Indie BookFest 2015 Information

 

Indie BookFest 2015 is a three-day event celebrating indie/hybrid/traditional authors and artists and their freedom of expression. Join some of your favorite authors for three days filled with a book signing, sessions, lunch, author meet and greets, an after party, and great fun!

You won’t want to miss the sessions throughout the day, where panelists will be speaking on a variety of topics relevant to readers, book lovers, and writers.

Indie BookFest 2015 will be held at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Fl., on July 31, August 1, & 2, 2015 The Caribe Royale is located just 1.5 miles from the Walt Disney World® area!

 

Over 60 authors representing indie, hybrid and traditional publishing will be featured at this premier author and reader event. Keynote speaker is multi-award winning author Jana Oliver.This weekend is all about readers connecting and finding new authors to love. There are reader panels, a Fan Fare where readers can hang out with the authors, a Gothic Romance party, a gourmet luncheon, Author sponsored parties, and a book signing. View the Schedule of Events$75 Buys an Entire weekend pass which includes all of the parties and the luncheon Saturday!Buy Tickets HERE

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Are you a blogger? Get a blogger media pass for $50!Help us promote the event!It includes all of the above as well as a casual Author/ Blogger breakfast.

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Book your HOTEL! We have special pricing for our event.

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Saying Goodbye to The Hollows and Book Signing in Raleigh, NC

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” ― Dr. Seuss

I keep telling myself this, and I believe it. I don't remember when I read book one, Dead Witch Walking. I think only three books were out at that time. I devoured them and waited every year for my next fix. Then one year I found out she was doing a signing near by and I haven't missed one since. Got the shirts, charms and freebies to prove it. So, yeah, I'm a fangirl. Thank you for that.

The Hollows was my first urban fantasy series and it sent me down the path to become one half of I Smell Sheep and starting my Devil in the Details Editing Services. And opening up so many different worlds I have had the pleasure of visiting through other authors. Thank you for that.

I experienced my first truly devastating character death with The Hollows. (As and adult, because I think every one my age or older dealt with the death of Old Yeller as a kid <G>). Only book lovers understand this feeling. And yes, thank you for that too.

It was a good time for the series to end. We know what happens when authors continue when their heart is no longer in it. I never felt cheated out of Kim's passion for her characters when I picked up the next Hollows book. Thank you for that.

Everyone who deserved it, got their happy ever after. Rachel ended up with my favorite character since book one and it was a squee worthy moment for me.

Thank you Kim Harrison and Rachel Morgan.

 -Sharon

Okay, enough of the sappy stuff! I went to Kim's signing at The Quail Ridge Book Store in Raleigh, NC on Sept 12 (duh!) As always it was a great time. Blogger Anna Cade, the cat herder and soup burner, met me there and well, you can guess what happens when you put two bloggers together at a book event...there might have been drooling on my part. Any way, here are the few tidbits I picked up during the signing some of which you might have heard about already.

* In Oct there will be a 16 page-ish short story coming out from Al's POV. She gave the title, and of course I couldn't remember it for the 10 seconds I waited to write it down.

*Jinx was created so Rachel wouldn't have to talk to herself to pass information to the reader.

*Ceri was created to introduce Rachel to the bad side of the elves.

*Ceri and Pierce left the series because their part was done and needed to go.

*The demon curses in the book were created using a Latin source book. The Elven curses were completely made up by Kim.

* The CW TV deal fell through, but they had plans to change too much about the story so this was for the best. Kim is still fielding offers for TV possibilities. 

*Kim says she is a heavy plotter, except for the last chapters. A Witch With No Name was suppose to end on a beach.

*Kim's new series starts out with a woman who is at the top of her game with a great life and a sexy man. Then bad decisions from her past come back to wreck havoc. As opposed to Rachel's life where her current (multiple, bless her heart) bad decisions wreck havoc. There is accelerated science that looks like magic in the new series. The main characters are Perry (I have no idea if I'm spelling this right) and Jack.

Sunday Swag: On The Road To Meet Patricia Briggs with DeniseZ! + giveaway

Sunday Swag Team!

Riverina Romantics 
 I Smell Sheep 

On The Road To Meet Patricia Briggs

with DeniseZ!

