Australia Day Book Giveaway Blog Hop Winner

The winner of the blog hop is:


Karla Oleinikoff

Congratulations!!

I'll be contacting you soon.


Thanks to everyone who entered.


~yia~

Australia Day Book Giveaway Blog Hop

Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

Oi! Oi! Oi!

Want a chance to read some Aussie authors but don't know where to start?

Well this blog hop will help you. Aussie authors have gathered together to celebrate being Australian with this blog hop and some great giveaways.

Follow the link to our host - Book'd Out - to click the names of some great Aussie Authors and have a chance to win the giveaways on offer.

I'm offering my Musa Publishing trio of releases - Enchanted Realms, Gateway to Hell, and SNOOP, and is open Internationally. All are ebooks.

     

 Click the covers to read the blurbs and excerpts.

To enter simply enter using the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy discovering!!

~yia~

Heroes & Villains Blog Hop

I'm sure my blog post is not going to be filled with the intelligent musings that my co-blog hop hosters will talk about. But here goes....

Basically, I believe that on the whole, a hero can not exist without a villain. Sure, there are people that do heroic things, but in the terms of fiction - and let's face it we are talking speculative fiction here - there really has to be the conflict between the two. This would drive both of them forward to stop the other.

In many cases, the hero is not all good, and the villain, all bad.  They have different points of view and if done correctly, as a reader, you can see where they both come from. You may not do what the villain does - but understanding why a villain is bent on their course, helps us understand that for them, this seems like the best course. Unless they are a psychopath or sociopath. And even that label goes on to explain their behaviour.

I'm reading George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series and there are so many different points of view and so many reasons for people doing what they are doing - you wonder if most are truly the villain the others see them as. I mean do you want the Starks to win? - who seem to be the good guys but who all have faults - or do you want the Lannisters? - who you get to know via Tyrion and later on Jamie. Or Daenaerys - a young woman who is from the deposed royal family across the sea.  Who has the claim?


Usually there are reasons for people being the way they are. Joffrey is a little snotty psychopath who likes to belittle and hurt people, but who is a boy who really wanted his father's love and approval.


Does this give him an excuse to behave badly? No. It doesn't. Sorry, Joffrey, slapping around or getting others to slap around people is just wrong. Wanting to kill people for being poor and yelling at you is wrong. I could go on, but I don't want to spoil the story.

Let's take Tyrion. The Starks see him as a baddie. He is after all a Lannister, but he does have heart and we see his struggles of what must be done compared to what he really wants to do. As an 'imp', he uses his wit and sharp tongue to deflate any barbs or any physical challenges.  He knows he is not safe despite being a Lannister (from the Lannisters themselves), and the one thing that makes him falter all the time is need he has for his family to accept and love him.  Hero? Villain? Both?

Okay, let's go for the 'hero' side - Catelyn Stark. Usually a level headed woman who does the best for her husband and her children, but has a total disregard for John Snow, the bastard son of her husband. Her sense of honour has never allowed her to accept him and has treated him like a leper, while most of her children treat him as their brother. It's the one action that has not made me completely love Catelyn - that a woman with so much love to give to her family can't find it in her heart to love a boy whose status of being a bastard is not his fault.

In the world Martin has created, Catelyn's attitude is normal but my 21st century mind finds it hard. So is she a villain?


In the end, the difference between a hero and a villain, is that even if a hero has a dubious moral code, in the end they will do the right thing for others. While the villain only ever thinks of themselves.


What do you think?


For your chance to win a $20 Amazon voucher & a copy of one of my releases, just comment below.

You can read blurbs and extracts of my Musa books here. 

You can read blurbs and extracts of my short story, Sealed With a Kiss here. 

Please don't forget to visit the other folks who are talking heroes and villains.

