What if Death himself wanted to die? Can deliverance be found on a bloody battlefield? Could the gift of silvering become a prison for those who possessed it? Will an ancient warrior be forever the caretaker of a house of mystery?
Delving into the depths of the tortured hero, twelve authors explore the realms of fantasy in this enthralling and thought-provoking collection. Featuring the talents of Jen Chandler, L. Nahay, Renee Cheung, Roland Yeomans, Elizabeth Seckman, Olga Godim, Yvonne Ventresca, Ellen Jacobson, Sean McLachlan, Erika Beebe, Tyrean Martinson, and Sarah Foster.
Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these twelve tales will take you into the heart of heroes who have fallen from grace. Join the journey and discover a hero’s redemption!
Release date: May 2, 2017
Fantasy (FIC009000)
Freedom Fox Press, a division of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Print ISBN 9781939844361 eBook ISBN 9781939844378
Today I am participating in Chrys Fey’sI Survived Bloghop. She is celebrating the release of Tsunami Crimes (Disaster Crimes Book 3) which comes out today, January 20th.
She gave us the first paragraph as a prompt and took it from there:
"This is Chrys Fey reporting for Disaster 5 News. I am in Eastern N. Carolina where a tsunami hit yesterday morning. I have Diane Wolfe with me, a survivor of the tsunami. Diane, can you tell our viewers what happened, and how you survived?"
Well Chrys, I was in Willmington packing up after one of my publishing seminars at the local community college when the siren went off. The weather was clear, so I knew it wasn’t a tornado warning. I tossed the rest of my things in my Sante Fe, started my SUV, and peeled out of the parking lot.
It’s a good thing the college is downtown and 3rd Street connects with the highway leading to Interstate 40. I looked back in my rear view mirror and about lost it. The wave was surging up the river not far behind me, the water spilling out onto the roads. In seconds, the wave was almost beside me. I must’ve been doing 90 mph when I blew through the main intersection and up the ramp that led away from downtown.
I didn’t slow down, either. I wasn’t sure if I was safe yet. After a maddening wait at the next light, I turned onto I-40 and beat feet for home. Traffic was picking up at this point as people surged out of town. I suspected I was out of danger, but adrenaline still charged through me, and I didn’t slow down until I reached my exit almost an hour later.
Poor Wilmington! All those homes and businesses along the ocean and river. I’ve heard downtown was devastated. I hope most people got to higher ground in time. Hopefully someone remembered the horses that pull the trolley car!
Title: Tsunami Crimes
Series: Disaster Crimes #3
Author: Chrys Fey
Genre: Romantic-Suspense
Page Count: 272
BLURB: Beth and Donovan have come a long way from Hurricane
Sabrina and the San Francisco earthquake. Now they are approaching their
wedding day and anxiously waiting to promise each other a lifetime of love. The
journey down the aisle isn’t smooth, though, as they receive threats from the
followers of the notorious criminal, Jackson Storm. They think they’ll be safe
in Hawaii, but distance can’t stop these killers. Not even a tsunami can.
This monstrous wave is the most devastating disaster Beth
has ever faced. It leaves her beaten, frightened. Is she a widow on her
honeymoon? As she struggles to hold herself together and find Donovan, she’s
kidnapped by Jackson's men.
Fearing her dead, Donovan searches the rubble and shelters
with no luck. The thought of her being swept out to sea is almost too much for
him to bear, but the reality is much worse. She’s being used as bait to get him
to fall into a deadly trap.
If they live through this disaster, they may never be the
same again.
Writers love what they do, but most don't make much money at it... and we sure don't like marketing!
Marketing is a necessary evil - I need to sell books to justify writing more to my publisher. But it doesn't have to be an evil enterprise. I enjoy going to book events - it's where I sell the most books! I connect with readers and when that happens, they want to read the book.
But today, I want to give some advice for another way authors can connect with readers. VIDEO MARKETING! Now, don't go shrieking back to your den of anonymity. You don't have to show your face if you don't want to, though it will help if you face that fear. All you have to do is...
