Sep 4 2013

My Bipolar IWSG Post . . .Nah, I don’t need no stinkin’ encouragement this month! Oh, wait! Who’s that knocking on my door at this hour? My good old friend REJECTION!

Uh-oh! Guess what day it is? Huh? Anybody? Oh, come on! I know you can hear me! It’s . . . Happy*Over*The*Hump*Day! Are you happier than a camel on Wednesday, because I am . . . or I was until an hour ago . . . but more on that in a moment.

The first Wednesday of every month is also officially known as Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Our mission via Head Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh: Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer.

This past month I was feeling pretty encouraged with all the feedback I received from four of my Beta/CP’s over the sequel to 18 Things, 18 Truths (if you’ve read book one, I put a sneak preview up top ^ for book two, so go check it out and tell me what you think, if you’re so inclined). Here’s what some of them had to say in their email comments:

Beta Reader #1: “JAMIE! What are you doing to me! I already finished 18 Truths!!!! I got to read it all day long…best day ever! I have so many thoughts swirling through my brain about it, but I just want to say this…..I’m dying here! If I had book three, I would pick it up this instant and start reading! The ending was absolutely perfect! It made my “Nooo” moment in 18 Things all okay …. I just wanted to say another great read. And seriously, just as soon as you get book three done I’ll happily beta read for you again. You wrapped the second book up so well, in addition to leaving us hanging just enough that I’m salivating for the final book!!!!! You know I want you to send it JUST as soon as you write The End! I can’t wait to read it!!! ”

Beta Reader #2: “Truth: I LOVED 18 TRUTHS! 🙂 Now, I have to be honest with you, because A.) I consider you much more than “just” a writing friend, and B.) I really love your writing. 18 THINGS blew me away. The story was such an emotional journey for me, and I’m assuming anyone else who’s ever picked it up shares those feelings. My heart was wholly invested in Olga and the rest of the cast from the very first page. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel that immense connection with 18 TRUTHS until I’d read a good chunk into it. So, what I think happened, is that some of the deep emotional connection we had to Olga in the first book, was lost in this second book. I think that in 18 THINGS, you concentrated on Olga’s emotional and spiritual journey, but you focused more on the story as a whole in 18
TRUTHS. . . 18 THINGS was powerful and profound . . . 18 TRUTHS was just a really good book. I guess I was missing that emotional and
spiritual journey aspect a little bit. But I am just one person, and my thoughts might be one among a million opposite perspectives, so take what you will, or don’t. 🙂 You truly have a gift, and I am so happy to be able to read such God-centered stories because at times, I really need the reminder.”

Beta Reader #3: “Brilliant! That’s all I have to say, love. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My comments are very, very few. Take them or leave them. Thank you for letting me be a part of this incredible read. This was an un-put-downable book, filled with twists and turns and while I was hoping for the ending you gave us, I didn’t really think you’d go there. I am thrilled you did. I love the way you weaved the stories, linking them all together in unexpected ways. The complicated relationships between the characters were expertly told with just the right about of passion, sizzle, and pure love. I have chosen my one and only for Olga, but I will gladly wait until book three to find out if my wishes come true or if God has other plans. Beautifully told story, strong characters, well-thought out plot, expertly written. A true storyteller. Bravo.”

My other beta reader also sung praises for 18 Truths, but she’s totally old school and printed out my entire novel and left comments all over it, and I’m too lazy to hunt through my pages and retype comments at this late hour (anyone else usually still up around 1:30am?). I always take the path of least resistance (A.K.A. letting my computer do most of the work), so I’m in awe of her ways!

So anyhoo, I was thinking I may not need any of that encouragement stuff this month, until I read an email tonight from Curiosity Quills, my publisher, that said Barnes and Noble turned down their pitch to stock 18 Things in stores nationwide 😦

Hear that sound? That was the SOUND OF MY HOPES AND DREAMS BEING CRUSHED!!! Anyone else ever feel like they can’t be too happy over something because bad news is just around the corner? *raises hand* Truth is, there are sooo many events in our lives which we have no control. It’s all up to chance, luck, and timing. However, we do have control over whether we press on or give up. The secret of survival is in fact trusting in God’s perfect timing for our lives (yup, you may recognize a line like that in 18 Things). I can sit here and question and whine about why other novels got chosen over mine, or I can trust in God’s plan for my life. Maybe he’s taking me in a different direction . . .maybe the whole nation isn’t ready 18 Things yet . . . maybe my writing just isn’t good enough. All I know is I’ve had the longing to be an author from a very young age, and I believe with my whole heart that it was divine inspiration.

