Progress Report

So, tomorrow marks the last day of the Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh blog tour. I must say this month has been absolutely nuts. It's been a giant juggling act, and on top of everything my husband and I have been taking turns getting sick. Thankfully, our two year old hasn't picked anything up (touch wood!)
But now, Kiya has been out a month. I feel like things will settle into a groove for it, and I've done all I can to get the ball rolling. I guess I'll just have to sit back and wait.
I just finished proofing book 2 and sent it in to be placed in my editor's queue. I've also sent the final book in to my Acquisitions Editor for reviewing. Book 2 will be coming out Oct 25th if you missed that little detail :-)
Branded is all submitted now too and is lined up for a November release. No specific date yet, but it's on its way. November is a crazy month for me on a normal year with my birthday the day after Halloween, then my Dad's a few days later, then my father-in-law's, then my daughter's, then thanksgiving. Phew! I better be super organized this year!
Also, after some great advice from an editor, I am planning on self-publishing the Cadence books. These won't come out until after the Kiya trilogy is complete, but I've decided to self pub because I've realized why they keep getting rejected. This editor pointed out to me that with my MC going from 25 to 14 and slowly aging up, it's almost impossible to market as it's not YA or NA. So there you have it. I'm hoping to release Deceptive Cadence in July 2014.
So now I'm reading. Yes, reading. It's been so long since I just read something I'm really excited about it. I have a few NetGalley books, plus a nice collection of books I won, so hopefully you'll be seeing some reviews here soon.

Winners for the 500 Follower Giveaway!

The winners are posted! Go here to see. I will email the winners soon. Congrats and thank you to everyone who entered and for all your support!

Kiya: Mother of a King

So I now have a release date for book two of the Kiya trilogy. Kiya: Mother of a King is lined up for a release on 25th of October, 2013. That's right! About five months away!

My question is, what would you like to see on the cover? I really want Naomi with Tut and Malachi but I'm concerned that might be too busy. So, what do you think? I need to send in my cover ideas asap so let me know in the comments what you think would look awesome!

My Girl!

So, now it's coming up to summer here in Arizona, I need to think about letting the dog come in during the heat of the day. The problem is, the desert pollens and dust give me terrible allergies, so this means dog bath!  Yes, my lab mix is a typical dog who romps and explores everything that gives me really bad allergies, so if she wants to avoid the heat she must suffer regular hose downs, and today marked the beginning of the bathing season for her.
She's a medium haired dog, low maintenance was a must for me when we adopted her because we had a malamute at the time and I didn't want to deal with grooming two dogs while I was preggers. Despite this, she's been shedding like crazy because it's getting into the hundreds already during the day. So, once we'd finished the bath I had enough fur to make a chihuahua. But she's so pretty now!!! And here she is -

She's not really very good at staying still, so they're all a bit blurry!!!
Anyway, it was nice to spend time with her and my daughter in a crazy, squirmy, wet dog smelling bath time. I feel like I've been so busy lately I haven't spent enough time with either of them.

500 Followers Giveaway!

To say a great big THANK YOU to all my twitter followers, I'm going to giveaway a signed paperback copy of Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh along with a bookmark and maybe something else! Unfortunately this physical giveaway is US only because I need to pay for postage, but for non-US residents I'm going to give away an ebook copy!

So, follow the prompts below for your particular region of residence and thank you so much for all your support throughout my journey thus far, and hopefully continuing on in the future.


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My Shiny New Book Deal!

Yup, I'm very excited to announce I got a new book deal. It's for Branded, which I mentioned once before during the Next Big Thing blog hop, as well as two Six Sentence Sunday posts (Here and Here) The deal is with Soul Mate Publishing and I'm excited to see what a different publisher has to offer since I've loved Curiosity Quills so much. But don't worry, the rest of the Kiya trilogy will still come out with CQ. As I said, I love them!
But Branded is different from CQ's normal genres, which is why it's going with Soul Mate. It's a Romantic Suspense with religious and racial themes. I love it, and worked hard to keep it from being racist while also touching on real and sensitive matters.
So anyway, keep an eye out for it and I'll definitely keep you posted!

Kindle Fire Giveaway

 

This is a joint AUTHOR & BLOGGER SPONSORED GIVEAWAY!

Kindle Fire HD 7" Giveaway

The winner will have the option of receiving a 7" Kindle Fire HD (US Only)

  Or $199 Amazon.com Gift Card (International)

  Or $199 in Paypal Cash (International)

Sponsoring Bloggers & Authors

1. I Am A Reader, Not A Writer
2. Feed Your Reader
3. Girls with Books
4. Just Bookin' Around
5. The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl
6. Books, Beauty and Bodacious Deals
7. Author Emma Michaels
8. Page Flipperz YA
9. Lori's Reading Corner
10. Oh, Chrys!
11. Author Josh Baker
12. Author Roxanne Crouse
13. Eve's Fan Garden
14. Author Elizabeth Isaacs
15. Chapter Break
16. Buku-Buku Didi
17. Molly & Mel's Obsessions Book Blog
18. Author Jennifer Laurens
19. Author MK McClintock
20. Bookhounds
21. Step Into Fiction
22. Author Lena Sledge
23. Author Taylor Dean
24. Leisure Reads
25. Libby's Library
26. A Bookish Escape
27. Ramblings of a Diva Book Nerd
28. Suspense Author Kim Cresswell
29. Suzy Turner, YA Author
30. Books Unhinged by StacyHgg
31. Author Lori Verni-Fogarsi
32. Fae Books
33. Word to Dreams
34. Kid Lit Frenzy
35. Author Tressa Messenger
36. Auggie Talk
37. Phantasmic Reads
38. Kerry Taylor
39. Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf
40. Marissa's Space

