Friday Freebies

This week's Friday Freebies picks:

Bait (Order of the Spirit Realm) by K.C. Blake
Genre: Young Adult | Paranormal
Get it for free on Amazon

Ghosts, a reaper, and a rock star.

At sixteen Bay-Lee is not your typical girl. She doesn't even try to fit in at school. What's the point when she'll be moving to a new place within a few months?
She's lived her whole life on the run, hiding from monsters.Then a reaper uses her closet to cross over from the Spirit Realm. It has a message for her. Just when she's about to join her father at his school for hunters she finds out they are dying on their birthdays. Something is killing them, slipping past locked doors, never leaving a trace of evidence, and her birthday is only two months away.Becoming a hunter isn't exactly her dream come true. She's doing it for her mother, for revenge, for justice. Nothing is going to get in her way, least of all love. Then she looks up into a pair of jungle green eyes and everything changes.

Rae of Hope (The Chronicles of Kerrigan) by M.J. May

Genre: Young Adult | Paranormal
Get it for free on Amazon

How hard do you have to shake the family tree to find the truth about the past? 

Fifteen year-old Rae Kerrigan never really knew her family's history. Her mother and father died when she was young and it is only when she accepts a scholarship to the prestigious Guilder Boarding School in England that a mysterious family secret is revealed. 

Will the sins of the father be the sins of the daughter? 

As Rae struggles with new friends, a new school and a star-struck forbidden love, she must also face the ultimate challenge: receive a tattoo on her sixteenth birthday with specific powers that may bind her to an unspeakable darkness. It's up to Rae to undo the dark evil in her family's past and have a ray of hope for her future




Finding Cinderella by Colleen Hoover
Genre:  Young Adult | Contemporary Romance
Get it for free on Amazon

A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love comes with conditions: they agree it will only last one hour and it will only be make-believe.

When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them only seemed perfect because they were pretending it was perfect. Moments like that with girls like her don’t happen outside of fairytales.

One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in insta-love is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Daniel soon realizes the way he pretended to feel about Cinderella and the way he really feels about Six may not be so different after all. Especially when the two loves of his life end up being one in the same.

Unfortunately for Daniel, finding Cinderella doesn’t guarantee their happily ever after…it only further threatens it.

A Beautiful Lie by Tara Sivec
Genre:  New Adult | Military Romance
Get it for free on Amazon

He saw her first, but his friend made the move.

She settled for the safer choice, but her heart knew the truth.

They love, they crave, they lie.

Garrett McCarthy, Annabelle Parker, and Milo Roberts were as close as friends could get. They shared in each other's joy during graduations, promotions, and engagements. They consoled one another through heartache and loss.

When one of the friend's life is tragically cut short, it's up to the two left behind to pick up the pieces and find out the truth - no matter the cost. As they slowly start to uncover the nature of his deception, and the very powerful people behind it, they begin to question everyone and everything, even themselves.

Everyone has secrets - some do it for love while others do it for power. Those secrets can change perceptions, alter reality and sometimes destroy lives.

What do you do when you find out your whole life has been a lie?

The Viking by Marti Talbott
Genre:  Young Adult | Historical Romance

Get it for free on Amazon

At not quite fifteen, Stefan's father finally let him board the longship Sja Vinna to take part in his first Viking raid. But the battle was not at all what he expected and he found himself alone and stranded in Scotland. Thirteen-year-old Kannak's problem was just as grave. Her father deserted them and the only way to survive, she decided, was to take a husband over her mother's objections. Then suddenly she found herself helping a hated Viking escape. Could Kannak successfully hide a Viking in the middle of a Scottish Clan? And why was someone plotting to kill the clan's beloved laird?

The Wednesday Word

Author To Author’s Newsletter                                                    

September 25, 2013

Writing & Publishing Tips

Reader Reviews:The Good, The Bad, and How to Handle It All

 

When I signed my publishing contract for my debut novel, Lessons Learned, one of the first questions I was asked on my marketing form was about unfavorable reviews and how I would react to them. Of course, I had heard horror stories about one-star reviews that could rip an author’s dreams to shreds. I’d also heard about “bad author behavior” where the author would engage with a reviewer in a negative way. But I had never really considered how I would react to it.

 

Lessons Learned was definitely my baby. My blood, sweat, and many, many tears went into the book. It is a sweet love story with undertones of religious and social issues. The subject is timely and somewhat controversial, so I expected some reactions. For the most part, I’ve received nothing but wonderfully supportive reviews. Sure, there have been reviews I’ve disagreed with, or wished I could talk to the reviewer and explain something that perhaps wasn’t clear to them, but I never have. The honest truth is that the very best reaction to a negative review is no reaction at all. At least not publicly.

