5 Days Left

Hey guys!

Just want to remind everyone that there's only 5 days left to sign up for the After - Part One giveaway! Be sure to jump over there and enter before it's too late.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

After

by D.R. Johnson

Giveaway ends September 30, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And now on to the topic of Off The Beaten Path. I was able to finish reading all the stories and they are wonderful! I recommend grabbing a copy as well as signing up for that giveaway too! I'll have lots of posts going up next week, full of features and spotlights of all my fellow authors.

Things have been truly crazy on the home front though. After - Part Two is still on schedule, but when I say crazy, I mean CRAZY! I don't know if I'll be able to hang on to my sanity through all this. My surgery probably won't be until the end of October, early November and I am not looking forward to that. We are also planning on putting our house on the market next month so we have a lot of little renovations going right now. Just bad timing.

Now for a little tidbit; part two has securely made it past the 70k word mark. I never expected it to grow this much during the rewrites, so I'm quite pleased. Some scenes are still being adjusted in the final edits and I only have two more chapters to go. Things are looking really good still, despite all the delays! Feels good to be back on track.

Well, that's it for today. Catch everyone next week! Mark your calendars, cuz this blogs gonna be hoppin!

The Fall

What does this mean? It means Autumn is right around the corner! Living in Texas, it's really hard to think of it being so close when temperatures here are still hanging around 95 everyday. I can't wait till that cool air gets here!

This is my favorite time of year. Yes, the cool air is great, but you also have football and all the season premieres!

And what else... Oh yeah! The release of After - Part Two!  How could I forget?

Just kidding...

Things are back on track and I'm really trying to get everything finished before the surgery. Just to give you an idea of where I'm at, I'm completely done with the rewrites and now I'm in the editing process and plan to have that finished by the end of September. After that, it's all polishing and formatting.

I ALSO have some exciting news for Off the Beaten Path. The first giveaway is now live! Be sure to sign up. If you miss it this go around, don't worry, there'll be others. More information on the book will be coming soon as we, the authors, dive into promotions. We'll have lots of little tidbits, ebooks, and paperbacks to give away!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Off the Beaten Path

Giveaway sponsored by Jason T. Graves

Giveaway ends October 15, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Edit: ACK!! I wrote this post Wednesday night and scheduled it to post Thursday morning as normal, but didn't actually publish it! So sorry it's late!

Seriously?

~back to edit~

Sorry about that tragedy of a post from my phone! I just couldn't let it lie. I had to come back and poke some life back into it.

So yes, I've had a few setbacks lately. Do I need to post a list? You don't really want to hear it.

I did lose access to my files yesterday so wasn't able to edit much at all. That was just one day, so I'll make up for that today. I've already got a good chunk done and will get right back to it as soon as I've got this posted.

Here's the other setback. It's such a sad story. So ya see, I print each chapter out for hubby to beta, and the last chapter I printed has been edited and ready for me to get the updates done. It's been sitting on my desk for a few days now, patiently waiting for my attention. Then... (DUN DUN DUN) Earlier today, it may have gotten a sippy cup spilled on it. :(

The edits are still legible, so no problem there. I just won't be able to save this in my folder with everything I printed from After - Part One and After - Part Two. See? I told you it was a sad story.

How about a wrist update? I did see the Doc on Wednesday and, yes, it's carpal tunnel. Surprise, surprise. I will be scheduled for surgery soon, but I think I'm going to put it off long enough to get After - Part Two out there. I'm so close to being done and able to type again... I can't let a little thing like nerve damage keep me down!

If you haven't yet, make sure you head on over to Goodreads and sign up for the giveaway. The book is just a collectors edition, but the pen is AWESOME! I handed a few out to some friends for us to test out and it works really well. Anyway, here's the link. No obligation, just fill out the form quick and sign up. Enter to win!

Okay, I feel a bit better about this post. Going straight back to the edits!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Open Minds - By Susan Kaye Quinn

Sorry this post is a little late today. I may have gotten caught up in the first Monday night game of the season and then passed out early.

So I do have a review for today. I totally swept through Open Minds this weekend, and I'm so thankful I found a book that captured my attention so effectively.

The book eases you into the story and starts off slow as we get to know Kira and her world. It's an odd, futuristic world where something in the water has turned everyone into a mind-reader. Everyone, except for a lonely few that are referred to as 'zeros.' That would be Kira.

Open Minds

Zeros have a hard life because no one trusts them. Why would you trust someone when you can't read their thoughts? It's to easy for them to keep secrets and tell lies. Zeros can never be productive members of society.

This is how Kira's story starts. Once it gets going, though, it's pretty action packed. It kept the pages turning and was a very easy read. As soon as I turned the last page, I immediately bought the second book.

This book was really good and I only had a few issues with it that knocked it down to a 4 star review.

First was the way the slag words were used. The author did an excellent job creating all this new jargon and slang terms to give her world depth, but there were moments when it felt like it was over used a bit. Not a big deal, though.

The biggest reason why this book didn't rate a full 5 stars for me was the lack of emotion I felt for the characters. People could die and I didn't care. Now, I'm an emotional person and I cried like a banshee when I read the Hunger Games, but for some reason, I didn't have a connection with the characters in the book. I couldn't begin to tell you why, either.

I wouldn't let any of that stop you from reading this book, though. It's pretty minor stuff compared to how excellent the story is.

Also, here's the book trailer, which I think is pretty awesome!

You can find more info on Susan and her books here.

Will be back on Thursday!

Giveaway!

Oh no! I almost forgot! The holiday has me all thrown off and I almost let Thursday get away from me.

For starters, I hope everyone was able to enjoy Labor Day in some way, shape or form. I spent some time at the lake, hit up a couple birthday parties (one for a toddler and the other had some mad karaoke!) and made plans to remodel the master bath. Woohoo! Now I need a weekend to just relax!

As promised, here is the link to the Goodreads givaway for the two books I have just sitting here on my desk. Go ahead! Sign up! It's free and no obligations at all. This is just to promote the first book before the release of part two, which will be coming soon!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

After - Part One

by D.R. Johnson

Giveaway ends September 30, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

And do you want even more exciting news?

Well, I have some!

Off The Beaten Path

I am very pleased to announce the upcoming release of an anthology that has been in the works for some time. This book features short stories from 8 authors, including yours truly! The book is entitled Off The Beaten Path and is set to release on October 1st. My contribution, To Darkness I Fall, is a short story of seduction and revenge. A very satisfying tale, if I may say so myself.

Make sure to add it to your Goodreads list and keep in mind this anthology will only be available for a limited time.

A brief note on a more serious subject, the state of my wrist. It's still painful but I'm getting back to normal. Editing has resumed at a slow pace and I have a doctor's appointment next week. Wearing the wrist brace at night seems to help more than anything else I've tried. I'll just have to see what the Doc has to say and hope it's all good news!

With my down time, I finally found a tale to cure my book hangover. Open Minds, book one of the Mindjack Trilogy. I finally got a few chapters in and Susan Kaye Quinn has managed to capture my attention. I expect that will be my next review.

Everyone, go have a safe and happy weekend! Read a book, watch a movie and unwind before Monday rolls around again. Season premieres will be upon us soon, not to mention the cooler weather and FOOTBALL!! My favorite time of year!