  Giveaway Details 1 winner will receive their choice of a Kindle Fire 7" HD (US Only), $199 Amazon Gift Card or $199 in Paypal Cash (International). Ends 5/31/13 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer http://iamareader.com and sponsored by the participating authors & bloggers. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour

To follow the Kiya blog tour, I am posting links on the side bar as each post becomes available. Find some deeper insight into characters, what inspired me, and my research process among other things. Don't forget to leave the bloggers some love because I am truly grateful for them helping me out!

Blog Hop WINNERS

Thank you to everyone who participated. I loved reading all your posts on Egypt, and learning about all the different things you talked about!

Now for what you have been waiting for. PRIZES!

1st Place:

Signed hardcopy of Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh
Mummy Making/Archeology Dig Kit
Hard copy of The Charge by Sharon Bayliss

$15 Amazon GC

Ebook copy of Risen by Britney Jensen

The winner:

K. A Last

Runner Up:

Ebook copy of Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh

$10 Amazon GC

Ebook copy of Gaia's Secret by Barbara Kloss

Ebook copy of The Charge by Sharon Bayliss

Ebook copy of Sacrifice by K.A Last

winner:

Stacey Nash

First 50 pages critique by Darci Cole - Farrah

First chapter critique by Ryan Dalton - Anabel Gonzalez

Query critique from Leigh Statham - Tawney Bland

Synopsis critique by Stacey Nash - Courtney Worth Young (It wasn't really funny per-say,  but I loved that it was about cats!)

I will forward all the details of the winners to their appropriate prize giver.... for want of a better word! And they will contact you. Thank you again to EVERYONE for participating, and for your support during my book's release!

Psst... Kiya 2 is in the works with Curiosity Quills.... ;-)

Blog Swap - Zarconian Island by Aja Hannah

Today I have Aja talking about why she started Zarconian Island the way she did! You can find Aja on twitter - @ZarconianSeries and @AjaHannah, Goodreads, or buy it on Amazon.

Kiya is at her blog today, thus the blog swap, so once you've had a look at Zarconian Island and Aja, swing by her blog for a character interview with Horemheb.

Some of my reviewers tell me that the beginning makes no sense. Why were those kids on a boat and not a plane? Why were they chosen to go to Hawaii in the first place?

Let me tell you, I started Zarconian Island in high school and--wow--it changed since then. At first it was a plane crash that led to the kids stranded on an island. Then Lost came out and plane crashes got old. Really fast.

Advice from an agent made me change the boat crash to a plane crash, but the reason the kids were on the trip stayed the same. (Though I think, I made the mistake of cutting too much to get the beginning going and that reason got muddled along the way.)

For my readers who are confused, don't worry. The reason will be revealed in the second book. The important things to remember are that Attie and her classmates were dubbed the best and brightest of Maryland, and sent to Hawaii as a reward, except none of them are positive as to how they got that title.

And the angry crew? Well, they're not your normal crew.

Aja

Some Disney Inspiration!

One of my favorite movies of all time is Remember the Titans. This movie not only has an outstanding cast, but a powerful theme and great dialogue. Here, I've found a clip with Disney's best pep talks to help inspire you to keep at it and fight for your dreams!

Broken Forest Blog Hop

Just to be confusing, I'm helping Eliza Tilton with her blog hop for her release, Broken Forest. To go to the Kiya blog hop which is also running this week click here. *Hint more cool prizes to win!*

So here we go with Eliza's hop!

If you’ve landed here during your adventure, skip all this and go below.

If you’re wondering what’s going on, go here to start your own adventure!

And may The Creator bless you on your journey.

Your story:

The smart choice is to run, very fast. You dash out of the cave leaving the creepy creatures to the dark, and decide to try a different direction.

Surveying the area, you realize you only have two options.

Ella and the others are most likely north, and since you need to collect as much black flower nectar as possible, north would be unwise, but you might be able to focus more on tagging than collecting.

Or you could go south, straight to the marshlands. There are bound to be flowers there, and if not you can grab the jade mushroom for coin!

And then there’s east where the wolves hunt.

A)     North. You decide getting the title of Jenzi is more important than anything else. Go here

B)      South. To the marshes it is! Go here

C)      East. You hope to find lots of black flowers and no wolves. Go here

So now you've begun you adventure, learn about Broken Forest and Eliza!

Book goodreads blurb:

Hopeless he'll never be more than the boy who didn't save his brother, 17-year-old Avikar accepts his life as the family stable boy, trying to forget the past. But when his sister, Jeslyn, is kidnapped, the thought of losing another sibling catapults him on a desperate quest. With his best friend by his side, and using the tracking skills he learned from his father, he discovers Jeslyn has been taken, kidnapped by one Lucino, the young lord of Daath, a mystical place thought only to exist in fables.

And Lucino has plans for Jeslyn.

Add it on Goodreads here, or buy it through B&N, Amazon or Kobo!

Author BIO:

Eliza graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull.

Find her at her website or on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, or Facebook!

And last of all, enter the rafflecopter for some more great prizes!

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