Broken Forest, by Eliza Tilton CYOA Blog Hop

If you’ve landed here during your adventure, skip all this and go below.

If you’re wondering what’s going on, go here to start your own adventure!

And may The Creator bless you on your journey.

Your story:

If you’re going to risk your life for a flower, you might as well make some coin doing it.

You head south, being very careful where you step. The ground is damp and your feet slosh as you walk. If an animal attacks, you won’t be able to maneuver quickly.

The marsh land is full of slithering creatures and big bellied frogs. Grass grows tall here, almost up to your chest. Using your dagger, you swipe at the grass as you walk, wondering if this is a good idea.

Luckily, the tall grass ends, and in front of you lays a large stream. Directly on the other side are specks of green.

The jade mushroom!


Without thinking, you splash across the stream and are rewarded with bunches of jade mushroom. You’ll be able to sell these and get enough coin to buy that bow you’ve been eyeing.

You gather a few, but as soon as you put them in your pouch, a green mist surrounds you.

“What is that?”

You cough and your eyes water as the mist stings your eyes. As you stumble towards the stream, your legs buckle, and you fall to the ground. Tingles spread through your body, and you find it hard to move.

When your eyes finally close, you remember your father saying that the jade mushrooms are worth much coin because of their deadly poison.

END

Here is the giveaway for the entire hop:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


And here is a giveaway specific to today's entry:

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Broken Forest jacket copy, from Goodreads:

Hopeless he'll never be more than the boy who didn't save his brother, 17-year-old Avikar accepts his life as the family stable boy, trying to forget the past. But when his sister, Jeslyn, is kidnapped, the thought of losing another sibling catapults him on a desperate quest. With his best friend by his side, and using the tracking skills he learned from his father, he discovers Jeslyn has been taken, kidnapped by one Lucino, the young lord of Daath, a mystical place thought only to exist in fables.

And Lucino has plans for Jeslyn.





Author Bio:

Eliza graduated from Dowling College with a BS in Visual Communications. When she’s not arguing with excel at her day job, or playing Dragon Age 2, again, she’s writing. Her stories hold a bit of the fantastical and there’s always a romance. She resides on Long Island with her husband, two kids and one very snuggly pit bull.

Author links:

Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Website | Pinterest

Eliza's publisher is working out the kinks with stock and such, but for now, you can pre-order Broken Forest at Amazon, here.

UPDATE: And you can now buy it, here: B&N | Kobo | Amazon

The Mistaken, by Nancy Thompson Blog Tour

Thanks for having me over, Matthew!  My host asked me to write about organized crime in fiction and why I chose members of the Russian Mafia as my antagonists.

We’re all familiar with the Mafia, but although the Italians are the most well-known, they don’t hold a monopoly on organized crime.  There’s the Yakuza of Japan, The Triads of China, and the Cartels of Mexico and South America.  Lesser known are the Jamaican Yardies in Britain, as well as the Albanian, Serbian, and Israeli Mafias.

Second in size and influence to the Italian Mafia in the US is the Russian Mafia (Mafiya).  Though they’re less prevalent in pop culture, they’ve made appearances in movies such as Eastern Promises, Boondock Saints, and Training Day.  And while there are plenty of non-fiction books on the Russian Mafia, there are very few novels…until mine. 

I drew on this particular group because of my own experience.  They’re the only bad guys I’ve ever met personally.  I was inadvertently privy to information they were interested in, info that could have endangered the wellbeing of a friend.  I chose to withhold that info and was threatened as a result.  It was only natural for them to become the antagonists in my book. 

So when I set The Mistaken in my old hometown of San Francisco, I drew on that frightening experience.  Just like in real life, my Russians, the Solntsevskaya Bratva (brotherhood), deal in human trafficking and offer my protagonist—who seeks revenge against the woman who killed his pregnant wife—a deal. 

In exchange for this woman, the Russians agree to finally let his brother leave the business for good, with his debt wiped clean and his heart still beating.  It’s a deal he can’t refuse, that is until he kidnaps the wrong woman.  Now he must protect this innocent woman from the very enemy he’s unleashed.  But the Russians are holding his brother as leverage to force him to complete their deal.  Somehow he must find a way to save himself, his brother, and the woman, but with the Russian Mafia, even two out of three makes for very long odds.

Have you ever had to deal with any bad guys in your real life?  If so, have they ever found a way into your writing?   (If you want to learn more about my personal experience with the Russians, tune into Lisa Regan’s blog on Tuesday, 10/30 for the full story.)

Visit Nancy’s blog, follow, and leave a comment during her book tour for a chance to win an ARC of The Mistaken.  Plus, 5 runner-up winners will each receive an ebook. 

You can also find her on her publisher’s website, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Purchase here:  (I’ll send you the active buy links once they go live on 10/15 or 10/16.)

Amazon Books

Amazon Kindle

Barnes & Noble

Also available at Sony, Kobo, iBooks, Diesel Bookstore, and Baker & Taylor in 2-3 weeks

Praise for The Mistaken:

“A deliciously slow burn that builds to a ferocious crescendo, Nancy S. Thompson's THE MISTAKEN kept me riveted until the very last page. Tyler Karras is a complex and flawed protagonist, and his redemptive journey makes him the perfect anti-hero. This psychological suspense is a standout, and I can't wait for Thompson's next book.”

~ Jennifer Hillier, author of CREEP and FREAK

“Nancy S. Thompson's debut novel, The Mistaken, is a first-rate thriller full of hair-raising twists and turns.  Pursued by the police and the Russian mafia in San Francisco, brothers Tyler and Nick Karras are fascinating, fully-drawn, desperate characters.  The action is non-stop.  Thompson's taut, intriguing tale of revenge, mistaken identity, kidnapping and murder will keep you enthralled and entertained.” 

~Kevin O’Brien, New York Times Bestselling Author of DISTURBED and TERRIFIED

“Fast-paced and emotionally gripping - once the ride begins, you won't stop reading until it ends."  ~Alex J. Cavanaugh, author of CASSAFIRE and CASSASTAR

The Mistaken Blog tour:

10/18:  Mark Koopmans & Nancy S. Thompson

10/19:  Alex J. Cavanaugh & Arlee Bird

10/22:  Carrie Butler & Jeff O’Handley

10/23:  Julie Musil

10/24:  Donna Weaver, Melissa Maygrove & Hope Roberson

10/25:  Matthew MacNish

10/26:  LG Smith

10/27:  Aimee Jodoin

10/29:  Heather M. Gardner

10/30:  Lisa Regan & Falling For Fiction

10/31:  Jennifer Hillier

11/1:    Angela Peart & Livia Peterson

11/19:  Arlee Bird

RECAPTURED DREAMS by Justine Dell - Blog Tour

Today I am very, very proud and excited to be featuring my oldest online writer friend for her book tour, Justine Dell! We met in the forums at Nathan Bransford's blog and website, ages ago, and though our correspondence has risen and fallen over the years as both of us moved through our lives and our writing careers, she's never stopped being awesome.

So it's with great pleasure I give her my blog today, as another stop on her tour for the release of Recaptured Dreams, her debut novel, published by Omnific Publishing, on September 18th.

There have already been a variety of posts about the book, which you should definitely check out, but Justine and I wanted to do something different today, something QQQE style. So we decided to analyze together the query that won her editor at Omnific over. Justine has had a successful query analyzed over here before. It was so long ago, I'm almost loath to link to it, but I will, just for fun: BROKEN TIES THAT BIND.

So anyway, here is the query for Recaptured Dreams, along with some necessary redaction, my thoughts in blue, and Justine's in green. Enjoy!

