Books: Tips, Stories, & Advice on Writing, Publishing, & Promoting by Dan Poynter @DanPoynter

Books: Tips, Stories, & Advice on Writing, Publishing, & Promoting

Here is a Gift for the Writer Within or The Writer in Your Life

Scores of successful, published authors reveal the inside secrets to their achievement.

You will discover:
• 38 Tips on how to write
• 11 Tips on why you should write
• 4 Tips on why your writing project should be a book
• 21 Tips on what to write
• 7 Tips on doing research
• 9 Tips for building your book
• 3 Tips on Copyright
• 10 Tips for finding the right agent or publisher
• 6 Tips on book promotion
• And much, much more.

Dan Poynter has turned thousands of professionals and writers into authors; his shelves are overflowing with their books. He is the author of more than 125 books and hundreds of other information products. The media come to Dan because he is the leading authority on how to write, publish, and promote books.

The demand for books is increasing but the market is changing. These tips from successful authors will show you how to get your work into print.

http://ParaPublishing.com 

http://GlobalEbookAwards.com    
http://ParaPromotion.com 

Follow Dan: http://www.Twitter.com/DanPoynter

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Hiren's Magical Adventure by Kathleen Patel ‏ @KathleenPatel1

Hiren's Magical Adventure (Magical Adventures)

Amazon.com- UK:  http://amzn.to/JtiBzB

'This newly revised and edited version of Hiren's Magical Adventure' is the first in the 'Magical Adventure' saga. A tween to young adult, paranormal, mystery, the charming fable unfolds in in India. Hiren visits his grandparents for the summer. Nothing could have prepared him for this strange world filled with magic and mystery. He encounters exotic creatures, a forbidden jungle, and a ghost that haunts the eerie palace. He meets a mysterious girl who leads him closer to the secrets. He finds himself facing life-threatening danger in his quest to solve the family mystery.

Visit the author's blog: http://anirishpatel.blogspot.com/
Follow the author on Twitter: @KathleenPatel1

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Suddenly a Spy by Heather Huffman @Heathers_mark

Suddenly a Spy

On her wedding day, Veronica Sinclair thinks she has it all: the loving family, the Vera Wang dress, the hunky husband. But then a mysterious and beautiful woman shows up at the reception, suggesting Veronica's new hubby isn't exactly who he says he is. As if that weren't enough, Veronica and Richard must flee gunmen in the middle of their honeymoon, convincing Veronica she got more than she bargained for when she said, "I do."

Thrown into a world of espionage, seduction, and human trafficking, Veronica must fight for the life and husband she thought she had - and she must discover whether they are the life and husband she truly wants.

Don't miss Heather Huffman's other books: "Throwaway", "Ties that Bind", "Jailbird", "Ring of Fire", and the newly-released "Tumbleweed", the long awaited prequel to Throwaway!

Visit the author's website: www.heatherhuffman.net  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Heathers_mark


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Interview with Emma Calin @EmmaCalin

The Digital Ink Spot interviewed Emma Calin, an author and poet who resides between The U.K. and France with her sexy French lover, Gilles.

The Digital Ink Spot: Tell the readers a little something about Knockout!
Emma Calin: Knockout! is an unusual book in that it sits across several genres - on one hand it is a full-on passionate romance but equally, it is a suspense thriller dealing with police investigations into match fixing and corruption in professional sport. Anna Leyton has worked her way up to Detective Inspector and has been posted to Interpol. While investigating international Internet gambling and the attempts of mobsters to fix the results of sporting events, Anna unwittingly becomes passionately and romantically involved with Freddie LaSalle, one of the world's top class boxers who will be fighting for the cruiser weight championship. He is a suspect in the investigation. She knows she should walk away from their relationship. She knows it can mean nothing but trouble. but she can't leave him. Her heart refuses to go. For too long, she has needed love in her love, and, with Freddie, she has found it. However, neither Freddie nor Anna has told each other the whole truth and their lies and deception form shaky foundations which are doomed to collapse - can their love survive the cataclysmic events unfolding around them? It transpires that Freddie has been offered ten million dollars by the mob to lose the championship fight. It's a big payday, a once-in-a-lifetime payday. And Anna is caught in the tangled web of her own conscience. Freddie, she believes, is the key to helping her unravel the mob's illegal and sometimes deadly ties with boxing. But her love won't let Anna ruin his life. She is in a quandary, and the mafia begins to fear that Freddie may keep his side of the deal. They need leverage. They kidnap Anna, demand that Freddie throw the match to save her life, and she becomes the focal point of a frantic battle triggered by Interpol and the FBI to take down the mob.

The Digital Ink Spot: What inspired you to write your book?
Emma Calin: I was inspired to write Knockout! because although I love reading about passion and romance, I sometimes find the background stories, motivations and settings of traditional romances unbelievable and fantastical. I wanted to set the love interest in my novel in a real-life situation with believable characters whose actions are lead by their strengths and flaws and to introduce dilemmas to really challenge their relationship.