1. Nyki Blatchley
2. Martin Bolton
3. Debra Brown
4. Adrian Chamberlain
5. Mike Cooley
6. Karin Cox
7. Joanna Fay
8. Peter B Forster
9. Ron Fritsch
10. Mai Griffin
11. Joanne Hall
12. Jolea M Harrison
13. Tinney Sue Heath
14. Eleni Konstanine
15. K. Scott Lewis
16. Paula Lofting-Wilcox
17. Liz Long
18. Peter Lukes
19. Mark McClelland
20. M. Edward McNally
21. Sue Millard
22. Ginger Myrick
23. David Pilling
24. EM Powell
25. Kim Rendfeld
26. Terry L Smith
27. Tara West
28. Keith Yatsuhashi

~yia~ 

Winner - Spectrum of Speculative Fiction Blog Hop

WINNER

(thanks to random.org)

is

S.E. Gilchrist

I'll email you re the prize. 

Thank you to everyone who popped in and commented.

Don't forget to check out Sealed With a Kiss - FREE until 15th March.

Code: ZY68S

~yia~

Spectrum of Speculative Fiction Blog Hop!!!

Oh, boy, I can't believe it's the 8th.

And that means it's time for the Spectrum of Speculative Fiction blog hop!!! Ta-da-da-da-da!


The first stories I wrote were short stories - I think many writers especially in the spec fiction area, start that way. When I did my correspondence writing course many a year ago, I wrote all sorts of stories including contemporary ones, but the ones that people seemed to liked who read them, were my spec fiction stories.

Just over a couple of years ago, I started writing not just short stories but flash fiction and I found this was fun. I've had a few on Antipodean SF (all praise!) and a couple of other flash fiction markets. I find that I like mainly to be quirky, especially with my AntiSF stories, but that I like to test other genres in the flash fiction - including sci-fi and horror.

Looking at my works-in-progress because I have a lot in progress, I tend to do the same with the longer short stories (up to about 7K). Some have more romance than others, but in all of them, I ask the grand ol' question of 'what if'?

In Gateway to Hell, I wanted a woman who struggled with self confidence to have a unique gift and to accept that people do love her. It was a struggle though.

Zeta will protect the one she loves, even if it means living in Hell.
Mastering a unique power was much safer for Zeta Kosmos with a mentor to help her along. Now that he’s disappeared, Zeta must continue alone with her calling—closing Gateways to Hell.

Daniel Richards is in the family business—Warding supernatural evil from causing havoc on humans. As such, he’s only interested in the safety of one-night stands. Until Zeta. This bad boy now wants a long, lasting relationship.

But Zeta can’t let go of her past, nor can she ignore the secret demonic threats against Daniel’s life. She’d rather fight demonic spawn and be dragged into Hell than allow anything happen to him. Can Daniel convince her to stay? Will she have to pay the ultimate price?

In Enchanted Realms, I have two short stories, which both beg the question - is their world real?


STORMY DIVIDE - Will Ellie ever find a way home?

ANGEL EYES - What if the man of your dreams only existed in your dreams?


STORMY DIVIDE
Thom may be used to the dangers of the forest, but nothing has prepared him for this. When he stumbles across a woman dressed in weird clothing lying on the ground during a storm, he has no choice but to help her.

Ellie finds herself in another world, having travelled through time and space thanks to what Thom calls The Rifts. The question is whether she will ever be able to find her way back, or if she will be stuck in this new world forever. Or if she will even want to go home…


ANGEL EYES
Vera’s dreams are haunted each night by a man she only knows as Angel Eyes. He feels more real to her than anything else in her life, including her fiancé. Vera must try to forget her childish dreams of soul mates and happily ever after… but are they really only dreams or can she find a way to be with Angel Eyes forever?



In my current release, Sealed With a Kiss, I asked what if the guy you were attracted to wasn't all he seemed?

Yep, this one definitely has romance in it. Because I think it's a huge part of human relationships.

Can a gift from her grandmother protect Lise? 



Lise doesn’t believe in vampires. Or so she tells herself. Though, she constantly wears the garnet necklace her grandmother gave her, which wards off the creatures. Andreas, the man she’s attracted to, seems more than a little interested in it. Could there be an ulterior motive?

You can get Sealed With a Kiss for FREE at Smashwords until 15th March. Just put the code: ZY68S

For your chance to win a copy of both Enchanted Realms and Gateway to Hell, please leave a comment.


