NEW RELEASE: Healer's Bane by Hope Ann!

Another awesome book by author Hope Ann -and- it's available in paperback too: Healer's Bane!  It's already the #1 new release for Christian Fantasy on Amazon, so if that isn't a sign to go check it out, I don't know what is! 

BLURB

Kynet never planned to be at the forefront of the rebellion. That was her brother’s hobby: rallying the people. Plotting against the leaders. Running into dangers she’d have to negotiate him out of. That was before the Poisoner tried to kill her.

Left with strange powers in the aftermath of his attack, Kynet is even more convinced the rebellion isn’t worth it. For every life her healing saves, ten more are wasted. 

But her quest to stop the carnage before war breaks out will bring her face to face with the man who tried to murder her... and with her own helplessness against a grim reality she may not be able to change.

 Order HERE: https://authorhopeann.com/books/healers-bane/
Add it on Goodreads HERE: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43837257-healer-s-bane

COVER REVEAL: The Torch Keepers by Hosanna Emily!

Hey everyone!  I have a super-awesome blog post for you today as part of the cover reveal for Hosanna Emily's upcoming book, The Torch Keepers!  With a title like that, you know it's going to be epic.  Without further ado, here's what you need to know:

SYNOPSIS

The King's blue flame quivers as a new fire arises, and Kadira must hold fast to the torch. It's destiny; she's a torch keeper.

 A fiery revolution sweeps across the kingdom of Érkeos, and each person must choose a side. Kadira, a girl set apart to serve the King, finds her city engulfed in emerald flames. Her blue eyes mark her as the enemy, and she flees from death. It stalks her anyway. When she meets Rekém, the Liberation warrior sent to kill her, she rebels against the King's ways. Two armies collide; indecision isn't an option. As hearts and lives hang in the balance, Kadira and Rekém could bring destruction or liberation to the entire kingdom.


And now....*drumroll*

Doesn't that look cool?!

You'll want to mark your calendars for September 1st, 2019, which is when this novel is releasing!

To keep up with more information about The Torch Keepers, make sure to follow Hosanna Emily on her blog, Having a Heart Like His.

If you're looking for something exciting while you wait, make sure to enter Hosanna's giveaway here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you looking forward to The Torch Keepers arriving later this year?  Did you enter the giveaway? 

Guide Me Home: A Playlist

Hey everyone!  Just a quick post today.  As always, I want to share my playlist for Guide Me Home, since the music itself often motivates me to recall what I want to write/what moods, themes, etc.  

Without further ado...some good tunes!  (And links to said tunes on YouTube)

1.  If It's Amazing Grace (Stars Go Dim)
2.  Love That Won't Let Go (Stars Go Dim)
3.  Times (Tenth Avenue North)
4.  Hearts Safe (A Better Way) (Tenth Avenue North)
5.  Deep (Chaylyn)
6.  God Only Knows (For King & Country)
7.  Burn the Ships (For King & Country)
8.  Hold Her (For King & Country)
9.  Live On Forever (The Afters)
10.  When You're With Me (The Afters)
11.  Well Done (The Afters) (I can't stand to listen to this one, but I'm keeping it in mind as a plot device.)  

12.  Broken Together (Casting Crowns)
13.  Waiting on the Night to Fall (Casting Crowns)
14.  Your Favorite Color is Green (City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra)
15.  Rue's Farewell (City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra) (I couldn't find this one on YouTube)
16.  There are Worse Games to Play (City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra)
17.  Primrose (City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra)
18.  Reckless Love (Cory Asbury)
19.  The Proof of Your Love (For King & Country)
20.  Light It Up (For King & Country)
21.  Crave (For King & Country)
22.  To Build a Home (Cinematic Orchestra)
23.  Braver Still (JJ Heller)
24.  Never Been a Moment (Micah Tyler)
25.  Different (Micah Tyler)
26.  Even Then (Micah Tyler)
27.  If She Only Knew (Micah Tyler)

28.  Tired (Chaylyn)
29.  Gone Away (Five Finger Death Punch)
30.  Spirits (The Strumbellas) (This is seriously Martin's theme song)

31.  Seasons Change (Five Finger Death Punch) (Okay, maybe this is Martin's theme...)

32.  Welcome Home (Radical Face) 

See any songs you know?  Let me know what you think of the playlist and what you expect to see of Guide Me Home based on this!

