Set posts and Writing Prompt Friday, pt. 1

My blogging has been scattered lately . . .I am so thankful to all the awesome people who keep me going with blogfests and upcoming guest posts (two guests will be here in October!).

In the next month or three, I'm going to be ramping up the intensity of my revision work on Champion in the Darkness and getting all the i's dotted and the t's crossed for self-publishing.

Since I still want to visit all of you super awesome bloggers, I've decided to do some set posts (with the exception of blogfest or guest post days) for the next two months. (I have something in mind for December - anyone up for Hobbit Days, or a Hobbit Blogfest on December 12? I might need help with a fest)

Fridays - Writing Prompts

Mondays - Encouraging Quotes

Wednesdays - Blogger Highlights/Celebrate This! . . .in other words I'll be celebrating you, you, and you . . .so please e-mail with your awesome accomplishments, or stick them in the comment section. And, if I don't get any accomplishment updates . . .I'll be highlighting blog posts and blogs that I enjoy! Also look for the upcoming Celebrate This! tab to see how best to help me highlight you!

Writing Prompt Friday:
This group of writing prompts is from A Writer's Book of Days by Judy Reeves. They can either be done as free-writing prompts, or you can use them as character exercises . . .just try to picture how each of them fits with an MC and go from there.

• the language of fire
• we kept in in the basement
• driving a rented truck
• what I said was not what I was thinking

Next Friday I'll bring some prompts of my own making.


So does anyone else do set writing posts when they are strapped for time? Want to help with a Hobbit Fest in December? Have an accomplishment or a super awesome blog post you want highlighted next Wednesday?

A Hair's Breadth or a Hare's Breath?

One gray afternoon in the Northwest, my youngest daughter was doing her grammar lesson and she said to me, "this book doesn't make any sense. It says there are no rules for knowing whether certain words are compound words, hyphenated, or used as two separate words. To discover which to use, use a dictionary."

I replied, "That's true. I don't rely on spell check for many things, but I rely on it for those. The other day I tried using two separate words that I should have known were two separate words as one. Hair's breadth is two words with an apostrophe . . .which seems kind of obvious when I'm not in the middle of writing a story."

"What? Hare's breath?"

"You know like a measurement of a really tiny distance," I said.

"What? How do you measure that?" She started laughing. "Who measure's a hare's breath? and how would you do that? Would you have the hare breathe and then measure how far it traveled?"

"Wait, what? No, a hair, you know like the hair on the top of your head, a hair's breadth."

"Your hair doesn't breathe, mom," she said, still laughing.

I started laughing too. "No, no, like b-r-e-a-d-t-h, it's a word that measures a distance. You mean, you thought I said hare like a bunny?"

"Yes."

We laughed and giggled non-stop for about ten minutes, occasionally gasping out, "hare, breath, measurement."

Maybe someday I'll find a way to use "hare's breath" as a standard of measurement in one of my stories.

In the meantime, I started wondering if the phrase hair's breadth was too out of date, possibly trite and overused in an action scene of a fantasy book, so I went to look it up online . . . and found it at dictionary.com, and the Merriam-Webster site with the synonym "hairbreadth" and I realized that the last is the one I wanted to use in my story  . . .however, I still wonder if it's too out of date.

Ever had a funny homonym moment in conversation before?

What do you think about hairbreadth, or hair's breadth, or hare's breath?

Tag You're It Meme

 Thank you, Tara, for the tag on this fun Meme!

I've been hyper-focused on my novel, Champion in the Darkness aka The Crystal Sword, so that's the focus for this Meme. It's been through some tough revisions. Characters have been cut, killed off, and then . . .well, I decided I needed a few of them back. A particular mentor has ended up with so much more page time I started wondering if I should change the title . . .again. There was romance, but it was awkward, then it gained heat, and then it became secondary . . . apologies to all the romantics out there. The basic story is still there, and still the same. The first five scenes I imagined, and used as major plot points are still intact.