The query:

Ten years, the Atlantic Ocean, and several rungs in the society ladder have kept Xavier Cain from having Sophia Montel. Their teenage tryst was forbidden and xx xxx xxx xxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxxxx. Now twenty-seven, he’s spent his entire adult life building a fashion empire that would prove his worth to her family. When he finally sees Sophia again at London’s premiere fashion show, one problem lodges in his path: Sophia doesn’t remember him.

I don't want to break up these paragraphs, so I'll just put my thoughts after each one. If you read my query critiques, you'll know that this query doesn't fit the rules I often refer to, but it doesn't matter. The important thing is that it worked. What I like about this query, or at least this paragraph, is the way it builds the world (yes, even contemporary romance novels can do with a bit of world building, or at least region building) at the same time it clues us in to both the backstory, and some of the character of at least one of our protagonists. And that's all just the first sentence!

The rest seems standard fare for romance, but I like that it almost hints at epic family piece, like a Ken Follett novel.

The only thing that has kept Sophia from Xavier is a horrific car crash that erased her memory at seventeen. She’s spent the last ten years fighting to reclaim a sliver of her past that her mother refuses to help her remember. When Sophia meets Xavier at the London show, all her fantasies come to life in one night of passion. When she discovers he is the missing link, she is determined to find all the pieces to their love story and her memory.

Now, I'm not a big romance reader, so I'm not entirely aware of the cliché Justine mentions below, but this seems like an excellent set-up for conflict and tension to me. They meet again after ten years, they make love, he remembers, she doesn't, but then maybe she does. It's all right out of a tragic opera, and that seems perfect for a romance novel to me.

They journey back to America to find and salvage their long-ago love. The trip jolts Sophia’s memory and she learns xxxxxx xxx xxxxxxx xxx xxxx xxxxxx for xx xxxx: xxxxxx’s xxxxxxx is xxxxxxxx xxx xxx xxxxxx’s xxx. Facing the shock of a lifetime, they must decide if their rekindled love is enough to gap to lies they’d been told.

Obviously this is a little hard to analyze with such a large and important detail missing, but we can't give everything away for a novel that's actually published, can we? And don't try highlighting that text, you tech-savvy smarty pants, I've taken care of that workaround.

Let's leave it to Justine.

I had an uphill climb with this book (and the plot). One, it’s on the shorter side and two, it has amnesia in the plot. Cliché, anyone? Yes, I’ll take one! I didn’t realize that an amnesia plot was one of the ten plots that were no-no’s in romance. Overdone, they’d said. Well, thankfully, mine has a wee bit of a twist and I think that publisher saw that in the query. Which is why you don’t see some of the words. Sorry! Didn’t want to spoil it! J

Plus, let’s face it, who thinks a strong male lead would be a clothing designer? I broke the mold in stereotyping there, peeps, and I think that helped with the originality of the story. That (and the twist) is why I think this particular query worked.

That's it.

Thanks so much for sharing this with me, Justine! I'm so happy for you. Enjoy the rest of your tour, you've earned it!

NOTE: I've updated this post so that my reference to historical romance is removed. Justine agrees that she could have made the contemporary aspect clearer in the query, but we both decided it was important for everyone to see that even queries that work often have room for improvement. If I was going to change one word in this query to clarify the contemporary setting, I would change "[t]hey journey back to America ..." to "[t]hey fly back to America."

Never Surrender Blog Fest

Today, I'm taking part in Elana Johnson's Never Surrender Blog Fest, which is meant to celebrate the release of her sophomore novel, Surrender. Before I get to my post, I'll give Elana a chance to explain:

All you have to do is blog about a time you didn't surrender. Trained for a marathon? Queried agents? Had to study for an entrance exam? I'm looking for inspirational stories that you have experienced. Hard things you've accomplished because you didn't give up. I want to be inspired by you!

Anyone who blogs this week for the theme can enter to win one of three $15 B&N gift cards. Everyone who blogs this week will receive a SURRENDER swag package.

Don’t blog? Put the cover of Surrender up on your FB wall, or pin it on Pinterest, or change your twitter avatar to the cover. Use the words “Never Surrender” somewhere to go with the picture, and link back to this post.

