Wildest Moments

Wildest Moments Blogfest!

WILDE'S MEADOW comes out next Monday. Can you believe it?

Me either!

You may have to pick me up and smack my face! Three books published within six months of each other . . . I better get back on track here.

So, I have 4 weeks of giveaways and blog tour posts planned for the month of November. (Full tour and contest info is at the bottom of this post.)

Beginning the second week of November--that's the 12-16--I'll be hosting the Wildest Moments Blogfest. This is something anyone, anywhere can participate in.

All you have to do is blog about a time you did something wild, something life changing. Jumped from a perfectly good airplane? Quit your job to write full time? I'm looking for fun, heart-pumping, or inspirational stories that you have experienced. "Wilde" things you've completed on your quest to grow up or move on.

Anyone who posts their Wildest Moments between November 12th-23rd can enter to win a Kindle FIRE ($199), Kindle Fire Skins, or a $15 Amazon Gift Card. Yes, this means I will visit each blog and read your "wildest" moments.

Don’t blog? Put the cover of WILDE'S MEADOW up on your FB wall, pin it on Pinterest, or change your twitter avatar to the cover. Use the words “Wildest Moments” somewhere to go with the picture and link back to this post. (I will still enter you to win a $15 Amazon Gift Card--or B&N--and all three Darkness Falls books on December 5th)

Sign up for the blogfest in the LinkyTool below (and make sure you grab the Wildest Moments badge to put on your blog).





Full Tour (there are two--A Review and Interview tour through Kismet, and an Interview, Review, Giveaway, Promo tour via ME!) Schedule:

 



November 5th - Jen
November 6th - Pam
November 7th - Hannah
November 8th - Stacy
November 9th - Shreya
November 12th - Damaris
November 13th - Jessica
November 14th - Susan
November 15th - Benji @ The Non Reluctant Reader
November 16th - Colette at A Buckeye Girl Reads
November 19th - Anagha
November 20th - Terri
November 21st - Tori
November 22nd - Laurie
November 23rd - Ana



November 5 - Mara Valderran
November 5 - Matthew Graybosch - Interview and Giveaway
November 6 - Jamie Ayres - Interview
November 6 - Mandy Anderson - Excerpt and Giveaway
November 7 - Johanna Pitcairn - Giveaway
November 7 - Ayden Morgen - 10 Rules for Surviving Encardia
November 8 - Brinda Berry - Biggest Distractions and Giveaway
November 8 - Jaycee DeLorenzo
November 9 - Jessica Wentz - Interview and Giveaway

November 10 - My Blog - Giveaway (ebook FADE, ebook WILD AT HEART VOL2, Romance Trading Cards, THE TRUTHS ABOUT DATING AND MATING-signed paperback)

November 12 - Susie Levine - Giveaway
November 12 - Thea Gregory
November 13 - Kay Froebel
November 13 - Nicole Zoltack - My Favorite Lines
November 14 - Carlyle Pretorius
November 14 - Charity Bradford - Giveaway
November 15 - Talynn Lynn - Giveaway
November 16 - Amanda Foody - Interview
November 16 - Mike Robinson - Excerpt

November 17 - My Blog - Giveaway (ebook ZOMBIE BEDTIME STORIES 1-3, ebook WOMAN OF HONOR, ebook BROKEN DESTINY)

November 19 - Krystalyn Drown
November 20 - Raine Thomas - Excerpt
November 20 - Jessa Russo - Review
November 21 - Vicki Trask
November 22 - Christina McKnight
November 23 - Carrie Slager - Interview

November 24 - My Blog - Giveaway (THE GREEN-EYED MONSTER, ebook BECOMING, ebook EVER)

November 26 - Farrah Sayyed - Interview
November 26 - Debra Kristi - Interview
November 27 - Felicia Wetzig - Interview and Giveaway
November 27 - James Wymore -
November 28 - Carolyn Brown
November 29 - Dawna Raver - Review
November 29 - Sylvia van Bruggen - Interview
November 30 - Lisa Collicutt - Review

December 1 - My Blog - Giveaway (MINDSCREENS, THE GATHERING DARKNESS and Swag)

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Paradise Earth

Another cover reveal? Really?

Yes. It's true. Curiosity Quills is pumping out the beautiful covers, and I'm here with the cover of fellow author, Anthony Mathenia's, Paradise Earth.

This novel releases December 21st from Curiosity Quills Press!