So, on with the meme:

What is the working title of your book?
Champion in the Darkness

What genre does your book fall under?

Christian fantasy adventure. I don't like using just one name. It's YA, maybe somewhat MG, and hopefully a few adults will like it too.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie?

Clara - AnnaSophia Robb, Stelia (that mentor I mentioned) - Lucy Lawless, Dantor - Daniel Craig except with dark hair, Salene (Clara's best friend) - Selena Gomez (name similarity is a coincidence), Prince Will - Liam Hemsworth (sorry romantics - this is Salene's guy), Adrian, the amazing griffin rider - possibly Chris Hemsworth - but younger than real life - I don't have a good actor choice for him (and yes, this is a guy of interest for Clara).

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

When the evil forces of the Dark Sisterhood and the Drinaii attack the capital of Septily, Clara a young sword apprentice is forced to fight and flee with other survivors with the  hope of returning to break open the darkness with the power given only to the Champion.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
After much consideration and research, I've decided on self-publishing.

 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I had a short story, then I fiddled with it for several months. Finally, NaNoWriMo 2010 presented itself, and I rewrote the whole thing from the beginning again . . .so, my first unfinished draft took 9 months, and my first finished draft (technically my second) took one month. I've been revising forever. (but hopefully will be finished, polished and done before Christmas this year - thinking of a January or February release date)

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My kids wanted me to write a story for them instead of writing scifi for "old people." (ouch)

I also felt inspired by The Squire and the Scroll by Jennie Bishop. In that picture book, a young squire conquers a great evil dragon threatening his land by using the words of an ancient scroll that turns into a sword. It got me wondering what it would be like if a fantasy world had swords imbued with power from faith and the word of God. Plus I re-read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader not long before I jumped into NaNo . . . so even though I didn't plan a sea serpent incident originally, I felt a strong desire to bring one into the mix. And then, draft after draft that scene changed and became more important as a turning point for Clara.

What else about this book would pique the reader's interest?
um . . .sword fights, battles, snake-women, and swords of power? A villainess with a thirst for ancient vengeance and power? A king who betrays his people? Majestic griffins and their mysterious riders?

And now I pass this on to these five . . .wait six . . . extraordinary people to tell us about their WIPs:

Angela Brown    L.G. Smith     E.R. King      Karen Lange     Rachel     QueendSheena


I would also love to hear from more extraordinary people about their WIPs but I was running out of blog time . . . my homeschooled kids need me to step away from the PC.   

The Almost Favorites - a Second Look at the Genre Favorites Blogfest

I participated in an awesome, fun blogfest on Monday hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh..

Genre Favorites Blogfest gave everyone a chance to name their favorites in four categories, and then to see the favorites of our bloggy buddies. It rocked, but it got  me thinking about my also-rans, my almost favorites.

So here they are:

Movies:

Old Musicals like Oklahoma, Singin' In the Rain, Top Hat

Romantic Comedies like No Reservations,  and Kate & Leopold

SciFi: like Star Wars, Star Trek, Blade Runner

Fantasy: Mirror, Mirror; The Princess Bride; LOTR; Harry Potter

Animated Movies like Tangled, UP, and Kung Fu Panda.


Fiction:


Fantasy books like: The Hobbit, the Narnia series, LOTR. (and a Happy Birthday to The Hobbit today!)

Scifi books like: Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, Alex J. Cavanaugh's CassaStar and CassaFire

YA and MG like: the Hunger Games Trilogy, Divergent, the Farworld series, the Ranger's Apprentice series, and the H.I.V.E. series, Dragon Slippers.

Comic Collections: Snoopy, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield

Children's Picture Books: Where the Wild Things Are, The Hungry Caterpillar, Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude, The Scroll and the Sword.

Literature: Much Ado About Nothing, Jane Eyre, Les Miserables, Macbeth, The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Henry the IV, parts 1 and 2.