Sign up in this form to make sure you get the swag package. Elana will visit each blog to read your inspirational "never surrender" moments. Sign your blog up to participate in the Never Surrender blogfest linklist below. 

Now, let me share a story with you:

Before we begin, here's a topographic map of the Idaho panhandle, courtesy of Google Maps:

That letter A marks a town called Bonners Ferry. It's literally about 15 miles from the Canadian border. In the interest of keeping this short, let's just say I was a pretty willful teenager, and after being expelled from a nice, college prep boarding school as a sophomore, I was shipped off to reform school, just outside beautiful Bonners Ferry.

It was a pretty dismal place. There were some nice things too, like the gorgeous landscape, but that's not the point. The point is I couldn't take it there. So I ran away. I'd actually run away from home before getting sent there. I was 16. I lived in Atlanta at the time. When I ran I caught a Greyhound bus, made it to Saint Paul Minnesota, and was own my own for about 3 weeks before I got caught. But that's not the story, I was just pointing out I was an experienced runaway at the time.

So after being at this school for about 16 months, with no vacations, I couldn't take it anymore. I was 17 by then, and I figured I was old enough to make it on my own. So I woke up one of my roommates (he'd just recently arrived), told him "let's get out of here," and we did.

We hiked through the ink black night for about twenty miles, ducking into the undergrowth beside the barbwire fences separating the cow pastures from the road every time a pair of headlights approached. It was thrilling, but it was also terrifying.

We walked until the sun came up, and then we walked some more. Eventually we found a country bar, and some people willing to give us a ride. They brought us down the highway, south of Sandpoint (see the map), and to someone's house. They put us to work, and fed us, but the whole thing was pretty nerve racking, because they were these Aryan Nation anti-establishment types, and we wondered every minute if they were going to kidnap us.

They ended up letting us go, but the next day we had to hike 50 miles south to Couer D'Alene. The whole journey was an exercise in never surrendering, but if you've ever hiked 50 miles in a day (it takes about 18 hours) you'd know that day specifically is my shining example. We had a little water, but we had no food, and it takes a lot of determination to continue putting one foot in front of the other when the sun is beating down on the back of your neck.

I ended up making it to Seattle, and hung out in the airport for a few days, trying to convince my guardians to legally emancipate me, but I ended up having to go back. The story goes on, but you've read the exciting part. Don't worry, I'll write a book about it all someday.

That's it for my Never Surrender story, but there's more:
 

This week, as part of the SURRENDER blog tour, you can win one of three $15 Barnes & Noble gift cards and become a winner winner, chicken dinner! All you have to do is fill out this rafflecopter widget with what you’ve done. NOTE: One of the options is to blog about a time you didn’t surrender. Go here for full details on this, including how to sign up for your free swag package!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CassaFire Blog Tour!

Today is the Catch Fire Blog Party, celebrating the release of CassaFire by Alex J. Cavanaugh! The goal is to help CassaFire “catch fire” on the best seller charts and achieve the success of the first book, CassaStar. There’s also a special package of prizes being given away at the author’s blog (copies of CassaFire, CassaStar, tote bag, mug, and bookmarks) as well as book giveaways during his two-week blog tour. See Alex’s site for details: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

CassaFire

by Alex J. Cavanaugh

CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend - to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities.

To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

Available today!

Science fiction - space opera/adventure

Print ISBN 978-0-9827139-4-5, $15.95, 6x9 Trade paperback, 240 pages

EBook ISBN 978-0-9827139-6-9, $4.99, available in all formats

CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” - Library Journal

You can visit the author’s site at: http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Book trailer available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa6VINRGtyE.