Read a Passage
from your book
You don't have to be a whiz at creating/editing/formatting videos. There are simple programs, royalty free music for accompaniment, and free images too. Still, the easiest way to put yourself out there is to put yourself out there in a good setting and read. Read it like it sounds to you, that's the best interpretation!
To give you a little more help, I also have some suggestions to enhance your video reading, by genre... Sci Fi/Fantasy - give your readers a sense of wonder
you know how Star Wars starts - blam! then a super short background blurb about the world they're about to enter
use a natural or fantastical background to go with your story
dress the part
edit "magic/technological wonder" into your reading
Romance/Women's Fiction/Historical - enrapture your readers with emotion
introduce your reading with a short blurb about where the story came from, what moved you to write it
can you relate to one of the characters, is one of them based on you? or someone you know?
music can really enhance a dramatic scene
Thriller/Mystery/Horror - leave readers hanging in suspense!
become the villain or hero in your reading (you could even wear a mask!)
intro the scene with your blurb from the MC's POV
pick a scene with big buildup and an awesome cliffhanger
music enhances these exciting scenes too
YA/Children's/Humor - make readers LOL
tell a joke
have a young person read with/for you, or better yet, act it out!
have a fake argument over who liked it more
use puppets
use funny voices
Here is some general advice for any video:
Keep them short, 5 minutes or less is a good length
Include the cover of your book and your links!
Smile (or stay in character)
Test it before you send it
In all these videos, one thing is constant:
Don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself for your book!
We are here to entertain, educate, and encourage!
We want to get people interested in reading!
I've made videos in the past (BTW you can include viewing your video as part of a giveaway entry!) and I plan to make more this year. (here's my youtube channel)
But rather than bore you with more of me, I want to share this phenomenal example of how to reach readers - with a video review! Tonja Drecker is stepping out of a reader/writer comfort zone to make video reviews, and I was lucky enough that she chose to review CRADLE ROCK. Such an awesome gift! Check it out!!
See how easy that was? Yes, she made it look easy, but it was an entertaining, funny, exciting result!
So, are you ready to put yourself and your book out there??
The world is ready to enjoy it!
Thanks for hosting me, Diane! It was great fun and I even inspired myself to get to work on a new video! I hope you all are ready to start 2017 with a positive attitude - always a great beginning!
WELCOME BACK TO THE FOREST!
CRADLE ROCK, Beast World Book Two
by Tara Tyler
Gabe the goblin just saved his town Broken Branch Falls from splitting apart. He also revealed that humans--horrible creatures of myth and legend--may actually be part of their history! But seriously? Nah!
Now Ona, Gabe’s girlfriend, is headed thousands of miles away to Camp Cradle Rock for Spring Break seeking evidence of humans. Gabe knows better than to tell a stubborn ogress she’s crazy, so he’s letting her go and spending the break at the beach like a normal teenage beast. And he’s determined to have a good time without her, whether he likes it or not.
But when Gabe hears Ona went missing, he and his friends set out for the wilds of the west to find her, no matter what dangerous creatures get in his way. Not even humans.
Tara Tyler has had a hand in everything from waitressing to rocket engineering. After moving all over, she now writes and teaches math in Ohio with her three active boys and Coach Husband. Currently she has two series, Pop Travel (techno-thriller detective capers) and Beast World (fantasy adventures). To squeeze in writing, she economizes her time aka the Lazy Housewife. Make every day an adventure!
Sign up for my quarterly newsletter if you'd like to find out more and you could win something!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCybPmS63Y7oNit0qvykRw0Q
During the holidays, I did a lot of marketing research and I even wrote a couple chapters on my own story. Boo-yah! January 4 Question: What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?
I think I was perfectly happy with passive until I heard the “Show don’t tell” rule. Because it was a long, long time between that moment and the moment where I finally figured out how to do that.
Today we also announce the winners of the 2016 IWSG Anthology Contest.
