Magic & Romance: Indie News & Highlights

Time for another edition of Indie News & Highlights. 

My friend, Devyn Dawson, has an exciting re-release coming up this week with a gorgeous new cover and a Facebook party (2/19 & 20).

Find out more on her website.

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NL Greene, who I worked with on Fractured Glass, will debut the final book in the Mystic series, Secrets Revealed, on April 30, 2015. I'm SO excited for this one. Here's a peek at the cover...

You can pre-order it on Amazon now! If you aren't familiar with the series, check out my reviews of the first two books, Magic Unfolds and Illusions Begin, here.

For more information, check out her website.

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Looking for romance...

In addition to Casey L Bond's Crazy Love, which debuted on Valentine's Day, Kelly Martin has a new Valentine's release Trouble Enough: A Collection, which also includes stories from Wendy Knight and Leah Sanders.

Kelly's piece is Unforgettable. For more information and individual story descriptions, check it out on Goodreads here. Or, for 99 cents, order a copy on Amazon. 

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If you have any Indie news to share, please let me know. I hope everyone has an amazing week full of great new finds.

I Need A WriteBit Pronto -- ROW80 Update

Do you have a Fitbit?

I do, and it has made me super-OCD about exercise. It is extremely rare for me not to hit my 10K step goal daily. I might even be the person who jogs in her bedroom or up and down the hallway to get the last few steps. Or maybe not, depending on if you think that's borderline crazy.

Seriously, even though I've always exercised, this tool has greatly increased my focus on moving. I thought exercising 3-4 times a week was cutting it, until I saw how hard it was to get 10k steps on a non-workout day.*

Things like this motivate me, because it's in your face. On that note, I would like someone to invent a WriteBit--a device that would measure the speed of my wrist movement and catalog the number of words I write per day and shoot it to all my friends. 

Sadly, that's what it might take these days to get my butt in the chair to write. I came back from UtopYA determined, but the massive amount of catch-up from being gone almost three weeks and having my kids home for summer have given me the excuses I need to not prioritize writing. UGH!

So, I'm considering the next best thing. I want to use one of those sidebar writing trackers to show my progress on my various writing projects. Can anyone suggest an easy-to-use one? I need accountability.

Or, maybe I should invent that WriteBit with an electric shock feature. When I don't write in any 24-hour period, I would get a few electric shocks until I hit 1,000. 

Since Sundays are for A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) updates, I'm happy to report I have been meeting my goals on blogging, editing, and productivity. In the last few days, I've plotted an anthology, written three guest posts, organized some guest posts for my blog, and paid the bills (heck, it's important!).

Now to get to writing!

* Note: some Fitbits have been recalled for skin issues. I have not had this problem. I'm not endorsing the product. As with anything, you should do your own research to see if a product is right for you. But, if I ever make a WriteBit, I'll totally sell you one. *smiles*

#ROW80 Round 3 Goals

It's time for another round of A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80). This couldn't come at a better time, because I am amped up and ready to be productive thanks to UtopYA.

Summer is not the best time for me to achieve goals, so my biggest challenge this round will be organization, focus, and balance. I have three kids, two puppies (4 months old), visitors, and family time to schedule around. 

Enough talk about difficulties, it's time to focus on goals!

Round 3 Goals

Write my short story for an amazing anthology coming up. I'm so excited about this, and I'll be sharing more information as soon as I can. I'm responsible for contributing a novella-length piece (approximately 20,000 words) to the collection. 

Write Chasing Forgiveness. This will be a 20,000-ish word companion novella to my Tala Prophecy series. It's in my head, but I've got to sit in the chair and get it from my head to paper. 

Rebuild this Blog. I've been a blog slacker. No more. I'll be focusing on all the lessons from UtopYA. My plan is to post Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Sundays will only be ROW80 updates. Oh, and did I mention I'm a sponsor this round? So excited to reconnect with everyone!

Beta Read. I have two beta reads, minimum, in this round. So excited for the two I know about.

Editing. I should finish edits on my NA contemporary romance project by the end of July. Exciting news about Indie Books Gone Wild is forthcoming. 

To attain these goals, I'm going to sit down tomorrow (I'm traveling today back to CA from the NC) and come up with a workable summer schedule. I'll plan to share this sometime this week.

Wishing everyone an amazing round!

Favor: I need to write my sponsor inspirational post this week. Anyone have a topic they'd like covered or some inspiration to loan me?

Girls on Fire: A Dauntless Collection Cover Reveal

Today, I'm thrilled to share an awesome set of books with you. Check it out...

WITCH FALL – Amber Argyle

High Fantasy

Supreme in their dominion over seasons, storms, and sea, the witches have forgotten the unmatched destructiveness of mankind. And among the weapons men seek are the magical songs of the witches. Born of witches but raised among their enemies, Lilette searches for a way to heal the rift between mankind and the witches. But it may be too late to save either. For if there is one thing Lilette has come to know for certain, it’s that all things fall.

ETERNAL STARLING – Angela Corbett

Paranormal Romance

For centuries, Alex Night and Emil Stone have yearned for Evie Starling. When both men claim to be her soul mate and tell her about an unbelievable past, Evie learns that she’s not the person she thought she was, and her soul is about to become the rope in an eternal tug-of-war.

AWAKENING – Christy Dorrity

Fantasy

When an ancient curse threatens McKayla McCleery's family, she must decide what in her life is real and what is fantasy. Based in Celtic mythology, Awakening is a gripping young adult fantasy that is rife with magic, romance, and mystery.

