Hostess with Monkeys - Lorrie Struiff

Lorrie Struiff, author of "Gypsy Crystal" and "Heap of Trouble" (coming soon to MuseItUp Publishing) plus a lot of short stories here and there, is hosting a couple of important characters in Midnight Oil: Kat (the main character) and Mordita, the ancient sorceress who has taken a liking to Kat. In the excerpt, Mordita provides cookies, advice, and a piece of jewelry.

NOTE: The book trailer for Midnight Oil is featured today on You Gotta Read Videos. Voting begins tomorrow. I'd appreciate your vote. Thanks!

Hostess with Ice Cream - Barbara Bockman

Today, Barbara Bockman hosts Midnight Oil on her Stories a la Mode blog. Barbara's latest book is Wounds from MuseItUp Publishing. She visited me here on January 9th with information on her newest offering, a picture book titled "Fantastic Flight," as well as participating in last September's MG/YA Blogathon.

About Barbara (according to Barbara)

I’ve always loved stories and the interesting way certain people have with words. So I majored in English and Library Science in college, and later, with a Master’s Degree in English, I taught my subject at Pensacola Junior College. Having long wanted to try my hand at it, I started writing stories for children.

Story ideas are all around me. One of the fun things about traveling is learning new facts and feeling the lives of people who lived in those exotic locales. I especially love folk tales and myths.

I also enjoy stories about contemporary children and situations. I like to turn them into mysteries. My family have been indulgent enough to allow me to write about them, as well.

Hostess with Tiny Canines - Chris Verstraete

No, Chris Verstraete is not a vampire with small fangs. She just really, really likes dogs. I like dogs too, so we get along great. Great Dane even. She never terriers from her writing duties except to hound other writers to make teensy, tiny little pekingese, no make that chihuahua-sized chairs, tables and dog houses.

Now that you can tell I'm totally baying at the moon, please drop over to Chris' blog, The Candid Canine, while I go on and on about the unfortunately dogless Midnight Oil. There's plenty of other animals though. Just not dogs, not even little itty bitty dogs.

Chris Verstraete: Collector, writer, miniaturist, dog lover! But she also enjoys writing + reading horror. (Zombies too!) If you like dogs or miniatures or zombies, possibly all in the same book, you'll enjoy Chris' writing. For example:

Searching for a Starry Night, A Miniature Art Mystery

Sam, her Bff Lita, and a mischievous Dachshund named Petey face a cranky housekeeper, a dog-hating gardener, and an ancient family curse as they search for a missing miniature replica of Van Gogh's famous painting, "Starry Night."

Learn more about Chris on her website, including all her other books about dogs, miniatures, and zombies.

GOING BLACK TO SUPPORT WIKI AGAINST SOPA/PIPA

It's Always a Mystery at Heather Haven's Place

Two departures from the Midnight Oil release today. I was notified that a review of my SFR, Ultimate Duty, should be posted at Red Adept Reviews today. A very nice review written by Jim Chambers. I sure can't complain about 4-1/2 stars.

Another lane change lane away from the fantasy world to the world of murder and mystery. Heather Haven's Alvarez Family series is becoming seriously famous starting with "Murder is a Family Business" and "A Wedding to Die For."

Visit Heather's blog today, the 17th of January, to read about my mystery/romance, "Missing, Assumed Dead."

About Heather:

I am a story teller by nature and love the written word. In my career, I've written short stories, novels, comedy acts, plays, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and even ghost-wrote a book.

One of my very first jobs as a writer was given to me by my then agent. It was that of writing a love story for a book published by Bantam called Moments of Love. I had a deadline of one week and then promptly came down with the flu. I wrote "The Sands of Time" with a temperature of 102 and delivered some pretty hot stuff because of it. The result is on the Short Stories page, along with a contest winning short short called "Socks." I'll be rotating my short stories from time to time because I just love writing them!

My two one-act plays, The Closet Corpse and Baltimore, farcical comedies both, were well received whenever and wherever they've been performed. I had the good fortune to have Baltimore done at Playwrights Horizon in New York City, shortly after The Closet Corpse premiered off-off B'Way, starring the very talented Sandy Faison, of Broadway's Annie fame. Both are featured on the plays page.

Hostess with a Sea Serpent - Sue Perkins

Sue Perkins (Author of Spirit Stealer and Reva's Quest from MuseItUp Publishing) meets a sea serpent with Midnight Oil's heroine, Kat.

Read all about Ceto on Sue's Blog.

About Sue

Born in Devon, England, Sue traveled the world with her husband, including two years living in the Middle East with her young family. A few years later the family moved to New Zealand. Sue, her husband and dog have settled on a three acre block at the top of New Zealand's South Island. Their two children are now the globetrotters.

Sue writing genres include fantasy, romance, young adult and middle grade. When asked if she would ever stop writing she replied "Not until all the plots in my head have been written - which will probably I'll never stop."

Her hobbies include reading, writing and anything to do with crafts. Researching family history is another past time which holds Sue's interest. She works as a graphic artist for a local trade paper.

Most Villainous Hostess - Ardyth DeBruyn

My host today is the multi-talented Ardyth DeBruyn. I like her so much, I even named one of my characters after her. She also has a very artistic brother who has illustrated her wonderful YA fantasy, "A School for Villains."

Click here for Ardyth's blog.

About Ardyth

Ardyth DeBruyn is a native Oregonian with a restless nature and a degree in Anthropology. After hiking over 1500 miles across Europe and living on the Mexican border for a year, she settled back in the Pacific Northwest (for now) to write fantasy stories. She has decided she can type herself into adventures faster than walk. She has fiction published in a number of webzines and two children’s novels, ”Chosen Sister,” with Wild Child Publishing, and “A School for Villains.”

Hostess with a Whale - C.K. Volnek

C.K. is an MG/YA writer with MuseItUp Publishing. Her recently released tween novel, A Horse Called Trouble, and has already been receiving many accolades for this touching story of a young teen who must overcome her abusive past to save the defiant horse who taught her to love and trust again. C.K. will visit me here on February 13th with more information on this book.

She's hosting one of my characters in "Midnight Oil" An Orca Called Salmon. Read all about it on The Mind's Eye blog.

About Charlotte

Everyone has a story. Happy, sad, good, bad, all rolled up in the truth of who we are. We may think we are nothing special, but in fact we are everything to someone. We may just not know it.

I grew up in Nebraska, enjoying life in small town USA; riding horses in summer and sledding the ginormous hills in winter. I am married to my best friend and together we have three children and four Papillon fur-kids. What can I say...Papillons are like potato chips, you can’t stop at one. I like to write, hike, watch movies, and dream about the ‘what ifs’ in life, thus spawning the many stories my muse wants to share. I am proud to announce my first two novels released in 2011, and my third to be released 2012.

MIDNIGHT OIL RELEASE TODAY!!!

MIDNIGHT OIL Book 2 of the Witches of Galdorheim Series
Shipwrecked on a legendary island, how can a witch rescue her boyfriend if she can’t even phone home?

My website: http://marvadasef.com/
MuseItUp Buy Page: http://tinyurl.com/6wswbsf
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006UTL54A
Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdfNTVeMS1s

Read the first review on Lindsay Below's Blog.

Blog Tour Schedule in January. Stop by at my hosts' sites for ebook giveaways.

14 -  Charlotte Volnek
15 -  Ardyth DeBruyn
16 -  Sue Perkins
17 -  Heather Haven (Missing, Assumed Dead)
18 -  Chris Verstraete
19 -  Barbara Bockman
20 -  Lorrie Struiff
20 -  Midnight Oil on You Gotta Read Book Trailers (vote for #20 from the 21st-26th)
21 - Shellie Neumeier
22 - Meradeth Houston
23 - Dianne Salerni
24 - Pembroke Sinclair
25 - Review by Gina Salerni
26 - Pat McDermott
27 - Jo Ramsey
28 - Barbara Ehrentreu
29 - Anne Duguid

Loglines - Ultimate Duty

Ultimate Duty featured on the Loglines Blog today.

A new book featured everyday. Does the cover and logline intrigue enough to make you want to read the book? Check it out.

Buy the book award-winning (9th Place Best SF on Editors/Preditors Poll 2010) book at:

Eternal Press

Amazon Kindle and Print

Watch the book trailer at YouTube.

Bad Spelling 2nd Place in Preditors/Editors Readers Poll

The voting ended, the tallies are toted. Two of my books took a top 10 in the polls. Win badges coming soon.

Bad Spelling 2nd Place in Childrens Novels


Missing, Assumed Dead 8th Place in Mysteries

Real or Fantasy Worlds

I discuss using real and fantasy worlds in my Witches of Galdorheim series. I say, use both and mix it up.

Read the article on the MuseItUp Blog.

Picture This - Author Barbara Bockman

I welcome Barbara Bockman today who'll be telling us about her new picture book, Fantastic Flight. Isn't that the cutest cover? Anyway, I'll leave it to Barbara to fill us in.

Hi Marva,


Thanks for inviting me to be on your blog today and share some good news. In addition to my MuseItYoung novel, Wounds, I now have a picture book published by Guardian Angel Publishing. The title is Fantastic Flight. The illustrations are done by Jack Foster, who has a charming, amusing style. Here is his website: http://jacktoon.blogspot.com/

Just as with many of my stories, I started this one because of an incident that happened in my family. When my granddaughter, Jessica, was a toddler, my husband and I went with her and her parents to Chucky Cheese’s. That is a fun pizza restaurant with games and an animated floor show. A good place for birthday parties. And lots of balloons. Jessica was going to take a balloon home. But as her mom was putting her jacket on, Grandpa offered to hold the balloon. He was a great kidder. So he pretended the balloon was carrying him up into the sky. He said, “Jessica, hold my hand! This balloon is carrying me away.” Jessica thought that was really funny.

That incident stayed with me. I wrote the story with the little girl protagonist being carried away by the balloon. It is she who offers to take Grandpa for a balloon ride. The adventures along the way include places and things that were part of our life when we lived at the beach—but told about in fantastical ways (for instance, the little butterfly on its way to Mexico, carrying a tiny suitcase and a tiny map).

The story gives an idea of how to overcome boredom or homesickness by using one’s creativity. Grownups can give kids a nudge by suggesting ways to keep busy and stretch the imagination.

The book is available in both electronic and print formats at Guardian Angel Publishing and other venues. http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/fantastic-flight.htm  Suggested for readers from 4-7.

Thanks again, Marva, and I’ll see you on my blog, Stories a la Mode, on Thursday, January 19. http://barbarabockman.wordpress.com/  Till then…

Thanks for letting us know about Guardian Angel Publishing as well as your new book. See you on your blog on the 19th. Marva

Book Trailer for Midnight Oil!

Midnight Oil is now on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006UTL54A/

And in case you didn't see the trailer for Book 1: Bad Spelling...

Sue Perkins - Two New Releases!

REVA'S QUEST
Reva fights evil in Fey with the help of a garden gnome, elves, griffins and a knight in shining armour.
by Sue Perkins: http://www.sueperkinsauthor.com/
Blogsite: http://sueperkinsauthor.blogspot.com/
Buy Reva's Quest at MuseItUp Publishing

Sue's last book, "Spirit Stealer," is now available at MuseItUp, Amazon, and other on-line bookstores. Now, let's hear from Sue.

Thank you Marva for inviting me to your blog.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and are not feeling too down about returning to school or work.

My break has been very relaxed. I live in New Zealand so we get Christmas in the sun and I have to say the sun really did its best for us. Very hot days with blue skies. The rain set in for New Year though.

