Groups for Writers - A Positive Experience?

As many of you share my passion for books and writing, you will probably belong to either a book club for readers or a writers group. And some of these may be online, such as Facebook or Goodreads groups. But do you belong to a group where you meet and discuss books or writing challenges face-to-face?

I am very fortunate to belong to both kinds of groups and both of them bring something to my writing that I would otherwise not have had. Writing is not a social business, in fact as writers we spend more time interacting with computer keyboards, than we do with other people.

Whether the group meets on Facebook or at my favourite coffee shop, I have learned many things for which I am grateful. Of course, the success of either type of group depends on the people who take part and as in real life there are active and passive members in a group.

I have been privileged to join a group on Google+ where I have met people that I truly feel are supportive of each other and I can now claim to consider friends.

Please come back tomorrow for a guest post from one such friend, and share with us what your experiences are with online and face-to-face writers groups.

Book Launch: More Than You Know by Alexandria Rhodes

Synopsis:After surviving a devastating car accident that took her father's life, Bryn Woods feels like she has nothing left in her hometown of Savannah, GA. Along with losing her father, her

boyfriend, Tyler, unexpectedly leaves town the same time of the accident. Feeling alone, broke and confused, Bryn leaves Savannah for college in New York City to escape her heartbreak.
Four years later, Bryn returns to Savannah to live in her childhood home. Slowly, she begins to let the people of her past back into her life. She lets the protective walls she's built to protect herself crash down around her. As she begins to find love again with Tyler, secrets start to unravel themselves about his past. Tyler has secrets of his own. Secrets connected to the death of Bryn's father. Secrets Tyler didn't even know he kept.

Goodreads

More Than You Know Giveaway


Author Bio:Alexandria Rhodes is a first time novelist from the good old state of Ohio. She is a recent college graduate with a degree in English and Creative Writing. Alexandria has always known she needed to write and has been doing so ever since she bought a typewriter at a garage sale when she was nine. With hundreds of pages of plot ideas, scripts and character descriptions, it is no surprise that she finally came around to writing a book. Alexandria enjoys reading, writing, reviewing, spending time with family, tweeting (a little too much) and traveling, especially to Savannah, GA and New York City. Her writing is heavily influenced by her surroundings and the people in her life. She hopes that her stories will touch the hearts of her readers.
Author Contact Links: Website: http://www.alexandriarhodes.com
Twitter http://www.twitter.com/A_L_Rhodes
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/morethanyouknowbook

Book Launch for charity: My Kort vir jou Sop (Afrikaans anthology)

It isn't everyday that I have the opportunity to introduce you to a book published in my mother tongue, Afrikaans, where I know at least one of the authors. Vanessa Wright, a member of my writers group recently had a flash fiction story published in an anthology with several well-known South African writers.

The anthology covers myriad themes as each writer decided what he or she would like write about. All proceeds will go to Kleinmond library and soup kitchen. The ebook is available on Amazon, Kalahari and soon to be released on Kobo. A paper edition is in the offing.

What the publisher and some of the writers had to say:

The publisher, Trisa Hugo, from Boekemakranka says the idea for the anthology presented itself while she was busy with the weekly ironing. She immediately stopped ironing, switched on her computer and started emailing writers. The response she received was overwhelming.

Rika du Plessis author of Flopsies met Floozies: 
The idea for the story came form an older friend of my mother who had been cheated on by her husband for many years before she decided to divorce him. She was the one who had all the money and he walked off with half of it. After the divorce she a family member died and she received an enormous amount of money. Her ex-husband was angry about the fact that he couldn't share in the wealth.
You can follow Rika on Twitter @RikaPlessis

Vanessa Wright author of Vyf en 'n drie-kwart ure in Gekkeparadys and Spieelbeeld: 
My ideas and subsequent stories seem to come from a darker side of me and the themes almost always involve loss. The seed of the idea takes a while to germinate until I wake up one morning with the entire story written in my head. I love this creative process. I tend to think visually and try to convey that to the reader.

You can follow Vanessa on Twitter @Artysoul1966

Book Launch: Sinners of Water and Fire by Charity Parkerson

Blurb:

Their love was legendary, cursed, and forbidden. 
The fates conspired to keep them apart, but destiny will bring them together again…
When one of their own becomes the target of a demon bent on revenge, the Society will do anything to keep her safe, including stealing a God from the Heavens.
Heru, son of Geb, once sold his soul to forget her, and now he’ll give anything to keep her safe. 
Gods and Demons collide in the final installment of Charity Parkerson’s award-winning “Sinners” series.

Excerpt:

“I dreamed about you last night.” Heat flooded her face at the confession. She knew it must be the shade of a strawberry, but she lifted her eyes to his, holding his stare steadily, as if daring him to mock her words. For a moment, she could have sworn a look of triumph passed over his face, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“What was the dream about?”