The rare and occasional romance . . .usually a historical fiction romance combo, or a fantasy romance combo . . .usually handed to me by my mom.

Rare and occasional mysteries . . .usually Agatha Christie, Sherlock, or something of that kind.


Music: I grew up listening to musical sound tracks, folk, classical and western (my parents favorites) and r&b and jazz with one of my aunts. So just imagine listening to a mash of Oklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Hair, Harry Belafonte, The Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Roberta Flack.

I didn't start listening to "pop" music until I turned eleven . . .so I had a smattering of Pink Floyd, Queen, and Olivia Newton John, Doobie Brothers, etc for a little while until my friends got me listening to Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, Prince, Bananarama, Billy Joel, and Rick Springfield (no, I didn't watch the soap opera stuff first).  My first concert involved a chair riot while watching Night Ranger at a fairgrounds. (I kept my chair and stood on it because I'm so short). ACDC was the most popular band at my high school and although I'm not fond of their lyrics I have a tendency to know them . . .my senior class' theme was "Back In Black" in 1989.

So my tastes are pretty eclectic . . .but these days I mainly listen to Christian music . . .although as a family we've definitely driven down the road singing "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson.

And I never filled out the guilty pleasure category: Why? Because I don't feel guilty about my likes.

Favorite Genre Blogfest: Adventure! (and . . .some news!)

Genre Favorites Blogfest is here! Brought to us by our favorite Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh - Alex seriously knows how to throw a blogfest party with awesome topics like our favorite genre in movies, books, music, and a guilty pleasure from any of the three. Got a favorite? Want to join, just go to Alex's site, and click on the linky list for fun!

 

Spoiler Alert: I'm not sure I did this "by the rules" - I just don't pick absolute favorites well.

 

 For books and movies my favorite genres center around a subgenre: Adventure!

 

Adventure doesn't have it's own shelves at a bookstore, or it's own section at a movie store (or redbox). It often is used as an after label, after scifi, action, fantasy, thriller, etc.

 

For books it's really hard for me to choose a favorite genre because they are both wrapped up in Adventure!

 

Fantasy Adventure: I like sword fights, quests, and treasure hunts all with amazing, imaginative world building. A little romance thrown in is nice, but I don't want too many details there.

Space Opera/SciFi Adventure: Blasters and space bandits - oh yes. Shootouts between starships - awesome!

 

In Movies: Comic Fantasy Adventure is my current favorite. I love movies like Avengers . . . and no, it's not Thor's princess hair that has me hooked. I like the action scenes, the cool CGI, the characterization and plot. (Big Bad Dude/Dudettes get whipped by Heroes - yes, it's simple, but I still like it)

 

So basically, if it's a book or a movie, and it's focused on adventure, I'm in.

 

In music: Christian, mostly Christian Rock/Pop: Skillet, TFK, Superchick!, Icon For Hire, Newsboys, Toby Mac, Manafest. I listen to upbeat, moving rythms that gets me on my feet, dancing and singing or shouting my lungs out.

 

See a common theme here? . . .my guilty pleasure . . Adventure! Dance! Movement!

 

Drama's all good for a psychological-mental understanding of emotional events . . . but I would rather dance. Really. Or Jump. Or Ski. Or Bike Ride. Or Sprint. Or Climb a Tree. Swim. Kayak. Fence with Sabres. Box. (I've only boxed once, but it was fun).

 

I just need to do all that more . . .

 

(for those who don't know, I have a messed up foot that makes sprinting impossible, but I am working on the four letter word thing (diet), and biking, swimming, and pilates. Anyway, when I get my weight down further, I fully intend to dance, sprint, jump, climb trees, kayak more, fence (again), and get my husband to put up his old everlast punching bag so I can try boxing again.) (Skiing happens in whatever shape or pain I'm in . . beautiful snowy mountains make me crazy that way.)

 

 

So, enough about me, what is your favorite genre?

 

 

 

So . . that was the end of my post officially until . . .I saw this awesome news from Every Day Poets: 

 

Whether you partake of it in silence and alone or aloud in company, reading poetry from a wide range of poets around the world is the best way to hone poetic sensibilities and sharpen your literary eye.

 

The Best of Every Day Poets Two brings together one hundred short poems selected from Every Day Poets’ second year of publication. This book unites a worldwide array of poets writing from a broad gamut of experience and perception, and represents the cream of a year’s journey through poetry of every form and flavour.

Start here, and make poetry a habit.

 

 

 

The Best of Every Day Poets Two is going to be available soon at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 
Why I'm excited: my poem, "March Snow Hare" made it into the anthology!

 

SFFS Champion Chapter 1

I just discovered Science Fiction Fantasy Saturday and decided to try it out. This is the first ten sentences of Champion in the Darkness. I can't seem to get them right, and I need them to jump off the page and grab the reader's attention. Any help with that would be greatly appreciated.

Please ignore the minor spacing issues. When I copy and pasted to my blog post, the spacing issues appeared and I haven't been able to fix them. My lack of tech skills is showing.

    

 

 

Lightning flashed against dark clouds. A fiery sword towered above her, swinging downward. She cowered in the mud, with a broken sword in her hands. Clashing metal and shouting voices surrounded her. Lightning flashed again, and Clara woke with a start, breathing in gasps of air.

 

The recurring nightmare had struck again. The lightning burned into the blackness of sleep was replaced by sunlight pouring into her room, hitting her directly in the face. She closed her eyes, and tried to remember the details of the dream. Her heart was pounding, but she felt like she had to replay, had to understand it. The broken sword of power in her hands had seemed to be the source of the lightning, but that didn't make sense.

Me Without You

It's been a full week, a busy week. I've had a tough time grounding myself in regular routines.

My daily Bible study has been off. I've been reading Psalms instead of sticking with my regular going through the Bible habit, which would have me reading a combination of 1 Kings, Psalms, and 1 Chronicles right now in a study of King David's life and ministry.

My exercise routine has been off. I've only gotten in two days of strengthening exercises and one day of biking so far this week.

My writing routine is totally out of whack. I've only revised 5 paragraphs for Champion in the Darkness this week. 5 paragraphs!

My blogging routine has obviously been missing it's usual rhythm.

It's been a week of new school and activity schedules, a week of worry, a week of heavy prayer, and a week of minor distractions.

My kids are in their second week of homeschooling but the first week of homeschool co-operative and activities: dance, volleyball tryouts, a science study group, an afternoon recess with homeschool friends. We threw a small wrench in all that with a strained neck (one of my daughters), and we managed to be late, early and occassionally on time to all that stuff.

I worried over everything: my teaching abilities for my homeschool co-op classes, my daughter's neck, the schedule, my sucky writing, and other stuff.

We had friends going through a huge storm in their lives, and we spent time in prayer over them but it didn't seem like enough. They needed just to be a family together in the hospital, but I wished I could go hug them every day. For those of you who read my last post, Jessica is out of the ICU but still needs prayers. Her CO2 levels are climbing and if they don't go down, she'll have to go back to the ICU instead of onward to rehab.

On the minor distraction front . . .well, you can well imagine what that means. When I could have studied my Bible, exercised, made leaps and bounds in revision, and visited blogs, I chose to listen to music, read, and watch some really old Japanese anime that I haven't watched since I was in college.

So, last night would have been a good night to get myself together and hunker down and get some work done, right?

Well, no. Instead my family and I went to see Toby Mac in concert at the Puyallup Fair (the biggest fair in Washington state). (pronounced pew-all-up).

We had an awesome time and I felt renewed when I woke up this morning. Ok, I slept in a little, but I was a little tired out from jumping up and down at the concert.

Praising Jesus to Toby Mac's lyrics, dancing, and having fun with my family was just what I needed to find the way to get back into real life again . . . a life made real and full by my relationship with the Lord.

