Book Tour - Last Day

The grand finale for my FALLOW HEART book tour lands at A Tasty Read Book Blog today.


Don't forget, if you'd like to win a $20 Amazon Gift card, just enter at any stop on the tour. (There's a scedule on the sidebar there). Good luck, and I hope you enjoyed the ride!

A FALLOW HEART GoodReads Favorite Quote :

 

"I don’t want you to love me enough for the both of us. I’d rather carry my own portion, thank you very much. I love you so much it consumes me.” 

Book Tour - 2nd to Last Day

United By Books is hosting my A FALLOW HEART book tour stop today with a character profile of my hero, Cooper Gerhardt. 

Stop in to see what you think of him!

Fallow Heart Book Tour

It was supposed to be my stop at Scandalcious Book Blog today for some Down and Dirty questions, but something came up there.  So, if I have my information correct, this post will actually take place over at A Tasty Read!



A FALLOW HEART GoodReads Quote :

“I was crazy in love with you in high school, and you broke my heart the day you hooked up with someone else our sophomore year. Then you broke it again when you promised me you’d dump him the night we kissed and go out with me instead, because the next morning, you forgot all about me.” 

I'm at Toot's Today

Toot's Book Reviews is featuring me on their blog with an interview and book review for my FALLOW HEART book tour.

I share ten not-so-well-known things about me there!

A FALLOW HEART Favorite Quote from GoodReads:

“When you love, you open yourself up to numerous vulnerabilities and worries and responsibilities you never imagined existed because suddenly there’s someone else in the world who’s more important to you than you are. That’s what makes it so tough.” 

On Tour at Lacey Wolfe's Place

 
Today over her place, Lacey Wolfe is letting me talk about different writer/book lover phases we all go through for my stop in the FALLOW HEART book tour.

(2pm update : I finally have the correct link now!)

Which zone represents you the most?


A FALLOW HEART Favorite Quote :

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Likes the quote "When you love, you open yourself up to numerous vulnerabilities and worries and responsibilities you never imagined existed because suddenly there’s someone else in the world who’s more important to you than you are. That’s what makes it so tough."

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“You’re a man, darling. There’s something sick and twisted inside you, making you relish girly torture. I don’t understand it myself. Never did.”

 

 

 

 

AND, I'm also at Carol Kilgore's blog, Under the Tiki Hut, drumming up a little fanfare about ADDICTED TO ANSLEY!

 

A Fallow Heart Book Tour - Week Two

Yes, I'm still on tour for A FALLOW HEART, and today, I'm over at Storm Goddess Book Reviews, answering a few questions. There will also be a book review of A Fallow Heart, I hear!

 

Have a happy Sunday!

 

A FALLOW HEART GoodReads Favorite Quote:

 

“Sometimes a man can be a lot like a farm. He lets his heart lay fallow for a while, and instead of his feelings dying out, they just go dormant, his emotions growing deeper and stronger as time passes. A person only needs to clear away the weeds on the surface to uncover them.” 

Book Tour - Day 5

My story A FALLOW HEART is being review over at Stephanie's Book Shelf today for Day 5 of my FALLOW HEART tour!  5 stars!!! Check out it.

Book Tour - Day Four

Author Sarah Walter Ellwood is hosting me today on her blog for Day Four of my Fallow Heart Book tour.

She asked me a few questions, so I answered them.

If you want to know what my heroine said the most embarrassing thing I did to her was, then there is where you'll find out!

A FALLOW HEART Goodreads Favorite Quote:

“I’ve found the things I’ve regretted most in my life are the things I wanted to do but never had the courage to try. And I’m beginning to think I don’t want you to become one of my what-if-I’d-only-tried-it regrets.”

 

 

 

 

Book Tour - Day Three

I will be at two places today for my book tour.

At Romance Bookworm I go on and on about how I got into writing.

And at Lisa Fox's places, I chat about my affection for prequels.

Feel free to come both places or just one!

A FALLOW HEART Favored Goodreads Quote:

“Jealousy is an uncontrollable emotion. It attacks all of us. As long as you don’t let it get the best of you, I’m sure you and your envy can live in harmony without anyone getting hurt. So, see? There’s no need to feel bad about it. It makes you normal. Human.” 

Book Tour - Day Two

Today, Readaholics Reviews is hosting a review for A Fallow Heart and I'm giving a guest post about picking out titles for your stories.

