Mid-Winters Eve Blog Hop! #Giveaway

Welcome, welcome to my stop for the Mid-Winters Eve Blog Hop. As usual, I would first like to thanks Kathy over at I am a Reader Not a Writer for all her hop organising, and to Oasis for YA for co-hosting this hop. I would also like to encourage you to click on the hop badge ==>>, which will take you to the full list of participating blogs. There are tonnes of giveaways happening and loads of chances to win. And who doesn’t want to win over Christmas?

Okay, then, onward with my post. Given the hop in question, and given that wintry scene above in the hop badge, I couldn’t think of a better prize to offer up than the Make Believe anthology that released December 3rd 2012.

Check it out:

Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski (fantasy)

The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford (fantasy)

Birthright by Lynda R. Young (fantasy)

Petrified by Kelly Said (fantasy)

Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton (dystopia)

Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield (paranormal romance)

Short stories are awesome for curling up with, for snatching snippets of reading pleasure in between visits from the fam. So, to be in with a chance of winning this coolio antho that has had some pretty decent reviews so far, simply follow the link to the RAFFLECOPTER FORM!

Wishing you all a GREAT Christmas, a safe and merry New Year, and best of luck!

Happy Book Birthday, Make Believe!

Today is the OFFICIAL launch day for the MAKE BELIEVE anthology.

Can I get a huzzzaaaaaaaaaaah!?

Yep, very excited about this one. Seems like eons ago that I wrote my short for this antho, Escort to Insanity. LOVE this story. It was heaps of fun to enjoy. And now I FINALLY get to share it with you guys!

Wheeee!

So, if you fancy a diverse array of tales, from fantasy to paranormal romance, all wrapped up in a beautiful wintry bundle, why not grab yourselves a copy.

You can do so here: Amazon  | Barnes & Noble | Amazon UK | All Romance  |  Diesel eBooks |  Books on Board

Aaaaand you can add it to your Goodreads by clicking on the pic ==>>

But that’s not all. Nope, because Blue Moon ALSO launched today. That blog post went live a little while ago, and you WILL want to check it out—especially as it contains an exclusive giveaway you won’t want to miss.

PLUS, check back in each day this week to read what went down when I interviewed the rest of the contributing authors for the Make Believe anthology.

AND be sure to follow along on the Make Believe Blog Tour, where there will be chances to win yourself a copy. First stop is over at Jennifer Bielman’s blog, and includes a giveaway. Full tour schedule can be found HERE!

Cheers, guys. As always, the continued support I get from folk means the absolute world to me.

NEWS: Escort to Insanity is Contracted!

Sometime last winter, around November time, my editor approached me with a propostion.

“Hey,” she said, “we’re thinking of making a winter anthology for December 2012. We want you to be the headliner. You interested?”

“Sure,” I said. Coz I was.
So then I had a problem. I’d agreed to provide a story. But I had no story.

Last time they asked me for an antho submission, I gave them a Holloway Pack short.

I couldn’t do that this time.

Because, due to the fact the anthology will be released the same day that Blue Moon launches, I have no Holloway Pack happenings that will fit into that slot time-wise.

About that moment, when realisation sank in, my head kinda went ‘Eeeeeeeeeeek!’

Because it meant I had to write a new story. One at fairly short notice. One with an unfamiliar plotline. One set in a ‘world’ I’d had no time to get to understand. One with new characters I knew absolutely nothing about.

But I panicked not. Okay, not much.

I simply took a singular idea that popped into my head … wrote down around 300 words to solidify that said idea would be where the story would start … and kept going back to it and playing around with the folks like they were Barbie and Ken on a bender … and voila …

ESCORT TO INSANITY was born.

It’s different to Holloway Pack. Different cast. Different tone. Different (dare I say it?) supes.

And I just recently signed a contract for it.

So it’s official.

I’m heading up a winter anthology.

MAKE BELIEVE is coming December 2012.

You can find out about the other contributing authors at: Jennifer M. Eaton | Jenny Keller Ford | Terri Rochenski | Kelly Said | Lynda Young

Exciting, no?

MY SON: THE PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

I received a letter in the post yesterday.

On the front it said: Parent/Guardian of Mini-Me* Belfield. Across the top it read: Young Writers.

I thought What’s this, then? and without further ado, ripped open the envelope, pulled out some papers, and started reading.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Recently, Mini-Me’s school … submitted some of their pupils’ work for Young Writers’ Mini Sagas competition. For this exciting competition, pupils were asked to write a mini saga on a theme that inspired them, with the added challenged of using 50 words or less.

Now, I remember said mini saga well. Mini-Me came home with the story to write as homework and told me he’d been set an ‘impossible’ task.

I told him ‘fiddlesticks’. Nothing is impossible in the world of writing. It’s the authors right to make anything happen that they so choose.

“But I can’t do it,” he’d said. “They want a setting, a character, and action … with FIFTY WORDS!” <<Yes, that last bit was said in full-on teenager style.

I told him to sit down. Then I told him to give me a name.

He chose ‘Jeffrey’.

I told him to give me a setting.

He chose a block of flats (apartments to the peeps across the pond).

So we stuck Jeffrey on the roof. And then we made him jump … to the next block of flats.

In fifty words, we’d created a free runner.

My son looked at me like I was kinda cool (only kinda), and he took his homework to school with pride in his eyes.

So, remembering said evening where I’d connected in a beautiful way with a fourteen year old boy (who just happens to be almost six foot tall and broad enough for me to hide behind), I read on in the received letter … and I reached a part that said:

… I am delighted to let you know that Mini-Me’s story, Leap, has been chosen for publication in Mini Sagas – Swashbuckling Stories The Midlands. A copy of the book will be sent to the British Library ……. providing a lasting record of your child’s achievement.

Ooooooooooooh, I thought.

Then I reached another part that said:

Leap has been typeset and a proof copy is enclosed. Please check the proof and mark any changes in red ink.

Just like how I work with my editor. Like a proper publication. With a date they must receive the edits back by and the signed form for copyright purposes giving them permission to publish it (an author’s version of a contract).

And then onto the last part where I read a bit that said:

Mini Sagas – Swashbuckling Stories The Midlands is scheduled for publication on 30^th November 2011.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

It is an awesome moment when a parent gets this kind of letter home—especially when it comes as a result of time we spent together and of him listening to me … yes, my son LISTENED to me (that’s an achievement in itself, right?).

So it is with pride swelling in my chest that I say: My son: The published author.

And here’s the certificate to prove it:

WHOOO! “INTO THE UNKNOWN” IS REVEALED!

I LOVE getting to share my news with you, and this is no exception.

A little while back I signed a contract for my short story, Marked, to it be included in an anthology. Into the Unknown is a compilation of shorts from three authors, and I couldn’t have chosen two better ladies to be showcased beside: Aimee Laine, author of paranormal romance Little White Lies; and Jocelyn Adams, author of the soon to be released The Glassman.

After weeks of preparation and edits … TODAY (yay!), I get to share the anthology cover and blurb!

So … ladies & gentlemen, I give you … Into the Unknown: