A to Z Challenge: K is for...Kidnapped

Welcome to the 2013 A to Z Challenge!

This year, I’m focusing on two themes:  Emotions and grammar,

depending on which letter we’re on each day.

I’ll be sharing mostly what I’ve learned about writing emotion into a novel, but I’ll also be throwing in a few key grammar lessons, pet peeves I’ve picked up while working as an editor.

Here’s the thing: I couldn’t figure out a topic for emotion or grammar that began with K,

so I thought I’d go a little off course.  But if that’s not good enough, you could always go to my

K post from last year.  Either way, I appreciate your indulgence. 

__________

K is for Kidnapped:  to steal, carry off, or abduct by force or fraud, especially for use as a hostage or to extract ransom.

I’m sure you’re wondering why I picked kidnapped.  Well, if you haven’t yet read my book, The Mistaken, then you might not know it’s a huge part of the story.  Funny thing is, the hard part of pulling that off was making the reader sympathize with a protagonist who commits such a heinous act, not to mention quite a few others.  But, I must have done a decent enough job because…

Not only is The Mistaken still loitering in Amazon’s Top Rated in Romantic Suspense, it’s also ranked fourth on Goodreads’ Kidnapped list, along with CJ Roberts’ Dark Duet Series and Lucy Christopher’s Stolen, all of which I enjoyed.

I’d love to have your support, too, so if you’re a Goodreads member, feel free to sign in and hit the "vote for this book" button.

Thank you!  Thank you verra much!

Do an Author a Favor...Pretty Please???

You guys know how much I’ve been complaining about the whole marketing thing.  It’s such a pain, so much work, and I’m terrible at it.  Last week, my very good friend, Alex Cavanaugh, went out on a limb and asked his followers to vote for his two books, CassaStar and CassaFire, on the Goodreads’ Best Space Opera List.  I and many others voted, and CassaStar remained at #1 and CassaFire moved to #2. 

I found that very inspiring, and while I don’t have near the following Alex does, it doesn’t take much for a book to move up on a Goodreads list. 

As it happens, though well received and reviewed, my book, The Mistaken, needs some serious help in the sales department, and raising awareness via Goodreads is a good way to do that.  So I’m asking for the same favor. 

The Mistaken has been added to 14 Goodreads lists by readers.  That’s a remarkable feat I can be proud of, but I’d like it to be as high on those lists as possible so it’s more visible, which, hopefully, will help sales. 

So, for you Goodreads members who wouldn’t mind, use this master list link for all 14 Goodreads lists The Mistaken appears on, then click on the lists individually, as many as you want, and wait for The Mistaken to appear, usually at the top of the page.  All you have to do is click on the “vote for this book” button next to my title.  That’s it.  Very quick and easy peasy!

The lists (below) are in order of importance to me, especially the first 10, though all have immense influence. Unfortunately, except for the lists where my book is near the top, as people vote, the book moves up and these individual links will not be accurate for placement, so click on the master link for all 14 lists then click on each individual list to vote.

·        Best Romantic Suspense

·        What To Read Next

·        Kidnapped

·        Psychological Suspense Thriller

·        Psychological Thrillers

·        Thrillers

·        Thrillers You Must Read

·        Best Tortured Heroes in Fiction

·        So you love a Bad Boy or Tortured Hero

·        Can’t Wait Books of 2012

·        Upcoming Books of 2012 & 2013

·        Books That Need To Come Out Sooner

·        Come Out Already!    

Thank you in advance!

You have no idea how much I appreciate your help!

Last Day to Enter My Goodreads Giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter my

book giveaway on Goodreads.

Click here if you'd like to join nearly
1000 other people and

enter to win a signed copy of

THE MISTAKEN

Or click on the Goodreads button

on my right sidebar.

Goodreads Giveaway of THE MISTAKEN

Today, I'm guest posting over at Livia Peterson’s Leave it to Livia,
but I just wanted to give you all a heads-up that I am giving away a signed copy of

THE MISTAKEN on Goodreads

starting today, December 3rd and running until

Wednesday December 12th.

Just click the button and enter to win!
(Button only visible on web version.
If you are viewing on a mobile device, scroll down to the bottom and hit Web Version)

See you over at Livia’s

____________

Come on back tomorrow.

I'll be sharing

Blue Remy’s

new book trailer

for her paranormal romance

From Hel, With Love, from the XIII Hour Series

coming soon from

Sapphire Star Publishing.

Keep scrolling down for Lynda R. Young's announcement earlier today.

THE MISTAKEN Book Trailer!

I’m so thrilled to share my book trailer with you today.  I’ve wanted one for ages, but I’m so technologically challenged, I had no idea where to start. 

A few weeks ago, my dear friend, fellow author, and beloved SSP pub sister, Carrie Butler, revealed not only the spectacular book cover for STRENGTH, but the trailer, as well, which, in all honesty, absolutely blew me away!  

Carrie knew I desperately wanted one of my own, so she generously offered to put one together for me.  I gave her the script, the link to the soundtrack I’d found, and an idea of what I was looking for as far as the background video goes.  Carrie mashed it all up, tweaked it here and there, and…viola!  

I love it so much!  And I want to share it everywhere.  If any of my lovely followers has a spare day available on their blog and wouldn’t mind hosting me, I’d love to post it for all to see.  And you know I’ll pay it forward.  Just let me know if you’d like me to host your guest post or anything of the sort, and I’m so there for you.  Email me anytime.  My address is available here or in the Contact Me tab above. 

I hope you enjoy the trailer for THE MISTAKEN and find the story intriguing.  The book will be available 10.18.2012 from Sapphire Star Publishing.  You can add it to your Goodreads TBR list today!

Moving (check), Launch tour (check), Blogfest (check)...OYVEY!

This is not my normal Monday blog post, but there’s good reason for that.  This Friday, I will be flying my son down from Seattle to Arizona State University near Phoenix, and on Sunday, we’ll move him into his residence hall.  Yes, after 2 years of researching schools, college fairs and tours, applications, and essays, it’s all come down to this.  

May I say how stressed out I am, especially since I have to do it alone,

without my husband’s help?

 

Yeah. Super-über mondo-stressed.

Mind you, ASU is the largest public university in the entire US.  That’s nearly 70,000 students, most of whom attend the beautiful one-square-mile Tempe campus, where my son will be living.  So far, we’ve UPS’d one huge box down to his hall, at great cost, too.  The rest will be packed and fly with us. Thank God Southwest Airlines doesn’t charge for checked bags!  Needless to say, I’ve been a busy mama.  So while I don’t have the time to dwell over a thoughtful blog post, I do have time for a few announcements.  

First, my dear friend, Jennifer Hillier, has just released her second novel, Freak.  Though it stands alone on its own merits, it’s also a sequel to her debut novel, Creep, which came out last summer.  (I loved that book, by the way!)  I ordered a hard copy of Freak so Jenny can sign it when I see her at BoucherCon 2012 in October.  I was excited enough just to get my copy, but then I opened it up and saw that she had mentioned me in her acknowledgements.  Yes, more than a few tears sprang to my eyes.  Thank you, Jenny!

Second, after receiving another update from Goodreads, where I noticed one more add to another reader’s TBR list (thank you Lynda R. Young,) I saw that Lisa Regan had updated her review of my book, The Mistaken.  This update has a lot of depth and detail and is not simply a rehashed synopsis.  She shares what she loved most about my story and what she feels makes it special.  My humble thanks, Ms.Regan!  

Next, with my book’s release a short 2 months away, I’m frantically getting ready for my blog tour.  Besides the one arranged by Sapphire Star Publishing, (who, by the way, has a shiny new website) I have my own tour looming ahead.  That’s 15 guest posts and interviews I have to compose.  I’ve already written 10 of them, but I have 5 new additions that came up last week.  (Thanks to those of you who asked me to guest post.)  So yeah, I’m a bit swamped at the moment. 

I did, however, want to mention a couple of other events coming up, like Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Genre Favorites Blogfest on September 17, 2012.  One blogfest, four favorites!  Simply list your favorite genre of:  movie, music, books, and a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories!  Alex hosts the best parties, so if you want to participate and meet new people, click here for the latest info.  

Also, on Tuesday, August 21^st, my friend, neighbor, and fellow writer, Angela Orlowski-Peart, will reveal the cover for her new YA paranormal novel, Forged By Greed, set for release in September.  Angela will be my guest that day while we celebrate this important event.

And lastly, I’d like to thank Karen Elizabeth Brown for nominating me for the Liebster Award.  Though I’ve done this award before, it could use some updating, so I’ll try to post about it sometime in the near future. 

Whew!  Can I take a breath now?

Oh yeah, right…I have to go finish packing.

*sigh*

So what have you all been up to this summer?

Writing Book Reviews

Back on June 4^th, I wrote a very brief post about Goodreads, the book-lover’s social networking website.  In May, I was granted an author’s page, as well as a page for my book, The Mistaken.  Since then, I’ve had quite a few folks add it to their TBR list.  A few others, who received the ARC, gave my book a ranking and review.  Yay, so far, I’m 5 for 5 stars with all great reviews!  Whew! 