The Digital Ink Spot: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
Emma Calin: One of the things I learned from writing this book was how difficult (but stimulating!) it would be to write the intimate love scenes in the best way I could. It is very hard to find a balance between the out and out gynecological and the much reviled 'purple' prose. I wanted the sex to be passionate and romantic and set within the context of a loving relationship and for it be neither embarrassing nor comical. And I definitely wanted it to be beautiful and tender. So far I have had only positive feedback from readers, so I'm hoping that I struck the right tone.

The Digital Ink Spot: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Emma Calin: I have always loved stories - as a child I was an avid reader and always had my nose in a book and would get hold of books any way I could. One of my earliest delights was going round second-hand book shops and picking up cheap books from the boxes outside on the pavement - the bargain books that were no longer fashionable. I would often buy one without knowing what it was about, it just felt so good to get something containing so many words for so little. I loved radio plays, cinema, the theatre, opera, poetry, TV soaps - any story about human relationships in any form. I have written numerous poems, short stories and articles which have been published over the years and I've won a few writing competitions. My work was often hard to categorize, I always tried to write the best stories I could - without trying to fit to a formula - which readers seemed to enjoy, but publishers often could not fit them in their standard 'genre' slots. The advent of the digital book and self-publishing has given me the opportunity to finally get my work out to the readers at large - and I have found that they love a good story and do not care if it contains crime, suspense, tension, love and romance in one package.

The Digital Ink Spot: What can readers expect from you in the future?
Emma Calin: I wrote Knockout! as a story for a big audience and I have learned a lot from it and very much want to stick with stories containing a large element of romance at their core. Love and relationships are what human life is about - particularly in a world that seems to totally focused on money, economics and the day to day drudge of work, Whatever you are in life, there will always be love and relationships in some form. Most readers of romantic fiction are looking for more passion than their day to day lives actually contain and it is a tremendous pleasure to me to bring sexual passion out of the closet and put it in the kitchen!

Visit the author's website: http://www.emmacalin.com/
The Author's blog: http://www.emmacalin.blogspot.co.uk
The Author's facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/Knockout.Romance.Novel
The Author's facebook friend page: http://www.facebook.com/emma.calin
The Author's twitter handle: @EmmaCalin

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The Destiny of Shaitan by Laxmi Hariharan @laxmi

The Destiny of Shaitan

Epic fantasy kindle bestseller, "The Destiny of Shaitan is mind-blowing, dark, humorous, and clever. It took me on a powerful journey inwards, which was a surprise, as I'm not generally drawn to Sci-Fi or Fantasy. I love the scene where the planet is covered with water and Yudi rescues Tiina. It's core message is unity. I believe it will appeal to people across all ages." - Sonia Ducie Dip.CSN.AIN, Numerologist, Author of eleven Numerology books.

Partially set in a futuristic Bombay, The Destiny of Shaitan is a coming of age story, painted against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic world.

When Tiina accompanies Yudi on a mission to save the universe from the ruthless Shaitan, she seeks more than the end of the tyrant; she seeks herself. Driven by greed and fear for his own survival, Shaitan bulldozes his way through the galaxy, destroying everything in his path.  Tiina wants Yudi to destroy Shaitan, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Shaitan being killed by his son. But she finds that Yudi is hesitant to do so. The final showdown between Tiina, Yudi, and Shaitan has unexpected consequences, for Shaitan will do anything in his power to win the fight.  The stakes are high and the combatants determined. Will Shaitan's ultimate destiny be fulfilled?

Visit the author's website: www.laxmihariharan.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/laxmihariharanauthor
Follow the author on Twitter: @laxmi

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The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown by Claire Ridgway @AnneBoleynFiles

The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown

During the spring of 1536 in Tudor England, events conspire to bring down Anne Boleyn, the Queen of England. The coup against the Queen results in the brutal executions of six innocent people - Anne Boleyn herself, her brother, and four courtiers - and the rise of a new Queen.

Drawing on sixteenth century letters, eye witness accounts and chronicles, Claire Ridgway leads the reader through the sequence of chilling events one day at a time, telling the true story of Anne Boleyn's fall. The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown is presented in a diary format, allowing readers to dip in, look up a particular date, or read from start to finish. Special features include mini biographies of those involved, a timeline of events and full referencing.

• Why was Anne Boleyn executed?
• Who was responsible for Anne Boleyn's fall?
• Was Anne Boleyn's execution a foregone conclusion and was she framed?

Claire Ridgway, creator of The Anne Boleyn Files website and best-selling author of The Anne Boleyn Collection, continues her mission to share the real truth about Anne Boleyn.

Visit the author's website: http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com
Visit the book website: http://www.thefallofanneboleyn.com
Follow the author on Twitter: AnneBoleynFiles

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Catherine Mists of Time by Romanie Brooke @romanieb

Catherine Mists of Time
U.K. Link

When Catherine and David Hammond move into their 18th century built dream house, Catherine couldn't be happier. That is, until strange events start to happen, blurring the timeline between the present and the past. When the past and present collide Catherine is drawn into a world far beyond her understanding, posing the question - is it possible to return to a life already lived?