I am a huge fan of the author Patricia Briggs. I have been reading her Mercy Thompson series since the first book came out and have eagerly awaited each new installment every year since. I recently found out she was going to be at Powell's Books, which is about six hours from where I live, for a signing in celebration of her newest release, Night Broken. Well what's a fangirl to do but head on out for a road trip. 

Some time ago Baart's cousin dropped by for a "visit." He has since taken up residence in my office and he very graciously agreed to accompany me on my adventure. 

The morning of our journey showed great promise. The sun was shining, the tank was full, and all of the essentials were packed including my road trip companion, snacks for the road, and of course a really awesome audio book for the ride.

The first stop for any experienced road tripper is for libations with my drink of choice being a piping hot cup of coffee - a big hot Kicker to be exact, and it appeared that my companion was equally appreciative of my taste. Yep he also appreciated the lovely barista that prepared this yummy concoction and was very grateful for this tasty treat!

The actual drive, although long (ending up about seven hours), was pretty uneventful. We were able to wave at a few of the cousins on the way . . . 

On arrival at Powell's Books, not having been to this type of event before, I spoke with the very kind employees at the information desk and was informed that the general process was to buy whatever books you had chosen and find a seat. The program would include a reading, question and answer period, and signing. Sharon and I had discussed which book to choose for this post and decided since the new release was just recently featured, why not introduce the series those of you who have not yet jumped on the Mercy Thompson bandwagon with book one in the series, Moon Called. I had called ahead to order the book and the only copy they had that was not a used book was one with the UK cover, so this is what I ordered. My companion and I scurried up to the checkout and paid for the book.

While waiting for the program to begin I found that book people are really a fun bunch, not only online where I usually socialize, but also in person and there is never a stranger in the bunch. We talked about all kinds of books we enjoyed; shared about books and authors some had not yet tried or read, and overall had loads of fun with book talk. 

Once Patricia Briggs was introduced she decided to begin the program with a question and answer period. There were a lot of questions about her series The Hobb's Bargain, originally published in 2001, and whether we could expect more from this world: the answer, yes, eventually. She is currently working on the next installment in the Alpha and Omega series, currently is being titled Dead Heat and is expected to be published in the spring of 2015. The next Mercy Thompson book is titled Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson is scheduled for release in September of 2014. She explained that this will be in the style of an anthology with half of the book previously published Mercy Thompson shorts and half of the book new content. She also stated the book is expected to be pretty substantial in size and it looks like it is going to be a real treat. 

The issue of cover art for the Mercy Thompson series was raised and, as some may already know, the new Mercy physique came about with cover artist's model, who has been the same for the entire series, having a baby - well yep this does result in some changes. The publisher evidently likes the change and it is likely to stay. One thing I found particularly interesting was the discussion about Mercy's tattooing on the covers. It is different on all of the books and while I always noticed, I never quite understood this. The tattoos actually tell bits and pieces of the story in the book, which I thought was pretty cool. 

Following the question and answer period she read a short passage from Night Broken and the signing commenced. We went up by rows and as you can see I am pretty far back so by the time it was my turn it was about 10:00 p.m. and roughly thirteen hours since heading out on this journey. Of course being the incredibly prepared individual I am I had rehearsed in my head all the way what I would say and just how witty I could be in the saying, full of confidence that I would just be so very professional. Well it was my turn and my brain shut down. All I could hear was the blah blah blah just like the adults in a snoopy cartoon, although eventually I was able to get out that I was excited to be there for myself and getting to share the experience on the blog I Smell Sheep and asked if my companion could take a picture with her to which she agreed. Then the oh-so professional me COULD NOT GET THE CAMERA UNLOCKED on my phone. Certain I am ten shades of purple by now, not to mention dead tired, she very graciously offered to have one of the teenagers in line unlock it for me - yes friends this is what really occurred. Well I hit the button and got the shot, much to the obvious annoyance of the lady seated in the background LOL who I did not see until later. Then my sheeply friends Patricia Briggs signed this awesome book. She not only signed it, she also drew a sheep next to her signature and said she wrote sheep next to it because she wanted to make sure we knew what she drew, frankly I think she did a darn fine job of it. 

