When Winell Road: Beneath the Surface was released back in April, Kate didn’t embark on a great deal of promotion. Because of a lot of ‘things’. So, to make up for that and to kick off the festivities for her favourite time of year – Christmas! – she’s taken Winell Road on a little tour, hoping to spread the word and introduce lots of new young readers to, what she believes is, a great big dollop of sci-fi fun and adventure.
Here’s a little info…
Twelve-year old Jack Mills lives at 5 Winell Road and probably has the world’s weirdest neighbours. Like freakishly weird. And to top it off, he lives with Mum: nosy, interfering, a hideous cook, and Dad: unsuccessful inventor of the Camera Belt and Self-Closing Window. All in all, it’s a boring, embarrassing, dead-end place to live.
So when Jack arrives home from school one day, a close shave with a UFO is the last thing he expects. But the fact it doesn’t abduct him, and that no one else, not even Mum, sees the gigantic flying saucer hovering over the street, adds a whole new layer of strange.
Soon after, an alien encounter threatens Jack’s life and he becomes embroiled in a galaxy-saving mission. With the assistance of his new neighbour, frighteningly tall Roxy Fox, he discovers Winell Road is hiding secrets—secrets Jack might wish he’d never uncovered.
REVIEWS!
If you’re still not sure, here’s a couple of reviews…
‘Winell Road: Beneath the Surface is a fast-paced middle-grade adventure story with the feel of Men in Black. Jack is a smart, resourceful boy with more abilities than he’s ever dreamed off, and he finds out that the world is a far stranger place than he imagined. The action is non-stop and will keep readers riveted.’ examiner.com
‘This book will work wonderfully read aloud in class. There are enough cliff-hanger chapter endings to keep them begging for more. It will also promote discussion about making snap judgments while providing plenty of scope for related art projects.’ Buzz Words Magazine
Kate is an Englishwoman on the Gold Coast in Australia. A middle grade writer, freelance editor, the editorial director at Lakewater Press and all around lover of the written word, she is ruled by her three sons, husband and spoodle pup. Not one to have a quiet day, she spends her free time mentoring new writers in contests like Nest Pitch and Pitch Wars, judging writing contests and helping out at Writers Activation on the Gold Coast. Other than that, she likes laying in bed or by the pool with a book!
If you would like to stalk Kate you can follow her on Twitter or visit her blog, where you can also find out about her editorial services.
GIVEAWAY!
It would make a great stocking filler for children. BUT, if you’re feeling particularly lucky, she’s giving away three signed copies just in time for Christmas! Yippee!
One of my favorite authors — the AMAZING Susan Dennard — has a new Fantasy book coming out in January called TRUTHWITCH. Before Truthwitch, she wrote the Something Strange and Deadly series, which I absolutely loved. Also, she has a website littered with advice for writers, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t read through all of it. Especially the synopsis post. OH THE DREADED SYNOPSIS.
Anyway, I offered to draw some portraits for Susan, because, like I said, she’s a) awesome and b) I would’ve ended up doing them anyway because I can’t help myself. So here is my version of Safiya fon Hasstrel, Truthwitch extraordinaire!
(alternative version can be found here). Iseult, Merik and Aeduan to come!
I am suuuper excited to be a part of this cover reveal! Sharon has always been super nice and supportive! So, without further ado, LOOK AT THIS SHINY!
Book Blurb
A new heart should mean new life, instead it’s a living nightmare.
Mishca Richardson’s life is at an all-time high after her heart transplant. With new boyfriend, Ryder, she has the perfect summer romance. Even the nightmares plaguing her sleep since her operation can’t dull her new dream world.
Yet, life starts to unravel when Mishca develops superhuman abilities. She does her best to hide them so as not to end up a science experiment in a lab, but she can’t ignore the strange instant attraction she experiences when she meets her university professor, Colin Reed.
