Tour Stop: How to Date Dead Guys by Ann M. Noser + Giveaway

Today I have a tour stop for one of my team mates from Pitcharama 2013, run by Aussie Owned and Read. Ann's pitch caught my eye, and I chose her to go through to the editor round. Now, just over twelve month on, Ann is celebrating the release of her debut novel, How to Date Dead Guys, with Curiosity Quills.

Check out the details.

How to Date Dead Guys 
Series: Under The Blood Moon
Genre: new-adult, urban-fantasy
Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
Date of Publication: July 15th, 2014
Cover Artist: Alexandria Thompson



Enter the Goodreads giveaway



Description:
College sophomore Emma Roberts remembers her mother’s sage advice:  “don’t sleep around, don’t burp in public, and don’t tell anyone you see ghosts”.  But when charming Mike Carlson drowns in the campus river under her watch, Emma’s sheltered life shatters.

Blamed for Mike’s death and haunted by nightmares, Emma turns to witchcraft and a mysterious Book of Shadows to bring him back.  Under a Blood Moon, she lights candles, draws a pentacle on the campus bridge, and casts a spell.  The invoked river rages up against her, but she escapes its fury.  As she stumbles back to the dorm, a stranger drags himself from the water and follows her home. And he isn't the only one. 

Instead of raising Mike, Emma assists the others she stole back from the dead—a pre-med student who jumped off the bridge, a desperate victim determined to solve his own murder, and a frat boy Emma can’t stand…at first.  More comfortable with the dead than the living, Emma delves deeper into the seductive Book of Shadows.  Her powers grow, but witchcraft may not be enough to protect her against the vengeful river and the killers that feed it their victims.
Inspired by the controversial Smiley Face Murders, HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS will ignite the secret powers hidden deep within each of us.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble

About the Author:
My to-do list dictates that I try to cram 48 hours of living into a day instead of the usual 24.  I’ve chosen a life filled with animals.  I train for marathons with my dog, then go to work as a small animal veterinarian, and finish the day by tripping over my pets as I attempt to convince my two unruly children that YES, it really IS time for bed.  But I can’t wait until the house is quiet to write; I have to steal moments throughout the day.  Ten minutes here, a half hour there, I live within my imagination.

Like all busy American mothers, I multi-task.  I work out plot holes during runs.  Instead of meditating, I type madly during yoga stretches.  I find inspiration in everyday things:  a beautiful smile, a heartbreaking song, or a newspaper article on a political theory.  For example, a long drive in the dark listening to an NPR program on the SMILEY FACE MURDERS theory made me ask so many questions that I wrote HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS to answer them to my satisfaction.

I’d love to have more time to write (and run, read, and sleep), but until I find Hermione Granger’s time turner, I will juggle real life with the half-written stories in my head.  Main characters and plot lines intertwine in my cranium, and I need to let my writing weave the tales on paper so I can find out what happens next.

Social Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

xxx

From Australia With Love: Featuring Laura Catherine

As part of the From Australia With Love Blog Hop, Aussie YA author, Laura Catherine, talks about her paranormal romance novel, Djinn.

10 Random Facts about Djinn

• The first draft of Djinn was originally written in one month at 50,000 words as part of Camp NaNoWriMo June 2012. The first draft of book two: Blooders, was then written in the August 2012 Camp NaNoWriMo.
• Kyra’s father Malcolm was originally called William, and Will was originally called Jace, but I liked Will so much better for my main man so I changed it.
• Isabelle’s birthday is my Mum’s birthday, October 2nd.
• Siberian Husky is mine and Kyra’s favourite breed of dog.
• The idea for Djinn came to me while I was working at Bakers Delight. I was washing wires in the back thinking about how I wanted to write an original Paranormal Romance and then BAM the idea hit me. It flowed so easily and I had to run and get a paper bag to write on so I wouldn’t forget my ideas.
• The way Kyra and Malcolm work together in the kitchen, like a well-oiled machine, is the opposite of how my partner and I are in the kitchen, haha.
• Kyra’s middle name is Eliza.
• Will’s middle name is Henry after his father.
• The Djinn compound is based off a real suburb I drove through once where all the houses were exactly the same. I still have no idea where I was at the time, but the images of that place still remain.
• Pyke wasn’t originally a main character, but the more I wrote about him the more I realised what a complex person he was. Pyke had secrets and feelings I could never have imagined and he is by far my favourite character in Djinn.

About the book:
She's been on the run for as long as she can remember and her father is the only stable thing in her life, but everything changes when the people pursuing them finally catch up.

Kyra is abducted by the handsome and mysterious, Will. He takes her to a secret compound where she is told the truth: She's a Djinn, a genie-like creature with super powers and a love of dogs.

Kyra has to adjust to the Djinn and their rules, but her new life is far from perfect. Everyone is hiding something and the one person Kyra cares about most is forbidden to her.

There are secrets around every corner and more dangers than Kyra could ever imagine as she struggles to find herself and be with the one she loves.

Buy the eBook
Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

Buy the paperback
Amazon | B&N | Book Depository

About Laura: 
Laura Catherine was born in Melbourne, Australia and spent most of her childhood creating fantasy worlds and talking to her invisible pet cheetah who ran along powerlines.

Her imagination has carried her through childhood where her mother read stories about fantasy worlds at bedtime. Never one to face reality, Laura spent a lot of time turning boxes into ships and castles.

In her High School years, Laura started to really consider writing as a career. All those notebooks full of story ideas finally had a purpose and in 2006 she started the first novel she would go on to finish 5 years later. The thrill of complete a novel from start to finish only inspired Laura more, soon she became a writing machine working on many novels and honing her craft by completing a Professional Writing and Editing Diploma in 2010.

2011 saw Laura get serious about becoming an author. She started her blog, Quill Wielder, and prepared her novels to be sent off to publishers.

Still writing whenever she has spare time; Laura also participates in NaNoWriMo religiously to get her writing on.

Laura has self-published her first novel, Djinn, a Paranormal Romance, and is working on the second in the trilogy, Blooders.

Author Links:
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

K x

From Australia With Love: Featuring Cassandra Page

Today I welcome Aussie author, Cassandra Page, to the blog as part of the From Australia With Love blog hop.

Grounding the reader in speculative fiction
I’m not aware of a single speculative fiction novel that doesn’t draw on the real world or its myths in some way. Such a book would be pretty much incomprehensible to the reader, giving them no familiar point from which to start their exploration of the more fantastical elements.

There are three ways writers deal with this requirement for a foundation, whether consciously or subconsciously: the everyman, the familiar culture, and the familiar myth.

The everyman
One of the reasons the normal character discovering they are something more has become a trope in speculative fiction is actually founded in a sound storytelling principle: when you’re introducing your reader to a new world, it’s easiest done through the eyes of someone who isn’t part of that world.

A great example of the everyman in high fantasy is Frodo and the other hobbits in Lord of the Rings. Hobbits may not be human, but they are culturally isolated from the rest of Middle Earth, which lends their lack of understanding credence. And their interests are things most readers can relate to—eating, lazing around and gardening. Not everyone may have a green thumb, but everyone can understand the idea of gardening.

Lord of the Rings told from the perspective of an elf would have been a very different story. The elf would have had very different cultural filters and, given its probable age, way of viewing the short-lived creatures around it.

Lessa in Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern is part of the same broad culture as everyone else, but as a non-dragonrider she can see that part of her world with new eyes. Garion from David Eddings’s The Belgariad is a regular farmboy until he gets whisked away on an adventure by his aunt and grandfather. Harry Potter lives under the stairs in a regular (although abusive) English household.

Of course, each of these characters has something about them that makes them special, letting them deal with the various events or problems the author throws at them. Frodo is resilient to the Ring’s evil; Lessa can communicate with dragons; Garion is the chosen one; Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived.

The familiar culture
Many fantasy novels are set in worlds that resemble medieval England. Others choose different points in history, but still use the basic English setting—and the foreign cultures they meet are remarkably like various Asian or Scandinavian countries. Going back to The Belgariad as an example, you can see all sorts of cultures: Vikings, American Indians, Russians, Brits, Celts, French, Romans, Ancient Egyptians, biblical Israelites, Africans, Mongolians, Chinese, Attila’s Huns…

Rarer are the English language novels set in a non-English-equivalent world, although it can be done successfully. Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff is a good example; it is set in something rather like feudal Japan, but with steampunk technology and magical beasties.

The important thing is that the reader needs to have enough of an understanding of the chosen culture—whatever it is—that the author can use that as the foundation on which to build the rest of the story. I write and primarily read urban fantasy, and one of the things I love about it is that our world is represented somewhat faithfully (at least more than it would be by a Mars-like world pockmarked with biodomes!) and then made more wonderful.

The familiar myth
Vampires, werewolves, wizards, elves, dwarves, zombies—you name it and it’s been turned into a critter in a speculative fiction novel by now. The biggest difficulty for a writer is avoiding representing their supernatural beastie of choice in a way that is unique and interesting rather than derivative. Whatever you may think of Stephanie Meyer’s decision to turn vampires from creatures of the night into mirror balls at a disco, there’s no denying she took a new angle on the vampire myth!

Sometimes that unique angle can come from putting familiar creatures into a different setting than the traditional one. In my novel Isla’s Inheritance (which comes out later this year with Turquoise Morning Press), I use various European faerie races as the basis for the fantasy in my urban environment. But the book is set in Australia. Why are European faeries in Australia? A lot of the story arises as a consequence of the answer to that question.

Other times, writers use less common creatures. For example, the dementors in Harry Potter resemble the Celtic myth of the sluagh—flying, evil creatures that travel in flocks and steal your soul away with your dying breath. Rowling’s house elf is clearly based on the English myth of the hob, a small elf that does household chores and can be driven away by being presented a set of new clothing.

I could rant on for ages more about my favourite interpretations of the real world or its myths (I haven’t even mention Jacqueline Carey’s books!), or about my favourite everyman character. What’s yours?

Author Bio:
Cassandra Page is a mother, author, editor and geek. She lives in Canberra, Australia’s bush capital, with her son and two Cairn Terriers. She has a serious coffee addiction and a tattoo of a cat—which is ironic, as she’s allergic to cats. When she’s not reading or writing, she engages in geekery, from Doctor Who to AD&D. Because who said you need to grow up?

Cassandra’s debut novel, Isla’s Inheritance, comes out with Turquoise Morning Press in the (Australian) spring of 2014. If you want to hear more about it, you can cyberstalk her via the following links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest

K x

Guest Post - Kate Belle - Look who’s talking: authorial point of view

Today I'd like to welcome the lovely Kate Belle to the blog...

Thanks K. A. for hosting me today and a big hello to your regular readers.

If there’s one thing I’m passionate about in literature it’s quality writing. By this I mean writing that sings, that moves, that creates a vivid picture in a readers mind, writing that transports us into the story world. Writing styles shift with genre and purpose but one thing is consistently true of all good quality writing – it holds the story so that the reader doesn’t notice they are being told a story.

‘The first draft of anything is shit.’ – Ernest Hemingway.

He’s right. Want to know why?

Because in the first draft authors tell themselves the story. We become familiar with events, characters, settings. First drafts often contain glittering inspired prose, captivating scenes and beautiful descriptions. It’s tempting to hold onto them in the subsequent drafts because the words sound wonderful, astonishing, amazing together. But...

... more often than not, this glorious writing must be sacrificed via deletion or rewriting because it’s all from the author’s point of view. The first draft is the author’s story, not yet fit for the reader’s eyes. The purpose of rewriting is to transition the narrative from the author’s story to the reader’s story. Let me show you an example. The following paragraph is from the first draft of my current work in progress (WIP). Pay attention to the sound of the voice as you read.