So, I highly encourage you to give God a chance in your life, and if you don't know who Toby Mac is, then I suggest you listen to his song, "Me Without You." It started out at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and remains up there, along with Toby's new album Eye On It.

Prayers for Jessica

Today I put up a post for What's your Chocolate? And then I disappeared. Why?

Super, crazy busy day - first day of homeschool co-op, first day of volleyball tryouts (oldest daughter), and first day of dance classes.

More importantly, when I had a spare moment, I prayed for Jessica.

Jessica is an amazing eight year old girl who's undergone more major surgeries than anyone I know. (this includes my Dad and me, and maybe even my mom-in-law)

Last year she had a major surgery to place two metal rods along her spine to help lengthen and strengthen her spine curvature, so that her lungs and other internal organs would have room to breathe and grow.

It turns out that the metal rods didn't do their job. They are hampering her ability to breathe. So right now, as I write this, she is in a four hour surgery to take out those rods, and place her in halo traction. When her lungs have fully recovered (if they can), and the traction has lengthened her spine, her spine will be fused in place. It's the last option. The hardest one.

Her parents and her brother are broken up in a way that I can't even begin to describe.

They have hope in Jesus, but they still need all the prayers they can get. Please, if you read this, take a moment and pray for Jessica and her family. They need every prayer that comes their way.

I should have posted this earlier, but somehow, in the midst of life, I didn't. I pre-wrote the chocolate post, and then went off in a rush.

I will visit the chocolate lovers tomorrow, but right now, I need to keep praying for an eight year old girl in surgery.

Added Tuesday morning: Jessica came out of her first surgery ok, and will be in the ICU for 2-3 days with some breathing help. Her parents and brother are thankful that this first step is over, but are still in the midst of a storm of stress.

What's Your Chocolate?

What's Your Chocolate? is a fun blog fest being hosted by four awesome authors:
M Pax, Laura Eno, Brinda Berry and Ciara Knight.

My favorite chocolate is:

Haystacks - Coconut and Chocolate together are the perfect combination! Homemade, or from a special chocolate shop . . .they are delicious!

I also like cashew clusters, macadamia nut clusters, and almond clusters.

Plus, if you micro a half of a banana, some hershey kisses and a pile of cocounut, well . . .let's just say I won't say no. Sound strange? Probably it is, but I'm just nutty about chocolate.

Also, a good chocolate coconut ice cream is good too - the dairy free kind. (yes, chocolate has dairy, and every time I eat it . . .well, I can't eat too much, so I guess that's a good thing)

So, what's your chocolate?

Summer: Fact or Fiction and COVER EXCITEMENT!

So, Time to Reveal all: I rode Silver Bullet because I love roller coasters - not enough time to think about the heights once it's going. My husband really did sacrifice two hours of his time to chat with us in line and then go off and wait for us to ride the ride. And although I did climb a trail up to a 10 foot cliff dive area, and I did trip, I didn't jump. My family did, and then my youngest and her two cousins went up the trail further and jumped from a 25-30 foot cliff. That scared me enough.


So, I don't have a cover to reveal yet for Champion in the Darkness, but I do have some exciting news on that front: I found a rocking cover artist!!!

Stephanie, my cliff-diving niece, is studying art and interior design. She came to my house on Tuesday and sketched out ideas in front of me as we talked about my book. It totally helps that she is an avid reader of fantasy fiction, and Christian fantasy fiction, so she got the themes and the ideas quickly. We meshed really well, and I loved her second cover idea, including a back cover idea.

It was so exciting to see my ideas come to life on a page of sketches!!! I feel totally pumped up and enthusiastic again about Champion in the Darkness! I'm looking forward to the day when I can reveal just like these two awesome ladies from ParanomYA:

Mystery and mayhem teamed with heartache and overcoming. Follow PIP here.

