Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Emma Right, Children's books, Kindle Fire giveaway

Synopsis Of While Princesses Sleep, Book 1 of the Princesses OF Chadwick Castle Series
by Emma Right

While Princesses Sleep: Princesses of Chadwick Castle Adventure, Book 1 (Princess Castle Adventure Mystery series) is a tale of two royal sisters who are princesses.

1. While Princesses Sleep
While Princesses Sleep, Princesses Of Chadwick Castle, Book 1

The Princesses Of Chadwick Castle Adventure is an eight-book series set in 19th century England. The adventure revolves around the sisters, Elle age 12, and Belle, 10. It’s great for readers who love Cinderella-type fairy tales and European princess stories.

While Princesses Sleep opens with the Princess Elle discovering a strange sound in the night. Curious, she determines the reason for these mysterious noises and starts the adventure with her sister, Belle. Something is afoot at the castle and they must find out what this is. However, finding the truth behind the secrets they stumble upon leads them to strange answers? What sort of trouble will the princesses get themselves into?

Frankly, I cannot believe that I’ve actually managed to finish the Princesses Of Chadwick Castle Adventure series—I call it The Princess Castle Series for short.  It took me a year to get them published which I suppose isn’t too long considering the fact that I not only had the story to write but also had to collect the images. It’s eight books in all and the word count for the entire series is about 50,000.

So why did I write a Princess series anyway?
Ever since I started watching Downton Abbey (not recommended for children) I’d been intrigued by the goings-on of life in a castle-like setting in England. So, why not a princess story of girls having an adventure with mystery intertwined and all of this taking place in a 19th century English setting? I told myself, it’d be a fun educational experience for my readers and they’ll get to enjoy a fast paced adventure, too!

Trouble was, most stories couldn’t hold the interest of both a five-year old and the attention of a twelve-year old at the same time. Believe it or not, this was one reason why I started writing. Both my Keeper of Reign series and now the Princess Castle series were written as a read-aloud. (Naturally, kids of eight or nine could read the Princess Castle books on their own.) But I wanted to go one step further with the books. I wanted to introduce readers to the magnificent world of art.

How I collected the artwork.
To be honest I have found it hard to have art books that hold museum pieces lying around the house because some of the artwork were not appropriate for kids under twelve or even for a young teen. (At least in my opinion.)

With the Princess Castle series, I’d carefully cropped and chosen the most appropriate art pieces that fit the story. Most of the art in the series is cropped so readers get to appreciate the details that went into the artist’s work—a hem here, a lacey sleeve there, a close-up of someone’s eyes. I must confess it wasn’t easy cropping and sizing the images to the correct proportions but I felt it was worth the pain I went through when I look at the final product. I hope the artwork would also gently inspire kids as they look at world renowned museum pieces and listen to or read the stories.

So why did I break the story into eight book?
With read-alouds I’d sometimes found it hard to stop –mostly because the kids will pester me to go on reading even when I was supposed to make lunch or dinner. The way I’d set up each book mothers, or father, or teachers, could read one book today and say, “Okay, book two starts tomorrow!” So each book is like a chapter book since the mystery continues and builds with each one and the issues get resolved in the eighth book.

I’d also learned from writing other series that readers don’t like to wait. (Sadly, I’ve actually gotten hate mail because of this! Talk about impatience.) Nonetheless, I’ve taken this into account and learned from this. Which is why I’d written all eight books, and published them all at the same time. No waiting! Yay!

However, because I’ve grown to love the characters of the two princesses, Elle and Belle, I’ve started on a second series that will hold its own set of mystery and intrigue. While the Princess Castle series deals with art and the end of each book introduce readers to a particular artist, the second series will have write-ups on ballet stories—like Giselle, and Swan Lake, etc. 

A Note From Author Emma Right
I realize as a relatively new author readers might be hesitant to invest in the Princess Castle Books. So I’ve made it easy for everyone. The first book, While Princesses Sleep, is available for download in three formats (Kindle, Nook and pdf) if you go to the emmaright.com site, and the third book, Lady With the Circlet, will be gifted to all entrants in the Kindle Fire HD Giveaway I am hosting this month, April 2 to the 21st; the drawing will be on April 22.

