Kirkus MacGowan Wrath Giveaway!

Hey everyone!  I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  I have an awesome giveaway for you all by Kirkus MacGowan to celebrate the release of his new novel.  So without further ado, here are the details:

The day of WRATH, is almost here!

To celebrate his upcoming release on the 28th, Kirkus Macgowan is giving away 20 FREE copies of Wrath (A John Reeves Novel), follow up to his debut and Amazon Mystery bestseller, The Fall of Billy Hitchings. I’m helping him out today by giving YOU a chance to win a free eBook copy, or a $25 (£15.92 in the UK) Amazon gift card!

Wrath Contest Details

The best part? It’s so easy! Just leave a comment on this blog post. Multiple comments will not gain you extra entries. However, you may gain extra entries by commenting on other blogs participating in the Wrath giveaway.

Kirkus is giving away twenty FREE eBook copies of Wrath (A John Reeves Novel) in a format of your choice, and a $25 gift card to a random commenter. If we have a huge outpouring of support, he will increase the number of free copies accordingly.

The contest ends at midnight, August 26th, EST. This allows Kirkus time to post the winners on his blog on the 27th along with the blog they commented on. On that post, he’ll tell the winners how to contact him for their winnings.

Not sure if you want a copy of Wrath?

Cover Design by www.ethinkgraphics.com, Copyright 2012

Tom Stronach, an avid reader and book reviewer, agreed to check out an advanced reading copy of Wrath. Head on over to his blog Is It Me? to check out the review. Click here.

If you prefer to read a sample of Wrath, click here to read the first chapter on Kirkus’ blog, Diapers, Bookmarks and Pipe Dreams.

What readers are saying about Wrath

A few other readers checked out Wrath as well. Here’s what they’re saying:

“I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! The only problem I have with your books is that I can’t put them down!”

“Wrath will stick with you for days after you finish reading.”

“In my opinion it was even better than the first one!!”

“Like Criminal Minds on paper!”

Giveaway Summary

1. Leave a comment on this post! That’s all it takes to enter. If you’re not sure what to write, how about telling us what book you’re reading right now or maybe your favorite book this year.

2. Head over to Kirkus’ blog on August 27th and see if your name is on the list of winners. Diapers, Bookmarks, and Pipe Dreams.

If you’re not one of the lucky winners, you’ll still be able to grab an eBook copy for less than $5! Kirkus sends you his thanks for the support.

Hey all, it's Kayleigh again.  Keep checking back here as I'll be adding a list of the other blogs participating in the giveaway, which gives you all additional chances at winning!

Supporting Fellow Authors -Multifaceted Moi

Blondie's Wrath - Blondie in the Water

The Day of Wrath - Celebrating Authors

Two Come Backs and a Giveaway - The Literary Schmorgasboard
Wrath by Kirkus MacGowan - Katie Jennings
The Day of Wrath - J.A. Gouthro's Blog
Day of the Wrath Giveaway - Whitney Moore: Write in Life
Guest Post: Kirkus MacGowan - This Writer's Life...
Giveaway: Wrath - The Top Shelf

Aftereffects: Zombie Therapy - Book Review

Title: Aftereffects: Zombie Therapy

Author: Zane Bradey

Released: Feb. 26, 2012

Print Length: 232 pages

File Size: 288 KB


Goodreads info here

Visit the author's website

Intriguing Twist to the Zombie Genre!

In Aftereffects: Zombie Therapy, author Zane Bradey provides a unique twist to the zombie genre. A cure is created and administered to the zombies, returning them to their normal human state. The only problem is, they can remember the things that happened and who they ate while they were zombies. That’s where Dr. Victor Frenzel comes in; he is a therapist who offers counseling to those who were infected. But Dr. Frenzel must battle his own issues as during the height of the zombie epidemic he watched in horror as the zombies ate his wife. Now with each new patient he takes on, he is left to wonder if they were one of the ones that consumer her while he was left watching helplessly. 

I have to admit at first I was a bit skeptical, as I don’t usually read zombie stories. They just don’t generally appeal to me. But I was intrigued by the fact that these zombies have been cured and that the story was going to be more about the psychological aspects of how to deal with what they have done as well as the good Doctor treating those that may have been responsible for his wife’s death.

Bradey managed to bring these aspects of the novel out wonderfully and I could feel the horror and disgust that some of the patients felt for the things they did while infected. I do wish there would have been a bit more character development with the patients even though this is more the doctor’s story than theirs. I felt it would have added to some of the scenes where the reader gets to see what happened when they were infected etc.

Another aspect that irked me a bit was the sudden end. I can’t really expand on it without giving away some major spoilers. It left a lot of questions and a bit of confusion as to what was going to happen next. At the time I didn’t realize there was a sequel in the works and couldn’t fathom why an author would end a story so open ended without one. The book felt incomplete with the ending and left me a bit frustrated, but that’s just me. I know lots of readers enjoy cliff hangers, especially when there is a sequel as it lets them imagine all sorts of things while they wait.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book and I will definitely be reading the next installment.

Buy here:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords

Running Way Behind...

This is just about what my desk looks like anymore!
Image by Doctor Bob

I owe several authors book reviews and just wanted to pop on here and let them know I haven't forgotten them. I also wanted to apologize for the delay as a couple have been waiting for several weeks. I've been super swamped with work and college (as I had midterms this past week). Some days I wonder what in the world I was thinking to go back to school while working full time and trying to write my first novel :) Perhaps I just want to test the limits of my sanity!

I should be back on track with the reviews and they should be posted, at least the majority of them, throughout this week and the next. Again, I am so sorry for the delay, I know how important reviews can be.

In addition to being behind on my reviews I also got way behind in my writing. I was discussing with a friend that a big issue I seem to have is with turning off the internal editor. I've always kind of edited as I go along and then I get frustrated later because my word count seems to barely move. The more discouraged I would get with this, the less often I would write. This is especially true after a 16 hour day at work and then class, on days I have to work on research papers for hours on end.


With that being said, I hope I have found a solution to both my time issue as well as booting out the editor for now.  With the first issue, I am going to try to write in smaller blocks, a minimum 100 words at a day for now and perhaps if that goes well I'll increase it to 500. I also want to make myself accountable in a way so I don't just procrastinate until it is too late to accomplish and throw in the towel, so I have added a Don't Break the Chain! calendar to the blog in the upper right sidebar. This way my readers can keep track of my progress as well :)

The second thing I hope will help is a site called Write or Die which helps a writer get rid of that pesky editor by making them write or face the consequences. Of course the writer gets to choose the pace (how many words and the time limit) as well as the consequences which range from annoying sounds to the program deleting parts of your work if you don't keep up. They have a free web app as well as a desktop edition with more features. I figure it's worth the try, after all what do I have to lose?

I know I'm not the only writer around with a hectic daily schedule or paralyzing fear of the internal editor coming out at the wrong time, so what are some of your tips and habits to overcome these obstacles? Do you have a certain time you schedule yourself to write or do you slam it down as fast as you can when you get a free minute? Do you force yourself to keep writing instead of going back and fixing that error you noticed earlier? I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this :)