Beach Reads Blog Hop: What are you reading this summer? #Giveaway #InquiringMinds #Kindle

 

Welcome one and all to my little corner of Roane Publishing’s Beach Reads Blog Hop. Glad you have you with me.

Blog Hops are a great way to get to know knew authors, score some sweet prizes, and in the case of my blog, share your summer read for this year.

That’s right, in order to score a chance to win my giveaway, you’ve got to comment below with what you will be reading this summer. What book has you psyched to hit the beach?

For me, I am looking forward to digging into the ARC copies I managed to score at BEA this year. Tops on the list — THE SWEET SPOT by Stephanie Evanovich (who I loved meeting at BEA, coincidentally).

What page turner can you not wait to tear into this year? Share your pick and you could win one of two prizes…

My grand prize…

A signed PRINT copy of FOR THE LOVE OF MURPHY anthology, which includes my story, A Slippery Slope.

I’m also offering a 2nd place prize of one eBook of choice from my backlist. You can find a listing of my titles in the blog’s sidebar on the left side of the page. The eCopy can be in ePUB, MOBI, or PDF.

So make sure you tell me what book you’re looking forward to reading this summer. Make sure your answer is unique. Copied and pasted entries will be disqualified.

Couldn’t be more simple, right?

Oh!! Almost forgot… Be sure to leave me your email address, so I can get in touch with you should you be chosen as the randomly selected winner of either of the prizes I’m offering for the hop.

The blog hop host, Roane Publishing is offering up a Kindle Paperwhite as a grand prize, so make sure you swing by there and enter that giveaway once you’ve left your reading suggestion in the comments below.

Here’s a link to the giveaway to make it easy for you. 🙂

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

While you’re there entering the giveaway, make sure you hit up the Link list below and visit all of the other sites participating in the hop. There are a slew of amazing prizes to be had.

Click here to view the Linky Tools list…

The hop ends July 18th, so be sure to get your entries in before then.

Best of luck in all the giveaways!!!

 

My Winners for the Evernight’s Valentine’s Blog Hop #Giveaway

A Big Congratulations to the winners of my part of the Evernight Valentine’s Blog Hop.

Grand Prize Winner:

Sheri V.

Runner-up:

Natasha D.

The winners have been notified by email. Thanks to everyone who came by and commented. The Rafflecopter Giveaway can be found here.

I hope you all had an amazing and romantic Valentine’s Day!

Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop Winner! #Giveaway #erotica

The tumbler has been tumbled and the entries randomized. The time has come to announce the big winner of my portion of the Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop.

*Cue confetti*

Thank you to everyone who followed and commented to enter.

The winner of the eBook copy of BLOOD AND FIRE and ACE in the HOLE is:

Carla!!

Congratulations, Carla. Watch your inbox for an email from me. I will need to know what file type you would like for the two eBooks.

Thanks again to everyone for stopping in during the Hop and

Happy Holidays and Season’s Beatings to Everyone!!

*wink*

Mistletoe Madness Blog Hop Winners! #CalloftheSea #Giveaway

I’m just stopping in this chilly Saturday evening to announce the winners of my little part of the Mistletoe Madness Bog Hop, which ended last night at Midnight EST. First off, I want to thank everyone who entered and followed on Facebook and Twitter. I really appreciate all the comments and making so many great new “friends”.

Now — to the fun part. Here are the randomly selected winners:

Grand Prize – A signed print copy of CALL OF THE SEA

Judy Peterson

and

Runners Up – A signed CALL OF THE SEA Bookmark

Sherry Johnson

Kimberly Holgate

Huge congratulations to all three winners. I will be in touch with you by email to get your mailing addresses so I can send out the prizes.

Once again, a big thank you to everyone who stopped by during the Hop, who commented, followed and entered.

Happy Holidays!!

Evernight Publishing’s Christmas Blog Hop #Giveaway #iPad2

Welcome to the Evernight Holiday Blog Hop!

We love the holidays, we love making our readers happy and we love giving away swag. What better way to do that than to hold a blog hop?

Here’s how it works… the more blogs you hop to (you can click the banner above or HERE for the complete list) the more chance you have of winning prizes. Each site on the hop is offering a prize and Evernight is offering an iPad 2 as the grand prize!

