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Monday, May 27, 2013

Sneak Peek - Read an Excerpt of Sacrifice

Last week I said on my Facebook page that I'd post on excerpt of Sacrifice if I got to 410 likes. Well, I didn't quite get there before Sacrifice was published, but since the first chapter is available in the preview on Amazon, I thought I'd also post it here for everyone to read.

By now most of you know that Sacrifice is a 23,000 word prequel to Fall For Me. It tells the story of Grace and Seth, and what happened while they were in that castle. It is written in two parts: the first from Seth's POV, and the second from Grace's POV. It is meant to be read after Fall For Me, although it can be read first.

The piece below is the quote from the beginning of the book, along with the first chapter from Seth's part. I hope you enjoy reading it.

K x


Love is a smoke rais’d with the fume of sighs;
Being purg’d, a fire sparkling in lovers’ eyes;
Being vex’d, a sea nourish’d with lovers’ tears;
What is it else? a madness most discreet,
A choking gall, and a preserving sweet.
William Shakespeare – Romeo & Juliet, Act I, Scene I


PART ONE – SETH

ONE

1642

Michael and I had been fighting for almost an hour. Cloud dust plumed into the air as my feet struck the floor. My patience with him was growing thin. He couldn’t say anything that would change my mind. As far as I was concerned he was wasting his time.

“You can’t do it,” Michael said. “You don’t know what you’re giving up.”

“I know perfectly well what I’m giving up,” I said through clenched teeth.

“But why, Seth? Why leave when you can be with her every day?”

“Because I can’t be with her, can I? It’s against the rules.”

“It has to be better than what you’re planning. Imagine if she knew.”

“She won’t find out until I’m gone,” I shouted. “No one will find out. And if you tell anyone I’ll—”

“What?” Michael folded his arms over his chest. “Kill me? Hit me? What, Seth? What could you possibly do to me? I’m an archangel. I’m your superior, and as your superior, I’m telling you not to do this. Actually, I’m ordering you not to do this. Don’t think you can get anything past the Council.”

Michael stared at me with heavenly wrath in his eyes. My shoulders heaved as I tried—unsuccessfully—to contain my anger. I lunged at Michael and hit him in the chest. He stumbled backwards then righted himself and unfurled his pearl-white wings to their full span. He came at me with a force ten times stronger than my own, and I landed heavily on my back in the cloud dust.

“Grow up. Stop thinking about yourself for once; think about what this will do to her. It will crush her.”

Michael pinned me to the floor. I struggled beneath him, but he held me firmly in place.

“Get. Off. Me,” I said.

Finally, he did as I’d asked. I sat up, ran a hand through my hair, and watched Michael walk away. He kicked at the cloud dust as he went. The mist floated before settling back into place.

“You don’t understand,” I said. “I have thought about this. I’ve thought about it until my head feels like it’s going to split open. I love her.”

Michael turned to face me. “Then why is being beside her not enough?”

“There’s no room up here for her and my heart. Because when I’m with her, I want to break every vow I’ve ever made. And I can’t ask her to do the same.”

“Then I guess we’ve got a problem.”

I got to my feet and squared my shoulders. “Yes, I guess we do.”


Purchase Fall For Me 




Purchase Sacrifice

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Sacrifice Release Day - It's Here!

Today was a very good day!

I woke this morning to a five star review of Sacrifice and I had a smile on my face that no one could wipe off.

At about 7.30am, Sydney time, I pressed the publish button, thinking I wouldn't see my book live until about 7pm tonight. It was published by lunch time. This was followed by more smiling, some very crazy dancing, and a lot of yippeeing.

Sacrifice has gone out into the big wide world.

I owe thanks to so many people, and if you want to know who they are you might just have to buy a copy for yourself to read the acknowledgements. Although I hope you buy it for better reasons than that!

I'd especially like to thank everyone who has read Fall For Me and loved it, this one is for you.

Here are the details, and make sure you enter the giveaway at the end of this post.

Get a Copy for Yourself: 


Add it to Your TBR:





Book Blurb:
Seth’s heart is breaking. He knows his decision will hurt the one person he keeps breathing for, but he can’t take it anymore. He can’t be near Grace knowing she will always be just out of reach.

Grace is oblivious to Seth’s turmoil. She loves him unconditionally, but not in the way he wants. They both know that in Heaven physical love is forbidden, and to break the rules is to defy everything they’ve ever been taught.

When Grace and Seth are sent on a mission to save a young mother and her unborn child, Grace must face the fact that Seth won’t be returning home. She doesn’t understand Seth’s decision and hates him for it. But what neither of them realise is how big a part that single decision will play in shaping their entire future.

What would you sacrifice for the one you love?

