Teaser Tuesday - 3/12/13

Photo credit: K.S. Lewis' website

Shh, it's still Tuesday somewhere. (That's a lie.)

Anyway, I have another special Teaser Tuesday for you this week because I'm in the middle of reading K.S. Lewis' new, soon-to-be-published novella, The Chosen of Ky'kias, which will be available on April 10. And I gotta tell you, it's pretty awesome, guys. I'm only about a third of the way through it, but I'm loving it.

 

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:

"The Cherry Blade," Glenn muttered to Oran as they watched Mara get stopped by her father and heckled about lunch. "Why couldn't it be called the Mighty Ogre Crusher or something?"

Teaser Tuesday - 3/5/13

Photo credit: D.R. Cartwright (DRC) from a concept by Ella Wilson

I'm still reading Fragments by Dan Wells this week, but I wanted to do a very special Teaser Tuesday to celebrate the launch of Overcoming Adversity, an anthology edited by Nick Wilford. Nick 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. When not writing he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also co-running a campaign to get a dedicated specialist college built in Scotland. If you like the teaser, you should buy the book (links after the blurb). The money goes to a great cause.

A collection of seventy moving and uplifting original pieces - real life, flash fiction, and poetry - about battling against the odds and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. The contributors include Amazon bestselling authors Alex J. Cavanaugh and Kyra Lennon, and the cream of upcoming talent.

The anthology is part of a fundraising effort to send the editor's stepson, Andrew McNaughton, to a specialist college in England. Andrew has cerebral palsy, and is a remarkable young man with a promising future. However, the free further education options offered in his own country of Scotland will not challenge him and allow him to progress. In order to access the education he deserves, Andrew will have to pay exorbitant fees, thus creating a situation of discrimination.

Help us get Andrew to college by buying a book that runs the full gamut of human emotions, ultimately leaving you inspired and glad to be alive. Whatever struggles you are going through, our sincere hope is that this book will help.

To buy Overcoming Adversity, go to:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Smashwords
And check out the book's Goodreads page.

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. Because I couldn't decide what story to pull a quote from, I went with the first few sentences of the book:

Sunny’s heart pounded in time with the steady drumbeat on the roof. She had never heard rain like it. She was not given to fear but tonight the sounds unnerved her... just a little.

Blindsided Review

Synopsis:

After a successful first soccer season in L.A, Jesse Shaw heads to London with his best buddy, Hunter, but his world is turned upside down when a dangerous prank threatens his career and his blossoming relationship with Hunter’s cousin, Isabelle.

Isabelle Mills lives in Notting Hill with her parents and her twin sister, Georgia. When she finds out her cousin is coming to stay, along with his famous soccer player friend, her first instinct is to hibernate until they’ve gone. However, once she meets Jesse, everything changes. He’s everything she ever wanted, but with so many obstacles in their path, can she really risk putting her heart on the line?

Review:

I'll be honest, when Kyra told me I could have an advance copy of Blindsided to review for her blog tour, I may have made some inappropriate squealing noises. Just a few, and they were very quiet. OK, sort of quiet. For all values of quiet that equal loud.

That's a colorful way of saying I was excited for this book. I liked Game On, but the real stars of it, for me, were the secondary characters: Freya, Bryce, Miguel… and Jesse. I liked Jesse a lot. Now, to be fair, I already knew Kyra was writing his story, but I don't think that would have changed my opinion of him at all. He's the sweet side of the team, the complete contrast to Radleigh McCoy's brash cockiness. He was endearing and showed a lot of potential in the first book, so I was really looking forward to getting his story.

And I wasn't disappointed. Jesse developed into a fantastic character in this book, the kind of guy everyone should have in their lives. Sure, he has some flaws--what 18-year-old doesn't?--but, when it counts, he's the guy you want to depend on. He's smart, he's kind, and when push comes to shove, he always has your back. But he's also got his priorities in pretty good shape. He knows that he needs to take care of himself because his career depends on it. He may get exasperated by his family, but he clearly loves them too. At times he may be a little too perfect, but the end result is an all-around good guy that you're going to root for no matter what.

Both Radleigh and Leah make appearances in this book. Leah's pretty much the same from Game On, and I liked seeing her relationship with Jesse expanded upon. She's sort of a big sister/second mother to him, and it suits her. Radleigh's a little different than the last book, and I think being in a committed relationship with Leah has really changed his character for the better. It's like the nicer parts of his character were magnified, and the more offensive parts were diminished. His relationship with Jesse is a little more complicated than Leah's, and it was nice to see Jesse waver between hero-worship, slight resentment, and ultimately true friendship.

As for the new characters, I loved them all (you know, except the ones you're really not supposed to love). The main one is Isabelle, who was really a wonderful match for Jesse. She was sweet, insecure, and relatable. I think everyone has some aspect of Isabelle in them. As soon as their romantic interest is established, I was rooting for them. And even when she made decisions I didn't necessarily agree with, I still liked her, which isn't always the case with some characters.