To be in with a chance of winning the site prize simply follow the blog you’re visiting and leave a comment which includes your email address. Each entry on each blog is then counted towards the grand prize draw. The more entries you have, the better your chance of winning that iPad 2! You also get extra points for liking the Evernight Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/#!/evernightpublishing. Just make sure you let us know in the comments that you’ve done so.

Happy hopping!

For my part of the giveaway, I am offering one of the followers who leaves there email in the comments (as outlined above) a FREE eBook copy of Vanilla-Free Christmas (Evernight Publishing) — a collection of nine kinky tales with a Christmas twist and a FREE eBook copy of my new standalone release, Blood and Fire. Yup, two separate erotic prizes for one lucky winner. This giveaway is open to INTERNATIONAL entrants, so give us a follow and let me know below.

If you already follow the blog, just put that in your comments with your email address and you will still be entered to win.

Vanilla-Free Christmas:

Back of the Book: 

This Christmas, the best gifts are waiting for those who have been naughty…And the toys under the tree are not for children.

Sexy Santas, naughty elves, and dominant shifters are ready to spread some very kinky Christmas cheer. It’s a good thing the ladies in our stories are looking for anything but vanilla.

Be Warned: ménage sex, anal sex, sex toys, BDSM, spanking

Blood and Fire:

Back of the Book: 

College student, Francesca Morgan has finally met the Dominant man of her dreams. Kevin Stevenson is sexy, sure of himself, and knows just how to make her knees quake.

When he takes Frankie to her first fetish party, she is reminded being collared means her Master can do what he wishes with her, including offering her “services” for the evening to a sexy Dominant business associate he is trying to impress.

It doesn’t take long for Frankie to realize their host, Bartholomew Andrews is nothing like any Dom she has ever served. Aside from his devastating looks and heaping financial fortune, Bartholomew can read her thoughts, and knows just how to make her body react.

Can Frankie keep her wits about her and serve at his feet without falling for him, or will Master Amazing steal her heart and her soul in one steamy night of servitude?

What are you waiting for — Follow and Comment!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Guest Post: Combining Genres by AmyBeth Iverness #ANA2012

Today we have a guest post from AmyBeth Iverness, an author I met through Tiffany Reisz and the Felt Tips anthology due out in December. A big thank you to Amy for stopping in to spend a little time with us today.

AmyBeth’s short story The Peanut Gallery Rebellion is entered in the America’s Next Author competition!

Please read it, and if you like it, click VOTE. It does not require a log in to do either. If you are feeling especially generous, leaving a review is also greatly appreciated. (as all you authors out there can attest)

http://www.ebookmall.com/author/amybeth-inverness

Combining Genres by AmyBeth Inverness

Fledgling writers are inundated with advice of what not to do. One of the biggies is “Thou Shalt Not Combine Genres.” This advice makes sense from the perspective of an agent looking at a query that describes the story as “an action-adventure with a western theme in space with strong romantic elements and a bisexual cast of characters.” Agents, and publishers, want to be able to categorize the story. When there are elements of many genres, that is almost impossible to do.

The first author I ever interviewed was Sara Creasy, author of Song of Scarabaeus and Children of Scarabaeus. The books were listed as Sci-Fi/Romance. Since those are my two favorite genres, and I most frequently write them combined, I was eager to read them. They were great SciFi stories with lots of action, and there was a strong romantic element. I enjoyed them both, but Sara herself agreed she wasn’t sure why they had received the Romance label. Fortunately, the book stores seemed to understand, and shelved the book in the Sci-Fi section.

It is the bookstore that is the driving force behind the mantra “Do not combine genres.” Shelf space is valuable. Writers should consider themselves fortunate (or highly successful) if they have physical books on real shelves at all. Putting a book on two different shelves only happens for the best sellers.

But what about the emerging dominance of electronic retail? Even if the reader is purchasing a hard cover or paperback, more and more people are doing their book-buying online instead of in brick-and-mortar stores. It is easy for an on-line store to list a book in as many different virtual bookshelves as desired.

The reality is still that agents and publishers still want to know how to categorize your book. If a writer self-publishes, they may choose to ignore that rule. But they might not want to… marketing requires some kind of focus. If the story crosses too many genres, a potential reader might just gloss over that choice in favor of others.

