A special gift for you in the book “Taming Your Monster” at Amazon.com March 4-8, 2015.
Today is the day! You can download the free picture ebook with all of the authors listed for free downloadable books for today. Many of the books listed are also free for the next couple of days, including mine. So, here are the special instructions to follow:
Happy Read Across America Day today on March 2. Read all week for free with ebook coupons.
Happy Read Across America Day! To celebrate, I’ve got my first children’s novel set-up on Smashwords to be free this week. You can pick up your copy here at Smashwords.
Here is the coupon: FL57N
I also promised some information on fabulous gifts available this week. On Wed. March 4, a free book called: Taming Your Pet Monster: An Operational Guide is the trigger for all of the free gifts. You’ll be able to find it on Amazon. Inside the free copy will be a list of 25 books all free for that day. They range from picture books to middle grade. They are listed by the author below. So, you’ll see the link when clicked in the promo list in the book. So, the books that are free will be officially revealed that day. Can’t give it all totally away today! 🙂
The Lost Secret of Fairies is available for free on Read Across America Week with a Smashwords coupon.
Here is the list of authors so you can check out their books ahead of time. The books included in the March 4th promotion are listed by the number of each in the series by that author. Enjoy! Don’t forget, read, read, read!
Taming Your Pet Monster: An Operational Guide
Sarah Holmlund title #1
Sarah Holmlund title #2
D.C. Swain title #1
D.C. Swain title #2
Emily Martha Sorensen title #1
Louise Lintvelt title #1
M.J. Storm title #1
T.J. Lantz title #1
Rebecca Price title #1
Rebecca Price title #2
Jan Hurst-Nicholson title #1
Jan Hurst-Nicholson title #2
Jan Hurst-Nicholson title #3
Tiffany Turner title #1
Monica L. LaSarre title #1
4eyesbooks title #1
Winston Rose title #1
Winston Rose title #2
Allira Bell title #1
P.M. Richter title #1
P.M. Richter title #2
Werner Stejskal title #1
Rhonda Tyler title #1
Little Chickadee
A Little Book About You
***Shhhh! There is another free ebook secret. It has to do with more free reading. I’ll be revealing all of the info in a post on the blog tomorrow. So, please check back!
Welcome to Day 4 of the Back to School Blog Tour 2014! If you haven’t signed up for the Book Bundle Giveaway, there are still several days left. Entering is easy. From liking authors on Facebook to commenting on their blog, you can enter to win the fabulous book bundle of children’s book each day. So, keep coming back each day and enter.
Today’s featured author is D.R. Martin. He began his writing career as an arts journalist before moving on to marketing communications work. He has covered topics ranging from consumer electronics and medical technology to travel and classical music. For many years, he reviewed science fiction and fantasy books for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
D.R. Martin is the author of the Johnny Graphic Adventures series.
D. R. is the author of the Johnny Graphic children’s ghost adventure series and the Marta Hjelm hard-boiled PI mystery Smoking Ruin. Under the pen name Richard Audry he has published the Mary MacDougall historical mystery novella A Pretty Little Plot and the canine cozy mystery The Karma of King Harald. The second Mary MacDougall novella, The Stolen Star, was issued this past summer. A Mary MacDougall Mystery Duet is the paperback edition of the two Mary MacDougall novellas. In addition, D. R. is the author of Four Science Fiction Masters: Lost Interviews with Herbert, Pohl, Simak & Dickson; and Travis McGee & Me: Reflections on the Man from Slip F-18.
Below is the exclusive interview with D.R. Martin:
1) What is your favorite memory from the beginning of a school year?
Trying out for plays. We had a great theater program and I was fortunate to get parts in shows every autumn. I always had some stage fright before performances, but a great sense of accomplishment afterwards.
2) Who was your most inspiring teacher? Why?
His name was Robert Burrows. And his demanding high school history and English courses scared away most of the students in my school. But those of us who took on the challenge of his classes felt we learned ten times more than we would have otherwise. In addition to the subject matter, we learned discipline…how to research…how to give and take criticism…how to frame arguments…how to study and write long and hard. For junior year English we each had to create our own American literature textbooks. I still have mine, almost three inches thick—self-illustrated in pen and ink. I think I began my journey as a real writer in Mr. Burrows’ classes.
