Self Published Sunday Welcomes K.C. Stewart

Busy - That's probably the best word to describe K.C. Stewart. She is the author of The Hailey Holloway Series and I'm pleased to introduce her to you.

K.C. Stewart 

I thought writing a book would be the hard part. Oh was I ever wrong. The hard part is what comes after the words have been put on the page, and the edits have been made, and the betas have read, and the editor has said it's crap. The hard part is when you’re holding a beautiful bundle of hard work and you have to package it with the right cover, format the hundreds of pages you just read over and over during the edits, and actually tell people that you wrote a book.

Out of everything the last part was hardest for me. Writing was my dirty little secret. Was being the operative word there. It was hard for me to talk about it with anyone other than my editor. But as time went on she told me I had to come out of the writer's closet and great the world. I did so, reluctantly. I've since spread out my arms and yelled from the top of the social media mountain that I am an author. 

Now that we have gotten that out of the way let me tell you a little about myself. I’ve lived in the same small Pennsylvania town all my life. I did take a shot at city living during college, but Philadelphia and I never really got along in the long run. I’m more of a rural girl than an urban one. I went to school for photography, ignoring all of those “job prospects are low” and “maybe you want to have a backup just in case…” from teachers and guidance counselors in high school. To be fair, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do back then. However, if my 18 year old self could see me now I’m sure she’d call me a nerd and question my sanity. (You read? Pffft. Freak.)

The best part about being a photographer is it introduced me to the world of books. In the winter, the studio is all but dead. It was suggested I bring a book to read. I ended up reading through them faster than I could buy them. It was a life changer. Then I got my first nook. Mind. Blown. Who knew I could read so fast? Reading became my escape from the world. I ditched my cable and invested in a big fuzzy blanket and a cat…or three.

I didn’t start writing until I was invited into the super secret world of Facebook Role Play. Ok, so it’s not so super secret if you know where to find it. But I had no idea that part of Facebook existed. I was positive that I couldn’t string along a sentence, let alone a scene, and I was right. My first few months of RP were shameful. I would not wish my early writing upon my nemesis. But like most things, the more I wrote the better I got. (You were right piano teacher whose name I don’t remember. Practice does make perfect.) Soon writing as an already developed character wasn’t enough. So I made my own. Then writing scenes just wasn’t doing it for me anymore. So I wrote longer, more in-depth scenes, which turned into chapters and into a book.

Now I’m going to be honest with all of you. I never thought I’d finish it. I started it and it kinda just sat there for a few months. In that time I decided that my life needed a change. You know when they say it’s not too late to go back to school. Well, they are right. I was accepted into Clarion University’s online Library Science program. Apparently working full-time and being a full-time student wasn’t enough for me. So I opened back up that word document and began to seriously write my manuscript.

And it flowed.

And it was beautiful.

Now I’m writing a series while taking classes and working. Somehow it all fits together in a complicated puzzle, even if some of those pieces are held together with gum and duct tape.

Blurb

Copywriter by day, nerd by night, Hailey Holloway is living the post college dream. Her life may not be flashy and exciting but it’s enough for her. After a late night at work, Hailey stumbles upon two dragons brawling in the middle of Philadelphia. In an act of kindness and lapse of sanity, she comforts the dragon who was left behind to die. In doing so she inadvertently invited the soul of Dacea into herself for safe keeping. Hailey just wants to live her life as simply and quietly as possible but with the voice of a disembodied dragon in her head, she has little hope of achieving her goal.

Dacea will do anything to be free of Hailey, a human who is moments from checking herself into a psychiatric ward. He is grateful to be alive, but at what cost to his sanity? The dragon world is in upheaval. Green is at war with Red, and he is of no use to anyone while stuck with Hailey.

The solution to their problem is not without its risks. But just how far will Hailey go to be free of the dragon? 

Spark Excerpt  

Hailey sat up in her bed and gasped for air. With its blaring alarm, her bedside clock announced that it was time to wake up. She hit the off button and because she couldn’t shake the dream she had been having, Hailey held out her arms and checked for any red marks, but she found only her porcelain skin. “Ugh.” She groaned as she rested her head in her palm. It had just been a horrible dream; one she had been having on a nightly basis. There was no fire, no smoke, and no dragons. “That’s the last time I eat Mexican before bed.”

“Not this again.” A deep voice grumbled in her head.

Hailey squeezed her eyes shut. “I will not talk to the voice in my head. It is not real.” She repeated her recently acquired mantra, punctuating each word.

“Every morning it is the same thing. Hailey, you need to get over this already.” He sounded frustrated, not that she cared. The voice had been with her ever since the unfortunate event in the nearby park three weeks prior. “The sooner you accept what has happened, the sooner we can figure out how to fix it.”

“LA LA LA LA LA.” Hands covered her ears as she crawled out of bed. “I can’t hear you.”

He sighed in her head. “Why don’t you believe what is right in front of you?”

