Monday, July 29, 2013

Fandom Fest 2013

To wrap up my summer of book promotion, I attended a great event: Fandom Fest in Louisville, KY. This was my second year, and I had a blast. Huge thanks to Ren Garcia (author of The League of Elder series) for sharing his car, a table, and his off-the-wall imagination with me all weekend!



Since most of my characters (thus far) in my series have been elves, I dressed as one again.


I met all kinds of cool characters, like Cap'n Jack Sparrow:

My daughter Meg and I met Grant Wilson, formerly of TAPS, aka Ghost Hunters, and currently into all sorts of cool artistic talents:

Besides all the fun and photos, I gave out a lot of promotional materials for the Tallenmere series and even some free ARC copies of A Ranger's Tale. I made about 15-16 sales, which is a record for little ol' me. Hopefully I'll hear back from some of those readers. If you happen to BE one of those readers who met me at Fandom Fest and got a book or two, I'd LOVE to hear from you!!!! Contact me here or via email or my Facebook page...





Blog Tour UPDATES!!!!


Join the Facebook Event Page for sneak peeks and fun: 

To celebrate the release of the third book in my stand-alone fantasy romance series, I'm traveling all over the blogosphere thanks to Page Turners Book Tours. I got a little behind with all the craziness of Fandom Fest, so here are the stops you've missed:
 


I'd love to hear from you, so if you get a chance, pop into these blogs and leave me a comment. Also, and don't you love an also?....

***Tour-Wide Drawing***

Entries as of 7/29/13   10

Buy one copy (print or electronic) of Hearts in Exile at Melange Books, Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, or All Romance E-Books, and you'll be entered into a drawing to win this BIG prize pack:

$10 Amazon Gift Card, Dragon Necklace, I ♥ Dragons Tote Bag, This Gal (or Guy) Loves Dragons T-shirt, Hearts in Exile Notebook, and set of three signed playlist postcards. 










To enter, just purchase a copy of Hearts in Exile from any of the online retailers above, and email your receipt (or confirmation code) to ME at: mystiparker@yahoo.com. Drawing to be held on August 1, and it's open worldwide!!!

Here are the links where you can find Hearts in Exile:

Smashwords (all e-formats): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/326723

Happy Reading! ~Mysti

Monday, July 22, 2013

Cover Reveal: Lyrical Muse

LYRICAL MUSE

ANTHOLOGY
Music Heals the Spirit as the Words Give Life.’
                                   

CONTRIBUTORS

Authors
 Ronda L. Caudill PhD, Jamie White, C. P. Bialois and Michelle Cornwell-Jordan


RELEASE DATE:
August 05th, 2013






Synopsis: Lyrical Muse is a collection of stories that reflects life's rhythms through everyday people. Each story is an example of the best and the worst of the Human soul. Every life lived has its own melody, and within these pages, the reader is taken on a journey to the blackest depths of a daughter's murderous soul to the prickly minefield of a jealous woman's heart and so much more.

So enter of your own free will and allow our whimsical Muse to lead you on an odyssey which just might help redefine your own reality.


Add to Goodreads:

The cover was created by the amazing Joy Stroube

Dreamscape Covers
www.dreamscapecovers.com

dreamscapecovers@aol.com


Thanks to the Beta Reader Who Rocks!
Author Emma Meade



ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS


RONDA L. CAUDILL, PhD

I was born and raised in Virginia. Writing has always been a passion
of mine.  I earned Ph.D. in Education from Capella University. The
two writers who inspired me the most are Edgar Allan Poe and H.P.
Lovecraft. My discovery of Mr. Poe when I was eleven years old opened
up an entirely new world to me. It is a world that I have shared with
my daughters. I am blessed with a wonderful husband and two beautiful
daughters who both inspire me and support me. I am thankful to them
for their love, encouragement, and support (and many new ideas).