When the ground quakes and blazing balls of fire fall from the sky, a religious sect interprets it as the fulfillment of long-held prophecies foretelling the end of the world. The members flee to their religious sanctuary, believing that this global cataclysm is the portent of a new paradise of eternal happiness.

Inside, one cold and starving man struggles to hold onto his hope for the future. He’s sacrificed everything for his faith in the prophecy, including his family. As the tortuous night drags on, he struggles to hold onto his hope for the future and grapples with a lifetime of beliefs, and expectations. If he survives to see the paradise earth, will it be worth it?

Interesting release for the day the world is supposed to end, huh?



Anthony Mathenia is a novelist and freelance writer. He has a weekly romance serial titled Happiness: How to Find It published on curiosityquills.com and a weekly offbeat travel column on Vagobond.com. Paradise Earth: Day Zero is his debut novel. He was raised in a religious cult and sincerely apologizes for waking you up on Saturday morning in order to recruit you.

 

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Live Interview with Susie

So, as many of you know, Wilde's Meadow releases November 5th!

Last week, I sat down with Susie Levine (from Reviews by Sus), and we had a fun chat about what you should expect from the last book in my Darkness Falls trilogy.

Hopefully you'll enjoy this interview as much as we did!



Happy endings are hard to find, and even though Katriona is in the middle of a war with someone who’s already stolen more than she can replace, she aches for a positive future with her Draíochtans.

Armed with hope, confidence in her abilities, and a strange new gift from her mother, Kate ventures into the Darkness to defeat a fallen god.

Losses add up, and new obstacles rise to stand in the way. Is the one determined to bring Encardia light strong enough to keep fighting, or will all the sacrifices to stop those who seek domination be for nothing?

 

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Sanity Vacuum #CoverReveal

Hi, guys! I'm taking a break from the Haunted Clinic and Contest to bring you another amazing cover from the team at Curiosity Quills!

Sanity Vacuum (by Thea Gregory) releases December 6th!



Vivian Skye just finished university, and qualified for her first-choice internship. Not many would consider the distant and isolated Extra-Galactic Observatory cushy, but it’s a dream come true for Vivian. Hailing from the low-tech planet of Aurora, she studied hard for this opportunity—and to leave her old life, and planet behind.

Her assignment is simple: perform a routine upgrade for the station’s supercomputer, quIRK. Her reception isn’t a friendly one, and eccentric quIRK becomes her only friend. However, the station’s administrator, Bryce Zimmer is obsessed with quIRK—he suspects that the station’s computer may have achieved sentience, something explicitly prohibited by the ABACUS Protocol. Compounding their issues, Bryce’s traumatic and privileged past makes him distrust Vivian from the beginning. Desperate to keep control, he sabotages quIRK in order to eliminate Vivian. But, his plan threatens to consume the entire station and send them into the unknown void of intergalactic space.

Vivian must struggle to survive not only Bryce’s megalomania, but also the emerging artificial super intelligence that is quIRK. Can Vivian and quIRK learn to trust each other and work together, before it’s too late?

Sounds awesome, right?! I know I can't wait to read it!



Thea Gregory is a farm girl from English Western Quebec, a total nerd, and she loves science fiction, zombies and physics. Between marathon cooking sessions, her clerktastic day job, and part-time studies, she manages to find time to write. Author of the Zombie Bedtime Stories, her debut sci-fi novel, Sanity Vacuum releases December 6. Thea's blog can be found at http://nerdygnome.wordpress.com

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Haunted Clinic and Wilde's Meadow #TEASER!

Welcome back, Minions--see, that was much better than yesterday's intro!

Some of you are here because you're dying to quench your growing thirst for a glimpse into Wilde's Meadow, the third and final book in my Darkness Falls series. And some of you are here because you're part of the Curiosity Quills Haunted Writing Clinic and Contest.

I'm here because . . . ahh, well, I have what everyone's looking for.

So, to keep the rambling short, and to give you all what you desire, I'll shut up and get to pasting!

Enjoy!

(Clinic guests, please stay tuned after the first page!)

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU HAVE NOT YET READ WILDE'S FIRE OR ARMY--AND PLAN TO--PLEASE, DO NOT READ THIS TEASER!

Chapter One

"You let that greasy pig off too easily," Flanna mumbles, holding a sharp, wooden needle between her lips.

I glance down at the top of her red head. "If it weren't for that greasy pig, you wouldn't be sewing this ridiculous looking costume on me right now."