Because what was right in front of her was a crazy person who had voices in her head, she answered mentally. Hailey turned on the shower, set in her ways of ignoring him. She dropped her shirt on the floor but quickly covered her breasts with her arms.

“Crap. Close your eyes.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, close your eyes. I need to shower.”

“You are infuriating.” He bit out.

“Nonsense, I am delightful. You on the other hand have no manners. I need to shower and don’t want you to watch.” She shifted uncomfortably, unsure where she should look when she spoke to him.

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. In fact a little peek is the least you can do for the headaches you’ve caused me.”

“Headaches I’ve caused you? What about me Mister! Do you think I want to hear your critique of absolutely everything I do, have done, or will do in the future? Just close your eyes and leave me be.”

A moment of silence passed before he grunted out “fine.”

“Are your eyes closed?”

“Yes.”

“How do I know that? You could just say they are but really be watching me shower like a creeper.” Hailey shuffled her weight back and forth as the cool air chilled her bottom.

“I guess you will just have to trust me.” He said amused. 

                              Connect with the author:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kcstewartauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KCStewartAuthor

Website: http://kcstewartauthor.wix.com/kcstewart

Blog: http://kcstewartauthor.blogspot.com/

                                Purchase Links:

                                 Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/OIG7eN

                                             Amazon: http://amzn.to/1kNv1jq
                                           Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1gP4MVS
                                               OmniLit: http://bit.ly/1jw5ufr

LE Fitzpatrick is today's guest on Self Published Sunday!

I am thrilled to welcome L E Fitzpatrick to Self Published Sunday.  I met the author a couple months ago when she hosted me on her blog Limelight.

  

L E Fitzpatrick was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, but now lives in West Wales, with her family plus lots of dogs and cats. She manages an office, volunteers as a room steward for the National Trust and also supports independent authors as a proofreader and beta reader. She obviously has no spare time because of this, but if she did it would probably be invested in walking in the countryside and enjoying the peace and quiet.

L E Fitzpatrick published her first series Dark Waters in 2011 and is currently working on her Reacher series.

Reachers

At six o'clock every night they post the same infomercial. That same blurred video of a teenage boy walking through Piccadilly Station more than a decade ago. He has a brand new bag on his back, bulging with menace. The people around him, regular commuters trying to get to work, stop as he passes them. They turn, transfixed and follow him as he leads them deeper onto the platform. The image pauses: one young boy and fifty innocent people, blown to pieces. He was a Reacher and that one act of terrorism condemned every man and woman like him to death.

The infomercial always finishes with the warning: Look out for suspicious, paranormal activity - report any irregularities to the authorities - it could be your neighbour, your colleagues - remain vigilant and we will win this war.

The Piccadilly bomber is the only known Reacher to have ever launched an attack on London. An average of eighteen attacks a year for over ten years and they still blame Reachers every single time. They hunt us. Capture us. Cart us off to the Institute to be experimented on. There are so few of us now. My name is Rachel Aaron and I'm a Reacher.

Suspicious, paranormal activity - what the hell does that even mean? Is there any paranormal activity that isn't suspicious? So what can I do? What separates me from you? Well I can read your Mind. In a single kiss I can uncover your darkest secrets and take over your thoughts. Imagine what I could to you. Imagine what I could do for you.

They'll tell you that I'm a threat to society. But I'm a doctor, I work twelve hour shifts, six days a week, keeping people alive. I live on the eleventh floor, of a twenty storey concrete building, in a one room apartment with no hot water. I've been under the radar now for seven years. Seven long, hard years. But now it's time to run.

The government wants me dead. And there are others who want to take me alive to use my powers for their own gain, just like they did with my sister. But I won't be anybody's slave and I won't be a lab rat for the Institute.

Dad used to call it The Running Game, he taught it to us before he was killed. Always be ready, that's what he said. And I have been. So I'm going to run, like I have before. But this time I won't be doing it alone.

They'll tell you I'm a threat to society and with the Smith brothers I am. Together we're unstoppable. Look out for suspicious, paranormal activity. My name is Rachel Aaron and I know your deepest, darkest secrets.

The Running Game by L E Fitzpatrick

Excerpt

She arrived in S’aven a month after her seventeenth birthday. As she shuffled off the train at Trinity Station her head had been an onslaught of naïve ambitions and excitement. The convent was gone and she was free. Soon she would be with her sister and the world would be theirs. But it never happened. Her sister was killed and instead of liberation S’aven became just another prison; bigger, noisier and more dangerous.

As she waited in that same station, seven years later, watching the rats duel with the pigeons, she realised it would be the same wherever she went. The prison was countrywide because she was a prisoner on the run and that would never change. They blamed Reachers for everything, she was guilty by nature and no jury would ever say otherwise.

Police marched up and down the boardwalk, shining lights on those huddled around their worn suitcases or battered sacks. They checked the faces of the men and women, even the children, looking for fugitives. People only left S'aven when they had to, it was the cops' job to work out what they were running from.