3) What is the advice you would give children’s authors to get started?
There are various genres of children’s books and you should choose the one you feel the most passion for. For me, it was middle grade fantasy adventure. Make up a list of story ideas, filling in as much of the plots as you can. Then choose the best one and write the book. Get as much feedback as you can. Don’t be disappointed if you don’t have immediate success. You may need to write several books before you learn how to do it well. You must be willing to keep writing, even without much encouragement in the form of income and recognition. In a nutshell, the trick is to keep writing. Never, never, never quit.
4) Who is your favorite character from a children’s book?
As a boy, I loved to read science fiction and fantasy stories, and action-adventures. It was that sort of thing that inspired me to tackle the Johnny Graphic Trilogy. I simply wanted to create a ripping ghost-adventure yarn that both young readers and adults could enjoy. But having said all that, my favorite character in a children’s book is something quite different. It’s Ratty, from The Wind in the Willows. (Which is my all-time favorite novel.) He is the center of gravity in that peerless story of three fast animal friends. While the Mole is shy and timorous, and the Toad grandiose and lunatic, the Water Rat is the solid one who keeps it all together. We should all be as decent and steadfast as Ratty.
5) How could you sum up what writing means to you?
I’ve been fortunate to make my living as a journalist and marketing-communications writer. But even when no one is paying me, I have to keep writing. Though my novels and blogs don’t make much money, I have to write them. Writing is simply too much fun to ever quit putting words on the page. To me, it is as essential as breathing.
6) What are your current writing projects?
In the year since I finished the second Johnny Graphic book, Johnny Graphic and the Attack of the Zombies, I’ve concentrated on two adult mystery series, written under my pen name, Richard Audry. The Karma of King Harald is the first book in a canine cozy series starring a rescue dog who sniffs out crime. I’m working on the second book, King Harald’s Haul, right now. I’ve also written two historical mystery novellas, A Pretty Little Plot and The Stolen Star, which feature 18-year-old sleuth Mary MacDougall. And I’m plotting out the third and final Johnny Graphic adventure. I’ve grown very fond of Johnny and his friends, and I want to make sure they end up safe and sound after all the turmoil I’ve put them through.
Welcome to day 2 of the Back to School Blog Tour. If you haven’t signed up for the Book Bundle Giveaway, there are still several days left. Entering is easy. From liking authors on Facebook to commenting on their blog, you can enter to win the fabulous book bundle of children’s books each day. So, keep coming back each day and enter.
Rachel Cole writes middle grade novels and is featuring her “The Rabbit Ate My Homework” middle grade ebook for this blog tour. She has answered questions about her favorite memories of school and how teacher’s have influenced her writing. Rachel Elizabeth Cole writes a mix of genres, from heartfelt to humorous, but her favorite will always be middle grade fiction. When she’s not writing, Rachel works as a graphic designer specializing in book covers. Her favorite season is autumn, she prefers tea to coffee, and wishes every morning began at ten a.m. Even though she hates the rain, Rachel lives just outside Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband, their two sons, and two very spoiled house rabbits.
Rachel Elizabeth Cole is the author of “The Rabbit Ate My Homework”.
1) What is your favorite memory from the beginning of a school year?
I don’t have a particular favourite memory. But when I think about the beginning of the school year, I think about how everything always felt so new and fresh–from the freshly polished hallway floors which squeaked under your new shoes to the brand new school supplies with your name neatly printed on them–and full of possibilities. New teacher, new things to learn, new friends to make.
2) Who was your most inspiring teacher? Why?
My high school English teacher, Mr. Gerlitz. He was very supportive of my early writing efforts.
3) What is the advice you would give children authors to get started?
Read a lot and write a lot. Like anything, you get better with practice!
4) Who is your favorite character from a children’s book?