So yeah, I got knocked down tonight, a dramatic power-bomb slam that put my lights out for a good hour while I cried on the couch. Then I blew my nose, took a deep breath, and remembered that it’s all in God’s hands, not mine. Even in this small room, sitting still, I am moving closer to the plan he has for me by holding onto faith.

Anyway, before I go, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to another fellow author in need of some help. My dear friend, Jessa Russo, re-launched her debut novel this week. If you haven’t read Ever yet, you seriously need to! And stop by Jessa’s website because she’s giving away some totally A*W*E*S*O*M*E prize packs!

What about you? Do you find it hard to surrender things to the universe? How do you find your peace when things don’t go your way? Have you ever had a setback that ended up being a blessing in disguise? I could still use some encouragement after all . . . . ❤ Jamie

~xoxo

Sep 2 2013

It’s Labor Day! Pop Into Travel!!

Happy Labor Day! Hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did. Hubs and I stayed at the Inn on Fifth in Naples while my mom watched the kids (Thanks, Mom!) . . . we walked the fancy Fifth Avenue while sipping on the Starbucks early released Pumpkin Spice Frappucciono’s Saturday afternoon, took a swim in the rooftop pool, then rode on The Naples Princess Dinner cruise Saturday night while salivating over the multi-million dollar homes along the way (of which only 25% are full-time residences). Then Sunday we enjoyed beautiful Naples beach (lots of pelicans, flying fish, and dolphins to watch at the pier), then ate lunch at Tommy Bahama (our first time doing so and all I can is Fish Tacos=YUMM-O!), walked up and down the historic Third Street district while sampling bad a** coffee (not my words–it’s the title of their shop, lol), then did dinner at Agave Mexican restaurant before enjoying some drinks at the closing of McCabe’s Irish Pub and Grill. This morning we slept in before traveling to Tin City for some delicious breakfast at the Mon”Key” Bread Factory (if you’re ever travelling this way, you seriously need to stop here for some treats!).

On The Princess Dinner Cruise

While all of this was fantastic, I would’ve been perfectly content just relaxing in the hotel room, where the mattress wasn’t as old as our 15 year marriage, where there were nine different HBO channels to choose from (hey, we don’t even have basic cable!), and where I could finish reading an excellent book. It seemed fitting I was reading Pop Travel by Tara Tyler, since I was traveling! Anyone who has ever wished they could escape airports and the endless delays of flying (and who hasn’t?!), will love this novel. In Tyler’s novel, teleportation was the answer, but every new technology has glitches. Tyler says she was Inspired by Michael Crichton’s incredible style to take on the challenge of writing a fast-paced techno-thriller. I think she succeeded and that you’ll enjoy the ride . . . . the book also reminded me of the highly acclaimed novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Before I delve into my review, here’s the scoop on Pop Travel:

In 2080, technology has gone too far for J. L. Cooper. He is happily hidden in his simple, secluded life as a private detective in a small town, far from any pop travel laser teleportation stations. Until he takes on a client who insists pop travel made his fiancé disappear.

When Cooper investigates, he finds evidence of pop travel’s deadly flaw, sparking a series of murders, attempts on his life, and threats to his brother. He’d like to pass off the evidence but knows he’s being watched and can’t trust anyone. And who would believe him?

The only way he can save his brother is to fool his observers while looking for a way to expose the problem. He decides to go to the source and confront the Creator of pop travel. On his way, Cooper meets Southern siren, Geri Harper (an undercover FBI agent) who tags along despite his protests. When they reach the Creator, he has plans of his own and leads them on a wild detour.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tara Tyler, my fellow Curiosity Quills sister, in July, and let me say, her novel is every bit as lovely as she is!