Visit the author's website: http://www.romaniebrooke.com
Follow them on Twitter:  @romanieb

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Interview with Jack Devon

The Digital Ink Spot interviewed Jack Devon, a former British intelligence agent and subsequently a Reuters correspondent and editor. He has lived and worked in 40 countries and covered a dozen wars, including the Soviet and U.S. occupations of Afghanistan. He divides his time between Shropshire in England and south-east Asia where he teaches English. The D.I.S. ask Jack Devon about his book, To Kill A Stranger.

Visit the author's website:  www.jackdevon.co.uk


The Digital Ink Spot: Tell the readers a little something about To Kill A Stranger
Jack Devon: To Kill A Stranger is about a former soldier down on his luck. He's lost everything dear to him, and lives rough on London's streets. Harry is haunted by his past as a paratrooper, by atrocities in the Falklands War, for example. An old comrade offers him a good deal of money to work for a
covert organization as an assassin. He's a tough guy, but also very vulnerable.

The Digital Ink Spot: What inspired you to write your book?
Jack Devon: I used to walk and cycle around London a lot and I met quite a few homeless people; some of them were indeed former soldiers. I also gave talks at prisons in the UK and discovered there were inmates who'd been in the military, people who'd come unstuck and made mistakes on returning to civvie street. This gave me the idea.

This isn't my first book, incidentally. My first was non-fiction, an account of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and written under another name nearly thirty years ago.

The Digital Ink Spot: Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?

Jack Devon: Writing is an itch that doesn't go away. It's cathartic, a release. It's not particularly sensible or financially speaking, a rational occupation. It's something one just has to do. A book is begun with immense optimism, but the result is inevitably unsatisfactory.

The Digital Ink Spot: Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
Jack Devon: I've always written. I wrote stories and plays at primary school and won short-story contests as a teenager. It's a basic instinct, one I don't fully understand.

The Digital Ink Spot: What can readers expect from you in the future?
Jack Devon: Another thriller, only better. It's written with the strong narrative pace of a thriller, but it's a satire. It's both hilarious and savage. Self-styled patriots won't like it. An agent and literary scout who's very
enthusiastic about it will start representation in a few weeks; she has a brief to find an indie publisher who loves it as much as we do.

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Little Sacrifices by Jamie Scott @expatdiaries

Little Sacrifices
U.K. version

“Fifty–five years has made me a Savannahian by inclination if not origin. Everyone who meets me hears the taffy pull drawl of a native and feels the Southern hospitality for which we are known. They are surprised to find that I was once a Yankee, so well have I acclimated. The process began when we moved, but will never really be complete. And I’d be lying if I said my conversion came easy…It was only when I looked around and didn’t see myself reflected back that the questioning began.”

When Duncan and Sarah Powell move with their daughter, May, to Savannah Georgia in 1947, they hope against hope that they’ll be welcomed. But they’re Yankees and worse, they’re civil rights advocates almost a decade too early.

At first May can pretend they’re the same as everyone else. It means keeping quiet when she knows she should speak up, but it’s worth the sacrifice to win friends.

Unfortunately her parents are soon putting their beliefs into action. And when they wake to find that they’re the only family on the block with a Ku Klux Klan cross blazing on their front lawn, the time comes for them to finally decide between what’s easy and what’s right.

Author's website: www.michelegorman.co.uk
Follow the author on Twitter: @expatdiaries

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Knockout! by Emma Calin @EmmaCalin

Knockout! A Passionate Police Romance


Interpol cop, Anna Leyton, spirals down into a hopeless vortex of sexual and emotional passion
as she fights to keep her professional cool. Who is deceiving who in this fast moving ride across continents?
What motivates her art loving prize-bull of a lover Freddie La Salle?  The power of love and trust
stands against greed and crime as conflicting forces grapple for that knockout punch.


Visit the author's website: http://www.emmacalin.com/
The Author's blog: http://www.emmacalin.blogspot.co.uk
The Author's facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/Knockout.Romance.Novel
The Author's facebook friend page: http://www.facebook.com/emma.calin
The Author's twitter handle: @EmmaCalin

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SteamDrunks: 101 Steampunk Cocktails and Mixed Drinks by Chris-Rachael Oseland

SteamDrunks: 101 Steampunk Cocktails and Mixed Drinks

SteamDrunks: 101 Steampunk Cocktails and Mixed Drinks gently escorts you through the treacherous waters of 19th century mixology.

You'll find authentic Victorian punch recipes that could be confused for farmer's cheese, tea recipes which will knock you out rather than wake you up, and downright chewable eggy cream curdles.

Along the way, you'll also find some shockingly tasty 19th century recipes made from all natural ingredients you already have at home.

Whether you're looking for a delicate cocktail to impress a fine corset clad lady or industrial quantities of affordable Victorian punch to serve the entire crew of your airship, you'll find the perfect Steampunk themed drink inside the pages of SteamDrunks.

__

Brought to you by the author of Bad Girl's Boba: 69 Boozy Bubble Tea Cocktails .

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Moonlight and Oranges by Elise Stephens @elisestephens

Moonlight and Oranges

A timeless tale of young romance.

Lorona Connelly is ready for a change from her carefully planned, bookish life. When sparks fly at a costume party, she embraces a chance for romance with the handsome Kestrin Feather. However, she quickly realizes that even love and destiny may not be enough to overcome the reality of an overprotective mother-in-law and Kestrin's long, tarnished history of relationships.

When Lorona's curiosity leads her to Kestrin's journal, doubt plagues them both with insecurities and threatens the relationship. Can true love overcome the odds, or was their whirlwind romance just a frivolous crush? Author Elise Stephens shares a journey of young love, fate, and wounded trust in the story of Lorona and Kestrin, a couple who must learn to overcome their fears to share a life together.

Visit the author's website: www.elisestephens.com
Follow the author on Twitter: @elisestephens
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Interview with Jake Needham @JakeNeedham

The Digital Ink Spot interviewed Jake Needham, author of five contemporary crime novels set in the cities of Asia. Needham was born in the United States and graduated from Rice University and the Georgetown University Law Center. Needham practiced international law and worked the borderlines of the Pacific Rim until he turned to writing and has since sold over 100,000 books in four languages.

Visit the author's website: http://jakeneedham.com/
Visit the author's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jake-Needham-Novels/301948476492115
Follow the author on Twitter: @JakeNeedham
Read the weekly 'Letters from Asia: http://jakeneedham.com/category/blog/

The Digital Ink Spot: What can you tell the readers about THE AMBASSADOR'S WIFE?

Jake Needham: THE AMBASSADOR'S WIFE introduces Inspector Samuel Tay, a detective in the elite Special Investigative Section of Singapore CID. Inspector Tay is something of a reluctant policeman. He's a little overweight, a little lonely, a little cranky, and he smokes way too much. Thinking back, he can't even remember why he became a policeman in the first place. He talks about quitting all the time, but he hasn't. Because the thing is, he's very, very good at what he does.

The first body is in Singapore, on a bed in an empty suite in the Marriott Hotel. The second in Bangkok, in a seedy apartment close to the American embassy. Both women. Both Americans. Both beaten viciously and shot in the head. Both stripped naked and lewdly displayed. The FBI says it's terrorism, but the FBI always says it's terrorism. The whispers on the street are that a serial killer is stalking American women across Asia.

Singapore CID gives the case to Inspector Tay. It's high profile, and he's the best they have. Then why is it, Tay quickly begins to wonder, that nobody seems to want him to find the women's killer? Not the FBI, not the American ambassador, not even his bosses at CID.

When international politics takes over a murder case, the truth is the next victim.

The Digital Ink Spot: What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing this story to life?

Jake Needham: I've lived in Asia for the last twenty-five years -- in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Bangkok -- so I know the territory pretty well. I'm also published by Marshall Cavendish International, a venerable old UK publishing house that has had the headquarters of its trade publishing division in Singapore ever since the company was bought by a major Singaporean media group, so I'm in Singapore three or four times a year. I'm even a fairly familiar figure in the press and on television and radio there, pontificating about the foreign point of view on all sorts of things. 

Because of that it was easy for me to make THE AMBASSADOR'S WIFE authentic in both its overall tone and the procedural details of police operations in Singapore without having to do a lot of specific research. I know a lot of people in Singapore, and they know a lot of people in Singapore. On the whole, people like talking to novelist since we're not journalists. Everyone understands we make it all up, don't they?

The opposite side of that coin, however, is that not a small number of Singaporeans are remarkably sensitive to what is being said about their country in the media, particularly by foreigners. Although I write fiction, I found that quite a few people were still offended by my failure to portray everything about the Singapore police force in a completely flattering light. I lost a lot of sources that way, particularly in government and in the police force itself. I even made a few enemies, and enemies in a tightly controlled society like Singapore can be a problem. Sometimes I wonder a little these days who exactly is watching and listening when I'm in town.

The Digital Ink Spot: Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest? 

Jake Needham: He's hardly a new author, but R.J. Ellory is new to most Americans since he's a Brit and until recently his books weren't widely available in the US. THE ANNIVERSARY MAN is one of the great pieces of modern crime fiction. It hasn't gotten nearly the attention it deserves. 

The Digital Ink Spot: What books have most influenced your life most?

Jake Needham: Long before I ever thought of writing novels myself, as a reader I discovered the fiction of Ross Thomas. Thomas died about fifteen years ago and has in my view been undeservedly almost forgotten since. I was traveling back and forth from the US to Asia a lot when his books were more popular, and I thought them a revelation. It was possible, I discovered, for Americans to write well about other cultures. Read OUT ON THE RIM or any of Ross Thomas' other wonderful books and discover an American writer who shares my bemusement at these Asian cultures that are so unlike our own and which Americans fail to understand so completely. I thought back then, if I ever try my hand at writing novels, I want them to come out with the same light-touch and beguiling sensibility that Ross Thomas brings to his work. And then I did start writing novels, and I've been trying to live up to that vow ever since.

The Digital Ink Spot: What can readers expect from you in the near future?

Jake Needham: My most recent book was just published a few weeks ago at the end of March. It's called A WORLD OF TROUBLE (A Jack Shepherd crime thriller) , and it's the third entry in my Jack Shepherd series of international legal thrillers. The first was LAUNDRY MAN and the second was KILLING PLATO . Think of Shepherd as Jack Reacher with a laptop and you'll have a sense of the tone of the series. 

As with all of my other books, the printed edition of A WORLD OF TROUBLE is only available outside North America, but the e-book edition is available worldwide. 

Right now I'm working on a second Inspector Tay novel to follow THE AMBASSADOR'S WIFE. It should be out in the early fall. I would tell you the title, but I've got three titles right now. I love all of them and can't make up my mind. Maybe that's a sign from the literary gods that I'm going to have to do two more Inspector Tay novels after this one, just to use up all the good titles.

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Deadlocked : Broken Pieces vol 1 by A.R. Wise @arwisebooks

Deadlocked : Broken Pieces vol 1

This is a series of five short stories that pertain to the original Deadlocked novella. It also contains one story from the Vampire's Prey series and one unique story called The Body Farm.

Deadlocked : Broken Pieces Vol 1 contains the following short stories.

Dial Tone: This story picks up from the beginning of the outbreak and tells Laura's story. In this short story, you'll learn about what she and the girls went through that forced them onto the roof of their house, waiting for David to come home.

Just a Secretary: This story is about Gloria and Jerry from David's office building. They try to escape the building, but get caught by a character that plays a big part in Deadlocked 3.

The Getaway: When David leapt from the billboard into the Everland River, he emerged only to be smacked on the head by a boat that was being chased by the police in the pontoon. This story explains who that was, and why he was running.

Batting Average: William and his son, Billy, have been protecting their salvage yard ever since the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. Moments before they discover David on their beach, William sits back and enjoys a soda with his son who he is afraid he'll lose soon.

Love Letter: A note that Laura wrote to David after the events at the end of Deadlocked. This letter technically should be part of Deadlocked Broken Pieces Volume 2, but I thought it fit better here.

Also included in Broken Pieces are a couple of short stories that are not from the Deadlocked Universe. The first, The Summoner and the Prey, is from the Vampire's Prey series and is a unique story to this book. Also in this volume is The Body Farm. This is a wholly original story about… well, you'll just have to wait and see! Let me just say that it has a couple of my own personal favorite horror scenes that I've ever written.

Find the author on Facebook
Follow the author on Twitter@arwisebooks
Visit the author's website: Talking Ship


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The Marcella Fragment by Anna LaForge @AnnaLaForge

The Marcella Fragment (Maze)

On an empty planet, a city called Pelion is built by former dwellers of Old Earth. Centuries later, the Council of Pelion -- influenced by the prophetic Marcella Fragment -- asks citizens to begin construction of a maze that will be inhabited by ernani (lost souls) brought from the corners of the known world to walk the Path of Preparation.

Two ernani who walk that Path are Tyre of Lapith and Kara of Pelion, a chieftain's son and an apprentice musician. This pair, as unknown to themselves as they are to each other, face trials that test their physical, emotional and moral courage.

In the tradition of fine visionary novels, The Marcella Fragment takes the reader into a world both familiar and strange, peopled by warriors, artisans, healers and slaves, incorporating science fiction, fantasy, myth, and romance.
Website and Blog: annalaforge.com 
Twitter: @annalaforge
Facebook: facebook.com/annalaforge

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SIMON VECTOR by JAK HOLDING @LeagueEnt @leaguejohnny

SIMON VECTOR

Alpha Draconis. Its name alone makes even the most law-abiding citizens of the Empire uneasy. Located in the farthest reaches of known space, it is the most remote and feared prison in the Imperial penal system. To be consigned to this tunneled-out, vacuum-sealed planetoid is both a life sentence and a death sentence, for no prisoner entombed within its frozen walls ever leaves the facility alive.

When Zodiac Battle Systems sends an investigator to Alpha Draconis, Ana Bolo is no less a prisoner than the cannibals, serial rapists, and mass murderers this frozen hell confines. Tasked to learn the fate of a secret project once concealed within the bowels of the prison, her corporate masters will kill her if she fails. But as she hunts for clues left behind by the suicidal genius, Doctor Thaddeus Kong, she realizes that Kong’s increasingly erratic logs point to a more sinister truth. Alpha Draconis lies vulnerable to a horror unlike any mankind has yet faced, a horror drawn to the planetoid by the very experiment Kong tried to hide.

Visit the website at: http://www.leagueent.com

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Bird of Passage by Catherine Czerkawska @czerkawska

Bird of Passage
UK Link

Dealing sensitively with the shocking realities of state-sanctioned physical abuse and its aftermath, Bird of Passage is a powerful story of cruelty, loss and enduring love.

1960s Scotland. Young Finn O’Malley is sent from Ireland to work at the potato harvest and soon forms a close friendship with Kirsty Galbreath, the farmer’s red-headed grand-daughter. But Finn is damaged by a childhood so traumatic that he can only recover his memories slowly. What happened at the brutal Industrial School to which he was committed while still a little boy? For the sake of his sanity, he must try to find out why he was sent there, and what became of the mother he lost. As he struggles to answer these questions, his ability to love and be loved in return is called into question.

When Kirsty moves away from home to study in Edinburgh, the threads that have bound these two friends so closely together begin to unravel. Only Kirsty’s ambitions as an artist can give her the fulfilment she seeks. But her work is tied up with her affection, not just for the island, but for Finn, who comes and goes, like the corncrake, a summer visitor. Many years later, India, a successful folk musician, returns to the small island where she was born, to unravel the mysterious and tragic love story which has remarkable significance for herself.

