Saturday, June 30, 2012

International Book Giveaway and Author Interview: Savage by Willow Rose. Two winners for this one!

Book One
Hi guys. It's always my pleasure to introduce you to writers you may not be aware of. I'd like you to meet Willow Rose. She's originally from Denmark and now makes her home in Florida. She's also quite a prolific writer of paranormal romance and has written several books. Her latest is Savage, the first book in a new series called Daughters of the Jaguar. One winner will receive a signed paperback copy and the second winner will receive an e-book version. Check out what's it's about...

The year is 1983. Christian is 22 years old when he leaves his home in Denmark to spend a year in Florida with a very wealthy family and go to med-school. A joyful night out with friends is shattered by an encounter with a savage predator that changes his life forever. Soon he faces challenges he had never expected. A supernatural gift he has no idea how to embrace. A haunting family in the house next door. A spirit-filled girl who seems to carry all the answers. An ancient secret hidden in the swamps of Florida. One life never the same. One love that becomes an obsession. Two destinies that will be forever entangled.

Now, learn more about Willow Rose in her own words and stay tuned for how to enter the giveaway at the end of the interview...

1) Tell us about your background. You're from Denmark. Did you begin your writing career there? How long have you been writing?


 I have always told stories. I remember telling stories to my friends as a child in school and making them forget that they had to go out and play for recess. Even my teacher would listen in and he told me to keep it up and to write them down. I wrote several notebooks filled with stories that he read. He encouraged me a lot. I went on to become a journalist and wrote my first novel when I was 28. It was published by one of the big Danish publishing houses. Since then I have written three books in Danish that are published under my maiden name in Denmark, Germany and Norway and six books in English.

2) What's your educational background? Have you taken any writing courses? Do you think it's necessary?

 I was a journalist for many years and I think that gave me some kind of idea how to build up a story and how to write, but it never prepared me for writing a complete novel. Most journalists dream about writing a book but they never make it past page seven because then they have told the entire story. That's the way they teach you to write in journalism-school - it was actually very difficult for me to learn how to unfold the story and not just tell everything in a few pages.
                                                               
3) Do you have an agent? If not, do you plan to seek one? Why or why not?

Where I come from we don't use agents. I get by on my own. It has worked fine so far.

 4) Tell us about your writing process. How often do you write and what are your word-count goals? How do you manage your time for writing?

I write when my kids are at school. I always try to write at least five pages or 4.000 words a day. On good days I write the double. Then I take the next day off.

 5) Self-published authors have gotten a lot of attention with the success of Amanda Hocking. What do you think about that?

I think Amanda Hocking's story is amazing. I love what she has done for herself. I completely understand why she would choose to take a great deal like that. In that way she reaches readers all over the world - including those who do not have e-readers. She can still do her own stuff on the side. I think she has been very smart.

6) Tell us about the type of young adult stories you write about. How do you come up with your ideas? What tidbits can you share about your latest book?

The story and the characters come to me. I like to say that they "pop up" in my head. That is the best way I can describe it. The characters are just there all of a sudden and then they start to do stuff and talk to other people and soon there is a whole story that I just have to tell or else I will burst. I simply adore the characters from Savage and I know everybody else will too. They are so lovable. I have a hard time letting go of them. I will write three books about the main character Christian. It is sort of a family-saga really. In the first book he is in his twenties and so is the woman he falls in love with. In the second book they have kids of their own and are in their thirties. In the last book they will have young teenagers. I am also planning on doing a book about Aiyana, the spirit-filled Native American girl that he falls hopelessly in love with. About her and when she first discovers who she really is. I might also do a book about her sister who does telekinesis and their grand-mother who predicts natural disasters. I love those characters so much that they each deserve their own book.





If you'd like a chance to be one of the two winners, just leave a comment with your email. Willow would love more followers on her blog: http://www.willow-rose.blogspot.com, Twitter: @madamwillowrose or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willowredrose
Following her is not a requirement for the giveaway, but if you decide to do it, please let her know in your comment. She'll be tickled to see that.

This giveaway is international, so everyone is welcome. Willow is originally from Denmark, after all...lol...It ends July 20, 2012.

Toodles!

 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Cover Reveal: Triangles by Kimberly Ann Miller. Have you heard about this one?

A cruise ship. A beautiful island. Two sexy guys. What could possibly go wrong? 

In the Bermuda Triangle--a lot.

Hoping to leave behind the reminders of her crappy life--her father's death years ago, her mother's medical problems, and the loser who's practically stalking her--seventeen-year-old Autumn Taylor hops on a ship with her sister for a little distraction. When she wakes up in the Bermuda Triangle, she fears she's gone nuts for more than one reason: that loser's suddenly claiming they're a happy couple... a hot guy is wrapping his arms around her and saying "Happy Anniversary"... and suddenly, she's full of bruises, losing her hair, and getting IV medication. Autumn visits the ship's doctor, hoping for a pill or a shot to make the craziness go away. Instead, she's warned that one of these "alternate realities" could become permanent.


She just has to ask herself one question--how the hell is she going to get out of this mess?


Triangles, Kimberly Ann Miller's amazing story of a girl who wakes up in alternate realities each day she spends in the Bermuda Triangle. It's sort of like a teen romance version of Groundhog Day, and it will make you both cry and laugh out loud. 
 
It's available in paperback and e-book form. Triangles released June 18, 2012 by Spencer Hill Press.
 
Toodles!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

And the winner of Jackie After O is...

I wish I had a book to give each of you that entered the giveaway. The publicist only sent one, so without delay, let me announce the winner. It is...

Laurel-Rain!

Please email me with your address so I can get the book out to you. The winner was selected randomly using Random.org.

Toodles!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Book review and giveaway: Jackie After O: One Remarkable Year when Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis defied Expectations and Rediscovered Her Dreams by Tina Cassidy

I've always been a Jackie Kennedy Onassis fan. Her quiet demeanor and Mona Lisa smile always intrigued me. When I was offered the chance to read Jackie After O, I grabbed it. Here's the description of the story...


Defined in the public eye by her two high-profile marriages, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis faced a personal crossroads on the eve of 1975. Her relationship with Aristotle Onassis was crumbling while his health was rapidly declining. Her children were nearing adulthood, soon to leave her with an empty nest. Both death and scandal were about to strike yet again. But 1975 would also be a time of incredible growth and personal renaissance for Jackie, the year in which she reinvented herself and rediscovered talents and passions she had set aside for her roles as wife and mother.

In Jackie After O, acclaimed author and journalist Tina Cassidy explores this prolific yet incredibly daunting year in the life of Jacqueline Onassis, including her part in the campaign to preserve Grand Central Terminal in New York City; her pursuit of a real career, in the editorial department of Viking Press; the death of her second husband and her fraught relationship with his surviving daughter; and the London bombing that almost took her own daughter's life. Cassidy has unearthed new information from archives and original interviews, and reveals intimate stories about the projects and interests of Jackie's earlier years that would lay the foundation for her life beginning in 1975, from an internship at Vogue to her meticulous restoration of the White House when she was First Lady.

Jackie After O is an exciting and original portrayal of the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis through the lens of one remarkable year, a time of reinvention both personal and public, as she shook the world's expectations and pursued her dreams in middle age.


I've read many accounts of Jackie. This book rehashed old ground that I was familiar with, but that didn't make the story any less enjoyable. What was different was this book's particular focus: the year 1975; the year that Jackie became a widow for the second time, and made the decision to seek a job. Her journey to find meaning in her life through work and accomplishments of significance showed a different side of the woman beyond the myth and what many people may be familiar with. Even though she had great wealth (200 million, thereabouts) she didn't devote herself to a life of leisure. She fought for the causes she believed in, like the battle to save Grand Central Terminal in NYC. I recall as a kid, her fight to save St. Bartholomew's church, a little architectural wonder in NY as well. As an aspiring writer, I enjoyed reading about Onassis' career as an editor with Viking Publishers. Imagine having her as your editor!


Though the book has a big focus on that pivotal year, it also examines important events in her life prior to that as First Lady and then later as a single mother, problematic step mother and points in between. It makes it clear, that Jackie Kennedy Onassis was not a dilettante or flighty socialite. She was iron butterfly with real substance. It's a great example of the old adage: money isn't everything. This woman had plenty of it, but Jackie After O, gives the reader an intimate little journey along side a famous woman trying to make her life count for something.


Jackie After O, is a nifty little read at 288 pages. If you'd like a chance to read it for yourself, leave a comment that answers this question: have you read any books on Jackie Kennedy Onassis? Don't forget to include your email. 

This giveaway is open to resident's of the US only. It ends, Sunday, June 17, 2012

Jackie After O released May 1, 2012 by It books (HarperCollins)

Toodles!