Still, authors need to vent from time to time. When I say my husband is my “Lucas,” it’s not an exaggeration. If I receive a negative review, he hears about it. He keeps me calm and reminds me to pay attention to all of the positive reviews and ignore the few negative. One bad apple shouldn’t spoil the bunch, they say, and in this case, that’s true. That’s not to say all negative reviews are toxic. Some can be constructive. If they are, take what they say and use it to grow as a writer. I had a reviewer tell me that Sarah and Lucas’s love story in Lessons Learned was overshadowed by Matt’s struggle with bullying. To me, that was constructive and reminds me to be more balanced in my writing. I had another reviewer (in a review for one of my short stories) say that my story wasn’t worth the .99¢ she paid for it. Needless to say, that particular review wasn’t constructive at all. As an author, you really have to find your happy place when it comes to dealing with reviews. Not everyone is going to love your book. Accept this. Embrace it. But someone will love it. Most importantly, you will love it, and at the end of the day, that’s the one review that truly matters.

By Author to Author member and Contributor Sydney Logan. You can learn more about Sydney and her books at www.sydneylogan.com

Exciting News for Author to Author Group Members

 

Lissa Bryan Hosts Ghost Story Contest

To celebrate the one year Book Birthday of Lissa Bryan's, Ghost Writer, she is hosting a ghost story contest! Visit Lissa's blog for information on how to enter, rules, and bust out your notebook and pen! There are some fantastic prizes at stake! The winner will be chosen on Halloween! http://www.lissabryan.com/2013/09/ghost-story-contest.html You can also join the TWCS Book Club on Facebook to discus Ghostwriter with Lissa the entire month of October! https://www.facebook.com/events/601835033192271/  

Cover Reveal of Riverbend: The Collection

Stay tuned to Andrea Goodson's blog to see the cover reveal for Riverbend: The Collection on Friday September 27th! It's almost Riverbend's first Book Birthday! In celebration, Andrea Goodson is rereleasing the entire trilogy, Riverbend, Rapid Water, and Waking Tide, as a one-book boxed set at a low promotional price the week of October 6th! Connect with Andrea on Facebook or her Website for fun events and giveaways over the next few weeks. www.andreagoodson.wordpress.com  

Fall into Reading Giveaway!

Stay tuned to Author to Author's Blog for the upcoming Fall Into Reading Giveaway! Enter for a chance to win a $25.00 Giftcard! Giveaway takes place September 22-29. Don't miss it! www.author-to-author-blog.blogspot.com    

Sherri Hayes Hosts Newsletter Contest

Want a chance to win a bookmark from Sherri's book, Behind Closed Doors. Visit her blog and sign up for her newsletter to enter! While you're there take a look around and explore some of her other work...that is if you like sensual romance. Who doesn't?
http://sherri-hayes.blogspot.com/2013/09/weekly-update-contest-announcement.html?zx=71f71efc3854ef20

Book Signing With Sydney Logan

Join up with author Sydney Logan to get your books signed on Saturday September 28th in Huntsville, TN! Sydney will be visiting the Museum of Scott County's Heritage Festival! http://www.sydneylogan.com/2013/09/heritage-festival-book-signing.html

Allie Jean and T.M. Franklin Host Vine Challenge

Are you an Instagram junkie? Don't feel bad, most of use are! Take a look at Allie Jean and T.M. Franklin's websites to enter the Vine Challenge and win a prize pack of books! The contest runs September 12th to October 17th! http://alliejean.net/ and http://www.tmfranklin.com/

Allie Jean to Release Dreams of the Cursed

The long awaited sequel to Legacy of a Dreamer is due for release next week on October 3rd! You can preorder today through the TWCS website. http://ph.thewriterscoffeeshop.com/books/detail/101

Wednesday's Weird Word

Alexipharmic  

Definition: Having the quality or nature of an antidote to poison. Origin: Greek

Savvy Savings

We seem to be running low on coupons this week, but take a look at the ultra low-priced reads hand picked by A2A members on Kindle!

*covers are never posted without permission from the author*

Windswept by Fran McNab
4.5 STARS $0.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008RBSO3Y/

Disenchanted by Robert Kroese
4 STARS $1.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009KP9VJ2/

The Laws of Gravity by Liz Rosenberg
4 STARS $1.99
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7GK4TE/

Thank you for reading this week's edition of Author to Author's, The Wednesday Word! Visit us again next week for more news and savings to refresh your bookish pleasures! As always, feel free to share and spread the word!