“Lissy took to playing outside to avoid being around her sister. She rode her bike up and down the gravel driveway listening to the crunch and hiss of her front tyre as she weaved back and forth. When she was little she remembered Cassy trying to take care of her and their Dad, but as they both got older Cassandra withdrew. Lissy learned it was pointless talking to her. Her sister was like their Mum, feisty and self contained, a force unto herself, and a lot less forgiving.”

Ostensibly, this is supposed to be from Lissy’s point of view, but it you listen to it you can hear me, the author, telling you, the reader, the story through Lissy’s eyes. What the paragraph lacks is Lissy’s authentic voice, her experience in her words. If Lissy was telling her story she wouldn’t say ‘Lissy took to’ or ‘when she was little she remembered’ or ‘Lissy learned it was pointless’. These phrases push the narrative away from the character toward the author as narrator. More simply, the paragraph is tainted by the author’s point of view. So how do you identify authorial point of view?

It’s easy for authorial point of view to sneak in, even after several redrafts. It can happen if the writer has difficulty relating to the character or isn’t certain about the purpose of a scene or if the author is still discovering parts of the story. Writers must read their work with sharp hawk eyes to ferret it out from the prose surrounding it. The moment you feel distant from the character, or become aware you are reading a story rather than being carried along by the character’s experience, it may be because it’s using authorial point of view. So once you’ve found it, what do you do?

Be ruthless! Only a handful of words from the above paragraph survived my redrafting process. Instead of telling the reader what Lissy remembered, I created a flashback scene of Lissy’s memories of her sister’s behaviour. I laced it with her feelings and brought the point of view close into Lissy’s head. I sat right behind her eyes and wrote as if I were her, replacing my words with hers.

The end result is a more intimate experience of the character’s world for the reader, which is what quality writing is all about. It’s not just about lining up the pretty ducks and getting the grammar right, although that’s important too. It’s about making another world, another human being so real in the readers mind their emotions and interest are hooked and they feel compelled to follow the character’s journey to the very end of the book. My aim as a writer is for a reader to become aware they’ve been reading a story only as they close the back cover of my book.

What books or writers have transported you to a character’s world?

The Yearning
It’s 1978 in a country town and a dreamy fifteen year old girl’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of the substitute English teacher. Solomon Andrews is beautiful, inspiring and she wants him like nothing else she’s wanted in her short life.

Charismatic and unconventional, Solomon easily wins the hearts and minds of his third form English class. He notices the attention of one girl, his new neighbour, who has taken to watching him from her upstairs window. He assumes it a harmless teenage crush, until the erotic love notes begin to arrive.

Solomon knows he must resist, but her sensual words stir him. He has longings of his own, although they have nothing to do with love, or so he believes. One afternoon, as he stands reading her latest offering in his driveway, she turns up unannounced. And what happens next will torment them forever – in ways neither can imagine.

Read an extract HERE

Buy The Yearning:
Ebook: Amazon | iTunes | Kobo
Print book: Target, Kmart, Myer, Collins, Dymocks, Big W, Eltham Bookshop and other independent bookshops and major airports. If not in stock just ask.

Reading group questions HERE

Author Bio:
Kate is a multi-published author who writes dark, sensual contemporary women’s fiction. She lives, writes and loves in Melbourne, juggling her strange, secret affairs with her male characters with her much loved partner and daughter and a menagerie of neurotic pets.

Kate holds a tertiary qualification in chemistry, half a diploma in naturopathy and a diploma in psychological astrology. Kate believes in living a passionate life and has ridden a camel through the Australian desert, fraternised with hippies in Nimbin, had a near birth experience and lived on nothing but porridge and a carrot for 3 days.

Blog/website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | The Reading Room

K x

Guest Post - Elsker by S. T. Bend

Today I'd like to welcome Author S. T. Bend to my blog. She's here to tell us a little bit about her upcoming release, Elsker, and her characters.

The Cast of Elsker
Thanks so much for letting me visit today. As a debut author, it’s been amazing to be embraced by such a lovely group of bloggers. Y’all have made me feel so welcome!

Elsker, Book One in The Elsker Saga, follows twenty-year-old Kristia Tostenson as she leaves her small town to find adventure at Cardiff University in Wales. Kristia gets a lot more than she bargained for when she falls in love with Ull Myhr. He’s not just a graduate student—he’s an Asgardian Assassin and the Norse God of Winter. Kristia’s orderly life is about to get seriously complicated.

I’m madly in love with my cast of characters, and I’m beyond excited to introduce you to them. I hope you love them as much as I do!

Ull – An Asgardian Assassin and Norse God of Winter. Ull’s taking a break from Asgard by enrolling at Cardiff with his two best friends, Gunnar and Inga. When he’s not moonlighting as a graduate student or fulfilling his god duties, he’s doing typical guy things with Gunnar. He’s stubborn, stoic, and ridiculously good-looking. (If you’re into the 6’5” muscular blonde type.) I’m a teensy bit in love with him.
Theme Song: It’s Time, by Imagine Dragons
Thing we have in common: We both love Olaug’s Norwegian waffles. (See Olaug, below.)

Kristia – A twenty-year-old college student from a one-stoplight town. Kristia values family (she wears her grandmother’s necklace every day), art (she’s hoping to land a job as a junior curator), and good manners (she’s read Emily Post cover to cover). It’s fun to watch her world turn upside down when she meets Ull.
Theme song: Brighter Than The Sun, by Colbie Callait
Thing we have in common: Kristia and I have the same favorite play, Much Ado About Nothing. Yep, I’m super excited for the Joss Wheldon movie. Send me a tweet if you want to talk about why Benedick is awesome.

Olaug – Ull’s sort-of-grandma, she follows her boy from Asgard to look after him. She’s everything you’d think a grandma would be—sweet, nurturing, an excellent cook and keeper of the world’s best Norsk waffle recipe. But she’s also an immortal goddess with a whole lot of sass.
Theme Song: Ja Vi Elsker, the Norwegian National Anthem. Because nothing says patriotism like a lady baking waffles.
Thing we have in common: Hello. The waffles. If you haven’t already guessed, they’re my absolute favorite food. Ever.

Inga – A Norse goddess and one of Ull’s best friends. She’s a fierce fencer, fabulous dresser, and queen of the kitchen. She likes to say that Odin forgot to give her the title of Domestic Goddess, and she’d do anything to get her hands on Olaug’s waffle recipe. She doesn’t realize I give it away at the end of Elsker, so be sure to read until the very last page! Then let me know if you prefer your Norsk waffles served with tart jam or Nutella. Mmm, Nutella…
Theme Song: We Are Young, by Fun.
Thing we have in common: Inga and I are both huge IndyCar fans. Though while Inga usually roots for Ryan Hunter-Reay, I divide my loyalties between Ryan and Helio Castroneves.

Book Title: Elsker

Series Title: The Elsker Saga
Genre: New Adult Paranormal Romance
Word count: 61,000 words
Publisher: Entranced Publishing, Blush

Book Description:
Kristia Tostenson prefers Earl Grey to Grey Goose and book clubs to nightclubs, but when she transfers from her one-stoplight town to Cardiff University in Wales she falls in love with Ull Myhr. Her new boyfriend isn’t exactly what she was expecting. He’s an honest-to-goodness Norse God — an immortal assassin fated to die at Ragnarok, the battle destined to destroy Asgard and Earth. Kristia’s crazy visions are the only thing that can save their realms.

Her orderly life just got very messy.



Author Bio:
Before finding domestic bliss in suburbia, ST Bende lived in Manhattan Beach (became overly fond of Peet’s Coffee) and Europe… where she became overly fond of the musical Cats. Her love of Scandinavian culture and a very patient Norwegian teacher inspired The Elsker Saga. She hopes her characters make you smile and that one day pastries will be considered a health food.

You can follow ST Bende on Twitter @stbende, or send an e-mail to stbende(at)gmail(dot)com
Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Pinterest

The Elsker Saga is available now from Entranced Publishing. 

Tur, the prequel, can be downloaded for FREE

Elsker, Book 1, is available from Entranced, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

K x

Luke West - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I have an Aussie author from Queensland, Luke West, taking over my blog. He's here to tell us a little bit about his new release, Hell's Mercenary. Make sure you enter the giveaway at the end of the post.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of this highly respected group. It truly is an honour to speak with you all. I hope you’ll allow me the opportunity to entertain your imagination when you open the pages to your next novel. May I suggest Hell’s Mercenary, the first book of the Intervening World Chronicles?

The story’s main character, Arliah, is a gothic, “don’t care” lone warrior, who lives in Hell. Every day she watches Hell’s people reach their expiration date and be strapped into a cart which carries them straight down the Tunnel of Abyss to their fiery death.

Refusing to be a part of this mundane dance, Arliah haphazardly signs a contract with the devil, Tobias. The contract allows her to leave Hell, passing beyond Hell’s reception desk and up a lengthy elevator ride to Earth. However Earth is a game for which Arliah has had no preparation whatsoever. Who will help her? Who will hinder her?

Earth – A deserted world: a place of patience, hope and misery. The only escape is to win the game.

Your target – Those humans with the highest bounties.

As the people on Earth battle and kill each other for a position in Heaven, Arliah soon learns that fewer souls are venturing through Hell’s gates and more seem instead to be climbing the staircase into heaven. This is the mission Tobias has entrusted her to remedy.

Will Arliah find the answers she needs to avoid her own expiration? Or will she be lost to the endless killing game?

Her mission – Find heaven. And once she does, bring it to Hell.

Although I have been writing all my life, this is my first published novel. Throughout the series of three books, the reader will experience every aspect of fantasy that I love: black magic, witches, angels, and supernatural encounters.

As the story progresses, we will dive farther into the characters and their strange experiences. We’ll also get to know our bad-ass heroine who really needs to learn to just calm down.

This first novel will introduce you to the people, the worlds and the different species. The farther we delve into this tale, the farther we will find ourselves caught up in a world we can’t, and won’t want to escape from. Won’t you take this journey with me?

I always enjoy hearing from my fans and appreciate your feedback. What you love and what you hate, who you are – what dark fantasies live in your mind?

Hell’s Mercenary
Intervening World Chronicles
Luke West

Genre: Fantasy
ISBN: 978-0-9874799-0-7
Number of pages: 203
Word Count: 58, 000
Cover Artist: Jessica Drumm
Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/KKSqswiYzRA

Amazon
Smashwords

 

About the Author:
Luke West is an up and coming author from Queensland, Australia. He was raised and still resides on the Gold Coast.

“Life is a journey, who knows the destination.” – Luke West

Luke has always enjoyed creative writing, and his first dream – to become a published author – was realized at a young age. His parents were constant, avid readers of his many short stories and novels, and have always supported his decision to chase his dreams.

After studying the art of writing throughout his teenage years, Luke finally took the leap to pursue his writing career and set out to release his debut novel.
Luke decided to explore the self-publishing world, aiming to prove to the publishing houses that he has what it takes to research, market, and sell his work. With this goal achieved, he hopes to secure a full time career in the world of the written word.

Luke enjoys writing Fantasy, Horror or anything with a paranormal twist. His debut Urban Fantasy novel, Hell’s Mercenary is the first of three books from the Intervening World Chronicles and is available for download now!

For the latest news or to connect with Luke personally, visit www.lukewest.com.au

“Thank you for allowing me to entertain your imagination. I hope my books find themselves among your favorite books.” – Luke West

Official Website 
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Youtube

Luke has been kind enough to give away a copy of his book to one lucky winner. Enter below for your chance to win.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

K x