Catch Fire blog party!

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. CHECK OUT  Alex’s site for details! 

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

Are you gonna help CassaFire catch fire?  Cause this is one amazing event you don't want to miss out on! 

And if you still aren't convinced that you should buy this book (or try to win Alex's HUGE giveaway)  Watch this amazing book trailer and I think your mind will be changed!  

Okay,  now you don't need to stick around here any more!  (Although you are welcome to :D )  Go check out Alex's blog and giveaway!  And go buy the book!

The Key of Kilenya~By Andrea Pearson: Interview, Review and Giveaway

Please welcome Andrea Pearson, author of The Key of Kilenya.  Read the wonderful interview, a review of The Key of Kilenya and then find out how you can win a copy of the book! 

Interview: 

Konstanz: If you had the ability to see the future and saw a disaster coming,

what would you do about it?

Andrea: I'd prepare for it and warn my family and friends. Then I'd go

about my normal life, making sure to keep my husband close in case I

needed rescuing. :-)

Konstanz: Favorite book you've written?

Andrea: Ember Gods, the second book in my Kilenya Series. I also enjoy

August Fortress (third book), but for different reasons. Ember Gods has a

lot of character development—you get to know Jacob's older brother, Matt,

a lot better. He's really funny. I love the dialog and back-and-forth

bantering. August Fortress has a slightly more serious feel. They're

getting down to business, and spending a lot of time in Eklaron, trying to

figure things out. As such, they run into a ton more magical traps and

dangerous creatures. There's still a lot of bantering, but again, it's

more intense than book two.

Konstanz: What is your biggest fear?

Andrea: My husband getting injured, hurt, or anything that would

drastically affect him in a negative way.

Konstanz: Funnest part of being an author? 

Andrea: Hearing from readers! I love hearing what they like and think

about what they've read. It's a lot of fun!

Konstanz: If you could bring one fictional character to life, who would it be?

 (From which book?)

Andrea: Probably the Fat Lady or Gallus. I like both of them. They're in the

entire Kilenya Series. The Fat Lady is over six feet tall and weighs

several hundred pounds. She squeals in excitement, and scares some of my

readers. :-) Gallus is a tall, imposing black man, who intimidates Jacob

(my main character), but is honest and straight forward. They're both good

people.

Konstanz: What's your favorite food?

Andrea: Italian! I like meat and cheese and caesar salads. My favorite restaurant

is Olive Garden, probably. (Yeah, not so much of a high-roller, this one.

:-))

Konstanz: Do you listen to music while you write?  (Why?/ Why not?)

Andrea: Most definitely! :-) I like the background noise. And it has to be

something I've heard before, otherwise I listen rather than write.

Konstanz:  Are any of your characters based on real people?  

Andrea: Several of them are compilations of people I've met or seen in movies. A

couple are from my imagination completely, but I've found it's harder to

do that than it is to base them off of real people.

Konstanz: What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Andrea: Hire an editor and cover artist, if you want to be an Indie author.

Learn as much as possible about the publishing world – Indie publishing

(going at it on your own, like I am), or traditional. If you don't

understand traditional publishing thoroughly, don't go the Indie route. (A

lot of writers self-publish because they're afraid of rejection or because

they don't want to put the work into finding representation. I don't

recommend doing this.) Make sure you know where you want to be. Set goals

and achieve them. :-)

And now. . . .

The Review:

Synopsis:

A magical key has been stolen, and Jacob must retrieve it as soon as possible to protect his family and our world from danger. 

Fourteen-year-old Jacob Clark's life is about to change when two vicious wolves chase him through a gateway from our world to another. They've been sent by the Lorkon--immortal and evil beings from the world Edana, who know Jacob and that he possesses powers which they desire to control. 

He escapes the wolves and spends the night in the safety of a tree. The next morning, not knowing he is in a different world, he is surprised to be greeted by strange, human-like creatures. 

They beg his assistance in recovering a magical key--which was stolen by the Lorkon and is mysteriously linked to him. He has two choices: help these people, or not. If he helps them he will be in great danger. If he doesn't, his family and our world will be, as the Lorkon will stop at nothing to unlock the key's and Jacob's powers. 

He makes his choice and begins a quest of self-discovery and danger.

Sounds amazing, does it not? 

Review:

I read the first paragraph and was hooked.  Curious and wanting more.  Wanting to know what was going to happen.  From the first paragraph to the end I was kept captivated.  It was amazing how fast I kept turning the page.  