I don’t really have a favourite. There are so many characters I love. Misty of Chincoteague, the Enormous Crocodile, Ramona Quimby, Wilbur the pig, Curious George, Ratty and Mole, the Borrowers (yes, all of them!), Mrs. Frisby, Bunnicula, Ralph Mouse, Rudy Miller, Origami, Yoda, Alex Morningside, Tom and Liz Austen, Anne of Green Gables and that’s just off the top of my head!
5) How could you sum up what writing means to you?
Writing is as much a part of me as my hands or my eyes. I could live
without them, but I wouldn’t be whole.
6) What are your current writing projects?
Current children’s writing projects include three middle grade novels: the sequel to my newly-released novel, The Rabbit Ate My Homework, a book about a girl who gets her first pony, only caring for and learning to ride is nothing like what she’d imagined, and one top secret project that I hope to share soon!
Welcome to the first day of the Back to School Blog Tour for 2014. It’s part of my give back to the Indie Children’s Author community. I am featuring some unique and fabulous books this week from picture books to YA. With the new Common Core being adopted in many schools throughout the US, this is a great time to learn about new authors and possible new books for guided reading and novel studies. Plus, if you just want to find a great new book to read at the start of school, please check back each day for our new featured author.
This year, we have a Back To School Book Bundle Giveaway featuring books donated by the featured authors. Enter to win by joining featured authors’ social media links. It’s a great way to stay in touch with what the featured authors will be doing in the Fall and months to come. Plus, your welcomed to share what you learned by reposting any of the featured posts. The giveaway will run through the end of the weekend, Sept. 7, 2014. Winners will be announced on the blog 48 hours after the end of the giveaway. All the authors featured for this week have donated books for the giveaway. Here is your chance to support Indie authors and win something too! Here is what you can win:
Grand Prize Book Bundle:
Becca Price: Fairies and Fireflies
Rachel Cole: The Rabbit Ate My Homework
Clare K.R. Miller: A Star to Guide Her Trilogy (YA) Ebook Trilogy
D.R. Martin: Johnny Graphic Adventure Series (Middle Grade) Paperback or Ebook edition
Garrett Carter: I Want To Be An Athlete and a Teacher (Picture Book) Paperback signed edition
Runner Up: One runner-up winner will receive The Lost Secret of Fairies Ebook or Paperback edition and a $10 Starbucks Gift Card
Our first featured author is Becca Price. She first joined the blog tour last year, and has been up to writing many more books since she was last featured. She is almost done with her Fairies and Fey series, and is adding a bit more spice by working on a YA. It has been a wonderful experience to see her list of books grow over the last year. I had a chance to ask Becca about her current and future projects, and what she remembers about her favorite memories of her most inspiring teacher.
1) What is your favorite memory from the beginning of a school year?
Becca Price: The first day of school often coincided with my birthday (this was back when schools started in early September) so I’d get a lot of fancy school stuff and clothes for birthday gifts. And books! I’d usually get lots of books for my birthday — so I had the triple excitement of a new school year, a birthday, and new books to read in boring classes. (did I actually say that?)
2) Who was your most inspiring teacher? Why?
Becca Price: I had two very inspiring teachers in junior high and high school, and it is to my deepest shame that I don’t recall their names. In Junior High, I had a history teacher who recognized that I could write my stories and poems in class, and still keep up good grades in her class. She let me write whatever I wanted to, as long as I showed it to her when I was done. She was very encouraging, even though my poetry was mostly doggerel at that point. My stories were typical early teen self-indulgence, but she’d often underline a sentence or paragraph that was particularly good.
In high school, I took a creative writing class. My teacher there, too, was very encouraging about my way with words, but warned me that the path of a professional fiction writer was hard, and not very well paid.
3) What is the advice you would give children authors to get started?
Becca Price: Read all the children’s books you can. Read Neil Gaiman for sheer brilliance, Charles de Lint for his way of making every word and scene count, read the classic children’s literature because they’re fun. But read, read, read everything you can get your hands on. You never know what will spark inspiration.
4) Who is your favorite character from a children’s book?
Becca Price: Oddly, the little engine from The Little Engine That Could. “I think I can, I think I can.” Words that should be engraved in every child’s heart.
5) How could you sum up what writing means to you?
