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

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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?

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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!

 

 

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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.

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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?

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Mental Health Monday–Burn Out

In this fast paced world, juggling multiple tasks is not only commonplace, it’s the norm. And it seems things keep on getting faster.

I often wonder:

How much can I handle before I have a system meltdown and my brain stops functioning entirely?

There have been times where I’ve gotten close. The solution was to take a break, give my brain downtime, and refuel by reading or engaging in some other non-writerly, but equally stimulating activity.

Now that deadlines have been thrown into the mix, having a hiatus is not an option.

What’s a girl to do?

No, really, I’m asking, WHAT’S A GIRL TO DO?

I have dome ideas:

• Handle one thing at a time, one day at a time.
• Instead of focusing on how much is left to do, focus on how much has been accomplished.
• Resist the urge to burn the midnight oil and get adequate sleep. (Really, I’ve NEVER been one to pull all nighters…that will ensure my brain failing.)
• Eat healthy and get some exercise.
• Take mini-breaks.
• Listen to invigorating music.
• Make writing an adventure–remember that enthusiasm that got you writing in the first place and draw on that for inspiration and motivation.

What other tips can you think of to battle burn out?

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Mary Waibel’s Quest of the Hart

 

I’m so stoked to share Mary Waibel’s debut novel, Quest of the Hart (MuseItUp Publishing)! Mary has put together a character interview for us to get to know Grizzelda and Sabrina. Take it away ladies!

(See below for trailers and buy links.)

 

Me: I’ve made my way to the Stygian Swamp, home to Grizzelda, the witch, and her daughter Sabrina. (Sabrina steps outside with a basket slung over her arm.) Sabrina! Do you have a few minutes to talk?

Sabrina: As long as I can keep working while we talk.

Me: Wonderful. So, what are you doing?

S: (She cuts some flowers from the garden and lays them in the basket.) Gathering plants for making potions and spells.

(The door to the cottage opens and an old woman shuffles out.)

Grizzelda: I apologize for my daughter’s lack of hospitality. Please, come in and enjoy a cup of tea with us.

Me: Thank you, but I need to get back to the castle soon. And, Sabrina was fine; I was enjoying the beauty of your garden.

G: What brings you to our home?

Me: I was wandering, looking for people to talk to about Prince Devlin and Princess Kaylee.

S: Ah, the pretty, girly-girl. (She rolls her eyes.)  Prince Devlin could do so much better than that weakling. He needs a strong woman at his side, not someone who looks like they need protecting from their own shadow.

G: Sabrina! You know better than to judge people by their looks. Princess Kaylee is much stronger than you give her credit for. Just you wait.

S: (She snorts.) I’ll believe that when I see it. Are you certain you don’t want some tea?

Me: Unfortunately I have some other people I need to see. Maybe another time?

G: Time is the key. Time and love. Yes, that is the answer.

S: But what was the question?

G: You will know when the princess comes.

Me: And we’ll know when we read Quest of the Hart!

What fun! Looking forward to reading Quest of the Hart, Mary–CONGRATS!!!

 

Mary lives with her husband, son and two cats. When she isn’t twisting fairytales, she enjoys reading, playing games, watching hockey, and camping. Her debut novel, Quest of the Hart, will be available from MuseItUp Publishing April 19, 2013. The Lost Princess, a companion novel, will be available from MuseItUp Publishing in August 2013

You can find Mary Waibel at:

http://marywaibel.blogspot.com

https://www.facebook.com/authormarywaibel

@mewtweety14 (twitter)

 

Buy Link (Quest):

https://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=620&category_id=6&manufacturer_id=292&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Book Trailers (Quest):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5SvEAbFQtE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d-ohY2CEVo

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Mental Health Monday–Cyber Dysfunctional Personality Disorder

My coworkers and I were discussing how much time we spend on social media sites. Since becoming a writer, I’ve delved into social media with enthusiasm (prior to writing, I barely touched my computer and rarely surfed the web) and haven’t once looked back.

Years later, I can’t imagine stepping away from the screen for any length of time.

And I know I’m not alone.