Tyler didn’t waste any time jumping right into the action–I was hooked from page one! There was just enough back-story presented for clarification without the annoying info dumps. I commend Tyler’s ability to write strong characters . . . specifically, the mixture of external and internal conflict with Cooper was very well done. And the setting was so cool and the plot that rotated around it very believable! I could easily imagine the United States heading down this scary road. Coincidentally, I’ve become increasingly wary of that white panel van surveillancing my neighborhood on a weekly basis. Yeah, it has ice cream stickers on the sides and blares the “Do Your Ears Hang Low” jingle, but my guess after reading Pop Travel is it’s all a cover-up for Big Brother to keep their ears low . . . to the ground . . . listening in carefully to all of us.

Hey, some of you may laugh, but after the Edward Snowden scandal, the Intelligence community have been up to their ears in hot water (hey, my middle school students are reading my blogs now–I have to use as many idioms as I can to educate them!) . . . Spying on regular citizens through their compucenters (computers)? Reading our vid messages (e-mails)? Monitoring our Qnet (web) searches? With the direction the NSA is heading, I can totally picture Tyler’s storyline happening in real life. Okay, I am a writer myself and frequently hear voices in my head, so my paranoia may just be my muse whispering to me in the dark corners of my mind again (or am I just saying all of this as a coverup so the NSA won’t send the ice cream man to kidnap me?)

You decide. In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Want to read Pop Travel? Do you think it could be a case of fiction imitating life? I’m really hoping Pop Travel will be made into a movie one day because it’s the type of plot that would be PERFECT for the big screen . . . if the FBI and NSA will allow it 😉

Aug 28 2013

It’s my BIRTHDA*Y and I’ll blog if I want to!

Okay, so I’m not really sitting in front of a laptop and blogging on my 29th (cough, cough) birthday. I composed this post on Sunday night, suckers! *shakes fist in the air* hahaha 🙂

So I went into my 33rd year of life pretty pumped. After all, I’d just signed a book deal last summer and I figured since Christ gave his life for me when he was 33, he’d expect me to do some pretty big things with my life this past year.

Monster Bday Cake my kiddos made for me last year–Num Num!

Well, life is full of trade-offs. My debut novel came out in January to instant best seller status on Amazon, but that quickly died down. Most people I talk to say it’s had a profound impact on them, that it was more than just a “good book.” That makes my heart swell, but I also wish it’d reach those thousands of rabid fans I was ready for, but still don’t know I exist. I can’t help but think maybe that’s how Jesus feels about the message of his love and grace too. The good news is . . . I ADORE a challenge, so don’t be surprised if 18 Things shows up on the New York Times Bestselling list someday 🙂 Now I am frequently misunderstood, so please don’t interpret that statement to mean I think I’m allll that and a bag of chips (What? I am a child of the 90s, heehee). Anyway, I have a banner hanging in my classroom that says, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a BIG difference.” So, I’m staying positive and holding onto faith!!!

At the Southwest Florida Reading Festival. Look! I have 2 fans 🙂

I also recently made the transition from teaching elementary school for the past twelve years to teaching middle school Language Arts. Hopefully, we’ve all had those conversations with ourselves where we ask, “Who am I? Why am I here?” After two weeks of teaching at my new school, I think that question has been answered for me! There’s a quote by Thomas Carlyle that states: “Blessed is he who has found his work; let him ask no other blessedness. He has a work, a life-purpose; he has found it and will follow it.” That sums up my feelings on teaching middle school. I was created for this job! If you don’t know me personally, you probably think I sound insane. If you do know me personally, then you know I am insane!!! (and I love to use an insane amount of exclamation points, smiley faces, and hearts!)

My classroom . . . home away from home ❤

The other big thing that happened to me this past year is our house going through the foreclosure process. We can be kicked out of our home at any moment, but surprisingly, I am not living in fear. Sure, my heart will have a hard time letting go of this house when the time comes. We’ve had so many wonderful memories here as our kids have grown-up (wish they’d stop growing!). But you know that saying? Home is where the ❤ is. It’s true! My 13yo is probably the most sad over it, but I told her we’ll take the memories wherever we go. A home is so much more than just walls, floors, and rooms. Once again, I’m looking at the silver lining. From each of life’s misfortunes comes a new beginning, an opportunity to renew my faith. I love that I don’t know what the future holds. For everything there is a season, its own time and place.