Also, I am excited about the audio book for the first book, While Princesses Sleep. It was professionally read by a British voiceover artist--the story’s, after all, set in an English 19th century castle. For those who write me a review be sure to email me and I will send you the MP3 recording for free! I hope the children will enjoy this feature! They can listen and follow the story with their book—ebook or paperback.

Other titles in The Princesses of Chadwick Castle Adventure Mystery series


2. Beaded Dresses Mystery
Princesses of Chadwick Castle Adventure series for girls

3. Lady With The Circlet
Lady With The Circlet, Book 3, Princess series

4. Secret Mission Princess
Princesses of chadwick castle series, book 4

5. Pretty Scary Lady
Princesses of chadwick castle series

6. Down With The Crown
Princesses of chadwick castle

7. Peasant Princesses
Princesses of Chadwick Castle series


8. Princess Rewards
Princesses of Chadwick Castle series

Both print and ebooks are available on Amazon.

About Emma Right
Emma Right is a homeschool mother to five kids. A happy wife, she and her family live on the Pacific West Coast and have several pets they adore. She’s always enjoyed reading to her children and hope her stories will instill the joy of reading and learning in her readers. Several of her books have won book awards. Before having children Emma Right was a copywriter for two major advertising companies and have won several international copywriting awards. 

Friday, April 3, 2015

Debra L Butterfield's Carried by Grace



About the Book:
 A waking nightmare descended on our lives.

“My twelve-year-old daughter had put a chef’s knife to her chest and threatened to kill herself. Her step-dad was sexually abusing her. I felt swallowed by darkness — like Jonah in the belly of the whale. This can’t be happening.”

A family member... a friend... someone you know has sexually abused your child. Tumultuous emotions buffet you from all sides. You’re feeling lost and confused. Where do you turn for help?

Part memoir, part devotional, author Debra L. Butterfield offers…
• comfort for your heartache
• practical guidance for daily needs
• a biblical path to healing, and
• encouragement and hope along the way.

Let yourself be Carried by Grace as you journey toward restoration.

ISBN: 978-1-936501-24-3
Paperback: $13.99 (April 3, 2015)
E-book: $5.99 (January 2015)
Buy the Book on Amazon
From the Publisher, CrossRiver Media


A Brief Interview with the Author:

Debra, what do you love about this book? Carried by Grace is the next best thing to being across the table to share hope and encouragement with a mother who is hurting. So often when we struggle with a heart-rending issue, we feels no one understands how we feel, and that we’re all alone. In the case of sexual abuse, that aloneness is compounded by shame, whether you are the victim or the mother of the victim. You don’t want anybody to know, not even family members, and so until you are brave enough to open up to someone, you are alone. We have God, of course, but having another woman who has experienced this and really understands the emotional battle and can be there beside you gives you strength. That’s how I designed my book to be, as close to being there in the flesh as possible.

Can you share two things you learned during the writing/publishing process? When you write about a personal journey, the writing of that journey can bring new healing and insight. I thought I had found complete healing, but when I started writing this book, I discovered there were still wounds that had scabs yet to heal. Writing the book was like applying a healing salve to those as yet unhealed wounds.

As far as the publishing process goes, invest in an editor and proofreader. Find the money somehow. It’s very difficult to see your own mistakes. I thought it was pretty clean when I sent it to the publisher, but I found quite a few errors that needed to be fixed after it was laid out and read to send to the printer.  

What do you hope readers will tell other readers when they've finished? I hope readers will be brave enough to tell others this book exists. Because of the sensitive nature of sexual abuse, it’s not one of those books where everyone you meet you say, “I just read the most fantastic book!” I sincerely hope moms who read Carried by Grace will find hope and encouragement for their situation and that they’ll be willing to tell others that this book can help them, too.

About the Author:
Debra L. Butterfield dreamed of being writer since she was a pre-teen. Fulfillment of that dream began when she was forty-five years old and Focus on the Family hired her as a junior copy­writer. In 2006, she stepped into the world of freelance writer. In 2014, she joined CrossRiver Media group as an editor.

