Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Fantastic February Blog Tour - Canvas Skies


Remember to enter the give-away! Click here

Find it on Amazon

Greed. Power. Class division. Resistance.

The Terenian government has worked hard to divide the haves from the have-nots. Guy Bensen, Elite
bachelor of the year, wants a better life for everyone. Thief/hired killer, Keira Maddock, hungers for equality.
Together, they might be able to change society.
Meanwhile, due to tragic events caused by the Divide, Keira's younger sister, April, has left her baby in the realm across the sea. Now she returns to Terene. With the arrival of two very different men, her life becomes complicated. In order to be safe, April must hide her identity. In order to live, she must open her heart.
In book two of the Reliance on Citizens trilogy, S.L. Wallace delves deeper into political intrigue as we examine the bonds that make us human, blending the genres of action, sci-fi, romance and political

The Hunt for Xanadu recommended for readers 17+

Excerpt
As Eberhardt maneuvered back into traffic, Keira's stomach grumbled loudly.
“Thunderstorm's approaching,” Eberhardt said. He caught my eye in the rear view mirror. I'd returned to the backseat when we dropped off Brody.
I smiled and draped my arm around Keira's shoulders. “Anyone still care for dessert?”
The Coffee Shoppe no longer looked overly crowded, but I was relieved when Keira said, “Can't we take it home?” Eberhardt graciously offered to run in. Keira sighed and leaned against me. I shifted so she could rest her head on my shoulder. It brought back a memory of the night we'd first met; she'd leaned against me in just this way.
“What's on your mind?” I asked.
“Just wondering.”
“About what?”
“Are they after me or us?”
“We're back to that?”
“The last time we thought they were trying to bring down the Resistance, we were wrong. What if we're wrong again?”
I sighed. “Well, we know someone is after you, and we know many oppose the Resistance. We would have to be naive to assume otherwise.”
“Paranoia, what a way to live!” she said as Eberhardt climbed back into the car.
The glow from a streetlamp briefly illuminated the scar on his left cheek. Then it was gone, hidden in shadows.
“Paranoia, I can tell you a thing or two about that,” he said.
Since his wife's death a couple of months ago, Eberhardt had thrown himself into his work. Training sessions for various groups of Raiders now took place on a daily basis, and as a result, Eberhardt got two, and sometimes three, workouts a day.
Back at the apartment, I balanced the box of tiramisu with one hand and unlocked the front door with the other. Using my right foot and shoulder, I held the door open for Keira. She hurried inside and entered the security code. Eberhardt had already returned to his own smaller apartment downstairs. I set the tiramisu on the dining table while Keira retrieved dessert plates and forks from the kitchen. I watched as she took her first bite.
Keira closed her eyes. “Mmm, this is delicious!”
I smiled. “Happy anniversary.”
She opened her eyes and smiled too. Then she took another bite.
“You did really well tonight.”
She didn't respond. I took her cue, and we ate in silence, enjoying the creamy decadence. When she'd finished her last bite and had pushed her plate away, Keira was finally ready to talk.

About the Author
S.L. Wallace is a teacher and life long writer who is a descendant of the famous William Wallace. Like him, she believes in freedom and independence. Unlike him, she fights her battles with the pen. In addition to being a writer, Wallace is an upper elementary Montessori teacher. She believes in guiding each student toward his or her full potential and in respecting people for the unique individuals they are.

Monday, 3 February 2014

M is for Murder, Mystery and Mayhem - Coming in March!

Tweet me or tell me on Facebook -
reserve your spot and share your thoughts, reviews and authors of your favourite genre
coming this March on the Broomstick.

Saturday, 1 February 2014

Fantastic February Blog Tour - Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula

Recommended for readers 12+

One Girl. One Accident. One Incredible Superhero.
Cassidy Jones is your typical fourteen-year-old-- that is, until a seemingly harmless accident in the laboratory of a world-renowned geneticist turns her world upside down.
Discovering incredible strength, speed, and enhanced physical senses that defy logic, Cassidy embarks on an action-packed adventure that has her fighting for answers...and for her very life.


