A Cover is like a Portrait

And my next novel has a cover!

That's right, my next novel, Of Pens and Swords has a cover!

 

I LOVE my cover. I love that it's different from the cover of my first book because they are very different novels!

Here's the blurb for Of Pens and Swords: 

Seventeen-year-old Cyra Berque wants two things in life: a date with Rochan and a chance to show the world a one-handed girl can fence in the Olympics. When Cyra’s coach tells her he’s taught her everything he can, he sets her up with another coach, one who could take her all the way to the top, but the new coach costs more. Feeling her dreams slipping out of reach, Cyra agrees to tutor a ballerina with a rich father and a D minus in English. He’ll pay Cyra three times her usual tutor rate if she can get his precious daughter to a passing grade. The ballerina only has eyes for Rochan, and she’s promised Cyra to turn her D into a full fledged F if Cyra doesn’t help her win the heart of Rochan.

 

You can add Of Pens and Swords on Goodreads! 

The Hour Grows Near

So, maybe you've heard about how I have this book coming out?

I'm not posting my cover here (Soon, soon), but I have a ton of writer buddies helping me out and posting it on the internets. Most of them have books out, so dig around their blogs, add their books to your Goodreads shelves (or however you do it), and take a good look at my cover--which I absolutely love. While you're jumping around, go to the cover artist, Amalia Chitulescu's FB page and peruse some of her other work. Absolutely gorgeous work!

Without further adieu, the links - in no particular order!

Katie Teller,

Michelle Hauck

Sara Aheirs

Mason Matchak

Elizabeth Poole

Ann Noser

Rachel Schieffelbein

Samantha Bryant

Grant Eager

Elsie Elmore 

Tara Tyler

Covers are beautiful!

Today Michelle Hauck and Rockstar Book Tours are revealing the cover for GRUDGING, Birth of Saints Book One series which releases November 17, 2015! Check out the gorgeous cover and enter to win a copy if the eBook!

On to the reveal! 

Title: GRUDGING

Author: Michelle Hauck

Pub. Date: November 17, 2015

Publisher: Harper Voyager Impulse

Format: eBook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

A world of chivalry and witchcraft…and the invaders who would destroy everything.

The North has invaded, bringing a cruel religion and no mercy. The ciudades-estados who have stood in their way have been razed to nothing, and now the horde is before the gates of Colina Hermosa…demanding blood.

On a mission of desperation, a small group escapes the besieged city in search of the one thing that might stem the tide of Northerners: the witches of the southern swamps.

The Women of the Song.

But when tragedy strikes their negotiations, all that is left is a single untried knight and a witch who has never given voice to her power.  And time is running out.

A lyrical tale of honor and magic, Grudging is the opening salvo in the Book of Saints trilogy.

About Michelle: 

Michelle Hauck lives in the bustling metropolis of northern Indiana with her hubby and two teenagers. Two papillons help balance out the teenage drama. Besides working with special needs children by day, she writes all sorts of fantasy, giving her imagination free range. A book worm, she passes up the darker vices in favor of chocolate and looks for any excuse to reward herself. Bio finished? Time for a sweet snack.

She is a co-host of the yearly contests Query Kombat and Nightmare on Query Street, and Sun versus Snow.

Her epic fantasy, Kindar's Cure, is published by Divertir Publishing. Her short story, Frost and Fog, is published by The Elephant's Bookshelf Press in their anthology, Summer's Double Edge. She's repped by Sarah Negovetich of Corvisiero Literary.

Website | Twitter | Facebook page | Tumblr | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive an eBook of GRUDGING. International

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And a bonus post!

Yes, two posts in one week (remember when I posted three times a week? I was crazy!!! Today I have Tara who's showing off her brand new cover for Pop Travel! Take it away Tara!





So happy to be here at the Doc's! Dr. Faerie Godmother, that is! Rena is the best! I've been enjoying this woman's sarcasm and scientific jargon for ages! Thanks for helping me out, woman!

AND Rena is also one of our newest authors at Curiosity Quills! Her hilarious book, ACNE, ASTHMA, AND OTHER SIGNS YOU MIGHT BE HALF DRAGON (I mean, just the title, ha!) is due out in November. And Rena, make sure you let me help you with your release!

Well, I'm going on a little rant today (don't worry, it's got a happy ending, all my stories do!)

Rena's book makes me think I could be half dragon with all my skin problems. Wouldn't that be cool?? But since it's not true, it's just kinda sad and annoying. It also makes me wonder. Has anyone else noticed how rampant allergies, autism, and even vitiligo (white spots where the skin pigment dies) are with kids these days? They're epidemic! Personally, I think it has a lot to do with the extended amount of time we all spend inactive indoors on screens. We are all connected all the time. You know you feel naked without your phone!

this is where my boys are headed...