Character Questionnaire by H.S. Kylian!

Hey everyone!  I was tagged by H.S. Kylian of The Writerly Worm to answer this character questionnaire tag that she's started!  Make sure to check her post HERE if you'd like to join!  I'm going to use the characters from my Faith, Hope, and Love collection to answer, since I'm working on that one!  (Thanks so much for the tag!)

Q1: What's their favorite food?

Lucy's is the gooey chocolate cake at the local diner, and Spencer's is, well, basically anything that Lucy can cook up.  He's not a picky eater, but he also won't turn down a good burger, either.  Morgan's favorite food is ice cream and Martin is a bit of a pasta/Italian-foodie.

Q2: What was their best subject in school?
Lucy: definitely English and the arts!
Spencer: English.
Morgan: History.
Martin: Hated every single subject in school except workshop.

Q3: Favorite place to be?
Lucy: In her wonderful painting studio.
Spencer: At home, but only when Lucy's there too.
Morgan: The mall in town, most definitely, or perhaps the local coffee shop.
Martin: Has never lived anywhere long enough to find a favorite place.

Q4: A favorite childhood memory?
Lucy: When a teacher praised her for a painting she completed.
Spencer: The one foster family that sort-of made him forget about the nickname Bad Luck Clarkson.
Morgan: Too many to count!  Maybe it was the time when she went fishing with her cousin Levi, or shopping with her aunts, or when she got her first car, or....
Martin: When his parents got him a bike to replace the old banged-up one he'd been teased about relentlessly.

Q5: Favorite flavor or flavors?
Lucy: Strawberry or vanilla.  Maybe strawberry-vanilla!
Spencer: Blackberry or chocolate, and never the two shall meet.
Morgan: Cherry, orange, or lemon.
Martin: Well...if it has tomato sauce on it, he'll eat it.

Q6: If they could change anything about their appearance, would they?  If so, what would they change?
Lucy: The scars from her abusive foster mother, including the garish scar on her forearm.
Spencer: He probably wouldn't change a thing.
Morgan: To be a little less tall, more dainty; or perhaps to have curly hair like that one model in a magazine she saw once...
Martin: He'd want to be taller.

Q7: Do any of them enjoy musicals?
Morgan is a total nerd for musicals, but the rest...not so much.  Martin's ears might bleed, and Spencer would grit his teeth, but he'd go if it would bring joy to Lucy.

Q8: Favorite and least favorite ice cream?
Lucy: Chocolate/vanilla twist is her favorite; least favorite is peanut butter.
Spencer: Chocolate; least favorite is pistachio.
Morgan: Orange sherbet, neopolitan, or rocky road; least favorite is lime sherbet.
Martin: Ice cream's ice cream, he says.  Buuut...he's never been known to turn down a plain vanilla cone.

Q9: One thing they'll never let go of?  
Lucy didn't get to take anything from her childhood when she ran away.  However, she'll never let go of the necklace Spencer will be getting her for one of their upcoming anniversaries, a piano that will come into her ownership sometime soon (you'll have to read Guide Me Home to understand that one).  Spencer will probably never get rid of the original copy of a book cover that Lucy designed for his first publication.

Morgan will never get rid of the ring her Grandpa Barnes gave her for her 16th birthday.  Martin doesn't have anything that he cares about enough right now, after his house was snatched out from under him by a lowlife woman, but he'll never get rid of his first set of house keys once he finally has a home.

Tagging: Angela R. Watts of The Peculiar Messenger, Kellyn Roth of Reveries, and anyone else who would like to participate!

UPCOMING NEWSLETTER: April NaNo Tips & Resources!

Are you planning on participating in NaNo April?  If you are, or know someone who will be, you might want to sign up for my newsletter HERE.  On Monday, I'll be sending out a bunch of tips for optimizing your NaNo experience - both for yourself and for your book.  In the meantime, however, here are a few links that you might want to check out. 

(Please note that I am not affiliated with any of the blogs, websites, or writers involved in these websites.) 

The Creative Penn: Want To Win NaNoWriMo This Year?  7 Tips On Writing And Productivity

How to Survive NaNoWriMo in 2018  (Yeah, it's from 2018, but it's still relevant!)