Urban Dictionary defines Cyber Dysfunctional Personality Disorder thusly:

Cyber Dysfunctional Personality Disorder (CDPD) is a non-hereditary, largely contagious, psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality. Those who suffer from this condition will go on to create tens, if not hundreds of accounts on social networking and video sharing websites such as facebook, myspace and youtube. They will then converse with themselves across their many accounts in a lame bid to create the impression that they are popular and sociable. Often they will use their various accounts to team up on other internet users who have shown themselves to be smarter than them, in a desperate bid to restore some pride. Currently there is no cure for this ever increasing psychopathic trend, but most sufferers give the game away within a week, such is their lack of concentration and intellect.

Note: The smilie and the excessive use of question and exclamation marks give it away.

Pretty dang accurate, yes?

Are you a cyber addict? When did you realize it?

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Unraveled by S. X. Bradley

I’m so excited to be part of this blog tour. FBI, serial killers, a thrilling mystery, what more could you ask for?

Blurb:

Sixteen year old math whiz, Autumn, spends her days reading about serial killers and dreaming of becoming an FBI Profiler. She never dreams her first case will be so personal. Her world is shattered when she comes home from school and discovers her murdered sister’s body on the living room floor. When the initial evidence points to a burglary gone wrong, Autumn challenges the police’s theory because of the personal nature of the crime. Thinking that finding the killer will bring her family back together, she conducts her own investigation using her affinity for math and forensics, but her plan backfires and her obsession with the case further splinters her family.  When her investigation reveals the killer is someone she knows, Autumn offers herself up as bait and sets a dangerous trap to unmask his true nature and to obtain a confession for her sister’s murder.

 

Buy Link  Website Blog  Twitter  Facebook

Author Bio:

Susan grew up in South Texas, about ten miles from the U.S.-Mexican border. As a child she spent the summers in Mexico with her grandparents and extended family. During these vacations, she frequently created mysteries for her siblings and cousins to solve. These mysteries were her first stories. Nancy Drew soon became her childhood hero and inspiration to write mysteries for young adults.

Her greatest joy is her daughter who is quite the storyteller and likes to come up with the characters’ names for mom’s stories.

When she’s not writing or studying, you can find her looking after her personal mini-zoo which consists of two fish, one thief of a dog, and some hermit crabs.

Susan loves estates sales, traveling, spending time with her family, and discovering new books at the Columbus Metropolitan library.

Susan graduated from the University of Texas, is currently pursuing an MFA from Seton Hill University, and dreams of one day owning a touch screen murder board like the one on her favorite TV show, Castle.

 

Excerpt:

“Autumn, yesterday you had told us that when you arrived home the front door was open. Is that correct?”

I leaned in toward the voice recorder on the table and said, “Yes.”

“Are you positive about that? We interviewed some of the neighbors, and none of them saw an open front door at your house?” No doubt Mrs. Jimenez had told them that. Now that she was retired, she had nothing better to do than watch her neighbors. I wondered if she had mentioned seeing anything to Detective Kasanoff. Maybe she saw something unusual that day, a stranger in the neighborhood, a suspicious car, anything.

“The door looked closed, but when I touched my key to the lock, it opened.”

“Do you know who was the last person to leave the house that day?” I looked over at my parents. Mami had her head buried in her hands. She shouldn’t be here, hearing about all of this. Papi had his arm around her and gave me an encouraging smile.

“I was.”

“What time did you leave that morning?”

“About 8:00 a.m.”

“Did you leave through the front door?” I didn’t like where this was going.

“Yes, and I locked it behind me,” I offered before he had a chance to ask the question.

“How can you be sure? Look, I know how it is. It’s easy to get on autopilot in the morning. You do the same thing every morning, you get into a routine.”

I looked him straight in the eye and said, “I don’t forget things, Detective. I know I locked the door that morning.” He studied me for a moment and flipped through his papers.

“That’s right. Here it is. You’re some kind of math genius. You almost made the US Math Olympiad Team last year.” I wanted to reach across the table and strangle him. Someone had butchered my sister in my own living room, and he was reading up on how I’d choked on a freaking geometry question during last year’s Math Olympiad final round and failed to make the team?

“I’m gifted, Detective. I’m not smart enough to be a genius.” He broke into a smile. The first I’d ever seen from him.

“Is there really a difference?”

“Yes, about five IQ points.” He wrote something down.

“Let’s move on. You said you had come home because you’d left your math questions on the kitchen table that morning. Is that correct?” “Yes.”

He lifted the folder up and produced some papers that were protected in a plastic bag. He placed them in front of me. “Are these the questions you were referring to?”

I looked at my parents, and both of them had their eyes glued to the plastic bag in front of me.

Without touching the bag, I looked at the front page and saw the first question. It was the Bernoulli equation question that Celeste had asked me that morning over breakfast.

“Yes, those are the ones.”

“Care to know where we found them?” What did he mean? I’d left them on the kitchen table when I went to brush my teeth after breakfast.

“On the kitchen table?” I asked, trying not to sound sarcastic.

“No. In your backpack. The backpack we found at the scene yesterday.” He looked over at my parents this time. My eyes grew wide, and my mouth fell open.

“Mr. or Mrs. Covarrubias, did either of you put these math papers back into Autumn’s backpack after breakfast?” Papi left for the bakery every morning at 5:30 a.m. so he wasn’t even home. Mami had left right after Celeste and I had eaten because she had a dentist appointment. Maybe Mami’d seen the papers and stuck them in my backpack. Celeste had left about ten minutes before me. Her boyfriend Voss had swung by to pick her up. He did that every day.

“Mami, did you put the papers in my backpack?” Her eyes were swollen, and I swear she was two seconds away from passing out. Her gaze wandered around the room until it fell on me. She shook her head. My heart sank.

“Then it had to be Celeste. She must have put them in there.”

“Her fingerprints weren’t found on the papers.” How was that possible? The oils from her hands would have been transferred onto the paper if she’d stuck them in my backpack. It couldn’t have been her then. That left no one, and I had no answer. That wasn’t good.

“Autumn, look, I’m going to be honest with you. There are some things that just don’t add up here. We have witnesses that say you and your sister were arguing at school that morning and that she looked very upset. Care to explain what that was all about?”

I could feel the cell doors closing in around me. This was a witch hunt, and I was about to be burned at the stake.

My parents were staring at me, begging me with their eyes to explain what was going on. The question mark stabbed my heart. They knew that Celeste and I hardly ever fought. The last time had to have been when I’d accidentally given her a black eye when I was five and was trying to learn to hit a baseball.

I looked at the detective and said the only thing I knew to say. “Detective Kasanoff, I want a lawyer.”

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TSAVO PRIDE BLOG BLITZ–Going Full On Indie ;)

HI GANG!

I’m soooooo excited to share my new short story, TSAVO PRIDE. It’s a spin off based on the man-eating lions of Tsavo, so it has a decidedly horroresque bent. For those of you who read Shifting Pride, you know that the lions of Tsavo made a cameo appearance. Now, they have their own story.

Here’s a teaser trailer on YouTube:

Blurb:

Rogue shapeshifters, Santamo and Legeny, believe they are kings blessed with the power to shift into lions. Using that strength, they brutally defend their land from the British building the Ugandan Railroad that threatens their way of life. On a particularly ruthless raid, Santamo meets his match—Naserian. He spares the girl’s life, a move that fractures his relationship with Legeny and blurs his visions of cleansing his territory of invaders.

While the pile of bones in Santamo and Legeny’s cave grows, so does Santamo’s attraction to Naserian. When she challenges him to give up his murderous ways, will Santamo stay on the path of death he believes is his duty, or will he choose Naserian, and love?

TSAVO PRIDE is NOW AVAILABLE via Amazon for $0.99! Amazon Prime members can borrow it for free.

 

Several blogging buds are helping me spread the word, so I’d like to thank them by linking to their sites. Feel free to check ‘em out.

Do check out Danielle Fine’s website. She designed the cover and edited Tsavo Pride. Thanks, Danielle!

I have a special interview post on Gareth Young’s blog. It was a lot of fun to put together, so head on over to learn more about me and my writing.

Links to my blogging buds:

Karen Y Bynum

Lydia Y Kang

MPax

VB Tremper 

Ally Shields

Dani Lyn Alexander

Theresa McClinton

PT Dilloway

LM Preston

Lynn Rush

Lacey Wolfe

Elizabeth Arroyo

Catherine Cavendish

Ellie Garratt

Catherine Johnson

As a final send off, this Wednesday is another edition of the Indie Life. I’d just like to point out that I would have never attempted to self publish anything if it weren’t for this fabulous group of authors. They took the plunge into the deep, vast waters of publishing and have steered their own course to success. Thanks for being an inspiration!

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.

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