After NaNoWriMo 2010, I researched agents who might accept my story. In that case, it was a Romance novel with homosexual and polyandrous relationships in a Sci-Fi setting. I didn’t find many agents who were willing to represent all of those. If I tried to consider that I also had some faith-based stories, my choices of agents quickly fell to zilch.

Like Song of Scarabaeus, though, just because a story has a “strong romantic element” doesn’t mean it is a romance novel. Likewise, there are many advocates for categorizing GLBT Romances right in with heterosexual Romances. If a story has a secondary character who is gay, that shouldn’t automatically change the way the story is categorized.

The best advice, and the most often repeated, is “Write the Best Story You Can.” That remains true. However there are some very basic guidelines that writers should follow. A typical novel is between 50 and 100 thousand words. Shorter than 50,000 means it is a novella or short story. Longer than 100,000 means the author needs a very good reason as to why their story is so long. It should have a beginning, middle, and an ending. You should know what age group you’re writing for. Trying to claim that your series will appeal to kids from ages 8 to 18 is too broad a range (although the Harry Potter novels proved that this really can work.)

There is both hopelessness and hopefulness in combining genres. Hopeless, because multiple genres set off huge warning flags, and an agent or publisher might reject the story on that fact alone. Hopeful, because in writing the best story you can, it is very possible that you will include elements of romance, adventure, mystery, fantasy or dozens of other possibilities. Hopefully, even though many of these elements show up, your story can still be identified with just one or two.

About Amy Beth Iverness: 

A writer by birth, a redhead by choice, and an outcast of Colorado by temporary necessity, AmyBeth Inverness is a prolific creator of Science Fiction and Romance.  With short stories coming out in two different anthologies in 2012, she can usually be found tapping away at her laptop, writing the next novel or procrastinating by posting a SciFi Question of the Day on Facebook. When she’s not writing, she’s kept very busy making aluminum foil hats and raising two energetic kids and many pets with her husband in their New England home.

Amy’s website:  http://amybethinverness.com/

Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway Hop: And the winner is…

The entries have been sorted and the results randomized for the Lazy Days of Summer Giveaway Hop, and the winner is:

donnablhmistress

Congratulations!!

I am on vacation this week, but when I return on Tuesday, I will get the signed bookmark in the mail, but look for an email from me before then so I can get the mailing particulars and find out what sort of eBook copy you want.

Thanks to all who entered and special thanks to I am a Reader not a Writer and Colorimetry for co-sponsoring this blog hop.

Congratulations to the Winner of the Hide and Seek Greek Myth Giveaway! #winner

While the participation numbers for the giveaway were not quite what I had hoped for, the blog traffic for this week was quite high, so that is a positive sign.

You are reading, you just aren’t commenting as much as I would like. But, we will get there 🙂 I blame myself for the long winded post with the contest information. I still haven’t quite learned the “short and sweet” lesson. I blame the Irish in me.

Anyway, after a random drawing of the qualified entries, the winner of the signed bookmark and free eBook copy of Hide and Seek by Aimee Laine is…

 

Cathy Geloso!

 

Congratulations, Cathy!

Expect an email from me within the week to get your information so I can mail you the bookmark.

To everyone else out there, if you haven’t already, make sure you all go out and order your copy of Aimee Laine’s first novel in the Games of Zeus series, HIDE AND SEEK.

See you all next time 🙂

~Bex

My Own Games of Zeus Giveaway and an Interview with Aimee Laine #giveaway #free #ebook

I have always had a rather keen interest in the Greek Myths, so I was super excited when I had the opportunity to read the publisher’s ARC copy of HIDE AND SEEK, a new paranormal romance series by author of LITTLE WHITE LIES, Aimee Laine. You can see my review of HIDE AND SEEK HERE. (I gave it 4.5 of 5 stars)

Ms. Laine also graciously agreed to allow me to host a little contest and giveaway to promote the release of the first novel in the Games of Zeus series. (Enter the Greek Myths)

 She also agreed to swing by the blog today and answer a few of my probing questions. (Yay me! – and by extension, you :P)

As you may have guessed by now, Ms. Laine’s new novel plays off the infamous Greek Myths, starting with Zeus’ ultimate paradox, the story of the fox and the hound. (If you’re not familiar with this particular myth, you can find out more from Wikipedia here: Fox, Hound)

I have a fair knowledge of some of the more popular greek myths and mythical creatures. Reading the novel got me thinking about my own favorites, and wondering which ones were the most popular with others. Would I be surprised to know how many others agreed with my choice, or what others were held in high regard? would someone have a favorite I may not have even heard of before?

