So... I did a book signing! Oh, and there's a giveaway!

It was around two months of preparation, and on Saturday, the big day finally rolled around! Annalisa Crawford and I set up our books and merchandise in a lovely country pub, and waited for the guests to arrive!

Not gonna lie, there weren't THAT many guests. However, the people who did come were super cool and the day flew by in a blur of signing, selling raffle tickets, chatting, and much laughter! My mum and Annalisa's sister provided heaps of help by ripping and folding raffle tickets and making sure our merchandise tables stayed tidy.

It was really, really cool to spend the day feeling like a "proper" author, and sharing the day with Annalisa made it even better. I would definitely do it again, but there are a LOT of things I'd do differently - including making a much bigger deal out of advertising the event and choosing a venue where there are more passers-by. The venue we used is SO lovely, and it's not hard to get to, but it does lie on the edge of town, so anyone passing usually does so in a car lol.

Annalisa and me, standing by our raffle prizes! Try not to judge me too harshly on how gross I look! :p

I think the most impressive part of the day was that we raised over £100 for the charity, in spite of the fact we weren't bombarded with visitors. If we hadn't made more than £50, I'd have felt like we let Richard's Wish down. I know charities are always grateful for anything, but making that extra bit felt REALLY good!

SO, I still have a bunch of books, bookmarks, postcards and fridge magnets left over from the day. I think I'll probably just keep hold of them just in case we do it again BUT, I figured I might as well do a giveaway while I have the stuff to do it! Plus, I'm really trying to get back into the blogging thing and I think this will encourage me to do so!


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Cover Reveal: How To Date A Nerd by Cassie Mae

ARGH! I am so damn excited for this cover reveal! Not only because it's Cassie Mae's, but because the cover is so awesome! Congrats, Cassie - I'll let you take it from here! I know some of you have already seen the awesomeness that is my cover for HOW TO DATE A NERD, but this is the official reveal, so pretend it's the first time you're seeing it, ha!

And yes, I came off really braggy, but I love this cover so much. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect one.

Okay, and if you are reading my babbles here instead of just scrolling to the cover, I know most of you have followed my journey with HOW TO DATE A NERD and know just how big a deal this is for me to get it out there to everyone. It's scheduled right now for a September release, and here's to hoping I don't lose my mind waiting :) And I want to thank all of you for the support you've shown me in the past two years since I started blogging. Nerd wouldn't have been queried, wouldn't have even been written without my bloggy buddies and their support. So THANK YOU! This is the one that started it all :)

Here's the blurby thinger and my author stuff. :)

Zoe has a great pair of legs, perky boobs, and wears exactly what she needs to show it all off. She works hard for the easy sleazy ‘you only wish you were me’ reputation, burying who she really is—an all-out nerd.

The only time Zoe gets to be herself is when she hides under her comforter to read X-Men comics, sending jealousy stabs at everyone who attends Comic-Con. Keeping up her popular rep is too important, and she’s so damn insecure to care about the consequences. But when Zoe’s sister takes her car for a ‘crash and burn into a tree’ joyride, her parents get her a replacement. A manual. Something she doesn’t know how to operate, but her next door neighbor Zak sure as heck does.

Zak’s a geek to the core, shunned by everyone in school for playing Dungeons and Dragons at lunch and wearing “Use the Force” t-shirts. And Zoe’s got it bad for the boy. Only Zak doesn’t want Popular Zoe. He wants Geek Zoe.

She has to shove her insecurities and the fear of dropping a few rungs on the social ladder aside to prove to Zak who she really is and who she wants to be… if she can figure it out herself.

Cassie Mae is a nerd to the core from Utah, who likes to write about other nerds who find love. She’s the author of the Amazon Bestseller REASONS I FELL FOR THE FUNNY FAT FRIEND, and is the debut author for the Random House FLIRT line with her New Adult novels FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI and PULLING THE SWITCH. She also has a three book deal with Swoon Romance Publishing, including her book HOW TO DATE A NERD. She spends her time with her angel children and perfect husband who fan her and feed her grapes while she clacks away on the keyboard. Then she wakes up from that dream world and manages to get a few words on the computer while the house explodes around her. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with the youth in her community as a volleyball and basketball coach, or searching the house desperately for chocolate.

And now, the reveal. *plays dramatic music*

 

*squee!*

Spell for you guys today (because I'm just so happy!)

EXPECTO PATRONUM!

Annalisa Crawford Talks Omelette on the "That Sadie Thing" Blog Tour!

Annalisa Crawford is one of those rare people you stumble across accidentally, only to become really, REALLY good friends with them. Not only is she the author of two spectacular works of published fiction, she's also enormous amounts of fun, and a pleasure to know! Before I hand you over to Annalisa, I just want to say, "That Sadie Thing" is genuinely one of the best short story collections I've ever read. You're missing out if you haven't read it yet! **

The original draft.

Thank you, Kyra, for having me back on your blog again. I love it here, it's so cozy.

Today, I'm going to talk about food, because every time I meet up with Kyra we eat gorgeous food!

I wrote about Omelette on my own blog a couple of years ago, but only sixteen people saw the post, and no one commented... Yes, my blog has come a very long way since those early days (note to anyone with a new blog: you will get more visitors, you just have to be patient!)

Two thoughts appeared in my head at the same time to create this story

1. I like eating omelette
2. I wonder if I could write a story with dialogue alone

Then I thought... "Ooh, maybe I could write about omelette"... so I did.

Once I had the setting of a cafe (where omelettes are sold - can you see my genius?!) the characters came to life. I didn't have a clue why a woman would turn up day after day until she told me she was visiting a friend in the hospital nearby. The rest of the story flowed from there.