Drop in a say hey!


A FALLOW HEART Favored Quote:

“Rational was for people who didn’t have a broken heart.” 

Big Promotion Day!

Hi, all!

Today kicks off my A FALLOW HEART book tour, hosted by Tasty Book Tours.

It begins at Page Flipperz with a review and interview/guest post thingy, I think.

I'll pop in every day with a quick update to let you know where I'm going to be featured.

***

Also, it is a big book blast day for ADDICTED TO ANSLEY!

Today only, my story is going to be spotlighted on the following blogs.

A Tasty Read Book Reviews
Angie Derek
Book Reviews and More by Kathy
Busy Moms Book Reviews
Emily Wood, Author
Flirting With Romance
For the Love of Bookends
I am a Book Addict...and proud of it
Ivy B Misbehavin
Lacey Wolfe, Author
Lavender and Camomile Press
Little Black Book Blog *
Live Read and Breathe *
Mom's Reading Corner *
Paranormal Romance and Beyond
Paws and Print *
Racing to Read
Reading Renee *
Romance Bookworm
Sara Walter Ellwood
Smitten with Reading
Storm Goddess Book Reviews
Tiffany Talks Books
Toot's Book Review *

The little ** marks denote blog pages that provide a review of the story!

PRIZES: There is a chance to win three paperback copies of ADDICTED TO ANSLEY if you enter through GoodReads, and a chance to win a $20 gift card to Amazon.com if you enter the rafflecopter giveaway on one of the FALLOW HEART book tour stops. There is also chance to win another $20 gift card if you go to one of the ADDICTED TO ANSLEY stops.

So, that's where I'll be today! Hope you have a great Monday!

RELEASE DAY! Addicted to Ansley

Today is the official release day for Addicted to Ansley  from BLACK LYON PUBLISHING in ebook (at Amazon and aRe too) and paperback!!

In the next few days, it will become available at other online places like Barnes and Noble. I'll post those on my website, and probably Facebook as soon as there is a link to keep you updated, you know, just in case anyone is curious!

Oh, yeah, I'm excited. This makes book number 12 for me! An even dozen. Wow. Just wow.

If anyone wants to try to win a free paperback copy, there's still a contest open at Goodreads. You can enter over there on the sidebar.

This one is a sweet adult romance about :

Through all the years that passed,
the memory of their love never faded.

Motivational speaker and drug rehab counselor Ward Gemmell can hold an audience in the palm of his hand—because he knows what it’s like to have everything he loved slip through his fingers. When a particularly heartfelt speech reunites him with the daughter he never knew he had, suddenly the love of his life is back within his grasp. What could a guy like him do to earn a second chance?

Good girl Ansley Marlow was heartbroken the day Ward revealed his hidden life—the kind of secret that would tear anyone apart. But so many years have passed and so much has changed that it isn’t as hard now for her to believe in fate and redemption, even when those around her are unforgiving. All she needs is the strength to reach out and reclaim the beautiful life she should have had so long ago.

And here is a quick, exclusive peek at a little scene for your reading pleasure:

(Scene Set Up: Ward has just given a motivational anti-drug speech at a high school, when a female student approaches him asking if she can volunteer at the rehabilitation clinic where he works. He's just given into her heartfelt plea, and says...)

“We just need permission from a parent and you’ll be good to go.” I hope.

Brooklyn’s grin didn’t merely falter this time; it fell flat. “A parent?”

Now he was the one to lift his eyebrows and ask, “Is that a problem?”

She bit her lip. Just a little nibble, right at the corner. He’d only seen one other person do that in his lifetime.

“Umm.” She cringed. “I don’t think my mom would be too …”

When her voice trailed off, Ward grinned and finished the sentiment. “Thrilled to let her daughter work at a center where drug addicts hang out? Yeah.” He nodded his understanding. “I don’t blame her either.”

He certainly wouldn’t have let his daughter—especially a sweet, too-innocent-looking girl like Brooklyn—anywhere near Danny’s Haven. The place might be a refuge for troubled teens but honestly, very few clients who came to their center actually stayed rehabilitated. Some of those flunkies would take one look at Brooklyn and pounce.

“Maybe you could talk to her,” she said, her blue eyes alive with her begging plea. “Tell her I won’t be near anyone dangerous.You’re such a persuasive speaker, I know you could convince her.”

