A-MAY-ZING!

What a wild and crazy month it's been! I'm one month out from the release of WESTERN DESERT, Book Two in The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael. June 24th is the big day.

Aside from all the last minute details of producing the best book for you, my readers, I'm planning my release promotions, blog tour, and all the infinity of details required to get this next show on the road. There are more moving parts in this publishing process than sending a space ship to the moon...at least it feels like it. But in the midst of chaos come some bright spots of encouragement. SAVAGE CINDERELLA has had a very good month! It won first place in the NERFA (National Excellence in Romance Fiction Awards), and is a finalist in the Colorado Excellence in Romance Fiction contest. I'm awaiting final results. Incidentally, WANING MOON placed second in the NERFA contest!

SAVAGE CINDERELLA has also been nominated for a RONE Award from InD'tale magazine. I would so appreciate your vote if you've read and enjoyed the story. You do have to register to vote, but it's very simple and means no obligation for you. The site assures you won't be spammed. If you have a moment, I hope you'll stop by and vote between May 24-June 1st. My friend, Katy Lee, author of the inspirational romantic suspense, REAL VIRTUE has also been nominated and could use your vote, too. Thanks so much, everyone!

I'm also very happy to announce that HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES is available on audio book through Amazon.com, audible.com, and I-Tunes.com. If you love audio books and would like to receive deals on your favorites, sign up for audible.com and get discounted prices on the audio books you love.


I think that's it for now. My website will likely be down for the next several days as my DH and I do some upgrading. I hope you'll stop in and visit me soon. I'll let you know when I'm back up and running! Have a great rest of your spring!

March Mayhem

I’m so happy to be welcoming Spring this year. I missed my annual sojourn to the beach for my birthday since February didn’t offer much respite from the cold and cloudy days of winter. The good news is that I have a feeling we are in for a warm-up soon. I’m already hearing the birds chirping out their springtime song. March is going to be another busy month for me, but one that offers lots of exciting and fun projects.

Here’s what’s on the agenda:

I completed the first draft of WESTERN DESERT, Book Two in The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael trilogy, so I’m in revisions! Yayyyy!!! I’ll send it off to the editor right before I leave to go to Epi-CON in Vancouver, Washington, from the 13-18th. Epi-CON is a writer’s convention that promises to be educational as well as lots of fun. I’ll be joining Jennifer Fusco, Katy Lee, and Melanie Meadors from my CTRWA group and I’m betting it’s going to be a blast. I’ve never been to the Pacific Northwest, so I’m very excited about the opportunity to visit there and be at a book-signing event as part of the reader’s luncheon. It will be nice to meet some locals and get to know some new readers.

I’ve also completed my run with KDP Select, a program where I had Heaven is for Heroes and On Thin Ice available only through Amazon for the past three months. It wasn’t as successful a venture in terms of direct sales, as it was when I did it last spring with Savage Cinderella, but it did allow me to get my books into the hands of about 20,000 new readers who got to read them for FREE! How cool is that?

Now that the books are off of Select, I’ll be able to upload all of them to some new distribution channels for me, going directly to Apple (i-Tunes) and Kobo to allow for the widest distribution possible. I’m excited about this as I’ve seen an uptick in sales through Smashwords to these vendors. Publishing it directly to these distributors will allow me more freedom to play with pricing and make changes faster, as well as hopefully gaining a little more exposure on their sites so I can reach readers who have i-Pads and Kobo e-readers. Amazon isn’t the only game in town, and although B&N is struggling to compete, Apple and Kobo are bringing their A-game to the table. I’ll let you all know when the books are available on these venues.

Another March project I have going is cover designs for both WESTERN DESERT, and my short story prequel to the Lily Carmichael trilogy, SOUL REDEMPTION. I’ll be offering Zeph’s story for FREE on all channels, hoping to reach readers who might like to jump into the trilogy now that Book Two is on the near horizon (slated to release in June). I think you’ll enjoy reading this 14,000 word (about 40 pages) short story that is told from the POV of Lily’s thirteen-year-old brother Zephron. With the ability to take life with a touch, he struggles with his darker nature and trying to find his place in the world. You don’t have to read the short story to understand the trilogy, but it definitely gives you a deeper perspective of the conflict that runs throughout.

Read here for an excerpt. The FREE download should be ready by the end of March so you can find out what happens next.

So I think that’s it for March. BUT...