Debra is passionate about helping other writers in their journey to publication because for over 15 years, fear and doubt about her abilities kept her from even trying to be a writer. She doesn’t want that to happen to others. She blogs about writing (and marketing—yes that most frustrating aspect of being an author), and does freelance editing and coaching in addition to her editorial work with CrossRiver.

Debra is the author of Carried by Grace and Mystery on Maple Hill (a short story ebook). She has contributed stories to numerous anthologies that include Mira­cles and Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories of Survival, 2014 Penned from the Heart, and The Benefit Package. Her magazine credits include CBN. com, Susie, Live, The Vision, and On Course online, writer’s newsletters and guest blogs.

Debra is a US Marine Corps veteran, enjoys the outdoors and, oddly enough, likes the smell of skunks. (Her kids always tell her take a deep breath whenever they smell one.) Like most writers, she loves to read, usually not one book at a time either. She has lived as far west as Hawaii and as far east as Germany and lots of places in between. Now living in Missouri, Debra has three adult children and two grand­children.




Saturday, March 28, 2015

Review of Deborah Piccurelli's Love Comes Calling



About the Book
The day new Christian, Derek Spencer, shows up on Charlie Parkes’s doorstep to make up for what he’d done, is the very day he falls in love with her. But Charlie’s sister mistakes him for a home improvement contractor, and he decides to play along until he finds a way to tell her who he really is.

Charlie is attracted to Derek, but knows the attention he pays her is only flattery. How could such a great-looking guy fall for someone with a face like hers? Nevertheless, the two form a relationship that brings a joy to Charlie that’s way beyond her wildest dreams.

But what will happen when Derek’s true identity is revealed?

Read the interview with the author here. 

Novella, buy on Amazon
Prism Book Group
March, 2015
Kindle: $2.99

My review:
Sweet story about a man who made a grave error, forever changing a person’s life.


Forgiveness, sure—easy to do from a distance, right? Especially when Charlie didn’t know the person who was responsible for running her off the road and scaring her face. When the person, Derek, shows up two years later, a case of mistaken identity gives him a chance to ease into the apology and offer of restitution he came to make.

Everybody in Charlie’s world made it easy for her to hide after the car accident that cost her career as a dancer. When a handsome remodeler and his partner show up, they’re drawn together and start spending time at lunch and even outside of work. Charlie’s sister Jess is also intrigued by Derek’s partner in business, Greg, a young man who shares many values. But something is fishy about Derek, and it’s not long before Jess figures out that Derek has a secret and gets Greg to spill it.

I enjoyed this very well-told tale of forgiveness, restitution, and genuine love. It’s a double romance as well as both sisters learn that family love doesn’t smother, and romantic love shouldn’t hide behind secrets and lies, especially with faith binding them all. Told from alternating third person viewpoints of the sisters and Derek.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Clear Your Emotional Clutter with Shelley Wilburn and Walking Healed





Walking Healed

A Journey of Forgiveness, Grace, and Hope
Ebook $2.99
Print available
Buy on Amazon, Barnes and Noble




My PhotoLiving with intimidation, oppression, depression, panic, and anxiety takes a toll on a person. We don’t often know why we are going through the things we are. We can’t explain the feelings we have or why we do the things we do. Many people don’t understand depression or the people suffering from it. They also don’t understand panic and anxiety attacks. However, these feelings are very real.

Through these pages would you walk along with me as I walk out my healing? You can watch as my life changes with each turn of the page, each story that is documented. This is my journey of two years. It may read like a devotional in some areas. It may read like a diary in others. Through it all, God has been in the very center molding and remaking everything about me.

Mismatched Socks Productions
e-Book - ISBN 978-0-9864311-1-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015902208


My review:  
Shelley spent over a year clearing a path through a lifetime of emotional abuse and learned practices of negative self-behavior in reaction. Wilburn blogs her lessons in an open and vulnerable way. This book chronicles that journey. Everyone can learn from this story, whether you've been a purposeful or unwitting victim or abuser, readers will see how we affect others around us with our words, actions, and reactions.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

ILTWD Have a book to promote and want to reach lots of new readers?