Or buy the book at:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Amazon Kindle

And here's the awesome trailer, for those who prefer not to click through to Youtube:



Please note: anyone who comments on Alex's posts during his blog tour - February 27th through March 9th - can win the special package from his publisher, mentioned above: copy of CassaFire and CassaStar, a large tote bag, and a mug. The Twitter hashtag for the party is #CatchFire

DIES IRAE Blog Tour

I am very excited to be taking part in Christine Fonseca's blog tour for the release of her novel DIES IRAE. I've known Christine for some time as the author of the great series of non-fiction books about gifted kids. They are excellent, and very useful books, but today is about her novel.

I've asked Christine to do a guest post, because I haven't had time to read her novel yet (although I read the first chapter, and am looking forward to finding the time to read the rest). I asked her to write about the difference between writing about teens (as in her non-fcition) and writing for teens (as in this awesome novella). Before I go on too long, I'm just going to let her take it away:

Writing For Teens vs. Writing About Teens

Hi all! Thanks, Matt, for hosting a leg of the blog tour for DIES IRAE. Today marks the end of the first full week. WOO HOO! I hope everyone has enjoyed the tour so far

For today, Matt asked me to write about my transition from writing nonfiction ABOUT teens to writing fiction FOR teens. What a great topic.

A little background is needed to really explain what the transition has been like. I am a trained school psychologist, adapting a cognitive behavioral approach to most of my work. Additionally, I am well versed and trained in integrative or transformational psychology. Basically, that means that I typically take the approach of teaching kids and adults how to change their perspective and reaction to things in life, thereby taking control (to whatever degree possible) over the outcome. Whew, what a mouth full.

Okay, keeping the above in mind, I started my soiree into writing by means of my nonfiction, writing books about the social and emotional needs of gifted children, including gifted teens. The audience for the books was initially parents and educators. Given my personal beliefs regarding psychological books, and my desire to make sure the information in my books was completely accessible to everyone, I chose a writing style that was more conversational and less formal.

With my next nonfiction book, I took much of the same information I had given adults and wrote it specifically for kids, aged 8-12, switching the tone to one that was even more fun and relaxed. My next book will be geared for teens, and the language and tone will reflect that.

With fiction, I’d always intended to write for teens and new adults. As a psychologist, I work with teens every day, so writing stories for them just seemed natural. And, given my tendency towards psychological concepts that speak directly to the specific audience I am dealing with, I assumed that this would be a natural transition for me.

Fortunately, it has been.

That said, there are a few things I keep in mind when writing specifically for teens:

• Language usage—I am very conscious of my word choice and grammar usage. While I never speak “down” to kids, I don’t want to speak in a way that is too formal either. This is probably the thing I have had to work on the most. Prior to writing books, my writing mostly consisted of psycho-educational reports and technical documents written in a strict APA style. Yeah, that does not work for fiction.
• Topic—as with nonfiction, I am always striving to fill a void, whether that means filling a specific educational niche, or writing a familiar story in a new way. Topic is something very important to readers, and something I try to keep at the forefront of my thoughts while still keeping true to the artist inside.
• Cliché—yeah, I just avoid them. Period. At least I try to. My teen group, a group of several teens that serve as a focus group of sorts, is great at helping with this.
• “Smart” plots—one of the best things about working with teens, I realize just how smart they are. And how hungry they are for complex storylines. My job as an author is to constantly strive to give them just exactly that—a complex storyline that rings true.
• Authenticity—while all readers demand authenticity from their stories, I find teens to be particularly scrupulous in this regards. Sure, they are more than willing to suspend belief at times, but only if the plot is plausible in some way. Teens are relentless when it comes to characters behaving in an authentic manner, more so than most readers I think. So, I am too!

When I first tackled the topic Matt gave me, I will admit, I was nervous. I wasn’t sure I knew how I made the transition. In fact, I wasn’t at all certain that I had even made it successfully. And I’m still not entirely certain on that point. But, in thinking and stewing about this topic, there is something I am now certain of—the transition really wasn’t much of a transition. The overlap between my genres is much greater than I had previously realized. And other than the things listed above, things I pay particular attention to, yeah…there isn’t nearly as much of a difference between writing for teens and writing about teens. Not much at all.

