New Year, new releases, new awards. Any new resolutions?

Dorianna wins it!

I hope you had a wonderful New Year's. Last year, the hubs and I were trapped for two days in the Dominican Republic airport. Not a fun way to ring in the new year... except that I got a tons of revision done on my WIP as I sat, and sat, and sat there. I drank way too much burnt airport coffee, too. So, this year, we plunked in front of the TV and watched Anderson Cooper giggle over Kathy Griffin's inane jokes and Pitbull shake his rabbit butt as he entertained Miami. On a higher cultural note, we binge-watched Dave Grohl's TV series Sonic Highways, which I HIGHLY recommend! It's a series about music and how it's produced in various cities. I love Dave Grohl and his Foo Fighters, He's a surprisingly good TV producer. Something about how real talent translates into fresh TV from someone way outside the stale Hollywood box.

On other fronts, DORIANNA my YA twist on Dorian Gray just won a BEST HORROR BOOK  award over at The Kindle Hub. Thanks TKH! I am thrilled about this! What a pretty gold seal.

On a third but as important note, today is Inkspeller Lisa Voisin's launch of The Angel Killer, Book Two in her Watcher series. A dark, fast ride!
The blurb:
Now she’s found him again, all Mia Crawford wants is some downtime with her fallen angel boyfriend, Michael. But the call of duty keeps him away—from school and from her—with more demons to smite than ever.
When Michael is mortally wounded by a cursed sword, Mia must perform an ancient blood ritual to save him. But the spell exacts a price. Haunted by visions of war, torture, and despair, Mia discovers the world is in more danger than she ever imagined. Behind the scenes, an evil adversary pulls all the strings. After redemption, there’s Hell to pay.

A mini-excerpt:
Light from the near-full moon shimmers off the leaves of sycamore trees, and the scent of pomegranate hangs in the air. Though my footfalls are silent on the hard-packed earth, Hell is never far away. Nor is that blood-stained rack that was my prison for millennia. The memory of my master’s claws still stings my throat; the poison of his hate burns below the skin. Perhaps it always will. The only reality I’ve come to know is that my pain satisfies him.
   Anka sleeps on a grass mat, her lithe, young form curled into a fetal position on the roof of her family’s mud brick house. Strands of her long, black hair are stuck to her cheekbones from the heat. The girl is old enough to be married but will be taken to the temple of Seth in the morning instead. Rumors of her prophetic dreams have secured her place as an oracle. Such a gift interests my master too, and as influential as Seth is among the Egyptian people, he’s a false god, my master’s rival. A demon warlord just like him.
   Her father snores deeply, but the stifling air makes her mother fitful. The woman twists and turns. Does she anticipate me? I stand over the girl and contemplate how to take her without waking them. Their terror alone would sound a call to all the scavengers along the Nile, and my master wants her soul intact. More power that way. In servitude or sacrifice, souls are the fuel that builds empires.
   My hand hovers over her nose and mouth, and her soft breath tickles my skin. I could suffocate her while she dreams, a silent, seemingly natural death. Or I could carve out her heart, a symbolic gesture. He’d take pleasure in that. If I’m fast enough, she won’t have time to cry out or wake the others. I run my fingers over the middle of her chest and extend my claws.

Shop for The Angel Killer ebook at Amazon, All Romance, Kobo. The paperback is at Amazon, B&N
See all of Lisa's Books on Amazon and get the first, The Watcher for only 99 cents!

About Lisa
A Canadian-born author, Lisa Voisin spent her childhood daydreaming and making up stories, but it was her love of reading and writing in her teens that drew her to Young Adult fiction. A coffee lover, she can usually be found writing in a local café. When she's not writing, you'll find her meditating or hiking in the mountains to counteract the side effects of drinking too much caffeine. Though she’s lived in several cities across Canada, she currently lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her fiancé and their two cats. 

How was your New Years? Any resolutions? Anti-resolutions? 

TSU? Ello? Tumblr? Instagram? Facebook loyalist? Which are you? Plus some fab launches!

There's talk about changes over at Facebook that will take place in 2015 regarding promo and book launch posts. This includes rumors about Facebook charging a base rate for a biz subscription. And there's also buzz about a new social media alternative called Tsu, and how FB folks should set up new profiles over there. Here's a NY Times article about it. Your thoughts on TSU?

And now, for the array of great launches!
Fantasy Uprising, the Untethered Realms boxed set is out, and just in time for the upcoming holidays! Isn't it spectacular? It contains novels from fantasy to dark magic to sci-fi.
Only $0.99 and available at Amazon, Nook, Smashwords, Googleplay, iTunes

Stephanie Keyes, creator of the popular Star Child series has a new novella, The Last Protector.

Here's a summary:
Gabriel Stewart helped his best friend Kellen St. James save the world from The Scourge in the Battle of Dublin. But before that? Gabe was just an ordinary guy who kept having dreams about a little boy with black hair and green eyes—a boy he hadn’t even met yet.

And even weirder? Gabe’s mind kept replaying these images on loop of things he’d never seen. He heard voices in his head when no one was around. And he actually blew off hot Valerie Gibbons to chase after the black-haired kid in the park. What was up with that?
As Gabe searches for the truth, fate continually puts him in Kellen’s path, but will he be able to stop the Children of Danu from stealing Kellen before the battle begins? What will it take for Gabe to become The Last Protector?
*The Last Protector is a companion novella--intended to be read after the other books in the series.

See all of Stephanie's novels on Amazon & B&N

C Lee McKenzie has a new YA novel out, Sudden Secrets.

A summary:
One Secret 
Cleo has struggled to heal after her baby sister’s death, but the flashbacks to the accident won’t go away. With the move, she vows to keep her tragedy a secret and avoid pitying looks. 
One Mystery 
Something’s strange about the abandoned house across the street—flashes of light late at night and small flickers of movement that only someone looking for them would see. 
Everyone says the house is deserted, but Cleo is sure it isn’t, and she’s sure whoever is inside is watching her. 
Another Secret 
In one night, Belleza’s life changes forever. So famous, her only choice is to hide her secret from the world so she can silence small town bigotry. 
Then Cleo happens.

Sudden Secrets is available at Amazon & Evernight Teen

My own YA thriller Ruby's Fire is on sale $0.99 at Amazon!

And my new dark YA Dorianna is getting nice reviews, which I'm grateful for.

Here's the newest reader review:
WOW .... SERIOUSLY WOW!!! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this book as Dorian Grey was ... well, Dorian Grey. Someone who wants to adapt this to more modern times could really go either way, really bad or really good. This was FANTASTIC!!! Although personally, I do prefer the bad and want a Wilson of my own it was so very well written! The fact that it tackles the current fad of "followers" and current internet insanity was just brilliantly written and well executed! I really really loved it and will definitely be recommending it to others. An excellent read for sure!!!

Medeia Sharif's brand new YA novel Vitamins and Death is out.
A summary: 

Deidra Battle wants nothing more than to be invisible. After her mother, a public school teacher, engages in an embarrassing teacher-student affair at Lincoln High, they relocate to a different neighborhood and school. Being her mother's briefcase, Deidra joins her mother at her new workplace, Hodge High. Since her mother has reverted to her maiden name and changed her appearance, she thinks no one will figure out they're the Battles from recent news and that they're safe. Neither of them is. Hodge brings a fresh set of bullies who discover details about the scandal that changed Deidra's life. Feeling trapped at home with an emotionally abusive, pill-addicted mother and at school with hostile classmates who attempt to assault and blackmail her, Deidra yearns for freedom, even if she has to act out of character and hurt others in the process. Freedom comes at a price.
Available at Amazon

Cherie Reich's newest, People of Foxwick is out too. What a gorgeous cover! See all of Cherie's Foxwick's books: Amazon & B&N  The blurb:

The kingdom hangs in the balance. War threatens Foxwick on all sides.

The dreaded Shadowlands gains more souls. From the shrouded trees in Greymist Forest to the arid Blackden Barrens, monsters roam in search of their next victim. Sirens lure ships beneath Merrilea Sea. In cold and snowy Wintermill, royals plot to claim Foxwick as their own, even if they must use dragons and sorcery. Marriage between Foxwick's king and Lochhollow's princess creates a perilous alliance. Although brave Valdale will come to Foxwick's aid, the cost may be more than a true friend can stomach. Set over a hundred years, these seventeen fantasy short stories explore the people, creatures, and lands in and around the Kingdom of Foxwick.

Short stories in the collection: Common Love, Blind Scribe, Lady Bard, Siren's Call, Tribal Abandonment, Dragon's Sacrifice, Dragon Spy, Dragon Seer, Sword Master, Lady Death, Mage Game, Courting Magic, Monster Hunger, Mourner's Lament, Magic Seeker, Prince's Price, and Love's Challenge

The best present one can give to an indie author is the gift of buying, reading and reviewing their books. Agree?

So what are your thoughts on Tsu, Ello, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook's new policies, any of the above? Which are your fave social media hangouts? For personal posts? For promo?

Transformation Tuesday with author Meradeth Houston & a Smokin' Sci-Fi Boxed Set, Moonbeams and Magic

The YA Reader Appreciation Blog Hop continues with Meradeth Houston talking about Transformation Tuesday. See the week's lineup here, and don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter! (I'm on D.R. Graham's blog today) We also have info on a boxed set of sci-fi reads from four amazing Inkspell authors called Moonbeams and Magic. Meradeth's up first!

Thanks so much for hosting me! It's always so fun to get to visit my favorite places around the web :) Today we're supposed to be talking about the transformation from an unpublished to published author. Or, basically, how we all ended up finding our way into the publishing world. I know I can't wait to read about everyone's journeys!

The ideas behind my novels have come from all over the place. Colors Like Memories, my first published novel, actually first came to me while listening to a song on the radio while driving. I came home, opened a Word file, and got to work! My second novel, The Chemistry of Fate, came to me while writing in my journal (something I do daily--it's almost compulsive for me), and the "what if?" question of someone revealing a life-altering question that was found by a grandchild. Ideas area all around, and I regularly have a hard time limiting myself to just one or two!

