SHIFTING PRIDE PAPERBACK IS HERE!

Hey gang!

I’m super stoked to share good news with ya’s!

SHIFTING PRIDE is now available in PAPERBACK!!! WOOT!!!!

Can’t wait to hold my debut YA novel in my hands. My fingers be twitchin’!

***SQUEE!***

Tell me friends, what’s it like when you hold your book baby in your hands?

Amazon

Amazon UK

B&N

****To celebrate, I’ve decided to GIVE a PDF copy of my spin off short story, TSAVO PRIDE, to every person who purchases a copy of Shifting Pride (ecopy or paperback)!****

Send proof of purchase to: laurabdiamond@yahoo.com

Please spread the word–It’s MUCH APPRECIATED!

Come back on SATURDAY, May 25 when I help Heather Van Fleet celebrate the release of her latest YA contemp romance, When It’s Least Expected!

New Release: Bidding Wars by Lacey Wolfe

I’m so excited to help out fellow Etopian author, Lacey Wolfe, spread the word about her new release, BIDDING WARS! Congrats, Lacey!!!

 

Bidding Wars

Love Strikes, Book 1

By Lacey Wolfe

A sheriff plus a nurse plus a house equals trouble…
 
Nurse Molly Harper has had a tough year. But when she decides to regain control of her life, buying her dream house becomes her first priority. Finding the perfect house and falling in love with it—that’s the easy part. The hard part is getting rid of the obnoxious man who thinks he’s going to be the new owner. Even if he is gorgeous. And the sheriff…
 
Sheriff Luke Logan needs to buy a house. Getting out of the renting game will help in the custody battle for his son, so when the perfect place pops up right on his street, he can’t believe his luck. But there’s already an offer on the table, and the woman won’t back down. Too bad she doesn’t know that he always goes after what he wants, and he has no intention of letting her have “his” house. Even if she does make him feel that he might need more than just a house to make a home…

 

Excerpt

“That’s the only reason?” She wasn’t sure why she was disappointed.

“What were you hoping I would say?” His gaze locked on hers and held it.

There was no way she was going to ask if it had to do with her and the hope that they could have more. But as he stared at her with lust-filled eyes, she knew she had to say something. “I guess I just thought…from the stuff you said yesterday that maybe it was…never mind.”

Luke moved closer to her. Molly’s breath caught, and the sound of her racing heart filled her head. She did her best not to look at him, but her need to see his eyes was too strong. She gazed up and found he was staring at her with nothing but passion in his eyes.

She inhaled a spicy fragrance that tingled her senses. He reached out and rubbed his hand along her cheek. She closed her eyes out of instinct. Just the feel of him touching her brought back feelings she hadn’t experienced in a long time. The nerves in her body stood on end, and it was almost as though she were being tickled. She shouldn’t be enjoying this. In fact, she should tell him to stop again and not come any closer, but, man, did it feel good, for once, to just feel.

And feel she did. He was close enough now that she felt his warm breath touch her skin. Opening her eyes, she saw his focus was on her lips—his

mouth inches away. If she made the slightest movement, she’d taste him.

She ached to grip his shirt and pull him to her. If they kissed, it would be passionate and ignite a fire deep within her. She hadn’t kissed another man since Steven. Could Luke be the first?

She pushed up on her tiptoes. She was going to do it. Reaching out, she was about to wrap her hand around his neck. Her gaze was locked on his, and it was as though they were moving in slow motion.

“Sheriff, you in there?” A man pounded on the door, sending it flying open.

Other Books in the Series:

It Must Be Fate – coming soon!

Character Profiles:

About Lacey Wolfe

Lacey Wolfe has always had a passion for words, whether it’s getting lost in a book or writing her own. From the time she was a child she would slip away to write short stories about people she knew and fantasies she wished would happen. It has always been her dream to be a published author and with her two children now of school age, she finally has the time to work on making her dream come true.

Lacey lives in Georgia with her husband, son and daughter, their six cats and one black lab who rules the house.

You can find Lacey at the following places:
Website / Facebook / Facebook Page / Twitter / Pinterest

Mental Health Monday–Welcome to DSM 5 (Plus a giveaway!)

First, I’d like to draw your attention to Elle Casey’s Springtime Indie Book Giveaway. You can choose from over 190 titles–including my short story, Tsavo Pride! Click HERE to sign up–you have until WEDNESDAY MAY 15th.

* * * * * * * *

The next version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual comes out this week. It’s been about 13 years since the DSM-IV-TR was published, outlining our current system of diagnosing various mental disorders. As its previous version (DSM-IV and DSM-III), it divided mental illnesses in categories such as Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, Affective (or Mood) disorders, Anxiety disorders, Personality disorders, Substance Use Disorders, Somataform disorders, and others. It used the Multi-Axial System, detailing information on five major axes. (Axis I includes the above mentioned disorders, Axis II includes Mental Retardation and Personality Disorders, Axis II includes pertinent medical issues, Axis IV describes stressors such as relationship strain, financial strain, homelessness, etc, and Axis V gives a Global Assessment of Functioning, which is a 0-100 scale that gives an idea of how a person is functioning.)

(Phew, and that was the SHORT version!)

I haven’t seen the DSM 5 yet, but there are some drastic changes…which means mental health clinicians need to learn a new “language” of describing diagnosis, not only to one another but to their clients.

For instance, Roman numerals are no longer being used in the title.

(WHOA. Like, for real? Yeah…

Ahem.)

