Tag Archives | A Spy Like Me

Chocolate, Twizzlers, Hot Cocoa and Nano.

By on November 1, 2013 in Writing

Every year I see tweets and talk about Nano and I truly want to join in the excitement and put the badge on my blog and use it as an excuse to binge buy things like chocolate and twizzlers and hot cocoa to get me through the Nano experience.

But alas.

Nano has never fit into my schedule. I’m either rewriting or revising or I’m already in the middle of a first draft. This year I am in the middle of a draft and I’m past the midpoint. I highly doubt that the second half will be 50 thousand words, so I can’t even be a rebel and have already started.

When it comes to Nano, I never thought I could write that many words in a month, but as the years have gone by and I write more and more and know my rhythm of writing, I realize I can do it. In fact, I did complete Nano in that I reached 50k words in October. Just a month too early. It comes down to about 2-3 thousand words a day. And that is possible. Especially if you know where your story is going.

So even though I can’t officially participate, good luck to everyone! Though, I guess I could still invest in some Twizzlers…

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9 fantastic books at 99 cents and a huge giveaway!

By on October 14, 2013 in guest posts
The temperatures are dropping, and it’s a great time to cuddle up with a new book!So for One Week Only, we’ve dropped the price on NINE HOT New Releases and Bestselling Titles, and combined them with a chance to WIN Amazon gift cards, ebooks, and more!

Check it out and spread the word~

 

ALL for only 99 cents this week!

**The Only One by Magan Vernon — “Sweet and sexy!! Loved it! This is the type of story you read again and again.” –#1 New York Times best selling author Rachel Van Dyken
**Dominus by Christine Fonesca — “A thrilling end to a fantastic supernatural series!” –Leigh Talbert Moore, bestselling author of The Truth About Faking
**Dragonfly by Leigh Talbert Moore — “The characters were intriguing, the mystery and story were interesting and definitely have ME WANTING MORE!!!!!!!” –Mandy, The Romance Bookie
**Crossing by Stacey Wallace Benefiel — “Beautiful. Heart wrenching. A true tale of love. It’ll make you laugh, cry, and have you running out to buy a tube of red lipstick.” –RaShelle Workman, bestselling author of the Blood and Snow series
**Clockwise by Elle Strauss — “First-person perspective done right makes a protagonist seem more accessible, and Strauss certainly does it right with Casey…  Readers who “trip” back in time with Casey will wish they could stay longer in her strangely relatable pace.”  –Kirkus Review
**Protected by Cindy Hogan — “This anticipated sequel sizzles with equal parts thriller, suspense and romance. A spine tingling story I could not put down.” – C.K.Bryant, author of Bound
**A Spy Like Me by Laura Pauling — “Move over Gallagher Girls, there’s a new spy in town! A Spy Like Me is a fast paced, high energy ride through Paris that left me almost as breathless as Pauling’s hot hero. Super fun beginning, great story, and an ending that won’t disappoint!” –Gemma Halliday, NYT best selling author of Spying in High Heels
**The Pack – Retribution by L.M. Preston — “The action in this book was phenomenal! There was never a dull moment. Shamira and the group were always fighting off the bad guys and with style too.” –P. Bradish, Amazon Reviewer
**Untraceable by S.R. Johannes — “This thrilling story is a dramatic entanglement of mystery, deception and teen romance.  The action flows like a brisk mountain stream interspersed with rapids, holding suspense to last page.” — Kirkus Review 

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Enter to WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Indie Life – Choosing the right premise.

By on October 9, 2013 in Plotting a novel

Welcome to Indie Life a monthly post where Indie authors share good news, milestones, and/or tips about living the Indie Life.

 

I pressed publish on book 3, Twist of Fate, yesterday with a feeling of bitter sweetness after spending more than two years with the characters, but I loved having the opportunity to finish a series. I learned so much about writing and perseverance and the ups and downs of publishing through finishing Circle of Spies. I loved how the last book wrapped up, so I can send the series off with well wishes and lots of happiness.

This past fall it was time to start something new. It’s not coming up with an idea that is the problem for me. It’s deciding which one has the balance of something I’d love to read, something I’d love to write, and does the premise have the potential for more than one book.

I went through ten outlines for ten different novels before deciding on the title and story for my new work. It’s very exciting writing new characters and discovering their problems and turmoil in their lives.

How do you balance your brand and choosing a premise for your next story? Or do you feel with the Indie Life you can write whatever you want?

Please head back to the Indelibles blog to visit the rest of the Indie Life posts!

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Trilogies and cliffhangers…and some book news!

By on October 2, 2013 in murder and mystery, Plotting a novel

Trilogies and cliffhangers…and some book news!

Before self publishing offered authors a chance to strike out on their own, I always wrote books with the thought that it could be a series or a trilogy. I jotted potential storylines or subplots in notebooks that could continue in other books, some thread from the previous story that could be explored.

Personally, I don’t care for cliffhangers that end the story in the middle of a climax. In fact, sometimes, it annoys me so much that I don’t keep reading book 2 or book 3. I like each book to be a complete story. The kind of cliffhanger I don’t mind is the one where the story is wrapped up, but some new element or question or shocking reveal is introduced, one that keeps me thinking about the book until the next one is published, or at least one I remember when the next book is published.