Becca Price: Writing is life, writing is breath. Writing is emotion, both joy and sorrow. I’ve always written, I can’t imagine not writing. There was a long period where I was on medication that decreased creativity (was known for that, in fact) and it was horrible. The week I got off that was the week I first published Dragons and Dreams.
6) What are your current writing projects?
Becca Price: Right now I’ve got several irons in the fire. The most pressing is re-releasing all my books with illustrations, and getting them professionally laid out. I’ve found the most wonderful artist, Sara Anderson, who really captures the story themes and my writing style, and I adore her. She also has several unpublished stories to illustrate for me, so that they’ll come out as a first edition with illustrations. I hope to have all those done by the end of 2014.
In the mean time, I’ve started a fairly major project, The Woods Between. It’s hard to describe. It’s for a YA/Adult audience, still a fairy tale, but a multi-generation saga of one family’s interactions with fairyland for good and ill. It will be composed of three separate stories for 3 distinct generations, showing how the actions of each previous generation affects the next generation. It started out as a simple quest fairy tale, and my husband asked a simple question, and the rest cascaded from there. I have no idea how long it will be, but don’t look for publication until early 2015.
I’m also about 2/3 done with my next collection, Quests and Fairy Queens — I’m hoping to work on the two or three missing stories when I’m not working on The Woods Between.
Thank you Becca for kicking off the Back To School Blog Tour this year. I can’t wait to see where this next year takes you. For more information or connect with Becca Price:
My Grandpa, helping my nephew open a plastic Easter egg on Easter morning 2007.
A few years ago, I lost my grandfather to Alzheimer’s Disease. I watched the strong, caring grandfather that loved to tell stories start to forget the easiest details. Eventually he was unable to remember who we were, his own family, or how to wash and care for himself. It was heartbreaking, but I know that it couldn’t be stopped. A cure to make his last years less painful would have helped. When he lost his memories, his stories disappeared. I miss those.
On June 21st, the Alzheimer’s Association is having a fundraiser called “The Longest Day”. People can “Do What They Love” as tribute to someone they know or have lost to Alzheimer’s. I’ll be donating the sales of The Crystal Keeper Chronicles 6/20-6/22 to this worthy cause. All sales on those days on Amazon.com will be calculated and donated to the Alzeimer’s Association through one of the fundraisers Jason Hall, on Team Laura Barr.
But you can also help by buying other books. On my writer’s board, Kboards.com, there is a thread of other authors that are donating their sales to Alzheimer’s. It has only come together in the last few days. But it’s such a worthy cause, many of us are happy to donate our sales on those days. If you’re an author, and would like to donate your sales for the day, link below to the Kboards.com thread. It gives you all the information. The thread below is where you can find other books to purchase for the Alzheimer’s Association: Link to Kboards Authors to Help Alzheimer’s
Thank you so much for your help. Sometimes it’s the little things that can do the most good. A cure is worth it.
UPDATE June 22, 2014:
I wanted to thank everyone that bought books on “The Longest Day” fundraiser. I sold seven copies of my books which I promised to match the royalties earned. I ended up doubling my match for a $15 donation. It doesn’t seem like much, but if authors banned together next year and donated, it would be quite an event. I’m talking to some author friends, and I’ll let you know what happens. This was all very last minute and done in the last few days this year. I’m looking for maybe a more organized effort next year. I’ll keep everyone updated.
Today is the winner announcement for the Back to School Giveaway Bundle. It was linked through an on-line giveaway entry website called Rafflecopter. I’m sorry to announce there were no entries for the giveaway. Therefore, there was no winner.
But, let’s do this all again next year. I had a great time interviewing other Indie Children’s Authors, and I’d love to run the blog tour again next year. I think I’ll be making some changes, and focusing on certain features. Look for the Back to School Blog Tour 2014 next year. Announcements will go out for participation during the summer of 2014.
For now, enjoy the information from the blog tour, visit the featured authors, and have an excellent school year!
-Tiffany Turner
Editor and Head Writer for The Indie Children’s Authors Connection
Back to School Blog Tour Sept. 2-6 Featured Author: Victoria Jeffrey
Welcome to day two of the Back to School Blog Tour 2013!