NaNoWriMo Advice from Writer's Digest

Do you know of any great resources for NaNo writers?  Link to it in the comments section! 

The 20 Questions Book Tag!

Thanks so much to H.S. Kylian of The Writerly Worm for tagging me!

Q1: How many books is too many in a series?
I think that it really depends on the series itself and the pace of the plot.  I've read series of 24 books and I've read trilogies, so personally, it just depends on how well the books themselves are written!
Q2: How do you feel about cliffhangers?  
I love them and I hate them...I love crafting them, and I love the theorizing that cliffhangers plunge audiences into, but at the same time, I hate waiting to get answers for the cliffhangers...
Q3: Hardback or paperback?
I like both equally!  I usually indiscriminately buy whatever's cheapest (and yes, I've actually found some hardbacks that are cheaper than their paperback counterparts.  That's how I ended up with the entire Hunger Games trilogy in hardback!)
Q4: Favorite book?
*Wails* Why would this even be a question?!?  I'm going with favorite series.  And that answer's still going to be in the multiples.

Credit: Giphy / The Big Bang Theory

• Anne series by L.M. Montgomery
• Sunbonnet series by Barbara Van Tuyl
• Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Old childhood favorite: The Phantom Stallion by Terri Farley
• Blue Justice series by Lynette Eason 

Q5: Least favorite book?
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte or Walden II by B.F. Skinner.  The latter was for my senior year of high school; the former for sometime in elementary and I vividly recall hating both, especially Jane Eyre.  Perhaps I'd enjoy it now that I'm older, but I can't bring myself to touch them!

Credit: How To Train Your Dragon (2010)//Gifer 

Q6: Love triangles, yes or no?  
Again, it depends on the book!  It all depends on whether the characters are well-written and have good dynamics -- for example, if you could see the main protagonist going with either love interest.  I really enjoyed the love triangle in The Hunger Games, for example.  Actually, I'll be analyzing that for a paper in my senior seminar class this week!
Q7: The most recent book you couldn't finish?
The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel.  I got it as a galley from NetGalley and got several chapters in, but I found that I wasn't attached to the characters.  It seemed like it had a lot of potential and I was really sucked into the plot, but the characters seemed to be detached or guarded from the reader, which is something I can't stand when I'm reading.  I cancelled my review with NetGalley for it because I couldn't finish and, likewise, couldn't justify rating it because I hadn't read the whole thing.
Q8: A book you're currently reading?
The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer (for my senior seminar essay) and The Theft of America's Soul by Phil Robertson.  Both are fantastic!
Q9: Last book you recommended to someone?
Walk to Beautiful: The Power of Love and a Homeless Kid by Jimmy Wayne.  (And I'll go ahead and recommend it to all of you right now too.  It was intense and fantastic and...wow.)
Q10: Oldest book you've read (by publication date)?
The Bible (publication...who knows?)
Q11: Newest book you've read (by publication date)?Live Without You by Sarah Grace Grzy (2019)
Q12: Favorite author?
Another question that cannot possibly be answered with singularity, eh?  Well, in no particular order...

• J.R.R. Tolkien
• C.S. Lewis
• L.M. Montgomery
• Angela R. Watts
• Kellyn Roth 
• Lynette Eason
• Suzanne Collins
• George Lucas 
• Janice Thompson
• Can I count all of the lovely writers I know who are fantastic, but haven't published their books yet??  

Q13: Buying books or borrowing them?
BUYING THEM.  I live in constant fear of something happening to borrowed books.  I take care of my books like they're my babies, but some individuals who are around them don't like to do so.  My cats decided to shred the front pages of a textbook I have for school, for example.

Credit: Tangled (2010) / Gfycat

Q14: A book you dislike, but everyone else seems to love?
Fawkes by Nadine Brandes.  As with Harrel's book, it had an intriguing plot, I just couldn't get attached to the characters.
Q15: Bookmarks or dog-ears?
Bookmarks.  What kind of beastly being dog-ears their books?  (I kid; no offense to those who identify in the dog-ear society.)
Q16: A book you always reread?
Again, this is gonna be a list.  I have a set of books that I reread at least once per year, and they are...

• Anne series by L.M. Montgomery
• Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Q17: Can you read while listening to music?
No.  I can read while listening to almost any sound that the world has, but music bothers me if I'm reading something that I want to read.  If it's something for school, then I need music to keep focused.  I'm a strange critter like that, I suppose, since that makes absolutely no sense now that I think about it....

