For many in the States, school is back in session. In that same spirit, let's get out our pom-poms and cheer for ourselves and other writers!
Here on Writers in the Storm, we like to provide regular opportunities for readers to share great resources and celebrate our own successes. So get ready to pimp or promote.
In the comments section, we ask that you:
Pimp: My critique partner and co-writer, Kris Faryn, recently released Song of Destiny, the first in a YA contemporary fantasy series. Also mythology-based, this is a fantastic novel with great characters, compelling suspense, and beautiful writing. Check it out!
Promote: So in addition to writing fiction, I also write non-fiction, under my married name and about sex in marriage from a Christian perspective. Those who know me personally know this about me, but publicly I've been very Egon Spengler about it: "Don't cross the streams!" (Partly because I wouldn't want some teen who reads my YA to go over and read what I write about married sex.) That said, I have an ongoing blog, four books out, and a co-hosted podcast. You can find me here on Amazon or here on my website.
Pimp: If you like Western Romance, you're going to love Kari Lynn Dell. She writes about rodeo, and she should know—she's a breakaway roper, not to mention a rancher way up north in Montana, not far from Glacier Park and the Canadian border. She's funny, she puts you there, and her characters come alive in your heart.
Promote: If you're anywhere near Texas (and even if you're not), we're putting on a bang-up regional conference in West Texas, October 12-13! Janice Hardy, Kristin Lamb, Angela Ackerman, Darynda Jones, and our own Julie Glover are just a few of the presenters, and we have three NY agents coming to take pitches! I don't think you'll find a better priced conference, either. $99 for the weekend, includes breakfast and lunch! Check it out:
https://permianbasinwritersworkshop.org/
Pimp: If you haven't discovered OneStop for Writers after all our raving about the Character Builder here at WITS, what's taking you so long?
Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi wrote the amazing Emotion Thesaurus (now in it's expanded 2nd Edition) and then they went one better. They teamed with a great developer to turn all the information in the book into a flexible, searchable database that allows you to take and keep notes about your own book. THAT'S part of what OneStop is all about. Check it out here.
I was blessed to be with Cruising Writers when they hosted Angela as a speaker and she has a wealth of information. To hear her and Lisa Cron discuss the emotional wound of characters was heaven. Just heaven.
Promote: I am lucky enough to belong to a large active local writing chapter and our birthday party every October is like a mini-conference. This year we have the fantastic Damon Suede giving a keynote called DREAM BIGGER.
But it doesn't stop there. We're having a cover contest where you can get an 11x17 standup glossy of your cover for $20 (great for book signings!), Damon is doing a Friday night movie analysis on Romancing the Stone and also a character intensive workshop where he explains how he plots by verb. There are Saturday night PJ parties with a UCI extension writing teacher, Damon with more on character and two other others co-hosting a fun sexy stories party.
If you are anywhere close to Southern California, this is a rare immersive opportunity. Members - $50 / Guests - $60. Details here.
Pimp: I have learned so much about writing from my editor, Tiffany Yates Martin. Think home-decorated birthday cake versus a bakery confection that tastes as amazing as it looks. That's what Tiffany's magic does with my books. She makes suggestions that help me revise my books to their full potential. She sees what I'm trying to get through to my readers and clarifies the process to make that happen. Working with Tiffany has taken my books to that cliched "next level." If you are looking for an editor, you won't find better.
Promote: I'm happy to announce that P.R.I.S.M. Rebellion, Book Two in my series about a prison world populated by exiles from Earth, will be available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iBooks on Halloween 2019.
Now it's your turn. Pimp or promote in the comments, and we'll chime in and cheer you on!
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Thanks for the opportunity for a little self-promotion!
I'd like to pimp out my lovely cousin, er, that sounds awful, but rather her award-winning Whiskey Sisters romance series set in Mayhem, Minnesota! Sweet, quirky, funny, and heartwarming. https://www.laurenrico.com/books/
And I'd like to promote my forthcoming cozy mystery HEMS AND HOMICIDE, first in the Apron Shop series, to be published by St. Martin's Press! https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250257949
Congratulations to you and your lovely cousin! It sounds like you come from a wonderfully creative family. 🙂
Wow, congrats! Such great news.
Thank you both!
Pimp: Suzanne Tierney's debut novel, The Art of the Scandal, released last week. It's a fascinating story based on the (fictionalized) efforts in Victorian England to seat the first Jewish Member of Parliament. Interwoven into the story are some equally fascinating insights into how art forgeries are detected. And on top of all that absorbing background is a lovely romance between Simon Cohen, cousin of said MP and a rich man determined never to wed, and Lady Lydia, the quintessential English rose and daughter of a wastrel marquis who desperately needs money and only knows one way to get it. You can find this amazing story at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VLN9BQG/.