So, while putting this post together, I thought about looking back to see how many rejection letters I received on the two books I queried before I got my first offer. Then, I decided that that would probably be incredibly depressing :) Anyhow, as I said, I wrote, edited, and queried two books before the release of Colors Like Memories. While that was definitely not an easy process, it taught me a ton about writing, my writing, and learning how to sell my work. And it definitely made the offer I finally received that much sweeter!

There are so many options for authors these days for how to publish a novel. My choice to go with small houses is one I have really enjoyed: I get the help I want with editing, copyediting, covers, and some promotion, without having to pay the upfront costs that I can't afford. I also have some flexibility with the pricing and that's definitely helpful. Plus, there's such an awesome community with my houses that the people I've met really make all the difference! Hit me up if you have questions! And where do your writing ideas come from?

Meradeth Houston is the author of the Sary Society series: Colors Like Memories, The Chemistry of Fate, and Surrender the Sky. Catch the first two books for just 99 pennies! Soon to be released will be a sci-fi novel with killer aliens: Absence of Light. When she's not writing, she's an anthropology professor who talks a whole lot about dead people's DNA!

Find Meradeth Houston online at: www.MeradethHouston.com, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and of course her blog!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
And now...

All about the Moonbeams and Magic Boxed Set
Four inventive sci-fi novels for only $1.99 from Inkspell, releasing on Sept 23 but available for preorder now! Preorder yours from Amazon or B&N

Antithesis by Kacey Vanderkarr
My name is Gavyn. Liam doesn’t care that I only have one arm. He actually likes my red hair and freckles. I might forgive him for kidnapping me. My name is Gavyn. I lost my Liam. I’ve lost them all. And now it’s my job to make sure they don’t show up again. My name is Gavyn. I had a life with Liam, but he couldn’t give me what I need. Then I killed his father. I don’t expect he’ll forgive me for that.

Bewitched by Mark Jay Harris
Is it love or is it witchcraft? He’ll never find out if he kills her first.

The first time Darren saw Samantha, she was floating above his high school gymnasium during a basketball game, invisible to everyone but him. Next time he sees her, she's sitting in front of him in class, wowing his friends and causing unexplainable things to happen that only he seems to notice. But things really get strange (and complicated) when his dying grandfather tells him that he is part of an ancient order, the “Pessum Ire,” whose duty is to destroy witches. What does he do now, since he’s almost positive Samantha is a witch…and he’s crushing on her pretty hard?

Colonization by Aubrie Dionne
Finding a new home has never been so dangerous.
Andromeda has spent all seventeen years of her life aboard a deep space transport vessel destined for a paradise planet. Her safe cocoon is about to break open as Paradise 21 looms only one month away, and she must take the aptitude tests to determine her role on the new world and her computer
assigned lifemate. As a great-granddaughter of the Commander of the ship, she wants to live up to her family name. But, her forbidden love for her childhood friend, Sirius, distracts her and she fails the tests. The results place her in a menial role in the new colony and pair her with Corvus, “the oaf”.

But when Andromeda steps foot on Paradise 21, her predestined future is the least of her worries. Alien ghosts from a failed colonization warn her of a deadly threat to her colony. And when Sirius's ship crashes on the far ridge in an attempt to investigate, she journeys to rescue him with Corvus.
Andromeda now must convince the authorities of the imminent danger to protect her new home. What she didn't expect was a battle of her own feelings for Sirius and Corvus.

The Star Child by Stephanie Keyes
The world is about to be cloaked in darkness. Only one can stop the night.
Kellen St. James has spent his entire life being overlooked as an unwanted, ordinary, slightly geeky kid. When the sudden death of his Gran takes him from the East coast to the rugged cliffs of Western Ireland, all that changes. That is until a beautiful girl, one who has haunted his dreams for the past eleven years of his life, shows up spinning
tales of a prophecy. Not just any old prophecy either, but one in which Kellen plays a key role.

Suddenly, Kellen finds himself on the run through a Celtic underworld of faeries and demons, angels and gods, not to mention a really ticked off pack of hellhounds, all in order to save the world from darkness. But will they make it in time?
             ***
Praise for The Star Child:
"Stephanie Keyes is a wonderful voice for a new generation of YA readers. She has skillfully blended mythology and faerie-tale into an original and enthralling story. Pure magick! I'm looking forward to more. - Helen Hart, author, The Black Banner

Praise for Colonization:
Best of 2013 by Paranormal Sisters “Wow, this dystopian kicks butt. Like action packed nonstop and I was hooked from the very first page.”

Praise for Bewitched:
“This is an amazing story. Full of Magic and twist and turns, full of action, and secrets and many surprises. It sure left me wanting more. It’s very well written too.” Michelle’s Paranormal Vault of Books 

Praise for Antithesis
“I just want to say, I loved this book. It’s nonstop action from page one, Gavyn is awesome and Liam is hotter than a tin roof in august. Nothing got done yesterday, because I had to read this book.” Goodreads Reviewer. 

Are you a sci-fi lover? And what's an aspect of your own transformation you are proud of?