Marissa had thought that it was impossible to be any more embarrassed than she already was, but at his question, she discovered a whole new level of humiliation.

“Um,” she stuttered before admitting, “I don’t want to tell you.”

“Oh,” he crowed. “It was that kind of dream, was it?” While his eyes were shining with mirth, her face was on fire, and she really wanted kick him.

“Shut up,” she hissed.

“Ever as you command,” he said, but she could still hear the laughter in his voice.

Fanning her face, Marissa practically danced in place in her discomfort.

“Are you having some sort of fit?” Adriana, Marissa’s mom, asked, slicing through her mortification.

Marissa had not heard her approach and she shot a nervous glimpse at the tree line to find Harold gone.

“I was attempting a spell.” Marissa answered Adriana’s question absently while searching for any sign that Harold was still hanging around. When her mom remained silent, Marissa glanced over to find her watching her closely, and she pasted a fake smile on her face in order to ease her mother’s obvious concern.

“Okay,” Adriana said, drawing out the word and sounding as if she didn’t believe her, which was a spot-on observation, since Marissa was lying.

Buy Links:

Amazon- US- http://ow.ly/jtGfn

Amazon –UK- http://ow.ly/jtu8c

Barnes & Noble: http://ow.ly/ju66m

Kobo: http://ow.ly/jyysl

Smashwords: http://ow.ly/jy5yh

All Romance Ebooks: http://ow.ly/ju3ob

About the Author:

Charity Parkerson was born in Tennessee, where she still lives with her husband and two sons. She is the author of several books including thirteen Amazon bestsellers. You can like her at http://www.facebook.com/authorCharityParkerson. Be sure to visit her at http://www.charityparkerson.com and you can read her blog at http://charity-thesinners.blogspot.com

Her “Sinners series” was voted one of the top ten best books by an Indie author in 2011- Paranormal Romance Reads

Her book “The Danger with Sinners” was named “Best Book of 2012” by Paranormal Reads Reviews and is a finalist for Favorite Paranormal Romance in the 2012 Australian Romance Readers Association Awards.

She was named as one of the top three Indie authors of 2012- EbookBuilders

She is a member of The Paranormal Romance Guild, is a Goodreads moderator, a member of Coffee Time Romance, and co-host of The Melissa Craig and Charity Parkerson show.

She won author of the week in August of 2011, and is a four-time winner of The Mistress of the Darkpath.

You can follow her on Twitter @https://twitter.com/CharityParkerso

Additional Links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Punk & Sissy Publications

Book Launch: Blood Flows Deep in the Empire by N. Isabelle Blanco

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dyletri, God of Fertility, has locked away his powers. No woman is allowed to touch him,

not until he can return his long-dead lover back to life. All he has to do is sacrifice one human girl, a girl who unlocks his powers and rips his dormant lust right out of his body. Trapped by his promise, Dyletri has no choice but to watch Ismini die, no matter how much he wants her.
Yet the darkness of his calling is spiraling within him, demanding he claim the human as his. If he goes back on his promise, the energy of the Fates will cause untold destruction in the Universe. That doesn’t change how Dyletri’s begun exhibiting symptoms that point to more than just lust. How does he allow Ismini to die when she’s come to own him from the inside out?
Desire and torment spiral into something much darker than obsession, more turbulent than an addiction, and something much more brutal than a mere soul-mating. As a war is being rekindled right under his nose, Dyletri will have to come to terms with a destiny eleven thousand years in the making. He thought he’d known what path his future would take, but he’d been wrong. Now the one woman he truly loves might pay the price for his decision.
Blood Flows Deep in the Empire is the first in a series that will pit free-will against Destiny, Destiny against Fate, and love against brutal desire. Everyone likes to think they have a choice as to who they end up with, but as they rise to face the greatest threat they’ve ever known, even the Gods will learn they have to bend to Destiny’s whim to survive.

About the Author

N. Isabelle Blanco was born in Queens, NY (USA). At age 3, due to an odd

fascination with studying her mother’s handwriting, she had already begun to read and write. By the time she’d reached kindergarten, she had an extensive vocabulary and her obsession with words began to bleed into every aspect of her life. An avid reader in her teens, a fascination with Japanese anime eventually led her to the universe of fanfiction. 
Her on again, off again hobby for the next ten years, She amassed a following of fans that, by her own admission, she would never be able to live without. It was those fans who encouraged her to step beyond the fanfiction realm and try her talent in the publishing world.
 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nisabelleblanco
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nyddi
Blog/Website: www.houseofmalfunction.com

Buy Links: Amazon