Share this:

via #Book #Sale #$1.99 Thru 7.4.18

https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?preview=inline&linkCode=kpd&ref_=k4w_oembed_bq4yN8m86aeBqK&asin=B00UY6MKHG&tag=kpembed-20

Chaos changes everything!

Shane Delaney, a burned-out mercenary with a troubled past, returns home to small-town Kansas to heal his scars and quiet his demons, not planning to stay long enough for the townsfolk to reject who he has become.

He never expected the town to need his deadlier skills.

When a terrorist attack on distant cities abruptly transforms life as they knew it, the people of Emmaus must forge their own disaster plan to survive.

What would you do if the world as you know it ended today?

The people of Emmaus will find out.

Share this:

May 7, 2018 – 5. A list of books that inspired your stories or feature similar themes

If you have an upcoming book release, this type of content offers a way to mindfully position this book while also drumming up interest from readers. Try rounding up a list of books that share commonalities with the one you’re launching — perhaps they inspired your writing, or approach similar themes and problems. Does your book focus on a specific time in history? Recommend a list of novels set in that same period. Or are you marketing your book as a hot summer read? Include your new book in the company of other novels that fit the bill.

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

WordPress:

Custom Blog:

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

get the InLinkz code

I’m at least three months out on my next book release, which will be Thanatosis (Book 4 of Transformation Project). Don’t worry, fantasy fans! I am still chipping away at Book 3 of Daermad Cycle.

So, I thought about books that might go with the apocalyptic theme. It was hard. So few apocalyptic books really focus on characters. It’s all about the Big Bad – the terrorism, the natural disaster, the biological outbreak that the characters are just paper cutouts to deal with — and so many of them devolve into prepper manuals. I started writing Transformation Project in part to redeem the genre. I wrote the books to show how it ought to be done.

Saturday evening I was thinking of not even participating in this blog hop because I just couldn’t come up with any books I would recommend — other than, once again, recommending William Fortschen’s John Matherson series — when Brad — who doesn’t read fiction — told me that Keirnan, our son, had told him about this book and I should check it out.

In my books, New York City is one of the few big American cities that was not destroyed by a suitcase nuke. In Loss of Reason by Miles A Maxwell which is the first book of a three-book series, New York is the target of a nuclear attack. Ironic. But what brought me to the point of recommending it is that it focuses on the relationship of two brothers who are extremely different, but who both want desperately to save their sister who was in New York City when the bomb went off. And, that’s all I’m going to tell you about the plot.

It’s got a lot of action, but what sets it apart from most books in its genre is that it is focused on characters who are not major players in the world, but ordinary men who just get tossed into a situation that turns them into heroes. I liked it so much that I now will have to buy the other two books. Well worth the cost.

Life As We Knew It (Book 1)

All books in Transformation Project series are on 99-cent sale this week.

Chaos changes everything!

Shane Delaney, a burned-out mercenary with a troubled past, returns home to small-town Kansas to heal his scars and quiet his demons, not planning to stay long enough for the townsfolk to reject who he has become.
He never expected the town to need his deadlier skills.

When a terrorist attack on distant cities abruptly transforms life as they knew it, the people of Emmaus must forge their own disaster plan to survive.

What would you do if the world as you know it ended today?

The people of Emmaus will find out.

AMAZON

 

Objects in View (Book 2)

Thirty million people died in the initial attacks. How will the survivors live in the aftermath?

The rain passes and the people of Emmaus emerge to find the world looks much the same as when they hid behind concrete.

Then reality sets in.

Death crept in while they hid. Signs of returning normality offer hope, but the transformation of the United States is underway and electricity and food supplies are the least of their problems.

If your world suddenly spun out of control, where would you go?

AMAZON

 

A Threatening Fragility (Book 3)

What do you do when what you need for survival clashes with official policy?

The town of Emmaus has survived terrorism and radioactive rain with no help from the government, but that’s all about to change. Things appear to be looking up as power and communications are restored, but a devastating corn field fire puts the town’s survival at risk just as the USDA’s cow cops arrive to coordinate crop redistribution. While Shane and Rob work to save the town, Cai — on the run from the Army for Shane’s actions — comes face-to-face with the reality of martial law.