Happy hopping ~ don't forget to visit my fellow authors for more fun and prizes!

~yia~

Coming soon... Spectrum of Speculative Fiction blog hop

I'm back from ARRC - fantastic - and ready to get back to work.

Coming this Friday, there is the Speculative of Speculative Fiction Blog Hop. Join this bunch of speculative fiction authors for some great posts and prizes.


Here is the list....




~yia~

Love Is In The Air Blog Hop

Well I'm not going to talk exactly about Valentine's Day but more why do I put romance in my stories?

Not all of my stories have romance, but most of them do. I've never intentionally put a romance in the story - it just turns out that way.

Romance is an element that is such a big part of our lives and influences people in many ways. It is part of our story as a human being. And since I write about human beings (mostly!), you can't avoid the subject of love - or at the very least, lust.

Take my paranormal romance novella, Gateway to Hell. It didn't begin as a romance. Most of my stories DO begin with a paranormal / supernatural / fantasy element. In this case, I had this woman who could open a Gateway to Hell. Initially GTH started as a short story about us, the reader, not knowing if this woman indeed could do what she claimed, or it was a delusion. But you see I introduced this good-looking Warder guy, and the rest as they say, is history.

The characters told me the story and that story included a big chunk of romance.

Will my other stories in the series have so much romance? I don't know, the characters haven't told me yet, but writing Warder 2, I can already see a romance in the future. So it could be.

To win a copy of Gateway to Hell, leave a comment below on why you or don't like like romance in stories.

And make sure to join in the blog hop and visit the other blogs.

You can find the list on the Under the Covers Book Blog. (For some reason Linky is not working)

Have fun doing the Blog Hop!


~yia~

Winner of Blog Hop

What a hoot is has been checking out the 2nd Anniversary Halloween Blog Hop with the DarkSiders.

Thanks to all participants.

Now the winner on my blog is:

wandaf

Wanda, I will be contacting you soon regarding your prize.


~yia~

DSDU 2nd Anniversary Halloween Blog Hop

I can't believe it's been two years since the DSDU started.  Where has the time gone?....

We started on Halloween because it was appropriate for the Dark Side. What could be more dark than Halloween? The ghosts, the ghouls, the general bumpity bump that goes in the night that's supernatural.

But while there is the dark side, I find that I'm also attracted to the lighter side, and we have DarkSiders who also write the lighter side...

In honour of the lighter side, and because I just love having a laugh (long time followers of the blog will know I have a weird sense of the ridiculous), here are some pictures to make you hopefully laugh....

source: http://www.squidoo.com/draw-goofy-ghosts

source: http://www.funandmusic.biz/funny-pic-haloween1.htm

source: http://captainscratchy.com/page/11/

And lastly.....

source: http://www.military-history.us/tag/zombie

Now to the prize part of the post...

To win a copy of either Enchanted Realms or Gateway to Hell, please comment below on what you find funny about Halloween.


The big prize of the hop is a $30 Amazon Voucher (see the DarkSide DownUnder blog post).



Here are the rules of the blog hop

1. To be eligible to win a prize on the blogs, the reader must do as what’s instructed on each blog by 11.59pm 4th November Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time. 
2. To be eligible to win the Amazon voucher, the participants must comment on each participating blog. Only one comment needed. Multiple comments will be ignored for the purposes of the contest. 
3. Have fun! 

Halloween Special - 2nd Blogiversary Participants

1. Eleni Konstantine 2. Mel Teshco 3. Nicole Murphy 4. Imogene Nix 5. Christina Phillips aka Christina Ashcroft 6. Amanda Ashby 7. Jenny Schwartz 8. Shona Husk 9. Maree Anderson

10. Kylie Griffin 11. Lilliana Rose 12. Nicole Hurley-Moore 13. Eden Summers 14. Erica Hayes 15. Sandra Harris 16. Keziah Hill 17. S E Gilchrist 18. DSDU

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

Fantabulous Friday: DarkSiders 2nd anniversary

Coming soon is the fantabulous Halloween Blog Hop for the 2nd anniversary of the DarkSiders.... and I've course I'll be joining in on this blog.

