Linda Covella, Author

I was out and about today doing errands and stopped by the beach to check out the surf. In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned that we were in a severe drought. Well, last night it poured with lots of thunder and lightning. This never happens in Santa Cruz in the summer. Very strange weather.

This is a cove near our house where we sometimes take Ginger, our dog. It was fairly warm today after the storm last night, and the beach was scattered with sunbathers. And some braved the water, which can be a little chilly on the central coast!

Here I’m looking down at the beach where we can take long walks. In the forefront (and around the corner that you can’t see) are tide pools. This beach is never crowded. Most visitors to Santa Cruz go to the beach near the Boardwalk and the wharf.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Parts of my novel The Castle Blues Quake take place here.

Residents of the wharf. There’s a fenced, square hole in the wharf where you can look down to the pilings below and see the sea lions. They’re able to hop up from the water onto the planks. Sometimes, every spot is taken!

I put a little scene in The Castle Blues Quake where Pepper watches the sea lions, thinking of her friend Chrissy who she had to leave behind in New York City. From such a distance, it’s been difficult to maintain their friendship.  Here’s the excerpt:

At first all I saw were shadows and glints of light on the surging water. Then I made out the shapes of huge sea lions floating in the water or lounging on crossbeams. Even though their bodies were big and blubbery, they had the cutest faces with whiskers on either side of their doggie-type noses.

I wished Chrissie were there. We used to have so much fun at Coney Island. I pulled my cell phone out of my pack and punched in her number.

“Hello.”

“Chrissie, it’s me. How are you?”

“I’m good, how ‘bout you?”

“I’m at the beach watching some sea lions. You wouldn’t believe how they just hang out here. God, I have so much to tell you. Remember that boy I met? Well there’s this weird guy who plays a saw, and he gave me this harmonica—” I heard giggling in the background. “Can you talk? Are you busy?”

“I’m kind of hanging out with some friends. Maybe I could call you later?”

“Oh, sure, no problem.”

I stuck my phone back in my pack and gazed down at a sea lion in the water looking up at its buddies. They were crowded onto the crossbeams with no space left for the one in the water. Its angry, hurt bark echoed up to me.

Hey, guy. I thought. I know exactly how you feel.

Have you ever had to move away from a friend, either as a kid or an adult? Were you able to maintain the friendship?

Silvia Villalobos tagged me for this fun, short challenge. Be sure to check her 5 photos, too!

The theme of my five pictures is “A Glimpse into My Life.” Hope you enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment or ask me any questions.

I love to garden. It gets me outdoors; it’s relaxing and meditative. I do a lot of thinking while gardening, either about my stories or other things going on in my life.

We’re in a severe drought here in California, but I decided to still have my garden. The pots and barrels seem to work pretty well, and the water is direct, so there’s no waste. Still, I’m careful, and the veggies aren’t doing as well in previous years. They’re predicting a rainy winter, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that!

This is our small but enjoyable backyard where we hang out, barbecue, generally relax!

This is the side of the house. It gets very hot here so it’s a perfect place to grow tomatoes, eggplant, basil, and peppers. Along the side, in the smaller pots, is my herb garden.

Do you garden, or have another hobby that you enjoy?

I nominate Jen Weber for the 5 Photos 5 Days challenge. See her blog here, and while you’re there, check out her AMAZING pictures and essays about her recent trip to Africa!

Jen, no obligation, of course, only if possible, and here are the rules:

1) post a photo (photos) each day for 5 consecutive days; 2) attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, a paragraph – all entirely up to you; 3) nominate another blogger to carry on the challenge. Your nominee is free to accept or decline the invitation! More importantly, have fun.

Silvia Villalobos tagged me for this fun, short challenge. Be sure to check her 5 photos, too!

The theme of my five pictures is “A Glimpse into My Life.” I’ll show you photos from some things going on with me in the next five days. Nothing earth shattering! Just a glimpse into my everyday life.

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to leave a comment or ask me any questions.

This is one view from my desk where I do my writing and other work.

My mother did the painting on the wall. Sadly, she passed away two  months ago. I saw her almost everyday, so it’s difficult to have her gone, but I know she’s at peace. She was an incredible artist. I have her gorgeous paintings throughout my house.

