Open Minds Giveaways!

TWO giveaways of Open Minds going on!

Open Minds 

(Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can't read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can't be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf's mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she's dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where being forced to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.


Ebook giveaway at Bookworm Lisa: until Tuesday, February 12th

Paperback giveaway at Goodreads: until March 15th

In His Eyes Anthology - And My Short Story, Mind Games

The In His Eyes Anthology with sixteen romantic short stories by Indelibles authors is HERE!

The anthology includes my short story prequel to Open Minds, called Mind Games: 

Raf, a regular mindreader, is in love with Kira, the only girl in school who can't read minds. Raf struggles to keep his thoughts about her private, but secrets are something that only zeros like Kira can keep. As he works up the nerve to ask Kira to the mindware Games, his friends have other games in mind for him. 

If you've read Open Minds ... and want more Raf & Kira, this short romantic story from Raf's POV is just the thing to snuggle up to for Valentine's Day.

If you haven't read Open Minds ... there are no spoilers in Mind Games, and it will hopefully lead you straight to wanting to learn more about Raf, Kira, and their mindreading world. :)

As promised, here's a PEEK inside Mind Games:

Every time I see her, she surprises me.
            Not in a charming or tantalizing way, although there’s no question she captivates me. She surprises me because there’s no whisper warning of her presence like with everyone else in Warren Township High, where the dull roar of thoughts from the throng of students in the hallway practically drowns out my own. Sometimes she’ll appear by my side without warning. Or like today, I catch a glimpse of her retreating down the hall. But I never hear her thoughts first. Even if she and I were the only two people in the entire school, I still wouldn’t be able to read her mind. And she can’t read mine either.
            And that’s exactly the problem.

In His Eyes is FREE at Smashwords, $0.99 on Amazon (hopefully FREE soon), and $0.99 on Barnes&Noble.

Stop by the fabulous Angela Brown's blog to win FREE Kindle versions of the story - today only - to be delivered on Valentine's Day!

Here's a peek at the other short stories in the anthology:

Surprise, Surprise by Stacey Wallace Benefiel, author of Glimpse: Half the women in Melody's family can see the future, which makes it nearly impossible for Raleigh to surprise her. What's a guy to do for Valentine's Day when his girlfriend is always one step ahead of him?

First Kiss or First Kill? by C.K. Bryant, author of Bound: Love isn't always rainbows and kittens, sometimes it can be downright deadly. (A deleted chapter from Bound.)

Shattered by Ali Cross, author of Become: James and Desi use each other in an effort to cling to the darkness in each of them, but in the end they discover that love changes you. (A chapter of Become from James’ POV.)

Before by Jessie Harrell, author of Destined: When a younger Eros is exiled to a land that doesn't believe in the Greek gods, he finds the first love of his immortal life. Read Eros' first person account of his romance, and heartbreak, in the time before he met Psyche.

The Qualm Before the Storm by Karen Amanda Hooper, author of Tangled Tides. Yara Jones doesn’t want to be a mermaid. Treygan doesn’t want to be the monster who turns her. You can’t always get what you want. (A short prequel to Tangled Tides.)

Unspeakable by S.R. Johannes, author of Untraceable: When Mo sees a strange girl in the woods, he follows her. He soon realizes they are both in a dangerous position and might not get out alive.

In the Beginning by Katie Klein, author of Cross My Heart: Seth is falling hard for Genesis Green, but the guardian angel is determined not to interfere, until an accident changes the course of their lives forever. (A short prequel to The Guardian.)

A Chance Encounter by Cheri Lasota, author of Artemis Rising: Finnian's eyes hide a terrible secret. But a girl on the train home, the girl in tears with a secret of her own...She sees right through him. A scene from the upcoming novel, Echoes in the Glass.

Family Bonds by Heather McCorkle, author of The Secret of Spruce Knoll: A Halloween party filled with teens who can channel energy and use it to kill, what could go wrong? For Spruce Knoll fans who are dying to read more about Fane.

