Fairy Tail By Andrew P. Weston is Free This Weekend!!

This book has been on my reading list for a while, and I was excited to see that it was free for the weekend!!!! It was published by Ruby Lioness Press, which is the sister company of my publisher, Pagan Writers Press. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it looks like a quick, fun read!When I do get to it, I will be sure to post a review.

You can get your free copy of Fairy Tail on Amazon. Here is a little about the book to get you excited!


For the third year running, a ritualistic serial killer has struck again in the week leading up to Halloween, leaving a gruesome and bloody trail in his wake.

It’s the same every year. One murder every day, until his quotient of seven has been reached. Butchery doesn’t begin to describe what happens to those who he gets his hands on. Then the killer vanishes – only to return twelve months later as merciless as ever.

When he does resurface, he appears to strike randomly and at will. It cannot be established exactly how the killer selects his victims, or why. As such, the detective leading the case is no closer to discovering the identity of the ruthless predator than he was when the slayings began.
It’s only when the detective gets an unexpected break that things get interesting…

My Super Sexy Cousin Andrew DiPalma - Cover Model for Player

If the title of this post didn't get your attention, I'm sure this photo will. Nice, huh? Believe it or not, this incredibly sexy man is my little cousin, Andrew DiPalma. He has been modeling and acting for at least ten years now, and he's very good at what he does. He has had some small roles in major movies like We Are Marshall and Meet the Joneses.  He was a head liner in some independent films including a horror flick called Dead Girl.  Last year, he also had a fun part in Cougar Town. Take a look at this picture from that gig.

He has also done tons of commercials, including one for Diesel underwear.



Most recently, he was the model for a little company called Fold Flops, which I discovered completely by accident . The picture below is taken from the Fold Flops website. Be sure to check them out if you need some beach shoes! In a few weeks I'll be doing a giveaway for them on New Age Mama.

But my favorite picture of him is the one where he is just Uncle Andrew. This was taken after my daughter Willow's Christening (To my pagan friends--don't worry, she had a Wiccaning too, but a baby can never have too many blessings!). Andrew flew all the way from California to New Jersey to be there for this special day, and it meant so much to my family.

The reason I decided to post about Andrew today, is because I was trying to get a head start on things and think of a good cover for Player.  As I was glancing through some images of male models, it suddenly occurred to me that I was a complete idiot.  I have the perfect model right in my family. He is nothing like the main character personality wise, but as far as looks go, he's absolutely perfect.  Its actually kind of funny that the sweetest most lovable guy in the world always gets the role of the womanizer.  But it just goes to show you that you can never judge of a book by its cover---unless of course, Andrew is on that cover!

If you want to learn more about Andrew DiPalma, you can visit his website or become his fan on face book. Its worth it just for the eye candy!

Blogger OPP: 8 Weeks of Handbags Giveaway!

Join us for EIGHT Consecutive Weekly Giveaways Of High-End Designer Bags

ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY: Sidetracked Mom will be hosting eight consecutive weekly giveaways. Each week will feature either a brand new high-end designer handbag or one that comes directly from a celebrity's closet! The new prize for each week will be a surprise! But, I can tell you - the first week will feature a Fendi handbag from the closet of a Dancing With The Stars Celebrity! On the 8th week, we will have a grand finale of a prize with bonus entries for readers who have entered the previous giveaways in the 7 weeks leading up to this coveted bag giveaway. This will be a fantastic opportunity to drive traffic to your site for 8 full weeks!

 

 The HTML, photos and RC code will be provided to you in our Facebook Group. Please be sure to join the group so you do not miss this important information. Join our Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/259293067506307/ 

 

COST TO JOIN: This will be a free event for bloggers to join. I only ask that you post to your blog about the event and encourage other bloggers to join. This will also help drive traffic to your site and improve your odds of winning the Blogger Incentive mentioned below! 

 

BLOGGER INCENTIVE: Sign ups will only be open for a short time as the sponsor is looking to get this 8 week promotion started ASAP! So, to help expedite the process, I am offering the chance to host a "follow page" to the bloggers who refer the most sign ups for this event. Posting about this event on your blog is a great way to help ensure you win the referral prize! These giveaways will be open Internationally. The official start date will be announced within the next couple of days.

 

SPONSOR: http://www.hipswap.com/

If you want to signup for this giveaway, just fill out the form here and share the news on your blog.

Wrapping Up the Bewitching Book Tour & Two More Giveaways!

The Bewitching Book Tour for Destiny Unveiled is about ready to wrap up. The last two stops posted their reviews a few days ago, and each one of them are also giving away e-book copies of both Destiny and Destiny Unveiled. Fist, you can visit Cocktails and Books. This wonderful blog has reviewed all three of my novels, and visiting them is never a disappointment.  You can read Larissa's five star review here.   To enter the giveaway, check out the feature here.


The last stop of the tour was at the Indie Writers Review. The owner of this blog, Michelle Cornwell-Jordon is a fellow  young adult author! Her review & giveaway can be found here. You only need to leave one quick comment to enter!