I Love to Write Day

Your book can be listed FOR FREE in our "Books for the Beach" directory that will be published in early May. The directory will be available at the official I Love To Write Day site at www.ilovetowriteday.org and also sent to readers who have requested a copy via e-mail.

The FREE listing includes: Book title, author and Web URL (either your Website or Amazon, etc.)

You can also have a DISPLAY AD, which will feature your book cover graphic, along with up to 50 words about the book. The DISPLAY AD will be linked to your Website, or Amazon, etc.

The regular price for a DISPLAY AD is $150, but if you sign up by March 30 you can save 50% and pay only $75. (Payments accepted via check, Billpay.com or Western Union.)

SPECIAL OFFER: Purchase a DISPLAY AD for $75 by March 30, and for an additional $50 you can have a PRESS RELEASE distributed to dozens of media and editorial outlets that feature books and authors. Your press release will also be featured on a Website, where it will receive additional PR.

“I Love To Write Day" is a grassroots campaign I launched in 2002 to have people of all ages practice writing on November 15.

At the present time, just over 30,000 schools throughout the U.S. participate in our program. Bookstores, libraries, writing groups, community centers and even a few malls joined in the fun on the last ILTWD.

Our goal for ILTWD is simple: to encourage people of all ages to practice writing, even if only for a brief period of time. Over the years we have heard from young students, college students, teachers, parents, librarians, journalists, authors and people from all walks of life who thanked us for hosting ILTWD.

Each year we reach out to more schools and students to encourage them to celebrate ILTWD. We believe that “when people become stronger writers, they become better communicators…and everyone wins!”

Thank you for your time and consideration.
John Riddle
Author and Ghostwriter
Founder of I Love To Write Day
www.ilovetowriteday.org

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Deborah Piccurelli's new novel Love Comes Calling and giveaway



About the Book
The day new Christian, Derek Spencer, shows up on Charlie Parkes’s doorstep to make up for what he’d done, is the very day he falls in love with her. But Charlie’s sister mistakes him for a home improvement contractor, and he decides to play along until he finds a way to tell her who he really is.

Charlie is attracted to Derek, but knows the attention he pays her is only flattery. How could such a great-looking guy fall for someone with a face like hers? Nevertheless, the two form a relationship that brings a joy to Charlie that’s way beyond her wildest dreams.

But what will happen when Derek’s true identity is revealed?

Deborah has graciously agreed to give an e-copy in a drawing from those who leave a comment today, March 24. Drawing will be held March 25. 

NOTE: My review will appear next Saturday, March 28.

A brief interview with the author:

Deborah, what do you love about this book?
I love the characters. This book has such vibrant characters, each unique in their own way. I also love the storyline. I could not have written it if I didn’t have a great interest in it. The sweetness of the romance is also very important to me.

Share two things you learned during the writing and publishing process.
Not to get offended when an editor asks for changes in your work that you never thought would need to be. Especially if you assumed that section was one of the best writing you’ve ever done.
Always make sure it’s clear which character’s point of view it is in any given scene.

What do you hope readers will tell others when they’ve finished?

I hope readers will tell others that the book impacted them in some way. That they thoroughly enjoyed the story. That they didn’t want it to end. That they couldn’t put it down. That they loved the characters. That they should really, really buy this book!!!

Novella, buy on Amazon
Prism Book Group
March, 2015
Kindle: $2.99


About the Author
After years of reading books and watching movies with an element of romance, Deborah M. 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading. Deborah lives in New Jersey with her husband and their two sons.
   
Piccurelli’s desire to write romance novels came naturally. She is active in her church and is an advocate for sanctity of life. Deborah is the author of two novels, a novella and several cause-related newspaper articles. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, and the New Jersey Society of Christian Writers. As one of the winners in a contest by The Christian Authors Show, details of Deborah’s writing journey can be found in the 2013-2014 edition of the book, Visit Deborah's website for more news and information.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

winner



Thank you to Julia who found this cat on the....ta da! Meow Mayhem page on my website. She received a gift certificate to Amazon. Thank you everyone for stopping by and supporting Whimsical Publications and their expansion.

Lisa