Getting Closer by Lisa Nowak, author of Running Wide Open: Megan is smart, hot, and an upperclassman—in other words, way out of Cody’s league. So why did she choose him? (An excerpt of Getting Sideways.)

The Almost Assassin by Laura Pauling, author of A Spy Like Me, releasing Spring 2012: Malcolm tries his hand at the family business but his conscience and a beautiful "spy" may be his downfall.

  

By The Firelight by Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise: When Nate McKenzie asks an unpopular girl to dance on a dare, he's in for the time of his life.

A Very Alien Valentine’s Day by Magan Vernon, author of How To Date An Alien: After surviving confinement and an intergalactic war for his human half, Alex, now he has to live through the biggest challenge of them all: Valentine's Day.

Aligned by RaShelle Workman, author of Exiled: A half-Eternal boy and an Eternal girl must free millions of tortured souls from a creature whose been feasting on their pain and suffering. 

Love Stories for Valentine's Day

What's more romantic than a sizzling love story?

NOTHING!!

If you're in search of the perfect Valentine's Day gift, look no further.  Whether you gift her a collection of e-books or wrap one special paperback up in pretty paper with a single red rose on top,  score BIG POINTS on Valentine's Day with these Indelibles' novels (or get them for yourself!).

ARTEMIS RISING by Cheri Lasota BOUND by C. K. Bryant

CLOCKWISE by Elle Strauss

CROSS MY HEART by Katie Klein

DESTINED by Jessie Harrell

EXILED by RaShelle Workman

GLIMPSE by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

HOW TO DATE AN ALIEN by Magan Vernon

THE SECRET OF SPRUCE KNOLL by Heather McCorkle

TANGLED TIDES by Karen Amanda Hooper UNTRACEABLE by S.R. Johannes

THE VEIL by Cory Putman Oakes

WATCHED by Cindy Hogan

and...

IN HIS EYES, an anthology from The Indelibles, featuring love stories from the swoon-worthy guys from our novels arriving on V-Day!

On Monday: A SNEAK PEEK inside the In His Eyes Anthology at my short story Mind Games.

Open Minds Breaks Top 100 in Science Fiction!

It may only be at #99, but I'll take it.

Due to the mysteries of Amazon categories, I'm "charting" in adult SF, not young adult SF. Which bothers me not in the slightest, since many people who enjoy the book are actually adults.

 I particularly love that Open Minds is sandwiched between Stranger in a Strange Land and Lucifer's Hammer - two books (and three authors) from the many SF titles I devoured in my youth.

Open Minds may fade off the bestseller list tomorrow, but for today, I'm doing a small happy dance in my living room.

Dystopias: Forging Hope For Humanity

I'm guest posting over at Dystopian Domination (is that a great name, or what?), talking about my take on dystopian literature as thought experiments that help us carve out a better future.

HOP OVER to check out the post and enter to win an ebook copy of Open Minds!


OPEN UNTIL January 21st!

Meet the Indelibles!

I am so excited to (finally!) talk about this amazing group of writers. I've spent the last couple months chatting and working with these up-and-coming Indie authors. I'm honored to be a part of such a talented group! For our launch, The Indelibles are hosting a Kindle Fire Giveawy, as well as a book giveaway on each of the 25 Indelible author blogs!

Introducing the Indelibles

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.

Who are we? If you’re a fan of YA fiction, you’ve probably heard of the Tenners, the Elevensies, the Apocalypsies, and the Lucky 13s. Now marketing guru Shelli Johannes Wells has teamed up with twenty-four other indie and small press authors to bring you the Indelibles.

Introducing 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 on the Indelibles blog. We’ll also be having a “blogger” chat on January 11th and a writer/author chat on the 18th to answer questions about self and indie pubbing. See our blog for details.

For the Indelibles launch, I'm giving away a signed paper copy of Open Minds: Enter at my Author Website

For the Kindle Fire Giveaway, start at the Indelibles Blog and hope through to all 25 Indelible author blogs.