It's that time folks, the moment Gwen and I have been so excited for.  Well, one of the moments.  This Indie publishing adventure has been one thrilling moment after another.  So here they are, our covers for GIVIN' UP THE GHOST and NEVERLOVE by Gwen Gardner and Angela Brown, respectively.



Corona Zschusschen

Friend or Foe?

Murder victim Bart Bagley is not content to merely roll over in his grave. He wants his murderer caught and he wants teenage ghost whisperer, Indigo Eady, to help him.

It becomes obvious that Bart’s temper lead to more than one disagreement, but is it enough to want him dead? With nothing but a cold trail and a hot list of “friendly” suspects, Indigo and her friends race to find the killer before they become the next victims.

Indigo Eady is not clumsy. At least, that’s what she keeps telling everyone. Can she help that the overactive spirit community of Sabrina Shores causes her psychic abilities to short-circuit? It’s unfortunate that her cute new friend Badger is often on the receiving end of her mishaps. At times, she is positively hazardous to his health. Even so, sparks start to fly in more than one direction...

Heather McCorckle of CP Designs

For seventeen-year-old Abigail, one rash decision leads to an unexpected chance for redemption. At V'Salicus Academy, a unique institute where she trains to become an agent of heaven, she struggles with the pain of her past, the changes of the present and accepts a loveless future until her path – and heart – crosses with Basil’s.

Basil's off-chance slip of the tongue binds him to a life of servitude to the Devourer, the master of hell. His existence has no upside until a chance meeting with Abigail brings new perspective.

Keeping the truth of their present lives from each other brings disaster when secrets are brought to light and the life of Abigail’s mentor is put on the line.

Can Abigail and Basil save her mentor and salvage their love amid the chaos? Or will they lose it all, destined forever to NEVERLOVE?



About the authors:

Haunt me: FB, Blog, Goodreads

Gwen Gardner

Running, writing and reading are my favorite things.

I am also a dreamer.

Have you ever told yourself that "some day" I'm going to travel or write or whatever it is that you are passionate about but can't do right now for whatever reason? You can go for years and years and keep telling yourself that "some day" you'll do it. Too often "some day" never comes. But mine did. I am a former Administrative Manager and Vice President of a successful swimming pool plastering company - until I woke up one day and realized that my "some day" had arrived. I quit my job, moved to the mountains and began to write. Crazy, I know. But even crazier? Is when you get to the end of your life and realize that your "some day" is too late. Life is much too short for that! So the adventure has begun.

GIVIN' UP THE GHOST is a YA paranormYA cozy mystery, the first in the Indigo Eady series, due out October 8, 2012.

Haunt me FB, Blog, Goodreads

Angela Brown

Reading and writing have been lifelong passions. It was around the time I gave birth to my forever-love, nicknamed Chipmunk, that I really took writing seriously. After all, how could I teach my child to follow her dreams if I hadn't tried myself?

As a YA fantasy/sci-fi reader and author, I favor the magical, mysterious, the darker side of life...even harbor a secret fright for things that go bump in the night.

NEVERLOVE is a special project spawned from a blog-challenge-turned-blog-opera, the Abby and Basil affair. It is the first in the Shadow Jumpers series and due out October 8, 2012.

Thank you EVERYONE for sharing in our cover reveal.  Please feel free to share with others as well :-)

Insecure Writers Support Group + Summer: Fact or Fiction, Pt 2

My tiny bit of encouragement for the month.

Writing is an Adventure.

It's steep and deep like a black diamond powder run on skis or a snowboard.

It's full of twists, turns, and loops like the worlds scariest roller coaster.

It's like cliff diving (or watching your youngest daughter jump from a 30 foot cliff).

It's like swimming with 14 foot Manta Rays in Hawaiian waters after the sun sets.

It's like walking along the edge of the Grand Canyon on the rim trail, with condors below you.


Even if your heart is pounding, you're gasping for breath, you feel dizzy, and your palms are covered in nervous sweat - it's worth it.

