Just a Reminder - Giveaways on Indie Jane

Just a quick reminder that we have two ah-mah-zing giveaways going on at Indie Jane right now! The first is for a Kindle. Um, yeah. You have through 8/11 to enter and there are lots of easy ways to enter!

We are also giving away two copies of Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton, one paperback and one ebook. That giveaway ends this Tuesday, so make sure to head on over and enter!

Realizing You Have a Problem is Half the Battle

I know there are certain words I overuse when I am writing a rough draft. That's kind of the point of the rough draft, you have to turn off that internal editor as much as possible and just plow through.

I know I use "suddenly" way too much. Apparently things never happen at a slow pace in my novel. Another one is "seemed" (and seemingly and seems), maybe part of that is that I am writing scenes with magic so I default back to my own unbelief and say something "seemed to happen" instead of actually happening.

I had no idea that there was another word that I overuse. A lot.

Realized. Who knew? It appears to be one of my favorite words and I didn't even realize it (ahem). This was pointed out to me by one of my beta readers, Victoria. Her awareness of it was likely enhanced by the fact that because she's in Australia, her spell check underlined each and every instance of it in annoying, squiggly red. I'm glad it did or I would never have known!

After a few hours of editing . . . the occurrence is much lower. Yay for the awesome "find" feature in Pages, I really do get more out of it than the one in Word.

Are there any words you overuse? Do you own a thesaurus? My Mom swears by good dictionaries with an included thesaurus. Luckily for me, there are some online, it makes editing so much easier!

Fabric Love

Looking for the e-book giveaway of Jennifer Becton's Absolute Liability? I am giving away 5 copies and there is still time to enter. Just go here or scroll down!

I've been thinking for awhile that I want to make Maddie and James quilts for their toddler beds. Having a young boy and girl in the same room presents some decorating challenges, but luckily Maddie is pretty tomboy-ish, so she doesn't insist on princess or pink. We are going with a sort of baseball/vintage/americana/country theme and I really want the predominate colors to be red and white (Go Angels). I've been looking and looking for a fabric line that I could use for both their quilts (as in not too girly), would coordinate with each other, and were predominately in red & white. No luck. But look what Sweetwater is coming out with!

This line is called Hometown and I think it is pretty much perfect! They have charm packs, fat quarters, and yardage for sale at the Fat Quarter Shop and I think I will be buying some! Cannot wait!

Flying

This is an actual conversation I had with Maddie yesterday.

Maddie: There goes bird flying with flapping wings.

Me: Yup

Maddie: I fly, I flap wings?

Me: No, you don't have wings, so you can't fly.

Maddie: (Sad face)

Me: Because we are human, humans can't fly, only in airplanes.

Maddie: But I be Tinkerbelle.

Me: But Tinkerbelle is a fairy, that is why she can fly, people can't fly.

Maddie: Oh! Idea! We get pixie dust. We get pixie dust we fly.

Me: (desperately trying not to laugh) That's a good idea but we don't have any pixie dust today.

Maddie: Ok, I go find pixie dust, bye!

Indie Jane Awesomeness

I have been just a little bit MIA the last week.

Why?

Because I have been almost totally consumed by the awesome new project I've started with fellow author and Janeite Nancy Kelley.

Allow me to introduce Indie Jane - the premiere independent Austen community!

About Indie Jane in bullet points:

* We are awesome (of course).

* We are an online community that supports independent publishing of Austenesque novels, shorts stories, and other literature.

* We are a great place to hang out if you are a reader of either of the above two categories (indie pub or Austen).

* We are a great place to hang out if you are considering becoming a writer of either of the above two categories.

* We have an amazingly kick-butt logo (above) drawn by my friend Victoria. No really, isn't it the coolest thing you've ever seen?

* We have an amazing site & blog button courtesy of my hubs.

* We are giving away a Kindle.

What? What was that last? Yes! We are giving away a Kindle! Our launch was yesterday . . . and today in appreciation of everyone who visited yesterday, and to celebrate our opening month we have posted a Kindle giveaway! Head on over and enter!

We will have weekly giveaways for our first month as well. The excitement is overwhelming!

Also, there is still time to enter to win an ebook of Absolute Liability (for kindle, nook, or as a pdf to read on your computer), please make sure to enter!

E-book Giveaway! Five Copies of Absolute Liability by Jennifer Becton

I reviewed the awesome new thriller from Jennifer Becton last week (read my review here), and this week I am giving away five (5) e-book copies!

Yes, you heard that right!

Five lucky winners are going to get to read Absolute Liability for free! Yay you!

Meet Julia Jackson. Apparently, she's been abducted....

A woman is taken at gunpoint from the downtown office of Southeastern Insurance, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn't true.

Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.

As Vincent and Julia begin to unravel the multimillion-dollar frauds that led to the abduction, they encounter a cast of quirky characters, one of whom will go to desperate lengths to hide a deadly secret.

Things only become more dangerous as bodies begin accumulating around town, and Julia must discover the truth before the abductor comes to rectify his mistake.

I am able to give away Kindle copies (for your Kindle or Kindle app) through Amazon, and in other formats (pdf, for your Nook), through Smashwords.

Remember, if you want to read it right away Absolute Liability is on sale right now! And through July 16th, Jennifer is donating 10% of her proceeds to Ride 2 Recovery, a charity that helps wounded warriors recover through cycling.

To enter just leave a comment below letting me know why you'd like to read Absolute Liability! And please, if you are a no reply blogger make sure I have a way to contact you!

Extra Entries:

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Tweet about this giveaway

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Be sure to link back to this post! You can use this suggested tweet if you'd like:

Win an e-book copy of @jenniferbecton's thriller Absolute Liability on @narniamum #ebook #giveaway ends 7/15 http://bit.ly/pSYaWs

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Entries will close 7/15 at 10pm MST. I will notify the winners by email by 7/16.

Thanks and happy entering!

Support Indie Film - Old Man Cabbage

My friend Raymond is totally awesome. He's funny, smart, talented, and the greatest friend ever. I have literally run through the streets of Los Angeles with Raymond while holding dozens of purple roses and a bridal runner, ah good times.

He's also super cool. He's a puppeteer (yes, I know someone whose job title has puppet in it!), and a video director. He's travelled all around the US and lived in Iceland. Really. Iceland.

I'm pretty sure Ray is an artistic genius. Don't believe me? Check out this amazing video of him talking about his new project - a long form narrative music video.

Right?

The awesome thing about independent art, and independent film, is that it's free from the constraints of big Hollywood. I'm not entirely sure that whoever green-lit Smurfs would see the artistic merit in something like Old Man Cabbage. But then, they green-lit Smurfs . . .

The problem with independent art and film is that, unlike big budget crap like Mission Impossible 4 (yes, they're making a fourth . . . also, I didn't want to appear to be unfairly targeting Smurfs, but really people stopping messing with my childhood), it needs to be supported by it's fans monetarily, sometimes before it even comes out.

Raymond and crew are fundraising to complete Old Man Cabbage. If you want to support amazing art I would be forever grateful if you would make a donation. Pledges start at just $5 and you get awesome stuff in return. Just think you could be a patron of the arts! Where would art be without patrons? Even Shakespeare had them!

So to sum up:

Raymond is awesome, you should love him like I do.

Raymond's art is fabulous, it is amazing and beautiful!

Smurfs is bad! Mission Impossible 4 is also bad!

You should help support the Old Man Cabbage video and receive awesome goodies in return!

Our Fourth of July - Instagram Style

Happy Independence Day!

We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Summer Reads: Absolute Liability

I admit I am a Jennifer Becton fan girl. I adore her book Charlotte Collins (you may have heard me mention it), and have been anxiously awaiting the release of her newest book – a thriller entitled Absolute Liability. And it’s here! Yay! Jennifer was nice enough to let me have an Advanced Reader’s copy and I was so excited I sat my kids down in front of some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and read it in one sitting!

Here’s the description of Absolute Liability

(have I mentioned I love the cover?)

Meet Julia Jackson. Apparently, she's been abducted....

A woman is taken at gunpoint from the downtown office of Southeastern Insurance, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn't true.

Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.

As Vincent and Julia begin to unravel the multimillion-dollar frauds that led to the abduction, they encounter a cast of quirky characters, one of whom will go to desperate lengths to hide a deadly secret.

Things only become more dangerous as bodies begin accumulating around town, and Julia must discover the truth before the abductor comes to rectify his mistake.

And here is my review:

I love mysteries and thrillers. I was raised right, which means on a healthy doses of Columbo and Murder She Wrote. I am very picky about my mysteries/thrillers because so many authors either try to hard (the wise-cracking lead comes off more like someone who missed a career in standup as opposed to someone whose just quick on their feet), or don’t try hard enough (I know who dunnit by chapter 4). When I find a really good mystery I cannot put it down and that is the case with Absolute Liability, which I read straight through as fast as I could.

Julia Jackson is a really believable lead character. She’s funny without being annoying, she’s vulnerable and insecure enough to not be a superwoman, and she yet she is clever and dedicated enough to keep me interested and rooting for her.

Her new partner Mark Vincent is, um . . . hot. Yes, I said it! But he’s got layers and layers that I so want Julia to start unraveling. I love the chemistry between them and I cannot wait to read more about these awesome characters.

All in all, I say two thumbs up! Five stars! I vote this as one of my “super satisfying summer reads,” and I highly recommend that you read it.

You can purchase Absolute Liability for your Kindle on Amazon (I have the Kindle app for my iPhone and it’s pretty cool), or for your Nook at Barnes & Noble, or as a downloadable ebook at Smashwords.