That’s my dog Ginger who keeps me company during the day while my husband’s at work. We have two folded futons stacked on top of each other that we use for overnight guests (and camping), and I keep a doggie sheet on them for Ginger. There’s a window to the right, and she keeps an eye on what’s happening on the street below.

On my desk are my and my husband’s wedding picture and my parents’ picture from their wedding reception. The ceramic unicorn and doll (you can’t see much of that) were made by one of my goddaughters when she was, oh, maybe seven. She’s 20 now and off to UC Berkeley to finish her last two years of college. So proud of her as well as her older sister who works in marketing.

That is today’s “glimpse into my life.”

Do you have a “room of your own”?

I nominate Dale Ibitz of Dale’s Place for the 5 Photos 5 Days challenge.

No obligation, of course, only if possible, and here are the rules:

1) post a photo (photos) each day for 5 consecutive days; 2) attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, a paragraph – all entirely up to you; 3) nominate another blogger to carry on the challenge. Your nominee is free to accept or decline the invitation! More importantly, have fun.

I’m very happy to welcome Krysten Lindsay Hager. She is the author of the True Colors series. The latest book in the series is Best Friends Forever.

Her interesting and informative post today is titled How I Learned to Write:

This week I got an email from a student who read my first book, True Colors, and she wanted me to know how much she enjoyed the story—and that she was reading it for the second time. I have to say that made me smile because I always reread books I loved back when I was in school and I still go back and reread my favorites from time to time. I always find something new that I didn’t catch the first (or fourth) time through. I wrote this student back and she asked me what I thought had helped me to, as she put it, “get a book written and all finished up.” I started to think about what got that first book written and “finished up,” and I’d have to say the number one thing was the literature classes I took. I admit as a kid, I never knew how my teachers pulled the odd symbolism out of the air. I even read Amy Tan saw things in a Cliff Notes version of her own book that surprised her! But when you get to the college and graduate level, the interpretations that seem to come out of thin air aren’t as much of the focus as the overall story, author’s background, and the social and cultural norms of the time. Those same classes that often bored me as a middle school student and high school student suddenly came alive once I was in a room with students who wanted to be there and weren’t just looking to “get through” it. Taking lit classes helped me see how writers put stories together.

I remember one class where we were studying an Edith Wharton novel and I had been sick and hadn’t cracked the book yet, but as the class discussion went on around me, I knew where the story was going and I started participating. My mind was saying, “Shut up, idiot, you didn’t read the book yet. Why is your hand up in the air? You’re going to make a fool out of yourself.” But it turned out that I was right on track where the story was headed because I had been paying attention to how Wharton wrote. At the time I don’t think I was aware exactly how much those lit classes would help me write my own books, but looking back I can clearly see how they were like taking creative writing classes taught by the masters. And all those stuffy looking classics that I thought I would never “get,” suddenly seemed accessible.

I’m currently working on the third book of my Landry’s True Colors Series. Landry got very into Jane Eyre in the first book. So now, in the third book, I am having Landry begin to explore other classics she might be able to get into—don’t get me wrong, she still loves the “Skylar Halston mysteries,” which is my made up version of a Nancy Drew type spy series. But even fictional characters can fall in love with classics.

Author bio:

Krysten Lindsay Hager is the author of the Landry’s True Colors Series, a clean reads young adult series about  friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, middle school and high school, frenemies, modeling, crushes, values, and self-image. Best Friends…Forever? was ranked at #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Values & Virtues Fiction and #1 on Amazon’s Hot New Releases in Children’s Books on Values. True Colors is an international bestselling book. Krysten is book addict who has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and writes middle grade, YA, humor essays, and adult fiction. She is originally from Michigan and has lived in Portugal, South Dakota, and currently

Congratulations to Annie Douglass Lima on her upcoming release of The Collar & the Cavvarach!

About the Story:

Bensin, a teenage slave and martial artist, is desperate to see his little sister freed. But only victory in the Krillonian Empire’s most prestigious tournament will allow him to secretly arrange for Ellie’s escape. Dangerous people are closing in on her, however, and Bensin is running out of time.  With his one hope fading quickly away, how can Bensin save Ellie from a life of slavery and abuse?