Andrea spins a tale so wonderful once you start it you won't want to put it down!  And when you finally get to the end of The Key of Kilenya, you will be clambering to get your hands on book two. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, the pacing was wonderful and the character development was beautifully done.  There were a few scenes that got dull.  As well as Cliche. But still a wonderful book worth reading! 

Overall I give 'The Key of Kilenya'

Four Stars  

The giveaway: 

And now. . . I am giving a copy of the book away!  That's right!  You can win a copy of 

The Key of Kilenya! . . . Actually we are giving away FIVE E-COPIES of The Key of Kilenya! 

How to win:
Comment on this post and leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you win!

Bonus entry(s): Share this post with all your friends!
Be a follower of my blog
Follow Andrea's blog here

This giveaway ends on March 1st at Midnight.  Open internationally.

This giveaway is now closed.  Winners to be announced soon! 

IT'S GIVEAWAY CENTRAL!

Okay friends! I have got some awesome giveaways coming up!  

On Monday I will be doing an interview with Andrea Pearson along with a book review and a giveaway.

On Tuesday I will be announcing a new book release (and giveaway from the author, Alex J. Cavanaugh) 

And while all that is going on,  The Pay it Forward giveaway is still going.  (You can check that out HERE)

And with all of these giveaways going on,  I am adding another one starting today! 

The A to Z blog needs to see some more action.  SOOOOOO  if the A to Z blog gets 1,000 followers by March first I will giveaway a HUGE prize pack!  Full of Swag, some Books, a Journal, and More! 

How do you enter?  Go follow the A to Z blog HERE and then come back here and comment on this post letting me know that you did so.  Simple as that! 

And while you're there,  be sure to look at all the amazing banners and badges to decorate your blog with, and if you haven't already,  sign up for the Challenge! 

Bonus points if you 'Like' the A to Z Facebook page as well.  

While I encourage everyone to follow and participate,  unfortunately I can only ship prizes within the US.  Sorry. 

This giveaway ends on March First at midnight and the winners will be announced soon after.  Please leave your e-mail in the comments so I can contact you if you win.

If you are already signed up, you are still welcome to enter to win.


This giveaway is now closed.  More to be announced soon! 

My Dragon Collection

I have some pictures of my collection up.  Not all of them but a good size piece. (Okay really I have tons more but you know what I mean)

You can check it out HERE!

Really?? Really?? It has a dragon on it! Participate!

Okay, seriously how can you NOT want to participate in the A to Z April Blog challenge when you can have  badge on your blog like that??  

It's awesome!!  Beautiful! It has a DRAGON ON IT!   (Can you tell that I like this badge?)   

Do you like this badge?  Not sure?  Maybe not your thing?  Don't worry,  there are tons of others to choose from.  

 

Here's another one  I really like.  (It doesn't have a Dragon on it but it's still pretty cool) 

Still not sure?  

How about this one? 

 

Okay, really if you aren't sure by now that you want to join this challenge I have another one for you. . . .

Now seriously. . . who doesn't love Daffy Duck and  Bugs Bunny???  

(Okay so maybe you don't. . .)

BUT! I have one more that I know will work! 

 Who doesn't just LOVE Mickey Mouse?  

Now if you still haven't seen one that you like. . . never fear!!  You can check out the A to Z blog HERE and check out some more.  If you want to go directly to the Banners and Badges page you can CLICK HERE! 

And just so you know, you shouldn't join this challenge just because there are pretty badges and banners for your blog.  BUT you should join this challenge because it is a pretty amazing challenge that will bring TONS of fellow bloggers to your blog and it is a wonderful challenge that helps you get in the habit of posting everyday, or at least on a regular schedule.  

Drawing out the Dragons

James A. Owen was the guest of honor at LTUE this year.  I was amazed with him after hearing him for thirty seconds.  He began with talking about the fact that he wasn't going to tell us all about his novels and how amazing they are (which they ARE!) but that he wanted to talk about Choice.

The entire address was inspiring and brought me to tears.  But he said two things that really touched me.  Inspired me.   Made me really think about. .. -you guessed it- Choice.  And the ones I make.

"If you want it, no one can stop you.

But if you don't want it, no one can help you."

&

"Never give up what you want the most, 

for what you want the most at that moment." 