How do you like your endings and cliffhangers?

On that note, Vanishing Point, A Circle of Spies novella has been published. This is an adult novella, revealing the secret past of Marisa Bent, Savvy’s mom.

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble

Lies can be deadly.

Before Paris, before Greece, Marisa Bent was nothing but a bored housewife, willing to do anything to protect her family. When she learns that espionage runs in her blood line and that a family of assassins are her archenemy, she’s willing to do anything to protect her husband and daughter and keep them in the dark. She even follows Will, the young, arrogant assassin, into the heart of trouble.

Using a mother’s instinct, she becomes the hero. More than once. This only seems to prove to Will that she is indeed a spy, bent on ruining his family’s enterprise. In the defining moment of her life, she must make the biggest sacrifice a mother can make.

Finally, the untold story of Savvy’s mother. Learn why she disappeared from Savvy’s life and the sordid details of her past with Malcolm’s family. 

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And, to finish off the series, Twist of Fate ( book 3) will be out in October. Add to Goodreads.

 

Thanks everyone! Tell me your good news!

 

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Children’s Author Blog Hop!

By on September 25, 2013 in guest posts


Welcome to the blog hop. Joyce invited me to participate, even though I’m more than a few days late! 🙂 Joyce is a good friend and the talented author of the older YA House of Girls and the middle grade novel, The Casting.

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What are you working on right now?

As I finish up publishing my Circle of Spies Series – Vanishing Point (a novella) and Twist of Fate (book 3) will be out in October – I’m plotting and prewriting for a contemporary YA. That’s all I can say because nothing is set in stone yet.

How does it differ from other works in the genre?

It differs from my spy books in that it’s not about espionage or set in an exotic city in a different part of the world. Well, I can’t say that there won’t be any elements of spying in it, but the main character will not be a spy. I’m excited to start on something new.

Why do you write what you do?

I love a good mystery, secret, or impossible challenge for the main characters when reading, so I usually end up incorporating one of those elements into my writing.

What is the hardest part about writing?

This one is easy – not having enough time in a day! J

 Here are the two wonderfully talented authors, I’m passing the baton onto! 

Laura Diamond is a board-certified psychiatrist and a multi-published author of YA, MG, paranormal, dystopian and horror.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ENDURE (Book One of Endure Series)
YA Dystopian
Etopia Press
July 2013

Immortality ends with a few drops of blood…

Seventeen-year-old Justin’s anemic blood is a blessing. Or a curse. It all depends on who you ask.

In the Post-Collapse world where the immortal Vie lord over the rapidly diminishing humans, Anemies like Justin and his sister are rabidly sought after. Their blood is a drug—and a scourge. Justin’s blood causes the Vie to age—a priceless hope for the Earth’s downtrodden humans.

When Justin’s sister is kidnapped by the Vie, he strikes a deal with the human resistance, but they’re nothing more than a cult with delusions that a messianic Anemie will free them all. They believe that person is Justin. Justin thinks they’ll need someone a lot stronger than an anemic kid who can’t run twenty feet without getting dizzy. Between saving what’s left of humanity and saving his sister, Justin can’t decide which will get him killed first.

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble

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E.L. Bates is a writer located on the north shore of Massachusetts. A storyteller from the time she could talk, as soon as she learned to write she began putting her stories down on paper and inflicting them on the general public. Stories of magic and derring-do have been her favorites from almost as young. She is a firm believer in Lloyd Alexander’s maxim that “fantasy is not an escape from reality; it is a way of understanding reality.” Also, it’s a lot of fun both to write and to read.

With two children at home, most of her time these days is spent in writing living epistles. Between those and the pen-and-ink stories, there isn’t much time for anything else, but when she gets the chance, she enjoys quilting, reading, and hiking in the beautiful mountains of New England. Magic Most Deadly is her first published novel.

You can find out more about E.L. Bates via her website, www.stardancepress.com, or on Twitter as https://twitter.com/ElouiseBates, or through her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/elbateswriter

 

Dorothy L Sayers meets Diana Wynne Jones in this exciting debut novel by author E.L. Bates. Magic, murder, spies, and adventure come together in …

 Magic Most Deadly

For Maia Whitney, life after the Great War is dull, monotonous, and drab. Nursing soldiers in the bloody fields of France hadn’t been easy, but it was better than life at home, standing in her sisters’ shadows. There seems no chance for a change until the night she witnesses a murder in the woods.

The last thing Magic Intelligence Agent Lennox Davies needs is this outspoken, independent lady crashing his investigation. Bad enough that a murder happened on his watch; much less that she had to see it happen. He works alone, and he does not have time for Miss Maia Whitney’s interference.

But as Maia’s own magical talent blossoms and danger thickens around the two with every step they take, before long Len and Maia must rely on each other in a fashion neither has ever done before. If they can’t learn to work together, England itself might topple. Even worse, if Maia doesn’t learn to control her magic soon, she might do more to destroy them even than their shadowy enemy.

Can they set aside their stubbornness and self-reliance in time to save themselves—and all England?

Goodreads – Expected publication is September 30th!

Thanks to Laura and E.L. for joining in on the fun!

 

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