What is the Collar for, and What is a Cavvarach?

The story is set in a world very much like our own, with just a few major differences.  One is that slavery is legal there.  Slaves must wear metal collars that lock around their neck, making their enslaved status obvious to everyone.  Any slave attempting to escape faces the dilemma of how and where to illegally get their collar removed (a crime punishable by enslavement for the remover).

Another difference is the popularity of a martial art called cavvara shil.  It is fought with a cavvarach, an unsharpened weapon similar to a sword but with a steel hook protruding from partway down its top edge.  Competitors can strike at each other with their feet as well as with the blades.  You win in one of two ways: disarming your opponent (hooking or knocking their cavvarach out of their hands) or pinning their shoulders to the mat for five seconds.

Click here to preorder The Collar and the Cavvarach from Amazon.

Click here to preorder The Collar and the Cavvarach from Smashwords (for Nook or in other digital formats).

Connect with the Author Online:

 Email: AnnieDouglassLima@gmail.com

Blog: http://anniedouglasslima.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnieDouglassLimaAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/princeofalasia

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGoodreads

Amazon Author Page: http://bit.ly/AnnieDouglassLimaOnAmazon

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnieDouglassLima

LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnLinkedIn

Google Plus: http://bit.ly/ADLimaOnGooglePlus

Congratulations to Keely Brooke Keith on the release of her new book Uncharted Inheritance!

From the author of The Land Uncharted and Uncharted Redemption comes the third book in the Uncharted series, Uncharted Inheritance. Written like a historical, set like a scifi, and filled with romance, Uncharted Inheritance concludes this suspenseful story of life in a hidden land.

Description: Bethany Colburn finally turns eighteen and Everett Foster is about to confess his love for her. When a new man arrives in the village of Good Springs, he brings charm Bethany has never encountered and illness the Land has never known. While the medicinal power of the gray leaf tree is put to the test and the Colburn family’s strength is stretched thin, Bethany must learn to protect her true inheritance. Uncharted Inheritance weaves heartbreak and hope while delivering long-awaited answers in this suspenseful story of life in a hidden land.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Smashwords

Barnes and Noble

iBooks

Kobo

Uncharted Inheritance is also available an as audiobook.

Audible

iTunes

Amazon

YouTube sample

Shelf Links:

Goodreads

Shelfari

Fictfact

LibraryThing

ACFW FictionFinder

Authorgraph

Author Bio:

Keely is a bass guitarist and lives on a hilltop south of Nashville. When she isn’t writing stories or playing bass, Keely enjoys dancing, having coffee with friends, and sifting through vintage books at antiques stores.

Author links:

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Instagram

Pinterest

BLOGS GALORE AND A BIG PRIZE

I’m excited to be part of this Clean Indie Reads March Madness blog hop! We have lots of bloggers who have some fun and interesting things to talk about, so be sure to visit them all. And at each blog, sign up for your chance to win a Grand Prize of 41—yes, you read that right—41 books from our Clean Indie Reads authors. The contest runs from March 16 through March 20.

Remember, you can enter the contest at EACH blog, so have fun hopping!

Find all the BLOGS HERE

Find the PRIZE BOOKS HERE

ENTER THE RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST HERE

BOOK SALE!

This week Clean Indie Reads authors are also having a book sale. You’ll find “flinch free fiction” in all genres for adults, teens, and kids. This is a great opportunity to pick up some fabulous reads at bargain prices. Check out the SALE BOOKS HERE

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE YOUR BOOKS?

Speaking of finding great books to read, I’m always interested in how readers choose their books.

When I was very young, my mother, who was a school librarian, supplied me with stacks of books. As I got older, I loved going to the library myself and wander the aisles. I would randomly pull a book from the shelf, one whose title caught my eye. My method wasn’t to read the first paragraph or page. I would open it in the middle, read a few paragraphs. It might seem like an odd way to decide on a book, but I still do that to this day if I’m in a library or bookstore.

As a teen, I loved reading the book review section in our local newspaper, and still today, that’s another way I choose my books.

I also take recommendations from friends, read reviews on authors’ sales pages, and read reviews in blogs. I choose books from the author groups I belong to, including, of course, Clean Indie Reads!

So I’m curious: How do you choose which books to read? Please let me know in the comments.

Happy Hopping and Happy Reading!

I’m very happy to welcome author Tifani Clark who is celebrating her new release Haven Waiting with a blog tour. Check out the other blogs here: http://tifaniclark.blogspot.com/2015/01/haven-waiting-blog-tour.html

Linda Covella: Tifani, how long have you been a writer?

Tifani Clark: I’ve been writing in my head for years, but actually letting the words out has only been happening since 2012.

LC: Do you write in one particular genre, or explore a variety of stories?

TC: This is a hard question. I’ve written in different genres, including a few middle grade books and women’s fiction, but the only ones I’ve actually completed are of the Young Adult genre.

LC: From where do you get your inspiration for your stories?

TC: Most of my inspiration comes from real life events or places I’ve been. Although I’ve never visited any of the places in the Soul Saver series, I feel like I have because I’ve done so much research on the areas. I hope to someday visit the sites in the series for real. My other books take place closer to home, in areas I have been.

LC: What is your writing process? How much/often do you write?

TC: I go in spurts where I’m writing for hours every day and then I take a break. When I start a book, I struggle to get anything else done until the story is finished. When I’m on a roll, I complete a first draft in 4-6 weeks.

LC: Do you have writing partners who critique your work before submission? Why do or why don’t you think this is important?

TC: I don’t belong to an official group, but I always have other writers critique my work. I think this step of the writing process is hugely important. I’m way too close to the story to catch mistakes that others easily notice. Besides, I know the characters more intimately than readers and sometimes I forget that not everyone can read my mind.

Your Road to Publication

LC: How long have you actively been pursuing publication?

TC: From the time I sent the first query, to the time I signed my first contract, it was maybe 15 months.

LC: Do you have an agent? If yes, how did you go about finding him/her and what have the benefits been to having an agent?

If not, do you think an agent would be helpful to your writing career/do you plan to seek an agent?

TC: I do not have an agent. I think it could be helpful to advance my career, but as of right now, I am content. Creative Prose Publishing gave me a chance and they have been great to work with.

LC: Your latest book, Haven Waiting, was released yesterday, January 12, 2015. Congratulations! This is the second book in a series that began with Shadow of a Life. Can you please tell us about your books and the series?

TC: I love history and I love mysteries. My Soul Saver series lets me combine both of those loves. The books are based on real historical events and unsolved mysteries. They take place in our modern world, but part of the stories are told through the eyes of ghosts. The first book, Shadow of a Life, solves a real mystery of a shipwreck from the 1800s. Haven Waiting dives into the craziness of the Salem Witch Trials.

LC: Your books are published traditionally with Creative Prose Publishing. These days, many authors are choosing to self-publish. Why did you go the traditional route?

In your view, what are the pros and cons of each?

TC: When I first started writing, I read everything I could find about traditional publishing vs. self-publishing. I decided with Shadow of a Life I would aim for traditional publishing and self-publish if I didn’t find a good fit. Creative Prose Publishing has been absolutely wonderful to work with. Although I respect those who choose the self-publishing route, I don’t enjoy (or have the talent) to do the behind the scene designing and formatting. I’ll gladly let someone else design my covers. J

LC: Are you a full-time writer, or do you have a “day job.” If you have a day job, do you wish to share what you do? And…if you could have any job (besides being a writer), what profession would you choose?

TC: Hmm…this is a great question. I am a stay-at-home mom to four children. My youngest will go to school next year and I admit I’m looking forward to having more hours in the day to write. If I could have any job besides a writer, I would choose to be an archaeologist. I’ve always wanted to unearth something culturally important.

LC: What’s up next for Author Tifani Clark?

TC: Book 3 in the Soul Saver series is well on its way to completion. Yay! I have three other stand-alone YA books finished as well. Someday, I hope to find a home for them.

LC: Anything you’d like to add or that we should know about you?

TC: Never stop loving life and find something to make yourself happy each day. That happiness for me often comes from losing myself in another world by reading books.