Torn between love and obsession, Mishca must unite her divided heart and decide between the two men. But when the truth about her weird powers comes to light, she’ll have a lot more to worry about than romance.
Praise for Divided
“DIVIDED is a fast-paced adventure filled with mystery, romance, action, and humor.
Mishca and Ryder rank up there with my favorite heroines and heroes ever!
Sharon M. Johnston is an author to watch out for.”
WENDY HIGGINS, USA Today and New York Times bestselling author.
From sunny Queensland in Australia, Sharon writes weird stories and soulful contemporaries across a number of categories. Working as a PR specialist by day, in her spare time she writes, blogs, plays with her fur babies and plays computer games with her family. She’s also been stalked by women wanted to know where she buys her shoes.
Well, looks like it’s that time of the year again!
I’m Diana, and I will be entering PitchWars with a YA Dark Fantasy manuscript called A Trace of Madness. It has mind witches, shadow people, weird nymps and crazy friends with questionable intentions. It’s the fourth novel child I’ve birthed and it’s, so far, my favorite! (yes, I know, I say this about my latest book every time, but it’s true!)
So here, have some facts about me:
Wait, not THOSE facts.
Let’s try again.
1. I have the best pets ever. One’s a Persian cat called Sushi, and she’s kind enough to let me live in her house; then there’s Jubas, my super-cuddly, kissy-face, all-around sweetheart Maine Coon cross (we think). Finally, there’s Norbert (aka Norby, aka Bubba), the One Dragon to rule them all, whose favorite activities include being awesome and playing video games with me.
We play Saints Row together. He loves trying to eat those mini-map dots.
2. I have a degree in Computer Engineering and am halfway through my Master’s in Video Games. I also work part-time at a serious game start-up (as in, games for educational purposes, not the other kind of serious games), and it’s seriously the best job ever because I get to drink lemon beer at five in the afternoon and I can bring Norbert to the office once in a while.
3. I’m from Portugal, and although I’m seriously considering changing countries, I probably never will because our food is delicious and our weather is seriously good.
Seriously. This was at 9 am. In March. It’s awesome.
4. I once met Ray Muzyka, Warren Spector, Jason Gregory and spent the entire time fangirling over games. I may have embarrassed myself thoroughly, especially since, in the case of Warren Spector, a bunch of us were having dinner and I was maaaybeee slightlyyyyy drunk. #noregrets
5. I also met one of my favorite authors once (Juliet Marillier) and we went shopping for dog clothes. Again, I probably also embarrassed myself there.
6. I’ve made some games, some of which are available in my portfolio.
Me and my team, presenting Sightless to a jury. We were the runner-up!
7. I also draw and paint a lot (or used to, before my hand decided to crap out on me). Mostly portraits, but, you know, I sometimes do other stuff for the sake of variety. All this because my 8th grade art teacher told me I’d never be good at drawing (so did my mom). I decided to prove them wrong and started practising. I now earn money painting things—HA!
Iriae seems very sweet, but actually, she’s insane.
8. I have three tattoos: two are for 1984, one of my favorite books of all time. The other is for Planescape: Torment, my favorite game of all time.
9. Most of my closest friends came from a Tomb Raider forum dedicated to Kurtis Trent. Twelve years later, we’re still friends. In fact, two of them (my real life OTP) married recently, and I got to fulfill my lifelong dream of being the ring bearer for their wedding. AT 26. THIS PROVES IT’S NEVER TOO LATE!
My “I’ve kind of been crying” face at said wedding, with my co-ring bearer, Lara. (thanks for this caption, Anna xD)
10. In case it’s not obvious, I’m a video game junkie, something that still leaves my mother livid. Some of my favorite games (aside from Planescape) are: Ocarina of Time, Pillars of Eternity, The Longest Journey, The Witcher trilogy, Transistor, the Mass Effect trilogy, the Baldur’s Gate saga, Dragon Age: Origins, Grim Fandango, the Saints Row series, Final Fantasy VI, the Ace Attorney series, Silent Hill 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Baten Kaitos, Resident Evil (mostly from 1 to 4), Deadly Premonition, Bayonetta AND I’D BETTER STOP NOW
Our usual video game playing scenario.
