Author Love: Kelly Said

MASSIVE welcome to my fellow Make Believe author, Kelly.

I’m a HUGE fan of Kelly’s writing since loving her story Pearl of Pau-maa in the Tidal Whispers anthology so I’m muchero excited that she’s here on my blog.

So, Kelly, can you tell us a little about your story—and how does it relate to the prompt given for the anthology theme?

When I first saw the image of a girl in a red cloak standing in a snow coated field, I studied *every* detail. How the snow was falling, how come there were no footprints in the snow? Why was the girl out in a blizzard with bare arms, as if the weather didn’t bother her? What happened to the trees and animals? Why was she alone out in the middle of nowhere? If she was summoned there, how and why? The cover image is actually a scene in the middle of my story, so once I had those questions answered, I knew how things would start and how they would end, but it had no intrigue yet. So, when I read the publisher’s prompt of “Where illusion can’t hide all the secrets,” I knew that one of the characters in my story would be harbouring some incredibly powerful secret, perhaps using “illusions” to keep people from discovering the fact that – well now, “that’s” a discovery readers will make at the end of the story, hehe! *wink-wink!*

And I’ll bet they can’t wait to find out. So what can you tell us about the book that the blurb doesn’t tell us? Preferably without giving the entire plot away?

Hmm, let’s see… something NOT in the blurb…. *looks up, bites lip, ponders* There’s a catfight scene, well, maybe not a “fight” per se, but rather a “skirmish.”

Ooooh, very intriguing. And how about the title for the story, how did you choose that?

I really like how the word PETRIFIED has different meanings. For instance, it can mean to benumb or paralyze someone with astonishment, horror, or other strong emotion. Or, it implies making something rigid or inert; harden; deaden. It felt to me like both meanings of the word PETRIFIED embodied a major plot element in the story.

 And now for some randomness:

 What book(s) are you reading now?

Divergent by Veronica Roth and After Dark by Emi J. Gayle

LOVED both!

Paranormal or dystopia—which do you prefer?

Can’t we have both? Hehe! Hmm, on a scale of 1-100, I’m 50.5% more paranormal preference to 49.5% dystopian.

You know that’s cheating, right? Okay, how about: Werewolves or vampires (what’d you choose: hot bloodied or blood sucker)?

ah-ooooo! Werewolves! I know a couple of hot ones from The Holloway Pack stories ;D

Ha! Yeah, I’d go with weirdwolves every time.

Cats or dogs?

Dogs

And finally … in no more than three sentences, tell us why we should read your story? What about it will grip us by the shirt scruffs and drag us along for the ride?

I like stories with buried secrets, secrets so huge they rumble and shake the ground until nothing can keep them from being exposed, keee-rack! ultimately shifting a person’s perspective like a tectonic plate. PETRIFIED takes readers to a place where winter has strangely devoured summer, where mysteries are the mortar binding the bricks in castle walls, and where Prince Sterling August and Lochlyn of the North are about to discover that some secrets, no matter how vehemently guarded, will surface and change them both forever.

Dum-dum-duuuuuuum! Sounds awesome! Let’s take a look at Kelly’s blurb for Petrified:

A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow. Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either.

The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.

Sounds very cool, eh?

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to catch up with Kelly on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, or her Blog, and say Hi! 

Don’t forget to call back tomorrow for a ‘chat’ with Jennifer M. Eaton.

Scheduling the Make Believe Blog Tour!

If you were about a fortnight ago, you’ll likely have seen my post about scheduling the Blue Moon Tour. Well, this week, I’m scheduling stops for the Make Believe Tour. And so, yet again, I’m ‘calling all bloggers!’

Make Believe is NOT a Holloway Pack novel, nor does it contain a Holloway Pack story. It is an anthology, with an alluring array of short stories by six different authors–which means the reader will get six totally different tales for their money. If you’d like to know a bit more about Make Believe, you can find details on its page HERE!

And here are the blog tour details:

I am looking for blogs to host tour stops between these dates:

• December 3rd – January 3rd

The post will need to be one of the following:

• Author interview
• Character interview
• Guest post
• Post a Review
• Other – if you have a better idea, feel free to hit me with it

Please note: the tour stops do NOT have to be just for me. As the anthology contains stories by SIX authors, participants are more than welcome to arrange stops for just ONE or ALL SIX of them–whatever best suits the post you’d prefer to host. Maybe you’ve read the blurb and connect better with one blurb than the others, and so have questions or post ideas for that particular author? That’s fine. Simply specify in the sign-up form which author that is, and we’ll try our best to accommodate that. However, please be aware that I’m not responsible for the other anthology authors contacting you once your request and details have been forwarded to them.

The Tour Page for Make Believe is already live. As soon as requests come in and are confirmed/scheduled, I shall try my best to keep that updated–though, please try and remember, keeping track of what six people are booking, rather than just myself, is going to be more difficult than I’m used to.

So if you’re interested in signing up and participating in the tour, please complete THIS FORM, and I, or one of the other authors, will get back to you as soon as possible. The sign-up form can also be found at the bottom of the Tour Page.

Cheers in advance.

Lovely Perdiness, All For You! #MakeBelieve

Now, y’all may remember last week I did a giveaway for a (digi) signed Blue Moon cover or poster in exchange for a comment?

Well, this week, I get to do that aaaaaalll over again. But this time, a teensy comment could get you a signed Make Believe cover.

Which means ANYBODY (that means everyone) who comments will receive a signed digital copy of the Make Believe book cover! But wait! Because you get a choice. Yup, you can either receive a non-personalise book cover signed by ALL of the contributing authors OR you can receive a personalised cover signed just by me. Sup to you.

Once you’ve left a comment I’ll simply pop it along to you in an email for you to do with as you wish. Print out, set as desktop for moments of random gazing, post to your FB wall … once it’s yours, it’s yours.

So, let’s take a look at the goods:

OR:

Perdy, no?

And here’s all’s you gotta do:

Leave a comment answering this question: If you were the woman in the red cloak, what would be in your basket?

Giveaway ends midnight Sunday July 29th.

Off you go!

Oh, and don’t forget to add Make Believe to your Goodreads TBR pile.

COVER REVEAL: Make Believe Anthology

You might recall, around 10 days ago, I announced that my short story, ESCORT TO INSANITY, had been contracted for the MAKE BELIEVE anthology.

Well, the time has come to share the cover and blurb.

Here’s the cover:

It’s so pretty. LOVE the red against the white.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand here’s the blurb:

Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski

An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place. 

With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford

There is only one way to save Elton Fletcher’s brother from an insanity-ridden death.

After years away from home, fighting for his people, Elton returns to discover his only sibling, Cayden, possessed by greed and malice, and responsible for malicious, unthinkable deeds. Cayden, though, isn’t the only one afflicted by the Amulet of Ormisez, and Elton finds himself in yet another battle, where the price of failure could be his own life.

Birthright by Lynda R. Young

Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible. 

She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she’s never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.

Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.

Petrified by Kelly Said

A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow.  Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either. 

The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.

Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton

Emily is a Red, a woman whose sole purpose in life is to produce offspring. When her husband dies and leaves her childless, she risks her life and forsakes the safety of Terra—a disease-free city born after the nuclear holocaust. Beyond its boundaries, she knows, survives a man with whom she can be properly paired.

The Outside, though, holds secrets the government struggles to keep, and what Emily discovers on her quest for a mate will change her life forever.

Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield

From a charity auction, to a stroll in the park, to the craziest night of her life. Nicole Harrington can’t help but wonder how a simple event went so drastically wrong.

Of course, the male escort she booked is wholly to blame. Not only charming but shrewdly intelligent, Benjamin Gold drags Nicole into a platoon of unimaginable problems—ones from which she’ll have to find the courage just to survive.

Yeah, mine’s the crazy sounding one.

Well, what did you expect?

So, whatcha thunk? Like?

MAKE BELIEVE will be available December 3rd.

Pssst, if ya wanted to add it to your Goodreads in the meantime, all’s ya gotta do is click on the link.

GOODIES IN THE POST!

Hoo-hoooo! Who doesn’t like to receive goodies in the post?

There I was, minding my own business (translate: still in bed in my PJ’s at 9:30 beta reading on my Kindle for the delightful Julie), when pounding at the door almost sent my animals into a frenzy of Rainforest proportions and I leaped from the bed like my a$$ was on fire.

Past Mr B, past the Mini-Me, I scooted down the stairs, dragging on my dressing gown as I went, and opened to the door to ….

Mr FED-EX!

He was a nice man. To look at. And to talk to. He was also a little bit cheeky but I can deal with that.

Anyhoo … moving on from the Fed-Ex guy …

He gave me a parcel, I signed for it. I ran up the stairs with the Mini-Me shouting, “Is it the game?”

To which I yelled back, “No!” Suckers! “This one’s aaaaaaaall for me!”

Even though the box was humungously large, I KNEW what was in there. So I wasted no time in tearing open the packaging … to be faced with more packaging. O_o

So I tore open (with my teeth–only way to get through it) the second skin of packaging … to find MORE packaging. o_O

So I tore open yet another layer … and there was my prize … as well as an additional little treat I soooo hadn’t been expecting … as well as a seriously cool letter that had been inanely folded into the shape of an airplane, hehehehehe.

And after that, I’m guessing you’re all wondering what the heck I got, eh?

Okay, okay, here’s the pics:

Yep, my WON copy of Fangtales that just happens to contain a story by the delectable Kelly Said …

SIGNED by Kelly Said …

Along with the above-mentioned letter … AND …

Some Rocky Mountain chocolate from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory all the way over in Colorado … Nom!

This is my first delivery of 2012 and what a parcel to receive. THANK YOU, Kelly (though we will be having words about the packaging and the fact I felt like I was playing a one-man-game of pass-the-parcel, hehehe)

What about you guys? Receive anything interesting in the post lately?