How often do we give up, hoping that someone will come along and pick us up again?  I know it happens all the time.  I've done it, I know people who do it.   James A. Owen's story is one worth living.  One worth talking about.  One worth reading about.  

Good news:  He is giving away free e-copies of his book 'Drawing out the Dragons'  which tells his wonderful story!  

Want to know more about getting this story?  (Trust me, you want this story).

Read his Note on Facebook,

Go directly to the Giveaway,

And/Or

Listen to his Keynote address 

James, 

I hope you read this.  Because I want you to know how much I appreciate everything you said at LTUE this year during your keynote address.  After hearing your story and everything you said about 'Choice',  I made a choice to make my life what I want it to be. 

Not a full two weeks after hearing you speak,  I am well on my way to publication,  I have been asked to start a business in helping other authors,  I am working with a filming company for live action book trailers, my blog has gotten more attention, and I have multiple jobs.   All because of the choices I have made,  since I heard you speak.  

Thank you.  Thank you for the inspiration, encouragement and sharing your story so others can also be inspired. 

Sincerely, Konstanz. 

If you would like to read more about James and his books (and the above links just aren't enough) here is his WEBSITE and FACEBOOK PAGE. 

LTUE 2012 Recap!

LTUE was amazing!!  I am so grateful that I was able to go.
I met tons of authors, made tons of new friends and I learned TONS of new things!

The first panel I went on to Thursday morning was 'Historical Weapons' and it was sooo much fun!  Adam Myers brought some of his weapon collection and let us take pictures/ hold the weapons if we wanted.
We learned the history of many weapons and the different qualities along with why different ones were better for different things.



Along with Adam,  True Edge Academy was there and seriously, if you are in Salt Lake City and you want to learn how to use medieval weapons, this is the place to go.

I went to a couple different editing panels.  The first one I went to talked about how important Editors even with spell check and things like that online.

"An editor is as important to an author, as a heart surgeon is to the patient who needs heart surgery."
Get an editor.  Don't publish your book (no matter how you do it) without editing it,  having beta readers read it and getting an editor!

Tristi Pinkston did an editing panel that was sooo worth going to!  If you are looking for an editor, I would totally recommend Tristi!

One of my favorite panels was 'Fractured Fairy tales.' and 'Re-writing classics' which I will be doing a separate post on later in the week so for now I won't mention those.

Another Favorite was the Keynote Address by James A. Owen.  (And I will also be doing an entire post on it so I won't talk about it here)

Now, let me just tell you; If you go to a writing conference and Dan Wells and Robison Wells are doing a panel on Story Structure, GO TO IT!

Not only are they both wonderful authors, they are hilarious, talented, fun to talk to and they will give you some amazing information on writing your story.

Elizabeth Mueller was on a panel about injecting romance in to ghost stories which was very interesting and while I don't write ghost stories, it was a fun panel to go to.

And there is my recap.  I will be posting specific posts about Fractured Fairytales and the Keynote Address within the next couple days.

And before I go,  I would love to thank a couple people.

First, a HUGE thank you to Elizabeth Mueller for making it possible for me to go to LTUE this year.
A huge thank you to Donna Weaver for allowing me to stay with her so I didn't have to get a hotel and a huge thank you to Robin Weeks for giving me some wonderful advice and being a wonderful friend.

And a huge thank you to all three of these wonderful women for believing in me, encouraging me and over all making this years LTUE one of the best conferences I have ever been to!

Beautiful Fairy tale Stained glass

Before LTUE on Wednesday 2-8-12

The Orem (UT) Library has a gorgeous stained glass window that shows a bunch of different fairy tales.  Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood. . and many many more.  I HAD to take pictures while I was there but sadly all I had was my phone.  Here are the best pictures I could get.  

(There were eight panels all together creating the over all picture. I took an individual picture of each panal)

At first sight I thought it was simply the stained glass stickers that are put on a lot of windows nowadays to look like stained glass.  Nope! These are real.  All of these little pieces were carefully cut, measured, cut and placed together and then soldered to each other to make a beautiful picture! 

What do you think? 

Follower Love Giveaway Winner!

Follower
LOVE

Blog Hop Giveaway

WINNER! 

Congratulations to Sarah Kalaitzidis! An e-mail will be sent shortly. If there is no response within 48 hours, another winner will be announced shortly after.  

Follower Love Giveaway Hop!

This contest is now closed.  The winner will be announced tomorrow (2-15-12).
Thank you to all who participated! 