Promote: I just re-released The Demon's in the Details, the second book in my Touched by a Demon series with a new, more ophidiophobic-friendly cover. Same great story, 100% fewer snakes on the cover! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MMQXNP8/
Jeanne, you are the second person to recommend Tierney's book to me, so I guess I need to check it out of the library! Thanks for pimping and promoting your stuff!!
Pimp: A fellow Western North Carolina author, Megan Lucas, just had her first novel published by (NC press) Mainstreet Rag! It's a Southern story about place, family, and finding home, and I can't wait to read it. I love following Megan's lovely, funny, authentic Instagram feed @meganlucasauthor.
Promote: I've recently launched MountainTop Writers Retreats, long-weekend retreats in the gorgeous mountains of Western North Carolina that are crafted for writers at varying stages of their careers and journeys. Our first retreat, Fall MountainTop, is for writers and authors simply seeking the time, space, and peace in which to WRITE. No classes or workshops with this one: just complete immersion in a gorgeous place, fires in fireplaces, coffee, mountain-view yoga, and 76-acres of mountain property, including hiking trails into the Pisgah National Forest. Private rooms in a private, rustic-elegant mountain lodge. November 8-11, 2019, women only. http://katherinescottcrawford.com/?page_id=3499 or https://earthshinenc.com/mountaintop-writers-retreat/
Pimp: I'd like to pimp a book by one of the nicest and most talented authors I know, Amalie Berlin. Her upcoming book is titled Reunited in the Snow and is available for preorder here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PJBWCKQ/. It's an emotional one! Left at the altar… reunited under the stars!
Promote: Today is release day for my book, Fate of Dragons!
What Fate has joined together, let no magic put asunder.
Few know of the wildwood magic flowing in Sienna Steven’s veins, and since no one but a dragon could ever recognize her true nature, her secret’s safe.
Until handsome, brooding Wade Harris arrives on her doorstep with a strange illness that changes everything...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TTPZGJF/
Happy release day!
Happy release day, Bella!
Pimp: Harlequin author Amalie Berlin is now offering Author Services. She says “Six years worth of surviving Harlequin's revision letters, I think I have something to offer on the editorial front.” She's offering: Proofreading, Professional Critique, Copy Editing, and Story Doctoring. Also formatting. And she’s running a grand opening sale! Check it out here: http://www.amalieberlin.com/author-services.html
Promote: I'd like to promote my Christmas Harlequin Special Edition. It's the most wonderful time of the year...with the grumpiest man in town. The Scrooge of Loon Lake. (Don't you just love the title?) will be available in paperback on October 15th and digital on November 1st.
It's also currently available for pre-order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Scrooge-Loon-Lake-Small-Town-Sweethearts-ebook/dp/B07R998RXG
You go, Carrie!
PIMP: BHC Author Drea Damara's new book in her Trinity Series "No Death For The Wicked." It's a spy novel with a badass heroine/romantic suspense. She's the author of The Weeping Books of Blinney Lane and a badass writer herself. Go Drea! You can check her out here: https://www.bhcpress.com/Books_Damara_No_Death_for_the_Wicked.html
Promote: My work-in-progress is still that, HOWEVER, BHC PRESS is releasing my King Brothers Trilogy in hardcover November 5th. Take a look here:
https://www.bhcpress.com/Books_Manion_Joshs_Challenge.html
Thanks for offering Pimp and Promote! Happy Autumn, Writers 🙂
~Elise
Pimp: My dear friend and critique partner, Vicki Conrad’s debut picture book biography, Just Like Beverly, was release on August 13! This beautiful book paints a picture of the ambition, spirit and downright stick-to-itiveness of one of the most beloved children’s writers, Beverly Cleary. The illustrations by David Hohn are lovely and reminiscent to the time period.
http://www.sasquatchbooks.com/book/?isbn=9781632172228&just-like-beverly-by-vicki-conrad
Promote: I don’t have anything to promote yet my middle grade novel, THE LION GUARDIAN, is still under revision. However, I did become a finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary contest. The winners will be announced at the PNWA conference on September 15 in Seattle. I feel like I have already won by being chosen as a finalist. But still hoping on placing.
Thanks for this fun way to hear about other works with Pimp and Promote. CZ
I'll be at the PNWA Conference--and now I have someone to cheer for--good luck, Carol!
Super congrats, Carol!
I'm enjoying reading these pimps/promotes.
Pimp: I'm flat-out in awe of the character development in Liane Moriarty's novels. How many writers can alternate among a dozen different characters' POVs, giving them all their own chapters in the telling of a story? But that's exactly what she does in Nine Perfect Strangers. Now I'm reading her books from the beginning of her published career--and she pulled off the same kind of feat in those books, too. Wow.
