The Rollercoaster

So, as you know, I’ve been absent.  A lot.  Couldn’t be helped really. The past couple months have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows.  First, my dad passed away less than two weeks ago.  With his health as poor as it was, his passing was a blessing of sorts, but that doesn’t make it any easier, especially since we didn’t have the greatest relationship near the end.  He was a very difficult man.  But he’s my dad; I love him regardless, and I’m gonna miss him.  A lot.

But the bad was tempered with a bit of good. A few months ago, I mentioned that my debut, The Mistaken, had been nominated for four, then finaled for three, 2014 eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards. Well, turns out, yesterday, it WON two of those awards—Best Thriller & Best Audiobook!  I found this out not ten minutes before I picked up my father’s ashes.  I’d like to think there was some magic at work there.

But I wasn’t the only winner.  While you can watch the video presentation of all the winners here, and I had many other friends in nearly every single category, I would like to give a special shout out to my Blogger buddies who won or were runners-up:

Lisa Regan - Aberration - "I've Been Shyamalaned" Award (tied for Best Twist)

Michael J. Infinito Jr. - In Blog We Trust - "I've Been Shyamalaned" Award (tied for Best Twist) & - 12:19  - Runner-up Best Horror

Carrie Butler - Strength - Best New Adult & Best Series (Mark of Nexus)

Alex J. Cavanaugh - CassaStorm - Best Science Fiction

Cassie Mae - Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend - Runner-up The Harvey Award  

Congrats to every one of you fabulous authors! 

And now to wrap it all up, I decided to play filmmaker last week.  I put together a little book trailer for my second novel, Leverage, book 2 in The Mistaken Series. Take a looksee, and give it a thumbs up if you like it.  Thanks!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!

IWSG - The Good, The Bad, and Everything Else

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, time for

Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

I’ve been quite remiss for the last month or so, only dropping in for the IWSG when I clearly announced my return from a much-prolonged hiatus.  Seems habits are hard to break.  It’s more than that though.  It’s been rough for me lately.  Personal stuff.  My dad.  He has Alzheimer’s and had to be admitted to a care facility.  It’s for the best, especially for my mom, and I thought, hey, he deserves it; he’s treated everyone in his life like crap for as long as I can remember.  But…yeah…easier said than done.  My heart isn’t quite as hard as I thought it was.  Then bad went to worse, and he was hospitalized yesterday.  They think it’s a stroke.  Whatever it is, just like everything else, it’s not a solvable problem.  There’s no happily ever after to this story. 

And yet, every nugget of misery seems accompanied by a hint of happiness.  While I struggled with with my dad, I had some really good news come in.  My debut dark romantic thriller, The Mistaken, became a three-category finalist (best hero-heroine, best thriller, and best audiobook) in the eFestival of Words 2014 Best of the Independent eBook Awards.  It had to pass the peer nominations stage to get there, but now that it’s a finalist, it’s all up to public voting. 

And while you might have never heard of these awards before, winning, or even coming in second, can be very impactful.  My BFF, Lisa Regan, won in 2013 for Best Heroine and was the runner-up for Best Novel for her debut, Finding Claire Fletcher, and it’s gone on to be very successful, and Lisa now has a contract with Amazon Publishing’s Thomas and Mercer imprint.  This year, Lisa’s follow-up, Aberration, is a multi-category finalist, including Best Thriller, Best Villain, and I’ve Been Shameylaned (best twist).  How’s that for impressive? 

So I’m hopeful. Maybe something will come of this for me.  I could really, really REALLY use your help though.  The registration is a tad convoluted, not too bad, but the voting is super easy.  I’ll leave easy-to-follow instructions at the end to assist you should you want to vote.  Either way, I have a LOT of friends who’ve also finaled, many of whom you’ve heard of, like…

Alex J. Cavanaugh, Best Science Fiction, CassaStorm

Cassie Mae, Best YA & The Harvey Award, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat friend

Michelle Kemper Brownlow, Best NA & Best Villain, In Too Deep

Michael Infinito, Best Horror, 12;19 & I’ve Been Shameylaned, In Blog We Trust

Carrie Butler, Best Series, The Nexus Series, & Best NA, Strength

And some you might not have heard of, but should definitely check out, like…

MK Harkins, Best NA, Best Sweet Romance, & Best Villain, Intentional

Julie A Richman, Best Romance, Searching for Moore

JB Hartnett, Best Erotica, Inky

Kristine Cayne, The Harvey Award, Deadly Addiction

Dana Mason, Best Romance & Best Mystery/Suspense, Dangerous Embrace & Best Hero, Precious Embrace

And before you think anyone has any category wrapped up, think again.  We’ve got two long months of public voting to endure, so each and every vote helps every single one of us.  I know I’d appreciate your vote if you have a moment.  Thanks in advance for your support!