UK cover

US cover

Now we have this dandy signed book to GIVEAWAY to one lucky reader. Personally I think the cover is beautiful and once you have read the book you will understand the significance of it, but if you would also like a copy with the US cover art, which is also very intriguing and lovely, I have a used copy to include in the package. What you may be asking do you need to do to win this tasty treat? Well you might have noticed that Baart's cousin has only been referred to as my companion and frankly he needs a name. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway Head over to Riverina Romantics and win more Swag!

Jeaniene Frost and Pamela Palmer signing in Cary, NC 1/30/2014 + giveaway

As always a great time was had at the signing. I got to visit with Anna (Hearding Cats & Burning Soup) and met Jeannie (Just Jeannie's Books & Bling) and we talked blogger and book stuff afterwards.

No, I am not a giant...Pamela is a very petite. I called her short...*facepalm* blogger fail.

The Q&A went on for about 40 minutes. I have paraphrased and tried to include all the important info that readers might find interesting. It is long and if you have been to any of their signings or read other interviews some of this might be old news to you. They do give some info about their new projects near the end. So skim through and hopefully you will learn something new!

Both gave introductions about their book/series. Apparently when Pamela was younger she wanted to be an astronaut, but she said that wasn’t exactly the case. She wanted to be on the Enterprise, then she figured out that wasn’t going to happen she decided writing would be more fun.
Pamela said Wulfe is the last book of the Feral series, but not forever. There are some characters that still need their story told, but this is the end of the story arc.
Pamela named her 9 warriors after the animal they shift into because it would help keep her and the readers from getting confused with so many names.

Both were asked about how they went about ending their series and when they knew it was time.

Jeaniene: She isn’t ending the world she built. The Cat and Bones story is done, but they will appear in other books set in this world. She is just saying good bye to these characters through Cat’s point of view. You will now experience them through other protagonist’s eyes. For those who have already read Up from the Grave, she is thinking about doing a novel through another character that is introduced at the end of Up From the Grave. It would show case Cat and Bones in a completely different role than readers have experienced them in.

She knew how she wanted to end the story arc of Cat and Bones since close to the beginning of the series. At the time she estimated how many books that would take. (Then made a joke about how apparently she can’t count <G>). Originally she thought it would take 9 books, but she wrote a long novella Home for the Holidays and that pretty much covered one of the books she was planning. So she now had 8 books, but half way through Up From the Grave she realized it could all be wrapped up in this book and it would take a lot of filler to make an eighth book and she didn’t want to do that. Ending it was a case of respecting the story. 

Pamela: Her situation was very similar. She always knew the external plot and each book takes a piece of that and wraps a romance around it so she never knew exactly how many books that would take. She had 9 heroes, but more Ferals showed up. She really thought there would be another book, Griz’s and even started setting it up in Wulfe, but the external plot was going to be done. Any more books would be full of filler and she didn’t want to do that either. She hopes to go back and write Griz’s, Viper’s and maybe some of the others. She doesn’t know when or if they will be standalones or another story arc.

Which Feral was the most difficult to write?

(without hesitation) Jag. She had a lot of trouble with him because he didn’t want to be a hero. He was nasty and didn’t want to do it, but Olivia thought he had it in him. It took her several tries to get it right. 

Is it hard to write a stand alone?

Pamela: It takes so much time to world build, months and months of work then I create the story and I want to stay and play there a while. In a paranormal it would be difficult.

Jeaniene: yeah, what she said... I write what I like to read. I love reading series novels. 

Pamela: They become like family. I finished the series, but I’m still not ready to let go. You become part of the community by this point.

Will we see Cat and Bones in any short stories
Jeaniene: I haven’t ruled it out. While I have said I won’t write another full novels featuring Cat and Bones because I left them in the situation I always intended too. I think they have earned their rest. Maybe a quick short story. I would love to showcase Cat and Bones in this new position in their lives fast forward 10 years. That would be fun.

Is Ian going to get a book?

Jeaniene: If I had a jar called The Ian Jar, and every time I got asked this a dollar was put in I could buy a car. Maybe. I have ideas, but if I don’t have a complete story in my head and I don’t feel committed enough to tell it I don’t want to write it. Especially with Ian. That man scares me. Getting into his mind, it’s great as a side character. You just take your conscience and set it aside for a while then write about Ian. But to get in his head in a personal way to write a book? I might need therapy! I do have ideas and a partial story in my head. If it becomes complete and starts banging around in my head, which is by the way how characters get a book. It is like being schizophrenic, but making the voices earn their money. 

Pamela: I’ve done the secondary characters I wanted too, but there is one I would like to do, Pink. Who is half flamingo. You would be surprised how many people want her story and I have no idea how to tell it. Right now, probably not.

Do you have a writing space?

Pamela: I did, it would write in the dining room. But now I like to write in the grocery store. (Lots of laughter). There is a coffee shop, not in the isle. I make myself sit there for 3 hours and I don’t get up because I would have to take my computer with me. I get more work done in 3 hours than I get done at home in 6. I started doing this 3-4 months ago. 

She writes at a Wegmans. OMG! I have grocery store envy. 

Jeaniene: I wrote my first books in a corner by the TV. We moved and I now have an office. I am a tyrant. I shut the door and no one is allowed in, except the dogs. I have a music playlist for each book. I am conditioned to write when I hear my playlist. Once my iTunes got deleted and it was embarrassing how much I freaked out over it. I’m OCD to a dangerous level when writing.

What do you do when you get to a part and just can’t seem to write?

Pamela: If I hit that point it is almost always because I did something wrong. I plot ahead of time and no where I am going so if it’s not working I will go back and try to figure out where I went wrong. The simplest trick is the List of 20. Write down your question, it might be you don’t have answer, you just don’t know what comes next. Start writing 20 different possibilities for whatever that question is. 20 because the first 5-10 are the obvious things before you get into the creative things.

Jeaniene: She is organized and left brained, and I am right brained, lazy and unorganized. The good news is if you too are like that you can still write a book! How I get past something like that, I do it out loud. I ask myself a question and it usually helps if I am walking around. I like to walk the dogs because if you talk to yourself, asking questions and arguing with yourself the neighbors will think you are talking to your dog. The same idea just verbally to myself instead of writing it down. Do what works.

Ever had a difficult character that wouldn’t do what you wanted?

Pamela: yeah, Jag.

Jeaniene: if I am running into that it is because I am doing something wrong. An example is the book Eternal Kiss of Darkness. My heroine in my outline was angry because of her past and she is a little tough and hard and when I was writing her I was having the most difficult time with the scenes and it finally occurred to me that she is not angry. She’s moved past it, my hero is the broken mess. She’s the one emotionally stable. Once I realized that I was able to move past the difficulty I was having and the story flowed.

Pamela: one of mine was Melisande, the heroine of book 7. She was over 5000 years old, talk about a lot of baggage. Mostly it was just me trying to figuring her out. I just didn’t have a handle on her yet. It was complicated. Just keep digging and asking questions until the ideas flow.

Do you keep a notebook on reoccurring characters

Pamela: yeah, that would be a really smart thing to do. I was having to read the previous book again before I could start the next and by the time I got to book 5 and 6 it was taking me a month to read through them so I started highlighting. 

Jeaniene: I re read. Most of the main things I know, it is usually side characters. When I was writing Up from the Grave I didn’t know the color of Dave’s eyes. I still don’t know. I had to go back through 5 books! I was going to do a twitter contest to see if anyone could tell me just so I could stop re reading. I think if you are doing a multi world it isn’t a bad idea to jot things down.

What actors would you want to play your characters?

Pamela: she thinks the heroine from the show Continuum should be the heroine from Vamp City. I love her.

Jeaniene: no one actor that personifies Cat and Bones, but Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in the Avengers is the closest I’ve seen. Bones is a blend: young Bruce Campbell, young Billy Idol, James Franco and put them in a blender and make a little man mold, then that might be close to Bones.

What are you working on now?

Jeaniene: I have a new paranormal series coming out in Aug. The first book is called Beautiful Ashes, the series is called The Broken Destiny series. My hero/heroine have opposing unwanted destinies. My heroine has no idea at the start of the novel and she thinks she is a regular college student that has unfortunate chemicals imbalances that caused her to have hallucinations her whole life. After her sister is kidnapped and she is almost murdered she discovers everything she has ever seen is real. There are dark demon realms outside this one and because she is the last descendant of her line she can see them. The hero who ends up saving her life has had a beef with demons his whole life for reasons that would be spoiler. He finds out she is actually a destiny he has been trying to avoid ever since he was born. It complicates things when they start to become drawn to each other. Paranormal with angels, demons and minions. Also two historical lines I won’t say what, but you will recognize them once the spoiler comes out. It deals with what do you do when you have an unwanted fate thrown upon you and the one person you love is the one person who is going to ruin your life. I’ve had this story in my head since 2007 and it just wasn’t the right time, also people couldn’t sell a novel with a heroine that was too old for YA and too young for adult. She is 20 and when I was trying to shop it I was told I had to put her in high school or age her up past this awkward age. Then self-pub helped create a new genre called New Adult. I was finally able to tell the story the way I had it.

Pamela: I am currently working on the third Vamp City book. I just rereleased two Scottish historical time travels I had written under the name Pamela Montgomery they are now under the name Pamela Palmer. I love these books. I have a Scottish fetish and I am also currently writing a contemporary thriller set in an old Scottish castle and it has romantic and paranormal elements. That is taking a little longer than expected. Turns out when you’re not writing straight paranormal you actually have to research. I’m use to making this stuff up.

Do you know where the Broken Destiny series is going?

Jeaniene: I have in my head a three book series. I am almost done writing the first book. As of right now I would say 3. It could possibly change, but I think it will be three.

About the Authors

Jeaniene Frost
website-FB-twitter-blog
Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, and the upcoming Broken Destiny series. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her. Jeaniene is represented by Nancy Yost atNancy Yost Literary Agency.

Pamela Palmer
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Pamela Palmer is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of more than a dozen novels including both the Vamp City and Feral Warriorsseries. When Pamela's initial career goal of captaining starships failed to pan out, she turned to engineering, satisfying her desire for adventure with books and daydreams until finally succumbing to the need to create worlds of her own. Pamela lives and writes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

GIVEAWAY

signed copy Up From the Grave
Team Bones slap bracelet
bookmarks
Anna gave me: Herding Cats & Burning Soup lip balm + Cheryl Dragon notebook/jar opener 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AAD 2013 Authors smelling Sheep (part 3) + prize pack #3

This is the third of 3 post going up today about AAD. Each post has a different prize pack giveaway so make sure you visit them all. 

*You only have to comment on one post to get those extra points

AAD part #1

AAD part #2

AAD part #3

I know this is what you guys were waiting for... pictures of me and Baaart. There are some other people in these pics too.

 Jennifer Estep and Kait Ballenger
aren't they the cutest?!

Isn't Leanna Renee Hieber's costume fabulous? I don't know the name of the YA author on my left. If someone knows tell me!

Sophie Jordan  and Kate Douglas

I have been in contact online with Sophie since I first got into reviewing. It was great to meet her. Kate is a hoot. My room mate hung out with her a lot so I had a bunch of meals with her.

Erin Kellison and Yvette Hines

 Elizabeth Naughton and Tes Hilaire

BA Tortuga and Jess Haines

Yes, that is Baaart riding a bull...

 Seressia Glass and  Erin Quinn

Jayne Rylon and Mary Janice Davidson

the guy with Jayne though he was hiding <G> 

 Rebecca Zanetti and Claire Ashgrove

 Julie Ann Walker Dianna Love

Sahara Kelly

Delilah Dawson and Jamie Rush

Shannon West and Stacey Kennedy

CJ Ellison and Julie Kenner aka J.K. Beck

 Tilly Greene and  Virna DePaul

I lurv me some Tilly. I ran into her all over the place. Such a funny lady. 

 Terry Spear and Kristen Painter

Baaart was smitten with Terry's jaguar

 Boone Brux and  Lexi George

Saranna DeWylde and Pip Ballantine, Tee Morris

Pip and Tee wanted Baaart to be steampunk. I bought their last copy of Clockwork Fairy Tales!

GIVEAWAY
prize pack #3 M/M
one winner will get a crap load of stuff
(US only because of cost)

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway