Happy Birthday Anathema!!!!

I can hardly believe Anathema has been out for one year. I can't let my baby's first birthday go by without a party, can I?

You're lucky, too, because I have goodie bags filled with some pretty fantastic ebooks from my fellow Indelibles!!!!

I was going to write this long, meaningful post about how fantastic the last year has been (freakin' awesome!), how many ebooks I've sold (almost 10,000), etc, yadda, blah, but....

Screw that - let's just go straight to the goodies!!!!!

GRAND PRIZE (1 winner): All 3 books in the Cloud Prophet Trilogy - Anathema, Oubliette, and Severed in paperback and ebook (and some random swag I toss in the package too)!!!

eBook Goodie Bag #1 (1 winner):

The Secret of Spruce Knoll by Heather McCorkle
Zellie Wells Trilogy by Stacey Wallace Benefiel
How to Date an Alien by Magan Vernon
Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn
Bloody Little Secrets by Karly Kirkpatrick
The Green by Karly Kirkpatrick
The Veil by Cory Putman Oakes

eBook Goodie Bag #2 (1 winner):

Untraceable by SR Johannes
On the Bright Side by SR Johannes
Running Wide Open by Lisa Nowak
Destined by Jessie Harrell
Beautiful Demons by Sarra Cannon
Clockwise by Elle Strauss
Watched by Cindy Hogan

eBook Goodie Bag #3 (1 winner):

Exiled by RaShelle Workman
The Book of Lost Souls by Michelle Muto
Bound by C.k. Bryant
The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching
Become by Ali Cross
Loramendi's Story by Angela Carlie


* please note that some of the ebooks are Amazon exclusive titles and can only be given through an Amazon egift. Kindle apps are available for most smart phones as well as a free download on your computer.

Want to enter? Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below! No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open internationally for paperback shipping - not all ebooks are available internationally. Contest begins Wednesday, February 1st and runs through midnight CST Saturday, February 4th. Must be fifteen to enter or have parent's permission.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's All Connected...

I touched on this topic on a post on another blog, but I wanted to lay out my thoughts in a bit more detail.

For those of you who've read the Cloud Prophet Trilogy - CPT (Anathema, Oubliette, and Severed) and Sleepers (Book One in The Swarm Trilogy), you might have thought hmmm....these books seem similar, but I just can't put my finger on exactly how...

Well, they are connected. Quite intimately, in fact. The reason I didn't mention it up front was because I wanted to give my readers a chance to meet Lianne (in Sleepers) and fall in love with her - without worrying about when their favorite characters from CPT were going to show up.

In Afterlife (Book Two in The Swarm Trilogy), characters from CPT will start popping up. No, I'm not going to say who. That's something I want you to discover on your own.

The beauty of these two trilogies is that while they are connected, they do NOT have to be read together. In many ways, The Swarm Trilogy (TST) is a companion to CPT.

If you've read my short story The Initiate, you'll get a glimpse of how these two trilogies are connected. You'll see imagery evocative of all six novels.

By the end of 2012, TST will be complete. I don't know if I'll write another companion trilogy in that world. At this moment, I'd say 'no,' but I certainly won't say 'absolutely not.' I have plans for a middle grade fantasy that I am dying to get out in the world. I also have a contemporary novel that I think my readers would love.

So, for those of you who were wondering ... but weren't quite sure ... the definitive answer is 'YES!' :D

An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball - Angela Carlie Edition

Angela Carlie is, quite possibly, one of the awesomest people on the planet. Seriously. I wish she lived closer to me instead of on the other side of the country. I've known her online for a few years now and last year I begged her to join DarkSide Publishing. She agreed, making me one happy chickie!

Read on to learn more about her!!!!


MJ: Tell me a bit about your novel, Loramendi's Story, in your own words - not the official synopsis.

AC: Loramendi’s Story is the first novel in the Lords of Shifters series. It’s about a teenage girl named Lora whose mother has been missing from her life since she was one year old. She falls for a hot windsurfer and she discovers that her life has been a façade. When she begins to go through a physical change, the truth about her life is finally revealed and she’s forced to accept her destiny.

This novel is full of adventure, romance, and sexy shapeshifters.

MJ: Did you pants or plot while writing your first draft?

AC: 100% pantsed this one.

MJ: What’s your next release going to be?

AC:   I’m currently working on the second novel of the Lords of Shifters series. It’s not yet titled, but I hope it will be available to the public sometime early 2012.

(note from MJ: since this interview, Angela titled her book Spider Wars and it has this amazing cover!!!)

MJ: Now for the fun stuff!!!

MJ: Wolves or vampires or zombies?


AC: Zomvamplows

MJ: When you were a teen were you a cheerleader, a sporty girl, the smart one, the band geek, or something else?

AC: Something else. I was a loner with literally only one friend who I never saw because she always hung out in the art room while I hung out in the auditorium or … somewhere else. ;) I had daisies painted all over my car, wore bell bottoms and leg warmers, but not at the same time, and worked at a veterinary hospital.

MJ: Do you have any pets? 

AC: Yes! Four cats and two dogs live with us at the moment.

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my 9-year-old’s all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

AC: I recently read on your FB page how fearful you are of scary movies. I used to be a paranormal investigator once upon a time. We investigated hundreds of locations. At one location in particular, we investigated a building that had been reporting activity for years. It’s now a famous haunted location. But, at that time, at around 1 am, a fellow investigator (a psychic) and I were on the third floor that once housed a brothel, in a room where abortions were performed and women often died. We were alone and setting up equipment in the dark. The air was thick and we felt like we weren’t really alone at all. In the room next to us, one of our motion alarms went off, screaming at us through the wall. We both shot up and made a run for it (very unprofessional, I know). In the process, my larger psychic friend pushed me out of her way to make her escape. My right leg fell through a hole in the floor and I was stuck, laughing and crying at the same time, all by myself.

My question: If you and your best friend were in the same situation, and you were the psychic friend, would you have gone back for your friend stuck in the hole near the scary room with possible activity or would you have kept running all the way down the stairs to safety?

(Do you have any idea how long it took me to read all of that to my Magic 8 Ball?!?!?!)

M8B: Outlook Good

MJ: Well, of course that's the answer! I would never leave a friend stuck in a hole in a possibly-haunted house. I grew up in a possibly-haunted house. Not afraid! :D




Thank you SO MUCH to Angela Carlie for participating in my interview series. You have to read Angela's books. Why? (1) Her books rock and (2) She's made of all things fabulous

Find Angela on the web:

Website

Amazon.com

Barnes&Noble.com

Contest Winners & Future Plans

My three winners for ecopies of Sleepers have been contacted. If you haven't heard from me, then you didn't win ... this time. As anyone who follows me through Facebook or my newsletter knows, I like to give things away a lot, so if you like free things, then follow me. ;)

It's the beginning of the year (well, kind of, since we're nearly a couple weeks in) and I feel like I should let you know what will be happening on my blog.

First, I'll probably be blogging less this year than I did last year. At least here. I've joined three other blogs, Indelibles, Author 2 Author, and The Writer's Voice. Since I'll be blogging in those places, I'll have less to say here. However, that will make what I do say here more important. There'll be less random posts to wade through when what you really want is to know the details about releases, etc. If you want to keep up on my other posts, please follow me on Facebook, which is where I notify my peeps when I have a new post up.

As for writing, I'm working hard on Afterlife and will have it out by summer unless something drastic happens, like I fall off a boat and a shark eats both of my arms. I doubt this will happen since I live in Illinois. You can all relax now.

I plan to release the sequel to Afterlife later in the year. In addition to those, I hope to get at least one more book out, but until I know for sure, I don't want to jinx anything.

I have loved every moment of the past year. I chose to epublish in December of 2010 and Anathema came out in February of 2011. It's been the most fascinating time in my life. Who knew I could make a career out of the one thing I love most in life - creating new worlds. Thank you to each of you who've been on this journey with me (OMG, I sound like a chick from The Bachelor, don't I?).

Love you all!!!!!

~Megg

Introducing the Indelibles

Welcome to the Indelibles Blog Hop!


In celebration of our official launch, we are giving away a KINDLE FIRE! If you’d like to start at the beginning of the INDELIBLES ON FIRE GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP, then please start here: http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/2012/01/indelibles-on-fire-kindle-fire-giveaway.html


If you are already mid-hop, then welcome to your next stop! By following the link at the bottom of this post, you can proceed to the next author (and check out the awesome, individual giveaways we are doing along the way!). If you are entering to win the KINDLE FIRE, don’t forget to make a note of the keyword at the end of every blog post - the words spell out a phrase you will need to enter the contest on the last stop.


Marketing guru Shelli Johannes Wells has teamed up with twenty-four other indie and small press authors to bring you the Indelibles.

“We are indie authors who write middle grade and young adult fiction.

We are dedicated to leaving a permanent mark on the world with our stories and words.

We are the Indelibles.”

Each week, we’ll explore fun, fabulous, and fierce topics for today’s teens, drawing on pop culture and themes from the books we write. Check out our official launch Monday, January 9th for fun giveaways at http://indeliblewriters.blogspot.com/.

And now with no further ado, I will introduce myself:

 I'm Megg - a mom, wife, and novelist. I know a little about a lot of things, like tae kwon do, swing dancing, rollerblading, and dolphins. I write fantasy - not the vamp/werewolf kind - the magic/royalty kind. Finally, I can say that useless degree in medieval history has been put to work. ;) I am a regular contributor at Author 2 Author and The Writer's Voice. You can read more about me on my oh-so-thrilling bio.

This week, along with the Indelibles Fire giveaway, I'm also giving you the chance to win an ecopy of my novel Sleepers (3 total up for grabs!). Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck and hope to see you around the web (Facebook and Twitter)! :D

An adoptee raised in a foreign land, sixteen-year-old Lianne was content with her life as handmaiden to the queen, until a spell cast on her at birth activated. Now she's filled with uncontrollable rage and access to magic she thought had been bled from her people years ago. Even her years of secret training in elite hand-to-hand combat and meditation can’t calm the fires raging inside her.

Her heart is torn between two boys, the one she’s always loved and the one who always ignored her. But when the kingdom threatens to tear itself apart due to rumors surrounding the queen’s alleged affair, who will Lianne protect and who will she destroy?

 

The keyword for this stop on the hop is: GROUP

Continue the hop and visit the next Indelibles author, the most excellent, and one of my favs, Sarra Cannon!!!! 

(enter to win 1 of 3 ecopies of Megg's fantasy novel, Sleepers, in the Rafflecopter form below)

I WILL be verifying entries - so if you mark an entry that you did not complete, you will be ineligible to win. Void where prohibited. No substitutions.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Win an ebook copy of the ENTIRE Cloud Prophet Trilogy!

Haven't had a chance to get all three books in the Cloud Prophet Trilogy yet? Now's your chance to win them! The winner will choose from a Kindle (mobi), Nook (epub) or PDF copy of the wildly popular bestselling Cloud Prophet Trilogy!

Just enter below!!!!