New xmas release from Sean Hayden

Hey my peeps! While you’re running around crazy this time of year, don’t forget to get some reading in too! Check out this new novella (10k) from my dear Sean Hayden. It’s only .99 so you can still afford buying those xmas presents! Get yourself a little something!

The Ghost of Christmas Last by Sean Hayden

Throughout history, those who don’t keep the spirit of Christmas in their hearts were often visited by three ghosts. These wise spirits showed these souls what the true meaning of Christmas was all about.

Those were the souls worth saving.

Those who weren’t worth saving were only visited by one spirit and it wasn’t for educational purposes…

ONLY 0.99 Available at [Amazon][Smashwords]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Diamond of Pure Heart by guest Mary Rodrigues

I’d like to welcome a special guest today, an aspiring author I’m sure we’ll soon be seeing more of! Please read about Mary, and enjoy the short she’s written for us too!

Hi, my name is Mary Rodrigues and I enjoy writing and am aspiring to be a published author. I am a mother to three incredible young boys and three years ago my youngest son was killed by a suspected impaired driver. I started writing as a hobby when I was pregnant with my youngest son but have since decided to dedicate more time to hone my skills. After finally completing my first full length novel Alexander’s Mystic Warriors I decided it was time to enter some writing competitions to see how well I was doing. While I expected the first few to bomb, as they did, I focused in on historical fictions and have been shortlisted in three of the last four competitions I have entered with Wynterblue Publishing out of Northern Ontario. Diamond of Pure Heart is another fantasy novel that I have just started writing. Being the mother of two young boys who barely understand death and the fact that it is forever has given me a different perspective of their understanding of heaven, angels, and the afterlife. My insight and creativity into both of these novels stems from my own need and the need of my sons to understand where their little brother might be now. I also just recently started my own blog whatsbehindaname.wordpress.com which talks about the insight into all the character’s names that I have created and how the meaning of their name is linked to their personalities and I also post some of the short stories I have written in full length. When I am not being a mom I am the fundraising co-ordinator for my son’s school and I am also a victim speaker for MADD.

 Diamond of Pure Heart

By the time Diamond had reached the age of five she learned all about the beginning of life from her mother, but it would be her twin brother Raban who would become her teacher of the afterlife. For Raban has been living in the after world since his death only two years ago. Diamond, who is now in her early twenties, works as a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the city of Babylon, New York. Being several hours east of New York City you would think that Diamond’s life as a dispatcher would be quite mundane in comparison, and yet it is not. In fact, life in modern day Babylon is not even remotely as tranquil as it was in the original ancient city located on the opposite side of the world.

Diamond’s blood relations can be traced back to the original city that was in the Mesopotamian region. Her blood carries with it all the knowledge of the ancient city and the pathways that lead from it to the after worlds. It is a burden that her family has carried since the dawn of civilization. Diamond was born twenty-two years ago in western Canada and by the age of five was secretly shipped off to Babylon, New York with a long time family friend posing as her daughter. As for Raban, he was sent to Tokyo, Japan. This was necessary in order to protect the secrets that they carried and has been a tradition for many generations. Diamond and Raban were the last two remaining survivors and the only remaining guardians of the portals to the after worlds.

For many centuries their family has been hunted for their secrets of promised immortality in the afterlife. They are the chosen ones who guide all mortals down the paths to the light or dark after worlds and without the pure of hearts to show the way the dimensions between light and darkness would converge into chaos. Raban sacrificed his life to the hunters in order to protect the secret and in the process provided Diamond with untold knowledge of the afterlife. Before that time they only knew where the portals were located and the means by which to decipher who went down what path upon their death. They were the first twins ever born into the family legacy and therefore have a special bond that forever links their souls together no matter where they are. And Raban is able to see into both worlds and act as a seer for Diamond. He can tell where the hunters are, but this new role as protector to Diamond will prove to be challenging as her first priority is to protect the humans from making the wrong choice that will eventually lead them down the dark path in the afterlife.

Getting Organized-How to Make a Book Kit

So you’ve written a book, or a number of them, and are now a published author. Who hoo!

Your work isn’t over yet. Now you have to market it. That means interviews, guest posts, blog tours and more.

Keeping up with these can be a daunting task and each can be rather time consuming when you have to search around for all of your information to include with each.

Staying organized and making up a Kit for each book will save you a LOT of time.

Basically, a Book Kit is a folder with all of your books information in it. Say you are being interviewed, you answer the questions and have that ready to go- now how wonderful will it be when you attach that to the email, and then with a few simple clicks also add everything else the person wants as well?

First you’ll want to create a folder on your computer and name it something like BookKits.

Now go into it and create another folder with your book name. (If you only have one book still do this! Most likely you will write more, and its helpful to be organized for that NOW)

First, let’s add our photos. Copy and paste these into your book folder.