He flushed. “Well, thank you, but—”

“I could be safe inside your office the entire time, right?”

“Yeah, sure. But—”

“And someone could walk me to my car when I leave every night.”

“Of course. Except—”

“Please, Ward. Please.”

I’m already sticking my neck out for you as it is, kid, he wanted to growl. But she kept looking at him with those eyes, and her words continued to echo through his head.

Maybe I wouldn’t feel so empty inside where my dad’s concerned.

She wanted to do this because of a father she’d never met. He couldn’t ignore that. Besides, this wouldn’t be the first time he’d made a special case for someone. Probably wouldn’t be the last either.

He closed his lashes briefly before giving in. “Okay, fine.” He rolled his eyes. “And you say I’m a persuasive speaker.” When she grinned triumphantly, he frowned harder. “I’ll shoot your mom an email about Danny’s Haven, send her a couple of links with information, then explain what I’d like you to do. But if she doesn’t agree to it after that, then it’s a no-go. All right?”

Nearly vibrating from beaming so brightly, Brooklyn breathed out a rush of oxygen. “All right. Thank you. Thank you so much, Ward. You won’t regret it. I promise.”

He kind of felt like he already regretted it. But she looked so enthusiastic and happy he let her contagious energy consume him, and he grinned back. “Just, uh, jot down your mom’s name and email here.” He whipped a pen and piece of scrap paper from his pocket. “And I’ll see what I can do.”

“Okay.” She accepted the sheet and lifted her jean-clad knee to use it as a backstop while she scribbled out his request.

When she handed him her mother’s information, he deliberately wrapped his fingers around the note to show her he’d keep it safe.

“I’ll get in contact with her within the next couple of days.”

Brooklyn nodded. “And I’ll work on her from my end.”

He chuckled. “Sounds good. I hope to see you soon, Brooklyn.”

Strangely enough, he meant his words. The girl exuded an infectious, affectionate attitude. It’d do him good to see her smiling face every few days, keep him optimistic and thinking he could actually save lives.

When she spun away and hurried off, he took a moment to stare after her, feeling achy inside at her departure. There had been something so honest, and pure, and sweet about her. Merely standing in her presence made him feel cleaner. Better. She reminded him of another young female he’d known from a longago time.

His smile slipped as nostalgia filled him. Then he shook his head free of bittersweet memories.

Realizing he shouldn’t be ogling a teenage girl—he’d probably creep out the teachers and stir up a whole hornets’ nest—he cleared his throat and dropped his gaze to the note she’d handed him, his fingers naturally uncurling so he could study the crinkled page.

At first, he barely glanced at the words. His gaze skimmed over what Brooklyn had written until something somewhere in his brain processed her mother’s name and gonged with awareness. A split second later, he froze and his attention sharpened.

Ansley Marlow.

His mouth went dry. He hadn’t seen that name in writing for, what—he did a quick calculation in his head—seventeen years, not since the day he’d received the restraining order to stay away from her.

Dear God, had it been that long?

Seeing those letters arranged in that order sent an electric jolt through him. Seventeen years …

Wait.

Seventeen years?

Brooklyn’s voice echoed through his brain. I’ll be seventeen in three months.

The air vacated his lungs in a whoosh. He jerked his head up, and his frantic gaze skipped around the courtyard, searching. But the girl, Brooklyn—Ansley Marlow’s sixteen-year-old daughter—was gone.

For the second time in the past two minutes, emotion overwhelmed him. He felt like wailing.

“Oh, God,” he uttered, beginning to panic. She’d stood right in front of him, smiled at him with Ansley’s perfectly formed lips, and he hadn’t known who she was.

He couldn’t believe it. He’d always thought Ansley’s baby would resemble her with her pale hair and stunning brown eyes. But Brooklyn Marlow had his dark locks and his baby blues.

The organ inside his chest expanded, nearly bursting through his ribcage.

He had a daughter.


Out of the Mouth of Lydia

There’s not much new to say about my writing today. I’m getting more feedback on my Price of a Kiss story and finally got an “OMG, I love it,” response, though I fear I might have accidentally brainwashed her into saying that from some of my earlier posts. Oh, well. I’ll take it!!

