tagged with: Book

When I first began plotting Coming Out of Egypt, I read a lot of books by other authors and experts on writing because I wanted to do everything right. Now I know I said in my last post that I’m a pantster and that’s true. I didn’t outline the story, but it just seemed to pour out of me. However, I wanted to structure it in a way that would grab my readers and hold their interest right up to the last page. I also wanted to incorporate some literary elements that would give depth to the story and make it stand out. You, the reader, may not be aware of them, but they are what lift the story instead of making it flat and boring.

One of the things I picked up from the writing book is the use of motifs. What on earth is that, you are wondering. First, let me tell you what it is not. A motif is not a theme. A theme is the central idea on which the story is based, neither is it a symbol, which might be an object or an idea that appears once. According to this article motifs are “images, ideas, sounds or words that help to explain the central idea of a literary work i.e. theme.” Motifs tend to recur throughout the novel.

In Coming Out of Egypt, I have used a few motifs. The weather -rain- is a motif in the book. The other motif is the bandana. When you read the book, you will see that my character’s signature piece is a bandana. She covers her hair with it most of the time. It signifies who she is and it supports the theme of the book.

If you are still looking to add to your Christmas gift list or just pick up a good book for your holiday reading, why not get a printed copy of Coming Out of Egypt? This book will captivate your heart and have you thinking about it long after you put it down. But the book is not all you get. You also receive a bandana, a tote bag with the cover design, pen and bookmark, all for fifteen dollars, including postage. If you buy the book online the cost is $12.95 plus postage. So, hurry and place your order to receive it in time for Christmas. Just drop me a line at aquildon@yahoo.com

Now I know that some people have a negative view of bandanas, however you don’t have to wear one on your head if you don’t want to. This young lady posed for me wearing one as a scarf. You can do that or use it in your holiday decorating. I tried a couple ideas that I picked up here and here,I must say I’m really pleased with the effect. I think you will be too once you try them.

If you don’t care for the print version of Coming Out of Egypt, you can simply purchase the kindle version here.

And don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter where you can get updates on my books and other offers. Until next time, stay safe and be blessed.

Here’s another cover reveal to help with your reading selections this summer. This offering is from Carolyn Anthony, author of the Shattered Boundaries series. It is written in the adult, contemporary romance genre and will be released on Jul. 3rd 2017.

Twenty-Four Hours
by Carolyn Anthony

Synopsis:

The second chance that might never happen…

Eve Luccio waited years for her first love, but somehow their lives were never quite in sync. Now, at thirty-six, her only focus is completing the final year of her PhD. The last thing on her mind is the honor-driven former Navy SEAL who stole her heart as a teen and left her unable to love any other man since.

When Jake Theron walks back into Eve’s life, his presence shatters her walls of self preservation. He unleashes a dark sexuality that Eve never imagined she would experience, much less come to crave. All he wants from her is a day of her trust—twenty-four uninterrupted hours before she crosses the country for her Post Doctorate position in New York. But letting down her guard for even twenty-four hours with Jake might just destroy her.

For Jake Theron, Eve was always “the oone that got away,” except even after two decades, she’s still under his skin. When Eve finally agrees to see him, Jake vows he won’t let her slip through his fingers again.

But nobody knows better than Jake what a vicious bitch fate can be. When his life gets in the way, he realizes he may have to let Eve go once again—this time for her own good.

All he has left are the next twenty-four hours. One day and night in a seaside hotel, after which he has no choice but to let her walk out of his life with no guarantee he’ll ever see her again. The problem is, now that he’s had a real taste of the woman who should have been his twenty years ago, he’s not sure he’ll have the strength to let her go.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35429365-twenty-four-hours

AUTHOR BIO:
Carolyn Anthony is a sucker for a dark romance with a dominant, tattooed, alpha badass man at the helm.

Her characters deal with real life issues: the painful, the tragic, the damaging sort of life events that leave both external and internal scars, because she’s been there.
Her heroines are strong women at the core who will always find what’s been lost, taken or exploited: their strength, their self-worth, their identity, their innocence or their love. She writes about women exploring their sexuality, owning that sexuality and enjoying it. Along for the ride, the hot-ass men who prove worthy enough to be on that journey with them.

Book one in the Shattered Boundaries Series, Twenty-Four Hours, will be available to buy on July, 3, 2017. Each book is a stand alone with a well earned HEA. Book two coming soon as well as Phoenix, the first book in a Contemporary second chances trilogy.

Feel free to stalk me everywhere!

Author links:

Home



https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCarolynAnthony/
https://plus.google.com/101299893988603458132

https://www.instagram.com/authorcarolynanthony/

Today’s blog post is courtesy Xpresso Book Tours and features an exciting New Adult book by Tani Hanes. Tani will be doing a blitz-wide giveaway of her books from April 16th to April 20th, and you are invited to join. Read on and enjoy.

Before the Tempest
by Tani Hanes
(UK Crush, #4)
Publication date: March 21st 2017
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:
Aileen Foster, poor, orphaned, musically gifted, never imagined her life could change so much, so fast, but getting a job as interpreter for boyband UK Crush pitched her headfirst into tumult and a glamorous life she never thought she’d have. Now, engaged to band member Theo Shelley, and having survived her audition to Hamilton Conservatory in Manhattan, she’s off to the Bahamas with the boys while they write their new album. Life has never been easy for her, but she’s trying.

GIVEAWAY
Blitz-wide giveaway (INTL)

Paperbacks of UK Crush #1-4
10x ebook copies of UK Crush #1-4

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d04251231731/

_________

Book & Author Details:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34664760-before-the-tempest?ac=1&from_search=true

Pre-order:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XS7GK96


AUTHOR BIO:
Tani Hanes was born in Yokosuka, Japan. She spent the first few years of her life traveling back and forth between Japan and the US, making the permanent move to the Central Valley of California when she was five. She visited family in Japan on a regular basis, and attended college in Tokyo for one year at ICU before getting her degree in Language Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She has two children, and was a substitute teacher for fifteen years. Hanes currently resides in New York City with her husband and cats, Moss and Lily.

Author links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tani-Hanes/e/B01M4PYCA6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1491404380&sr=8-1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16028512.Tani_Hanes
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tanihanes/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaniHanes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tanihanesauthor/
Website: http://tanihanes.com

The first time I heard this expression I couldn’t help laughing. In case you don’t know what molasses is, it’s a thick,15 Health Benefits of Blackstrap Molasses dark liquid extracted during the refining of sugar cane to make table sugar. I was born in Trinidad and Tobago, a country that grew sugar cane and produced sugar for export, and maybe because of that, molasses was very popular with Trinidad housewives. My mother used it to make toloom, a dark, sticky, bitter-sweet candy, which was, and I believe still is, well liked by the kids. I found the recipe here. But that wasn’t all she made. She used molasses to make all kinds of medicinal drinks which, if they didn’t always cure the illness, certainly tasted like medicine.

So why am I writing all this? Because I was always fascinated with the slowness with which the molasses ran – no, it didn’t run – came out of the bottle, as if gravity was non-existent. So, could you imagine molasses having to work its way uphill against gravity? Well, these past weeks I have been feeling like molasses going uphill as far as publishing my book Coming Out Of Egypt goes. I had originally planned to have it released the middle of April, but I lost my battle with the Createspace template, and that’s when my horrors began.

After struggling to format headers, footers and everything else, I gave up and outsourced it to someone on Fiverr. She did a fine job. Every header and footer was where it was supposed to be and she even did a beautiful Drop Cap. I was about to do a happy dance when I realized that more than half the book was missing. Had I given her only half the file? It’s possible, since I started and stopped so many times and each time I carefully saved the darned thing. So back I went to Fiverr, told her what happened and what I needed. I even offered to pay her to do the rest. She said she would do it by Sunday (yesterday), but she didn’t give me a quote. I uploaded the file – the complete one this time – but haven’t received it yet. No reply from her.

But remember I said the toloom has a bitter-sweet taste? Well, I tasted something sweet today. The file I uploaded to Smashwords to place my book on preorder made it successfully into the premium catalog. And I did the formatting all by myself! You may be asking why didn’t I tackle the Createspace monster myself? Because Createspace needs headers and footers with page numbers. Digital files don’t need all that. That’s the beauty of technology. So now my book is still going to be on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo etc.

Whether you are writing, querying agents and editors or self-publishing, you are going to have to climb the hill. Anything worth having has a cost factor. It may cost you your hair – one friend said she almost lost hers – or your sanity, but it will cost. Just be prepared for it, and keep on climbing.

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Audiobooks have become very popular. You can listen to them almost anywhere, and so you get to “read” more books in less time. Now you can get even more books by signing up for Amazon’s Audible Membership program. In addition you get,

  • 2 free audiobooks after signing up for a 30-day free trial
  • 1 audiobook of your choice every month
  • 30% off every additional audiobook and much more.  Click on the link below to learn more.

 

 

While on my walk this morning, I came across a couple staring at something on a tree branch. As I drew nearer, the woman pointed to the tree and said, “Isn’t it amazing how God puts so much detail into everything?” I peered at the tree to see what she was talking about, and there was a huge spider caught in a big web. I agreed with her that God is a God of details. Then I saw she had her phone out. “Did you get him?” I asked. “I sure did,” she replied. So I got out my phone and took two shots. See one of them here.

As I walked away, the word “details” kept popping into my mind. I immediately thought of my writing. As fiction writers, it can be very easy for us to focus on getting our plot just right; working out the conflicts, all the little twists and turns and surprises, while ignoring the details. But its these little details that make the story come alive and make the reader feel she is in the story, not looking in from the outside.  Let’s look at the paragraph below from The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George:

Warmth. Wind. Dancing blue waters and the sound of waves. I see, hear, feel them all still. I even taste the sting of the salt on my lips, where the fine, misty spray coats them. And closer even than that, the lulling, drowsy smell of my mother’s skin by my nose, where she holds me against her bosom …

Do you see, hear, feel and taste the details? That’s the kind of sensory experience you want to give your readers. This is not the same as clutter, which adds nothing to the story. If it feels cumbersome, it must go. But if everything fits into place, like the markings on a spider’s leg, then you are on to something. Like any craft, it takes practice, but eventually, you should get it just right.