I couldn't hold onto my 'no description' rule for long though - I realised I needed some. But I tried as hard as I could to let the story seep out via the conversation between the customer and the waitress. As the reader, you have to fill in some of the gaps because there's only so much you tell a stranger, isn't there?

In my original post on my blog, I gave the recipe of my perfect omelette meal, so here it is again, you know... in case you're hungry:

3 egg omelette, made with just eggs (no milk!), and a teaspoon of basil.
On top of this, add slices of tomato and spinach leaves
On top of that, add half a tin of baked beans, with added sweetcorn, mushrooms and spring onion
On top of that, add grated carrot and cheese.

I like putting myself into my stories - either a snippet of conversation, a thought, a situation - and in this story, close to the end the waitress talks about looking up at the sky, seeing all the stars and feeling very small. That comes directly from my childhood. When I was little my bed was under a flat roof window, so I fell asleep staring at the stars, and the more I looked, the more I saw. Looking at the stars is pretty mind-blowing when you're four!


About Annalisa
I live in Cornwall, with a good supply of beaches and moorland right on my doorstep. I live with my husband, two boys, a dog and a cat. Despite my location. I neither surf nor sail, and have never had any inclination to try. I much prefer walking along the beach and listening to the waves crashing over rocks. For this reason, I really love the beach in the winter!

Buy That Sadie Thing here (this link should take you direct to your local Amazon)
Follow Annalisa here, or Like her here
Read her blog here

Flailing!

Hey guys!

I think I made an epic mistake with my blog break. Now, I am finding it impossible to get back into it! I'm cool scheduling posts and doing cover reveals, but when it comes to myself, I feel like I've run out of conversation!

The truth is, not that I've run out of words, I'm just so freaking busy. Fitting everything into the day is getting harder and harder, but I'm hoping once the book signing is done, I will have some more time to spend with you lovely people!

Until then, I hope you can bear with me until I get myself sorted out! <3 br="">

The Faerie Prince by Rachel Morgan

As you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of Rachel Morgan, so I'm here today to celebrate the release of her new book, The Faerie Prince, and as if that wasn't enough, there's a giveaway involved!
It's release day for The Faerie Prince, the second novel in the Creepy Hollow series! Woohoo! If you're keen to read it, you can find it at the following places online:

Amazon US | Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble

Apple iBookstore

CreateSpace (print)

Guardian trainee Violet Fairdale is just weeks away from one of the most important occasions of her life: graduation. After messing up big time by bringing a human into the fae realm, Vi needs to step up her game and forget about Nate if she hopes to graduate as the top guardian of her year. Everything would be fine if she wasn’t forced to partner with Ryn, her ex-friend, ex-enemy, current ‘sort of friend’. They might be trying to patch up their relationship, but does she really want to spend a week undercover with him for their final assignment? On top of that, the possibly insane Unseelie Prince is still on the loose, free to ‘collect’ as many specially talented faeries as he can find—and Vi is still at the top of his list. Add in faerie queens, enchanted storms, complicated not-just-friends feelings, and a murder within the Guild itself, and graduation is about to become the least of Vi’s problems.

In celebration, The Faerie Guardian is on sale for a limited time!

**GIVEAWAY**

There will be a giveaway running from now until the end of the blog tour (Sun 9 June). A giveaway where FOUR people could win something! The prizes are a signed copy of The Faerie Prince (or The Faerie Guardian, should the winner prefer that), an Amazon gift card, a mini book pendant and necklace, and a Creepy Hollow pin badge. Check out the pic below!
Giveaway is open internationally

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My Fate For Yours by Jolene Perry and Steph Campbell: Cover Reveal

Last year, I read an AMAZING book. My Heart For Yours by Jolene Perry and Steph Campbell. I fell in love. With the story, with the characters, with the incredible skill the story was written. Everything about the book is just perfect, and it leaped right into my top five favourite books EVER. So... when I heard the talented duo were going to release a prequel to My Heart For Yours, I was super excited! Today I'm here with the cover reveal for My Fate For Yours, and all the details to go along with it.

A secret love.

A life lost too soon.

A destiny reversed.

You’ve met Tobin & Delia.

This is Eamon’s story…

The prequel to My Heart for Yours.

MY FATE FOR YOURS.

Expected release: July 15, 2013

Morgan Media Does Animated Bookmarks for Blog Sidebars and Websites

The lovely Rachel Morgan is here today, talking about the launch of Morgan Media, a brilliant company set up to help writers with the more awkward and time consuming things they have to deal with when launching and promoting a book. Not only does Rachel do stunning work, she offers excellent prices that won't break the bank! Check out what she made for me, AND read all about Morgan Media here:

Morgan Media is a small business offering quality services to indie authors at affordable rates.

Message from Rachel Morgan, the founder of Morgan Media:

"I'm an indie author, and it's taken me many, many, MANY hours of work to figure out how to navigate every step from finished manuscript to published work. There's the ebook formatting and the print book formatting and the ebook cover design and the print book cover design. Then comes the marketing--of both yourself and your book--and for that you need blog tour buttons and blog headers and Facebook fan page cover images and artwork for bookmarks and button badges and postcards and whatever else you might want to give away as part of your book launch. All of this takes a spectacular amount of time that you probably don't have, especially if you're busy promoting one book and trying to write the next one. So why not get someone experienced to take care of most of these steps for you? That's what Morgan Media is for."

Find Morgan Media in the following places online: 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | DeviantArt | YouTube

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