My Birthday Presents for You

It's my birthday! And Alexis & Tristan's anniversary! To celebrate, I have presents for you!

Lots of exclamation points there, I know, but I'm so excited because I finally, FINALLY get to share the cover and title for book 4 in the Soul Savers Series. Woohoo!!! PLUS, a bonus excerpt.

But before we do that, my first present to you, if you haven't already read it, is Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella is FREE today. Sorry, but the offer is only for Kindle, but Genesis will be available on all other platforms very soon. It's for today (July 30) only, so before you click to buy, make sure the price says $0.00 (not the Prime Members Price). Otherwise, it's a whopping 99c!

Okay, now on to what you've been waiting for. Book 4!!!

And an excerpt:

I never heard the rest of Tristan's sentence—what he didn’t want me to think. The handsome guy thought I’d nodded to him and had me by the hand, stumbling over his own feet as he dragged me to the dance area. As soon as we stepped onto the sunken floor, his hands were on my hips, pulling me close to him. For a brief moment, I forgot about all the mind signatures, the twirling lights and pounding music and could only think about how strange it was to be that close to a man other than Tristan.

But only for a brief moment. Before I could even do anything, a growl ripped through the music—or maybe just through my head—and Tristan was suddenly between the guy and me, his back to me and his arms out protectively. The drunk guy swung without even looking, and Tristan caught his wrist in mid-air. With the pain of the grip, the guy finally looked up into Tristan’s face. His eyes grew wide and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped. He gave me an apologetic frown as he carefully stepped away from the dance floor.

Tristan turned back to me and wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling me to him as he swayed to the music. I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

“You can talk to girls all night but I can’t dance once?”

His nostrils flared. “There’s a difference. His hands were all over you.”


“I had things under control.”

He leaned closer to me and growled in my ear. “I didn’t like it!”

Teaser Tuesday

OMG, I can't believe how long it's been since I've made even a simple post. So sorry for the disappearing act, lovelies! And thank you for being so loyal even when I go MIA.

To be honest, the fight between this book and me rivals that of a fight between Alexis and Vanessa. I'm Alexis, by the way, trying to shoot all kinds of exciting sparks and goodness into it, and Book 4 is Vanessa, biting back and about to drain me dry. Purpose was emotionally difficult to write, but this one has been my hardest in every other aspect.

I know many of you (ok, some, alright, a few of you?) are excited for August 24th, but at this point, it's this big, scary monster looming over me, threatening to end the world if I don't give it what it wants - Book 4. Of course, the world won't end if I don't - in fact, it pretty much won't even notice - which I have to keep reminding myself because sometimes this book is my world.

So as that date draws closer, I'll probably grow even quieter, at least until I feel the battle has been won and it's good to go. Then again, there are lots of things to be excited about and share with you, so I may not shut up.

In other words, you've been warned that erratic behavior may ensue. I'm an author. I never claimed to be sane.

So...anyway...how would you like a cover and title reveal? Will that make you happy? Well, whether it does or not, you're not getting it here anyway. Bwahahaha! How's that for a tease this Tuesday? You'll have to wait until next week.

UNLESS...

If you're a subscriber to my newsletter, you'll get it in your email inbox later tonight or tomorrow morning. (If you're not, you just have to type your email address into that box at the top-left, right under the scrolling books.)

I know I've been promising this for a while, but it's not just the story that's been kicking my butt. The cover design and even the title have, too. Nothing to do with Brenda Pandos's awesome design skills - the problem has been my vision, or lack thereof, for the cover. But we finally pulled together a fab cover that is all the more beautiful thanks to Brenda.

Here, I'll give you a little peek for Teaser Tuesday:

 Whoop! That's all you get for now, though. Hehehehe Stay tuned!

Writer Wednesday - Tahlia Newland

Why I Wrote About Bullying

On the blog today I have a guest post by Tahlia Newland author of You Can’t Shatter Me, a new young adult novella with an inspiring and empowering message for solving bullying. Tahlia writes magical realism and contemporary fantasy for young adults & adults, and in her post today, she explains why she wrote on a bullying theme. This is an important topic that goes with my Share the <3 campaign - because guess what bullies grow up to do? More bullying, often of their spouses and/or children. So please welcome Tahlia to the blog!

I didn’t start out to write about bullying specifically, but I did want to write something that used analogies to show ways to deal with emotions and issues in a teenager’s life. As well as having a teenage daughter, I’m a casual (substitute) teacher in a local high school and I see the kinds of emotional stuff that kids have to deal with on a day to day basis. Often they have no skills to help them negotiate their minefield of emotions, and they suffer a lot more than they need to. All they need are a few tricks to help them see things in perspective and their issues become a lot easier to handle. I’ve used the analogies in the book (eg seeing your life as a movie) very successfully with teens, so I wanted to share them with a wider number of people.