So here's my crazy theory: All this inside idleness is causing our immune systems to weaken, causing our pigments to be unnecessary to protect us from the sun, causing our brains to turn to mush, and our bodies to flab - ever see WALL*E? My point! I don't believe in the big bang theory (great show tho!) but I do believe in evolution as in survival of the fittest and adapting and changing over time... things that make me go HMM! Or it could all just be my overactive imagination!! I am a writer, after all!

Thanks again, Rena for letting me rant and for letting me show everyone my new POP TRAVEL cover - it's eye-catching! And the re-release has a sneak peek at the first chapter of SIMULATION which comes out Sept 14th!

POP TRAVEL
by Tara Tyler
Re-released July 1, 2015

In 2080, technology has gone too far for private detective J. L. Cooper. He thinks he can avoid pop travel teleportation, until he stumbles onto a video of a pop traveler who turns to dust.

Sparking a series of murders, attempts on his life, and threats to his brother, Cooper wants to pass off the evidence but knows he’s being watched and can’t trust anyone. And who would believe him?

With help from the neurotic genius “Creator” of pop travel and a beautiful Southern charmer, Cooper must expose the deadly glitch and shut it down or die trying. No problem.

Amazon ~~~ B&N ~~~ Goodreads

Tara Tyler has had a hand at everything from waitressing to rocket engineering. After living up and down the Eastern US, she now writes and teaches math in Ohio with her three active boys and Coach Husband. Currently, she has two series, The Cooper Chronicles (techno-thriller detective capers) and Beast World (MG fantasy) She's an adventure writer who believes every good story should have a moral, and a few laughs!

Twitter ~~~ Facebook ~~~ Blog

Also by Tara Tyler, MG/YA Fantasy series, Beast World,

Book One: BROKEN BRANCH FALLS

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Curse of Iron and Ash Cover Reveal!

It's a big week here on the blog, and today, I have a very special treat. Today, I'm helping Christine Norris reveal her cover for A Curse of Ash and Iron! 

ON TO the COVER!

 

 

See! It's gorgeous! I am seriously so very excited about this book. I cannot wait!

Here's the blurb:

Benjamin Grimm knows the theater is much like real life. In 1876 Philadelphia, people play their parts, hiding behind the illusion of their lives, and never revealing their secrets.

When he reunites with his childhood friend Eleanor Banneker, he is delighted. His delight turns to dismay when he discovers she has been under a spell for the past 7 years, being forced to live as a servant in her own home, and he realizes how sinister some secrets can be. She asks for his help, and he can’t refuse. Even if he doesn't believe in ‘real’ magic, he can’t abandon her.

Ellie has spent the long years since her mother’s death under the watchful eye and unforgiving eye of her stepmother. Bewitched and hidden in plain sight, it seems no one can help Ellie escape. Not even her own father, who is under a spell of his own. When she sees Ben one evening, it seems he is immune to the magic that binds her, and her hope is rekindled along with her friendship.

But time is running short. If they do not find a way to break the spell before midnight on New Year’s Eve, then both Ellie and her father will be bound forever.

Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press (www.curiosityquills.com )

Release date: May 21, 2015

Head on over to YA Book Central to enter the GIVEAWAY!

And of course, be sure to stop by Christine's Blog and wish her a happy Cover Reveal Day! Or you could go watch the trailer, or like her on Facebook! Check out her Goodreads page.
And her cover is up at YA Book Central

That is one awesome book cover!

I think this might be one of my favorite parts of blogging...

... hosting cover reveals! I love seeing books go from manuscript to real book, so today it's my pleasure to show off Mara Valderran's cover. So gorgeous!

Today is the cover reveal for Altar of Reality, the first book from Shifted Realities--a brand new series by Mara Valderran. This YA dystopian is set to be released January 31st, 2015 by Curiosity Quills Press. Mark your calendars, and be sure to add the book to your Goodreads list! Want to stay up to date on all things Altar of Reality? Sign up for Mara's newsletter so you don't miss a thing!

And now...the moment Mara's we've all been waiting for...

When sixteen-year-old Madeline suffers her first grand mal seizure, she finds herself in an unfamiliar reality, surrounded by strangers wearing familiar faces. Her best friend, Brandon, tells her that the world has fallen to chaos, the aftermath of World War III ten years ago. Madeline doesn’t remember anything from this life— especially not the explosion four years ago that killed her parents and landed her in a coma, or the Lord Commander; a zealot leader of the Southern Territories now searching for her.

Madeline barely has time to process everything before waking up to the life she’s always known. As soon as she dismisses it all as a strange and vivid dream, she finds herself back there once more. Unsure if she’s truly caught in the middle of a brewing rebellion, or teetering on the brink of insanity, she finds herself flipping between the two lives. Her heart becomes torn between two versions of the same boy and the lines between her realities begin to blur as she struggles to save her lives in both worlds.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Mara Valderran is an author of young adult and new adult books, but she's more than just a madwoman with a writing box. She is an avid reader and fan of all things sci-fi and fantasy. She loves roller skating and movies, though typically not together. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and demanding cat. She hopes to one day meet Daniel Jackson from SG1, or at least the actor who played him. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, playing video games, or counting down the days until DragonCon.

