Saturday, August 31, 2013

Bad Boy Anon Blog Hop Sign-Up (October 16-19)

Have a BAD BOY book addiction?
Wanna share your favorite book bad boy with the world?

GOOD NEWS!

Now there is a venue for just that! Join the Bad Boy Anon Blog Hop as your first step toward recovery.

Hello. My name is...
And I am a bad boy addict.



RULES:

  • The Bad Boys Anon Blog Hop image must be a part of your giveaway post.
  • You must give away a book(s) (ebook or paperback) with a hero who is a bad boy.
  • Include the linky list with all the participating blogs at the end of your post OR link to the host's site.
  • Keep your giveaway easy to find for the entire time the hop is open.
  • Be clear about what you are giving away and how the guest can enter.
  • If your blog has steamy/racy pictures on it or if your giveaway is steamy/racy, make sure to post a warning in case there are underage hoppers checking things out.
  • Please try to keep your giveaway rules as simple as possible.
  • No more than 6 entries allowed, only 1 mandatory entry.
  • If you are using Rafflecopter, set it to begin accepting entries on October 15th and to stop accepting entries on October 19th.
  • All posts need to be up by 12:01 AM on October 16th. Up to 24 hours early is fine. But don't be late. Once your post is live AND accepting entries please email shoelace.sanders (at) gmail (dot) com your direct link so we can update the linky.
  • To sign up to host a giveaway for this hop please add your blog to the linky with your shipping info (either US only or INT) in parenthesis following your blog name. If you forget we will assume you are shipping to the US only.
  • Each blog is responsible for obtaining a prize for giveaway and paying for the shipping.
  • Check the linky the day of the hop to be sure you are still on it and that your link still works.
Go to the linky to sign up! :)



Friday, August 23, 2013

Sweet Saturday: Red Dust

Dust storm approaching Stratford, Texas. (Photo in public domain
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dust-storm-Texas-1935.png#file)

“What is it, Pa?” Naomi caught the panic in Lem’s demeanor the second he set foot in the front yard at a dead run. Her heart leaped to her throat and her gaze drew to the horizon behind him — a dark red swirling cloud darkening the sky in the middle of the day.

“Dust storm!” His boots clattered across the porch. “You get the boys, I’ll get the windows! We’re gonna need wet rags. That’s Red Dust comin’!

Naomi didn’t wait to be told twice. She dropped the laundry into the basket, gathered her skirts and ran around the house hollering at the top of her lungs, “Mel! Kilion! House!”

Her two boys looked up from where they were fixing the back fence. Seeing her frantic movements, they glanced at the sky and understood immediately. Mel ran for the barn to bar the door, while the younger of the two sprinted toward the pump behind the house.

“Where are the rags, Ma?” he called.

“In the barrel!” she yelled back. The wind was picking up now, and the howling filled her ears. They had only moments before the dust would be upon them. The third time this month.

Back inside the house, Kilion distributed the wet rags, and they huddled together around the kitchen table listening to the wind whip around the house. Lem had gathered the lanterns and lit them, but the dust outside covered the sun, leaving no light but what they could get from the oil lamps.

“They’re getting worse,” Kilion muttered through the wet rag over his mouth and nose.

Lem leaned forward on his elbows with his hands folded in front of him. He had secured a wet bandana over his face, and Naomi could see his knuckles grow white with tension. From her place beside him, she reached for his hands, covering them with her own gently.

When his gaze finally met hers, she could see the raw emotion he was desperately trying to conceal. Lem was a man of few words, but when he did speak, it was for a purpose. Naomi waited as the flying dust whistled outside the thin walls.

Lem swallowed hard. “The top soil’s gone. Won’t get no crops this year.” His eyes searched hers for understanding.

Naomi nodded. Her stomach seemed to twist in empathy for her husband’s grief. She knew he felt it was a failure on his part, and her heart went out to him. There wasn’t anything he could do about the dust storms, but there was no telling him that. He was a proud man and saw it as his most important responsibility to provide for his family.

This here’s a famine, Ma. And we don’t stand no chance, lessen’ we pack up and move.”