Michelle has also agreed to read and review Phantom in July!  Since its always fun swapping books, my tween daughter and I will also be reading her YA novel, Night School, Vampire Hunter Part 1, and sharing our thoughts around the same time. Check out the book on Amazon. Its only $.99!

Happy Litha!

Player - Coming Soon!

If you follow my face book page, you probably know that I've been working on a revision of a book I wrote in high school.  It was originally titled "Playboy", but since lingo has changed a lot since the nineties, I decided to change it to Player. Revamping the story got me thinking about the old days, so I pulled out some old photos, including this prom picture! The guy in the picture is my friend George. Its been almost twenty years, and he's still one of my very best friends. He was also the inspiration for the main character in Player.  Here is a little summary to give you an idea of what the story is about.

Joshua Handover had it all. He was handsome, rich, athletic, and had always been popular with the ladies. Yet, until he gets paired up with his beautiful but shy lab partner, Rosa, he never allowed himself to fall in love. As the chemistry between them grows, Josh realizes that his player days have come to end. But it seems his change of heart has come too late. Not only is Rosa leery of his bad boy reputation, he has four vindictive ex-girlfriends who are on a rampage. At first he doesn’t take their threats seriously, but then his tires are slashed, someone tries to poison him, and one of the girls turns up dead. Josh doesn’t know who to trust, but one thing is certain. It definitely isn’t worth the price he’s paying to be a player.


I am just finishing up the final revision and waiting to see which publisher to submit this book too.  Don't worry, I updated it quite a bit and its pretty modern now. One way or another, I imagine that  this book will be on virtual shelves sometime in the next year.   In the meantime, reminiscence about the nineties with me and listen to "The Freshman" by The Verve Pipe. If I had to pick a theme song for "Player", this would be it!

I'm Seeing Stars!!!

  My feelings about my own work run a strange gamut. One day, I look at a completed novel, and I love it. The next day, I want to burn everything I've ever written and start all over. Once the book is in print, there is no starting over. All I can do is sit back and wait for other people's opinions. I was feeling a little discouraged at the beginning of the month. Sales were way lower than I had hoped, and I was starting to feel like I spent every free second of my life working on books that no one was ever going to read. But then I received four amazing five star reviews all in the same week!  Reviews that actually brought tears to my eyes. They reminded me that its not the number of sales that matter.  Its just about knowing that someone out there is reading my books, and enjoying them. Even if its only  handful of people, just knowing that the characters I love are being embraced by a chosen few is enough to make it worth continuing along this path.

 I thought I would share just a few lines from each of the reviews that touched my heart and helped restore my confidence. I'll start with a wonderful write up by Stephanie from The Sisters Elemental. You can read her full review of Destiny Unveiled here, but here's a small excerpt.

"I laughed at Flora and her mostly inappropriate and horribly timed comments. I cried with Gabby struggling to do what she thought was right where family was concerned. I pleaded with Darron to make better choices. And was heartbroken at times for Monte, and rejoiced at his humor and strength. The bad guys were just that, BAD! And then one or two of those bad guys made sacrifices that didn't make them seem so horrible!"

 "Book, Books and More Books" read both Destiny and Destiny Unveiled as part of my blog tour and loved them both! She even agreed to do a review of Phantom next! The full write up can be found here, but here is a sample.

  "This series has a little bit of everything for everyone.  There is fantasy, adventure, mystery, intrigue, romance, sex (okay only a little and it’s totally PG), and just fun.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the totally hot men.  So a couple of them are gay, they are still hot and not all of them are gay.  And for the men, gorgeous women.  Hmmm, did I mention the hot men??"

 Phantom also has its fair share of ratings this week. The owner of Close Encounters of the Night Kind was the first person to read Phantom who shares my obsession with the book and musical that inspired the story.  She loved the premise and give Phantom five "spiders"!  Check out her review here. 

"I admit, I like a great mystery.  I was about half way through the book mentally checking off the list of suspects when I settled on the one I thought was doing it.  lol...I was really off because that character died exactly two pages later.  The ending was quite surprising.  I really had no clue and was way off!!  But I was delighted by that fact!  I hate predictable books!!  This was a great read.  I'm sure all fans of Phantom will love it!"

And last but not least,  My Reading Room shared their thoughts on how Phantom parallels the  Phantom of the Opera, while still maintaining a fresh and original story line. I think their review, which you can find here, is one of my favorites so far.


 "When I accepted this book for review I was expecting a story I would enjoy, I ended up with so much more with this book. It was deeper and so much more enjoyable than I ever thought. I think it will be one of my most recommended books of the year, at least so far. It was fast-paced, refreshing and very interesting with wonderful characters that I think will appeal to all ages whether you have read, listened to or watch Phantom before or not."

Thanks so much to the wonderful book reviewers who helped me get over a creative slump and restored my faith in my words! To other readers out there who aren't bloggers,you can't imagine how important it is for writers to hear your thoughts on our books. Its not just about sales. Your positive comments give us the encouragement to keep writing. So when you read a book,  leave a review on amazon or good reads, write a note on face book, or  leave a comment on the author's blog. We read and appreciate every comment we receive!