The Multi-Axial System is GONE. Disorders are no longer categorized as above, but are broken into 20 chapters. Categories include Bipolar and other mood disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Trauma and Stress Disorders (essentially, PTSD has been removed from the Anxiety Disorder category and given its own chapter), and more.

(It’s going to be an interesting time for mental health and we’ll likely experience technical difficulties in converting to this new system, so we appreciate your patience and will strive to return you to your regularly scheduled program. ;p)

In what instances have you guys had to learn new nomenclature or a new way of conceptualizing information and how did you get used to it?

Flake-Out Friday–Honest Trailers

OMG, have you seen any of the Honest Trailer vids on YouTube? I watched the Harry Potter one that a FB friend had linked, then spent the next two hours looking at other ones.

Here are my favorites (the riffs on actor names are FAB!):

Harry Potter

Lord of the Rings

Twilight

(Sorry the vids aren’t embedded; when I pasted the embed code, it all changed to Iron Man 2, LAME.)

Indie Life–Indiestructible!

It’s the second Wednesday of the month–HOW DID IT GET TO BE MAY???–and it’s time for another Indie Life post.

Banding together and helping one another is a big part of the Indie Life and today I’d like to share a collaborative effort among a talented bunch of authors–an anthology titled: INDIESTRUCTIBLE. It’s a collection of essays highlighting the inspiring path of Indie publishing, spearheaded by none other than Jessica Bell.

From Jessica’s post:

It’s an anthology I’m compiling and editing called,INDIESTRUCTIBLE: INSPIRING STORIES FROM THE PUBLISHING JUNGLE, which will launch September 16, 2013. It will be sold as an eBook for 99c for the first six months. During that time I will donate 100% of the profits to BuildOn. After that, it will be free forever.

This book will bring you the experiences of 28 indie authors—their passions, their insights, their successes—to help other authors make the leap into indie publishing. This is not a how-to guide. This is the best of the indie tradition of experienced authors paying forward what they’ve learned, giving you information to help you on your journey. The personal essays in this book will leave you itching to get your work into the hands of readers and experience, first-hand, all the rewards indie publishing has to offer.

(Jessica was kind enough to invite me to submit and essay too–ain’t that cool?!?!)

Jessica is asking anyone willing and able to help spread the word. There’s a sign up sheet HERE and a post by Jessica with more DEETS. Please do check it out.

If you’d like to add the book on Goodreads, click HERE.

A link to Buildon.org, an organization to fight illiteracy (and where proceeds from the sale of INDIESTRUCTIBLE will be donated).

Thanks!

 

 

 

What is Indie Life?
How: Sign up on the Linky at the bottom of this page
When: Post on the second Wednesday of the month (starting 1/9/2013)
What: Write anything indie related: something that will inspire or help a fellow indie; something that celebrates a release or a milestone; something that talks about the ups and downs, joys and heartaches of Being Indie.
Grab: The banner above to include in your posts!

Because being Indie doesn’t have to mean going it alone.

JOIN US FOR INDIE LIFE!

 

 

Cover Reveal–Resisting Fate by Heather Van Fleet

I’m so excited to take part in Heather Van Fleet’s cover reveal for her upcoming novel, Resisting Fate. Ain’t it striking? Congrats, Heather!!!

Seventeen-year-old Emmy O’Connell is the epitome of a hot mess.

Her boyfriend’s been shipped out of town to some boarding school four states away. Her step douche is constantly drunk and badgering her. And then there’s her good-ole-mom… The lady is nothing more than a miserable shell of a woman. She’s turned off all of her feelings and her ability to be a good mother as well, leaving poor Emmy and her four year old brother Jamie to suffer. Life couldn’t get much worse, right?

Enter the elusive, cocky, and oh-so-broody Jack Hartman…

The jerk cousin of her boyfriend becomes Emmy’s worst nightmare…times ten. He’s cruel. He’s insensitive. But he also has this strange little ability over her – he makes her weak in the knees with the single touch of his hand. But no matter how miserable or amazing Jack makes her feel, Emmy can’t seem to deny him, especially when he takes on the role of her protector –her pseudo-knight in a black leather coat. A knight who also just so happens to ride in on his black Harley, instead of a white horse…

And to make a bad situation worse…

Werewolves and teens shouldn’t mix! But what can Emmy do when she finds herself thrown head first into the center of it all? Can she handle the supernatural mess her life rapidly becomes or will she fight against the inevitable fate her heart desires?

 

Website Goodreads Facebook

 

About the author:

Heather Van Fleet currently reside in northern Illinois, with her three little ladies, and fabulous hubby, and high school sweetheart, Chris. She’s a stay at home mom by day, and an avid and completely obsessive writer and reader by night.

She’s always had a soft spot in her heart for books, and has been creating her own little stories since the age of seven. But she never really had the confidence or the time to actually sit down and really do something about it until her youngest daughter Isabella was born just two years ago. Bella, as well as her older sisters Kelsey and Emma, are and always will be her greatest inspirations.

Flake-out Friday–True Facts

A few weeks ago, author Mary Lindsey (of Shattered Souls and Ashes on the Waves fame) posted a link to a YouTube video, True Facts About the Tarsier.

I clicked the link and am SO glad I did. The narrator had me guffawing, fo riz.

I’d like to share that vid and another of my favorites: True Facts About the Angler Fish–It’s HIL-ar-i-OUS!

…what a pretty, pretty lady…

What are some of your favorite YouTube videos?