Catherine Czerkawska is an award winning author of novels, short stories and many plays for the stage and for BBC Radio 4. When not writing, she also finds time to collect and deal in antique and vintage textiles.

Visit the author's website: www.wordarts.co.uk
Follow the author on Twitter: @czerkawska

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The Non-Profit Narrative by Dan Portnoy @DanPortnoy

The Non-Profit Narrative: How Telling Stories Can Change the World

The Non-Profit Narrative is designed to help non-profits apply storytelling principles to their day-to-day operations and communications for maximum impact. Applying the idea that all organizations have great stories to tell, Dan Portnoy encourages non-profits to interpret fundraising and engagement through the perspective of storytelling. This proven process has helped non-profits raise millions of dollars, attract donors and make a profound impact for their cause.

Visit the author's website: http://www.portnoymediagroup.com 
Follow the author on Twitter:  @DanPortnoy

 
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Memoirs Aren't Fairytales: A Story of Addiction by Marni Mann @MarniMann

Memoirs Aren't Fairytales: A Story of Addiction

"I could feel my chin falling towards my chest, my back hunching forward. My body was acting on its own, and my mind was empty, like all my memories had been erased. There was scenery behind my lids. Aqua colored water and powdery sand that extended for miles. I was never going back to coke. I wanted more heroin. And I wanted it now."

Leaving behind a nightmarish college experience, nineteen-year-old Nicole and her best friend Eric escape their home of Bangor, Maine to start a new life in Boston. Fragile and scared, Nicole desperately seeks a new beginning to help erase her past. But there is something besides freedom waiting for her in the shadows--a drug that will make every day a nightmare.

Heroin.

With one taste, the love that once flowed through Nicole's veins turns into cravings. Tracks mark the passing of time, and heroin's grip gets tighter. It holds her hand through deaths and prostitution, but her addiction keeps her in the darkness. When her family tries to strike a match to help light her way, Nicole must choose between a life she can hardly remember, or a love for heroin she'll never forget.

Visit the author's website: www.marnismann.com
Follow the author on Twitter:  @MarniMann

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Murder on the Waterfront by Michael Jahn @Mike_JahnWords

Michael Jahn's New York City Mysteries: Murder on the Waterfront

A web of waterfront intrigue ...

Parties of vastly different orders rage aboard two ships docked side-by-side on Manhattan's legendary West Side waterfront. On the ultramodern, palatial, and pastel cruise liner Trinidad Princess, a conservative candidate for president presides over a posh fundraiser. On the ancient, barnacle-encrusted, and fashionably decadent Sevastopol Trader, the head of an ultrachic modeling agency holds an all-night soiree of supermodels and who-knows what else to celebrate the launch of her perfume line. When dawn breaks the following day and the body of a top conservative political strategist is found in the litter-strewn hold of the old freighter, Captain Bill Donovan leads the investigation. Helped by his wife, the multiracial firecracker Marcy, and his friend and associate, Brooklyn's massively muscled Brian Moskowitz, Donovan delves into a web of waterfront intrigue that includes national politicians, global environmental activists, top fashion models, menacing harbor water rats, lonely homeless old men, waterfront regulars, and a host of New York eccentrics.

Visit the author's website: mikejahn.moxietype.net/
Follow the author on Twitter:  @Mike_JahnWords


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Blood Past by Samantha Young @SYoungSFAuthor

Blood Past (Warriors of Ankh #2)

From the author of The Tale of Lunarmorte trilogy comes a new series with serious attitude...

All Eden wants is redemption... but the road to redemption is never an easy one.

Travelling to Scotland to find her mother’s bloodline, Eden is soon embroiled in the politics and training of the Scottish Warriors of Neith. It is a world where some stand with open arms ready to welcome her as family, while others keep a wary distance, conspiring against her. Through it all Eden learns of love, friendship, and what it means to be a warrior. Her future has promise... that is until a man she thought was forever gone from her life returns to threaten it all.

When the one person Eden loves above all else is endangered, she will have to make a choice. Him... or her?

Visit the author's website: samanthayoungbooks.com
Follow the author on Twitter: @SYoungSFAuthor


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Spy Hunt in Dixie by Max Connelly @MaxConnelly

Spy Hunt in Dixie

DISCLAIMER: 

Although this is a historical thriller, written in the mystery genre, it's not the casual read. The novella is written as a "puzzle", where the reader will have to figure out the multinarrative pieces together in order to understand where the story is heading. 

A retiring MI6 officer hits upon a clandestine ring hibernating in the upper echelons of the British Secret Service. Recognizing that he is under watch, and fearing for his own life, he resorts to unorthodox means. Zach Taylor, a Canadian Anglo-Saxon chauvinist, and a fellow combatant in the late WW I is his choice. The man is arguably the best detective journalist ever. Never failing a friend, and with little fear in his heart, the Canadian accepts the mission diligently.