11. I love, love, LOVE a youtube series called The Most Popular Girls in School. It’s Barbie dolls cursing a lot, stop-motion animated and it’s brilliant. I quote it a lot, especially the most pertinent question of our generation: “What the #$%& is the Wifi password?”
12. Some of my favorite authors are: George Orwell, Juliet Marillier, Rae Carson, Susan Dennard, Sara J Maas, Philip K Dick, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Glenda Larke, Jacqueline Carey, Marianne de Pierres, Tolkien, JK Rowling, Anne Bishop, Garth Nix, Chris Wooding and Kristin Cashore.
13. My English is mostly self-taught. At 12, I played Ocarina of Time with a dictionary beside me, and it did wonders. At 13, I wrote dreadful fanfic with tons of errors, but the writing practice helped me improve. Then, at 15, I realized I could read books “earlier” if I read them in English and do you really think I was going to wait another two months before reading Order of the Phoenix? NO. WAY.
14. From 5 to 19, I played roller hockey at a competitive level. I quit because, college, and I still miss it after 7 years.
15. I LOVE traveling, but I’m also TERRIFIED of flying. It’s incredibly inconvenient, but I try to push through it because I like to see new things and meet new people. Also, someone’s cast a curse on me and whenever I go abroad, I come back sick. Went to NYC, came back with a stomach flu. Went to the Netherlands in August, got a crippling cold. Went to Croatia, got heat exhaustion on a boat that knocked me down flat. Went to England, came back with tonsillitis. I can’t wait to see what Las Vegas has for me next year.
16. Some of my favorite TV shows are: Parks and Recreation, Community, Arrested Development, Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Sense8, Malcolm in the Middle, Hannibal, Killjoys, Modern Family, Shameless (both UK and US versions!), Veep, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 30 Rock, Children’s Hospital, Twin Peaks, and, like with games, I’m going to stop now.
17. My favorite kind of movie is the mindbending genre. Some of my favs (again!): Requiem for a Dream, eXistenz, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Shutter Island, The Man From Earth, Pi, Fight Club… – okay, basically anything you can find here: http://classreal.com/
18. I’m hard-working and versatile. Bribes to my possible (please pick me! MEEEEE!) mentor will include drawings, silly times with yours truly, enthusiasm, eternal love, geekery, and maybe some food. AND THAT IS ALL I’LL SAY!
You know how I enter all these writing contests and never place? It was in one of those forays that I met Keith and, a little while later, he got picked up by Champagne Books! I’m so happy to help spread the cover of his awesome book!
So, without any more of my jibber-jabber, HERE! BEHOLD!
Morgan McRobbie will do anything to protect the kingdom of Kilbourne. Even betray it. When Morgan rescues a damsel-in-distress from an errant dragon, he expects she’ll swoon, murmuring “My hero!” Instead, Marissa has only loathing for the man everyone believes will betray Kilbourne. That’s fine with Morgan. A woman in his life would just complicate things.
A high-level informer threatens the kingdom’s security, and Morgan is out to stop him. Posing as a turncoat himself, he walks a fine line between honor and betrayal. A single misstep could result in disaster, and his mission is fraught with distractions: the pesky dragon, a pair of conniving courtiers, a surfeit of spies, and the disillusioned damsel who’s certain Morgan can’t be trusted. If Morgan’s going to save the kingdom, win the girl, and manage to stay alive, he’ll need to step up his game. Because the traitor is lurking in the shadows, and his scheme calls not just for the betrayal of Kilbourne, but also the destruction of Morgan McRobbie.