My New Year began for on the 30th December when MuseItUp Publishing released my Middle Grade novel "Reva's Quest". This is my second Middle Grade novel, the first one being "Spirit Stealer" which was released by MuseItUp in October 2011. Both are fantasies.

DRAGON FLAME

On the 1st January Desert Breeze Publishing released a Young Adult novel "Dragon Flame" so 2012 has definitely started with all things wonderful.

I have to admit my favorite genre is fantasy. Sometimes on Earth with spirits, ghosts and other scary things. I also visit alternate worlds with magical beings both animals and humanoids.

"Reva's Quest" starts on Earth but rapidly moves to the magical world of Fey. Reva's garden gnome demands she accompany him Fey to rid the magical world of evil which he states is all her fault.

The adventure begins when they start their quest accompanied by two elves and a griffin. The evil has infiltrated most of the land and sometimes the beings of Fey are not as they seem.

Excerpt from Reva's Quest

They walked through the trees for most of the day, but eventually the forest thinned out. Through the trunks she could see rolling meadows with another wooded area in the distance. Distant snow-topped mountains broke the horizon. The creatures of Fey might not be the same as her imagination, but the scenery certainly looked similar. Eager to leave the lurking leprechauns behind, she hurried out onto the lush grassy surface.

“Come back you silly girl.”

Reva ignored Maura. With her arms stretched out to either side and her face turned upward, she spun slowly, enjoying the warm sunshine of late afternoon.

“What does she think she’s doing?” Maura’s voice held astonishment.

“Enjoying the warmth and light I think,” Jarin's words were thoughtful. “I thought she knew about Fey. Doesn’t she know how dangerous it is to rush out in the open?”

“Apparently not,” the female elf replied.

Reva heard their voices, but ignored the actual words. Eyes closed, she tilted her head back even more and lifted her face to the sky, enjoying the warm rays bathing her face. The sunshine wiped away the sense of menace and replaced it with a feeling of ease and contentment.

For several moments, she stood delighting in the sun before something passed across the sky, throwing a shadow on her face. Reva looked up, expecting to see a cloud crossing the sun. Her eyes widened in horror. A huge avian dived toward her at an amazing speed. The beak opened in a challenging scream which went right through her. Sharp talons on its feet stretched toward her as it swooped in for the kill.

The bird zoomed closer and closer. Reva stood open-mouthed, staring. Fear and disbelief pinned her feet to the ground.

Buy Link Reva's Quest: http://tinyurl.com/revasquest

"Dragon Flame" occurs on an alternate planet. Eighteen year old Talei is the eldest survivor of an attack of fire breathing dragons. Talei links telepathically with a dragon, and discovers their goblin riders are holding the female dragons hostage. Talei and her friend Adri lead a group of teenagers to free the beasts. Failure means the end of both dragons and humans.

Excerpt from Dragon Flame

Darth stirred beside her, and thinking he moved to comfort her, she turned toward him. To her horror she saw him crawl from beneath the wagon and move toward a laser gun which had fallen from the hand of a dead defender.

"Darth, no," she hissed. "Don't be stupid."

He picked up the laser, and still lying on the ground he looked toward her, pride glowing in his eyes.

"I'm not stupid, Talei. I'm going to protect my home and people in the only way I know." Without another word he wriggled forward until he reached the dance floor. Talei watched helplessly as he stood. Alone in the center of the dance floor, he fired at a dragon strafing the tents along the eastern side of the open space.

The beast turned. Without appearing to aim, it launched a stream of fire at Darth. He didn't even have time to cry out as his body burst into flames. When the blaze subsided only a blackened husk remained. Talei watched in horror as the residue of her childhood friend fell lifeless to the ground.