What’s a law-abiding town of individualists supposed to do when the rules of civil society change? The people of Emmaus must decide.

AMAZON

 

Share this:

Ahead of the book launch for “A Threatening Fragility”, I’m looking for some free promotion for Transformation Project.

Life As We Knew It

Objects In View

A Threatening Fragility

#books, #fiction, #apocalyptic, #libertarian, #kindle

Share this:

What if the government didn’t show up in a disaster?

Amazon

#book, #free, #libertarian, #apocalyptic, #fiction

Share this:

First in series, #free today only.

Amazon

#free, #apocalyptic, #libertarian, #fiction

Share this:

In just 7 days, I will reveal the cover of my latest book, 3rd in the Transformation Project series – A Threatening Fragility.

Fans maybe wondering what happened to Cai Delaney as he was fleeing military drones at the end of the book. I’m not telling, but don’t worry … the worst thing that could happen to him is a fire squad, so he’ll be fine … or not.

Right. When your novelist starts out a series by incinerating 30 million people, you just don’t know where she might go as the series goes along. Who is expendable and who is not?

And, what was Rob doing to Shane at the end of the last book? Yeah … that didn’t look good.

And what’s going on with the terrorists who escaped a power max facility? Or the electronic watchers that only Shane knows about? Or the critical surveillance information Shane is holding?

What’s going on with the 5,000 souls of Emmaus, Kansas and how is the USDA and corn field fires going to make their lives more complicated?

If an apocalyptic with libertarian influences sounds intriguing to you, the series is available here electronically or you can also order it in paperback from Createspace. And A Threatening Fragility will be up for presale by October.

Share this:

If the world as you knew it suddenly ended, what would you do?

Amazon

#free, #kindle, #apocalyptic, #libertarian

Share this:

Today’s interview is with Theresa Snyder. Welcome to the blog.  Tell us something about yourself.

I live in the Pacific Northwest with my elder father, cat and an occasional dragon house guest. I run the printshop at the local community college, which just happens to be about five blocks from my doorstep. I consider all my student staff at work ‘my kids’ and they help me with everything techie that an indie author needs to know. They are constantly pushing and opening doors for me on social media. The latest is Snap Chat. They keep me young.

 

At what point did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I have been writing since I was a youngster. My mother gave me a journal and encouraged me to write. However, I don’t think I really considered myself an author until I wrote my first book in 1990 and then didn’t talk about being an author until I was published in 2013. I know, twenty-three years, but sometimes things that are worth doing take some time and are worth waiting for.

 

Tell us about your writing process. Do you have a special place you write?

I am a morning writer. I wake up with ideas and want to get them down on paper. I spend a lot of time writing in my head before I start in on the keyboard, so there is no outline and the characters might take me a totally different direction then what I have planned. If I stumble, and don’t know where to go, I take a nap. My brain keeps working and I wake with the answer. I like writing while listening to instrumental music, piano, cello, classical guitar. I can’t write with the radio on, I want to stop and sing along. I have a writing room that is all decked out in a Moroccan motif. I love it there – rich colors and stimulating atmosphere.

 

What is your favorite genre … to read … to write?

I don’t have a favorite genre to read. I read everything. I am voracious. As for writing, I love the genre I am with at the moment. Right now, I am really into wrapping up my paranormal/fantasy series and therefore I live, eat and breathe everything from shape shifters to dragons and hippogriffs to fire demons.

Where do you get the inspiration for your novels?

I am a sponge. I get the inspiration and ideas for my novels from friends and family events and conversations, news articles or broadcasts, people watching and hypothesizing about their lives and relationships, documentaries and other programs on television. My most recent scifi book, The Beast Within came from two ideas. I saw a newscast on the homeless children in Brazil and I was watching one of those challenge programs on tattooing. To find out how that all connects, you will have to read the book. No spoilers here.

 

If someone who hasn’t read any of your novels asked you to describe your writing, what would you say?

I write very character-driven novels. My scifi is low tech like “Firefly.” My fantasy can be enjoyed on multiple levels depending on how deeply you want to think about it. I am not an epic writer. My books move very quickly and the one complaint I get, in spite of my 4 and 5 star reviews, is they are over too fast. In that case, I just tell folks to pick up the next in the series. After all, I have twenty-four books in print.

Wow, 24. That’s amazing. What point of view do you prefer to write, and why?

I have grown to love writing first person. My favorite character currently is Cody/Scar my shape-shifter in the Twin Cities Series. His books are all from his point of view and I love seeing the world through his eyes whether as a human or as a wolf.

 

I’m going to drop you in a remote Alaska cabin for a month. It’s summer so you don’t have worry about freezing to death. I’ll supply the food and the mosquito spray. What do you do while you’re there and what do you bring with you? If you’re bringing books, what are they?

I would write. I often escape to a small town in the woods to spend a week writing in a log cabin with the river running past the door. If there is electricity at your cabin then I would bring my laptop and my favorite throw for keeping my feet warm. If no electricity is available then my suitcase would be filled with paper and pens. The only thing other than that would be something to play music on. If I have my laptop, it is loaded, or my phone, or my tablet or my MP3 player – I have music everywhere. If no electricity is available, perhaps you could hire Adam Hurst or Gary Jess to play for me while I write.

 

You might have to settle for the babble of the creek. You would prefer that over the chug-chug-chug of the generator. Talk about your books individually, or … since you have 24, how about just an overview of each series.

The 1^st book of each series is permanently free on all platforms in e-book.

“The Farloft Chronicles” – A dragon series for all ages. A series for anyone who has ever loved or loves a dragon. They will find Farloft irresistible. For those who enjoyed “How to Train Your Dragon” no matter what their age.

“The Star Traveler Series” – Action, adventure, romance and intrigue; it all began with a friendship between Jake, a battle-worn, middle-aged human mercenary and a young alien named Arr. From that friendship sprang the foundation of a series that will envelope you in its character-driven stories and fast-paced, paging-turning momentum.

 

“The Twin Cities Series” – The Realms refers to a parallel dimension hidden between Minneapolis and St. Paul where creatures, humans think of as only mythical, roam free. Cody is a shape shifter with some monumental problems that all started when he died. He’s escaped to The Realms from the midlands between Heaven and Hell only to find his best friend is potential food for the resident vampires, his girlfriend only loves him in his wolf form and her mother… well that’s a whole other story. It isn’t easy being Cody, but like a good wolf he’ll do what he can to protect his pack even if it kills him. Wait… he’s already dead.

“In2Minds” – The home world’s sun is going to explode and Commander Tait is the last hope for a one-way mission to terra-form a distant planet. The only catch is the accident that buried him alive. With only his computer to assist him, will her survive?

“We 3” Non-fiction – is a collection of stories – sometimes touching, sometimes hilarious, always authentic – about a baby boomer caring for her aging parents.

 

 

What do you want readers to think or feel after reading one of your books?

I would like them to be so involved with the characters that they can’t wait to download or order the next book to find out what happens. I would like them to be hungry for more adventure whether in the future of the universe, the fantasy land of dragons, or The Realms where all things humans think are fantastical, paranormal or magical actually live.

 

 

What influenced your decision to self-publish?

I planned to just format my books, print and bind a copy for myself. After all, I do run a print shop, but my writing group convinced me to self-publish and I have never looked back.

 

What do you find to be the greatest advantage of self-publishing?

You are in total control. That might be the greatest disadvantage too. It is great to be able to produce at your own rate, chose your own cover design, form your own marketing campaigns, but you must see it as a small business. It is something most of us will work at for years before it shows any return other than the joy of interacting with your readers on social media.

 

Conversely, what do you think self-published authors might be missing out on?

Supposedly, you have the backing of the marketing department of the traditional publisher, but I have talked to authors who did not have much assistance even though they were published traditionally. I think the main thing a traditional publishing would do for me would be to raise my books above the notion that all self-published books are inferior. You fight this all the time, because frankly there are people who call themselves author, but put either poorly written or poorly edited work up for sale. A reader will only buy a limited amount of these ‘inferior’ books before they start going back to the traditional publishers where they either know the author is good or they know the quality of editing is worth their money.