Jamie White

JamieBMusings is a music addict, book lover, pet servant & NaNoWriMo survivor. When she's not busy writing posts for Culture Shock, she's taking pictures for her new obsession (That Photo Blog) and spending time with her husband and pets. Her first book, The Life and Times of No One in Particular, was released in May 2012.





C.P. Bialois
CP Bialois completed his first full-length novel, Call of Poseidon, in 2007. Armed with a finished product, Bialois began working on another book, The Sword and the Flame: The Forging, unsure of what he would ultimately be doing with either. As with many others in the later part of the first decade of the 2000’s, he found himself out of work and looking into new options. Over the next two years, he would spend most days at the library, completing an additional half-dozen works.
With five books currently out, Bialois is planning for the release of many more and enjoying the feedback he receives. The up-and-coming author takes inspiration from favorites such as Steven King, Tom Clancy and Sue Grafton. His love of history, fantasy and old monster movies has also served as a muse.


Michelle Cornwell-Jordan

Michelle Cornwell-Jordan is a New Adult/Young Adult-Paranormal Author. Her titles include a YA Novella series Night School Vampire Hunter Trilogy and upcoming novel Chrysalis. 
She is also the producer of the online radio segment IndieReview Behind The Scenes, where she and her co-host Jamie B Musings interviews Indie Authors and Musicians.
Michelle has been married for 18 years and has a 15 year old daughter. A book lover, her favorite genre has always been paranormal adventures.

Another love is writing. Michelle has been writing about as long as she has been a bibliophile! Losing herself in a fantasy world that she is creating on paper is how she loves spending her spare time.

Oh, and one final secret about Michelle is that she believes that she also has a secret power, but if she told, she would have to zap ya!

Blog Hop With Tara Fox Hall

Hiya Peeps! Today's my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to welcome one of my favorite writer friends, Tara Fox Hall, as she hops around the blogosphere talking about her prolific paranormal writings. Read on to find out more about Tara and be sure to check out her books!



Who is Tara? Tara Fox Hall is an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop in upstate New York. She received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics with a double minor in chemistry and biology from Binghamton University. Her writing credits include nonfiction short stories, flash, short and novella-length horror stories, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. Her horror stories have appeared in Deadman’s Tome, Flashes in the Dark, Ghastly Door, The Halloween Alliance, Black Petals, SNM Horror Magazine, Microhorror, Dark Eclipse, Cemetery Moon, and various anthologies, including the recently published charity works Fear (Vol. 1) and Shifters. She also coauthored the essay “The Allure of the Serial Killer,” published in Serial Killers - Philosophy for Everyone: Being and Killing (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). She is the author of the paranormal fantasy Lash series and the paranormal romantic drama Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice.


Why Vampires?  I’ve loved vampires since I saw Frank Langella in the first “hot vampire” version of Dracula years ago. That love intensified in my later teens with The Lost Boys, and reading Interview with the Vampire, along with anything vampire I could get my hands on. But I wanted more than the evil monster chasing young virgins; more than the sweet, misunderstood handsome fanged stranger that becomes the perfect mate for the woman who captures his heart after so many lone centuries. I wanted a vampire so well-crafted in detail that I could believe he was real. I wanted something different to happen in the story, other than girl becomes vampire, or vampire becomes dust. I wanted passion, tragedy, romance, suspense, action, and the haunting sweetness of poetry and song floating on a soft night breeze. So I penned my own vampires.


Here is part of an interview of Tara by Jodie Pierce:

What is your name? Do you use a pen name (if so, why?)?

My pen name is the same as my real name: Tara Fox Hall. I thought about using a pen name, but decided I had enough to keep straight already.  I’d likely sign books with the wrong name!
  
What genre to you personally read?

Thrillers as a rule are my favourite books, the more graphic the better. But I occasionally branch out to YA, historical, romance, graphic novels, action/adventure, westerns and other genres.

Tell me about your latest?

My latest book is Taken for His Own, the fourth installment in my Promise Me Series. It takes up where the third book left off. Sar had done her best to rebuild her life when her fiancé Theo went missing. She’s partnered with her former vampire lover Danial to raise Theo’s daughter Elle (Elle’s natural mother is dead from childbirth complications). She’s also had a child of her own with Danial, Theoron, and is trying to come to terms with her inevitable turning from human to vampire. When she finds out Theo’s alive, she can’t stop herself from journeying west to find him, and confront him about where he’s been for the last year and a half. This is where Taken for His Own begins. After a passionate reunion and a hasty marriage, the two lovebirds are headed back east. But picking up the pieces is far from easy. While Danial is accepting of Theo’s return, Elle prefers her vampire adoptive father over Theo. More than one enemy is waiting in the wings, making repeat attempts on Sar’s life. Add into the mix Devlin, Sar’s old enemy who’s now turned good guy, and a new paramour for Danial and you’ve got a powder keg primed to explode.

What sparked your passion for books and the art of a good story?

I’ve always enjoyed reading…a very passionate teacher taught me to read my first words in kindergarten, and I began devouring short books by first grade…and novels for YA by third grade.

Is there a particular book that changed or affected your life in a big way? 

The Hobbit. I like the message; that it’s not who you were or what you can do that influences what you will do, it’s how willing you are to step outside your own boundaries and push for what you think is right.

Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp?

That it’s never too late to take control of your destiny…and that you are the only one that really ever can. You may not be able to control what happens to you, but you can always control how you react to events. And that it’s important to always try to do the right thing…but that isn’t always possible.

What challenges have you faced in your writing career?

Getting published. I spent 4 years getting rejection after rejection from every agent under the sun and also some publishers. But the near misses were the worst, to think that I finally had an agent or a publisher and then to have it fall through at the last moment. Those were the crushing blows. The newest thing I worry about are bad reviews

What has been your best moment as a writer?

Getting that first acceptance…though every 5 star review is another perfect moment for me. I love getting validation for the world I created. 

Do you feel like your dream has come true or is there much more to do?

There is MUCH more to do….I won’t be able to rest easy until all of the Promise Me series is out and sitting on my bookshelf in a lovely row J and after that, I’ll probably say the same until the Lash series is done!

What does your workspace look like?

A jumbled bed with stickies, sheets of notes, crumpled papers that have been imputed into the computer, the phone so I don’t have to get up, a data stick for backup and now a little pad of paper that says “Tara is WORKING” so my husband knows when I’m going to be irritable if he interrupts!

Have you ever had a day when you just wanted to quit?

Of course. Getting my first 2 star review on Amazon made me want to quit. Poor sales in a given quarter makes me want to quit. Having no free time makes me want to quit. But I didn’t survive years of fighting to get my stories out to give up now.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

Lately….I sew catbeds for animal shelters, review books, clean, exercise, bake, work my day job, sleep, eat, and do chores like making firewood, spring cleaning, and pet maintenance.


What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Don’t give up until you do what you set out to do.

After this book, what is next? 

There will be more books in this series. Two more will be out this year—Immortal Confessions and Her Secret—with more in 2014 and 2015, until the series is done. The next installment in the Lash Series, Revenge, will be out this fall, and hopefully my second anthology of short suspense/horror stories will also publish. There will also be the first Promise Me anthology and a Latham’s Landing anthology this fall. A new Lash short story,Spiritwalker”, will debut in the Shifters charity anthology from Hazardous Press, and I also have a short story called “The Lie” in the upcoming anthology Brief Grislys, both due out in a month or less. I’m also working on a sequel to my transgender short Grow a Pair, and another compilation of BDSM stories for the late summer/fall.

Your website? 

Your blog?

Other websites?