She could see them questioning a couple, checking their bags over and over while the husband insisted they were just going to see family. His wife was pretty and the cops were enjoying making her squirm. They made the couple turn, press their hands against the wall. They only bothered to search the wife, laughing as her husband protested their innocence. She was smart though, she told him to be quiet – a quick feel was better than getting shot in the head.

“Do you want to know why we're leaving, because of this!” The husband yelled.

With other cops this would have been a step too far, but these two were in good humour. They released the woman, squeezing her backside as she gathered her things. Then they wished them luck – a couple like that were going to need it.

Then it was time to move on. Their flash lights darted about as they headed towards the end of the platform. They passed two men in suits. There was no talk, the men held out a roll of notes, the cops took it and moved on. Rachel sat away from them all, she rested her head back and closed her eyes as they started to approach. They never even looked her way.

The train was running late. There were rumours about insurgents commandeering the northern lines and taking passengers hostage. The longer the delays, the more people remembered what was outside the city walls. S’aven had civilisation and work and food. It was right beside London where people still had money and the world still ran like it was supposed to. But outside the border, beyond the protection of the rational south there was so much unknown. Rachel stared at the arched exit out of the city; for her at least, it was the lesser of two evils.

She turned her head to the station entrance and that’s when she saw him hobbling around the platform. He balanced on the crutch and scanned the crowd just like the cops had done. His bloodshot eyes looked panicked, maybe even desperate. She knew he was looking for her, she just wasn't sure why.

Then he spotted her, seeing through her powers, seeing just her, alone. The connection was instantaneous, it was like staring at a long lost twin. And it had been so long since she had felt anything more than emptiness.

He made his way over. He looked tired, but relieved to see her.

“Mind if I join you?”

Stay Connected:

Website: http://l-e-fitzpatrick.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lefitzpatrickbooks

Twitter: https://twitter.com/L_E_Fitzpatrick

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/L_E_Fitzpatrick

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G7VJ0GG/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00G7VJ0GG/

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370963

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-running-game-l-e-fitzpatrick/1117298998

Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-Running-Game/book-dd4LOU4_lkWM0FLWucj6hw/page1.html

Review of Provoke Not The Children

Amazon's Book Description:     

In the United States, in the not-too-distant future, Americans are focused on one thing to the exclusion of all else: self-maximization. Every aspect of life which impedes the pursuit of Maximization is pushed aside, including the raising of children. Within one week of birth, all children are permanently turned over to professional child-rearing experts - Proxies - to be raised, educated and cultivated.   

Chase Stern, a Proxy Review Officer tasked with the regulation of the Proxy Industry, is plagued by guilt - the consequence of his own dogged pursuit of Maximization. Seeking redemption, he has pledged his life to save the lost but dangerous youth of the Deep Suburbs - the poverty-stricken and crime-ridden majority of society located far from the wealthy, civilized Inner Cities. When Chase uncovers widespread child abuse, the Government is forced to admit failure and shut down the Proxy Industry. All children under the age of eighteen are sent to a remote facility to be indoctrinated and reprogrammed to populate a new, functional society. Three years later, the first group of "children" return very much changed....

What I thought:

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Michael W. Anderson's Provoke Not the Children is nothing short of compelling.  The author uses words the way an artist applies color - painting scenes with such detail that I caught myself imagining how it would look on the big screen and what A-list actor would portray the main character. 

The story is suspenseful and moves at a quick pace.  The characters are well developed.

When it comes to the main character (Chase Stern), Anderson introduces us to an individual who is haunted by the choices he's made in life.  His flaws and regrets make it easy to relate to him.  

Provoke Not the Children requires the reader to consider the cost of a society that places self above all else.  It is perfect for a book club discussion. 

 

Self Published Sunday

If you're like me, you've scoured the internet looking for the best information regarding book marketing. Some experts tout the importance of book reviews while others believe exposure is key. There are loads of writers "spamming" G+ and Facebook communities. For the record, I've "promoted" my novel by sharing Amazon links, reviews, etc. - not that it made much difference.  I mean, honestly, how many of us are even clicking on the links?  After all, it's not like we have unlimited time.  When  we aren't writing, most of us aren't looking for the next great story - we're too busy trying to draw attention to our own works.

That being said, there are links that I do check out.  Why?  Because I've connected with the author. Sometimes, it may start out as a request for an honest opinion regarding a book trailer. It may be a connection made on Twitter.  Either way, I am much more likely to buy a book when I get to "know" the author.  I have found some amazing writers in our self publishing community.

With that in mind,  I have decided to host Self Published Sunday on my blog.  As the author, you can decide:  Do you want to do a guest post?  Do you prefer to share an excerpt of your novel? Do you have a photo that inspired the setting of your story?  This is your opportunity to introduce yourself and your novel to those who might not have found you.

We all need a little time in the spotlight.  It may get us noticed and it certainly can't hurt.  If you are interested in participating, contact me.  

(On a side note - As a writer of Young Adult fiction, I do have visitors to my blog that are not adults.  Please understand, I will have to exclude authors of erotica and those whose works are terribly violent.)