 

Completely agree. With the number of self-published books increasing by such a huge rate, it is really difficult for authors to make their books stand out. How do you go about this?

I start with a quality product – a sound plot, careful editing, attractive covers, and an eye-catching blurb. After that it is a matter of marketing. That, my friends, is like gardening, everyone has an opinion on how to do it. You just have to find your ‘groove.’

 

I like that. Do you believe that self-published authors can produce books as high-quality as the traditional published? If so, how do you think we should go about that?

This is certainly achievable. I started “Affordable Proofreading & Editing Service, LLC” to assist authors in making their work shine. The better the quality, the more chance we all have of being read. As I said in the question above, the readers will only tolerate inferior works for so long before they go back to the names they know. If you got a raw hamburger three times in a row from the local diner, you would be headed back to McDonald’s in not time. I advocate cooking the book thoroughly before serving.

Where do readers find you and your books?

Website: www.TheresaSnyderAuthor.com

Books Available on Amazon / Smashwords / CreateSpace / Google play

• “Scifi reminiscent of Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein”
• “Paranormal like a breath of fresh air in a genre that has become formatted”
• “Fantasy beautifully written with complex characters that children to adults can appreciate”
• “Memoirs that are heartwarming, funny and soothing to the spirit”

Link to Moroccan Room Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qFQL6-Yf-c

Link to Affordable Proofreading & Editing Service, LLC: http://affordableproofedit.blogspot.com/

Link to Media Kit for Bio Picture: http://www.theresasnyderauthor.com/media-kit/

Trailer

 

Share this:

Today’s interview is with Zara Altair. Welcome to the blog. Tell us something about yourself. 

Lela, thank you for inviting me to this conversation. I live just outside of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. When I’m not working on my stories, I’m still writing. I contribute semantically optimized content for several websites and blog article series. Right now, I am also ghostwriting a thriller.

I’ve taught writing in various roles from kindergarten through university. For the past 10 years, I’ve been helping other story writers with developmental editing and script review.

 

 

At what point did you know you wanted to be a writer? 

I’ve been telling stories since I was a toddler and began writing stories when I was around five years old. At that same time, I met a writer of children’s books and knew I wanted to be a writer.

 

 

Tell us about your writing process.

The process is a mix. Characters come to me and want their story told. I get to know my character and, for the historical mysteries, I do a great deal of research.

For planning, I do a three-point plan: Beginning, middle, and end. Then I fill in the chapters that get the story from the beginning to the end. Those chapter notes are loose ideas. I find that as I write, characters do and say things that move the story in unexpected ways. I do not compose the story linearly. If a scene pops into my head, I write it while it is fresh in my mind. A similar process may happen with bits of dialog. So-and-so has to say this, and then fit it into the story.  But, in the main, I write from the beginning to the end, fitting in those already written scenes at the appropriate place in the story line.

Writing time is uninterrupted. No phone conversations. No quick checks of email. I want to get “in the flow” and stay there during writing time.

 

What is your favorite genre … to read … to write?

I read a lot of thrillers, crime, police procedurals, some legal thrillers. I also read science fiction.

 

I love writing mysteries. I think it is the puzzle that intrigues me. What is the puzzle? Who is involved? Who seems like the perfect foil? What are the clues? Where do I plant them in the story?

 

 

Where do you get the inspiration for your novels?

I find that reading history of the time of my stories, early 6th Century Italy, provides great inspiration for the circumstances of the plot and what issues surround characters. Some of the reading is fairly dry, but as a storyteller my response may be: What the bishops were running a slave trade? The area was known for horse breeding? Sometimes these idea sparks come from scholarly footnotes, not the main text. I’m always looking for juicy situations.

 

Because the Emperor Justinian did everything he could to remove all traces of the Ostrogoths in Italy, research is always a challenge. From quotidian details like meals and clothing to palace intrigue sources are scant. A perfect example is the mosaic of the palace in Sant’Apollonare Nuovo. Justinian had the original mosaic, believed to be Theoderic and his court, removed and replaced with the curtains. If you look closely you can see hands on three of the pillars which are left over from the original mosaic.