Every day I will be featuring the authors in our tour with an interview and links to their books and blogs.
For a list and link to all the authors participating and tour giveaway, link to the Back To School Blog Tour Page here.
Today’s featured author is Victoria Jeffrey. She has always had an interest in writing fairy tales. Influenced by authors from Tolkien to Shakespeare, Victoria shares some of her role models, inspirations, and how she writes her fantastic tales.
Victoria Jeffery is the author of the book, The Green Tree.
1) Who was your favorite teacher, and how did they influence your writing?
Mr. Jones. He was my English teacher. Also, he was my Japanese language teacher. He expected excellence from everyone in class and did not allow me to get away with slacking off. He loved the English language and he loved books and this love came through in how he taught the class. Of course we read some of the classics but it was never boring, stilted or dreary because he had interesting and sometimes divergent insights on the authors who wrote the classics we read or the history and lore surrounding the books we read in his class. Classics came alive in Mr. Jones’s class.
2) What advice would you give children for the beginning of school?
View each day as an adventure! View each teacher as someone who has something important to give you. Often in stories when a hero goes on an adventure there is a sage old character who has wisdom or a wondrous device that the hero needs in his or her quest. View your teacher as that sage imparting wisdom or giving an important gift for the journey and your whole outlook in school should be a positive one.
3) Did you have any role models growing up? Who were they? Why did you admire them?
My mother for one. But there was also Anne McCaffrey and her Dragonriders series and Margaret Weiss and the Dragonlance Chronicles. When I was a kid I didn’t know that women wrote fantasy or science fiction. Seeing women writers in those fields who wrote books that so many people loved was a huge inspiration for me as a girl who loved speculative fiction. I only wished that I had known about Octavia Butler when I was a girl.
4) Do you do anything to help organize your writing or inspire a story?
The single best thing that has helped me when writing a story is creating an outline. Once I started making outlines (and mine are not long or highly detailed) Writer’s Block went away. I stopped writing myself into corners or starting a story and then getting bored midway through and leaving it to start on another. Outlines help me organize my thoughts and how I am going to plot the story. It’s a roadmap that shines light on where you are going and it prevents my writing time from being wasted. It makes writing the actual story quite easy and enjoyable instead of a chore.
5) What is the kernel of wisdom you have learned about writing?
Outlining as well as reading good books – mostly books you love to read. I grew up reading Tolkien, Herbert, Grimms’ fairytales. I write the kinds of books that I like to read. Good writing starts with reading lots of good books. That is one of the best places to get new ideas for your own stories and how to plot and create interesting characters, all the basics of storytelling. You learn from other more experienced storytellers. Like with any craft, you learn from those that are more experienced.
6) What other projects or books are you working on right now?
Currently I am working on a science fiction short story and the Red World trilogy, the last book, Rise of the Red King. After this, I plan to work on a steampunk science fiction series.
As an added bonus, Ms. Jeffrey has agreed to a special coupon on Smashwords of her first three books in her secret Doorway Tales series! The special runs for this week only!
The Green Door is available on Amazon and Smashwords as a free ebook.
The Green Door (Flesch-Kincaid reading ease: 85.6, Average grade level: 5.7) The Pumpkin Princess (Flesch-Kincaid reading ease: 84.4, Average grade level: 5.6)
Coupon code for The Pumpkin Princess: HR77Z
The Winter Wolves (Flesch-Kincaid reading ease: 88.6, Average grade level: 4.6)
Coupon code for The Winter Wolves: XC55L
Plus, we are having a giveaway for a bundle of featured books donated by the participating authors. Below is the link to enter through Rafflecopter.com.
Included in the bundle are:
1) A Paperback signed set of the Crystal Keeper Chronicles
(3 paperbacks)
2) YN Hanna: Big Honey Dog New Book (Ebook or Paperback)
3) Ebook: It’s a Castrophe by Sibel Hodge
4) EBook: The Night Clock by W.N. Rae
5) Book: Dragons and Dreams Bedtime Stories
The Indie Children's Authors Connection 