Tifani Clark grew up on a farm in southeastern Idaho (yes, that’s where they grow all the potatoes) as the middle of five children. She had a lot of space to imagine and daydream and often pictured herself as a character in one of the many books she read. She was habitually found pretending to be Scarlet O’Hara. Tifani loves mysteries and hates it when one goes unsolved. She is married to the love of her life and is the mother to four fabulous children. When not writing, she enjoys playing the violin and piano and traveling to new places. She especially enjoys visits to national parks and places of historical significance.

Learn more about Tifani and her writing:

Haven Waiting on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Haven-Waiting-Soul-Saver-Book-ebook/dp/B00QP6HUK6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420477324&sr=8-1&keywords=haven+waiting

Shadow of a Life on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Life-Soul-Saver-Book-ebook/dp/B00MMTWHG2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420477377&sr=8-1&keywords=shadow+of+a+life

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/tifaniclark

Twitter

@TifaniClark

Haven Waiting Blog Tour (and Tifani’s blog)

http://tifaniclark.blogspot.com/2015/01/haven-waiting-blog-tour.html

I’m excited to be a part of this hop along with 59 other debut authors. We all had the thrill of seeing our first books published in 2014.

I had two books published by two different publishers, both in the same month of July.

I’m so excited to have finally made it to “published author,” but my road to publication has been a long one, and I want to tell any aspiring writers out there, or anyone working toward a dream, to Never Give Up. Though this might be a cliché and something you’ve heard many times before, I really mean it. I’ve gone through the tears and depression of rejection, of setbacks, of all sorts of bumps in the road. But I kept at it. I never gave up.

Whatever your dream is, don’t let go of your passion. Keep it fired within and you’ll find your dream will come true!

Many of you who follow my blog are familiar with my books, but for the newcomers, I’d like to tell you a bit about my books. The first is Yakimali’s Gift.

This is a young adult historical romance that takes place in 1775 Mexico, New Spain. 15-year-old Fernanda Marquina, of Spanish and Pima Indian ancestry, can’t seem to fit into the limited female roles of her culture. She grabs any opportunity to ride the horses she loves, dreaming of adventure in faraway lands. But when a tragic accident presents her with the adventure she longed for, it’s at a greater price than she could ever have imagined. With her family, Fernanda joins Juan Bautista de Anza’s historic colonization expedition to California.

On the four-month journey, Fernanda makes friends with Feliciana, the young widow Fernanda entrust with her deepest thoughts; Gloria, who becomes the sister Fernanda always wished for; and Gloria’s seductive brother Miguel, gentle one moment, angry the next and, like Fernanda, a mestizo—half Indian and half Spanish. As Fernanda penetrates Miguel’s layers of hidden feelings, she’s torn between him and Nicolas, the handsome soldier pursuing her.

But propelling Fernanda along the journey is her search for Mama’s Pima Indian past, a past Mama refused to talk about, a past with secrets that Fernanda is determined to learn. The truths she discovers will change the way she sees her ancestry, her family, and herself.

The other book is The Castle Blues Quake, a ghost story with a strong theme of friendship for readers 8-13.

Unknown to 12-year-old Pepper Connelly, her new friend, Corey Ballentine, is a ghost. Pepper is lonely after leaving her best friend behind in New York City when her parents move the family to Santa Cruz, CA. She discovers Corey hiding out in the backyard shed of their “house of horror” (according to Pepper).  Corey is waiting to make contact with his beloved grandfather, Boppie, one last time before he crosses over. He tells Pepper he needs to find Boppie before Social Services puts him in a foster home. Pepper agrees to help.

Others help her on her quest: new classmate Ally Cressman, who dresses in an odd-ball non-mall style; Sawtooth Sam, the mysterious saw-playing street musician; and Madame Mchumba, who performs her psychic readings at the Boardwalk amusement park.

Earthquakes, haunted house rides, poltergeist activity, and crystal ball readings propel her toward the shocking conclusion of her search, and an understanding of what it means to be a true friend.

You can read an excerpts and reviews, see the trailers and other info for both books on my website. Both books are available in ebook format and in paperback.

I’d love to hear what your dream is if you want to leave a comment!

To see the list of other bloggers participating in the hop, and enter to win an ebook copy of Yakimali’s Gift and The Castle Blues Quake, please follow this link!