IF YOU'VE ALREADY READ AND LOVED OPEN MINDS (or even if you haven't): Look for a prequel short story to Open Minds, called Mind Games, coming out as part of the Indelibles In His Eyes Anthology on Valentine's Day. The Anthology will be FREE, but you can add it now to your TBR on Goodreads.

Finding E-Book Deals

With shiny new Kindles, Nooks, and iPads unwrapped and charged up, there are literally millions of people looking to download their first e-book this week.

If you run out to purchase the latest book from your favorite author, you may find a bit of sticker shock in that many traditionally published ebooks are priced at or near the paperback price. However, there are many ebooks available for under $4.99 (or free) that are published by the authors themselves or small publishers. Many of these books are creeping up the bestseller lists with their combination of high quality and low price.

The trick can be finding them.

Here's some of the places to look:

Bestseller Lists
Do you like your fantasies with a little Sir Lancelot in them? There's a Bestseller List for Arthurian Fantasies on Amazon. Do you enjoy lots of science in your science fiction? Amazon has a Bestseller List for High Tech Science Fiction. Unfortunately, Barnes and Noble has less detailed bestseller lists, but they will at least point you to the top books in major genres. The low-priced ebooks on these lists are generally reader-favorite self-published authors, with lots of high-starred reviews, like Wired by Douglas E. Richards, the number one bestseller on the High Tech SF list with 345 reviews and priced at only $0.99.


Bestseller lists are great places to discover new authors, but there are only so many slots at the top of any bestseller list, and there are many great low-priced ebooks that aren't (yet) on the lists. Here are a few places to find new and up-and-coming great ebook reads:

Pixel of Ink
This subscription service will send daily deals to your inbox, but you can also browse listings by genre to see past deals. And there's Pixel of Ink Young Edition with books for teens and kids.

Kindle Nation Daily
This is another ebook-deal subscription service that you can also browse by genre. KND is obviously Kindle-focused, but if you're a Nook owner, you can often find these books on Nook as well (although the same low-priced deal may not apply there).

Bargain Books for Your Nook
In a counter point to KND, there's Bargain Books for Your Nook, which highlights a special deal each day. They've just started up, but they're already growing quite a list of books you can browse, as well as having the added bonus of content ratings!

Daily Cheap Reads
Another more Kindle-focused subscription service, Daily Cheap Reads will send you a daily email of their "cheap reads" for the day.

Five Star Books
With reader reviews the new currency in evaluating low-priced ebooks, this new site is collecting the five-star gems in one place, browsable by genre.

E-Reader News Today
Another subscription service that sends lists of low-priced ebooks (mostly Kindle focused) to your inbox every day.

Underground Book Reviews
A new site dedicated to finding and promoting quality Indie (self-published) ebooks (as well as new traditionally published authors) via a team of reviewers.

The Indelibles
This group of new Indie (self-published and small-publishing house) authors are "dedicated to leaving a permanent mark on the world with our stories and words." They are all serious authors who have recently made the choice to self-publish and several are already on the bestseller lists. (Full Disclosure: I'm an Indelible!)

How do you evaluate these low-priced ebooks? 
For low-priced e-books, often reader reviews are the best guide to the overall quality of the book. If a book has more than 20 five-star reviews, especially if those reviewers are "prolific" reviewers like book bloggers who log hundreds of reviews a year, then that is likely to be a high quality book.  In addition, almost all books now have a sample available to read, usually the first 10-20 pages or the first chapter. With even a small sample, you can usually tell if a book is the kind you will enjoy.

The authors of these low-priced e-books aren't big name authors (yet). Part of setting the price low is to entice readers to take a chance on them. Give them a chance, and I think you'll likely find many new "favorite" authors to read, again and again.

p.s. My Internet Book Fair last October listed many new and soon-to-be released Indie (self-published) ebooks. It was such a hit, I'll be hosting another one after the New Year! Stay tuned...

Do you have any suggestions for places to find great ebook deals?