Taylor's journey takes him to incredibly fantastic situations and exotic lands. Few steps into his investigations, he has to hunt back an African soldier, from the French army invading Mexico in 1864, who runs into Civil War-beaten Louisiana, where he witnesses a terrible secret. Suddenly, something appears to be related to a Christian mission in Belgian Congo at the turn of the century, and the murder of the British Governor-General of Sudan a few years later. Then again, definitely every thing has to do with Napoleon III and his schemes in Protestant North America, correcting his great uncle's mistake, and retaking Dixie back.

But how can those absurd events be relevant in a spy hunt eighty years later?

Every character has a tale to tell, but the truth eludes Taylor, and his targets-turned-pursuers, to the very end, when suddenly the aberrant threads converge into the most incredible knot.
Visit the author's website: maxconnelly.blogspot.com
Follow the author on Twitter: @maxconnelly

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Hawk by John Walsh @doirepress

'Hawk' (Border Lines)

Hawk is a short story from the collection Border Lines. Border Lines introduces us to a cast of characters who are vivid, yet understated. It is this polarity that makes them
more compelling. Most notable is Ian, the link throughout the collection, often in discordance with himself and the world around him. From his early years, Ian struggles with issues of self-doubt and disappointment, though ultimately his quest for self-discovery moves him forward on a path to understanding and personal growth.

Visit the author's website: www.johnwalshpoet.com


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Dear Air 2000 by Terry Ravenscroft @terryrazz

Dear Air 2000

Letters from the world's most troublesome (some would say troubled!) passenger. Dear Air 2000 is a hilarious collection of correspondence to and from forty different airline companies. From a former TV scriptwriter who previously tickled your ribs with sketches on The Les Dawson Show, The Two Ronnies, Not the Nine-O-Clock News, Morecambe and Wise and many more shows.
After reading this book it is doubtful if you will ever risk eating an airline lasagne ever again.

UK book http://amzn.to/qiVnp2
USA book  http://amzn.to/oPotuz

facebook  http://on.fb.me/ukZ78e
twitter @terryrazz
website www.topcomedy.co.uk

Dear Coca-Cola’s brother, Dear Air 2000, 18xAmazon UK 5 * reviews is FREE on 7&8 May at- UK amzn.to/qiVnp2 USA amzn.to/oPotuz

— Terry Ravenscroft (@terryrazz) May 6, 2012

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Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 by CR HIATT ‏ @McSwainandBeck

Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 (McSwain & Beck)

Sydney Marie McSwain and her pal, Cody Beck, team up to take on a secret club called The Devil's Door where members are branded with the tattoo of a devil and call themselves The Privileged Ones.

Sydney Marie McSwain - a tomboy who yearned for a father.

Cody Beck - a wannabe filmmaker, wisenheimer and flirt.

Jaden White - the star who led the high school hockey team to two championships, and was now on the A-list for NHL scouts.

Sydney Marie McSwain loves her mom, Anna - a private investigator in the coastal city where they live - but they had a major issue between them. Anna refused to give Sydney the identity of her father. On the day of her high school graduation, they were battling it out, once again. An hour later, Sydney, Cody and Jaden were at the local café, and watched as Anna was gunned down.

Faced with immediate responsibility, Sydney and Cody agreed to take over the agency, only they changed the name to McSwain & Beck. At the same time, Sydney convinced Sutter Beach Detective, Ace Carter, to help her track down her father.

Then out of the blue, a model walked in and hired them to follow her step-brother. While Cody was busy editing a trailer to solicit new clients, Sydney settled into her lemon-yellow pickup to do surveillance, and wound up staking out a secret club called The Devil’s Door whose suspicious members wore the tattoo of a devil.

That same night, Sydney received a call from one of her mom’s former clients, but the client was gunned down at the location where they agreed to meet. The mysterious discovery of a DVD revealed the possibility that teenagers were being abducted, only nobody reported them missing.

On the hunt for the victims, McSwain & Beck were chased by men in ski masks, nearly gunned down by a members of a drug cartel called the outlaws, Sydney’s precious pickup was broken into; then the step-brother they were hired to follow, was found dead and Sydney was the number one suspect.

If things weren’t bad enough already, they had to figure out how to crash a red-carpet Mardi Gras bash being held on a private cruise ship, before it sailed off into the sunset, where they just might meet the devil, himself.

Now, the clock was ticking…

And time was running out…

How was she ever going to find her father, now?

BONUS INSIDE:

The first two chapters of the second book in the series: Fireworks on the 4th.

"Their lives are in the hands of two 18 year-olds..." Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 #FREE today on #KINDLE ow.ly/aJr0C #sleuths #spies

— Writer, CR HIATT (@McSwainandBeck) May 6, 2012

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The Celibate Mouse by Diana Hockley @Cadfael18

The Celibate Mouse

Shell-shocked from a tragedy at work and an acrimonious domestic upheaval, Detective Senior Sergeant Susan Prescott flees town to recuperate, but fate has other ideas.

Her plan to house-sit for relatives in a rural community is shattered when Susan witnesses a very public murder within an hour of her arrival. Things turn sinister after an encounter with an elderly lady; a hint of a long ago murder is not a secret with which Susan wants to be entrusted.

