Interview at Here's The Story, A Winner, and Last Chance for Giveaway!

Today or Wednesday will be my last stop on my long book blog tour for Champion in the Darkness. Today is also one of the last two days to enter to win the Champion in the Darkness blog book tour giveaway.

Either today or Wednesday, come by Here's the Story for an in-depth interview about Champion in the Darkness and a few other things! (I thought it was today, then realized it might be Wednesday, we had a flurry of e-mails and now I'm not sure yet . . .sorry for mix-up).

Meanwhile, Michael DiGesu won the ebook Giveaway at Laurel's Leaves. Hope you enjoy Michael!

And enter below for the ongoing blog tour giveaway, which includes prizes like amazon gift cards, and copies of Champion in the Darkness.

Winners will be announced on Wednesday. (the same day as the Wormhole Blog Hop Day!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Presenting Boomtown Craze, Overcoming Adversity and a guest post in Ninja Land

Today I'm guest posting in Ninja Land! I'm kind of blown away about being there. Come join me!

A Grand New Age of Boom or Dust?

Boomtown Craze, Book 3 in the Backworlds series is here!

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe.

To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted by a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.

Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from his and Craze’s budding prospects. The mind-control weapon Talos uses against them is wearing thin, and his next move may be his last.

Will Craze and Talos’s efforts bring about a grand new age of boom or damn them to forever struggle in the dust?

Available in ebook at:

AmazonUS / AmazonUK / B&N / Smashwords

Other Outlets can be found at http://mpaxauthor.com

It will also be available in paperback from Amazon shortly.

MPAX

M. Pax is a Browncoat and SG fan, she’s also slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. In the summers she docents as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory where the other astronomers now believe she has the most extensive collection of moon photos in existence. No fear, there will be more next summer. She lives in stunning Central Oregon with the Husband Unit and two lovely, spoiled cats.
Website / Blog ~ Twitter ~ FB ~ Goodreads
You can also find M. Pax on LinkedIN, Pinterest, YouTube, and Wattpad

 

A collection of seventy moving and uplifting original pieces - real life, flash fiction, and poetry - about battling against the odds and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. The contributors include Amazon bestselling authors Alex J. Cavanaugh and Kyra Lennon, and the cream of upcoming talent. (I'm in there too, next to those awesome authors!)

The anthology is part of a fundraising effort to send the editor's stepson, Andrew McNaughton, to a specialist college in England. Andrew has cerebral palsy, and is a remarkable young man with a promising future. However, the free further education options offered in his own country of Scotland will not challenge him and allow him to progress. In order to access the education he deserves, Andrew will have to pay exorbitant fees, thus creating a situation of discrimination.

Help us get Andrew to college by buying a book that runs the full gamut of human emotions, ultimately leaving you inspired and glad to be alive. Whatever struggles you are going through, our sincere hope is that this book will help.

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK  Amazon US Smashwords

Goodreads

Editor Bio: Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction. When not writing he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. He has four short stories published in Writer’s Muse magazine. Nick is also co-running a campaign to get a dedicated specialist college built in Scotland. Visit him at http://nickwilford.blogspot.co.uk/.

 

Have you read M Pax's Backworld series? Do you know Nick, one of the champions of the blogsphere and the real world at the same time? Is your story in Overcoming Adversity?

Have you been to Ninja Land yet?
 

Neumarian Uprising, and Guest Post at Geek Banter

 

Please be sure to come and visit with me and Allison at Geek Banter with the Champion in the Darkness blog tour! We'll be talking about trusting yourself as an author.

Meanwhile . . .  

 

Neumarian Uprising

We need your help! Thanks to our spy, Ciara Knight, we are able to communicate with you today via blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

The Neumarian uprising has begun. We are fighting for freedom and equality for all, but we need your help. Ciara informed us that you might want to know more about the uprising and why we ask you to risk your lives for our cause. To answer these questions I’ve agreed to let Ciara tell my sister’s, Raeth’s, story about her captivity. It will be free for you on a site called Amazon until March 1, 2013.

Our spies have told us this will help spread the word and find more recruits for our rebellion against the tyrannical queen. You can help by simply downloading a free copy of Weighted, a prequel to the Neumarian Chronicles. If you are intrigued and wish to follow our uprising, Escapement, book I of The Neumarian Chronicles, will be available for only $2.99 until March 1, 2013.

Escapement is told by Princess Semara. Don’t hold the fact Semara is a princess against her like I did, there is more to her than you can possibly imagine.

Here is a brief explanation of her telling of our uprising:

Ten years after the great war of 2185 the queen’s reign is threatened by uprisings and fear. In celebration of my sixteenth birthday it is my duty as princess to sacrifice a slave to be initiated into the ruling council, solidifying my mother’s empire. When my own erratic powers surface I’m captured and tried for treason. Slaves hate me, my mother wants me executed, and my only chance of survival rests in the hands of a young man, Ryder Arteres, whose sister I sentenced to death.

What people are saying about Escapement:

“A heady mix of action adventure and steampunk -- leavened with a dash of romance -- ESCAPEMENT offers up its fair share of thrills, horrors and heart-pounding moments. A strong start to a captivating new series.”

-- Jana Oliver, author of The Demon Trapper's Daughter

“A riveting tale of justice, mercy, honor and love. Take a deep breath and hold on, because you'll be turning the pages of Escapement quickly. Three unlikely comrades, Princess Semara, Ryder, and his sister Raeth, embark on a journey that will alter their lives forever. The beautiful love story nestled into these action-packed scenes will make you sigh and remember why you love to love. After reading the prequel Weighted, I knew this story would be amazing, and it was. Ciara Knight truly has a gift for creating awesome worlds and characters you won't forget.”
 

--Lindi Peterson--Award winning author of Summer's Song.

“Betrayal, secrets, and a rebellion send readers on a grand adventure, caught in the plight to discover Semara’s gifts and purpose.”

--Alex J Cavanaugh, author of Amazon best sellers CassaStar and CassaFire

 

“The most unmissable series ever! I couldn't stop reading, the action and romance too breathtaking to break the spell!”

--ARC review by Sudah on Goodreads

"A courageous heart-stopping journey by young people to save their kind."

--Hildie McQueen, bestselling author of Where the Four Winds Collide

If you’d like to see a peak into our world, please view this short clip on You Tube.

If you are now ready to join our fight, please add Escapement to your TBR shelf on Goodreads here. Shout out on all your social media sites, and tell everyone you know to stand up and fight.

Be Bold.

Be Brave.

Be Free.

In the name of the rebellion,
Ryder Arteres

Escapement can be found at Amazon.

Rafflecopter giveaway: a Rafflecopter giveaway

http://www.amazon.com/Escapement-The-Neumarian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00BC1H1I0/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1361369488&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=Escapement+by+ciara+knight


And after you've joined the fight, please remember to stop by and visit with me at Geek Banter! 

 

Level Up Blogfest, Progressive Book Club, and Champion Blog Tour

I'm spending my time in three places today (not sure how it's possible but I'm trying). I'm gaming with Level Up Blogfest, reading with ML Swift's Book Club, and I'm touring at Laurel's Leaves for the Champion in the Darkness Book Tour. Oh, and I put my She Said What? Post yesterday. I think I'll have to more of a realist with my time one of these days, but it's Midwinter break, so it's all good, right? If you don't have time to read all the following, just scroll until you find what you're looking for:

 Brought to you by Allison at Geek Banter and Jamie from Mithril Wisdom, Level Up Blogfest gives us a chance to share our favorite games.

I had a tough time choose just one favorite. I love games. I'm not a huge video game player like my husband and kids, because if I got sucked into playing one of those ongoing games I would never come out. I stick with little ones like Fruit Ninja . . .only 60 seconds. (Then I make myself stop.)

As a kid I loved Monopoly, War, Rummy, Slapjack, and pretend Star Wars. My favorite video games as an early teen were Zaxxon, and Joust. (I'm old)

Then I learned to play Ditch'em, which is kind of like what my kids call Home Free. Two teams. One base. One team hides, and tries to run to the base, while the other team guards the base and tries to tag the runners/hiders. If a person doesn't get found or if a runner gets to the base, then the hiding/running team wins. However, if the base team finds all the hiders or tags all the runners, then the base team wins. I spent hours and hours playing Ditch'em during the summers with my neighborhood friends so in a nostalgic way I consider it my favorite game of all time.

For my 14 year old daughter's recent birthday, we played games for six hours in a ballroom sized dance studio with 21 kids. (Awesome fun for all of us) The games: Capture the Flag, Birdie on a Perch, Foot relay, Draw relay, Signs, Wink, Everybody's It Tag, Shuffling Bums/Chairs, Human Knot Race (two teams), I've Never Ever, Group Charades, 4 Corners, Tap, and Partner Everyone's It Tag. Later, the fun continued with Pass the Story, Mafia, and Pictionary.

If you haven't guessed yet, we are avid game players in our house, from Catan and Chess, to Pictionary and Nerts. If you meet us, and we have a deck of cards or an open space to play in, Game On!

What are your favorite games? Do you like video games, board games, card games, group/party games, or all of the above?

 The Progressive Book Club, brought to us by ML Swift is focused on books about the craft of writing, with a few fiction books thrown in for fun!

Our book this month is: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.

 

 

Ages ago, a college professor of mine recommended Bird by Bird to me, and I found it and read it right away, awed by the way that Lamott gets to the throat and heart of writing in this book on writing and life. Reading it this time brought back both memories, and some reminders that I truly enjoyed. As with the first time, the most memorable section of the book for me is the first on on writing. I love the chapters on short assignments, sh-y first drafts, and polaroids. They remind me to keep it simple, and not try to write an entire "perfect" novel in one sitting.

 

When overwhelmed by the big idea of writing a novel, Lamott says, "I remember to pick up the one-inch picture frame (that she keeps on her desk) and to figure out a one-inch piece of my story to tell, one small scene, one memory, one exchange."

 

Although I find many other parts of Bird by Bird to be compelling, hilarious, interesting, and helpful for writing, the image of the one-inch picture frame sticks with me. I even used to have a picture frame like that on my desk in college. The question is now, in the midst of messy, busy life, where did I put that thing? Now I look out the window and that window frame reminds me of the same idea - except the window frame is way too big.





Have you ever read Bird by Bird? Do you use a picture frame, or a window frame to help you focus your writing time?

Next Month for Progressive Book Club, we're reading Save the Cat! and I'm already one chapter in and taking notes.

Please, stop by Laurel's Leaves for the Champion in the Darkness book tour stop!

She Said What?! Blog-o-versary Giveaway Bash, Minion Badge, and Giveaway

 The "She Said What?!" Blogaversary Giveaway Bash is brought to us by Michelle and Elise, both celebrating their blogaversaries! For this fun event, each blogger gets to fill in the captions:

Add caption Panel 1: "Look out Elise, I see the dragon's cheek! She's right behind me." "Dudette, I know, get up in this balloon so we can getaway with her treasure!"
Panel 2: "Michelle, what are you doing?" "My foot got caught in a twist Just help me up, all right?"
Panel 3: "Don't worry Lady Dragon, I'm here to save your treasure from these two thieves!"

Panel 4: "Oomph!" Panel 5: Michelle, jump for the lake! Panel 6: "That was easier than I expected." "Yeah, it just goes to show you that even supergirl can't tango with us and get away with it."

Panel 7: Dragon: "Oh no, supergirl is hurt, and my treasure is gone!" Elise: "I've heard there's a healer in that next town, we'll send you  some champagne to help supergirl. That might get her buzz back!"

Ok, so my entry for that made no sense at all, but I had fun. Hopefully the dragon will take good care of supergirl, even if the two thieves forget to send the champagne.

 

 

I've been having so much fun these days that I thought I would sign up for more fun as an A to Z minion for Spunk on a Stick. Check out the cool badge:

 

 

 

Meanwhile, my Champion in the Darkness blog tour is going well, thanks to all of my awesome blogger buddies. In addition to those awesome buddies who signed up to help, I've had some unexpected, totally surprise help in spreading the word about Champion in the Darkness.

 

Brinda Berry is hosting a Random Acts of Kindness Giveaway on her blog, and Champion in the Darkness is one of the five books available for that! Check it out here!

 

 

Also, I haven't been very good about posting this on my blog, but I'm having a long Giveaway with the blog tour. If you want to sign up, here's the rafflectopter info:

 

 

 





 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Dianne Gardner on Art and Writing, Champion in the Darkness Tour, and Writers4Writers

Dianne Gardner is an artist and is the author of Deception Peak, Dragon Shield, Silvio, Menaka, Kaempie, and Reuben. She's currently touring for her latest novel, Dragon Shield, and I had a question for her about art and writing. Meanwhile, I'm at Dianne's blog Ian's Realm discussing Faith in Fiction. It's part one of a series of faith in writing that is part of the Champion in the Darkness tour. So, after making Dianne welcome here, please come visit me at Ian's Realm.

Tyrean writes…I have a student who is a writer and an artist. We've been discussing whether artists describe their characters more than non-artists. She's an artist, I'm not. She excels at description, I don't. I have a tendency to struggle to get the descriptions on the page even if they are in my imagination. Do you feel that your artistry helps with your character descriptions and characterization? If so, how much?

I have to tell you I believe that being an artist helps me to write good descriptions.

 Although I don’t believe you have to be an artist per se to write good description. You only need to be observant.

 One of the most important lessons when studying artist is that a good artist spends more time observing than they do creating art. Consider the following quotes:

 Art demands constant observation. (Vincent van Gogh)

 A heightened sense of the observation of nature is one of the chief delights that have come to me through trying to paint. (Winston Churchill)

 It is difficult to say why I decided I wanted to be an artist. Obviously, I had some facility, more than other people, but sometimes facility comes because one is more interested in looking at things, examining them, more interested in the visual world than other people are. (David Hockney)

 When you’ve trained not only your eye, but your temperment, to observe things around you it is amazing how much more alive the world becomes. You begin to see colors that you had no idea were present. I once argued with a student of mine that there were indeed purple in the tree trunks. It wasn’t until they began to slow down and really observe did they see the many hues that make up our surroundings.

