Tag Archives | S.R. Johannes

9 fantastic books at 99 cents and a huge giveaway!

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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The story behind Untraceable with S.R. Johannes.

Welcome to the last day! That’s right. The last day of the murder/mystery blog series! If you haven’t already, check out A Spy Like Me!

Today we have S.R. Johannes to tell us the story behind Untraceable!

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I have always loved animals. I was the girl who always forced my dad to stop the car so I could move a turtle off the highway. A girl who would run out in the rain to save a lizard from a puddle. A girl who always took in stray animals, cried at road kill, and who dreamed of preventing the world’s animals from abuse.

Seriously, I was intense about animals. Still am.

I also used to stay up and read my mom’s thrillers especially James Hall’s books Mean High Tide and Gone Wild. His books incorporated conservation awareness with thrilling elements. Not only was I on the edge of my seat the whole book, but I always walked away learning something new. Wanting to make a difference. I loved that feeling.

So it makes sense that is where I ended up.

Untraceable started with a small seed. My husband camps a lot – I‘m talking – by himself in the deep North Georgia wilderness for a day with nothing to eat (b/c he plans to catch it in the stream) and a one man tent. Just him and his dog. One day he came home from camping and in passing said, “Bloody hell, I was so deep in the woods, someone could do something totally illegal and no one would ever know.”

Okay so first let me say, I didn’t even really know there was a “wilderness” like that anymore. Sure there are mountains and trees but was there really a wilderness still that was so deep – no one could find you??? That concept intriqued me. I am a city girl but I just assumed most of the wild had been developed (unless it was in Africa!) (Needless to say I am NOT a camper unless it is a pop up tent with starbucks singles brewing on the stove).

A few months later, we went to Cherokee NC with the kids. There, is an  active Native American Reservation there and they have a festival every year. In the town, we came across an attraction for 5$ a person. At first, we started in. But then I peeked through the fence and what I saw broke my heart. A Bear Pit where bears were kept in cement pits (just on the edge of the national Park where they could smell freedom) and people were throwing apples and marshmallows at them, laughing. They had sores on their backsides from the hard ground and were obese. I made my family leave and cried all the way back to our cabin. (im a cry baby when I feel helpless)

This broke my already-fragile-toward-animals heart. It haunted me. I could not understand how native americans who always worshipped animals could be so cruel. How they could taunt the bears with freedom on the edge of a national park. Then I learned that The reservation was exempt from any state laws due to their reservation status. What? This pissed me off.

Once I did research I learned that there were 3 of these bear pits in that area on the Native American Reservation. I also learned that Bob Barker (yes Price is right guy who is VERY active in animal conservation BTW) had been trying to close them down for years by talking to the Chief there. But the Chief didn’t want to let go of the money they made from these bear Pits.

This horrible situation combined with stumbling on other research and my need for a thriller spawned Untraceable.

But I wanted to be sure to make my book a thrilling ride yet still sneak in in a conservation message for teens. No preachy stuff just a taste of something to think about. The things that happen in that book are real. They have happened and do happen. I got them from articles so they are not made up.

Maybe not all at the same time in the same place. But they do occur. Even in this day and age.

The Nature of Grace series gives teens a glance into the beauty of nature and animal while introducing them to the ugly side of when a lack of respect for nature threatens conservation – yet I did it in a non-stop action kind of way. This way, you stay up late reading. You may cry, you may laugh. But more importantly, I think you will walk away knowing something you didn’t know before which makes I hope makes each of us more conscious about the world around us.

In honor of those bears, I started a petition for the Bear Pits in NC. If you would like to help close down these inhumane places, please go here and sign it J

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If you have read Untraceable, try out my new short story Unspeakable from Mo’s perspective.

If you liked Untraceable, try my new novelette, Suffocate. The first in a series of three novelettes that combines dystopia, science fiction and thriller sub genres.

Shelli is generously offering an ecopy of both Untraceable and Suffocate!

Don’t forget all the giveaways this week that end tonight! Tweet for these awesome authors!

