Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Guest Jennifer Estep Q & A on the UNWANTED Blog Tour -- with Giveaway!


I'm thrilled today to be part of NY Times bestselling author Jennifer Estep's tour for hot new release UNWANTED! I'm fan-girl excited to announce she's answered my questions, which I'm sharing with all of you!!

UNWANTED
The New York Times bestselling Elemental Assassin series continues with a new e-novella--from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, the foster brother of Gin Blanco, and a fan favorite of readers of the series.

The fallout from his disastrous "family reunion" in Bitter Bite has left Finn feeling hurt, angry, and depressed. He can barely stand to look at himself in the mirror, much less eat any of the delicious barbecue from Gin's famed Pork Pit restaurant.

But when the funeral for a slain security guard at his bank turns into a showdown with some nasty underworld giants, Finn knows that he must act in order to protect an innocent family.

Finnegan Lane might be the most unwanted man in Ashland these days, but he's determined to try to make amends for his past mistakes...

Purchase at Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo

Jennifer's interview:

Did you enjoy telling the story from a viewpoint other than Gin's?

JE: I always enjoy writing in my Elemental Assassin world, whether it’s a full-length book from Gin’s point of view or something shorter from the point of view of one of the secondary characters. It’s just a really fun, action-packed world to play around in as a writer.

What did you like about it?

JE: Most of the time in books, the secondary characters are there to support the heroine, but they all have their own lives, worries, fears, and problems. I enjoy giving readers a sort of behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on in the secondary characters’ lives and how they think and feel about what’s going on in the main books with the main story arcs.

Plus, I think that novellas and short stories that focus on the secondary characters are just fun, bonus material for readers. So that’s one of the reasons that I tend to make the novellas and short stories almost like stand-alone adventures for the secondary characters.

What prompted you to write Finn's novella?

JE: Bitter Bite, book #14 in my Elemental Assassin series, focused a lot on Finn’s relationship with a long-lost relative, and things definitely didn’t end well in that regard. If you’ve read Bitter Bite, then you know that Finn needed his own story after everything that happened in that book. And a hug.

So with the Unwanted novella, I wanted to show exactly what Finn was thinking and feeling, and his reaction to all of the heartache and betrayal in Bitter Bite. I had been wanting to write something from Finn’s point of view for a while, and this just felt like a natural place in the series to do that. Plus, I had the time in my writing schedule to do it.

I hope that everyone has as much fun reading Finn’s story as I did writing it. Happy reading, everyone!

Thanks to Jennifer for chatting with us today!

TOUR STOPS
7/11 - Books and Things (review + giveaway)
7/12 - DianaMCKiaradB (review + Q&A)
7/14 - Rantings of a Reading Addict (review + giveaway)
7/17 - The Book Crumb Trail (review + giveaway), Diane's Book Blog (Q&A)
7/18 - A Book Fanatic Obsession (review + Q&A), Bambi Unbridled (review + giveaway)
7/19 - Bookish Things & More (review + giveaway), Slippery Words (review + giveaway)
7/20 - Mary Hughes (Q&A + giveaway), The Book Nympho (review + giveaway)
7/21 - Goldilox and the Three Weres (review + giveaway), The Reading Addict (Q&A + giveaway)
7/22 - Books That Hook (review + giveaway)

GIVEAWAY!
Jennifer has a giveaway for 5 copies of BITTER BITE (5 winners!) and a $25 Amazon gift card! Open to US residents only. One winner per household. Contest ends July 25th at midnight EST. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


JENNIFER ESTEP
Jennifer Estep is a New York TimesUSA Today, and international bestselling author prowling the streets of her imagination in search of her next fantasy idea.

Jennifer writes the Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series for Pocket Books. Unwanted, e-novella #14.5 in the series, will be released on July 18. Unraveled, book #15, will be released on Aug. 30.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. She is also the author of the Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series and the Bigtime paranormal romance series.

For more information on Jennifer and her books, visit www.jenniferestep.com or follow Jennifer on FacebookGoodreads, and Twitter.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

3T Writing Tidbit

Are you struggling with a passage that you know is good, important, but it's just not right? Either it's confusing, or lacks punch?

What goes before is vital to the proper appreciation of the now.

If your scene--or the whole plot--is confusing, write a step-by-step of what happened before that first sentence. Just like a newspaper story, detail when, why, how and were, or time, reason, manner and place.

Once you're gotten a firm foundation for the muddled scene or story, you'll have clearer vision for how to begin.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Love Shack -- Guest Roxy Mews -- New Release


2T Repeat Performance delayed because Love Shack releases today! Congrats, Roxy!

Living tiny doesn’t leave many places to hide.
Tiny Houses, Big Hearts, Book 1
Felicity Newhouse left a life of excess for a tiny house—and she’s never felt richer. She’d like to give back to the artisanal community who gave her wounded spirit a place to land, but she wants to do it on her own terms. Except she’s been turned down for a loan four times. And the fifth bank on her list isn’t looking too promising, either.
The woman sitting across Brandon Halston’s desk must be out of her mind. Who’d want to live in a house the size of his walk-in closet, much less create an entire community of them? He’s drawn to her soft beauty and her ideals, but business is business.
When her story hits the news, Brandon’s boss solves the PR nightmare by ordering him to spend a month in her house—while cameras roll. The heat between them boils over like the water for their morning coffee. But when one person is hiding who they really are, passion may not be enough to clean up the dirt someone is digging up behind the scenes.
Warning: This book contains copious amounts of coffee and sex in confined spaces. If the tiny house is rockin’ don’t come a-knockin’.

Amazon | BN | Samhain | Kobo | iTunes | ARe | Amazon UK

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Happy Release Day to NJ Walters and 1T Status Update

I'm visiting wonderful author NJ Walters in August so today I'm delighted to share her new Samhain release!
Wolf in his Heart by N.J. Walters.
He’s a wolf where it counts—in his heart and in her bed.
Salvation Pack, Book 7
Exiled from her wolf pack for rejecting her parents’ choice for a mate, Rina Matheson has been on her own for over a year. Now she’s running for her life from a man who knows what she is and is obsessed with hunting her down.
Sage Gallagher—organic farmer, half-breed werewolf, and member of the Salvation Pack—finds more than a lost hiker while camping in the Great Smoky Mountains. So much more. Instant attraction slams through him with knee-buckling power the minute he sees Rina. His first instinct is to get her home where he and his pack can protect her.
Rina doesn’t trust easily. Especially not half-breeds, who she was raised to consider abominations. But Sage’s quiet strength calls to her lonely soul, and amazingly enough, her wolf responds. As he slowly works his way past her guard, she is soon in danger of losing her heart—even as danger draws closer to taking her life.

Status update--I'm putting working through edits on Hot Chips and Sand, trying to keep up with the tasks for the three box sets I'm going to be in, and the finishing touches on Mind Mates' release goodies.Which reminds me--

Be on the MIND MATES LAUNCH TEAM! 

I need a few more go-getters to help me launch Mind Mates with a bang! 

In return for early access to Mind Mates and a few other goodies, you'd need to share a link on Facebook when Mind Mates goes live and leave an honest review to help other readers get a good impression of the book.

Interested? Email me at mary@maryhughesbooks.com subject Mind Mates Launch Team. Thanks for considering!