I also heard from someone from Omnific about my first New Adult story I wrote. I still don’t know if my original title will stick, so I can’t even give that out yet.  I know. I know. Phooey. But at least I know they haven’t forgotten about me. YAY!

So, since there isn’t much to discuss in my writing corner, I’ll just talk about my baby! I always have plenty to say there!

My three-year-old tickles me on a daily basis. Since she’s learned to talk, the things that come out of her mouth are a constant source of entertainment.

Thus, I will regale you with a few of her more humorous tidbits…you know, for all you authors who are writing stories about kids and need more inspiration on some of the things they say.

***

Funny Line #1 –

Goldilocks and the Three Bears is becoming one of her favorite stories, so I’m reading it to her one day and trying to put a little originality into it because after fifty times of it in a row, I’m NEEDING something a little new. We get to the part where Goldilocks is introduced and I say, “She had beautiful golden hair…just like Lydia.”

Lydia frowns at me. “My hair’s not golden. It’s blond.”

Funny Line # 2 –

One of my hubby’s favorite TV shows is Cops. You’d think he’d get sick of that kind of action since he deals with it in his job every day, but he still records it and watches it whenever he has free time (which is rarely).

In a rare moment of free time, he was watching an episode where an officer pulls over a truck whose bed was full of bulging black garbage bags. Since the suspect was a known drug dealer, the cop takes out a knife and sliced open one of the bags.  What do you know, there was a bunch of green leafy substances inside.

Well, Lydia is watching for some reason. She sees all the green and gasps in delight! “It’s a Christmas Tree!”

That is one Christmas Tree she better not ever inhale.

Funny Line #3

The kiddo is learning the name for certain upper female body parts, but she also calls the bra that holds those body parts up by the same name.

So, she was helping me with laundry the other day by pulling all the dirty clothes out of this mesh bag they were in and dropping them into the washing machine. But the clasp of one of my bras got stuck in the nylon mesh. She gets irritated and starts tugging before she yells, “Mama, your boob is stuck.”

***

And those are just a couple of things that have come out of the mouth of my three-year-old lately!

Dipping my toe into the self publishing world

So, I've been tossing around the idea of self publishing one of my stories because I'm all curious what it's like. As of right now, I'm pretty positive I will be since I've already sent off my deposit to reserve my spot with the cover artist! Kind of just committed myself there, huh.

Now...here is how I got to this spot.

It all began like any other book. I finished the story and sent it to friends for critique/advice/feedback (it's actually still in the phase too!). But...Instead of writing a synopsis and query letter for submission, this is where everything got totally new for me.

First, I decided on what kind of outside help I was going to need.

I know I am no grammar queen, so I knew I needed an editor. But I also wanted more than one professional eye to look over the story, so I thought having a proofreader would be good too.

I have no talent with making book covers (trust me, I've doodled around and actually tried to make some--they all sucked).

And I was too afraid I'd screw something up if tried formatting, so I wanted to hire someone else to format my story for publication as well.

ERGO, I needed to pay for the services:
-Editing
-Proofreading
-Cover Art &
-Formatting

While I was browsing the Internet on the search for these great Editor/Proofreader/Cover Artist/Formatters, I nominated an unsuspecting blogger buddy to be my mentor. So, Carol Kilgore was dragged unwillingly onto the scene. Yes, you may feel very, very, sorry for her.

But she took her new position with great stride and offered up some amazing advice.

The first thing she said to me that was very helpful was to contact the people I wanted to work with early on because I would no-doubt be put on waiting lists.  This hadn't occurred to me before. I had planned on waiting until I was ready for them, thinking they'd just be sitting around, knitting booties and waiting for me to need their service.

I was wrong! 

By this point, I had a list of possible places I wanted to employ for each service I needed. I accumulated this list by learning who people I knew have used, or because I knew people in the company, or because I'd personally worked with these people through one of my publishing houses. So it made me feel a little more secure that they were fairly reputable. 

Here is my list possible people to contact for each  service.

Cover Art
(another amazing piece of advice from the wonderful mentor: make sure the artist creates both ebook and print covers if you plan to publish under both formats because not all of them do. Thank you again, Carol!)