So short summary: If you liked Game On, go read Blindsided. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. I thought this book was even stronger than the first, and I can't wait to see where the series goes next. The only complaint I had was that it ended too soon.

Author Bio:

Kyra Lennon was born on the South coast of England, and to this day, still lives by the sea. After years spent working in retail, where she met enough versatile characters to write hundreds of books, she finally took the plunge and quit her day job. Kyra's debut novel, Game On, was released in July 2012. While fiction writing has always been her passion, she also has numerous articles on a variety of topics published on prolific websites. Check out her blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

Buy Blindsided on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

Letting Go Bloghop

Today's the release day for Kyra Lennon's new novella, If I Let You Go. It's free on Amazon for today only, so quick, go get a copy!

The rules:
"Was there a time when you had to let go of someone or something? How did it make you feel? How did you handle it? Or if that's too personal - which I completely understand - how about writing a piece of flash fiction? The only rules are - obviously - it has to be related to letting go, and please keep it to a maximum of 500 words."

I'm very, very bad at letting things go. Not grudges (believe it or not, I'm actually quite good at letting go of those), not people, but things. Possessions. Stuffed animals from my childhood or school assignments from the 1990s or old computers and computer bits. Stupid stuff that the intellectual part of me knows I'll never use again or never want to use again.

I want to be clear. I'm not a hoarder... but just barely. Sometimes it feels like the only thing that keeps me from being one is a severe lack of free space and claustrophobia (irrational fears win out over irrational attachments any day). I can get rid of things that are obviously garbage, like hastily scribbled notes of no consequence and things that are broken beyond repair (though my definition of "beyond repair" might be looser than some). But if there's even a chance there might be practical value or, heaven forbid, sentimental value, I have a hard time parting with it.

To some extent, I blame Disney for this. You can say what you will about whether they give little girls unrealistic expectations for their future or give people a false sense of what "true love" is, but I think the real problem with Disney movies are that they personify everything. Suddenly, my stupid childhood toys have sentience. How can you just throw something out that has sentience?! Damn you, Disney, for giving me empathy for things that have no feelings for me to share.

I also don't like change. I think the might have something to do with it too.

We all have our issues, I suppose. If this is the worst of mine, I'm probably doing okay... though I should probably keep an eye on it if I ever move into a bigger place.

Congrats on the new book release, Kyra!

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!

Game On Blog Tour

I'm so thrilled to have a special guest on Chock Full of Words today. Meet Leah Walker, the star of Game On by Kyra Lennon. She's here today to talk about her family. Much of Game On centers on the relationships between Leah and her brother and parents, so I'm excited to hear more of her thoughts on the subject (especially her nephew Jamie, who was without a doubt my favorite character in the book. Please give a warm welcome to Leah Walker! (I know, I know. I missed my calling as a game show announcer.)

I’d like to tell you a little bit more about my family. You see, now I live in L.A, I don’t get to see them much anymore. And by that I mean, I haven’t seen them in over a year, since I moved to America. I think some of my friends here think that I don’t miss them because I rarely talk about them. In fact, the opposite is true. I miss them so much, it hurts to talk about them.

My mum, bless her heart, is kind of... old before her time. And she’s always been that way. We used to be close, but my rebellious teen phase put a huge dent in that. This wasn’t her fault. It was mine. I shut down, and stopped talking about what was going on with me. She didn’t make it any better by pushing, and she can give a guilt trip better than anyone I know. But it was me who initially weakened the bonds. I hope that one day we can fix it all. We talk on the phone every few weeks, and in spite of the distance, we have got closer. But there are many things beneath the surface we need to deal with.

My dad’s quiet. Not in a grumpy old man kind of way. He just likes to keep life as simple as possible, and would never dream of starting an argument, or nitpicking over something that might cause a row. He just sits back, waits. His facial expressions always give him away though. He’s the kindest man I know, and he only ever wants what is best for everyone.

My brother, Josh... he is amazing. He’s kind of the perfect combination of my parents, personality-wise. He’s like my mum in the sense that, if someone has a problem, he wants to help. But like my dad, he knows when to hold back. He didn’t interfere in my decision to move to America. Well, he didn’t try and talk me out of it. He told my parents to let me go and stop badgering me into staying near home. I knew he wanted me to stay, but he made sure that I didn’t feel any pressure from him.

Josh’s wife, Christina, is just about the sweetest person you could ever hope to have in your family. She’s been with Josh since they were at school, so she’s known me since I was thirteen. I always looked up to her when I was growing up. I thought she was really cool, and I loved her blonde curls. I remember asking my mum over and over if I could dye my hair blonde. Mum always laughed and said that blonde wouldn’t work on my black hair, and it would be more likely to come out green. During the rebellious phase I mentioned, I paid to have blonde streaks put in my hair, and they were most definitely blonde, not green. Mum was livid!