———————————————————————————————————
TRAITOR KNIGHT is a rollicking fantasy combining swashbuckling adventure, intrigue, a large dollop of romance, and a dash of wit. TRAITOR KNIGHT will be published by Champagne Book Group, with an anticipated release date of September 8, 2015. While not yet available for pre-order, readers can sign up to be notified when the book will be available here.
There’s a giveaway. I’ll be raffling off a digital copy of TRAITOR KNIGHT via Rafflecopter. Here’s the link (also available on the Writing@Knight home page):
About the author: Keith W. Willis graduated (a long time ago) from Berry College with a BA in English Literature and a desire to tell stories. He lives with his amazingly patient, loving, and supportive wife Patty in the upper Hudson Valley region of New York. Keith believes that those rumbling noises long attributed to Henry Hudson’s crew bowling are in actuality dragons grumbling. When Keith isn’t writing down fantastical tales from the land of Kilbourne, he manages a group of database content editors for a global information technology firm. TRAITOR KNIGHT is his first published novel. Check out Keith’s website Writing@Knight or the TRAITOR KNIGHT Facebook page. And be sure to follow @kilbourneknight on Twitter.
Since I’m in dire need of some extra cash, I’ve decided to open up for some art commissions for my “Go to RT convention in Vegas fund”. I’m really best at portraits/people, so that’ll be what I’m offering.
(please note that if I already offered to do a drawing for you, you’ll still be getting that for free)
Simple Sketch
€10
Portrait Sketch
B&W – €15
Color – €20
Full Body Sketch (like the Simple Sketch, but with a full-body version)
€20
Detailed Portrait
B&W – €45
Color – €55
Detailed Full Body Painting
No background – €75
With simple background – €85
Complex backgrounds/book covers/extra characters, please get in touch!
All payments processed via paypal. For inquiries, please e-mail me pinguicha [at] gmail [dot] com
I might happen to be suuuper biased here because Emma is one of my very excellent/awesome CPs (also, a walrus). But her supernatural NA Bearwood series is amazing and if you don’t read it it’s because you’re stoopid.
(plus, the first book is pretty much free, so what are you waiting for?)
ANYWAY! The cover and trailer you’re all here for!
I am pleased to bring you the cover & trailer reveal for Finding Immortal, Book #2 in the Bearwood series by E.L. Wicker
Blurb
After losing the love of her life, Ilia Rose will do anything to feel Nathaniel’s presence, even if it means freezing or drinking copious amounts of alcohol.
When she learns that Alex is tracking down the remnants of Sol’s army to deliver his own style of justice, she rushes off to find him.
On an alcohol induced killing spree, Ilia and Alex receive information that sends their hopes soaring, thus beginning a race to discover the truth about Nathaniel’s death.
Unfortunately, for Ilia, the truth may prove far more dangerous than any enemy she has ever faced.
If you haven’t read book #1 yet, Fractured Immortal, it’s free over on Amazon.
About The Author
E.L. Wicker lives in Hampshire, England, with her husband and two daughters. Her debut book, Fractured Immortal, was released in December 2014, and in June 2015 was short listed for a Self published and Small press award. She is a regular contributor to YATopia, Whiskey, Wine, and Writing, as well as a co-host for the Whiskey, Wine, and Writing web show. E.L. Wicker is a New Adult junkie, with a stack of NA books a mile high on her TBR list and a stack that could possibly stretch to the moon in her already read list. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog. She also regularly sets up new blogs and designs logos and banners for people at no cost.
Let’s kick off #FreeGameFriday with two indie games!
To The Moon is an indie game about granting a man’s dying wish to go to the moon. It manipulates all your emotional strings and if you’re anything like me, you’ll be left crying at the end. Anyone who loves a good story will love this.
Dust: An Elysian Tail is also an indie game. It’s a visually beautiful game (reason why I bought my copy in the first place) and is, all-an-all, a fun play.
You can sign up here. Form will be open until next friday and your info will be private. Winners will be picked through the awesomeness of Random.org.