INEVITABLE – Tamara Hart Heiner

Suspense

Visions of death plague Jayne, who thinks watching her sister die is the worst that could happen to her. But when she witnesses a murder, Jayne realizes that the next death she sees might be her own.

WATCHED – Cindy M. Hogan

Romantic Suspense

Change. She longed for it.

A murder. She will never be the same.

THE FORGOTTEN ONES – Laura Howard

Fantasy

ELEMENTAL HUNGER – Elana Johnson

Futuristic Fantasy

Sixteen-year-old Gabriella Kilpatrick can shoot fire from her hands, which would be great if she didn’t get blamed for a blazing inferno that kills 17 schoolmates. Gabby will have to learn who she can trust, how to control her own power, and most of all, how to lead a Council of Elementals, most of whom have more control over their power than she does. If she can’t, she’ll find herself just like those 17 schoolmates: burned and six feet under.

THE FAERIE GUARDIAN – Rachel Morgan

Fantasy

Kickbutt faerie Violet is about to graduate as the top guardian trainee of her class, but when an assignment goes wrong and the human boy she’s meant to be protecting follows her back into the fae realm, a dangerous plot is set in motion.

PERCEPTION – Lee Strauss

Dystopian/Romance

Eternal Life is to Die For.

A spoiled genetically altered girl needs the help of a jaded “natural” boy to find her missing brother.

INTRINSICAL – Lani Woodland

Paranormal

The gene that allows the women in Yara’s family to see and communicate with spirits seems to have passed her over. Until the night she rescues a local hottie from an attacking ghost. Her act of heroism attracts the attention of the evil spirit, and she finds herself entrenched in the middle of a sixty-year-old curse that haunts the school, threatening her own life as well as that of her friends.

Publication date: June 16, 2014

Price: 99 cents for 10 amazing YA novels!

Links:

Goodreads 

Amazon

About the Authors:

Follow each author’s link to learn more about them and their books.

Amber Argyle

Angela Corbett

Christy Dorrity

Tamara Hart Heiner

Cindy M. Hogan

Laura Howard

Elana Johnson

Rachel Morgan

Lee Strauss

Lani Woodland

Check back here on Wednesday for my A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) update and other cool happenings. Happy Monday!

Writing Competition, Souls of Indie & ROW80 Update

Happy Monday. I have stuff to share today.

First, a great opportunity to enter a short story contest for a low fee ($10 per entry) and nice prizes ($100 to the winner, $50 to the runner up). Check out the Pamlico Writers Writing Competition.

Deadline: February 23, 2014

Information (for further details, visit here):

Who May Enter: 

• Any adult writer (age 18 or over).
• The High School Category is for students in Grades 9-12 ONLY.
• Members of the current Steering Committee, Jurors, and Workshop Presenters WILL NOT participate in the competition.

What You May Enter:

• Your entry must be your original work.
• You must own all publication rights (i.e., the work must never have been published in a manner in which you gave away your rights). You generally do not give away rights when the work is published on the Internet. You may, as when you are not paid, retain all rights whenever you have published the work in a conventional way.
• Entries flaunting degrading sexual and physical violence or espousing extreme political views will not be considered for judging at the discretion of the contest juror.

There are five contest categories:

• Fiction
• Creative Non-fiction
• Young Adult
• Poetry
• High School 

Second, an amazing deal on 5 full-length novels...

5 full-length novels from 5 of the hottest authors in New Adult Paranormal Romance!

Escape reality and immerse yourself in these steamy paranormal romances. With everything from tattooed bad boys and sexy demons to hot, otherworldly bodyguards, you’re going to fall in love. Beware: you’ll be up reading well past your bedtime!

ONLY AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME!
Retail value = $14.95
Limited time release = $.99

Recommended for readers 16+
Approximately 1,200 pages

Get your copy now at:

Amazon
Amazon UK
Kobo
IBooks

For more information on the books in the collection and to enter the giveaway, please visit here.

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Mondays are also my A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80) check in days. 

After completing my second round of edits on Chasing Shadows, I needed to play quite a bit of catch up on everything from blog posts to taxes. Now, I'm working on Chasing Forgiveness, a Tala Prophecy novella, while I'm waiting for CS to come back. Plus, I need to finish my Acknowledgements and back cover summary. 

Wishing everyone a great week!

Dauntless Indies, A Collection of Shorts: FREE eBook 2/14 & 2/15

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing everyone a sweet day surrounded by loved ones, and spreading the news about a wonderful freebie today...

18+ adult content

- Beyond Dusk: Anne - Anne Fontaine recently discovered the life she grew up in was a lie. She must step outside the world she knows to learn more about who she is...including this terrible, inexplicable ability she was born with

- Shadows Fall - Amethyst Lakes is a nymph with a problem. She left her ex-boyfriend when he started to smother her. Nothing she says seems to keep him away. Carl needs Amethyst more than he needs to breathe, but she just doesn’t get it. He’ll stop at nothing to make her stay. An old friend and teenage crush will keep her safe until Amethyst can decide how to deal with Carl once and for all.

- Masked Encounters - Korah Daniels has been through a lot in her nineteen years. Broken hearts, abusive relationships, and horrid dates have caused her to doubt love. Dane Davidson is the worst kind of playboy. The ultimate frat boy, drinking and ending up with a different girl every night. The two meet one fateful Halloween night, changing their lives forever.

GET IT HERE