Josh and Christina have two wonderful children. Jamie is seven and Grace is sixteen months. I haven’t seen Grace since she was a baby, and I know there is a lot I’m missing out on. I was always exceptionally close to Jamie, and it lights up my day when I get to speak to him on the phone. He’s a great kid, and I know he is going to grow up to do great things.

I’m lucky, I know. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again, but talking about them? That’s always hard. So now I’m going to get a glass of wine, and think about something that doesn’t make me want to jump on the next plane to England!

Thanks so much for being on my blog, Leah! If you're interested in buying Game On (which you should be), you can purchase it on Amazon or Smashwords, at the following links:
Amazon Kindle
Amazon paperback
Amazon UK Kindle
Amazon UK paperback
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble Nook

Kyra's Blog

Go Team Leah!

Writing Slump and a Call for a Book Recommendation

You know how, in baseball, batters sometimes wind up in a slump when they're constantly swinging for home runs? And how the best advice they're given is to just try to hit the ball instead of trying to get it over the fence?

I've been swinging for the fences.

Some of you know I'm pretty obsessed with television. It was my major in college and, for awhile, it's where I thought I'd work after graduation. I watch a lot of it, and it's a huge influence on my writing. Except right now I think it's negatively influencing me.

I've been watching The Newsroom every Sunday. As in, I don't miss it, and I usually watch it two or three more times throughout the week. If you haven't seen it, it's a show by the creator of The West Wing that goes behind-the-scenes of a cable news show. It's clever, idealistic, a bit full of itself, and all around wonderful.

But it also has the effect of making me want to go change the world. The characters in this show do. Every day. And what am I doing? As much as I love Capitoline Hill and as proud as I am of it, it's unlikely to be a life-altering book for most readers. I want to change lives.

So I've plotted out a handful of new books recently with the intention of making them epic. I'm assuming I can't possibly be the only one who's done this, so some of you know that when you set out with "epic" in mind, you're almost guaranteed to fall short. I can't imagine J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins thought, "I'm going to change the world," when they wrote Harry Potter or The Hunger Games. They thought, "Just make contact with the ball."

I need to refocus on the basics, but how do you balance desires like this with reality? How do you shove aside the "change the world" mentality? I keep falling behind on my word count and starting new stories because nothing ever seems to be good enough to keep writing. I also think I might be making myself a little nuts. So, if you've been in this position before, what advice do you have? Or, you know, if you have an epic idea for me to write, that'd be cool too.

And on an unrelated note: I spent a lot of time talking to my 15-year-old neighbor yesterday. She's not a big reader, but she seems to be open to the idea of trying some books, partly because she has to read one for summer reading and partly because I've been bugging her about it since she was in elementary school. So we're going to take a trip to Barnes & Noble in the next few weeks, and I'd like to have some suggestions for her.

Basically, she likes contemporary YA romances. You know, boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, some conflict ensues, boy and girl live happily ever after. If there's something about a sweet 16 in there more's the better. For a reference, Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally and Knee Deep by Jolene Perry both got "maybe"s. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

And last but not least! Kyra Lennon's book Game On is for sale on Amazon! You should go buy it!

Amazon.com kindle version
Amazon.com paperback
Amazon UK kindle version
Amazon UK paperback

100 Twitter Followers Giveaway!

You guys have no idea how excited I am to have reached 100 followers on Twitter. Well, that's probably not true, since I imagine everyone else feels pretty much the same way when they hit 100 followers. But still... I'm excited.

And I'm really grateful to all the people who've accepted me so quickly and easily into the blogging community. I wanted to give a shout out to a few really awesome people who made me feel welcome and way less awkward when I first started blogging (all those four months ago): K.S. Lewis, Emily R. King, Kyra Lennon, Cassie Mae, Rebecca Belliston, Leigh Covington, and McKenzie McCann. It's nowhere near a complete list of the wonderful friends I've made, and I appreciate every one of you.

SO in the spirit of that appreciation, I'm giving away two ebooks! The first is K.S. Lewis's The Eternal Queen.

Here's a quick summary from the Facebook page:

Eternal Queen Anastasia has been kidnapped from her own Rebirth Ceremony – not that the seven Royal Lords will let anyone know. Though they, themselves, soon start dropping like flies, as rumors spread on the suspicious whispers of the people. Mrs. Deedly and Mrs. Dummley – who are absolutely not sisters – just want to find what their long, unwieldy scarf has snagged during their walk through Lower Rung. It's a boot, attached to a foot, attached to a dying man in the cemetery. At the same time, Bogart Bugly of Rainbow Tower has found himself a young, injured, gem of a girl, and he's going to make gold on this one. In the Palace, the newly promoted Lord Septimus has his own ideas about the future of the city and its Queen.