Find Mara Online: 

Website & Blog  Twitter  Facebook  Google+  Goodreads  Amazon

Be sure to check out the Heirs of War, Crown of Flames blog tour going on right now! There are excerpts, interviews, a giveaway, and more. You can find the tour calendar here.

Things that are amazing

Today I have something pretty amazing. One of my friends from Agent Query Connect is revealing her cover today! Everyone head over to Joyce Alton's blog and congratulate her. This is the first book of her trilogy, and it releases in September!

 

 

Isn't this cover gorgeous.

It totally looks amazing! And here's the book blurb!

 

 

An ancient legend is remade.

Meet the oddest, most-likely-to-fail partnership the planet Niyhel has ever known. He's cunning, intelligent, and dangerous. She's slow to trust, reckless, and loyal. And both of them have their own ideas about how to do things.

Thssk, a six-thousand-year old norhendra, has unwittingly caused the near extinction of his kind. Then he abandoned his handler, momentarily forgetting that she was an astral. She curses him as he flees the battlefield: the next handler he chooses will avenge her. Hunted by his past, it takes a divine summons and a volcanic eruption to rekindle Thssk's competitive spirit after a long hibernation. Racing against his enemies to rescue a boy from another planet?—he's the only one capable of pulling it off. But there's a catch, he has to select a new human partner to work with.

Tech savvy Cortnee Feyandihar is tracking down the people responsible for her mom's death while trying to gain a footing on a career path in the fields of music and dance. But when she goes too far with a corruption exposé, a last-ditch effort to salvage her future sticks her in the middle of an inter-world showdown and right into Thssk's coils.

On a world where starships are born, homes grow, and flowers can flatten entire cities, the fates of two lands hangs in the balance, as do the lives of millions of people. Yet it all pales in comparison to Thssk confronting the repercussions of discarding his previous partners as he struggles with his unpredictable new one. Everything Cortnee thought she understood has turned inside out and she must utilize every skill in her arsenal to get a grip on her new reality. If they can't learn to communicate and work together, he won't achieve the great future he was promised, but if they do, Cortnee could fall like her predecessors—into madness.

Author bio:

Joyce Alton writes fantasy, science-fantasy, and historical fantasy. She is an avid reader, having a soft spot for classic literature, a good MG or YA adventure, anything that will make her laugh out loud, or which is beautifully written. She loves rainy days, helping other people, and spending time with her family. She is married to a wonderfully supportive husband and has three children. She currently lives in Idaho.

Follow her on Twitter

Like her page on Facebook

Follow her blog, Yesternight's Voyage

One of the Coolest Posts I've ever written: POP TRAVEL Cover Reveal!!!!

You know, I love to travel: I HATE the airport and the planes.

For a little while, I was flying so often that I was going through a suitcase every three months (no joke, I no longer qualified as a resident in the state I owned property in!). The whole time, I wished for a way to just teleport to my destination, and now Tara Tyler has written a story about just such a thing. But look out, Pop Travel isn't all that and bag of chips!

And today I get to show off Tara's AWESOME cover! I mean, how cool is that, one of my favorite peeps is about to have a book come out! I am SOOOO excited!

POP TRAVEL by Tara Tyler releases 7/7/2013!

You know you want to read it. Here's more:

Private Investigator J. L. Cooper always knew pop travel laser teleportation was too good to be true. Finding video proof of a disintegrating traveler is the stomach turning “I told you so.”

Not bothering to upload the video to the nosy, government monitored Qnet, Cooper digs around, bringing the death of his client and threats to his political little brother, who is in jeopardy of turning to dust anyway for disregarding Cooper’s warnings not to pop. Cooper has to do everything himself.

If he survives his first pop, Cooper won’t let anything distract him from getting the job done. Not the android security guards, the constant surveillance, or even Southern Comfort in a purple dress, Geri Harper. Nothing Coop can’t handle.

Ahh! I cannot wait, and it doesn't come out until JULY! It's like waiting for Christmas only way better. And that cover is *Perfect*! It's inviting and intriguing. It's like a noir mystery and you KNOW it's going to be awesome. OMG I cannot wait. July 7th, you are too far into the future for your own good. 

If you're absolutely excited like me, you can go check out Tara's blog. It's an absolute must follow as far as I'm concerned, but here's her bio if you can't wait for the web browser to load another page. 

Tara Tyler's book POP TRAVEL releases on July 7th!!!!!

 Math teacher by day, sports mom by night,
When does she have time to write?
Good question, but the Lazy Housewife makes time! Tara Tyler writes sci fi, thriller,
and fantasy, with dabs of romance and humor and tips for efficient living. Something for
everyone.

The second you can preorder this book, I'll have a link here. (Amazon! Why are you taking so long? It'll be June here in seconds!)

Congratulations, Tara! This is so exciting I'm bouncing in my chair as I type!