Take the leap onto the blank page.

Keep Writing.

Keep your Adventurous Dreams Alive!

And speaking of Adventures, it's time for:

Summer: Fact or Fiction, Part 2

Trembling with anticipation and fear, I climbed the rocky trail up to the top of the cliffs with my family. My husband, daughters, nephew, niece, and sister-in-law had jumped from a twenty foot cliff the day before. I wasn't sure if I could do it. I'm terrified of heights, and open water has some fear factor for me even after some adventures snorkeling with Manta Rays in Hawaii about 16 months ago.

My legs felt like jelly, and I tripped on a loose stone on the path. I regained my balance, but my heart started pounding in my chest, and I felt that familiar sensation of vertigo start to take hold. Dizzyness, with an almost compelling feeling of wanting to throw  myself off any high place . . . don't ask me why vertigo makes me want to jump while at the same time fearing it. My breath started coming in shaky gasps.

I sat down on a large rock, and watched the others approach the edge of the cliff.

"This one's only ten feet, Aunt Ty, you could jump that," my niece said.

"Sure, only ten feet," I replied. I swallowed  nervously.

They were milling around at the edge, when another family came up the trail, already wet from a previous jump. They were laughing and excited. The father of the family introduced himself as the Pastor of a church, and encouraged us all to just have faith, and jump. He smiled when he said it, then took a few steps and leaped out into the water. His two boys followed him, and then his wife.

I stood up from the rock. I walked slowly over the edge. I felt light-headed, but ready. The rest of my family watched me, parted a little to make a path, and without thinking, I took three more steps and sprang off the edge. I flailed my arms in the air and screamed, and then I hit the water, my stomach and arms taking a burning hit as I entered. The cold water surrounded me, and I started flailing again, not wanting to go down any further. Finally I reached the surface, and felt elation. I had conquered my fears.


So did I jump: Fact or Fiction?

Or did I ride the Silver Bullet from Monday's post?

What do you think?

Paranormya Cover Reveal Here Today and Friday

If you are looking for my"What I did last summer" post, please scroll down to yesterday's posting. Today I'm handing my post over to Gwen and Angela.

Mystery and mayhem teamed with heartache and overcoming. Follow PIP here.

It's that time folks, the moment Gwen and I have been so excited for.  Well, one of the moments.  This Indie publishing adventure has been one thrilling moment after another.  So here they are, our covers for GIVIN' UP THE GHOST and NEVERLOVE by Gwen Gardner and Angela Brown, respectively.



Corona Zschusschen

Friend or Foe?

Murder victim Bart Bagley is not content to merely roll over in his grave. He wants his murderer caught and he wants teenage ghost whisperer, Indigo Eady, to help him.

It becomes obvious that Bart’s temper lead to more than one disagreement, but is it enough to want him dead? With nothing but a cold trail and a hot list of “friendly” suspects, Indigo and her friends race to find the killer before they become the next victims.

Indigo Eady is not clumsy. At least, that’s what she keeps telling everyone. Can she help that the overactive spirit community of Sabrina Shores causes her psychic abilities to short-circuit? It’s unfortunate that her cute new friend Badger is often on the receiving end of her mishaps. At times, she is positively hazardous to his health. Even so, sparks start to fly in more than one direction...

Heather McCorckle of CP Designs

For seventeen-year-old Abigail, one rash decision leads to an unexpected chance for redemption. At V'Salicus Academy, a unique institute where she trains to become an agent of heaven, she struggles with the pain of her past, the changes of the present and accepts a loveless future until her path – and heart – crosses with Basil’s.

Basil's off-chance slip of the tongue binds him to a life of servitude to the Devourer, the master of hell. His existence has no upside until a chance meeting with Abigail brings new perspective.

Keeping the truth of their present lives from each other brings disaster when secrets are brought to light and the life of Abigail’s mentor is put on the line.

