Monday, January 19, 2015

Deceived by L.A. Starkey - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today, I'm happy to be part of the tour for Deceived by L.A. Starkey. Please enjoy Laurie's post and enter the giveaway!


Book & Author details:

Deceived by L.A. Starkey
(Soul Keeper Series #1)
Publication date: August 28th 2014
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

Synopsis:
They say a soul is the immaterial essence, the animating principle, the actuating cause of an individual life.

But what if you had to share yours with the one person you hated the most?

The soul mate principle states that for every one soul there is another that will recognize its match, hence creating the perfect union.

But what if you had two soul mates, which would you choose?

What if your choices had eternal ramification?

Deceived, the debut novel in the Soul Keeper Series, is a modern day love story about the implications of having more than one soul mate, and having to choose between the two of them. The decisions of the gods has left the next generation, their heirs, torn between fate and reality, and the balance of the future hangs in anticipation of what’s to come.

Purchase: 

Today, Laurie talks about the difference in writing YA vs. Middle Grade books. Enjoy and don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!


Writing for Young Adults vs. Writing for Middle Grade

Let me start by giving encouragement to anyone who writes and then I’ll jump into my thoughts on MG vs YA seeing that I write for both groups. If you love to read a certain genre or enjoy jumping from MG to YA to YA to NA or Adult, then as a writer, don’t feel held back to choose which you’ll stick to. I know for promotions and things of that nature it’s a lot easier to gather a crowd around you if you only write one thing, but if your crowd or readers are anything like me? They like to read just about anything. There will always be room to expand into new audiences and groups, so write what you love with passion, because that passion will bleed through and everyone will feel it and see it in your work.

Okay! For me as a writer, that opening paragraph says it all. I’ve actually added New Adult (which is under my pen name Kate Thomas) to my listing too, my first book coming out this spring. I started as a YA writer, my Soul Keeper Series my first trilogy to write simply because I didn’t want to write sex scenes. I could write them and I’m thinking they would be good enough to make your grandmother blush if not you too, but I just wanted to stick to early romance… that first look and love, as well as having minimal cursing. I read a lot of YA for those reasons myself and I just feel like there is so much more focus on the plot and characterization overall.

I had two middle grade girls at the time I wrote Soul Keeper and realized that I wanted to write something fun for them, so I wrote my debut MG novel, Howl at the Moon. The funny thing is that I couldn’t get my male main character Ben’s voice out of my head when I wrote it, so I used him as the POV knowing that it might be fun for my girls and me to get into the head of a junior high boy. They are soooo comical as it is I figured being a tomboy myself and hella immature most days that I could pull it off. It was FUN and turned out great, though I might be a little bias.

I think the main difference between them is that MG is even more focused on the plot or adventure, the humor and common place settings that make sense to that age. There is a little first love type romance, but nothing more than hand holding and a kiss perhaps, but probably not in my opinion. YA is focused on the same things, but there is more weight on the relationship parts of the story, the adventure can be more complex and the diction can be increased to have more metaphors and a depth of emotion.

Let me know if you have any questions about either and I’m happy to give my opinion/experience.

Laurie


AUTHOR BIO:

Laurie Starkey is the author of the upcoming Soul Keeper Series, a supernatural young adult series, and The Liarus Detective Series, a supernatural middle grade series. She lives in Houston, Texas with her husband, Jacob and three beautiful kiddos.
She is a CPA by trade, a church planter and entrepreneur at heart; however, writing and reading are passions she just can’t help but indulge in. With more ideas than one person should be allowed, she is blessed to have a muse that doesn’t seem to take a vacation and more energy that one might consider healthy.

Connect with Laurie:


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For more info on the tour, please click the banner below:

(http://xpressobooktours.com/2014/11/03/tour-sign-up-deceived-by-l-a-starkey/
 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Quote of the Day - On Writing



"You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them  wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories - science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world."

~ Ray Bradbury

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Quote of the Day

 
“...when you let go of your expectations, when you accept life as it is, you're free.To hold on is to be serious and uptight. To let go is to lighten up.”

  ~ Richard Carlson, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

Monday, January 5, 2015

Quote of the Day

 
 
Why don't you start believing that no matter what you have or haven't done, that your best days are still out in front of you.
 
~ Joel Osteen

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year!


I wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy, Joyful, Peaceful and Successful New Year!

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Until Midnight - Free e-Short from Melissa Landers & Giveaway


Happy Holidays, everyone! I’m Melissa Landers, author of the Alienated series, and I have a present for you—a brand new e-short from Disney Hyperion!


 UNTIL MIDNIGHT takes place onboard an intergalactic transport, soon after ALIENATED ends and before the sequel INVADED begins. The story details Aelyx and Cara’s last day together before he returns to Earth to mend the alliance and she continues to his home planet. It’s sweet and romantic, and as a bonus, it includes a four-chapter preview of the sequel, which releases February 3rd.

Oh, and did I mention the best part? IT’S FREE!

You can download UNTIL MIDNIGHT from the following e-tailers:

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1v06kVd

*If you live outside the USA, no worries. I’ve uploaded the story to Scribd for you. (The only downside is it doesn’t include the bonus preview chapters, due to technical reasons from the publisher.) Link: http://www.scribd.com/AuthorMelissaLanders

To celebrate this new release, I’m offering TWO lucky winners an autographed swag pack complete with a personalized bookplate, mini-poster, bookmarks, and stickers—open internationally! Just fill out the rafflecopter form below.

Best of luck, and happy reading!


BIO: Melissa Landers writes romantic science fiction for teens and the young at heart. To learn more, or just to say hello, visit her at www.melissa-landers.com








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Monday, December 22, 2014

Sail by M. Mabie - Cover Reveal

magic size

Sail

Book Two in The Wake Series

by M. Mabie

Releasing Early 2015


Synopsis:

This isn’t just a two-year long one-night stand. It’s my life. This is my life. Our life. It isn’t just some careless affair. I’ve made the worst decisions a woman could, but I’ll earn my second chance. She can try keeping all the guilt for herself, but I’m just as much to blame. Loving Casey wasn’t my biggest mistake. Fighting it for so long was. I’ll show her how fearless our love makes me. I’ll protect her torn heart. He still has magic in his eyes. He’s the man who makes me happy. Her voice still brings me to my knees. She says my name like it’s sacred. I live for the day when I’m his. To take care of him. To love him the way he deserves. I can’t wait to be all she needs. I can give her a happy life, security and so much love. Sometimes two ships never meet in the night, but ours did. Sometimes the water is rough. It beats you all to hell until you have no choice but get stronger. Our love story reads more like a tragedy, but to me it’s clean and pure. Let them point their fingers. Without a love like ours, they haven’t really lived. I pity them. I’m a cheating wife and a villain. I am his honeybee. I’m a snake in the grass and I sleep best when I’m lying next to his wife. I want to be his everything. I’m nothing without her anyway. This isn’t even close to over. It’ll never be over.

Sail is the second book in the continuing Wake Series. For more information on the first book in the series see the link for Bait below.

Sail Links: Goodreads | Casey's Playlist | Blake's Playlist

Connect with M. Mabie: Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | tsū

Other Books by M. Mabie: Fade In (Standalone Contemporary Romance) | Bait: Book One in the Wake Series

Sail2 facebookcover  

 

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