Good times . . . NY’s Eve party at our house

My Birthday Prayer: Father God, another year has passed so quickly! I’m so thankful that the God of angel armies is a friend of mine. Even though lots of activities pull me in every direction, you show me every day what’s truly important. Thank you for your presence in my life. What a wonderful gift this past year has been! There were some not-so-good days along the way, but with you by my side, I was able to experience your grace and know that your mercies are new every morning. I’m looking forward to the next one! ❤ Jamie

Aug 26 2013

My Review: Broken Forest by Eliza Tilton

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press

Release Date: May 1, 2013

Paperback, 236 pages

Intended Audience: Young Adult

Blurb: Hopeless he’ll never be more than the boy who didn’t save his brother, 17-year-old Avikar accepts his life as the family stable boy, trying to forget the past. But when his sister, Jeslyn, is kidnapped, the thought of losing another sibling catapults him on a desperate quest. With his best friend by his side, and using the tracking skills he learned from his father, he discovers Jeslyn has been taken, kidnapped by one Lucino, the young lord of Daath, a mystical place thought only to exist in fables. And Lucino has plans for Jeslyn.His shape-shifting brethren feed off the auras of humans, and Jeslyn’s golden hue is exactly what Lucino needs to increase his power. The longer it takes Avikar to reach her, the more entranced she becomes with Lucino’s world, and the harder it will be for Avikar to set her free.

He failed his family once. He won’t fail again.

Review: I want to say in full disclosure that Eliza and I share the same publisher. I was given her book in exchange for an honest review. I wouldn’t have accepted the offer if I didn’t think it sounded like a book I’d enjoy, and I wasn’t disappointed! It had my four favorite things in a book: love, adventure, fantasy, and a twisted ending!

The opening page immediately drew me in and from the very start, I could tell Tilton had a gift for storytelling. There’s danger, there’s desire, and there’s decision. You won’t read the first few chapters of this book asking yourself, “Who gives a crap?” I’m a middle school Language Arts teacher, so I can testify that kids have short attention spans. They inhale violent video games. They think life can be encapsulated in a text message. I can say with conviction that my students would enjoy this book because there’s something for everyone here and because the story moved along at a good pace. Her plot and characterization were spot on. Every scene was manipulated for maximum impact. This was Tilton’s fantasy world, but I felt like I was a part of it (and who wouldn’t want to be . . . did you see that beautiful cover? Seriously one of my favorite book covers of the year!)

The *BONUS* is the characters are inspiring. My favorite character remained Avikar throughout the book, but the other secondary characters were enjoyable too. As the plot unfolded, I was interested in what happened next for everybody. Needless to say, I can’t wait for Book Two in The Daath Chronicles, and I’ll be purchasing the print copy for my classroom!

Kudos to Eliza Tilton. Here’s more on the author if you want to ~~stalk~~ learn more about her:

Eliza Tilton is the author of the YA Fantasy, Broken Forest, published by Curiosity Quills Press. You can find her blogging about video games and writing on her blog and doing bi-weekly posts on author media over at YAStands.

She graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull.

Twitter / Tumblr / Website / Pinterest / Facebook

BUY LINKS: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / KOBO Goodreads

*How about you? Read any good books lately?

Aug 21 2013

The Lure of Fools . . . Oh, How I Pity Them!!!

Today I’m pleased to welcome another CQ Author to my blog, Jason King! Who is Jason King and what does he write? I’m glad you asked!

BLURB:

“Adventure is the lure of fools, and excitement glamour to the gullible. The siren song of the world is as music to the wanderer’s feet, but that dance leads only to the soul-less grave.” So Jekaran’s uncle has warned him. But that doesn’t stop him from leaping at the exhilarating chance to single-handedly rescue a beautiful woman from a gang of lecherous thieves.