A huge thank you to I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Rachel Renee Anderson for hosting this wonderful blog hop! 

This is a blog hop so once you are through here, hop along to the next blog.   You can enter to win Hundreds of Prizes!! 

And now. . . The Prize: 

This Beautiful Owl Watch Pendant!  

Enter to Win:

Mandatory Entry: (+1) Be a follower of this Blog 

And leave a comment on this post letting me know what you did to enter. (Don't forget to leave your e-mail with your comment so I can contact you if you win)

Extra Entires: 

Follow me on Facebook; 

(+1) Nothought2small, 

(+1) Konstanz Silverbow, 

(+1) A to Z Challenge

(+1) Read about/Consider/Enter the A to Z Challenge HERE 

(If you decide to join in the fun and enter this challenge, please be sure to follow the official A to Z blog HERE) 

(+1) Enter the 'Oh for the Love of Books' Contest/Giveaway HERE 

Simple as that!  You are welcome to do as many as the bonus entries as you like.  Thanks for stopping by and now Hop along to the next blog! 

It's Monday! Oh dear. . .

Today is simply announcement day! 

Starting tonight at midnight is the Follower Love Blog Hop! 

Ongoing is the 'Oh for the Love of Books' Valentines Contest/Giveaway (Which you can check out HERE) 

And both of these giveaways end on Valentines Day! (2-14-12)

Once the Blog Hop starts tonight, I will not be posting again this week.  I will be at the LTUE conference on Thursday and Friday and after I announce the winners of the two giveaways on the 15th,  I will be doing a recap of the conference!  

And don't forget to enter the A to Z Video Challenge!  It's simple, easy and fun! 

And make sure to visit the A to Z blog regularly as of we are constantly updating everything and making new announcements! 

And go Like the Facebook pages!  

Nothought2small

Konstanz Silverbow

A to Z

 And now. . . I say goodbye!  Have a wonderful week everyone! 

My love for Dragons

This is a Dragon Table in my room.  Yes, a dragon TABLE!

It isn't advertised or very obvious ( :D that I know of. . . )  that I am a HUGE Dragon fan!  I love, love, love, love Dragons!  I research dragons, I write dragons, I collect dragons!  

I have a huge (and always growing) dragon collection and I have decided to share it with everyone!  (No you cannot borrow them). 

I am dedicating an entire page on my blog to my Dragons!  Yep, I will be posting pictures of every dragon I have along with their names and a little information about them.  

Each dragon I have is going into one of my books eventually so yes, they have names.  

I will not be able to post them all at once so this will happen over the next couple weeks.  Maybe longer seems how this upcoming week, I am going to the LTUE conference and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!  I actually wasn't going to get to go this year because I couldn't find a way to get down to Provo and I would have no where to stay but the wonderful Elizabeth Mueller made arrangements for me to make sure I got to go so a HUGE thank you, Elizabeth! 

And I will for sure be posting about LTUE next week so stay tuned! 

Oh for the Love of Books Giveaway Contest!

Valentines Day is coming soon.  And seems how I will be in the middle of a Blog Hop on Valentines day  I want to do a SUPER FUN Valentines/Book Contest!! 

Yep!  From now until February 14th at Midnight,  you can send me your Valentines/ Book picture! 

Yeah, let me explain.

See the picture above?  I consider that the Book loving Valentines Day Picture.  It's a book, that says Love!  

Got anything like that?  You can take the picture, edit, Photoshop, use an existing picture. . . anything goes!  (As long as you don't flat out steal it) 

Yep,  all you need is a picture representing Your love for books.  

I will have three anonymous Judges choose the winner on February 15th! 

How to enter:  

E-mail me your entry! 

(Please put 'Oh for the Love of Books' in the subject line) 

nothought2small(at)gmail(dot)com

What to include in the entry:

 Love for Books Picture

Name 

(I don't care if it's your real name.  I just need a name to put on your entry because I will be posting the pictures on the blog post when the winner is announced.) 

Blog Address (Or Web Address) 

E-mail (This is simply so I can contact you if you win. None of your information will be shared) 

Simple as that!  After you enter,  share this post so we can get everyone involved! And now. . .go get your photo done! 

Oh. . .one more thing . . . You want to know what you can win?  

The prize:

'Oh for the love of books' Hand decorated Journal.

'Love' dangly Earrings. (One set) 

(Pictures coming soon) 

nothought2small(at)gmail(dot)com