Mel and Kilion stared at their father, their bright blue eyes reflecting the flickering lantern light. Naomi knew he had been considering it, but he rarely thought out loud. Lem was a figuring man. And there was no chance he had made the decision lightly.

“Where d’you figger on goin’, Pa?” she asked. Naomi knew her husband would have his plan all worked out before he ever announced his intentions to the family.

“What about the farm, Pa?” Mel asked. Kilion’s eyes seemed to echo his concern. They had worked their whole lives on this piece of land — scratched out a meager existence through rain and drought, harsh winter cold and brutal summer heat. They were inextricably bound to the land. It was part of them. It was part of all of them.

Inevitable loss took root in Naomi’s heart then, slowly encompassing her until she couldn’t contain the sorrow any more, and it began to spill over through her tears.

“Heared tell thar’s work out west. California, maybe. We’ll head that way, see what we can find.” Lem turned to his sons. “Done talked to yer Uncle Jude. He’ll keep an eye on the place fer a bit ‘ til this drought passes. Then we’ll be back.”


He squeezed his wife’s hand, no doubt an effort to infuse reassurance. She smiled back at him, taking his cues to comfort their sons. “Yes, a’course we’ll be back. This drought’ll be over ‘fore ya know it, and we’ll come right back.” Some hope. Naomi would cling to that.

~ Following Naomi (in progress)

Monday, August 19, 2013

Meet & Greet: Garrett Kelly


Garrett Kelly

All business and music, Garrett Kelly runs a successful Miami night club for his uncle who lives in Chicago. He's quiet and serious with little patience for the college boy antics that is the standard for Jack and the other guys who play his club.

But it's Marley Ryan's carefree and sweet personality that intrigues him. How can she be so happy and trusting? Perhaps it is because she hasn't seen the dark side of the world he has lived in his entire life. And now the most important thing to him is protecting her from that world and preserving her wide-eyed innocence... no matter the cost to him.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Spotlight: Rachel Van Dyken

Today's spotlight is on Rachel Van Dyken, the author of the Seaside series, the London Fairy Tales series, the Wallflower trilogy (co-authored with me), the Renwick House books, and several other widely-read titles.

I don't know if you know this or not, but Rachel has a recent release (August 12, 2013) entitled Ruin, which she wrote for her uncle who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. All proceeds for the first two weeks of sales from Ruin will be going to help out with his medical bills. That alone is an excellent reason to check this book out.

BUT...

If you needed another reason to induce you, I have read Ruin and can tell you it is one of her best books to date, so it is well worth both your time and the minimal amount it will take to make this book yours!

We want to help out Rachel's uncle as much as possible, so to that end I am going to post the buy links for Ruin here, and then ask you to Tweet, FB, and spread the word as much as possible. To thank you for all that helpfulness, I have two signed uncorrected proof paperbacks of Ruin to give away.

In order to be eligible for the drawing for one of these two books, just leave me a comment below letting me know you shared the links (and an email where I can reach you if your name is drawn).

Here are the details about Ruin:



FROM THE COVER:

I'm not your typical girl. I've been running away from the memories that haunt me for so long that the shroud of depression has become my only comfort. Ignorant, I was content in the darkness… until Wes Michels offered to be my light.

I didn't know that time wasn't my ally, that every second that ticked pass was one closer to the end of something that was starting to mean the end of myself.  He tried to warn me and promised me what he was able to offer, each moment as it came, but it would never be enough.

Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.  And when you think it's the end, the final curtain, sometimes that’s only the beginning.  Wes thought he could save me, but in giving me everything, he ruined me. Because after one kiss, one touch, I couldn't… I wouldn't ever be the same. And from that moment on, his heartbeat became my own.

BUY LINKS:

Amazon              Barnes & Noble                Smashwords

Also available in the iTunes store!


REMEMBER: If you are interested in entering the drawing for one of two signed paperback copies of Ruin (uncorrected proofs), just leave a comment below to let me know you shared the buy links. I'll draw for the two recipients on Monday, August 27th.