Publisher: Fire and Ice, an imprint of Mélange – http://www.fireandiceya.com/
Cover Artist: Caroline Andrus

In a realm where magic was thought to be lost, young bard Telyn Songmaker is able to cast powerful spells with her music. Exiled from home in the violent aftermath of her song magic gone awry, Telyn endures a solitary freedom…unaware of the price on her head.  Bound to the Wood by blood and by oath, Mithrais is dispatched to protect her by the dying sylvan gods he serves. Only Telyn can perform the dangerous counterspell that may save them. But love may be the most unpredictable magic of all…

Buy Links:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JW4OSA8
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/song-magick-elisabeth-hamill/1119337369?ean=2940045851664
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/431772
http://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/elisabethhamill/songmagick.html
http://www.lulu.com/shop/view-cart.ep;jsessionid=1ADB5FA58A798638043F5907AA758B8F

Excerpt:

“Is it true that there was a murder in the Sildan court last year?” a calm, male voice called from the end of the room furthest from the dais. Telyn felt herself grow cold, her fingers stilling on the harp strings, and forced her voice to remain neutral.
“There was an unfortunate incident involving the son of Vuldur, Lord of the East. He was killed, but it was not murder. Lord Vuldur seems to have gone mad with grief and views it as such.”
“That is understandable,” the voice continued mildly. “After all, it was his only son. Isn’t that right?”
Telyn could not see who was asking the questions, and indeed, the voice now seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. She took a deep breath and answered, “Yes, it was his only son.”
Mercifully, the voice did not come again, and Telyn let her fingers move on the strings of her harp in the beginnings of the interrupted song, forcing herself to calm and concentrate on her music. Her heart was racing. It was entirely possible that the question was an innocent product of rumors filtering west of the Sildan capital, but even Riordan hadn’t heard anything about the incident until this afternoon. She played the song with single-minded focus, rigidly employing her disciplines until her breathing was normal and her heart slowed. It seemed that none of the guests had noticed her discomfiture and were smiling with pleasure at the music. It was just a rumor repeated, she told herself. It had to be that.
“I promised Lord Riordan a love song for his lady,” Telyn said, disciplining her voice to carry nothing but cheer. She glanced at the head table. Riordan smiled at her encouragingly with a reassuring nod, and Lady Ciara beamed at her. Mithrais, although he appeared relaxed, looked ready to fly to her side at an instant’s notice.
She closed her eyes and began to play one of the oldest Sildan love songs she knew, letting the haunting and beautiful music carry her song magic to the audience, enhancing an atmosphere of romantic anticipation. She had just taken a breath in preparation to sing the first verse when the sting of pain, a jangling discord of strings and the crunch of wood startled her eyes open.
Telyn looked down and saw the feathered end of a small crossbow bolt. The point was buried in the shattered soundboard of her harp, directly over her heart. A warm trickle of blood welled from a shallow cut on the back of her hand where the bolt had grazed.
Several women screamed; in the sudden confusion, Telyn sat frozen with the harp in her lap. Mithrais was suddenly there, appearing out of thin air to pull her to the floor and shield her with his own body, while Riordan protected Ciara, bellowing orders to his guards to find the person who had fired the bolt.
Ciara was pointing toward the rafters. Telyn clawed her mask off and tried to look up, but between Mithrais crouching over her and the guests running to and fro she could see only the floor, Mithrais’ discarded mask, and the shattered remains of her harp on the stones beside her. The dark iron crossbow bolt stood out in stark relief against the pale wood.
“This way!” Riordan beckoned Mithrais, who lifted Telyn up to her feet, still shielding her from the unseen marksman, and hurried to where Riordan was pointing. Behind the tapestry on the dais was a hidden hallway, and Riordan and Ciara followed them in. “It leads to my library. Go!”

About the Author

Elisabeth Hamill is a nurse by day, fantasy novelist by night. In seventh grade, she had “Famous Author” inscribed under her name on her yearbook cover – an aspiration that, while delayed, was never forgotten! Her first published work, SONG MAGICK, saw its first draft finished during recuperation from cancer treatment and surgery, and is the fulfillment of that lifelong dream of being an author. She lives in eastern Kansas with her family, where they fend off flying monkey attacks and prep for the zombie apocalypse.
Keep in Touch with Elisabeth:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElisabethHamillWrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/songmagick
Blog: http://elisabethhamill.blogspot.com
Website: www.elisabethhamill.com
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/risu21/song-magick-by-elisabeth-hamill/
Manic Readers: http://www.manicreaders.com/ElisabethHamill/
 

Facebook and Twitters and Blogs, Oh My

     With the help of two of my many wonderful mentors, Aubrey Wynne and Jill Bisker (look to the right to see links to their blogs), I have slowly been making headway into the world of social media, which appears to be invaluable to this strange new world of authorship. With small, indie publishers whose returns go into the editing, artwork and publishing of the books, it's the author who's expected to do the bulk of the publicity (and rightfully so. I've seen how hard my publisher, editors, and cover artists are working!).

     In this day and age, publicity means social media, websites, blog hops, Facebook parties...my head is still reeling from all the stuff I'm seeing out there. I've created a media kit for reviewers and bloggers, been tweeting and retweeting other authors to build a network and get my name out there, and probably driving my "normal" Facebook friends crazy with updates about my book being released. Aubrey is getting ready to help me with a rafflecopter giveaway on her blog. (No, don't ask me to translate that yet. I'm still fuzzy.)

     With Jill's assistance, I've created an author page on Amazon, and did one for Smashwords in the last week. I assume I'll do one for Barnes and Noble as soon as it becomes live on their website, too. I started a Goodreads account under my pen name.

     And I've been practicing autographing my pen name for book signings. THAT was the fun part!

     I also managed to line up some reviewers - I think I have three that will happen over the next six weeks. That's a nerve-wracking prospect, to be sure. I've gotten some lovely feedback from people who are reading Song Magick at the moment, and it's been really good for my ego, but one reviewer (the one with fifteen books to review in her queue, so it's six weeks away) is a total stranger to me, and it's kind of scary. She doesn't have any sort of professional relationship with me, so she doesn't have to be kind, LOL. One was completely unsolicited- just because she loved the book, she wanted to review it on her blog, which has a very large following. More scary and exciting prospects!

    I'll let you know when I breathe again.

Countdown to Release Date!

    In four days...

    Three days ago, a package arrived in the mail. I had no knowledge of it, being at work, but I got this phone call after school let out from my very excited son:

     "Mom! Mom! A box came in the mail today. And guess what! Inside that box was paper. And inside that was plastic. And inside the plastic...IS YOUR BOOK."

      I had just approved the jacket and proof a few days before, and wasn't expecting it so quickly! Getting home that night became a very exciting prospect. It was very hard not to "squee" at work, which would have been very unprofessional and un-nurse-like. VERY hard.

     When I got home, my family was waiting for me in the living room. "It's right there!" my boy said proudly, pointing to the closed box on the coffee table.

    
     I was a little hesitant at first, then I opened it. With everybody watching me, I wasn't sure if I was going to laugh, or cry, or both. I opened the box lid, and there it was, in trade-sized gorgeousness. I tore open the plastic protecting it. I looked at it, opened it and ruffled through the pages. The scent of paper is usually soothing to a reader, but this time it was a little different. My heartbeat was a little fast. The words I caught glimpses of as I ruffled back and forth were mine. The author's name was mine.

    MINE.

    I just stood there, staring at it. Years of writing and cutting huge swathes of dreck, getting up the courage to submit it to agents and publishers, the work of editing...all comes down to this.

    "See, I told you that Gabe would be more excited than she was," my husband finally said jokingly to his mother, who had come to pick him up and stayed to see the big watch-Lisa-cry-when-she-opens-the-box spectacle.

    About that time I realized my face hurt. An enormous, cheesy grin had taken permanent residence without my knowledge, and because my back was to everybody, they hadn't seen it.

    But I realized internally, that this was probably the coolest moment of my life, aside from the obvious events of marrying my best friend, and bringing our two kids into the world. It was a quiet, satisfied moment. A  moment of joy, and relief, and disbelief.

    In four days, I will be a published author.

   Wow.

    Of course, right after that moment of quiet reflection and peace, came the jumping up and down and the squee-ing. My book slept next to me on the night stand, and I carried it with me all the next day. MY book. My BOOK!!

     And sometime in the next month or so, I will be having a big party to celebrate this milestone in my life, with all my friends and my family who care to come. The kid who had "Famous Author" enscribed on her 7th grade yearbook has finally made a step in that direction. Even if the "famous" part never happens, the "author" part has. And that, my friends, is a reason to celebrate.

Final edits on E-book; or, how to go permanently cross-eyed in one afternoon!

     My Wonderful Publisher sent me the final PDF file to audit and review yesterday morning.
    
     I have an ISBN number and everything. I'm SOMEBODY!  (Best Steve Martin, "The Jerk", impression here.)

     After the first few minutes of jumping around and being excited, I got down to the business of proofing the copy that will transform into e-reader format very shortly. I discovered that my writing style has a few quirks which will now be conscious decisions to eliminate when possible!
    
     1) I use way too many dashes.
     2) My publisher has an in-house rule of no semi-colons in dialogue. Ever.
     
      Scanning the document and correcting these tiny little punctuation marks yesterday was like an Easter-egg hunt in tall grass. The publisher had already done the semi-colons for me, but I found a whole bunch of my double-dashes (which some well-meaning website had informed me was the way to do it on a formatted manuscript) had been missed by my first pass. Because my book is 104K, it took me pretty much all day. I had to stop at noon and refocus, because when I picked up my iPhone to read my work email, I had to hold it at arms' length. I'm not that old! (Well, I am, but, seriously...!)

     Wonderful Publisher (Fire and Ice YA) was very supportive and patient as I kept finding more dashes in my second edit, after she'd corrected the first pass. She assured me that when I get the proof for the print copy, I will probably find even more things because it appears different in printed form than it does on the e-book proof.

     My first experience in publishing so far has been positive and educational. I've made a lot of friends who are mentors and fellow newbies (The Coolest People Ever, as we are now known!), and together we are navigating these unfamiliar waters. I am still learning to navigate the world of social media. More on that later. I'm still clueless.