For sure put in your author photo and cover image. If you have any other photos related to your book add them too.

If you have a number of books you can either put your author photo into each, or just put it in the main BookKit folder.

Now lets do the main part of the kit. Open up a word document. Name it booknamekit.doc

This will be what you can attach and send to everyone. You can also add a note (either in the document, or the email) that they can use whatever they like.

What to include:

• Book Title & Author Name
• Publisher
• Date Published
• ISBNs, ASINS
• Book description/blurb
• ALL buy links
• Excerpt
• Author Bio
• Your links (webpage, blog, twitter, facebook etc)
• Your email
• A few short select reviews

Other files you can have in your book kit folder:

• A file of saved reviews
• A folder with copies of various download formats (for reviewers or giveaways)
• Files of various general write ups about your book, unused extra guest posts etc

Now you are all set to go! Feel free to tailor to your own needs.

Did I miss anything?Please comment and I’ll add!

Interview with Author Ella Grey

Ella Grey

Today I have the super sweet and wonderfully talented Ella Grey stopping by! Do say hello and feel free to comment!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Ella Grey. I’ve been a writer since I was fifteen. What a Way to Start the Day is my first published eshort.

What do you do when you are not writing? Do you have a day job as well?

Oh, the dreaded day job. I work in a bar, it was just suppose to be a part-time job and six years down the line I’m still there. I might sound a little bitter, there are parts about it I generally love.

Where do you get your ideas? Do you ever experience writer’s block? Do you work with an outline, or just write?

My head is a very crowded place. I’ve never had a problem with thinking up story ideas. Writers block is generally a pain in the arse. If you ever find a cure for it let me know. I generally just write, if I plan out something too much I generally lose interest with it.

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

Christopher Pike. It was his books that inspired me to write. Also comics were a big influence with me. If I could draw I’d probably be doing comics as well.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

I was incredibly lucky with the Molly story. I’m friends with one of the Echelon Press writers Nick Valentino on Myspace. He liked my work and suggested that I submit a story to Echelon and here I am now.

How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?

I’m on a lot of networking sites. Twitter is ideal for any writer to get word out about their book. I’ve also been introduced to manic reader and good reads.

Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published?

I do have a novella. This links up to my published story but is much darker then Molly’s story. I haven’t tried to get it published, it needs to be edited the hell out of first.

Can you tell us about your book?

What a Way to Start the Day is a novella telling the story of Molly O’Brien. A fire witch with a dry sense of humour. She is also a thief, taking high paid jobs for supernatural clients. She ends up working for Christopher LaMorte, the hunted son of the vampire mafia. This novella tells their story.

Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

Yes, when I first wrote the story I was trying to get pregnant. It all kind of evolved from there. What if a witch finds out she might be pregnant, its a interesting concept. The fact the would be dad has fangs makes it a great story. Also not one I’ve seen anywhere.

What project are you working on now? Will you have a new book coming out soon? Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?

The sequel to Molly story has already been submitted. I decided to keep focused on her, but the male character has changed. There’s a character called Drake in the novella and we only meet him a few times. I really wanted to tell a little of his story and the part he plays in Molly’s life.
I’m also working on a YA story, a blend of werewolf and teen spy. The first instalment will be released on the 8^th March. Followed by five more instalments over the next five months.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Any compliment is a good compliment. I’m really just happy that people like the story I’ve told. The same goes with criticism. I believe that a writer is always learning, thank god for editors that all I can say.

Is there anything that you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Stay with me folks, Molly’s story is going to blow you away.

FUN QUESTIONS!

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate.

The light side or the dark side?

Dark side is more fun.

If you were a superhero (or villain!) what would your power be? Would you wear a cape?

I would have Molly’s fire power. Would I wear a cape? Hell yeah, or what would be the point?

What does your main character think about you? Are you best buds or have you tortured them so much you’d run if you actually ever met?

I’m not completely horrible to my character. We have the same sense of humour and I surround her with hot men.

Is there any food you refuse to eat?

I can’t eat kiwi or prawns. I had a terrible experience with a prawn salad one Christmas. Even mentioning it is giving me flashbacks ick.

What pets have graced your life? Which was your least favorite? What do you think the coolest pet to have would be?

There has been a lot of pets in my life. Owls, fish, gerbils, chipmunks (who ate their young) rabbits (who laid on and killed a smaller rabbit. Don’t really know how they managed that) cats. We have a dog now, he isn’t my favourite pet but he’s ours.

If you could visit any world ever written about, where would you go?

That’s a really good question. I think it would be an alien planet, or spaceships. Sean Hayden’s world in Lady Dorn is pretty awesome.

What a Way to Start the Day, available at OmniLit for download in multiple formats!