Saturday, March 31, 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Book Snatch: 600 Follower Giveaway!!!!

Book Snatch: 600 Follower Giveaway!!!!:   After hovering around the 590's for a few months, we've finally hit 600 followers! Thank you thank you thank you! And you know what ...

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Owl Read It: Giveaway!! Slide by Jill Hathaway

Owl Read It: Giveaway!! Slide by Jill Hathaway: Slide by Jill Hathaway Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered. ...

The Last Word: Interview with Elizabeth Norris

The Last Word: Interview with Elizabeth Norris: Today's guest is Elizabeth Norris, author of the upcoming debut novel UNRAVELING (April 24th!). I met Elizabeth through our editor, Kris...

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A Novel Affair: Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop Ends 2/22

A Novel Affair: Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop Ends 2/22: It's time for the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop Hosted By I Am A Reader Not a Writer , and Co-Hosted by Books Complete Me and Author Cindy ...

The Book Swarm: Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop!

The Book Swarm: Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway Hop!: Welcome to the LUCKY LEPRECHAUN GIVEAWAY HOP hosted by Inspired Kathy at I am a Reader, Not a Writer Books Complete Me , and Author Cindy ...

Book Passion for Life: Book Passion for Life's 1 Year Blogoversary!

Book Passion for Life: Book Passion for Life's 1 Year Blogoversary!: HAPPY 1 YEAR BLOGOVERSARY TO US!!!! < Wow, can you believe it's been one year today since we started up the blog. This year has gone super...

All Things Urban Fantasy: Giveaway: BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Stacey Jay

All Things Urban Fantasy: Giveaway: BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Stacey Jay: Giveaway provided by Pocket Books 3 copies of BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Stacey Jay

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Once Upon a Twilight!: Once Upon a Twilight turns 2 today!

Once Upon a Twilight!: Once Upon a Twilight turns 2 today!: Happy Blogoversary to Once Upon a Twilight today! I can't believe its been 2 years already. Feels like I just started the other day. OUaT h...

Thoughts At One In The Morning: The One Year Blogoversary/Follower Appreciation Gi...

Thoughts At One In The Morning: The One Year Blogoversary/Follower Appreciation Gi...: Blogoversary/Follower Appreciation Giveaway! In just a few days (on March 21st), my blog will be a year old! (If we want to get all techni...

Lisa's Loves(Books of Course): March New Release Giveaway Hop Mar 15th-30th

Lisa's Loves(Books of Course): March New Release Giveaway Hop Mar 15th-30th: Welcome to Stop #6 of the  March New Release Giveaway Hop! The  March New Release Giveaway Hop    is hosted by  Book Twirps   ...

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Interview - John J Smith - Finding Katie


Please describe your novel twitter style 140 characters or less.

A young man’s sister becomes missing, and while he ventures out to find her, he stumbles on to a world he never knew existed.

What is the one thing you wish you knew before you tried to get published?

How difficult it is to get there. The journey can be very frustrating. Writing is only a minor part.

What to you is the best part of being a writer and what is the part you wouldn't mind giving up?

The best part of writing is you get to see your ideas, thoughts, and stories on paper and that someone will read it (besides family and friends) and say they like it. Writing in itself is very rewarding, but to have feedback from a stranger, wow.

Marketing for me is something I wouldn’t mind giving up. I’m not sure how other writers feel but marketing takes time and I’m horrible at it. In addition, it takes away the precious time you might have for writing.

What city would you love to set a story in but the right one hasn't come along yet?

Maui, Hawaii. It’s paradise but I have not been able to put a story there that hasn’t already been done. You’d think that would be easy. I absolutely love the place but I draw a total blank when trying to bring it into one my stories.

Vampires, Shifters, Zombies, Angels - who wins the final ultimate battle?

Angels. Hands down. They have the ultimate strength and a mission that is beyond all comprehension. Everything listed above is against humankind, Angels, good or bad, focuses on the survival of humankind. (Note: Just listen to the good ones J )

If you could witness any historical event past, present or future what would it be and why?

The Gettysburg address. That had to been an awesome speech to write, and to listen to, especially when you consider the era in which it focused on. I’ve listen closely to speeches written today, and other than Kennedy’s “Ask what” I have not heard anything that pulls at me as the Gettysburg address. Kennedy’s was good but Lincoln’s was great.

Anything else you would like to share today?

I often get asked, do you outline and plan the direct of your story or does it just take off on it's on?

I do outline but I start with a short blurb (log line) first to see if the story fits on cyber paper as it does in my mine. If I feel good about the log line, I then write an outline, looking at the characters and plots to see how they fit. From there, I move the outline to index cards and play with the story line. Finally, I write a short synopsis to see how everything fits, however, the synopsis and index cards are usually a reiterative process until the story starts taking place and flows the way I had hoped. That doesn’t mean the story cannot stray off in a different direction but my plots and characters very rarely change.

About John J. Smith:

John writes under two names John J. Smith and pen name Jonathan Black. Why does he do this?  He has been told when a reader sees his work they have an expectation, hence the two names. He has won several awards under each name.He has been called a prolific Fiction writer. he enjoys writing romance and mainstream as John and paranormal and paranormal romance as Jonathan.Several of his novels have been converted or rewritten into screenplays; for which he has also have won several awards.John J. Smith resides in Plano, a suburb of Dallas, Texas.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Last Word: Interview With Rachel Hawkins

The Last Word: Interview With Rachel Hawkins: Today, I'm thrilled to welcome back my talented and hilarious friend Rachel Hawkins, author of the best-selling HEX HALL series. Yesterda...

Review - Finding Katie

The very wealthy and very sheltered Preston Meadows lives his life protected from even the hint of harm. His world is safe and secure until someone kidnaps his sister, Katie. Against his parents’ wishes, Preston sets out on his own to find her. Preston works hard to blend in with the “regular” people roaming the streets of Dallas – but the real world is zany, insane, full of danger and ruthless criminals. Preston soon begins to learn more about himself and finds he has a knack for foiling certain crimes. In his adventures, during his search for his sister, he makes friends with some of the strangest people he could ever imagine. Along the way, Preston falls in love, comes face-to-face with a self-described Drug Lord, and discovers a side of himself he never knew existed, especially after the Drug Lord kidnaps his girlfriend.

My Review:

I wasnt entirely sure what type of book I was going to be reading when I started.  It sounded like a mystery with humor element from what I had read before.  And it definitely had the humor element, and a touch of mystery.  But really it was about Preston and what its like for him to live in his sheltered family life and how he really grows and learns what is important and what life in about while on a search for his missing sister.

Preston is an incredibly smart man who still lives in his parent basement and works for his father helping him to make millions.   The closest person to him is his sister Katie who goes missing one day while trying to help someone out in a dangerous part of town.  Preston is not able to stand back while the police and private investigators try to find Katie and insists on looking for her himself.  This is a huge step outside of his comfort zone and he is not at all prepared to face life and survive in the real world.  Luckily he does have his fathers credit card, this does help him adjust into a different lifestyle even though he cant admit he is the one purchasing the items he buys to help out his new found acquaintances.  Throughout the book you really get to see Preston grow and find out who he is and it makes you glad that his sister went missing, because without it he never would have become the person he is meant to be. 


While I did like the story there were a couple flaws.  One is that the story is about finding Katie.  But its really finding Preston.  Katie goes missing at the beginning.  But it seems like once Preston leaves home he concentrates more on the new people he meets and finding Katie becomes more of a background quest.  He doesnt forget it, it just seems like he doesnt make it such a priority.  The other things that I noticed is that while the writing is good and the story flows great.  It could use another pass by a good editor, then it would be a much better work.  


I would read another book by this writer.  His main characters were well developed and you could really see the progression.  And the story flowed smoothly which made it much easier and more pleasant to read.

Stuck in YA Books: March Madness Box Giveaway!!!

Stuck in YA Books: March Madness Box Giveaway!!!: For the month of March I will be giving away a box of random books/ARCs !!! Trust me there are finished copy of books. I have been adding b...

The Qwillery: Interview with Christina Henry and Giveaway - Marc...

The Qwillery: Interview with Christina Henry and Giveaway - Marc...: Please welcome Christina Henry to The Qwillery. Black Howl , the third novel in Christina's Black Wings series, was published on February 28...

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Qwillery: Authors After Dark Author Spotlight Interview - Ad...

The Qwillery: Authors After Dark Author Spotlight Interview - Ad...: Please welcome Adrian Phoenix as part of The Qwillery's Authors After Dark Author Spotlight Interviews. TQ :  What inspired you become a...

The Qwillery: Seanan McGuire / Mira Grant Giveaway

The Qwillery: Seanan McGuire / Mira Grant Giveaway: I'm a huge fan of Seanan McGuire 's writing. In case you don't know Seanan writes the October Daye Urban Fantasy series. As Mira Grant she ...

Sunday, March 11, 2012

a daydreamer's thoughts: You're Getting Lucky!

a daydreamer's thoughts: You're Getting Lucky!: Feelin' Lucky Giveaway Hop! So, a while back, I decided to sign up for a St. Patrick's Giveaway hop! Now, this lucky giveaway is sort of a ...