Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Royal James Publishing

My daughter-in-law has opened a small publishing house, Royal James Publishing. They've signed their first author!

Royal James Publishing is proud to announce the signing of author Xane Fisher and his thought-provoking coming-of-age short story titled BoyzNite to our publishing family.

About Xane Fisher:

XaneFisherAuthorShotOriginally from the Salt Lake City area, Xane Fisher has spent most of his life living out of a backpack or suitcase. Along his travels, he has been blessed with an amazing family, a college education, and the opportunity to see the world from the skyscrapers of Abu-Dhabi to the third world markets of Angola. From a young age, he has felt compelled to write and share experiences through a pen or keyboard. He is currently living in southwest Germany, serving in the United States Air Force with his wife Autumn and their son Judah. He hopes to have his first novel completed soon. To read more about Xane, you can visit him on his website.

About BoyzNite:

Law school wonder student Ian Peters chronicles his first night home for the summer in Piedmont, Washington. What starts with a pleasant drive up the Pacific Northwest Coast leads him into a night of self discovery, contemplative self-assessment, and ultimately the question of what kind of man does he want to be? Along the way, he reconnects with friends, family, and an old flame who changes his world forever. What started as a typical night of partying quickly becomes BoyzNite.

Cover reveal and release date coming soon!

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Scattering Stars




Wendy C. Jorgensen grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and began writing in second grade, furiously recording her hopes and dreams in a denim-covered diary. Besides hanging out at the library, she loved soaking up the rays—while reading a book, of course. During her sophomore year of high school, Wendy’s family moved to Carson City, Nevada, and she thought her life had ended. The desert, sagebrush, and cowboys were a far cry from the ocean, palm trees, and surfers of Florida. Fortunately within six months, the family relocated to Lake Tahoe, and her outlook improved dramatically.

Wendy started college at the University of Colorado in Boulder, followed by a year at the University of Nevada in Reno and two years at Brigham Young University, where she worked as a reporter and copy editor for The Daily Universe. A decision to take a short break from school turned into a twelve-year hiatus in Lake Tahoe. After a two-year stint in the civil engineering program at California State University in Sacramento, Wendy returned to Colorado and graduated from CU with a degree in English Writing. It was a long, but valuable, educational journey.


After twenty years in Colorado, Wendy recently moved back to Northern Nevada, close enough to Lake Tahoe to enjoy the beautiful scenery but far enough away to escape the heavy winters. She lives with a wonderful husband who’s a financial guru–thank goodness–and a golden retriever who’s often mistaken for a sloth. Her two brainy and creative sons challenge her intellect and make her want to be smarter. Wendy hopes someday to journey to the stars.

Connect with the Author here: 



Deep in the Colorado Mountains lie many secrets. One of them could change the world.
When sixteen-year-old Eve Hunter returns to her childhood home of Ridgway, Colorado, she discovers a tight-knit colony of scientists and their families led by her grandfather, Jarak. Ten years earlier, her mother drowned suspiciously in a nearby canyon, and Eve becomes convinced the townspeople are hiding something. By lineage, Eve belongs to the colony and despite her reservations, she feels drawn to the colonists—particularly one of them: Daniel Winter, an eerily familiar, intense boy whose determination to monitor her and all the colonists is more than a little disturbing.
After Jarak reveals her true heritage, Eve learns her return to Ridgway is not a coincidence. She’s a key piece in Jarak’s plan. As secrets are revealed, Eve becomes entangled in a deadly game—and time’s running out to master the rules. One wrong move could jeopardize the future of the planet. "




~ Amazon ~ Amazon UK


Snippet

We emerged into a clearing and found Sarah, perched at the edge of a steep cliff, staring out at an incredible snow-covered panorama.
     Daniel frowned seconds before Erik called out a shrill warning. “Sarah, don’t get so close to the edge. The mountain got a lot of snow last night, and it hasn’t had time to pack down.”
     Sarah brushed off his warning. “Relax, Erik. Nothing’s going to happen.”
     But something did happen. Erik must’ve heard a crack or sensed a shift in the snow bank because he shouted “Get back!” at the precise moment a section of the cliff gave way.
     Emily and I screamed, expecting to see Sarah tumble over the cliff with the plummeting snow. But instead of falling, her body froze, suspended in mid-air, then shot forward, speeding directly toward Erik as if she’d been ejected from a canon.


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Sunday, April 17, 2016

A Doorway Back to Forever Book Tour



Best friends share everything, right? Unless it’s a secret that could cost them their lives.Robyn and Kit are born with forbidden magic-sense, the power to see and hear beyond Earthly sight and sound. It’s a curse that haunts them, but the girls are strangely drawn to it—could there be more to this power than they’ve been told?

When they spill their secret, it opens a doorway back to Forever—a beautiful realm where magic-sense began. They learn the truth: they have been given a noble gift. It connects them to the Skyborn royalty of this new world. They’ve been summoned back by the forces for good to preserve the kingdom and revive the power where it once flourished—on Earth. It can thrive again, if Robyn and Kit are brave enough to follow
However, the doorway awakens more than magical fairy-tales. A dark force is unleashed—one that has battled the Skyborn since time began, and it wants the girls dead, the Earth destroyed.
Beyond the doorway is where the adventure begins—trickery, kidnapping, a prison break, rescue teams, sword fights, magical gold-dust, holographic medallions, and singing orbs—but only for those who have the courage to believe.




Nanette O’Neal has had a long time passion for the idea behind the Doorway series, stemming from her faith and her love of story. Her interests have always been strong in various creative endeavors, such as music, martial arts, science fiction and fantasy. Having studied music in college, she made a career of teaching and directing various ensembles in the public and private fields for years. When she decided to tackle writing, she began an intense process of study and research in the craft, through the use of text books, online tutorials, chat and critique groups, as well as various workshops, conferences and retreats. The Doorway series consists of seven novels about faith, courage, and the power within the human soul. She contributes regularly to an inspirational column for a religious website, Ldsblogs.com, and maintains her blog, Nanette O’Neal’s Doorway, found at NanetteONeal.blogspot.com. Feel free to subscribe to her blog posts and to like her author page, Nanette O’Neal, Author, on Facebook. Nanette loves her husband and family, her faith, the mountains, aviation museums, Star Trek, and dogs.


Connect with the Author here: 
~ Facebook ~ Blog ~

Top 10 List
  1. Nanette is a huge Star Trek Original Series fan. She and two friends took the train from NJ into NYC to go to one of the first Star Trek Conventions when she was twelve years old—they went without parental guidance, something you could do back in the day.
  2. Nanette’s dad is from Egypt. She and her family spent two summers there when she was a child, and she vividly remembers standing next to one of the paws of the Sphinx and marveling at how big it was.
  3. Nanette plays the trumpet and violin, became a music teacher, and still conducts a musical group today—the Rutgers University Alumni Wind Symphony, which is the only alumni band in existence, we think.
  4. Nanette loves dogs so much, she put her two dogs and her mom’s dog in her book.
  5. Nanette fell in love with a man so wonderful, she married him and then followed him to Japan for six months while he completed a job commitment. That’s where she found the gospel, too.
  6. Nanette could visit Glacier National Park every year and not get tired of hiking the many trails, but she lets her husband drive Going to the Sun Road.
  7. Nanette secretly wishes she could serve in Primary (the children’s group in church) for the rest of her life. Who is she kidding? It’s no secret.
  8. Nanette loves aviation, still entertains childhood dreams of being an astronaut, and picks an aviation themed piece of music to conduct in her wind symphony for each concert.
  9. Nanette is a convert to the LDS church, which she still thinks is the second best decision she ever made, next to marrying her wonderful husband. (He found her first, she found the church nine months later.)
  10. Nanette and her husband have black belts in karate and iaido, the Japanese art of drawing and cutting with a long sword. They never argue about who has to do the dishes when they can easily spar over it.


To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 



Saturday, April 16, 2016

Spring Countdown Blitz - Day 12





"Aislin is cursed. A regular college student at night and a swan during the day, Aislin can only break the curse by finding her true love. But when her beloved discovers the truth, will his fear override their love? This modern adaptation of Swan Lake will help you discover what love really means."



~ AMAZON ~





Kaki Olsen is always on the brink of another adventure. If she couldn't be a writer, she'd be a full-time musician or travel guide and she would take her lunch breaks at Fenway Park. Until that happens, she speaks both Spanish and English at her every-day office job, but she has vacationed enthusiastically in such places as Istanbul and Ireland. She has lived in five states, but will always refer to Boston as home.

She regularly contributes academic papers on zombies or wizards to Life, the Universe and Everything, a sci-fi/fantasy symposium originated at her alma mater, Brigham Young University. Her published works have appeared in such magazines as Voices and AuthorsPublish.

She is a doting aunt and librarian of two bulging bookshelves.


Q & A with the Author:


1.      Which did you find more difficult: writing the book or marketing it? Why?  The most difficult thing was not writing, but revising.  My editor and I disagreed on the ending and had to come to a compromise that was neither of our original intentions.  We both love the current ending, but it took several weeks of e-mails and rewriting a good chunk of the story to do it.

2.      What is the best advice you received growing up?  "Practice doesn't make perfect.  Practice makes permanent."
Connect with the Author:

Ten Facts about the Author
10.  My parents were told that I would never have the coordination to play a musical instrument because of a coordination disorder.  They didn't tell me this until I was 13 and an accomplished violinist and pianist.  I also play organ, viola, cello and handbells.
9.  I have been to 17 countries, first South Korea and most recently Portugal.  My favorite city was Istanbul, but my favorite country has been Spain.
8.  I grew up in Boston, but don't sound like it because you can't sing in as many choirs as I did and still mispronounce everything.  You can hear my accent most when I'm yelling at the Red Sox.
7.  My favorite place in the world is Foyles bookstore in London.  I went there to find as many Terry Pratchett books as I could and discovered that while my hometown bookstore had a half-shelf, they had an entire wall.
6.  With my very first paycheck as an author ($20 when I was 19), I bought my younger brother a copy of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  
5.  I am an infamous klutz who has broken a leg from having a bookshelf fall on top of me and breaking my kneecap by falling off a wrestling mat.  Nonetheless, I have spent many years doing musical theater as an actress and (one wild summer) a choreographer.  
4.  My two great loves in life are history and science-fiction.  The way my mother tells it, I once went to a friend's house to see Star Wars, but was given a copy of the Autobiography of Robert E. Lee.  I read the book by the light of Return of the Jedi and as a result, didn't see Star Wars until I was 13.
3.  I speak two languages fluently (English and Spanish), but can get around a country in Italian, Portuguese or French.  My most useless skill is being able to read Ancient Greek, since I studied it in high school.
2.  I currently work as a case manager at a law firm, but I'm working on certification to be a court interpreter for Spanish speakers.

1.  My favorite annual activity is my old university's sci-fi/fantasy symposium.  Over the years, I've written papers on leadership skills, Messianic undertones in Harry Potter, the reason why we shouldn't believe in God and the zombie apocalypse, and how the best characters are poor.

Check out all the great blogs that are a part of this event by following along on the Facebook page.


Friday, April 15, 2016

Spring Countdown Blitz - Day 11


A wife, mother, grandmother, Harry Potter geek, Army veteran, karate black belt, and online gamer. Author of the Safe Harbors series; Second Chances 101, Book 5 in the Ripple Effect series; and A Savage Ghost.


Follow Donna's pages!

Blog: http://donnakweaver.com/
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Donna-K.-Weaver/e/B00DXF7480
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Donna-K-Weaver-417995298257527/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDonnaKWeaver
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/donnakweaver/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdXV_0Rd8wr0lW8jV4_mNmg/videos
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/115926987623492948415
 

Lia Savage reluctantly puts her dream of opening a dessert boutique on hold to help her dad remodel a castle he’s inherited in Washington State. Soon, a specter targets her younger sister.

Lia enlists the help of strapping Coop Montgomery, the head gardener and her former crush. As they search together for a way to rid the castle of its ghost, the romance she used to dream about with Coop kindles. But Lia’s gentle giant means to stay in Washington while she’s determined to return to California. She must find the courage to face both the ghost and her future.

With Coop. Or without him. 



Get your copy today!


http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Ghost-Donna-K-Weaver-ebook/dp/B01B169E26

Q&A with the Author!!!

1.      Which did you find more difficult: writing the book or marketing it? Why?



Marketing. If anyone had told me that writing a book would turn me into a salesman, I might never have picked up the pen. It's hard enough trying to get people to buy things, but when it's my "baby," something I've invested so much time and effort in, it's tough. I feel like Oliver from Oliver Twist, begging for more (in this case buys).

When all I really want is to find the right readers, who like the kinds of things I like, who might enjoy my little story.



2.      What is the best advice you received growing up?



Believe in myself. 

And a snippet!
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Thursday, April 14, 2016

Spring Countdown Blitz - Day 10




In a candid and witty memoir, Jodi recounts how her life was transformed when, as a thirty-three-year-old wife and mother, she was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Unwilling to accept her new fate, Jodi's family searches for a doctor who will join their fight against the odds. But when the surgery that could save her life thrusts her into battle with a devastating spinal fluid leak and facial paralysis, even her own children fear her new appearance and physical failings. Jodi perseveres, even with an injured body and spirit. Interweaving the inspiring, provoking, and sometimes disturbing, Jodi reveals the hells and highs of her journey as she fights for hope and purpose—and life.







Jodi Orgill Brown is inspired by people who live fulfilled lives in spite of their struggles. She loves spending time with her muses, namely, her husband Tolan, and their four children, Trenden, Lindi, Casen, and Daven. Her favorite outing locations include Hebgen Lake, Montana, Hawaii’s North Shore, the rolling hills and woods of Virginia, the Weber River Parkway Trail, and even her own backyard. 

When she is not writing, reading, or enjoying family time, you'll find Jodi visiting neighbors or having lunch with a girlfriend on 25th Street in Ogden. She loves learning principles through analogies and she discovers inspiration all around her, from nature, stories, friends, and especially from her children. Jodi holds a BA in communications from Brigham Young University, an MS in organizational communications and leadership from the University of Utah, and is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). She is the founder of Amplio Development, and is dedicated to living and teaching personal improvement. She resides in northern Utah with her husband and their four children. 

Book Jodi as a keynote speaker, consultant, or presenter: Email: ampliodevelopment@gmail.com Website: www.ampliodevelopment.com

Q & A with the Author:


1.      Which did you find more difficult: writing the book or marketing it? Why?
Writing is both terrifying and therapeutic for me. I worry that I am not doing justice to my stories, and fret over finding just the right words. But, when I get into the flow, it is a marvelous and beautiful experience. Marketing feels more like working toward a challenging goal, I know what needs to be done and I get excited about accomplishing each step and experiencing the sweet taste of success. I think writing is more difficult, but also more fulfilling. Marketing is time-consuming, but easier in the sense that "if you follow the right steps", you can sell books. 
2.      What is the best advice you received growing up?
While I am sure that I received advice from multiple sources, I don't recall any of the speeches. What I do remember is watching my father put in countless hours at work, come home to spend time with his family, and then volunteer at church. He toiled and kept at it, and never shunned the duties and hours that accompanied hard work. My mother worked tirelessly at home, raising 7 children, yet she smiled at every meal and every completed homework assignment. She loves being a mother -- and it shows! From them I learned the most important things you can do are work hard and love what you do!


Connect with the Author:


Excerpt #1
Chapter 3 -- The Abyss
His dark brown eyes penetrated mine. As he spoke, I caught glimpses of his almost-straight bottom teeth. I admired his striking features, as I had when I’d first met him years before. Emotion welled inside and I wanted to watch him forever, to memorize every line and bend of his face and store it in a vault so I’d always have it— no matter what happened.
I closed my eyes and inhaled. The scent of his cologne rushed through me and I saw his face perfectly, already imprinted in my mind—the gentle arc of his forehead, the contour of his jaw, the steep slope of his nose, the curve of his cheeks and the way his lips thinned when he smiled. Without opening my eyes or touching his face, I felt the stubbles of black hair in the faint shadow of a beard he wore by day’s end.
All my senses drank Tolan in, and then I opened my eyes to see him again.
“What was that?” he asked.I was picturing you in my head.
“In the picture, was I more handsome, with more hair, than the live version?”
He always tried to make me laugh—it didn’t always work, but I had a greater appreciation for the fact that he still tried.
I didn’t want to cry, to ruin the normal, yet perfect, moment. He put his hand on the back of my neck and pulled my face to his. Our lips met in a gentle kiss. Tolan leaned my head back until it rested on the pillow.
“It isn’t going to end like this, you know.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“When we got married, we said it was forever, and I meant it, but I still want you here, now. This is going to work—it has to, because we have too much life left to live, and we are going to do it together.”

He wrapped his arms around me and rolled me onto my side, until I fit neatly in the contours of his body. We lay there, curled together, as close as we could possibly be. Lying in the safe embrace of his arms, I forced myself to believe him.
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