Mystery, murder, and mayhem all abound in The Eternal Queen, which follows a young girl named Red, a mischievous rogue named Wolf, and the determined new Lord who calls himself Hunter. As Red opens her eyes to a world she can't quite understand, she must come to terms with the Queen, the city, and the precarious relationship the two have shared for centuries.

The second book I'm giving away is Jeanne Donnelly's Soul Mates: A different kind of Love Story (edited by Shannon Donnelly).

And here's the blurb from her website:

After a tragic death on mean city streets, a woman meets God and begs him to let her reincarnate to bring the heavenly message of unconditional love to the world. Follow the adventure when she is tossed back to earth as one of the smallest dogs on the planet.

There will be two winners, one for each book. In the Rafflecopter entry thing, you can specify whether you want a specific book or either (in case you've already read one of them), and I'll randomly choose. June 13th is the last day to enter the drawing.

And while you're waiting, check out the authors' blogs: Adjective, Not a Noun (K.S. Lewis) and One Aimless Writer (Jeanne Donnelly). They are both amazing women who wrote fantastic, engaging books. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Flash Fiction Friday - 3/16/12 (and a plug)

OK, plug first. My friend Jeanne Donnelly just published her book, Soul Mates (A different kind of Love Story), on Amazon.

After a tragic death on mean city streets, a woman meets God and begs him to let her reincarnate to bring the heavenly message of unconditional love to the world. Follow the adventure when she is tossed back to earth as one of the smallest dogs on the planet.

She's a fantastic writer, and you should go check it out.

And now for your regularly scheduled (St. Patrick's Day) flash fiction. I don't really know how I feel about this one, so I welcome your critiques.

Jace pounded back his drink and slammed the glass on the bar, silently signaling for another. He made a face at the green shot the bartender pushed toward him but drank it anyway. He could get just as drunk with a green drink as an amber one.

From what he understood about St. Patrick’s Day, that’s all it was about anyway.

The bartender wasn’t moving fast enough, so he took a hit off the flask he’d snuck in, the one that was laced with a little more than whiskey. He felt the familiar rush that was half-adrenaline, half-chemical.

He’d had ten months clean.

He took another furious swig. He’d only gotten clean for her. If she didn’t want him anymore, then who cared if he had a few pills anyway?

Someone sat on the stool next to him. Jace ignored the short, stocky girl who leaned over him to get the bartender’s attention, but he couldn’t ignore her slow Southern drawl. “Where are you from?” he asked reluctantly, and she grinned when she heard his own accent.

“Georgia. You?”

“South Carolina.”

“What are you doing in this big bad city?”

He huffed a bitter laugh and said, “Followed a girl up here. Stupid me.”

“So did I.” Off his look, she laughed and said, “My sister. We’re on a road trip.”

“Cool.” The drugs were starting to loosen him up. “She around here too?”

The girl waved a hand behind her. “Somewhere.”

He glanced around, then took another hit off the flask. Then he smiled, his best, most charming smile, and said, “You wanna go somewhere too?”

She laughed. “We just met!”

He flushed a little. “I meant just to talk. Someplace quieter. I’m not looking to start anything.”

She looked him up and down before shrugging and sliding off the stool. “I could probably take you anyway,” she said with a smile.

No, Jace thought as he handed her the flash so she could take a healthy drink, you really can’t.

Have a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day!

Shameless Plug

So bear with me for a few minutes while I shamelessly plug my good friend's book. It's called The Eternal Queen, and it's really great. She just self-published it (links below), and I'm halfway through my second read of it. I highly recommend it.

Eternal Queen Anastasia has been kidnapped from her own Rebirth Ceremony – not that the seven Royal Lords will let anyone know. Though they, themselves, soon start dropping like flies, as rumors spread on the suspicious whispers of the people. Mrs. Deedly and Mrs. Dummley – who are absolutely not sisters – just want to find what their long, unwieldy scarf has snagged during their walk through Lower Rung. It's a boot, attached to a foot, attached to a dying man in the cemetery. At the same time, Bogart Bugly of Rainbow Tower has found himself a young, injured, gem of a girl, and he's going to make gold on this one. In the Palace, the newly promoted Lord Septimus has his own ideas about the future of the city and its Queen.

Mystery, murder, and mayhem all abound in The Eternal Queen, which follows a young girl named Red, a mischievous rogue named Wolf, and the determined new Lord who calls himself Hunter. As Red opens her eyes to a world she can't quite understand, she must come to terms with the Queen, the city, and the precarious relationship the two have shared for centuries.

And here are the links:
Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/124043
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/The-Eternal-Queen-ebook/dp/B006YK6Y5A/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1326897491&sr=8-8