Instructions to register and vote:

1. Go to: eFestival of Words.com

2. Click ‘Register’ and fill out the form.

3. Confirm your account: To pass validation, click on the survey question (typically a benign question about your car or income,) then type the revealed, easy CAPTCHA into ‘Your answer’.

4. Ignore the sponsor offers and click ‘Submit’. You are now registered and may login

5. After logging in, click best thriller  

6. Select 'The Mistaken, by Nancy S. Thompson’ then click 'Submit vote'. You’ll receive a confirmation.

7. Repeat for best audiobook & best hero-heroine

And the Nominations Are...OR...I Think God Just Bitch-Slapped Me

So, after a long hiatus, I’m starting to ease back into this whole blogging thing.  I have to make it a part of my schedule again, not easy when there’s so much to be done.  I didn’t count on a health issue getting in the way, but it did, just last week, right as I jumped back into the IWSG.  But at least I have answers to long-nagging questions, and, with proper treatment, I hope to be on the mend soon and back to making the rounds, getting reacquainted with everyone.

In addition to the bad news last week, I did get some good.  My first novel, The Mistaken, was just nominated for 4 eFestival of Words 2014 Best of the Independent eBook Awards—Best Thriller, Best Hero, Best Audiobook, and The Harvey Award.  Cassie Mae told me that last one was for the book voters most want to see made into a movie, which she would know about since her book, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend, was also nominated in that category, as well as Best YA.  But she’s not the only one of my bloggy friends whose books were nominated. 

Alex J. Cavanaugh’s CassaStorm was nominated for best Sci-fi, Lisa Regan’s Aberration for Best Novel, Thriller, Villain, and the “I’ve Been Shamyland” Award, Carrie Butler’s Strength  for Best NA and her Mark of Nexus Series for Best Series, Michael Infinito’s 12:19 for Best Horror and In Blog We Trust for the “I’ve Been Shamyland” Award,  Michelle Brownlow’s In Too Deep for Best NA and Best Villain, and Dana Mason’s Dangerous Embrace for Best Romance and Best Mystery/Suspense. 

A few of my Facebook friends were nominated, too, like Kristine Cayne, Julie Richman, Julie Hartnett, and MK Harkins. Even one of the books I edited last year got nominated for best editing, AL Jackson’s If Forever Comes, though my name was mysteriously left off that list. 

All in all, it made my spirits rise a bit while I battle this “profound anemia” I was diagnosed with.  I feel confident that, with successful treatment, I will be back to my old self and bugging all of you once again.

And if you have the chance, I'd LOVE to know what you think of my newly released novel, Leverage, a dark romantic thriller with twists and turns galore! 

May I Ask a Favor?

Look at me, two posts in one week!  And I'm not even back from hiatus yet either.  But this is super important, so I hope you can take a quick moment to give this some consideration.

My BFF, author Lisa Regan's, debut novel, Finding Claire Fletcher, is a two-time finalist in the eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards.  It's up for Best Novel and Best Hero/Heroine.  She seems to have Best Heroine category clinched, but is trailing the leader by a few votes in Best Novel and could use some help.

Now, I realize, some will not want to vote for a book they have not yet read, and I totally understand that, so no spanking necessary.  But if you don't object and wouldn't mind going through the process of registering then voting, I would really love your help!

You see, not only is Finding Claire Fletcher a superbly written and fantastic story -- one ripped from the headlines BEFORE there even were headlines -- it rates 4.8 stars on Amazon with 60 of its 70 ratings at 5-stars, and 8 more at 4-stars.  Plus, unlike its leading competition in the awards, Finding Claire Fletcher ranks consistently well in sales.  That should tell you something:  Not only do people love it, they WANT to buy it!  It's that good!  

So, if you're on board to help, this is how you can vote:

1. Go HERE and register. (REGISTER is at the top OR just click on this link).  Don't worry, you will NOT receive any unwanted spam mail from them at all.

Tips:

At the CONFIRMATION CODE captcha -- if it's a video, hit the play button and a phrase will come up along the bottom of the video after 2-4 seconds. Just type that phrase into the blank space at the bottom of the video box. If it's only a simple captcha, then just input the characters.

Below that, after you AGREE TO THESE TERMS and hit SUBMIT, you're actually DONE.  It will take you to a page that says, "You're almost finished…" THAT'S AN AD. You don't actually have to do anything there. So close out the page.

2. Then go HERE to the Awards Hall to vote.

Tips:

There will be a list of polls.  BEST HERO/HEROINE is closer to the top and BEST NOVEL is almost halfway down the list.  Just click on each poll (or the links I provided above) and you will be taken to a list of books to vote for.  You can go back to the Awards Hall and vote on other polls.

THAT'S IT!!  Thank you so very much for your time and consideration.  I hope we can pull Lisa's book up to the #1 position it so rightly deserves.