COMING SOON:

Stay tuned for a blog hop in April with tons of cool prizes, and the Book Lovers Buffet coming in May where you can load up for summer reading with a boatload of $.99 books!

As if that's not enough, check back in April for news of a new heaven is for Heroes audiobook!!! I can't wait to pick out a narrator for Jordie.


Have a happy Spring!


What does your month of March look like? Any fun trips planned? Are you as anxious for daylight savings time as I am?

August Excerpts and Contests

How did I totally miss the month of July? The summer is flying by and I’ve been a very busy writer, doing what I love most…writing. I’ve finished WANING MOON, the first book in The Chronicles of Lily Carmichael Trilogy, set to release SEPTEMBER 28, 2012. I handed the manuscript off to the editor and I should have it back in a few weeks to put it through the polishing and production phase. I’ll reveal the cover next Tuesday on http://www.Secretsof7scribes.wordpress.com.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on a companion short story, called SOUL REDEMPTION, a Prequel to the trilogy from Lily's younger brother Zeph's point of view. The short story will be part of the October WG2E (Writers Guide to E-publishing) Anthology, release date TBA.

CONTESTS:
It’s August Excerpt month over at YA Beyond. In place of my Healthy Teen Tips Friday, I’ll be sharing an excerpt from each of my books. To make it interesting, every week I’ll offer a signed copy of each book to a lucky commenter who also “like’s” our Facebook page. Winners will be announced the following Friday.

Schedule:

August 3rd--HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES. Get to know Jordie and Alex a bit better and enter to win until this Thursday at midnight.

August 10th--ON THIN ICE will be up for grabs. It is also part of a GOOD READS giveaway until August 15th. That means you have a few chances to win a signed copy! Don’t miss out.

August 17th—SAVAGE CINDERELLA will be featured. Simply stop by YA beyond on Friday’s and leave a comment. If you’ve already “liked” our FB page, we’d love to have you follow us on Twitter or subscribe to our blog posts instead.

August 24th—I’ll be sharing an excerpt from WANING MOON. That’s right, you guys get to meet Lily and Will before anyone else.


BIG CONTEST: Enter to win $50 and the opportunity to have your video chosen as the Official Book trailer for WANING MOON.

Rules:

Submit a 1-1:30 minute video book trailer for WANING MOON. Send your videos (AVI or even a PowerPoint presentation) as an attachment to pjsharon64@gmail.com. Each week I’ll pick one video to feature on my FB page and website. A final winner will be chosen September 21st and announced here. Your video will be used as a promotional tool for the release of the book on September 28th. I’ll be looking for book trailers that show originality, quality, design, and artistic interpretation. For examples of book trailers, here are my other two that my husband did. Heaven Is For Heroes was done with Power Point, while ON THIN ICE was done on I-Movie on my husband's Mac. http://www.youtube.com/pjsharon64


Here’s what the book is about:

WANING MOON
In the year 2057, in a post-apocalyptic world where a global shift threatens the remainder of the population with extinction, sixteen-year-old genetically enhanced Lily Charmichael has more immediate problems. Her uncle is dying of cancer and her healing abilities are ineffective against the blood ties that bind them. In order to find a cure, Lily must leave the protection of her quiet town and journey into the trading city of Albany, all while avoiding the Industry, an agency that would like nothing better than to study and exploit her abilities.

Seventeen-year-old Will Callahan has been searching for his father since severe storms blasted through the Midwest, killing his mother and sister. When he learns that his father may be in the city, he catches a ride with Lily, a girl who has come to his rescue more than once. As the two embark on a dangerous journey, the tension between them grows. But the secrets Will’s keeping could put Lily in far more danger than traveling to the city with him, and if he was any kind of man, he would have told her to run the minute she found him.

Helpful details:

1) Lily has light brown hair and green eyes. She goes from having long hair to short early in the book.
2) Will has sandy blond hair and blue eyes. Zephron has dark curly hair and is thirteen.
3) The solar radiation is a big problem after the global shift, and the weather is very hot.
4) Lily lives with her Uncle and her brother in a tiny hill town in the Northeast Sector.
5) Lily has the gift of being able to heal quickly and to heal others.
6) Lily travels to the Albany with a caravan of trucks to go to the trading post.
7) She has some close calls with the robotic Guardians who patrol the city.
8) Will and Lily get dumped into the Hudson River…twice!
9) Lily is in a race against time to get the medicine that could heal her uncle.
10) Lily and Will struggle with their feelings for each other because they both know they have to go their own way eventually.