And so, my contest idea was born. This is what you need to do to win a free eBook copy of HIDE AND SEEK, and a bookmark autographed by Aimee Laine.

1. Comment below naming your favorite greek myth and why it’s your favorite.

2. Provide and email address where I can contact you should you be the winner.

That’s it!

Yup, I will select one lucky commenter at random to receive both prizes. Because, I am really interested in giving you all time to give this some thought before answering, I will leave the contest open for one week. All qualifying replies made before midnight EST on 3/30 will be eligible for the random drawing.

I have a hard time chosing my own favorite myth, though I guess it would have to be the story if Sisyphus (destined to push the giant boulder uphill for eternity).

My reasoning would simply be the beauty of poetic justice. Karma can be a real… well, you know.

While, not a myth, but more a creature, Medusa comes a close second for me.

Along this same vein, *shifts focus to Aimee*

Bex: Of all the greek myths you could have chosen to play with for this story, why the fox and the hound?

Aimee: So this may sound like it’s cheating, but it’s a made-for-story plot. It’s the perfect, the ultimate, an ideal conflict and that’s exactly what readers want, right? Conflict? 🙂

Bex: I noticed this is Games of Zeus #1 — leading me to believe there will be others. Will future novels each play on their own greek myths?

Aimee: Yes. Book two is called Silent Echoes and it features Ian and Taylor who have a game of their own to play. This one’s a love triangle across the ages that isn’t gonna end well … ever. Zeus was KNOWN for his love triangles — all the gods were. Apparently, gods didn’t find monogamy important. Um, hello? People? IT IS! But hey, it does make for a great ‘game’ … and of course, I’ve put my own twists and turns on it. NO idea when this one will come out, but I have plans for Emma, too. Can’t tell you anything about her game yet.

Bex: Will Games of Zeus series work like your Mimics of Rune series does, with the supporting characters in the previous books taking center stage (when it is their turn) in the series novels?

Aimee: Yup. Kinda answered this one above, but it will. Each key character will have their own story. In the Mimics of Rune, we have Cael and Lily (Surrender, September 2012) and Maggie & James (sometimes in the future). There’s also Stuart, if I wanted to write for him. Which I may. In Games of Zeus, there really are three main stories. However (and this is kinda key) … I have plans to write a few novellas (maybe novels) for Tripp and Lexi using their gifts. That’ll be fun. Maybe. 😉

I for one, can’t wait to read some of these new stories, as well. If they are anything like the first two, we are in for a real treat. Thanks so much for letting me pick your brain a bit.

Ok, folks. That’s it for now.

Make sure you remember to comment below (and leave a way to contact you)for your chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by.
~Bex

Release Day Party and #Giveaway: Truly.Madly.Deeply.You by Cecilia Robert #ebook

Welcome to the Release Day Party for Truly. Madly. Deeply. You, a novella by Cecilia Robert. I reviewed this novella recently and gave it 3 of 5 stars. You can see my review here.

To enter the giveaway, please enter here: http://cecereadandwrite.blogspot.com/ as I cannot host Rafflecopter giveaways on this site 😦

Price: $1.99

Author: Cecilia Robert

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Length: Novella

Release Date: March 21st, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-9850115-2-9

Back of the Book:

Four days before Valentine’s Day, Liese Hansfeld is determined to shut the door to her house, as well as her heart, for her annual four days of mourning her one true love. Little does she know her best friend Freytag Meier is just as determined to keep her from her ritual. He’s ready to pick the lock to her apartment door and camp in her living room if that’s what it takes.

What Freytag isn’t prepared for is the surge of deep-rooted emotions he feels for Liese, but two things stand in his way: the grief and guilt she still clutches close to her heart, and a man who threatens to snatch Liese from under Frey’s watchful eye. Frey is determined to distract her into forgetting her pain.

But is that enough to ease her grief, or help her see he can be more than her best friend?

The novella is available at Inkspell Publishing’s bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble websites.

To learn more about this author, or to enter to win a free copy of this new release, please visit her website at: http://cecereadandwrite.blogspot.com