Credit: Thor: The Dark World (2013) / Gifer

Q18: One POV or multiple POVs?
Both!  As long as POV changes are clearly pointed out, I don't mind getting multiple POVs!
Q19: Do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days?
It depends on the book.  Some of them I devour and others seem like they drag, and the genre or content matter doesn't seem to matter.  Why I Believe by Chip Ingram is one that I read in one day, and meanwhile, The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron is one that I'm still drudging through...like...two months later...
Q20: Who do you tag? 
Angela R. Watts of The Peculiar Messenger and Kellyn Roth of Reveries -- and anyone who wants to do this!!

BIG Announcement: Services!

Drumroll, please?
I am pleased to announce that on the last week of May 2019, I will be launching my own business.  What you see above is my shiny new logo!  What will I be offering, you ask?


* Free and paid "how-to" videos for writing, including topics such as self-editing, character creation, the ins-and-outs of self-publishing, marketing, formatting, and a lot more.  Seriously, I have an entire page filled with ideas.  Some videos will be free, while others will be available for a small fee.  

* Affordable editing packages for line, developmental, copy, and content.  I'll also take on blog/websites, theatrical scripts, and articles for editing.  

* Information sessions in which I can help you develop your characters from a psychological level (i.e. if you're writing a character with a mental disability, illness, etc. or even a character that has been severely abused; even some forensic psychology involving the police and criminal procedures).  

* I may also offer graphic packages or "media packets" for individuals who need them for book launches, etc. 

* Book reviews (these will be free, though).

I am starting this business because I know how hard it can be to "go it on your own" in the self-publishing process, especially when you aren't very experienced - or even brand-new to the trade.  Since I love sharing my knowledge and passion with others, I originally began my college career with the plan of becoming a secondary-education teacher.  However, when I learned more about teaching, I decided that the traditional path of teaching was not necessarily the best fit for me.  I enjoy providing a more "one-on-one," individualized approach to learning, which is what I was accustomed to during my years in school.  Something that challenges the status quo and allows people to break out of the gross cookie-cutter mold we're held to in society and become more than 'average.' (What is average, anyway?  Haven't figured that out yet.)

Self-publishing has also exploded in popularity with the increasing pickiness of traditional publishing.  People who have a great book can now get that to the public within a few months instead of begging agents to take a chance on their book for years.  A lot of Christian self-publishers can get their book to the masses without having to deviate or strip their book down (or be refused) simply because their beliefs don't mesh with publishing companies that seek secular views - and these are the people that I want to help the most.  

That's why I decided to deviate off-course from my life plan and begin this business.

I want to help fellow writers succeed, whether they're teens or in their sixties.  I want to help you, reader, learn all that you can about the business so that you can translate the dreams in your head to something tangible.  The feeling of holding your book for the first time is awe-inspiring.  My services will be affordable whether it's your first publication or your hundredth.  I'm hoping to use my (future, as of May 4, 2019) Bachelor of Arts in English / Minor in Psychology to serve you and help you achieve your dreams.

This is my manifesto - I believe....

* That we learn from mistakes.  If your first draft is horrible and messy, it's the best place to start for learning and improvement.  

* Being unique is the beauty in being an artist - you needn't fit a mold to succeed. 

* A good, sweet, pure story is good for the head and the heart.

* Today is a blessing.  If you weren't here tomorrow, what would you regret not having done?

* That we shouldn't let our dreams die.  We've been given them for a reason.

* That if we have an idea, we should foster it.  Even if it touches just one person, it's worth it.

* Nothing feels quite as nice than a job well done. 

In the coming weeks, you'll be hearing quite a bit about the business.  I'm also thinking about a blog tour.  I don't have any specific details up on here yet due to busyness-  but I'll let you know when more info is available!  If you have a book that you think will be ready for editing after NaNo April, though, feel free to contact me (there's a little envelope button above my profile picture, which you can click to send an email) and I'll iron out the details for you!  

If you're interested in keeping abreast with updates from this blog as well as the new biz, make sure to follow my business account on Instagram (it's different than my personal one and is public for all to see -- Tangled Up In Writing).

Does this sound interesting to you?  Are there any services you'd like to see offered later on?