Taken for His Own 

(Promise Me Series #4) 

 After learning Theo is alive, Sar immediately embarks on a mission to find him. Reunited, the lovers return to New York; Danial, Terian and Theo uneasily combining forces to protect Sar from Al’s assassins still seeking her. But when Sar is taken prisoner in an all-out attack, only one man can save her: her old adversary, Devlin.








Buy Links: 


Melange/lulu link for Print, PDF and HTML copies: 
http://www.melange-books.com/authors...forhisown.html

“What about what you did to me?” I whispered, gazing at him and biting my lip. 

“That wasn’t a whim,” Devlin said, dropping his eyes. “That was my bad judgment. Sadly, it wasn’t the worst mistake I’ve made in my life.” 

“What was?” 

Devlin didn’t answer. I reached out and took his cool hand in mine. 

“When you lead others you must do whatever you have to in order to save your people,” he said with a sigh. “Compromising values should matter less than saving lives.” 

“I agree with you,” I said. “If you rule others, you have a responsibility to them above the responsibility to yourself. But even then, I think your family should come first.” 

“They should,” Devlin said in a cracked voice. He swallowed hard. “But the past can’t be undone.” 

I squeezed his hand. “What happened to Danial wasn’t your fault.” 

“Yes, it was,” he said softly. 

“How is it your fault?” I said curiously, easing closer to him. 

“Because I should have known what the thing was when it attacked. I didn’t know anything back then, except strategy and tactics. I was too concerned about rising through the ranks as fast as possible, so I could leave my family behind and become someone important.” 

“What did you want to be?” 

“A commander of men, either soldiers or police.” 

I was surprised that Devlin would want to uphold the law or spend his life guarding others. Yet it made sense. When he’d taken me from my house years ago, he’d insisted on taking me to Danial, because I wore the choker. He was here putting himself in danger now to keep me safe. 

“I knew something had attacked a few people on that road in that last month,” he continued. “I knew that there was a chance we might be attacked transporting the prisoner. But the road was the quickest way to our destination. I’d been assured that if I made the journey in good time, I’d get the promotion I wanted, and Danial would get my old position.” 

“You aren’t at fault for what you did. It wasn’t for an evil reason.” 

“Yes, I am,” he said despondently. “It was my greed and pride that doomed us.” 

Carefully, I reached for Devlin and put my arms around him. He tensed at my touch, then relaxed. 

“You did the best you could. You aren’t damned.” 

“Yes, I am. You have no idea what I’ve done.” 

I shifted uneasily. 

“And I wouldn’t want you to,” Devlin added, his arms snaking around me loosely. “My ends have always justified the means, no matter what they were. I’ve done great evil in the hope of averting worse evil. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not. Still, it’s likely that given the chance to do my life over, I’d do the same things, make the same choices. I’d find myself here, at this same point in time, a fallen king.” 

“In case you’re wondering,” I said deliberately. “I’m waiting for you to add into your speech somewhere that you regret everything you did to me while you were king…um, ruler.” 

“I regret hurting you,” Devlin said quickly. “Yet I don’t regret coming for you that night or taking you to Danial.” He looked up at me. “You might not have gone back to Danial after Theo went missing, if I hadn’t. Theoron might not be here. I can’t regret any action of mine that led to him being born.” 

I didn’t reply, considering his words. 

Devlin laid his head against my chest, and his arms tightened on me slightly. We lay there like that for a few moments, not speaking, then I slipped into sleep. 

I woke sometime later when Devlin stirred. According to the bedside clock, it was almost dusk. 

“I have only one regret,” Devlin said finally, propping himself up on his elbow, his expression intent. 

“What’s that?” I said, covering my yawn with my hand. 

“That it wasn’t me you found in your quarry that night,” Devlin said, kissing the back of my hand with cool lips. His golden eyes locked on mine, transfixing me, as he drew my hand away from my face. 

He was going to kiss me. My lips parted as my breath caught in my throat.

Hooked? For more excerpts and information about Tara and her books, follow her along the rest of her tour:

7/23-You Gotta Read Reviews- www.yougottaread.com
7/24-Ivy Truitt- www.manicreaders.com/blog
7/24-Christina Mercer-
7/25-Amanda Masters- www.wiccawitch4.blogspot.com
7/26-Anthony Cowin- www.anthonycowin.com
7/27-Elodie Parkes- www.elodieparkes.blogspot.com
7/30-Laura Howard- www.laurahoward78.blogspot.com

Friday, July 19, 2013

What's in a Theme, Part 1


Join the Facebook Event Page for sneak peeks and fun: 

What’s in a Theme, Pt. 1

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be stuck on a deserted island? I thought about that cliché dinner table question when I was writing Hearts in Exile. Loralee is left exiled on an island in Chapter One, and though she’s NOT alone, she feels isolated and terrified, stripped away from the life she knew to face a completely unfamiliar world.

As I wrote Sir Robert’s story, I realized the deserted island theme was emerging again. No, he’s not left stranded on an island—well, at least not for a decade like Loralee. But, his exile from the life he knew came just as hard and just as unexpected when his parents died like so many others in the Great Plague. He too, came close to dying, and had it not been for Loralee, he would have been a goner.

And that’s where his exile truly began. Stripped away from his everyday life of modest means, he finds himself with no other feasible choice than to be recruited into a group of other orphans, all to be trained as paladins. He really didn’t want that life, didn’t ask for it, just as Loralee didn’t deserve her exile.

Yet, they both survived. She with sheer will and the help of her loving adoptive dragon “parents”, Xaxony and Kershar. And he with uncommon physical resilience and Loralee’s encouragement.

Sure, they struggled with fear and battled emotions that sometimes overwhelmed them. But, they didn’t flop on the ground, cry “Mercy!”, and go crazy. Not even Tom Hanks crazy.


I admired them both the farther I got into the story. And I wished that I could be like them. To face my challenges and fears head on without cringing in fear and self-doubt, because more than once I’ve been exiled, too.

When my grandmother succumbed to Alzheimer’s, when I left home for college, when I transferred from that college to attend another when I got married, when I left work to have our first child, when we moved six weeks after her arrival to a completely new town, when my mother died in 2003, and when we moved again seven years and two more kids later to another new town.

Through all these changes, I’ve felt isolated at some point, bereft of the things I’d come to know. Each time, I felt the rug pulled from beneath my feet, and it took quite a while for me to right myself and grow accustomed to the new world I’d been thrown into. I’m still crawling around on the ground from our last move and from the new world of merging writing and motherhood.

But, now I realize that after every past moment of exile, I DID eventually claw my way back to my feet. Yes, it took a long time, but I did persevere. I did adapt to the new world. I finally found my place in it, though it wasn’t as easy and smooth as others might have found their groove.

So, I guess Loralee and Sir Robert aren’t so much better than me after all. That’s what I have to remember when I fear that I’ll never get off the deserted island of change and back into the contentment of adaptation. I have to remember that Loralee and Sir Robert’s story really has mimicked my own life. They got back on their feet after every one of life’s upsets. And so did I. And so I will again…eventually.

***Tour-Wide Drawing***

Entries as of 7/19/13   9

Buy one copy (print or electronic) of Hearts in Exile at Melange Books, Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, or All Romance E-Books, and you'll be entered into a drawing to win this BIG prize pack:

$10 Amazon Gift Card, Dragon Necklace, I ♥ Dragons Tote Bag, This Gal (or Guy) Loves Dragons T-shirt, Hearts in Exile Notebook, and set of three signed playlist postcards. 










To enter, just purchase a copy of Hearts in Exile from any of the online retailers above, and email your receipt (or confirmation code) to ME at: mystiparker@yahoo.com. Drawing to be held on August 1, and it's open worldwide!!!

Here are the links where you can find Hearts in Exile:

Smashwords (all e-formats): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/326723