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I will be taking my book Women For All Seasons on a virtual book tour from October 7 – 18.  I will also be giving away a copy of the book and downloadable excerpts to readers who visit the blogs and leave a comment. I will post all the details as the time draws nearer. Meanwhile, if you wish to jump ahead you can purchase a copy on Amazon from the link on your right, or from Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34069

 

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Here is an interview that I did for Book Buzzr. It’s a good way of getting some exposure for yourself and your book. Enjoy!

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a writer of fiction and non-fiction, which includes freelance writing of articles related to health and wellness. My first short story A Pair of Blue Skates was published in a college magazine. I then went on to win an honorable mention in a nationwide college magazine and to publish other short stories and articles in anthologies and online. I have also written two full-length novels which are not yet published.

Describe your book ‘WOMEN FOR ALL SEASONS’ in 30 words or less.

Women For All Seasons uses some of the stories of women from the Bible to show the importance of trusting God in every season of your life.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Apart from finding the time to write, I would say it was making sure that all the details were accurate for the time period and the culture I was writing about. Even though most of the content came from the Bible, I added details to make the stories read like fiction, therefore I had to make sure that all the information was relevant.

What books have had the greatest influence on you?

The Bible, first and foremost, then I would say Maximizing the Moment by Bishop TD Jakes, The Shack by Wm. P. Young, Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison and so many more.

Briefly share with us what you do to market your book?

I make use of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Linked In and I feature it on my blogs and on Freado. I have also done book signings and a blog talk radio interview.

How do you spend your time when you are not writing?

I work full time as an occupational therapist, so I spend more time working than I do writing, which leaves very little time for anything else. However, I do enjoy taking long walks when I have the time.

What are you working on next?

Right now I’m working on a Christian novel about three women who live together, but they are keeping secrets from each other. And like the Bible says, whatever is hidden does come to light. I am also working on a short story which I plan to enter in a competition.

Here’s the audio of my interview with Ella Curry of Black Author’s Network in which I discussed my book Women For All Seasons. There were some technical difficulties at the beginning and midway through the interview, but otherwise it went rather well.

Please listen and leave a comment.

Listen to internet radio with Black Author Network on Blog Talk Radio

Please join me on blog talk radio tonight from 8.00 to 9.00 EST for a discussion of my book Women For All Seasons. You may log in to
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Black-Author-Network or you can call 646-200-0402. I would be happy if you would come back here and leave a comment. If you wish to purchase a copy of the book, I’m offering it at a discounted price of $12.00 with FREE shipping. Just drop me a line and I’ll tell you how you can get a copy. Hope to see you there.

One of the most effective ways an author can receive exposure for his/her book is to have an internet book launch. Pastor Bobby Keating is having an internet book launch for his new book  Apply Wisdom to Life’s Circumstances. The launch date is March 15, 2011, and if you purchase the book on that date, you will receive a number of freebies.

Here is what Pastor Bobby has to say about his new book:

It is my sincere belief that God not only wants each believer to succeed but He has also given us the instruction on how we can be successful. The Holy Bible (God’s Holy Word) is filled with exhortations and positive directions for our success. If you study the Holy Bible with an open mind, an open heart and a desire to understand, you can easily see that throughout the history of God’s relationship with man His desire for His believers is that they live life with abundance, that they succeed in their endeavors and that they draw closer to Him.

Apply Wisdom to Life’s Circumstances is a guide to applying the Wisdom given to us through King Solomon‘s Proverbs. This book shows in detail how to apply this wisdom to daily life now to help every Christian to succeed in relationships, business, finances and more. 

 

When you purchase  a copy of the book you will help Pastor Bobby fund his prison, addiction and evangelism ministries. Visit The Success Book or Amazon. com and help push Pastor Bobby’s book to the top.

Purchase for $14.95 at Amazon.com

Have you ever wondered why some people win and most lose?  These Success Books hold the answer to this and many other questions!

Cutting through all of the hype and double talk, the Success Book presents life principles that really work and their application to daily life. If you are fed up, frustrated and confused, this book holds the key to your success in every area of life.

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Speed bump Almería

Image via Wikipedia

The book marketing journey continues. It may lead me along winding lanes, dark alleyways, sudden stretches of sunlit roads and then maybe  a speed bump or two. If that happens, I’ll simply slow down, then pick up speed and continue on my journey, the wind in my hair and a song in my heart. I’m saying all of that to say this: the book marketing journey can be unpredictable for an unknown author. It can be daunting to say the least, not a venture for the timid or the overly cautious. There are many avenues to explore, one of which is book signing events. (more…)

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