Good Luck everyone! I hope you have fun with it.

Giving Away The Shop

Business first! The winner of my Authors in Bloom prize pack was Melissa Bourne Yayyy, Melissa! You can check out the Authors in Bloom main page to find a list of other winners and to see who won the grand prize of a Nook or Kindle.

Now, on to another giveaway! After the Give Your Child a Book Day was so crazy successful yesterday, and I didn't want anyone to miss out on a FREE Kindle copy of my latest release, SAVAGE CINDERELLA, I'll keep the book free for two more days. That's right! Today and tomorrow only, the book is available for a free download from Amazon. Jump on over and get your copy NOW!

If this is your first visit to my blog, I write, as the title suggests, Extraordinary Stories of an Average Teenage Life.

Savage Cinderella is the story of a young girl’s tragically lost innocence, her miraculous survival in the wilderness, and the unlikely romance that teaches her to trust, and leads her to triumph over her past.

Eighteen year-old Brinn Hathaway has survived alone in an abandoned cabin in the High Country of North Georgia since she was a child. If her life is lonely and less than complete, at least she is safe from the man who kidnapped her, held her captive, and left her for dead in a shallow grave in the mountains. She believes that her parents are dead, the police are her enemy, and that if she returns to the world, her tormentor will find her. With the help of some unlikely friends, she has what she needs to survive, but is surviving enough?

Life takes a turn when a young nature photographer, Justin Spencer—in pursuit of the fabled Wild Child—captures her on film. While chasing the story of a lifetime, Justin is injured and Brinn comes to his rescue. The two build a tentative friendship, but with his own violent past, an abusive alcoholic father, and a mother he couldn’t protect, he must decide if proving himself is worth betraying the trust of the girl he has vowed to help.

Trust is a commodity that Brinn has been unable to afford. Can the kindness and gentle touch of a stranger break through the wall she has built around her heart? After half a lifetime of living in isolation and fear, Brinn must decide if leaving the safety of her remote cabin is worth the hope—and danger—that may await her.


Some people might say it's crazy giving away my book like this, but since yesterday, over 8,000 people have downloaded the book for free. If a dozen or so folks feel compelled to write a lovely review, tell their friends what a great story it is, or maybe decide to purchase my other two books, Heaven Is For Heroes and On Thin Ice, then it is well worth it. Besides, every writer writes for one reason and one reason only...to share their stories with the world.

I hope you enjoy Brinn's story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and feedback are always welcomed and I would greatly appreciate any reviews you'd like to post to Amazon.

Blessings!

PJ

March Magic

Twenty days until spring, folks. This is always a time of rebirth and awakening for me. I can sense the energy grumbling beneath the earth and waiting to burst forth with life. It's time to get outside and start the early preparations for my garden. I know it sounds crazy with six inches of snow on the ground, but it will be gone before we know it and I'll be out there in a few weeks trimming down some of last summer's remnants. Butterfly bushes and hydrangeas will get a gentle trimming and all the dead pods I left for winter birds will need to be cleared out to make way for new growth in the perennial bed.

On the writing front, I'll be busy getting SAVAGE CINDERELLA ready for publication. Release day is March 15th.

I'll have hard copies available through my website or on Amazon, but since I've elected to publish with Amazon's KDP Select program, the book won't be available for Nook readers until June. This was a hard decision for me because I have loved B&N for many years. But honestly, this is a business decision for me. I have had much greater sales through Amazon and the Select program offers some benefits that I can't get any other way. If you have an i-pad or sony reader, or even an i-phone, you can download a Kindle app and be able to get the e-book that way. If anyone has a problem with this, please contact me and I will make sure you get a copy of the book.

As for where I'll be this month, please check out my calendar page of my website to follow my blog tour. You can also "like" my Face book fan page and keep track of my activiteies that way. I always love hearing from readers and writers about what's happening in your world and what your thoughts are about my books.

And speaking of books, I need a title for the first book in the dystopian trilogy I'm working on. The series will be called THE CHRONICLES OF LILLY CARMICHAEL. Click here for a brief synopsis and then stop back in when you have some ideas for titles. If I choose your title, I'll send you signed copies of my first three books. Contest ends at midnight on March 31st.

I look forward to hearing your ideas!