Promote: Today is the release day of my historical thriller, Cooper's Loot. Set in 1972, Cooper’s Loot portrays a young reporter seeking professional respect in an era when female journalists were often relegated to the Women’s Pages. She joins an odd group of characters searching for the buried loot of the infamous hijacker DB Cooper. Soon an even bigger quest demands all her strength: survival.
Happy Release Day!
I keep hearing about Liane Moriarty! I always find lots of reads in the comments section of these P&P posts. I'm glad you are too!!
Pimp: This summer I read A Column of Fire by Ken Follett. He has many characters in his books causing some grief for his readers. He now introduced a new technique to keep his readers in the loop. I look forward to using it too.
Promote: My book, The Caretaker, went live this summer. I used a different technique (for me) to show the view points of different major characters. The book deals with the premise that you can't fight city hall? Steve, the main character in the novel never heard such a doubt. He must prevent a park given by his grandfather to the city of Apsen Grove from becoming the site for a high end condo complex.
Always meant to read Ken Follett....
Pimp: I would like to praise and recommend the WriteMentor program. You can follow them on twitter and check out their website for a newsletter with stellar craft advice, a summer mentorship program, an annual children's novel award competition, and an online conference with agent pitching via skype! Also, the most supportive and encouraging writing community in the world. Seriously, follow everyone involved. https://write-mentor.com/
Promote: I have a book that means a bunch to me up on Swoonreads, a site that lets you read and rate books for free and a couple of times a year the editors who run it choose a couple of promising books to offer contracts through Macmillan. So, if you like the idea of helping authors get published, check out the site, and if you think you would enjoy a creepy, funny, romantic, and heart-warming read, please check out Dance, Dance, Die!, my modern retelling of HCA's The Red Shoes with a dyspraxic girl, a parkour ninja, and a vengeful ghost! Then leave a review to let me know what you think! https://swoonreads.com/m/dance-dance-die/
Jenny! I love you! Aren't you the loveliest person ever! I AM VIRTUAL-SQUEEZING YOU SO HARD RIGHT NOW!
I would like to Pimp Author Accelerator. I absolutely adore Jennie Nash and she is one of the savviest, smartest people I know and her heart for writers is as big as the sky. If you want one-on-one coaching for your writing career, please visit Author Accelerator. They will match you with a coach who is the best fit for your writing style & needs.
https://www.authoraccelerator.com/
For promote, seeing as you so nicely gave our new book and the Character Builder love, I'd like to invite people to swing by and check out our new thesaurus on conflict. This is something we're exploring on the blog, not a book, but it is packed with ideas on how to challenge your character in any genre! https://writershelpingwriters.net/conflict-thesaurus/
And Laura, I can't wait to meet you in October. And Julie, I am SO EXCITED to see you again!
*blows kisses* You and Becca deserve all pimping!!
And Jennie!! She is the shiz. I once traveled up to San Fran just to attend her Creative Live class LIVE. She's amazeballs. If I ever win the lottery, I am getting me a book coach!
She is terrific!
Pimp:
Jennifer Bray-Weber and her fascinating niche: Historical pirate romance. She has too many fun books to pick just one. Check out the crew on her website! http://www.jbrayweber.com
Promote:
The first book in my Cedar Hill Romance series is out! Something Blue is a hot workplace romance between a CEO ready to sell her company, and the magnetic engineer who wants to buy it. She has reservations and he has attitude. Is nothing ever simple? https://www.amazon.com/Something-Blue-Cedar-Hill-Romance-ebook/dp/B07V1PD9M9
Pimp: I was honored to be given an ARC of Bryn Greenwood's new book The Reckless Oath We Made and I loved it. I loved her previous book, All The Ugly and Wonderful Things as well. Check them both out!
Promote: My first novel, The Sleeping Serpent, was released before the MeToo movement shined a spotlight on relationship abuse and the abuse of power in the workplace.The story is about a charismatic yoga master who crosses the line between his gifted ability to heal and his compulsion for celebrity. I am close to finishing the first draft of my second novel which is linked to the first (but can stand alone).
I forgot to put in the links for my Pimp and Promote:
The Reckless Oath We Made https://www.amazon.com/Reckless-Oath-We-Made-ebook/dp/B07N5JS9X8/ref
The Sleeping Serpent https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016LUUB1K
My friend Miriam has a faith-based lifestyle blog--not preachy--where I contribute. She has given me to write and review for her, even when I can't get my own fiction out. I don't have any current reviews at the moment--am working on a product review at the moment. I especially love doing the movie reviews with press access for the Disney family of movies: https://www.wicproject.com/
denise