Find it on Amazon 

Excerpt
We sat on opposite benches, our knees a foot apart. Emery watched me curiously while I considered how to start. I resorted to small talk.
“Uh, Emery, so where do you live?”
“We rent a condo near Wallingford,” he answered patiently, making no attempt to elaborate.
“Oh.” I touched my forehead. “Were you born in Seattle?”
“No, Washington, D.C.” Placing his forearms on his knees, he leaned forward. “How did you hurt your forehead?”
I dropped my hand. “Funny. That’s what I want to talk to you about.”
Intently looking at my face, he waited for me to continue.
I touched my nose. “Before yesterday, I had freckles. They were light, but they were there.”
Narrowing his eyes on my nose, he attempted to decipher.
Taking a deep breath, I continued, “Sorry, that didn’t make any sense. Let me put it this way—I had freckles when I went to your mom’s lab with my dad.”
His expression became so intense, frightening almost, that I hesitated. My feelings about him were conflicted. He made me uneasy. Everything about him was so foreign.
Emery’s voice took on a soothing tone. “I understand that you injured your head in my mom’s lab. Please, tell me how. You can trust me. I want to help you.”
I searched his eyes. It was difficult to penetrate through the blackness, adding to my unease. “I don’t think you can.”
Impulsively, or maybe intentionally, he grabbed my hand, holding it between his. “Please, tell me,” he repeated.

Other books in the Top Rated Superhero series for young adults, Cassidy Jones Adventures:
Cassidy Jones and Vulcan's Gift, Book Two
Cassidy Jones and the Seventh Attendant, Book Three
Cassidy Jones and the Luminous, Book Four (Coming 2014)

Please note that the books in the Cassidy Jones Adventures series are Superhero Fiction and not graphic novels or comic books.
Suited for YA and up

Author Bio
Elise Stokes lives with her husband and four children. She was an elementary school teacher before becoming a full-time mom. With a daughter in middle school and two in high school, Elise's understanding of the challenges facing girls in that age range inspired her to create a series that will motivate girls to value individualism, courage, integrity, and intelligence. The stories in Cassidy Jones Adventures are fun and relatable, and a bit edgy without taking the reader uncomfortably out of bounds. Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula, Cassidy Jones and Vulcan's Gift, and Cassidy Jones and the Seventh Attendant are the first three books in the series. Book Four, Cassidy Jones and the Luminous, will be released in 2014.




Tuesday, 28 January 2014

There is a STORM coming, and nothing will be the same


Both volumes will also be available as ebooks.
Not a South African resident?
Don't despair, launch week will have loads of ebook
special deals!


Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Tips, Tricks and Tales: What an Indie Writer Should Know

It is all good and well for me to have Time Management as a theme for my blog this year, but what do I actually want to accomplish? It took me a few moments, a writers’ group meeting and an email from Jeff Goins to realise that while I really do need to manage my time better, there was something else I needed first: goals.
Sure I can write 500 words everyday, in fact I can and often do write well over a thousand words everyday. But what do I want to do with all those words?
Not the fluffy kind that says - finish my next novel, or write five short stories. I work full time and have a hectic year ahead to get my vehicle through a complicated set of tests and firing trials. But those goals are work related.
How do I set personal goals that I can plan towards achieving them, even with a full time job and all its stress?
You might think that as a published author the answer would be more books, but to be honest it is not that simple for me. Yes, I do want to publish more short stories and my next novel this year, but that is not all that I want to do.
I have been threatening to develop an Indie Writer’s Course for the past year or so, and have made a good start on the “manual”. Then I asked myself: but what if my idea of the contents of the course is not what people actually want or need to know?
Should I continue to develop this course only to find out at the end I have wasted my time on insignificant things, or worse not teaching people things that they do need to know?
Should I include writing advice? Plotting and characterization? The answer there is a definite No. You don’t have to be an experienced writer, with loads of books to your name, to know that there are lots of books and courses on fiction and non-fiction writing available.
You have only to type in the words ‘writing tools’, or ‘plotting a book’ and thousands of hits appear on the Google page.
So if I have nothing to add to those good books, what does an indie writer need to know?
What frustrated you? What could have helped you when you started out and yet had to learn the hard way because no one told you about it.

Please leave a comment and help me develop a course that could be of real help to new, and maybe even published, indie authors to help make their lives easier.

VAMPIRE ROMANCE SEASON 12 Dec - 1 Jan

Snuggle up to a sexy vampire VAMPIRE ROMANCE SEASON 12 Dec - 1 Jan Jarod and Wolfe find their soulmates amidst the challenges of vampire roy...