 When you study art you learn about the warms and cools of color, how the sun affects nature, how ambient light seeping through a window can create a mood. How, if the light glares at you from below -the shadows that are cast will make you look ghoulish.

 All of these things can be written in your book. You can explain an atmosphere through observing life around you as if you have the eyes of an artist. And you don’t necessarily have to be able to draw well. You just need to observe well.

One of the best lessons of observance I’ve had has been studying plein air painting. Plein air painting is when an artist paints a landscape on site. The trick behind this kind of painting is that you work for no more than two hours. Why? Because after two hours the sun has shifted, the shadows have moved and the atmosphere has changed. Often you’ll find plein air paintings very small for this very reason.

 It’s little wonder that a plein air artist has trained their eye to observe the nuances of nature. They have heightened their observance skills to adapt to their needs.

The great thing about this is, anyone can do it. Even if you don’t know how to mix colors, or ‘draw a straight line’ or know perspective, you can at least train your eye to see them.

 And then find the words to explain what you see!

 

       

 

Dianne Lynn Gardner

Author-Illustrator

Young Adult Fantasy-Adventure Fiction

Dianne Gardner is both an author and illustrator living the Pacific Northwest, Olalla Washington. She’s an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and the National League of American Pen Women. She has written Young Adult Fantasy novels as well as articles for national magazines and newspapers and she is an award-winning artist.

Dianne spent many years living out in the desert wilderness of the American Southwest, lived in a hogan made from adobe and cedar for thirteen years, co-owned 25 horses both pure bred and Native American ponies, traveled horseback and by wagon throughout the Navajo reservation, herded sheep and goat, worked in the forest planting trees and piling, farmed on barren soil and even lived in a teepee for a short while. She spent many long years using survival skills as a way of life.
Later she studied pastoral counseling and was a Pastor’s apprentice at a mainline church. She and her husband have been feeding the homeless for over twelve years. Today she shares both her survival experiences and her love for people, especially young people, into her writing as a way to not only to give her readers a firm understanding of her stories’ characters, but a rich appreciation of nature.

 

You can find more about Dragon Shield, and Dianne Gardner at the following links:

 Official Book Blog   Dragon Shield Trailer

 

Website     Facebook     Twitter     Author Central     Goodreads

 

Deception Peak at Amazon   Dragon Shield at Amazon 

 

Deception Peak at Smashwords 

 

Dianne Lynn Gardner
Hydra Publications

Ian's Realm: Deception Peak

Teenage Ian Wilson follows his father through a portal into a deceptively beautiful Realm, where horses run free, the wind sings prophetic melodies, and their computer avatars come to life. But separation from his dad puts Ian in peril as he’s abducted by a tribe of dragon worshipers and forced to find his courage.  As he struggles for his freedom and embarks on a perilous search for his father he meets the true peacekeepers of the Realm, and learns of a greater purpose for his being there. 

Ian's Realm: The Dragon Shield

As a young man, Ian returns to the Realm to fight against the tyranny that has befallen his friends. But the Realm is a different place, the forest is dying, the Kaemperns have lost the shield that protected them from the dragon, and Ian has a hard time proving his allegiance when trouble follows him through the portal. His struggle to do right buries him in confusion, and he must fight his own will to prove his integrity.

Again, please come visit me today at Ian's Realm to discuss Faith in Fiction: Part 1.

And remember, today is Writers4Writers: Go Gwen and Melissa!

 

Celebrate the Small Things, News, and Champion in the Darkness Blog Tour



Champion in the Darkness Blog Tour Stop with Laura Josephsen today!



We're supposed to be celebrating small things, but this has been another huge week for me.
1. My book, Champion in the Darkness, is out in ebook format! (Paperback is coming soon)

2. Awesome people helped spread the word about my book in big and small ways. Friends, family members, blog buddies, homeschool co-op friends, and even random acquaintances congratulated me throughout the day. My homeschool co-op group sent out a mass e-mail about my book. Bloggers posted and tweeted. My family took my out to dinner and gave me balloons and flowers. It was amazing, and I felt overwhelmed by all the amazing support! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

3. A local book club chose my book as their March book! Wow! I found out while standing in line at Costco.

4. I started my blog tour, and it's been fun. Today I'm at Laura Josephsen's blog discussing How a Rejection Letter Started a Novel. Come check it out!

NEWS This is what I know, there's probably more.
Cover RevealCover reveal for Sheri Fink's new book, the Little Firefly

 Christine Raines' book The Dragonslayer is out, and she's touring. Look for her around the blogsphere!


Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn is currently free! I highly recommend it!











Champion in the Darkness Tour
Today's Stop: Laura Josephson     Topic: How a Rejection Letter Started a Novel
Next week: