Cover Reveal - A Change of Mind and Other Stories

Cover design by Rebekah Romani

It's my pleasure today to be part of a cover reveal for A Change of Mind and Other Stories, a collection by Nick Wilford. The collection consists of a novella, four short stories and one flash fiction piece. It puts the extremes of human behaviour under the microscope with the help of lashings of dark humour, and includes four pieces previously published in Writer’s Muse magazine.

Here's a little bit about the works included in A Change of Mind and Other Stories:

In A Change of Mind, Reuben is an office worker so meek and mild he puts up with daily bullying from his boorish male colleagues as if it’s just a normal part of his day. But when a stranger points him in the direction of a surgeon offering a revolutionary new procedure, he can’t pass up the chance to turn his life around.

But this isn’t your average surgeon. For a start, he operates alone in a small room above a mechanic’s. And he promises to alter his patients’ personality so they can be anything they want to be…

In Marissa, a man who is determined to find evidence of his girlfriend’s infidelity ends up wondering if he should have left well alone.

The Dog God finds a chink in the armour of a man with a megalomaniacal desire to take over the world.

In The Insomniac, a man who leads an obsessively regimented lifestyle on one hour’s sleep a night finds a disruption to his routine doesn’t work for him.

Hole In One sees a dedicated golfer achieving a lifelong ambition.

The Loner ends the collection on a note of hope as two family members try to rebuild their lives after they are torn apart by jealousy.

I don't know about you guys, but I can't wait for this to come out. A Change of Mind and Other Stories is scheduled for release on May 25th, but you can pre-order it now (I already have!) on Amazon US or Amazon UK. You can also check it out on Goodreads.

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working, he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. You can find him hanging out on his blog or on Goodreads or Twitter.

My cover! My beautiful cover!

My gorgeous cover for PACK MENTALITY is done! I can brag about it without reservation, since my amazing friend Patricia Miller did all the hard work. I'm so in love with it.

The copyrights for the images are held by Michael Shevlin, Jose Antonio Sánchez Reyes | Dreamstime.com, and Iakov Filimonov | Dreamstime.com. The copyright for the cover is held by Patricia L. Miller.

Reminder: PACK MENTALITY comes out tomorrow (October 8th), and you can win a copy of the ebook!

Cover Reveal: Friday Night Alibi

Hey, guys, check it out! Cassie Mae's NA book has a cover! Also, a really awesome-sounding plot and an expectant fan (well, probably more than a few of those)!

Rising star Cassie Mae introduces New Adult readers to a practical soon-to-be college freshman who seems to have everything—until a special guy shows her what she’s been missing.

In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud Chase Maroney.

Chase isn’t like the preppy, privileged guys Kelli usually meets in Sundale. For starters, he’s twentysomething, always wears black, and he shoots back one-liners as fast as she can dish them out. But Kelli’s attempts to drive Chase away falter when she realizes that he treats her like he really knows her, like he cares about knowing her. When Kelli finally gives in to the delicious kiss she’s been fighting for so long, she faces a tough decision: make Chase a real-life boyfriend and risk her heart . . . or keep her clients and lose her first true love.

Advance praise for Friday Night Alibi

“Totally entertaining with as many swoon-worthy moments as hilarious ones, Friday Night Alibi is a must-read.”—Jolene Perry, co-author of Out of Play

“A fun, funny, and fantastic story, this is one you will read in a day, and pick up to re-read again the next.”—Kelley Lynn, author of Fraction of Stone

It comes out on July 29th, but you can preorder it HERE.

Teaser Tuesday - 10/15/12 (and a Cover Reveal!)

Photo credit: Patricia Briggs' website

It's possible I've already used this book as a Teaser Tuesday. It's not my fault. Every once in awhile I have the overwhelming desire to reread Patricia Briggs' Alpha & Omega series. It's a novella and three books, and once I get to the last book, I sometimes start over. And over. And over. I think I cut myself off at three or four rereads last time. I don't know why, but I'm just addicted to this series (OK OK, it's the main character. I just think she's so cool and very, very well-done). And the second book has the honor of being the first book I ever bought on my Nook. This is from the first book (the sequel to the novella).

Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognize her value as a pack member—and as his mate.

The rules for Teaser Tuesday are:

• 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!
• Then hit up Should Be Reading to add your link.

And the teaser:

She was nothing, and she had brought about their Alpha's death: they'd have killed her if they dared.

Just try, she told them without using words.

Also, Kyra Lennon revealed the cover of her new book, Blindsided! Go check it out, and go read Game On so you'll be ready when it comes out November 19. And take a look for my review on December 4!

Cover Reveal, Genre Blogfest, and Some News

First thing's first. Check out the gorgeous cover for Kyra Lennon's new novella, If I Let You Go. Seriously, how much do you love the look on her face? Gives me chills.

Madison Connor is about to lose it. Her job, that is. For three years, she’s taken care of Dominic Hartley’s five year old daughter, Tilly, but her world is flipped on its head when Dominic tells her his latest promotion is taking him to New York. With Tilly having a meltdown over the move, Madison and Dominic get into a fight that changes the entire nature of their relationship, causing Madison to ask herself a big question. Can she let him go?

Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. Fiction writing has always been her passion, but she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites.

Kyra’s debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012 and the second book in the series, Blindsided, is due for release in November 2012.

If I Let You Go is scheduled for release on October 22, 2012. Check out Kyra online here: Blog / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

Shh, I know I'm, like, two days late for this, but I really wanted to do it anyway. Don't tell anyone.

Favorite genre of...

• Movie: Romantic Comedy. Yup, I'm a sucker for the chick flicks. I also like those weird, cerebral dramas, like Inception.
• Music: Country. I swear, I'm a Northerner. I'm just a Northerner who likes country music. But I'll really listen to almost anything (except death metal).
• Books: Right now, Urban Fantasy. I go through waves. Before this, it was legal and cop mysteries, but I've been on the fantasy kick (both adult and YA) for a few years now.
• Guilty Pleasure: This is actually pretty hard because I don't really feel guilty about what I watch/listen to/read. I guess the closest would be my love for boy bands. Yes, I admit it, I've been listening to One Direction lately. And you know what? I like them. So there.

And last but definitely, definitely not least, my news. I've started querying agents for Capitoline Hill! I made myself a resolution that I'd celebrate the Jewish New Year by sending my book to at least a few agents, and I did it! Only five so far, but I'm plugging away at the list I've made. This is by far the furthest I've ever gotten towards getting a book published, and I'm really, really excited about it.

Happy Wednesday!

Cover Reveals

Today's been an exciting day! Two awesome people revealed their book covers.

First was Kyra Lennon, revealing her cover for Game On.

And here's a blurb about the book:

After swapping her small town life to work for a top U.S soccer team, Leah Walker thought she could finally leave the ghosts of her past behind. However, when she meets serial womanizer, Radleigh McCoy, the memories of her old life come swarming back, and she is forced to ask herself whether she has really changed at all.

Seriously, how cute is that cover? I just want to mess up Radleigh's hair even more.

And also revealing her cover (on her birthday weekend no less) was Chantele Sedgwick for Not Your Average Fairy Tale.

And here's the blurb:

Ash Summerland has it all–good looks, popularity, and the best grades at The Academy of Magical Beings. Ready to complete his last assignment in order to graduate, Ash is confident he will get the apprenticeship he wants. When he opens the letter from the Council, he is shocked to discover he has been assigned to apprentice Lady Shenelle, Keeper of Happy Endings. A.K.A. the head fairy godmother. Ash is forced to grant three wishes to a troubled human girl named Kendall, and ultimately give her a "happy ever after". But Kendall turns out to be more than he bargained for. Still grieving over her father's death, Kendall doesn't want anything to do with him. And worst of all, she doesn't believe in happy endings.

I love this cover too. It's gorgeous, especially the wings and wand.

On a side note, I finished Nyrae Dawn's What a Boy Needs last night. As much as I really liked What a Boy Wants, I think I may have liked this one more. Jaden's such a complex character, and I felt like I really related to him. And the end was great. I don't want to spoil anything, but you should all go read it.

Happy Friday!