Initially, I planned to write a series of short stories about the same people, but as soon as I took my main character into a school setting, a bully appeared and shoved a fat boy against the wall. Carly, the female lead, decided she had to do something to stop it, but when she stepped in, the bully turned on her. He kept coming back in the following stories and so bullying became the thread that eventually turned the stories into a novella.

I guess the theme came out because I’m very aware that it’s one of the main issues that face kids today. It affects everyone, either as the one doing the bullying, the one being bullied or as a bystander. I can’t stand seeing people being cruel to others, so if there is anything I can do to stop it, I will. I hope this book will encourage bystanders to do their best to stop bullying whenever they see it and also to give both victims and bullies a way to handle the situation in a positive way.

The book follows Carly and her boyfriend’s struggle to deal with a bully, and her triumph shows not only kids but also adults a way that they too can triumph in a similar situation. Although it’s fiction with a magical touch, it offers real solutions to a real problem. It’s the emotional intelligence approach to life—Emotional Intelligence was a term first used by Daniel Goldman in his book of the same name—and I wanted to write a story that showed people actually using this approach because it makes for happier, healthier and emotionally intelligent people.

These ideas are not only for teens; they’re for everyone, because even adults have to deal with bullies, maybe a boss, a spouse, a coach and so on. I wrote about it because it’s something that impacts negatively on a lot of lives and people are looking for solutions.

Book Links

Goodreads page

Book trailer: http://youtu.be/ysXMYoJUsO0

Purchase Links

Ebook

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Shatter-Me-ebook/dp/B008DME8PA
Epub files for Nook, Kobo, Sony etc: http://catapult-press/shop
Files for all devices: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/174488

Paperback

The paperback will be available via all major book retailers worldwide. If you would like to be notified when it’s released please fill in the form here.

Author Bio & Links

Tahlia is an avid reader, an extremely casual high school teacher, an occasional mask-maker and has studied philosophy & meditation for many years. After scripting and performing in Visual Theatre shows for 20 years, she is now a bone-fide expatriate of the performing arts. She lives in an Australian rainforest, is married with a teenage daughter and loves cats, but she doesn’t have one because they eat native birds.

Weblog

Happy Honkers Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads Author page

Amazon Author page

Smashwords author page

Celebrating INDIEpendence Day With FREEbies

For everyone in the U.S., Happy Independence Day!

You don't have to be in the U.S., though, to celebrate INDIEpendence Day with me. I have some FREEBIES for you! (Note: Some of these may go back to normal price by the time you discover this post. Please double-check that the price is actually $0 on the retailer site.)

Genesis: A Soul Savers Novella is FREE on Kindle today and tomorrow!

Promise is FREE all week at Smashwords and now at iTunes! Watch for it on other ereader retail sites. (And if you feel so inclined, report the lower price to Amazon.)

Born of Fire by the fabulous Heather McCorkle, founder of the Indie Elite, is FREE on Kindle!

Dies Irae by fellow Indie Elite member Christine Fonseca is FREE on Kindle!

Mind Games by fellow Indie Elite member Susan Kaye Quinn is FREE on Kindle!

Don't forget that all sales (not freebies - sorry) of my Soul Savers Series through July 30th support The National Domestic Violence Hotline. Share the <3 by gifting to friends and family you think would enjoy the series. Donate to the Hotline. Send me receipts and I'll send you goodies. Full details here: http://www.kristiecook.com/2012/06/share-love.html

Finally, if I could ask a big favor. My books are up for some awards and I'd appreciate your votes!

Readers Pick Summer 2012 - Devotion

Cover Crush - Paranormal Category - Promise (Click Like to vote)

Cover Crush - Fantasy Category - Devotion (Click Like to vote)

Teaser Tuesday

A tease from Book 4 - releasing August 24th! Woohoo!

“Mom!” he said, and my laughter stopped immediately at the serious tone of his voice. “What’s wrong with Sasha?”

The dog stood at the window now, her nose pressed against it. Her all-white back and sides began to show shades of her lykora stripes. Dorian hurried over to her to see what she saw, but the hair on the back of my neck already began to rise.

“What’s out there?” I managed to ask over the lump in my throat.

“Two babes getting out of a taxi,” Dorian said. “They have funny hair, though. One’s blue and the other’s purple.”

I blurred to the window. Crap. Crap, crap, crap.

“Dorian, you need to go to your room now. I’m sure you have more studies to do,” I said, kneeling down to rub Sasha’s back. Ridges where her wings would come out rubbed against my fingers, and her smell of baby powder filled my nostrils, stronger than usual with her heightened awareness. “It’s okay, girl,” I whispered.

“But I want to meet the pretty girls,” Dorian whined.

“Maybe later,” I said absently, watching the faeries as they paid the cabdriver. “Now go.”

I picked up Sasha and whispered in her ear. “Protect.”