The dragon hovered over its kill. Talei screamed in terror, and the huge, triangular head turned in her direction. She stared helplessly into the dragon's brilliant green, cat-like eyes. She froze as the maw opened, and waited for the searing heat to destroy her, too. Somewhere in the back of her mind her brain chanted a litany. Please don't kill me. Please don't kill me.

Buy Link Dragon Flame: http://tinyurl.com/dragonflame
Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI44FEElYmg

Midnight Oil is Burning!

The newest book in the Witches of Galdorheim series, MIDNIGHT OIL, just arrived in my email in all the lovely formats: PRC, EPUB, PDF, HTML. Release date is next Friday the 13th, but I now have in my possession, burning my fingers, a book that can be rewarded to faithful commenters in my upcoming blog tour. I'd better figure out a banner of some kind.

Blog Tour Schedule:

11 - At MuseItUp Blog
13 - RELEASE DAY! Announcement Here.
13 - Review by Lindsay Below
14 - At Charlotte Volnek
15 - At Ardyth DeBruyn
16 - At Sue Perkins
17 - At Heather Haven (Missing, Assumed Dead featured)
18 - At Chris Verstraete
19 - At Barbara Bockman
20 - At Lorrie Struiff
22 - At Meradeth Houston
23 and 25 - At Dianne Salerni, Review by Gina Salerni
24 - At Pembroke Sinclair
26 - At Pat McDermott
27 - At Jo Ramsey
28 - At Barbara Ehrentreu
29 - At Anne DuGuid

Guest Blog - Jo Ramsey

Making a Difference by Jo Ramsey

Whether we’re talking about helping others, ending bullying, or donating to charities, it’s easier than people sometimes realize to make a difference.

Bullying is sometimes the hardest thing for people to realize they can change. Sometimes all it takes is one person to speak up and say, “Hey, stop that.” People are often reluctant to say it, and then the bullying continues.

Some people hesitate to help others because they don’t believe they can do anything, or because they think someone else will help. It’s the same with donating to charities; some people don’t have the money, but others don’t think their money will actually make a difference. Or they figure other people will donate, so they don’t have to.

But the truth is, everyone can help. That’s what Brian Monahan, the main character in my new young adult short story “Life Skills” discovers. Brian’s school requires all students to perform community service in order to graduate, and Brian forgot to submit his proposal. So his school assigns him to volunteer in the Life Skills class. While working there, Brian discovers that some of the kids in the class are being bullied.

He decides to do something about it. Being bisexual, Brian has been bullied plenty himself, and he helps organize his school’s Day of Silence each year; it’s an event where students remain silent for a full day to express their support of GLBTQ people. To help the kids in the Life Skills class, Brian and his friends organize a Spread the Word to End the Word event, in which they encourage their schoolmates to be respectful of students with special needs and to stop using the word “retard.”

Brian considers himself “under the radar” and tries to keep it that way, but he puts himself out there to help others, and he makes a difference. What can you do to make a difference in your life?

“Life Skills” is available at http://www.featherweightpublishing.com/ShowBook.php?HH=JR_LIFESKILLS  as part of Featherweight Press’s Helping Hands line, in which royalties from all stories are donated to a charity chosen by the author. Royalties from “Life Skills” will benefit Day of Silence.

Find out more about Jo Ramsey and her books on her website, http://www.joramsey.com/ .

Preditors and Editors Reader Poll

It's polling time at Preditors/Editors. Please vote for:

Bad Spelling in the Children's Books category. Vote for the one that has Comments.

While Bad Spelling is also in the Young Adults category, and I'd certainly appreciate your vote, I'd like to see my publishing house take a first place. For YA, I ask you to vote for:

If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor by Barbara Ehrentreu

Again, I have an entry in Mystery Novels, "Missing, Assumed Dead." However, I'd like you to show your support for MuseItUp by voting for:

A Wedding to Die For by Heather Haven

My cover for Bad Spelling is totally the best, so I'd be pleased if you honor my cover artist, Kaytalin Platt. There are two entries in this category, so just pick the top one.
Bad Spelling Cover by Kaytalin Platt

If you're not tired of clicking yet, please vote for:

MuseItUp Publishing in the Print/Electronic Book Publishers

Thanks for your support.