Enter for a signed hardcover of Uncommon Criminals.
Enter for an ebook of The Emotion Thesaurus.
Enter for a print copy of The Spy Who Left Me.

Thanks everyone! Leave a comment and tweet to win Shelli’s books!
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Deciding a publishing route. What’s best for you? #indiechat

We’re talking about “the decision” tonight. What route to go? Self publishing? Small press? Go for an agent? The decision isn’t the same for everyone. There are many factors to consider.

Join us for a Twitter chat tonight at 9 p.m EST and use the hashtag #indiechat

Here are some links to get you started for #indiechat tonight.

Will self publishing hurt my chances? by Rachelle Garnder

The Business Rusch: You are not alone by Kris Rusch

Should you self publish? Ten question to ask. by Nathan Bransford

The New World of Publishing: The Death of an Indie Writer’s Career by Dean Wesley Smith

Thinking of self pubbing? Read this. by S.R. Johannes

Seven questions to ask before self publishing by Susan Kaye Quinn

Hope to chat with you tonight!

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What does a tween angel and a fog train have in common?

Both are supernatural and both appear in two new terrific middle grade books by fellow Indelible authors!

If you enjoyed Kate DiCamillo’s, BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE, then you’ll enjoy IT’S A LITTLE HAYWIRE by Elle Strauss. Owen True is stuck with his Grandpa but everything has changed since the mill closed. But if the mill closed why does Owen hear train whistles?  And what’s that chuggin’ down the tracks? Fog? A ghost train? And what does it mean for Owen?

Buy it Amazon (And did I mention this one is free today? That’s right! FREE!)

If you are a bit tired of the whole angel/demon thing in YA and want something a bit on the brighter, I mean, lighter side, then read ON THE BRIGHT SIDE by S.R. Johannes. You’ll find an angel who must protect her frenemy but not everything is at it seems and Gabby has some hard lessons to learn.

Buy it Amazon (Only 99 cents!)

Buy it Barnes and Noble

Enjoy them both!

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Finding Inspiration.

I really struggled with what to say for this first post of the New Year, meaning I’ve sat here, writing, deleting, writing, deleting. What to say? How to encourage?

Oh, the pressure, the pressure.

So I decided to tell a story.

Years ago, I worked for my church as the Children’s Ministry Director. It was my first year. My goals were small. Running a big outreach kind of ministry was but a speck in the distance.

The pastor’s wife suggested Vacation Bible School.

So I directed my first and only VBS.

I put in my hours researching and chose what to this day I still consider the best VBS curriculum available.

I planned. I organized. I joined forums. I learned shortcuts.

I signed volunteers. I delegated as much as I could but did most of the work myself.

Let me tell you, I put on an incredible VBS. I memorized all the songs and the actions. I bought materials. I took pictures and created a slideshow.

I was exhausted. But I did it right.

I learned a lot from that experience. Life lessons that carry over to today. (The biggest one being – when to say no.)

Many things will change for me in 2012. Good things. Terrific things. Scary and inspiring things.

I’m researching. I’m planning. I’m organizing.

I will be self publishing this year. My YA novel. (Some of you already knew this.)

And I’ve never been so inspired.

Going back to my VBS experience, I thrive on a challenge and organizing. I thrive on doing something the right way. I thrive on learning.

It’s been a whirlwind. Taking new author photos. Accepting an invite to a new indie and self-published author blog – The Indelibles – to launch in January.

And writing a short story from the pov of my male lead for an anthology.

IN HIS EYES will release on February 14th. A bunch of fantastic writers all sharing a piece of their stories with you. Check it out on Goodreads.

I hope you find your mojo this year. Your inspiration. Your goals. Whether succeed or fail – even failure is success if we learn and keep forging ahead.

I invite you on this crazy journey with me because I know I can’t do it alone.

Where do you find your inspiration?

I’m choosing my next Plot Busters novel. Middle grade, I think. Commercial. Funny. You’ll have to wait until next Monday!

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