#Wow Wednesday Blog Hop Featuring Promises: Book One of The Syrenka Series by Amber Garr

My sleeping patterns are erratic at best, but this morning I bought an ebook worthy of the #Wow Wednesday Blog Hop.

I must admit I'm not a huge YA fan, but I admire the hell out of authors that publish that genre. I read a ton of blogs and interviews, and I'll be the first to say, it takes something special for me to read an entire interview.

While reading an interview of author, Amber Garr, I was mesmerized. She's a marine biologist, so it shouldn't be any surprise that she has written two books about a mermaid type creature. Enough blabbering here is the teas—er.

 admit I'm not a huge YA fan, but I admire the hell out of authors that publish that genre. I read a ton of blogs and interviews, and I'll be the first to say, it takes something special for me to read an entire interview.

While reading an interview of author, Amber Garr, I was mesmerized. She's a marine biologist, so it shouldn't be any surprise that she has written two books about a mermaid type creature. Enough blabbering here is the teas—er.

Promises: Book one Of The Syrenka Series


As soon as I was under the water, I could feel the transition begin. My lower body ached as the bones adjusted from a life on land to one at sea. Both legs began to fuse together and work as one. My foot bones elongated while I prepared for the agony. I was accustomed to the changes now, but it was still a struggle of mind over matter. Breaking through the surface of the water, I grabbed one last breath before the final jolt of pain ravaged through my body. I bit my bottom lip and squeezed my eyes shut willing the moment to be over. At last I felt an electric tingle move through my hips to my toes as the hardened iridescent, scales appeared on the bottom half of my body.

Promises: Book One of The Syrenka Series, published Dec 8, 2011. 

Did I mention this book is $0.99?

Main character, seventeen-year-old Eviana DumahI, is torn between her clan, an impending, arranged marriage to Kain, and her love for Brendan, a shape-shifting Selkie. Amber does a good job of weaving an intricate pattern of worlds. Unlike any mermaid story, you've ever read before. Her clan must mate with its own kind, whereas Brendan's kind can only mate with humans. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Amber Garr writes beautifully, and the opening chapter gripped me. I was drawn in immediately, and I can't wait to find out what happens next. This author has the potential of soaring to the top. Perhaps she is the new Amanda Hocking; they already have a common bond, their cover artist.

Betrayal: Book Two of the Syrenka Series, published Feb 19, 2012.

Please check out Amber Garr's blog for further links.


If interested in more about Amber Garr, her are a few more links.
Amber Garr's website
Amber Garr's blog

Coffin Tales proves you should listen to your parents!

Your parents told you. Your teachers told you. Your preacher told you. But did you listen? No!

It's one of the many ideas behind Coffin Tales Season of Death.  


Since you were old enough to walk and talk, your parents told you not to talk to strangers! Did you listen? No! 


Curiosity gets the better of Travis and Willie, and they can't help but want to know what creepy old man Johnson is doing this year in the story, Jack-o'-lantern. Sure they knew fifty years ago four children disappeared, rumored, from the Johnson farm. Mr. Johnson always had the scariest Jack-o'-lanterns every year, and they can't help but wonder how he portrays the images so graphically. Even though warned by Willie's mom to stay away from that farm ...


Do we need to be reminded that stealing is wrong? Yes, maybe we do. 


In proper Alfred Hitckcock fashion, birds have been a fascination, and I can't think of a creeper bird than a crow. In the story, Hell Crow, crimes of the past play havoc on the future. Hanover, Illinois, had always been blessed with bountiful crops, but it also attracts hordes of crows. Hell Crow is a legend in this town, but as the equinox approaches—Bobby Sue scrambles to rally the towns people to help build a scarecrow before it's too late and if she must ...

#Wow Wednesday Blog Hop Featuring Girl of my Dreams by Morgan Mandel

Wednesday blog hop has now arrived. I'm not sure who started this, but it's a great idea. I will be posting eight sentences of a book I'm reading. So here it goes. What better way to draw traffic to your blog than promoting the writing of others. 

My first selection is a no-brainer for me as I love this book, although to date, I still haven't finished it. I even mentioned the author in one of my interviews.

Girl of my Dreams

 

Even the air smelled different. A gentle breeze wafted from the canal, carrying with it a watery, pungent smell, hinting of deep mysteries and soulful dalliances.

Jillian sighed. Venice was meant for lovers.

Blake's voice interrupted her musings. "Troy, stand out of camera range. Okay, girls, time for the fountain shoot."

Oh, my, what a teaser, right? 

Girl of my Dreams is available on Amazon for the price of $0.99, you can't beat that, right? You can also find out more about Morgan Mandels books at Choice One Publishing or check out her blog.

Sample Sunday 2/19/12

This sample is from Armed and Outrageous.

My alarm clock went off at five as it does every morning. Reluctantly, I pulled my feet out of my down comforter. I forgot I had turned the air conditioner on sixty-five the night before, but heck, older gals are known to get pretty heated at night. Not that it mattered much because I wake up every morning wringing wet. Most mornings, I feel like a wet dishrag.