Can Abigail and Basil save her mentor and salvage their love amid the chaos? Or will they lose it all, destined forever to NEVERLOVE?



About the authors:

Haunt me: FB, Blog, Goodreads

Gwen Gardner

Running, writing and reading are my favorite things.

I am also a dreamer.

Have you ever told yourself that "some day" I'm going to travel or write or whatever it is that you are passionate about but can't do right now for whatever reason? You can go for years and years and keep telling yourself that "some day" you'll do it. Too often "some day" never comes. But mine did. I am a former Administrative Manager and Vice President of a successful swimming pool plastering company - until I woke up one day and realized that my "some day" had arrived. I quit my job, moved to the mountains and began to write. Crazy, I know. But even crazier? Is when you get to the end of your life and realize that your "some day" is too late. Life is much too short for that! So the adventure has begun.

GIVIN' UP THE GHOST is a YA paranormYA cozy mystery, the first in the Indigo Eady series, due out October 8, 2012.

Haunt me FB, Blog, Goodreads

Angela Brown

Reading and writing have been lifelong passions. It was around the time I gave birth to my forever-love, nicknamed Chipmunk, that I really took writing seriously. After all, how could I teach my child to follow her dreams if I hadn't tried myself?

As a YA fantasy/sci-fi reader and author, I favor the magical, mysterious, the darker side of life...even harbor a secret fright for things that go bump in the night.

NEVERLOVE is a special project spawned from a blog-challenge-turned-blog-opera, the Abby and Basil affair. It is the first in the Shadow Jumpers series and due out October 8, 2012.

Thank you EVERYONE for sharing in our cover reveal.  Please feel free to share with others as well :-)

What I Did Last Summer Blog Hop

What I Did Last Summer Blog Hop: Fact or Fiction?

Emily and Melodie are hosting this fun blog hop! To see the rules go here.

For two hours of standing in line at Knott's Berry Farm, I had remained calm, but here, at the top of the stairs, just one more ride away from our turn, my heart had begun to beat faster. My palms sweated, and I took deep breaths. My husband, who had stood with my daughters and I patiently for the last two hours, left us there, taking the non-riders exit. On the last ride, he had seen black spots at the edge of his vision, and he didn't think a ride that would flip riders over six times, travel at 55 mph, and start with an inital drop of 109 feet would be good for him.

The coaster in front of us left with a jerk and then a whoosh. Screams filled the air. My daughters hugged me, and told me they were excited. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Sure, I had been on this ride before . . .when they were too little to ride anything other than Snoopy's Skateboard and the Wagon Ride. Eight years can change a person though. I knew that. I couldn't ride spinning rides anymore without getting sick. Was I sure I could ride the Silver Bullet? The look of the ride was scary enough; as a suspended coaster, it would leave our feet dangling in the air, and I wondered if the seat belts and safety harnass really safe? I started breathing faster.

"Don't worry, Mom," said my youngest daughter, "It only lasts two minutes. You'll be ok for two minutes."

As long as I didn't pass out.

The previous riders exited. Everyone looked exhilerated. No one was sick or unconcious. I followed my daughters onto the ride. After a few minutes of fumbling through the safety straps with shaking fingers, I pulled them as tight as they could go. One of the ride assistants checked my straps and smiled at me reassuringly. I nodded, and took a deep breath. My feet dangled uselessly below me, and I trembled.

My daughters laughed.

I looked over at them with some concern. They were so thin, did the straps really fit them right? What if they fell out of the ride? I was reassured by the harnesses, and the sight of them gripping the handles. Then with a few seconds warning, the ride jerked.

With a smooth whoosh we were flying forwards, then down, then up. I had to keep my eyes open. The pavement rushed towards us, then away, blue sky above my feet, then pavement below them. I screamed for the joy of the crazy flight, for the terror and andrenaline coursing through my veins.

So, fact or fiction? Did I ride the Silver Bullet last summer?

Paranormya Cover Reveals posted tomorrow!!!