Amanda Kelsey at Razzle Dazzle Design
B Design
Creations by Kendra
Creativeindie Covers
Elaina Lee @ For the Muse Design
Estrella Cover Art
Hot Damn Designs
Mina Carter
Mystical Press Services
Okay Creations
Rae Monet
Stanz Alone Design
Victoria Miller


Editing / Proofreading

Devin Govaere
Finish the Story
Laura Josephsen 
Mystical Press Services
Sally Berneathy
Victoria Miller


Formatting
(This list was a little harder to accumulate because not a lot of people go around praising their book formatter like they do their cover artist! Plus, I'm sure some people learn to format their own stories)

Ebook Convering
Finish the Story
Laura Josephsen
Hot Damn Designs

(I forgot to mention that these people and places either cater to or work with the romance genre I write; that's another reason they made my list!)
***

If you're curious, I decided to go with Laura Josephsen for editing (because I worked with her for my story The Color of Grace and loved her. Plus I knew she also freelance edited).  I contacted Okay Creations for cover art. I am SOOOO in love with every cover made by Sarah Hansen. And I chose Finish the Story self-editing services for proofreading and formatting because I'm good friends with a staff member, I liked the idea of bundling a few services together, and the prices were decent!

Carol was so right about the waiting list. The editor couldn't get started until May, and the cover artist was booked up until July. Whew!  I'm so glad I contact them early.

So that's where I am now in my journey on the self-publishing road. As I'm still revising and fixing my story, I'm sitting on waiting lists. Feels like I've already gone so far and learned so much, when really I haven't even gotten started yet.

This is going to be one interesting ride.

Do you have any helpful tips or names of good artists, editors, or formatters to add to my list?

ADDICTED TO ANSLEY Giveaway

There is a giveaway going on over at Goodreads through the month of March for three different paperback copies of Addicted to Ansley. The contest started yesterday, so feel free to enter away...if you like!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Addicted to Ansley

by Linda Kage

Giveaway ends March 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I have two big promotional ventures this month. My book tour for A Fallow Heart starts on March 18th (and will last for two weeks), and the book blast for Addicted to Ansley will be on March 18th.

Not sure what I was thinking to plan two big things at once, but hey, at least I won't be bored on that day!

I have been thinking about dipping my toe into the self publishing world, just to see what it's about, what kind of work is involved, and how well (or not well) it turns out in the sales department.

So I don't think I'm going to submit my newest story to any publishers. Instead, I'll be contacting editors and cover artists.  Which means, I'll probably be sharing my experiences about that with all you unwilling listeners (bwa-ha-ha-ha!) and blabbing about how the indie world works for me in the next few months!

Hope you have a good week

Happy March to you!

We had a snow day on Tuesday, so I was lazy and didn't post. Or get out to read other posts. Or change from my pajamas.

It was nice.

My kiddo has been talking nonstop lately about coloring Easter eggs. I have no idea how she found them on YouTube, but she's been watching videos of other people coloring eggs, psyching herself up even more. So I finally gave in and bought a dozen eggs on Wednesday after work. The instructions said to use cooled eggs, but she did NOT want to wait until the next day for the eggs to cool after they were boiled.

So, we set them in the refrigerator for an hour and then the fun began. She did pretty much every step by herself. And we didn't spill any green dye all over the table...until all the eggs had been colored. I even filmed her on my ipad, so she can watch herself coloring Easter eggs now.

I figure we'll have to go through this process a couple more times before Easter actually gets here.  What can I say? I spoil my child rotten!

My happy honeymoon phase after I finished my book last week is definitely over. Got initial responses back, and can you believe it, no one exclaimed, "I absolutely LOVE this! Send me the rest of the story right this second!"  I know, Boo Hiss!

They all did say they liked it, though, so that's a plus.  All comments in the not-so positive regard were over different things, so it's still up in the air what I'll actually change. Yes, my little excited balloon over completing the most awesome story ever has deflated. Now, I've sunk to "I'm the worst author ever," phase.

Really, what is it about writing that makes a person so bi-polar? Up one second, down the next. I'm just glad I'm not this way with the other areas of my life. The drama is a bit too much.

Anyway, my writing mood sank a little more when I started reading a story from one of my favorite authors yesterday and so many scenes from the book I'd just written were already in this book! Even some of the conversations between the hero and heroine were so similar it was uncanny. It's going to look like I copied. Ugh.  Either that, or we both wrote a bunch of cliched stuff...except my cliched stuff wasn't nearly as good as her cliched stuff.

I'm sooo ready for this phase to pass.

What's your least favorite part of writing?