First thing in the morning, standing isn’t an easy task, and today was no exception. I put my right hand out, and balanced it on my bedside table, and pushed the other against my mattress and stood. I heard a thump and looked down and noticed my denture cup had hit the floor and not only did it open, but my dentures bounced under the bed like an angry crab. I hoped they didn’t break. If I had to take them for repairs, again, it would be the third time this month.

It’s a crying shame to feel so achy and sore every morning. I’m only seventy-two, and that’s not old. I remember a time I thought seventy to be old, but the closer I got to seventy, my perception changed.

I flipped the light on and knelt on the floor in search of my dentures. I spotted them and used my grabber to reach them. The only useful thing I got out of physical therapy, those grabbers could also be useful for pinching my best friend, Eleanor, when she gets out of line.

I examined my errant, runaway dentures. I sighed in relief as they were still intact, although loaded with ancient cat hair. My cat Duchess sheds enough hair to knit a blanket for the homeless.

Smile Collector

I like being who I am and wouldn't change a single thing about myself if I could. I embrace life for what it is: a series of ups and downs. If a balloon sails off you know it comes down sometime, right? Nobody stays at the top of their game forever. Life is just like that, one of the reasons we secretly don't like to see the same sports team at the top forever. 

Okay so I acknowledge that I'm not perfect and don't have the most ideal life, but I don't care. I refuse to let myself get sucked into camp negative. It's just who I am I guess. When I say that being around positive people is important. I mean it's the most important thing you can do. 

You knew I was going here didn't you. Yup, Madison is at it again. My views of social networking have always been to connect smiles. It's what I am about; it's what I have always been about. I'm a big fat smile collector!

Think about one positive thing in your life, and focus on that. For me, it means bringing a smile to your face each and every day. I do it at the hospital all the time, and it works like a charm. It makes me smile inside and feel good. If you feel good on the inside, it will show on the outside. So smile!

One final thought: you might not know it, but no matter how bad it gets there is always somebody that cares, me.

Changing Lanes

Have you ever noticed that writers on Twitter promote all day long, like every ten seconds. Seriously do they have some service that does that? There is no way any writer would have that much time to spare. I'm not trying to slag on anybody, if it works maybe you know better than me.

My approach to marketing is more along the lines of getting to know people on a personal level, and as of yet, I haven't figured out a way to do that on Twitter. You have like a five second window. I love Facebook way too much I think. I'm now on like five writers groups, and recently I have started trolling back over to LinkedIn. Problem with that is that you are bombarded with emails like constantly. I like to say my piece and go about my day. Laughs. Life is strange because I for one would do so much better face-to-face. Self publishing takes all of that away or does it. I have heard of people doing some creative stuff lately. If only I didn't live in Alaska, I mean Michigan. LOL.

New Madison Johns Interview

Recently I was interviewed by Barry Finlay on his blog. 


Interviews are always fun and interesting, but most ask basically the same questions. I try to find a unique approach to answering these questions. I'm promoting my upcoming book Armed and Outrageous to gather interest in my senior sleuth and of course my released ebook, Coffin Tales Season of Death USA, Coffin Tales UK.


I hope you enjoy the interview for what it's intended, a way to get to know me better.

Sample Sunday

I froze in the dog position, not to be confused with the doggy style position, when a loud knock startled me.

How I allowed myself to be talked into taking up yoga was beyond me. I had a momentary lapse of judgment is all. I went to one class at the gym, and I barely managed to do any of the poses and looked to be the most overweight woman in the place. The last thing you wanna see is your plus sized ass viewable from four giant mirrors.

Six Sentence Sunday 2/5/12

This is part of the opening scene of another WIP. It's a YA that as of yet, is untitled. 

They led me to the president's car. My eyes widened when Carl, the Secret Service Agent, assigned to Stuart, the President's son, came into view.

Oh shit, they think I'm the president's son.

Too dark to see much besides the flashes of weapons being discharged. As Carl took a shot to the head, I screamed. The door slammed shut, and the President's car zoomed ahead.

Busy girl is in the mood to snooze

Seriously too much going on and no time to think straight.

I'm doing a two week course using Armed and Outrageous for material. I had been warned this might be a train wreck waiting to happen. Not so. When I told you that I had a feeling about this book I wasn't joking. I can see how much I'd benefit from hiring an editor, which I plan to do, and now I know who I'm hiring.

I had worries about this book and they have been put to rest. This book is still submitted to a publisher. Here, we go again, I'm hoping for a rejection, does that sound bad? Maybe because it is I guess. I can't wait another year to make a splash. This is the year to make it happen. I have grown as a writer in leaps and bounds. I have two books that are marketable. All I need is an editor and drive enough to leash them onto the world.

Okay so I'm on Facebook way too much, but I still managed to start a new book, work on another, and think about what's next. The sequel for Armed is in the works and lord knows when I'll get back to it or if I should test the waters first. I did actually start it, but I needed to step away from the characters for awhile. My fresh step back has reminded me of the magic. I have so many places I want to go, and more senior naughtiness to explore. It's not erotica by any means. What I really want to readers to get from Armed and Outrageous is that life is not over if you're older. It has just begun.