She removes the torture device from her mouth and glares at me, narrowing her brilliant blue eyes. "This is not a costume, and it is not ridiculous. You already died once. Next time you may not be as lucky."

Three days have passed since Arland and I committed our lives to each other, to these people and world—uniting everyone in the process—and as much as things have changed, a few of my friends still have issues getting over misunderstandings from a long time ago.

"Flanna, I know what happened to your mom, and I know you blame Dufaigh, but he is trying to be good." I jump from the creaking stool she has me standing on like an abused model, then take her hand in mine. "He's brought leather and metal for you to make armor for me, like you so oddly requested. He hasn't threatened to kill anyone, he hasn't argued, he hasn't done anything that should make us think otherwise."

She huffs, blowing hair from her face. "I know. I believe that is my problem. I have never trusted him, but now with him being . . . nice, I trust him even less." Flanna grabs the soft, muddy-brown suede draped over my shoulders and pulls me closer. "Now, hold still so I can finish this."

I roll my eyes and suck in a breath. I don't think I can handle another needle prick; I already have dried blood spots sprinkled over my shoulders.

"Flanna?" I watch her slide the pointed wood dangerously close to my skin.

"Kate?" she says in her usual sarcastic way, the one I've missed since Lann died. Prophecies or no prophecies, most people are still clueless as to their future, the fate of their friends, family, and loved ones. Flanna didn't have time to prepare for Lann's death, and his early end wasn't fair, but her panicky attempt at creating armor for me—when she is clearly not a dresser—makes me wonder what she does know.

"What are you hiding from me?"

Flanna growls.

"You seem so nervous about my safety all of a sudden. I mean with the armor, and never leaving my side, and—"

She shakes her head. "You—"

THE END! :-)

Wouldn't you all kill me if that was it?

Anyhoo, Clinic Guests, what did that first page do for you? Now, you have to remember this is the third in a series. I have a bit more room to move on with the story, but if you read the first page of the first novel in this series, you'll know that moving forward quickly--sucking the reader right in--is the best thing to do. And what better way to end a first page than with a big question?

I want you to get out there and WOW your readers!

<3 Krystal



 

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First Page Success - Haunted Clinic

Hello, my pretties--err . . . wrong villain! Since Frankenstein didn't do anything other than moan, I'm going to have to channel more "HE'S ALIVE" enthusiasm.

Hello, YOU'RE ALIVE!

I give up.

So, part of the Writing Clinic is the First Page example. The first page of a novel can turn out to be the most daunting page. This is where you have to capture the attention of your audience. This is where you establish who your main character is, sometimes the problem within the story, and this is where you need action, emotion, excitement!

What you cannot put on your first page is a back story. My name is X, and I live in Y, and Z is what got me to this point in my life.

If that's how your book starts out, you have a lot of revisions ahead of you.

Okay, enough of my rambling. This is the first page of Wilde's Fire, which is also the Prologue!

Enjoy!



I'm standing in the middle of a meadow, surrounded by tall wheat grasses. Dotted along the hillside are thousands of purple and yellow wildflowers. Bending down to pick one, I catch sight of him. Tall, strong, with looks piercing straight through me.

Stepping away from the dark shadows of the forest, he crosses into the
meadow, then stops in front of me.

"Katriona." He utters my name as if there's no other name in the world he'd rather speak.

"Arland."

He reaches out to hug me, the way he has so many times before. His workworn
hands warm my skin with their touch. He leans in, closes his eyes—

The sun disappears. The sky turns black. Emerging from the forest, gray
beasts with hollow eyes surround and watch us. Before Arland can turn and fight, a mangled creature rushes forward, then stabs him through the heart with a long, dagger-like claw.

My screams fill the darkness.

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Pranksters Strike!

I love my job. Correction: I love my coworkers, and I don't mind my job.

If you know me personally, you know that I work in politics/elections, and this is the absolute busiest time of the year for me. This is also the most frustrating, overwhelming, tiring . . .  you get the point.



So, in order to unwind, some of us in the office play pranks on each other. What better way to let off some steam?

Last week, while on break, I toilet-papered someone's desk.

Hey! What can I say? She was on vacation. Can you believe that?

Well, she returned from vacation this morning, and look at how she paid me back!

Anyway, the point of this post is this: We work so hard every day, we stress and focus on the necessary and somehow we miss out on the simple things, the things that make us laugh, that bring us together, that make us human.

Wherever you are in the world today, make sure you smile. And if you have nothing to smile about, play a prank on someone. All in good fun, of course!

<3 Krystal

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