On the 31st October, don't forget to come along here and then hop to the other DarkSiders participating.  It's going to be a blast.

~yia~

Musa Monday ~ Musa Blog Hop

I've got a real treat for you today - 2 blog posts on Musa.

This one - on the Musa Blog Hop - and a second one featuring Musa author and blogmistress, Sloane Taylor!

 *

* this is only for US and Canada but International residents can get a $50 Musa Publishing Voucher *

Exciting isn't it!

I'm very lucky to part of this really innovate publishing house and in it's first year as well. 

I've had two releases with them in the last few months. 

Enchanted Realms, which is a short story speculative fiction duo, and Gateway to Hell, a paranormal romance novella. 

ENCHANTED REALMS

STORMY DIVIDE - Will Ellie ever find a way home?    ANGEL EYES - What if the man of your dreams only existed in your dreams?

STORMY DIVIDE
Thom may be used to the dangers of the forest, but nothing has prepared him for this. When he stumbles across a woman dressed in weird clothing lying on the ground during a storm, he has no choice but to help her.

Ellie finds herself in another world, having travelled through time and space thanks to what Thom calls The Rifts. The question is whether she will ever be able to find her way back, or if she will be stuck in this new world forever. Or if she will even want to go home…

ANGEL EYES
Vera’s dreams are haunted each night by a man she only knows as Angel Eyes. He feels more real to her than anything else in her life, including her fiancé. Vera must try to forget her childish dreams of soul mates and happily ever after… but are they really only dreams or can she find a way to be with Angel Eyes forever?

GATEWAY TO HELL: A WARDER TALE Book 1

Zeta will protect the one she loves, even if it means living in Hell.

Mastering a unique power was much safer for Zeta Kosmos with a mentor to help her along. Now that he’s disappeared, Zeta must continue alone with her calling—closing Gateways to Hell.

Daniel Richards is in the family business—Warding supernatural evil from causing havoc on humans. As such, he’s only interested in the safety of one-night stands. Until Zeta. This bad boy now wants a long, lasting relationship.

But Zeta can’t let go of her past, nor can she ignore the secret demonic threats against Daniel’s life. She’d rather fight demonic spawn and be dragged into Hell than allow anything happen to him. Can Daniel convince her to stay? Will she have to pay the ultimate price?

You find my books on the Musa site | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks


Contest time...

For your chance to win a copy of your choice of my releases, please make a comment below and mention this blog hop on one of the following:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• via a blog
• or  let your friends know via email. 

You'll also go into the running for the Musa prizes.

And don't forget to join my fellow Musa authors and comment on their blogs for more chances to go into the Musa prize pool. 

~yia~

Musing Mondays: Blog Hop on its way

I'll be participating in a blog hop with the Musa authors to celebrate Musa's first anniversary!

So mark the dates in your diary, because it's going to be a blast!

~yia~

Writing Buddy Wednesday: Tamara Gill - Blog Hop

I first met Tam at the SA Roadshow after having chatted to her via email, and her becoming a SARA member. I couldn't be more delighted when she sold her first novella to Noble Romance, as she is such a warm and lovely person.

She writes Regency Historicals and Time Travel Romances. The cover gods are smiling down on her as she has had the most gorgeous covers for her books.

Tamara joins us to today for the A Marriage Made In Mayfair Release Party, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions.


Congratulations on the release of A Marriage Made in Mayfair. Tell us about the story.
A Marriage Made in Mayfair is a tale of two people from very different levels of society. Their struggles with image, both cosmetic and financial, that dictates their life within the strictures of the ton. It is a tale of how wrongs can be made right through honor and truth.

Congratulations on getting your novels accepted by Crimson Romance. Can you tell us how this came about? Are you able to quickly describe these books?
Of course. I submitted through their submissions guidelines my Regency and Medieval time travel novels and was ecstatic when they were accepted for publication. It all happened quickly from when I first subbed, under a week in fact. I’m currently working on my edits for A Stolen Season (Regency time travel) which will be available August 27. 

What is the attraction of historical romance?
The first thing that attracted me to this genre was the clothing. I LOVE empire style gowns and as soon as I’d read about the delicious rakes of old London town I was hooked. 

You’ve published novellas with Noble Romance.  What attracted you to writing in a shorter format? 

Truthfully it was because I couldn’t sell my longer length novels. I knew I was doing something wrong, but couldn’t figure out ‘what’ that was. Shorter length stores has made me get my point across faster and to see story arcs more clearly. And I like writing the shorter length novels and later this year will be publishing a paranormal goddess / druid story.

What are you working on now? And what’s in the near future for Tamara Gill?
I’m working on edits for the first book of my Duke of Penworth Series - Elizabeth. And writing the third book at the same time. These are traditional regencies about five siblings of the Duke of Penworth.

What do you love about being a writer?
I love that my characters who’ve been talking to me for months eventually have their happy ever after. I love hearing from readers who’ve fallen in love as much as I have with my characters and let me know they can’t wait to read more from me. I love that buzz. It’ll never get old.

What is the best thing you have done for your writing?
I’ve kept writing. Persevering with my craft and trying to make it better with every book. I’ve also never let any contest, publisher or agent feedback stop me from what I want to do. Write.

What would be your ultimate research trip? ;))

coming soon

I’d travel around the UK and I’d stay in every castle or manor house I could. I’m going to do that one day and I can’t wait. 

What do you do in your ‘down time’?
Down time? What’s that? LOL


Thanks, Tamara :)


To get your copy of A Marriage Made In Mayfair, go to Decadent Publishing.

To see more of Tamara's work go to her website.

Super Sunday: Competition for Young Writers & Blog Hops

I have something different for Super Sunday this week.


Because it's a super competition, I wanted to share....

Click on ad, to go to the website....


Good luck young writers.



Also check out fellow SARA member, Tamara Gill's Release blog hop.

Tam will be my guest on the 4th July, so pop in then. Looks like it's going to be incredible fun...


Another blog tour is the Alliance Forged by Kylie Griffin.

Kylie will be appearing on the Dark Side DownUnder blog on 26th July.




~yia~

And the Winner Is....

After using Random.org because I could not choose a winner myself, the winner of the Musa Memorial Day Blog Hop is:

Sara Daniel!!!!

Congrats, Sara. I'll be in touch for your prize.


Again, thank you to everyone for popping and commenting.

Super Sunday: Musa Publishing Blog Hop - Memorial Day

This week, I'm doing something a little different. I'm participating in the Musa Publishing Memorial Day Blog Hop.

Okay, so I'm in Australia and we don't have Memorial Day, but we do have Remembrance Day (November 11), and ANZAC Day (April 25). I try and do an Anzac Day post every year. Click here to read this year's post.

ANZAC - stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps which fought together at Gallipoli, Turkey in WWI. April 25 marks the anniversary of the first military action fought by our troops in WWI and the subsequent long and bloody campaign.

I believe no matter what you think of wars and conflicts that have happened and that continue to happen, we need to support the troops. The people who put their lives on the front line to keep their country safe. 

I think the Lest We Forget is just that - we shouldn't forget those who have fought and died, those who continue to fight. Hopefully that will mean no war one day - a Star Trek view of the future where the Earth has learned to live together in harmony.

It's why I love speculative fiction and why I love Star Trek in particular. It is not a bleak view of the future but shows that humanity can band together and to give hope. Thanks for that outlook, Gene Rodenberry. 

To honour the troops, I'm doing a little contest giveaway - a $10 gift voucher from Musa Publishing (since my stories aren't released yet) AND a title of your choice from Musa Publishing courtesy of Dominque Eastwick from Musa Publishing (thanks, Dom!)

To be in the running, make a comment on this blog post AND

do ONE of the following: 

• follow this blog, 
• me on Twitter, 
• my Google Plus page, OR 
• my Facebook Author page. 

Check out my fellow Musans below for their blog hop posts:

Check out the Musa Publishing website for some fantastic stories, and the Musa blog for some great posts.

Live long and prosper everyone!

Have a great week!

~yia~