I guess all of you will be the judge as to whether or not I did it successfully.

Thanks so much, Christine! I find the entire topic fascinating. Before I let you all go, I just want to let you know where you can find Christine, and her books. Before we get to links, though, here's the final cover of DIES IRAE:

Now here are Christine's links:

Her website.
Her blog.
DIES IRAE on Goodreads.
LACRIMOSA on Goodreads.
101 Success Secrets for Gifted Kids
Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students.

That's basically it. Except Christine is also willing to offer two free downloads. The first is for any of you. All you have to do is comment on this post, mention that you would like to win, and provide your contact info if it is not already included in your blogger account. The second download can only be won by a teenager. If you know one, you can enter a second time on their behalf, but they'll need to be willing to supply Christine with their email address, and what type of e-book they need (Kindle, Nook, etc.). Yay for free books!

And one final thing, I'm posting over at Project Mayhem as well today, talking a little bit about what books mean to young people. Feel free to read that too. Thanks, and happy Friday!

Become: Ali Cross Blog Tour

Today is my stop on Ali Cross's blog tour for her debut novel: Become. I asked Ali to write about how she manages it all, because as I watch a friend who is as busy as I know Ali is release a book, I have to wonder how one finds the time.

I could probably go on about this for a while, but instead I'll just let Ali take it away:

There's a lot I could say about how to juggle all the balls we each have in the air. But none of it would really matter, because my story isn’t your story.

All I can say is this: We all have our priorities and our own choices to make. And your priorities, your choices, will be different from mine.

Think of yourself as a juggler, keeping a bunch of balls rotating in the air. I think if you took the time to examine what your priorities are, then you might find you’ll do a better job of keeping those balls moving right along.

For me, my first priority is myself. This was a really hard one to accept. Nowhere in any self-help book or parenting book does it say to put yourself first. And yet, this is what feels right for me. My health and happiness are paramount—without those things I lose the strength to launch each ball into the air. Without the juggler, the balls won’t be launched or caught at all. Because I am the juggler, I come first.

Next, comes my relationship with God. And this doesn’t include my church activities or the service I do. This is just me; in prayer, in scripture reading--whatever shapes my relationship with God. He brings the skill, the patience, the awareness, and the knowledge to get those balls moving in an orderly fashion.

My husband and children represent most of the balls. They include being kind, loving them, serving them. The nice thing about these balls, is that once I get them going and I pay attention to them, they return the favor by imbuing me with strength and happiness each time they pass through my hands.

And finally, my writing--which is really back to me again. Because I am my writing. Writing is an essential element in my care for myself. If I’m giving priority to myself, then I’m giving priority to my writing as well.

Notice, I didn’t include errands or housework as any of my balls. Of course I have them, and they do take their turns whirling among the other colorful balls that I swing through the air. But they come and go.

It isn’t necessary for me to juggle all the balls at once. I am not always serving my husband, so I can throw up the service ball during those times. I am not always taking care of my children or writing, so I can replace those balls with housework for a while.

Really, the only balls that I try to keep going all the time are the ones that represent my love and care for myself, and the ones that represent my love and care for God.

I never have all my balls up in the air at the same time, and I think this is how I manage everything I have to do—by making my priorities, and then building my life around those things. Also, I try never to expect perfection. If a good juggler drops a ball, he doesn’t drop all of them in search of the one rolling away. He simply keeps going, knowing that when he stops he can gather up the dropped ball and include it in his next round.

The same holds true as I juggle all the things I’m responsible for. I’ll drop a ball from time to time, but that’s okay. I just keep going with the balls I have until the day is done. Tomorrow is a new day, my balls will all be assembled and ready for me to animate them, and because I’ve taken care of myself, my hands and mind will be all the more nimble, and perhaps I’ll do a better job of keeping my balls in the air.

It all comes down to the priorities you set and the choices you make. Each juggler is different, and so are we!

