Valentines Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog hop, I've never done a blog hop, so I hope I'm doing it right. If you'd like to join the hop or see more blogs check the link out here.

Since this is a Valentine's Blog hop, I decided to talk about the men in my novels.  There is always some romance in my novels, and you can bet there will always be handsome men too.  Let's start off by meeting Angelo Morganson.  Angel is one of the lead characters in The Street Justice Series. I have a feeling that most of my female readers are in love with him by now. I know I am.  He's gorgeous, an undercover officer, and rough around the edges. 

Next, still staying in the Street Justice Series is Joe Morganson, Angel's older brother.  He reminds me of Elliot Stabler from SVU. He's tough, dedicated to his family, but still down deep he's a ladies man. Then moving to book two in the series, Tidal Wave, we have Detective Patrick Donigan, he's still trying to make up his mind if he's ready to settle down, and then there is the local Dr. McDreamy Max Russell. Max knows very well, he's not ready to settle down, but he's willing to think about dating only one woman for a while, in order to please Fran Miller.



Book three in the Streets Series is Reasonable Service, it's coming soon, and in this novel we have Michael Cole Steele, he is a young cocky, full of himself, gorgeous police officer.  Did I happen to mention he was gorgeous.  Well if not he is. I love his character, and I hope to have a cover done soon.  Though I think each character takes on a life of their own with each reader. I never expect the images on the covers to portray the characters. I think each reader has their own opinion of what my characters look like.  

Last, but not least, by a long shot, is Martin Taylor.  He's a Hollywood star that just happens to find himself falling in love with his live in maid.  He's got brown hair, blue eyes, and he has a great sense of humor.  Maid for Martin, is the first book in my California Love Trilogy, and there will some more handsome men in the other two novels for you to fall in love with. 

I have many more handsome men, and stories to tell, and I hope that you will hang around and keep your eyes out for my novels.  I hope that you all have a handsome man to spend Valentines day with, but if not, pick up one of these novels and allow yourself to become part of the world I have created. 





Street Justice Series 
Charlie's Angel 
Tidal Wave 

California Love Trilogy 
Maid for Martin

Check out more blogs here   

 

I love being interviewed

I had my first interview under my pen name Samantha Lovern.  I have just put out my first of many Romance Novels.  It was so much fun to write.  Here is an image of the cover.

 

I hope if you like Romance that you will go over to The Old Stone Wall blog and check out the interview.  It's a great read and also check out the novel on Amazon.  It's really doing well. I'm so pleased that so many people are reading it. 

Why a pen name you ask?  I wanted to dedicate this pen name and my romance novels to my Great Grandmother Mary Lovern White.  She was such an inspiration to me, and helped me to become the young woman I am today.  

Click here for the -- Samantha Lovern Interview 

See Maid for Martin on Amazon

A Visit from Nona King

Today my guest is Nona King, and she'd like to talk to you about one of my favorite issues. A great cover.  Nona take it away.  

Book Covers are one of the most important aspects of a novel’s presentation.

For years I have tinkered with designing the covers of my novels, researching designs, taking note of successful book covers in order to improve upon what I already created. The dabbling has afforded me the opportunity to learn how to use Photo Shop as well as introducing me to the intricacies of Corel PaintShop Pro.

But this year I began investing money into an actual cover designer/graphic artist.

“You Get What You Pay For.”

With the onset of the self-publishing revolution, there are a growing number of graphic artists willing to work at affordable prices – and accept payments at that. With that being the case, I could no longer make the excuse of not being able to afford a custom cover. After all, as the English proverb says: “You get what you pay for.”

Take, for example, the two covers below. If given your choice, which would motivate you to pay $14.95 for a paperback? Which, do you suppose, is by a professional cover designer?

Yes, the cover on the right is from a professional. To your surprise – or maybe not – the cover was a “pre-made” selection from RomanceNovelCovers.com. For the cost of $45, I simply sent the necessary information to the artist and then they created a non-custom, professional cover for my eBook. Yes, I will need to pay an additional cost for a print acceptable version, but even that will likely fall well below the expected $350+ of custom covers.

“Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.”

You say you love your story, and are devoted to your characters. Well, put your money where your mouth is! What is the wise old proverb? “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” Luke 12:34.

I have said I love Sara Little from my new romance, Searching for Sara. Her story has been in process since 2004, and only this year did I finally become satisfied with the final product. Not only did I put this manuscript out for constant critique and editing, I consigned Taria A. Reed to create a custom cover. It cost less than $200 dollars after everything was said and done.

Which would you purchase?

"Dig until you hit rock. Then take out that jackhammer and go a little deeper." - Allison Brennan

When I first began tinkering with covers, I found it an excellent way of encouraging my creative juices about my story. It forced me to create the back cover copy and visualize the main characters. To think about the main conflicts of the story best incorporated into both. Encouraging the flow of our creative sides is the best way of keeping our interest in our own material. But these days I get that inspiration from setting up the title on my fiction site or on my publishing site.

I am an independent writing professional, which means the responsibility falls to me to present as professional an image as possible for my story and characters. I can get the initial ball rolling, of course, because isn’t that what we do with our stories before sending them off for editing?

But the final of anything should not be a solo project. Otherwise, you keep valuable perceptions and opinions out of the final, finished product.

Again thank you, Nona for dropping by, great advise for the Indie Author.   Nona has also said that the first person to comment on the blog today, will get a free Smashwords copy of her novel, or a print version.  
Searching for Sara. 

Samantha

About Nona King

Nona King is an independent writing professional for Angel Breath Books. She has dedicated herself to writing true-to-life characters, be they villain or hero, so her readers can experience life and its many passions. All her stories focus on faith, honor, and the importance of communication and trust in our relationships with others.

About Searching for Sara

Sara Little has ached to live in America. But being born of a single mother in London’s working class, she could only dream. Drawn to the possibility of a new beginning, she follows God’s whisper into the unknown. But more awaits than the realization of her dreams. Caught in the whirlwind of debuts and dinner parties, she has fallen in love with the one man she believes doesn’t deserve.

Searching for Sara: nonaking.com/searching-for-sara/
Fiction: www.NonaKing.com
Blog: www.WordObsession.net
Amazon: amazon.com/author/nonaking
Barnes & Noble: barnesandnoble.com/c/nona-king
Smashwords: smashwords.com/profile/view/nonaking

NaNo Day 7

Well how is it going
Don't know what NaNo is? Check here

Wow is it really already day 7 of NaNo 2012?  We are having so much fun at NaNo land, and there are some great numbers coming out of our group that it's just amazing.  Now what comes of them that is yet to be seen.

Pacing.
Some of us are not really pacing or trying to get the 1666 words a day that you need to get in order to finish Nano by the end of the month. Most of us are so far ahead of that goal we don't need to worry about it. There are some that are still keeping a normal pace then there are others that are already have way done.

My Count.
I haven't really kept up with a good daily count. I'm just looking at that big number at the end of the day.  Just a few minutes ago I hit 33k.  I'm looking to hit 40 by midnight but I might not make it, but I am over half done.  I just love Nano it really pushes me to get those words down on paper.  LOL, Well M word.


Word Wars.
In our face book group we have been having surprise word wars, and that is really pushing us to compete with each other and in the end helping out our word counts. I know not everyone is a Nano fan, but I just love nano and this year I am writing book 5 in the Street Justice Series. Now if I could just edit as fast as I write and I would be happy.

Come join us Here
We are having so much fun you should drop by the group and join in. You can be a Nano rebel and just work on some story that you already started, or you can do what we did and start from fresh.  To enter the contest you need to start on a story that you have never worked on before and just start writing.  You will try to hit the 50 thousand word count goal by the end of the month.  It's so much fun and we are all going to have a good start on a new novel by the end of November.

NaNo Nazi's 
There are plenty of those little fellas around.  I've had them all month. The house needed to be cleaned I had company drop by I've had days I was on the phone way to much. That's just a part of the whole Nano process. But it will teach you to get in there and write write write.  If you have to just set the computer up in the kitchen and write while you are cooking or take it out side you will find time to do so.  Especially if you ave a competitive bone in your body. :) 

Back to NaNo
I'm sure that you will find an error in this some where, or that I said something not quite right, but that is a part of nano. You are not allowed to edit, you are supposed to ignore those little lines that say something is spelled wrong.  Nano teaches you to get into writing mode and move on. Here we go back to Nano.

Indie Authors Forum

Indie Authors Forum
I'm happy to say that I'm apart of the new and revised Indie Authors Forum. I'll be running the site along with two good friends.  It's a beautifully made site, with all kinds of information for the Indie Author.  We are growing and adding new topics weekly, drop by and check it out, here.

Forums v/s Facebook
Forums have been around long before Facebook and they will always be around even after Facebook is gone, and there is a reason for that.  There is nothing like a forum for organization of facts, helpful information, and it's a great place to learn people and share creative ideas. I love Facebook but I cant count the times I've wanted to refer to a certain topic or comment, and I just couldn't find it.

Indie Authors Forum has many helpful threads, and we hope to keep growing and adding more Topics to help the Indie Author learn more about their craft.  Feel free to join us. We have a place where Authors can show off their own books in our Book Shop Here.   Feel free to show off your website, or share resources here.

We have a Blogging Community here.  In our Indie Discussion forums you'll find everything from helpful threads on Book Trailers, Cover Design, Editing Services, and general Writing Topics, such as Nano Wrimo, Stock Sites, and so many others.

We have an Off Topic Discussion, where we talk about everything from Netflix, to Sports. Drop by and check us out.  We're adding more members and topics weekly.  We also have our Official Nano Word Count thread started and a cheering section. 

Also, we have a sister site, Christian Writers.  Both forums have a Critique section, have special groups, and have a family like atmosphere.  If you want to be a better Author and you want to learn everything there is to know, these two sites are a great place to start.

I think that as an Indie we need to learn everything we can and join many groups and forums, that will help us get the ideas, facts, and resources that we need to be successful.  Check out Indie Authors Forum I think you'll be glad you did.

Samantha Fury
Author of the Street Justice Series

Christian Indie Authors

Want to join the CIA
Before you get all excited, it's not really the CIA as in the government office. Instead it's Christian Indie Authors.  We are a group of authors that just love to write Christian Fiction. 

Website 
CIA has a great website and we are growing every month. We offer a place for each of our Authors to post an Image, Link, and brief comments about their work.  Check it out Here    We have Romance - Women's Fiction, Young Adult Authors,    Children's Authors and everything in between.  Fantasy, Thriller, Non fiction, Crime Drama, and more. 

Facebook 
Most of our day to day conversations take place on our busy Facebook group.  We are 103 members and growing every week.  We welcome advertising of your new books, of your blogs, of questions about anything to do with writing.  Though we are all Christians we don't normally discuss religion, but we don't shy from questions that anyone might have, especially if it has to do with their Novel. We have documents too, for sharing our links samples of our work, and we often have Like My page, Tag my book sessions.  We are very supportive of our members.

Covers Artist
Our Christian Indie Cover Design Facebook group was created for the Christian Author that is trying to find an Artist for their Cover.  It's a way of connecting Authors and Artists.  It's very important that we have the best cover possible so if you're in need of a Cover Artist, or if your an Artist that wants to join, check us out.

You don't have to be a Christian to be one of our Artist, but you must be willing to not advertise any images, be it your profile image or a image you share, beyond anything of a pg13.  We have on the website a Pre-made cover section where you can offer images.  There is also a page where we advertise for our Cover Artist, and you as an Artist can show off covers you've made for other Authors.  

Editing 
Christian Indie Editing Service  is a brand new group.  We are small right now, with only 19 members but I expect that this group will grow also. There is also a place for our Editors on our website, here.  You're more than welcome to join this group, if you are looking for an editor or you do editing.

Sponsors 
We're open to allowing Sponsors. Right now you can join us for free.  If you have a product we think would be good for our Writers, then we'll post a link and an image and a small feature about your site or product.

Christian Indie Authors Daily Paper
The CIA paper is filled daily with blogs and book trailers from our Christian Authors.  Please feel free to subscribe.  We can carry about 25 blogs a day in the paper, and we are very fair about letting our authors have spots in the daily paper.  

Ever Changing Group
We are always growing or changing, so please check back often.  We are all about the Christian Indie so if you've been writing for years, or if you are just starting, you will find a place here among other authors just as yourself.  The best way to contact us is through our Face Book Group Here.

Samantha Fury
President and Owner of Christian Indie Authors

Nano - Forum Threads and Face Book Group

I love Nano
You may ask why do I love Nano and promote it so much.  Well, I'll tell you.  It's what started my path to self publishing.  Most of the time if you complete the contest you win a free proof of the book that you worked on that year.  I won the contest. I typed 50 thousands works in the month of November on a brand new story that I had never worked on. Once I uploaded my word count to the Nano site, I won, and I got my proof.

Create Space 
I can not guarantee that Create Space will once again sponsor a free proof at the end of the contest but they have for the last for years.  They normally wait until the contest is over and then they will announce that the winners will receive a free proof of their winning Novel.  This past year Create Space offered us 5 free proofs.  Yes I said 5.  That was shipping and all for those of us in the States.


Two places to join in on the fun: 

Indie Authors 

Nano Face book Group

Official Nana Word Count Thread
This will be on the Indie Authors Forum.  Come in and join in on the fun and see what your fellow Nano Authors are doing.  There will also be lots of chatting and cheering sections if you need some help. Then there will also be the Word Count thread, were each of us can post our daily word counts.  In that thread there will be no chatting just counting.

Indie Authors Face book Group
I'm sure there will be word counts tossed about here too, but the forum is best to keep up with a daily word count.  If you have a competitive nature as I do, you will want to see what others are doing on the forum.  Then I'll also check in on what everyone is doing on the face book group.  Hearing their goals for the day and how they are enjoying or hating their nano experience.

Nano Preparation 
Come join us on the forum or the face book group if you want to learn more about Nano or how to get ready for Nano. I also suggest that some people love and do better with a support group.  It can really help when you are not getting the word counts that you need.  Drop by and say hello!

Samantha Fury
Nano Head.. lol