Enter the Giveaway 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

K x

Friday, May 24, 2013

Sacrifice Release Party


IT"S TIME TO PARTY!
Thursday June 20th 7.30pm EDT USA

It's only three days until Sacrifice is released into the world, and I'm sitting her writing a blog post instead of doing my final changes. I like to make things interesting!

To celebrate the release of Sacrifice, I'm having a Facebook Release Party. There will be some great prizes up for grabs from some really awesome authors including:


You can come along to the party HERE. Make yourself a cup of tea (or a grab a wine) and sit back, relax, and join in the fun with some trivia from Fall For Me and Sacrifice.

I'd love to see you there.

K x

Monday, May 20, 2013

Indie Author Interview - Melissa Crowe

Today I'd like to welcome to my blog Melissa Crowe. Melissa in a fellow Aussie Indie author who writes in the Paranormal genre, and we share a common interest—vampires! She talks about her writing process, her fave author, and her upcoming new release.

Describe yourself in three words.
I am always so bad at this part.
Pedantic, Creative, Chocoholic (when the first 2 fail, I turn to the third)

Why did you decide to self-publish? Can you share your self-publishing journey with us?
I did try to go along the traditional path of agents and publishing companies, but after numerous submissions and as many 'thanks but no thanks' emails I was ready to give up. I stepped away from the seven books I had written and never wanted to see them again. A friend of mine got a copy of Switched by Amanda Hocking with a Dolly magazine for her daughter and read it. She called me straight away and told me that I needed to self publish my work. I couldn't just leave it, they were stories that needed to be told. I revisited my work and agreed, I love my characters too much not to share them with people who I believe will enjoy them. There is too much of my heart and soul in them to let them be forgotten. So I did some research on what was going to work the best for me and delved into the scary yet exciting world of self publishing.

Do you plan your writing, or are you a pantser like me? Tell us about your writing process.
Process? Plan? I don't go into it with a set plan. My NA Paranormal Romance stories, The Ivory series, I had the ending before I had any other part of it. I may get a snippet of what I want and get in front of the computer and let my imagination take over. It's great letting my mind run wild and explore parts of myself I didn't know existed. I do like finding things that are a little left field and running with it, so I do online research just to clarify some historical facts. But that is about as much planning as I do.

 
Tell us a little bit about your current titles, and also what's up next for you?
My new release is New Beginnings, book 2 of The Ivory Series. It is set one year after the ending of First Sight. My main character Vaughan is a 66 year old vampire. He hates being a blood drink and is taking steps to having his vampirism reversed to become human again. He travels to Egypt in search of The Creator, the first ever vampire, and pleads to her for his mortality back. First he must prove his loyalty to her and his cause. He makes some difficult choices which we will see the repercussions of in Awaken, book 3 of The Ivory Series.

I have two other series I am also working on, but most of my time is devoted to The Ivory Series at the moment.

Do you have any advice for writers looking to self-publish?
Don't take no for an answer. If you truly believe in your work, then don't give up on it. Also, you will only get out what you put in. You can't release your work and expect to be on the best sellers list. You will spend just as much time on self promotion as you will on your writing.

What is your biggest pet peeve?
People who try to knock you down to make themselves feel better.

If you could spend one day with an author, who would it be and why?
Ooh, this is a tough one. There are so many great authors out there. My favourite writer is Anne Rice. I love the detail and passion she writes with, and she will always be the Queen of Vampires.

This or that. Which do you prefer?
Tea or coffee? Coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon.
Heels or flats? Flats
Summer or winter? Summer
Movies or TV? TV
Coke or Pepsi? Coke
Paperback or eBook? Paperback
Purple or pink? Purple
MAC or PC? PC

About the Author
I started writing in 2009 and have not looked back. I have eight stories in various stages of completion. After receiving too many knock backs to count from agents and publishers, I was ready to give up writing. That was until a friend gave me Switched by Amanda Hocking and said to me "If she can self publish, then why can't you?" So here I am, diving head first into self publishing and not regretting my decision at all. I am not looking to be the next Amanda Hocking, I just want to share my stories with people who will appreciate them.

You can stalk Melissa on-line at the following places
Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Smashwords

K x

Friday, May 17, 2013

Release Day Sign Up - Sacrifice


Sacrifice is due for release on May 27th

I'd love your help to spread the word. If you're interested in participating in the release day, please fill out the form below.

K x


Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Indie Life - Facing Fear Itself


Welcome to my Indie Life post for May. This is a monthly feature posted on the second Wednesday of the month and hosted by the Indelibles. The aim is to promote, encourage, and support indie authors.

It's been a whirlwind of a month for me. Sacrifice is in the final stage of edits, and is due for release on May 27th. I had the cover reveal back on April 23rd and the response was tremendous. I'm so grateful for the mountain of support I've found in the Indie community.

So, today I wanted to talk about fear.

Fear of ability.
Fear of achievement.
Fear of acceptance.
Fear of... fear!

I often doubt my abilities. Is my writing good? Or is everyone that reads it going to hate it and cut me down? This really scares me, because my heart and soul goes into my writing. Every word is a piece of me splashed onto the page.

I fear achieving my goals. I'm scared that I won't get there, that I'll fall along the journey and never be able to get back up.

I'm scared no one will accept me and my stories, and understand that all I want is to make someone smile, laugh, love, or cry. I want my readers to feel emotion whether it's happiness or sadness.

But mostly, I'm afraid of being afraid.

I suffer from anxiety. I get to the point sometimes where everything seems so overwhelming that I can't breathe. My heart races and I start to feel sick, and I have to remind myself to take long, slow breaths. I was driving to work today thinking about all the things I have on my to do list, and then some. My chest tightened, and I realised I was scared because I didn't know if I was going to be able to get it all done.

But you know what? I took my long slow breaths, and I told myself that I could do it. No one is making me strive for my goals but me, so I CAN do this.

After all, where would we be if we couldn't dream?

I hope you all have a fantastic month, and achieve your goals. No hurdle is too big. We just have to look around us at our Indie community to see that.

Even if we reach for the moon and miss, we'll still land amongst the stars.

K x

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Thanks for Your Awesomeness - Giveaway

The thing that's amazed me most on my journey to becoming an Indie author is all the wonderful support I've received. I've met so many fantastic people, and made some awesome friends. Today my Facebook page reached 400 likers. To say thanks, I've put together a giveaway. Enter via the Rafflecopter below, and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


K x

Friday, May 03, 2013

COVER REVEAL - Sleeper by S.M. Johnston

There have been some very exciting things happening amongst my fellow Aussie Owned and Read girls, and today is no exception. I'm excited to take part in the cover reveal for Sleeper by S.M. Johnston. Make sure you add it to your TBR.



About the Book:
Title: Sleeper (Book I in the Toy Soldiers series)
Author: S. M. Johnston
Release Date: December 2, 2013
Publisher: Entranced Publishing
Genre: NA speculative fiction

After a life saving heart transplant, eighteen-year-old Mishca Richardson is plagued by nightmares and an urgent desire to find her birth parents, which she puts down to post-operation depression. But her new heart seems to bring more than a second chance at life in the form of speed, strength and love at first sight.

About the Author:
Sharon is a writer from Mackay in Queensland, Australia who has short stories published in anthologies and was also runner-up in the Australian Literary Review's Young Adult short story contest with KARMA. By day she is a public relations executive and by night she writes weird fiction and soulful contemporaries while her husband, two sons and cat are fast asleep.

Where you can stalk Sharon:
Facebook | Twitter | Website | Blog | Goodreads

K x 

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Pyramids, Sand, and Some Eye Candy - KIYA Blog Hop

Katie Hamstead’s Novel, KIYA: Hope of the Pharaoh was released into the world on April 30. Katie is one of my fellow Aussie Owned and Read bloggers, and I am so proud of her. Today I’m participating in her blog hop for some fun. For the details about how you could win a heap of great prizes go HERE. Don't forget to hop around the rest of the stops via the linky below.

The task: to blog about Egypt.

The extent of my knowledge when it comes to Egypt is this:
  • Pyramids
  • Lots of sand
  • The Mummy starring Brendan Fraser (yum!)

I don’t really have the time, or patience, to research the pyramids and write a post (and I probably wouldn’t bring anything new to the table anyway) and sand is rather boring so… I’m going to talk about one of my favourite movies of all time!

The Mummy

The short IMBd synopsis is this: An American serving in the French Foreign Legion on an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra accidentally awakens a Mummy.

The Mummy is just awesome, and not only because Brendan Fraser is good eye candy. There’s a great mix of action, horror and romance. Some scenes make me feel all mushy, some make me want to throw my hands over my eyes, and some make me laugh out loud.

I find ancient customs, beliefs, magic and all that other stuff quite intriguing, but here is where my patience wanes again. I'd much rather watch a movie than immerse myself in an ancient history book. I'm by no means saying The Mummy is a good and acurate representation of Egypt (for all I know it could beI've never been there) but when someone mentions egypt, this is what I think about.

I haven’t seen the original 1932 horror film, so I can’t comment on a comparison. But I know that every time I watch this movie I still creep to the edge of my seat in anticipation, and by the end of it my nails are a little worse for wear.



K x