My point here is that Goodreads is an invaluable resource for both readers and writers.  I generally only read books that have been referred to me, and Goodreads helps me with that.  So now, I’ve started to write extensive reviews on books that I’ve read recently.   I wrote a pretty good one for Alex J. Cavanaugh’s first novel, CassaStar. 

And I just wrote another for Lisa Regan’s debut novel, Finding Claire Fletcher, to be released on December 6, 2012.

I think reviews should be more than just synopses.  They should offer the reviewers gut feelings on the book.  So if you’re interested, here’s my review of one of the best books I’ve ever read, one to which I gave 5 out of 5 stars.  Yes, the review’s a bit lengthy, but it deserves it.  And wouldn’t you want a thorough review for your own novel?  Either way, I hope you add Finding Claire Feltcher to your To-Be-Read list on Goodreads.   

“Finding Claire Fletcher is truly a story of our times, and magnificently told, even in its brutality. It follows ten years in the life of a girl kidnapped off the streets on her way to school at the age of fifteen. We’ve all seen or read those news stories of kids who vanish without a trace. We wonder what happened to them, if they still live, and if so, how? We know the type of monsters who prey on these children, and we can only imagine what they do once they’ve captured their victims. This is that story. It isn’t pretty, and it makes no excuses for that.

Claire Fletcher, though young and naive, fights against her captor, trying her best to outrun the villain who subjects her to daily atrocities. He uses her fear against her to keep Claire hostage as he chips away at the girl she used to be, slowly and effectively destroying any hope of reuniting with her family and a mother who never gives up hope that Claire is still alive.

Even as she ages and becomes physically stronger, Claire cannot escape the torture and degradation. Her captor holds Claire in an emotional cage every bit as much as a physical one. To control her, he not only uses the threat of violence against those she loves most, he uses violence itself, hurting Claire’s family or killing those she asks for help. Knowing she cannot expose her loved ones or even strangers to the kind of cruel fate her kidnapper threatens, she resignedly settles into life as Lynn, the name her captor has given her.

Still a hostage, but allowed to leave her captor’s compound, Claire meets Police Detective Connor Parks at a bar. When she disappears following a chaste night together, leaving behind only an old family address, Connor discovers the beautiful woman he’s come to know as Claire Fletcher has been missing for ten years and is presumed dead. But he knows she’s not, and he’s determined to find her, even as his commander orders him off the case and Claire’s captor targets Connor as punishment for defying him.

Told from alternating points of view, we see the story emerge from both Claire’s perspective, as well as Connor’s. Author Lisa Regan delves into the mind of a sexual deviant, exposing and exploring what drives a man to such desperate acts. But while she alludes to the horrific misery Claire’s captor subjects her to, Regan never stoops to showing the acts themselves, only examining the effect such debased treatment has on his victim.

Those who wonder why women like Elizabeth Smart or Jaycee Dugard never attempted to leave their real-life captors will find the reasons eloquently explored in this well-written, hauntingly brutal, yet sweetly realized story, a story of love and determination to overcome the most heinous of fates.

Though it is superbly written and moves with intense, page-turning speed, Finding Claire Fletcher is not always an easy read in that it probes into the most corrupt behavior imaginable. It’s difficult to feel what the young Claire experiences as she is made to suffer at the hands of a pedophile. But as tough as those parts are to read, the story is balanced by the hope and memories Claire holds as a way of surviving her ordeal. And as much as it is Claire’s story, it is also Detective Park’s story, as well, analyzing the failure of his marriage and his precarious position within the police department following a questionable shooting and his involvement with Claire’s seemingly unsolvable cold case.

But in the end, Finding Claire Fletcher is a love story about a child and her mother, and the man, Connor Parks, who cannot forget or abandon her, and risks not only his career, but his own life to save Claire. This story will frighten you, make you angry, cry, and cringe, but it will also energize your faith in the human spirit and its ability to heal and move forward. Regan deserves every one of these five stars for her original and haunting debut novel.” 

Do you use Goodreads and write reviews for books you’ve read?  If you’re a writer, what style of review do you hope your readers will write for your book?

Goodreads

I usually post on Mondays, but since it’s the beginning of the month,  I’ll be saving myself for 

Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writers Support Group on Wednesday.  In the mean time, I wanted to share something with you. 

Though I’ve been a member of Goodreads for a while now, I was just granted an author’s page  and have listed my forthcoming novel, The Mistaken.  So if you’re on Goodreads and interested, click on the link and add my book to your TBR list.  And add me as a friend.  Goodness knows, I can use all the friends I can get!

Tell me, do you use Goodreads to connect with other readers and writers?  Do you ever find good book recommendations using Goodreads?