Happy gaming! ❤
Edit: Doc has closed and winner has been notified! If you didn’t hear anything, well… Maybe next time!
Since my CPs are always on my case because my blog has cobwebs and bats, I’ve decided to revive it with one of my favorite things in the world: GAMES.
I have A LOT of clutter on my Humble Bundle account (mostly stemming from buying a bundle for a couple games while having all others), I’m giving some away. For free, because I’m a firm believer that a) sharing is caring and b) I’m always happy to spread some game love around.
Starting Friday, I will be giving away games every week. Keys will be mostly for Steam, but I have some on Origin laying around too. So it’ll be a #FreeGameFriday
You don’t have to give me anything, but it’d be nice if you followed me on twitter, because I’ll then be able to see if you’re enjoying the stuff.
So, yeah. If you’re interested, let me know!
And if you want to blame anyone, blame Tasha, Emma and Kathy.
I have seen a lot of friends in various states of despair over their revisions, changing their latest novels through and through because either a) agents aren’t biting, b) they’re getting feedback, or c) because they simply want to.
And a lot of them are getting tired and disillusioned because no matter what they change, it’s never enough. Or because they don’t want to, but have to change things in order to make their novels more commercial. Or for several other reasons, and they’re weeping and panicking because they don’t know what else to do.
I’ve been there. I’ve done that. My advice? If you’re pulling the hairs out of your head, if you’re screaming because you can’t find the new path you need to take, if, in general, it’s making you miserable, then please:
Stop.
I’ve had a lot of anxiety-related problems in the past. I have them still, sometimes. I’ve driven myself into holes I couldn’t get out of. I’ve cried myself to sleep over the most menial things, and was it worth it?
No.
No matter how important something is to you, it’s not worth it if it puts you in a constant state of self-deprecating madness. Nothing is.
I get that it’s your dream, but sometimes, you should take a break. Don’t force yourself into changes that are not organic just because you want to please someone else. If you love your novel as-is, don’t change a word because agents aren’t biting. Don’t tire yourself out over something that’s beginning to saturate you. It’s not good for you, and it’s not good for your novel.
No one benefits from complete exhaustion. Not you. Not your novel. Not anyone.
Sit back, relax, leave it be, and come back when you have a fresh perspective. In the meantime, write something else, or play a game, or watch a new TV series – do whatever you need to do – but put yourself first. Your writing won’t exist without you, and it certainly won’t benefit from you being so sick of your story you can’t stand it anymore. You’re not abandoning your child, although it can feel like you are. But rather, think of it as going on a much-deserved vacation, and your novel will still be there when you return. And when you come back, you’ll see that everything will flow much better.
No one’s after you. You don’t have to be published right now. You don’t have to be published next year. If it’s meant to be, it will happen, and it will come at the cost of hard work and dedication – but those things rarely happen when you keep on beating a dead horse with a stick. There’s no pressure, except the one you put on yourself.
My point is: don’t drive yourself mad over something you’ve been constantly changing to please someone else. If you’re doing it for yourself, fine. Otherwise?
Yeah, take a break. Or don’t. What do I know?
I’m not your mother. Just a stranger giving unsolicited advice.
Twelve-year old Jack Mills lives at 5 Winell Road and probably has the world’s weirdest neighbours. Like freakishly weird. And to top it off, he lives with Mum: nosy, interfering, a hideous cook, and Dad: unsuccessful inventor of the Camera Belt and Self-Closing Window. All in all, it’s a boring, embarrassing, dead-end place to live.
Kate is an Englishwoman on the Gold Coast in Australia. A middle grade writer, freelance editor, the editorial director at Lakewater Press and all around lover of the written word, she is ruled by her three sons, husband and spoodle pup. Not one to have a quiet day, she spends her free time mentoring new writers in contests like Nest Pitch and Pitch Wars, judging writing contests and helping out at Writers Activation on the Gold Coast. Other than that, she likes laying in bed or by the pool with a book!
Diana Pinguicha 