Now I want to give Ali a chance to plug her book, since that's kind of the point of the tour.

BLURB:
Sixteen-year old Desolation Black wants nothing more than to stay in Hell where it’s cold and lonely and totally predictable. Instead, she’s sent back to Earth where she must face the evil she despises and the good she always feared.

When Desi is forced to embrace her inner demon, she assumes her choice has been made—that she has no hope of being anything other than what her father, Lucifer, has created her to be. What she doesn’t count on, is finding a reason to change—something she’s never had before—a friend.

BIO:
Ali Cross is the sensei of the Writer's Dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin' husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.

You can find her:

On her blog.
At the Writer's Dojo.
On Facebook.
Or Twitter.

Thanks so much for letting me take part in your tour, Ali!

You're the best, and I wish you nothing but success.

Michelle McClean's Blog Tour

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Michelle McLean's new book: Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers. Before I let her take it away I just want to say thank you. Michelle was one of the first authors I "met" after I started blogging, and she has been very helpful and supportive ever since, so thanks Michelle!

My daughter is not only a high school student, but also an aspiring writer, so I asked Michelle to post about how her book could help writers of all ages, and levels of experience.

I'll have some exciting news after her post.

Take it away Michelle:

While Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers is geared mostly for junior high, high school, and early college students who need help on writing assignments, there are a number of features included in the book that will help any writer. Especially a beginning writer just learning the ropes.

Time Management

Managing time well is something every writer needs to master. Most writers will have a “day job”, along with family, friends, and other hobbies and “real life” activities. With so much going on, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. One of the key tips I stress in my book is to break projects down into small, manageable pieces, and just take them one at a time. This makes a large project (whether it be an essay, a term paper, edits on a novel, or writing the book itself) a little less overwhelming.

Proofreading

Proofreading and editing are activities that any writer is going to need to do. Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers includes a chapter on this topic, discussing why it is necessary to proofread, giving fun examples of common mistakes, and illustrating the different types of mistakes you should be looking for.

Researching

If you are a student writing a paper, it’s a given you’ll have to do some research. But somewhere down the line, every writer is going to have to research something. Depending on your genre, you may be doing a lot of research (if you are writing a historical, for instance), or you may just need a few specific details, like the title of a popular song or specific features of some electronic device. Either way, if you want to be a writer, there is going to be some form of research somewhere in your future. Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers includes a chapter on researching tips, discussing several ways you can research without ever leaving your home.

Organization

No matter what project you are working on, it needs to flow in a logical and organized manner. Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers illustrates techniques for organizing and writing essays and papers, but these processes can be applied to any project you are working on.

No matter if you are a student in need of some essay writing help, a teacher, parent, or homeschooling parent looking for a guidebook for your kids, or a writer looking for a few tips, Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers is a handy tool to have around :)

Before I get to my announcement let me show you where to find Michelle:

Her website: http://authormichellemclean.com

Her blog: http://michellemclean.blogspot.com

The Operation Awesome Blog: http://opersationawesome6.blogspot.com

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Michelle-McLean/183714415115?v=wall

Twitter: http://twitter.com/michellemclean

And where you can find Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers:

Amazon: Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers

Borders: Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers

B&N: Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers

Now, here is some exciting news: before you go off to buy your copy, stick around. Get as many people to come and comment here as you can. Every person who comments after and including the 50th comment will get one entry into a randomizer.org contest to win a copy of the book. Feel free to comment as often as you want to bring it up to 50, but you're only getting one entry per person after that.

I'll be paying for this book, in order to support Michelle so that she can keep her promotional materials, so I will contact the winner and let them select a retailer of their choice.

P.S. My buddy Shaun David Hutchinson, author of The Deathday Letter, will be featuring Michelle on his blog today as well. Please stop by over there and say hello. He's really cool and deserves the traffic.

P.P.S. L. Diane Wolf is featuring Michelle as well today. Make sure to visit her blog too!