But the bored farm boy quickly finds that he is no match for the group of angry street thugs, and only escapes death by bonding a magical sword that grants him the strength and skill of a master swordsman. Unfortunately, a peasant wielding such magic is forbidden and punishable by death.

Thus Jekaran finds himself a fugitive with his fate tied to that of the exotic and mysterious, Kairah; a fey woman who must deliver a dire warning to the king that, if heeded, could prevent the very extinction of humanity.

ENDORSEMENT:

“A deep and intriguing magic brings a fresh feel to fantasy in this visually stunning journey. Jason King weaves powerful stories that grip the reader to the last word with a perfect blend of amazement, fear, love, and destiny. Anybody drawn to dangerous adventure won’t be able to resist The Lure of Fools. It’s Lloyd Alexander for a new millennium.” -James Wymore

HA! Toooo funny he mentions Lloyd Alexander . . . I just read his short story, The Stone, with my class today!

And now, a word from our sponsor (or Jason giving a short introduction;-)

This is a promotional reading of the first chapter of my new book, THE LURE OF FOOLS, from Curiosity Quills Press. It’s an action/fantasy adventure in the same vein as books by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, or Jim Butcher.

My friend Mark Hanson is an actor and was a great sport doing the reading with next to no prior notice. Right now Lure of Fools is available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo, but the paperback will be available before the end of the month. I will also be signing at Salt Lake Comic Con in September, so if you’re in the area come say hello. Enjoy!

Anyone can read the first three chapters by going here.

The rest of the book’s info can be found on Curiosity Quill’s website. And please share! If you’ve ever been a debut author, you know the exciting feeling of sharing your ~~baby~~ novel with your millions of rabid fans . . . but we can’t deliver to those fans if they don’t know we exist yet!

Congratulations on your debut, Jason, and I hope your release is as magical as your book:-) I pity the fool who doesn’t check out this great story! (Sorry, was I the only one hearing Mr. T’s voice through this entire post because of the title? Hmm, probably!)

Aug 13 2013

If My Life Were A Book . . . Confessions of A Failure

This past week held two big milestones for me–my 15th wedding anniversary with my Prince Charming and my new adventure into the world of “Middle School Teacher.”

My Classroom

This afternoon I skipped (yes, skipped–I do that sometimes just to scare the students) down the hall to obtain a large sheet of white butcher paper so I could start my “Character Traits” poster with my classes. As I walked back to class, I started thinking (and yes, smoke did blow out of my ears), if I was the main protagonist in a book, what kind of character traits would my students, and better yet, my own family, write down for me?

I’d like to say my list would look like this: loving, joyful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled, compassionate, forgiving, grateful, honest, helpful, well-mannered . . . or anything halfway close to my own protagonist in 18 Things. The best time to catch me displaying some of these traits are after a few cups of coffee in the morning 🙂

Reality probably looks more like this: frazzled, frustrated, angry, busy, grumbling, bi-polar, worried, brutally honest (to the point of being insensitive to others), oversensitive (when comments are directed toward me), a “yes person” (most can see that “YES” sticker plastered across my forehead from a mile away which is why I get roped into too many activities). This Jamie appears after working all day without chocolate because she’s trying to be a healthy role model for her students and is therefore now suffering massive sugar withdrawals.

Not a pretty picture, aye? I’d say that’s more of the “home” Jamie than the “Mrs. Ayres” at school. If I acted like my real self at school, I’d probably get fired! Luckily, my family hasn’t figured out a way to get rid of me yet.

It’s not like I want to be this way. So it’s funny when I opened up my book to do my bible study tonight and read the words of Paul in the book of Romans, chapter seven: “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it . . . What a wretched man I am!”

Yep. Luckily I believe in a very forgiving God who gave me a very patient husband 🙂

Our wedding kiss *don’t everyone aww at once*

My faith has taken me through 15 years of marriage with two beautiful daughters and no doubt will take me through my years as middle school teacher!

At the end of my Bible study today, I had to write a description of a good role model. I simply wrote this:

Someone who always loves. Without love, actions are empty. A role model’s criterion for their actions isn’t based on what they like best, but what’s best for those around them.

