Amazon Barnes and Noble

From Stacey Wallace Benefiel, the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, comes a new NA trilogy set in the Society world.

Penny Black hasn’t had it easy. Just about everything you’d expect to happen to a harassed foster-kid turned junkie has happened to Penny. Add in the mysterious power to rewind time, conducting events around her, and it’s a wonder she held up on the streets for so many years. Now, at seventeen, the New Society has found her. Finally, Penny is where she belongs. But that doesn’t stop the visions, or the need to protect the victims shown to her.

Wyatt Adams is excited and intrigued when his sister Melody assigns him to be Penny’s Lookout. Being the youngest, and hopelessly ordinary in the family that created the New Society, has left Wyatt feeling like he has a lot to prove — and Penny is a big deal. She’s got abilities that surpass any he’s seen before…and pretty much every quality he looks for in a girlfriend, but no one needs to know about that, especially Penny.

*The Penny Black trilogy is a companion to the Zellie Wells trilogy and not a continuation of the series. (PBT is set 18 years in the future with a new cast of characters.)
*Due to language and sexuality, FOUND is recommended for older teens (Most of the characters are out of high school and preparing for college.)

Also available at:

Kobo

Smashwords

Apple

Haven’t read the Zellie Wells trilogy yet? Pick up all three novels together for $6.99 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and iTunes. Or get the first novel, Glimpse, for FREE at all e-book retailers.

From Stacey Wallace Benefiel, the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy, comes a New Adult trilogy set in the Society world.

Penny Black hasn’t had it easy. Just about everything you’d expect to happen to a harassed foster-kid turned junkie has happened to Penny. Add in the mysterious power to rewind time, conducting events around her, and it’s a wonder she held up on the streets for so many years. Now, at seventeen, the New Society has found her. Finally, Penny is where she belongs. But that doesn’t stop the visions, or the need to protect the victims shown to her.

*The Penny Black trilogy is a companion to the Zellie Wells trilogy and not a continuation of the series. (It’s set 18 years in the future with a new cast of characters.)
*Due to language and sexuality, FOUND is recommended for older teens. (Most of the characters are out of high school and preparing for college.)

Purchase links:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Smashwords

Coming soon to the Apple iBook store and in paperback!

Haven’t read the Zellie Wells trilogy yet? Pick up all three novels together for $6.99 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and iTunes. Or get the first novel, Glimpse, for FREE at all ebook retailers.

The winner of the $50 Amazon gift certificate is: M.R. Buttars!

Winners of the four chapter critiques are: Denizb33, gongjumonica, Suzy Turner, and Donna K. Weaver.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Welcome to Get your Spook On, where you’ll find over a dozen spine-chilling stories of the supernatural to put you in the Halloween mood.

Hop through all ten blogs to read the spooky questions our authors have answered. Answer the questions yourself to be entered to win a $50 gift certificate to Amazon and one of four chapter critiques offered by a few of our amazing authors. Each question you answer will be worth one entry, so you can earn a total of ten chances by answering every question. To get additional entries, tweet the following or paste it to your Facebook status (and comment below to let us know you’ve done so):

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Get your spook on! Ten authors share their scary stories and give out #Halloween treats. http://bit.ly/S3UE13

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The deadline to enter is 6:00 PM EDT on October 31st. Check back here on November 2nd to see a list of winners.

 And now, here are our spooktacular books!

AFTER by Marla Bowie LePley (YA dystopian)

Ger, Laney, and Jenny, three teens who have never met, live a terrifying existence after all the adults suddenly die. Each have their own story. Psychotic teenager, Roc, takes over a secluded mountain town and nurses a cruel fixation for Jenny. She may be the town’s only hope and must choose between saving herself, or saving everyone else. Ger, having already experienced tragedy, doesn’t know how to cope and is all too ready to give up. Laney, lonely and lost before the disaster, discovers unexpected love. But will it last? As Roc’s evil begins to grow, the three of them must come together and find a way to end his reign of terror.

Amazon

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Created (book 3 of the Watched series) by Cindy Hogan (YA suspense)

Dead Heat by Lisa Nowak (YA paranormal/urban fantasy)

Alex is a machine whisperer. He can tell what’s wrong with a broken-down car with a touch. But his gift can’t save him from the brutality of his meth-addict father. For two years, Alex experienced kindness through Cole, his mentor. Now Cole’s dead, and the violence in Alex’s life is escalating.