Enter Detective Inspector David Maguire whom she has not seen for thirteen years and who is assigned to the case, which sends her into a further tailspin. Against her better judgment, Susan is drawn inexorably into the investigation, surrounded by menacing strangers whose private agendas threaten her safety, and soon, her life.

Visit the author's website: www.dianahockley.webs.com
Follow Diana on Twitter: @Cadfael18




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The Seeker and The Sage by Christina @Christina1UG

The Seeker and The Sage

This book is like no other spiritual book ever written.
The factual information gathered together for this story and told through the fictional character of the Sage comes to us from a number of sources: The guided journal writing of Christina, The Warrior of Light through his direct communication with The Creator, and from many contributors from the Higher Realms who want to enlighten mankind at this pivotal point in the history of the human race. The Seeker is a composite fictional character.
This channeled work makes clear the answers to such questions as: Why are we here? What is our purpose? What happens to us when we die? This book will explain why mankind is at the point of extinction and why we are so much more complex than we have ever known.
This book will shatter illusions and replace them with logic and spiritual fact more interesting than any religious fantasy.
This book holds the key to Enlightenment!

Visit the author's website: www.1universalguidance.com
Follow the author on Twitter: @Christina1UG

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The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan by Jean Hopkins @JeanHopkinsBlog

The Fantastical Tales of Ben Phelan - Story 1

This is a series about a family of sorcerers who use their anger to fuel retribution. In this story, we introduce you to the family through a remembered tale, narrated by the youngest Ben Phelan.

This is a short story in the 1,000+ words range.

Visit the author's website: http://www.jeanhopkins.com
Follow the author on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JeanHopkinsBlog

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Demoniac Dance by Jaq D Hawkins @JaqDHawkins

Demoniac Dance (The Goblin Series)

A young girl flees her home and an unwanted marriage. Desperation takes her to the riverside, the site where as a toddler she was patted kindly by the goblin who had befriended the human ruler, Count Anton. But another memory of that day unsettles her as she pushes the small boat into the current. A memory of bubbles in the river, and of blood. There's something in the water still.

Driven by a premonition that she belongs with the people across the river, she soon meets the children of Magicians...and of goblins. Yet there are greater challenges to face.

In the midst of conflict between species and between the ever combative northern and southern humans, a new enemy arises from over the sea. Foreign humans come to invade, expecting an easy conquest of the rich lands that Count Anton has so wisely kept productive of food supplies. The goblins see the danger of this invasion to their own uneasy peace with the familiar local humans, but they disagree among themselves as to whether they will best serve their kind by helping the surface dwellers, or by leaving all humans to kill each other once and for all.

Visit the author's website - jaqdhawkins.co.uk/ 
Visit the book website - jaqdhawkins.co.uk/demoniac.php 
Follow the author on Twitter - @JaqDHawkins 


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Cursing Athena by Lisa Sanchez @LisaSanchez3

Cursing Athena (Order Of Seven)

For Danika, the only thing worse than going commando while wearing a fugly, silver bodysuit, was dealing with her deadbeat, ex-husband James. Catcalls, unwanted groping and lecherous stares weren’t really her cup of tea either, but she’d endure all of it and more if her new job serving cocktails at Masquerade meant ridding herself of his mountain of debt. It was just a job, after all, and what choice did she have with James' creditors breathing down her neck? What she didn't bargain for, however, was falling heels-over-head in lust with a two-hundred-plus pound, shape-shifting immortal from Ancient Greece.

On a mission to take down a parasitic demon, Ty doesn't have time for distraction. Not even when that distraction could prove to be his possible life mate in the form of sweet, innocent, yet sexy-as-hell Danika. But when the leech he’s hunting goes after the cocktail waitress, all bets are off. Unable to resist her siren call any longer, Ty surrenders himself to Danika, body and soul, treating them both to a night they'll never forget.

Visit th eauthor's website: www.lisasanchezromanceauthor.com
My Twitter is: @LisaSanchez3


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Peltham Park by Richard Denoncourt @richdenoncourt

Peltham Park: Short Stories from the Post-Apocalypse

Peltham Park is free on Smashwords for anyone who uses the coupon code WS92S, until June 2nd, 2012.

 

STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION:

“Field of Secret Thoughts” – A young boy who lives in a basement must deal in his own special way with a family that uses him for spare parts.

“Peltham Park” – Society has fallen, the world is infected, and one young man must choose between family and true love.

“Brother’s Keeper” – Two brothers are caught after a dangerous prank, and one must make a terrible sacrifice to save the other.

“The Way Things Fall” – In the forest-covered foothills of an unnamed Latin American country, a boy watches his father build a wooden tower outside their house–only to climb up to the top and never come down.

ALSO CONTAINS THE FIRST SIX CHAPTERS OF TRAINLAND, a darkly psychological, urban fantasy thriller about a father who goes to Hell to save his daughter’s soul. 

Author's website:  http://www.rdenoncourt.com/ 

Author's blog:  http://selfland.wordpress.com/ 

Trainland page: http://www.rdenoncourt.com/trainland/

Peltham Park page: http://www.rdenoncourt.com/peltham-park-stories-from-the-post-apocalypse/

Follow the author on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/richdenoncourt

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