While I’m on the subject of love, Ima gonna break down dat definition for ya like it’s 1990 and it’s Hammertime at my middle school dance:

Love isn’t a feeling *Gulp* I don’t think I could ever “fall out of love” with my husband. Instead, love is a decision to meet the needs of others before yourself. It’s not a natural inclination past those first days of marital bliss. Love is something we must choose to live every day.

Now, as a writer of love inspired stories and a teacher, I’m an expert on definitions, so there’s no need to confer with Webster *steps down off pedestal*

I’m taping my role model definition to my bathroom mirror as a reminder of the type of person I should be each day, not just on the days when I feel like it and not just at work. There’s a quote by Erma Bumbeck that goes, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything that you gave me.”

Or as Master Yoda puts it: “Do or do not. There is no try.” Talk is cheap. Words without action=failure. When I look back at the chapters of my life, I want my traits to resemble the characters in the books that inspire me.

What’s your definition of a good role model? (Lord help us if anyone says Justin Bieber, lol. Thankfully, I don’t think any of my middle school Language Arts students have found my blog yet! *looks around with crazy eyes*

Until next week, Live~Laugh~Love!

Aug 5 2013

(Never) Again!!

Today is the beautiful cover reveal for my blogger buddy, Theresa Paolo!! I know from personal experience with my debut novel, 18 Things, how crucial it is to share things like cover reveals to help create buzz for an upcoming release, so help spread the word on your social media hangouts! Now what better way to get this party started than to give the lowdown on her first book:

Just when she had finally moved on…
…He moved back.

When college freshman Liz Wagner hears her ex’s voice for the first time since he moved clear across the freaking country, she does what any respectable girl would do: Dive into the girls’ bathroom.

Zach Roberts—the Zach Roberts—is back. And he’s everywhere Liz looks—infiltrating her friend group, buddy-buddy with her brother. It’s enough to ruin college altogether. But what choice does she have but to put on a happy face and pretend he didn’t leave her vulnerable and alone in a pile of emotional wreckage?

Pretending works, until tragedy strikes and the only person available for comfort is the one person she wants to stay away from. When Zach turns out not to be the jerk she convinced herself he was, but the boy she used to love, Liz needs to decide whether to open her heart again to the boy who tore it out.

Add it to your Goodreads now!

And if you haven’t heard of Theresa yet, let me introduce you:

Theresa Paolo lives in the same town she grew up in on Long Island, NY with her boyfriend and Milton, their big eyed goldfish. She has a hard time accepting the fact she’s nearing thirty which is why she writes New Adult and Young Adult books, reliving the best and worst years of her life through her characters. She put her love of writing on hold while she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Dowling College. On November 11^th 2011 at 11:11 she made a wish. Two hours later she was laid off. Jobless for the first time since she was sixteen she was determined to make her wish come true. Writing became her life again and after many nights of ignoring her boyfriend to spend time with her characters, she finally received the call that all her hard work, finger crossing and eye crossing paid off. She signed with Berkley (Penguin) and her debut novel, (NEVER) AGAIN, a NA romance, will be out in Fall 2013. When she’s not writing, she’s behind a camera or can be found in the blogosphere or on Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook.

So what do you guys think? Plan on reading (Never) Again? Is there anything in your life where you said ‘never again’ only to find yourself eating your words later on? I can think of two off the top of my head: gaining my weight back after my second pregnancy (yeah, writing is a huge workout time suck) . . . and moving back to my hometown (if someone would’ve told me at 18 that I’d move back here to raise my kids, I would’ve moved to Africa just to make it not come true).

See you Wednesday for IWSG!

Jul 22 2013

#SizzlingSummerEvent Hosted by YA Bound Book Tours Giving Away Two, that’s right, TWO Loaded Kindle Fires!!

Giveaway for Kindle YA. Notice the really pretty one in the bottom left-hand corner?

Are you interested in winning one of these Kindle Fires? Wellll, read on 🙂

Giveaway for Kindle NA

Maybe you saw this tweet from me yesterday: Wondering if runnin topless across a field with #18things across my chest in red lipstick is good marketing idea? Maybe there r easier ways?

As many of you know, one of the biggest issues authors face is promotion. It takes money to market, and not all of us have extra income to spend *put your hands in the air & wave them around if you’re a teacher like me*

Thanks to Trisha Wolfe and Dawna Raver’s brilliance, we formed a top-secret organization *busts out super-maniacal laugh and rub hands together evilly* in an effort to allow a group of authors to pull their resources and come up with a HUGE giveaway to promote each and every ~~babe~~ talent *slaps hand & whispers don’t give away the secret!*

So it’s with great pleasure I announce the Sizzling Summer Giveaway event hosted by YA Bound Book Tours featuring 50 authors!

This giveaway event will take place this week, July 22nd to July 27th. Book ~~Superheroes~~ Bloggers from all over the country are hosting a promo post provided by an author (excerpt, dream cast, playlist, character interview, etc.) and rafflecopter giveaway code for 2 Kindle Fire HD’s pre-loaded with some of the author’s books.

Today, I’m hosted on The Eater of Books with a post about my top 10 rules for creating bucket lists. Later in the week, I’ll also be hosted by Once Upon A Dream Books and Fiction in Fiction in Fiction, but I’m not sure which day since this is a blast event, which means they can post any they chose.

You can check out the blogs during the week, or you can follow on Twitter with hashtag ‪#‎SizzlingSummerEvent.

Are you going to check out the blogs? Good! Give yourself a smiley sticker and prepare to win so you can squander your money on more e-Books . . . who needs food anyway? 🙂

Jul 18 2013

It’s A Small World Afterall . . . My Love/Hate Relationship

I’m sure we’ve all heard the expression, “It’s a small world after all.” Love the ride at Disney (ADD side note: funniest description I’ve ever read of this ride is in the opening pages of Going Bovine by Libba Bray. Do yourself a favor & click on the link to read the free preview on Amazon, and prepare to really ROTFLMAO!) . . . where was I? Oh yeah, love the ride, not a big fan of the saying. Ever since the invention of the Internet, this world just keeps getting smaller and smaller, to the point where I am afraid for the kind of world my 13yo and 9yo daughters are growing up in.

I miss when my kids were small, and when I was too, lol.

I’m frightened enough that when I took my English 6-12 certification exam a couple of weeks ago (in preparation to teach middle school Language Arts, and you should read the awesome story about that if you haven’t!), and I had to write a persuasive essay about an invention I wish would’ve never been invented, I wrote about social media sites.WARNING: If you’re my 13yo daughter reading this now (b/c she occasionally cares enough to see what her old mom is up to), you may want to melt me with that laser look you’re so good at when I’m done with this blog post. So get it ready now. And remember Mom loves you.

It drives me nuts to see my daughter’s iPod Touch attached to her hand . . . to the point where she challenged herself to a 5 day detox and couldn’t last 24 hours. I walk into a house to pick her up from a party and instead of everybody talking, they’re texting the person next to them on the friggin’ couch! They constantly ask, “How many Instagram followers do you have?” to the point it becomes bullying because if you don’t have at least 1,000 followers then you’re not cool. (Just made said daughter take down her account because she let too many strangers ‘follow’ her). Her ‘boy’ friends inhale violent video games through Xbox Live into the wee hours of the night. Her girlfriends think life can be encapsulated in a 140 character Twitter message or Facebook status update. BUT THERE IS NO COMMUNICATION! To the point where we run into one of her friends outside of school at a Shrek the Musical Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre performance tonight, and they don’t even know how to properly SAY hello to each other.

You see, my daughter lost her iPod Touch three weeks ago, so she couldn’t text it, email it, tag her in a FB status, post a duck face with her friend on Instagram, ect . . . . and by the way, these past three weeks have been HEAVEN without that little Apple. Dreading officially getting her a cell phone before school starts up again, but we’ll need to because of the logistics of my job change Note: this will be her first cell, and I’m proud of that. When I taught 3rd grade this past year, the majority of my class had cell phones and a FB account . . . at 8 years old. Yeah, and we wonder why we have such an ADD problem in this country now. Oooh, squirrel!

But here’s the LOVE part. Yanno that Shrek show I mentioned? I got to meet a publishing sister/blogger buddy all the way from Ohio there tonight. Why? B/c when hubs and I were trying to win the tickets through a, wait for it . . . YEP–Facebook contest, Tara Tyler saw it and said she’d be attending the show. I asked, do you mean in your area or are you visiting on vacation? She answered she was vacationing in Florida and did I live near there? Um, heck yeah! And this is the 4th blogger buddy I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person due to social media. Well, I wouldn’t have any blogger buddies without social media, would I?

Tara Tyler and me 🙂

The other part I love? As a debut author, I could probably expect to sell 100 books to my friends and family without social media. But the social media frenzy caused my reach to multiply that by 10 so far, and it keeps growing. For the past 3 weeks, 18 Things has trended in the top 100 for Coming of Age fiction on Amazon, ranging anywhere from the 30’s to 100. Why? I haven’t done any real promoting since March. I’m guessing all those people who came across my debut novel through the What Are Your 18 Things bloghop and then the 6 week book blog tour have finally gotten around to reading and recommending it (the book came out in January). That’s the power of word of mouth, and it starts with social media sites, and most importantly, it’s all FREE!

In the end, I love connecting with fabulous people like you and the thought of a couple million people potentially reading my book. But on the flip side, I hate all the murderers and child molesters that potentially could be looking at my daughters on one of those sites too. It’s a win-lose situation, but I know social media isn’t going anywhere, and I must adapt or die . . . which happens to be one of my favorite quotes from the movie, Moneyball. If you’ve never seen this inspirational true story, make some time to watch it!

What are your thoughts? Do you LOVE social media, or do you love to hate it? Have you meet any blogger buddies in real life yet? Oh, and don’t forget to check out Tara Tyler’s new novel, Pop Travel, a sci-fi noir, cat and mouse game where the hard-boiled detective is chased across the world, “popping” with teleportation, which has a deadly flaw he is determined to expose. How cooool does that sound?!

Jul 15 2013

I Spy With My Little Eye . . . Two Awesome Cover Reveals!!

One way authors like to help each other out around the blogosphere is to host cover reveals, and today I get to share two covers for some blogger buddies very near and dear to my heart. The blogosphere just wouldn’t be the same without them!

First up is a Paranormal Suspense With Strong Romance Cloaked in Fur

Available August 5, 2013 through Crimson Romance

As a moonwulf, Daciana never expected to fall in love with a human. Hell, she never imagined that she’d abandon her pack, endanger everyone around her, and break the worst rule possible. But she did.

A rogue werewolf is killing Daciana’s friends, and she sets on capturing the creature. She’ll do whatever it takes to stop the beast. The police and her boyfriend, Inspector Connell Lonescu, are starting to question her involvement in the murders, which is endangering the pack’s secret existence. But when the pack alpha kidnaps Connell, revealing the awful truth about the creature and its connection to the pack, Daciana must choose between saving the man she loves and saving her pack family from certain death.

About The Author

T.F. Walsh emigrated from Romania to Australia at the age of eight and now lives in a regional city south of Sydney with her husband. Growing up hearing dark fairy tales, she’s always had a passion for reading and writing horror, paranormal romance, urban fantasy and young adult stories. She balances all the dark with light fluffy stuff like baking and traveling.

Author Links

Second up is a New Adult Paranormal Romance titled Courage, Mark of the Nexus-Book 2

Available in E-Book & Paperback on October 15, 2013

Cover Credits:

Design: Carrie Butler

Photography: Subbotina Anna & Yuri Arcurs

Where to find Courage (Mark of Nexus #2):
BOOK PAGE | GOODREADS |

Book Bloggers may start requesting e-ARCs via this form.

Book Trailer for Book 1, Strength

Thanks for stopping by today!! Don’t forget to add T.F. Walsh and Carrie Butler to your Goodreads, Twitter, and like them on FB. And have a fantastic week 🙂

Jamie Ayres

Novelist of YA Coming of Age Love Stories with a Paranormal Twist