When Cole reappears as a ghost, Alex clings to the tenuous link. Then he learns Cole might’ve sacrificed his chance to cross over. Jade, the first girl to look beyond Alex’s past, assures him Cole can reach the Other Side—if Alex escapes from his dad. But a previous terrifying attempt has convinced Alex it’s impossible. Unless he can find the courage to try, his friend may be earthbound forever.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

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Inky the Icky Black Spider by Laura Marshall (Children’s short story)

Inky, the icky black spider is on a mission this Halloween night. His mission: to gain entrance to the impenetrable Victorian Manson to procure the mouthwatering candy that is stashed away inside. He’ll use all his spider skills to obtain access to the candy holding facility. But will all his training be enough?

This Flash Fiction Halloween treat for the senses is sure to delight children of all ages.

Amazon

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Saving Halloween by Lisa Ard (middle grade/ tween paranormal)

When book-smart Anne Parson meets Halloween Spavento, she sees exactly what she wants to see — a friend. Halloween waves away trouble, magically silences school bullies and offers Anne unfailing friendship. But, when the Spavento family’s enchanting exploits are exposed, will Anne face her fears and save Halloween? A spellbinding tale of outcasts who find acceptance, a girl who discovers the true meaning of family, and characters who are not always what they seem. 2012 Kay Snow Award Winner.

Amazon

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Shadow Slayer (book 2 of the Shadow series) by Laura Elliott (middle grade/ tween paranormal)

Shadows will do anything to become human. You see their influence everyday. You say things you don’t mean or do things that aren’t like you. You look, different. Friends you’ve known forever suddenly never call.

As a freshman, Roxie just wants to fit in which is impossible because she barely runs into her friends at her huge high school. Adrianne’s disappearance and Hayden’s attention rock Roxie’s world. But nothing rocks it like the most gorgeous guy at school, Drew. And nothing is more important to Roxie than astral projecting back to Planet Popular to solve the mystery of the map. But that changes when Drew invites Roxie to homecoming. Hayden warns her that something’s wrong. Why would a guy like Drew like Roxie anyway? Drew must want something. Hayden’s right. Drew is…different. Planet Popular was just the beginning. Part of a bigger world, the Shadow World. There’s a war brewing between the world of humans and the world of shadows. When the shadow invasion begins at Roxie’s high school, she’ll not only fight for her life but the lives of her family and friends, when she discovers she’s the Shadow Slayer, the one human who can save Earth from the shadow onslaught. But, Roxie can’t even kill a spider. Oh yeah, there’s an evil English teacher, an enchanted play, a sword of Sandonian steel, a homecoming of horrors, and seven magic words too.

Amazon      (Get book 1 here)

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Day of Sacrifice Omnibus by Stacey Wallace Benefiel (New Adult/Adult Urban Fantasy)

Born to die, a group of Sacrifices and their Guardian Angels band together to kill the Gods and free the world.

The Day of Sacrifice Omnibus is intended for adults due to language and sexual situations.

All six Day of Sacrifice stories together in one volume!

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

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Desolate (book 2 of the Desolation series) by Ali Cross (YA paranormal romance)

Where darkness lives, all will become desolate.

It’s been two months since sixteen-year-old Desolation Black chose Earth over Hell and her friend Miri over her eternal love, Michael.

Desi goes through the motions of life: school, training, remaining vigilant against the forces of darkness, but her dreams are full of the choices she wishes she could change. When she’s injured by a strange demon, old temptations arise, and the lines between good and evil blur. Desi discovers those choices aren’t so final after all.

And this time, the power of love—for a friend, for a lover—may not be enough to save her from the darkness that lurks within.

Amazon      Barnes and Noble      (Get book 1 here)

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How to Date an Alien by Magan Vernon (YA science fiction)

High school senior Alex Bianchi’s estranged father gets her an internship at Circe Operations Center to pad her college applications. But Circe isn’t your typical military base. It’s an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens are friendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. When Ace, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can’t help but be drawn to him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they’re on the brink of intergalactic war?

Amazon      Barnes and Noble

Click here to go to the next stop in the Get Your Spook on blog hop.

Alex is a machine whisperer. He can tell what’s wrong with a broken-down car with a touch. But his gift can’t save him from the brutality of his meth-addict father. For two years, Alex experienced kindness through Cole, his mentor. Now Cole’s dead, and the violence in Alex’s life is escalating.

When Cole reappears as a ghost, Alex clings to the tenuous link. Then he learns Cole might’ve sacrificed his chance to cross over. Jade, the first girl to look beyond Alex’s past, assures him Cole can reach the Other Side-if Alex escapes from his dad. But a previous terrifying attempt has convinced Alex it’s impossible. Unless he can find the courage to try, his friend may be earthbound forever.

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“Dead Heat blew me away. It’s a gritty ghost story interwoven with all-too-real subject matter that will make you cry for Alex, ache for Cole, and thank God for Jade. I was invested in these characters’ lives and you will be too.”

~ Stacey Wallace Benefiel, author of the Zellie Wells trilogy

• Buy it on Amazon
• Buy it on Barnes and Noble
• Buy it on Smashwords

In addition to being a YA author, Lisa is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are.

• Blog: http://lisanowak.wordpress.com/
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/Lisa_Nowak
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LisaNowakAuthor
• Newsletter: http://bit.ly/LisaNowakNewsletter

]]> http://pacificnorthwestyaauthors.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/dead-heat-by-lisa-nowak/feed/ 0 pacnwya DeadHeat_CVR_SML OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA http://pacificnorthwestyaauthors.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/professional-vetting-for-the-self-published/ http://pacificnorthwestyaauthors.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/professional-vetting-for-the-self-published/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:42:44 +0000 Stacey Wallace Benefiel http://pacificnorthwestyaauthors.wordpress.com/?p=221 ]]> This is a great post by Cidney Swanson that I’m reposting here because I think it’s incredibly useful. (And we’re super proud of Cidney and her Kirkus starred review!!!!)

In the September/October issue of the SCBWI Bulletin, there’s an article devoted to an issue faced by all writers choosing a path of self-publishing: What can these authors do to vet their books? The article mentioned two new-to-me paid reviewing services (grubstreetreads.com andblueinkreview.com) and suggested that the use of either service might benefit an author looking for that exterior stamp of approval.

Depending upon where you sit in your self-publishing journey, the $99-575 which such services charge for reviewing can look like a lot of money. For myself, I thought of it as a cost on the order of what I might spend to attend a conference, something I budget for several times a year from my writer income.

I really appreciated the SCBWI nod to the appropriate use of for-pay review services.

Many of us, when first encountering the idea of a paid review service, rightly look askance at it. However, there are organizations which offer honest reviews, and it was nice to see SCBWI endorsing a couple of new ones.

While I haven’t used either of those services, I have used two of the older, more established options. Of the major review publications in the US, only two currently offer reviewing services for self-publishers, and both are available on a for-pay basis only. (Both expressly exclude self-published books from being submitted through their non-pay channels which they reserve for publishing houses.) Publishers Weekly offers a $149-199 program and Kirkus Reviews offers a $425-575 program.

Publishers Weekly devotes a supplementary magazine each quarter to self-publishing and includes paid-for reviews in the publication. I have not yet heard back from Publishers Weekly, so my experience with them is incomplete. However, here are some statistics from their last (quarterly) publication devoted to self-published titles. Of the 186 submissions they received, they reviewed 47 in their publication. Of those 47, 7 were starred reviews. What this tells me is that for authors who plunked down $149 (or $199) last quarter, they stood a one in four chance of having their title reviewed and a one in twenty-seven chance of having it receive a starred review.

Kirkus Reviews follows a different setup from PW. Kirkus promises that if you pay, your novel will be reviewed. They make a point of telling you there’s no guarantee of a positive review. The pool of reviewers is the same as the pool used for reviewing traditionally published novels. Kirkus created this service specifically so it would be economically viable for them to be able to review books from indie authors and/or small presses (which are not revenue-generating for them.) Because the review they offer may be negative, they give you the choice of publishing or not publishing the review. The vast majority of self-pubbed reviews are not published. Overall, starred reviews are awarded to about 10% of books reviewed, but fewer self-published works receive stars than do traditionally published works.

For me, the experience was a bit terrifying. As soon as I hit the “pay” button for the Kirkus review, I began waffling between the extremes of muttering to myself, “It’s only one person’s opinion,” and, “But it’s Kirkus!” I think that anyone going into this needs to realize that both of those are true. To receive a positive review from Kirkus or any other professional review organization is a significant achievement, but in the end, you have received the opinion of one reader. If you can live with that, for-pay reviewing might be a good option for your self-published title.

Finally, a humorous warning for those who pay for a review with Kirkus and receive a starred review: they will not email you to tell you that your novel has received this distinction. I got my review on the exact day promised. I tried to read it. This was difficult because all the air in the room seemed to disappear as soon as the pdf opened on my computer screen. After reading it, I hit the “publish” button. Then I got to see my review looking all nice and shiny on the Kirkus Reviews website. I smiled at it for several minutes before noticing that they’d placed a star just to one side of the title. What did that symbol mean? Was it an asterisk thing-y intended to make me look lower on the page? And then the screaming started. My family rushed into the room to find out what was wrong with me. They saw me gesticulating wildly at the computer. A few inches away from my star was written this phrase:“For Books of Remarkable Merit, Look for the Kirkus Star.”

Take a look. Isn’t she pretty?

Dream Smashers has needed a new cover for a while now. It’s an important story, but often gets overlooked. The original cover, which I love, wasn’t sitting well with the readers. It even was nominated for a most ugly cover list over on Goodreads. The second cover was an experiment, something I whipped up myself, and not very professional.  I believe this new cover captures the emotion of the story, but also has appeal for the readers. I adore it!

Thanks to my good friend, Megg Jensen, for inspiring me to get ‘er done, and Rashelle Workman who referred Megg who then referred me to the cover artisan Steven Novak. Go check him out. He’s awesome.

Dream Smashers is available on Amazon Kindle and wherever else eBooks are sold.  It may take a day or two for the new version to be available.

So tell me, do you like it?

Here’s a little bit about Unfavorable and the Day of Sacrifice Omnibus:

Each member of the rebellion plays their part in Alexander’s plan to kill the Gods. The first step: trusting Alexander.

 If you’re already familiar with the Day of Sacrifice series and have been waiting for the final installment, here are the buy links: Amazon, Smashwords (BN and Apple coming soon.)

If you’re new to the series, you can get the first story, Day of Sacrifice, for free at Amazon, BN, Smashwords, Apple

OR  get all six Day of Sacrifice stories in one volume!

 Born to die, a group of Sacrifices and their Guardian Angels band together to kill the Gods and free the world.

 You can buy the Day of Sacrifice Omnibus at Amazon and Smashwords. (BN and Apple coming soon.)

The last thing on 16-year-old Jess DeLand’s wish list is a boyfriend. She’d have to be crazy to think any guy would look twice at her. Besides, there are more important things to hope for, like a job working on cars and an end to her mom’s drinking. Foster care is a constant threat, and Jess is willing to sacrifice anything to stay out of the system. When luck hands her the chance to work on a race car, she finds herself rushing full throttle into a world of opportunities—including a boy who doesn’t mind the grease under her fingernails. The question is, can a girl who keeps herself locked up tighter than Richard Petty’s racing secrets open up enough to risk friendship and her first romance?

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“The first romance is captured beautifully—just the right combination of natural and awkward, of eager and scared.”

~ Bob Martin, writing professor, Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Buy it on Amazon
• Buy it on Barnes and Noble
• Buy it on Smashwords

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In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and stout beer and constantly works toward employing wei wu wei in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an oxymoron.

Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she’d use it to tend to her expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four feline companions, and two giant sequoias.

• Lisa’s blog
• Follow Lisa on Twitter
• Like Lisa’s Facebook page
• Subscribe to Lisa’s newsletter for upcoming releases

McKenzie McCann is the author of Tread Lightly, her debut YA fantasy. She is a teenager living in Portland, Oregon who spends her time reading trashy YA interspersed with high-minded novels, writing edgy women’s fiction, watching Food Network, and working at Outdoor School and Girl Scout camp.

2000 years ago, St. Patrick and his Catholics chased Norah’s people out of Ireland. They landed on the island of Hy-Brasil and have lived in isolated peace ever since.
The occasional shipwrecked outsider is no surprise to the island, and as the chief medic’s daughter, Norah is prepared to care for these strange, ship-wrecked outsiders. But Oliver is a bit different, and he’s brought something with him that’s about to place the secracy of the island in terrible danger.

Links: Blog:  http://mrhmccann.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tread-Lightly-Tale-Hy-Brasil-ebook/dp/B007UWO7PK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334798766&sr=8-1 SpireHouse: http://spirehousebooks.com/item_description.php?IID=67

Welcome, McKenzie!