 

My central character, Argolicus, was a real person at the time of Theodoric’s reign in Italy. He is mentioned nine times in Cassiodorus’ Variae (iii 11, iii 12, iii 29, iii 30, iii 33, iv 22, iv 25, iv 29, iv 42) as praefectus urbis of Rome. His childhood and ongoing friendship with Cassiodorus come from my imagination.

 

 

What sort of research do you do for your novels?

I have bookshelves full of historical references. Conference proceedings bound into books, sometimes including lively question and answer sessions. Many of the books are in Italian. One conference may have presentations in English, French, Italian, etc. I struggle through quotes in Latin and Greek. My one comparison to Shakespeare is that, as Ben Jonson said, I have “small Latin and less Greek.” I sound out the Greek. It’s like a kid just learning to read.

 

I traveled to Italy, to interview scholars at the Universitá di Bologna, who graciously answered many questions and supplied me with 30 kilos of books to further my research. Two questions I had were inadvertently answered by just being there. I found a small cookbook in a bookstore about the food of the Ostrogoths, and a bartender gave me a local journal that spoke of an underground café, which for story purposes, was the place where the king stored the wheat and bread that he gave out.

 

 

If someone who hasn’t read any of your novels asked you to describe your writing, what would you say?

My stories are traditional mysteries set in a long-ago time, a time when the Ostrogoths ruled Italy. The main character straddles the two worlds of Ostrogoth and Italian culture. There were no police or private detectives, and murder was not a crime under either legal system.

 

 

Do you have a special place where you write?

Yes, my desk. Sometimes it is covered with reference books.

 

 

 

Are you a plot driven or character driven writer? Why?

Mysteries have a standard plot trope. Beyond that, I play with the characters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What influenced your decision to self-publish?

My short story, The Used Virgin, had been sitting on my computer for several years. I decided to put it out there for anyone who might be interested. Little did I know at the time, how much I had to learn about creating an author platform and communicating with readers and potential readers.

 

What do you find to be the greatest advantage of self-publishing?

Getting the book out is a relatively short process. The author has control of publication.

 

With the number of self-published books increasing by such a huge rate, it is really difficult for authors to make their books stand out. How do you go about this?

I don’t think so much about getting the books to stand out as finding readers who want to read the type of story I write. That thinking comes from working as a writer in the Search Engine Optimization world. Business owners, that’s me as an author, can spend energy on ranking, or they can optimize to engage with customers. It’s a similar approach.

Ask me again in two years.

 

 

Who designed your book cover/s?

I feel fortunate to work with Ryan J. Rhoades of Reformation Designs. After talking with him about the series, he created covers that captured the essence of the time. And, each cover has an important clue hidden in the details. We did that for fun.

Although I had worked with him on other design projects, his branding tends to look very modern. I was hesitant at the beginning but as soon as I saw his first cover I knew I had made a good decision.

 

 

Do you believe that self-published authors can produce books as high-quality as the traditional published? If so, how do you think we should go about that?

Absolutely. Write the best story you can. Find an editor familiar with your genre. Hire a cover designer who understands your book. Choose cover material and paper that match the feel of your book. Self-published authors who put in attention to detail in all phases of book production have no worries about high-quality.

 

Do you belong to a writer’s cooperative? Describe your experience with that.

Nothing so formal as a cooperative. I have been in writing groups for years starting with the Russian River Writers in California in the late 1970s.

My current writing group is small. When I moved to Oregon from California four years ago, I looked at a number of groups but most of them were not a fit. I started corresponding with a contact from a group that had folded and we chatted about our “ideal” group. It took us almost a year to form the group. We have written rules, a trial period, and a tight community.

We meet twice a month. We bring printed copies of the pages. We take turns reading each other’s passage aloud. After the reading each individual comments. The writer leaves with written comments and suggested edits from each member.

The comments and suggestions are instrumental in honing the final story. I recommend a writing group for any writer. What we do with suggestions is up to the writer.

 

How do readers find you and your books?

 

 

Links:

Amazon Author Page

Author Website

Facebook Author Fan Page

Twitter

Goodreads

Google+

YouTube