MuseItUp Blogging This Month

Late breaking news: Here's the cover for Midnight Oil! So cool, I'm almost spitting up.

The winner of a free PDF of Ultimate Duty from my visit to Mark of the Stars is:

KAYE MANRO

Visit with me on the MuseItUp Publishing blog on the 11th. All month long, various authors are visiting and expounding on high falutin' topics...like YA books. They don't disappear, so you can catch all the posts throughout January.

2012 THEME Dear Reporter: my struggles and sacrifices to maintain my passion for writing. Plus some genre weeks.

DEAR REPORTER THEME January 2nd - 7th

JAN 2 Christine London

JAN 3 Dianne Hartsock

JAN 4 Mike Hays

JAN 5 Ginger Simpson

JAN 6 Christine Speakman

JAN 7 Danielle Ravencraft

JAN 8 SUN MuseItUp BDAY BLOG PARTY WITH DOORPRIZES

MUSE TWEEN/YA AUTHOR WEEK Jan 9th - 15th

JAN 9
Ginger Simpson

JAN 10 
AM:Mindy Hardwick
PM: Mike Hays

JAN 11
AM: Marva Dasef
PM: Anne Johnson

JAN 12
AM: Pat McDermott
PM: Shellie Neumeier

JAN 13
AM: Barbara Ehrentreu
PM: Charlie Volnek

JAN 14
AM:Nick Giannaras
PM: Maggie Lyons

JAN 15
AM:Cheryl Carpinello
PM: Grace DeLuca

DEAR REPORTER THEME January 16th-22nd

JAN 16 Christopher Hoare

JAN 17 Rochelle Weber

JAN 18 Joanne Elder - Post about Alzheimer's and the event in January

JAN 19 Roseanne Dowell

JAN 20 Amy McCorkle

JAN 21 TBD

JAN 22 Rosemary Morris

HORROR/DARK FICTION THEME January 23rd - 26th

JAN 23 Pembroke Sinclair

JAN 24 Brian Knight

JAN 25 TBD

JAN 26 Kristin Battestella

CONTINUING DEAR REPORTER THEME

JAN 30 Addison James

February will continue with more DEAR REPORTER posts and Mystery/Thriller Week (I'll be on Feb.8th).

Happy New Year! January Schedule

HAPPY 2012!

First, I'd like to announcement the winners of C.K. Volnek's new ebook. Two people who commented on my blog here won "A Horse Called Trouble." Congratulations to Adriana Ryan and Edith Parzefall.

Next, the Preditors/Editors Readers Poll is now open. I'd appreciate any votes people might cast. Here are the links:

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelchildrens.shtml
Vote for Bad Spelling with publisher as Museitup Publishing so as to not split votes. Somehow got entered twice.

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelyoungadult.shtml
Bad Spelling

http://critters.org/predpoll/novelmys.shtml
Missing, Assumed Dead

Now on to the rest of the scheduled events. With a new book release, it'll be an active month. I'll be blog-hopping all over the place. I will be giving away free ebooks, so visit everywhere you can to get into the draw. Here's what's shaping up so far:

1st - 10th - Open Season blog posts

7th - Sue Perkins visits me
11th - At MuseItUp Blog

13th - At Loglines Blog - Ultimate Duty Logline

14th - At C.K. Volnek

17th - At Heather Haven - Missing, Assumed Dead

18th - At Chris Verstraete

19th - At Barbara Bockman

20th - At Lorrie Struiff
22nd - At Meradeth Snow

23rd - Jo Ramsey Visits Me
23rd and 25th - At Dianne and Gina Salerni

24th - At Pembroke Sinclair

27th - At Jo Ramsey

28th - At Barbara Ehrentreu

More Stops and Links coming soon!