First Featured Fans Friday!

Ahoy, my wonderful readers!

Look at me posting twice in a row! Don't get used to this much traffic from me, though I am very happy to start my new installment of Featured Fans Fridays (F^3 for exponential form.) Once a month, I will shine the spotlight on you, my wonderful, lovable, and always loyal fans! Lucid would have never made it to the e-shelves were it not for Devon's champions. I really appreciate all of the support you all have given to me this past year, and it's high time I pay some of that kindness back.

So, today, I have 8 fans who entered a Facebook contest. There is a Facebook trend going on where people list their favorite books or series. My fans were more than happy to oblige, so without further ado, here are the wonderful books my fans recommend. (Oh, and Lucid is understood to be on the top of each list, of course!)

Amanda Combel:
1. Harry Potter (all of them) - J. K. Rowling
2. The Shack - William P. Young
3. The Outsiders- S. E. Hinton
4. The Da Vinci Code- Dan Brown
5. The Dip- Seth Godin
6. The Twilight series- Stephanie Meyer
7. To Kill a Mockinbird- Harper Lee
8. The Shades of London series- Maureen Johnson
9. The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett
10. Little Women- Louisa May Alcott

Lisa Miller:
1. The Giver- Lois Lowry
2. Tuck Everlasting- Natalie Babbitt
3. The Outsiders- S. E. Hinton
4. The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett
5. My Sister's Keeper- Jodi Picoult
6. The Wizard of Oz-  L. Frank Baum
7. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff- Richard Carlson
8. Dicey's Song- Cynthia Voigt
9. The Notebook- Nicholas Sparks
10. The Circle- Dave Eggers

Jenny Doskey
1. The Secret Garden- Frances Hodgson Burnett
2. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
3. The Jungle Book- Rudyard Kipling
4 and 5. The Middle Earth series (Hobbit-Return of the King) - J. R. R. Tolkien
6. Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card
7. The Maze Runner- James Dashner
8. Harry Potter series- J. K. Rowling
9. The Mortal Instruments series- Cassandra Clare
10. Incarnations of Immortality- Piers Anthony

Christy Drachenberg
1. All Souls Trilogy- Deborah Harkness
2. The Garden Trilogy- Nora Roberts
3. The Crush- Sandra Brown
4. Modern Witch Series- Deborah Geary

Farrah Ha
1. White Oleander- Janet Fitch
2. Lolita- Vladimir Nabokov
3. The Nice Girl Syndrome- Beverly Engel
4. The Gingerbread Series- Rachel Cohn
5. Persepolis- Marjane Satrapi
6. Why I Write- George Orwell
7. Ain't I A Woman- Bell Hooks
8. Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe
9. MARS- Fuyumi Soryo
10. Pedagogy of the Oppressed- Paulo Freire

Deborah Lansford
1. The Hunger Games series- Suzanne Collins
2. The Chronicles of Narnia series- C. S. Lewis
3. Hyperbole and a Half- Allie Brosch
4. The Giver series- Lois Lowry
5. The Middle Earth series- J. R. R. Tolkien
6. Please Don't Eat the Daisies- Jean Kerr

Michelle Connor 
1. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- J. K. Rowling
2. Wuthering Heights- Emily Bronte
3. Dracula- Bram Stoker
4. Frankenstein- Mary Shelley
5. Price and Prejudice- Jane Austen
6. The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
7. Othello- William Shakespeare
8. Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
9. The Host- Stephanie Meyer
10. Sense and Sensibility- Jane Austen

Aria LaJune
1. Imajica- Clive Barker
2. American Gods- Neil Gaiman
3. The Bell Jar- Sylvia Plath
4. An Unquiet Mind- Kay Redfield Jamison
5. The Hobbit- J. R. R. Tolkien
6. Ishmael- Daniel Quinn
7. The Feast of All Saints- Ann Rice
8. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
9. Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk
10. Impulse- Ellen Hopkins



And that's what my awesome fans adore reading! Did you add any of these to the list? Looks like we have some popular titles that sparked a trend! Hopefully, you will read some more great books, as per my fans' requests!

The next F^3 will be sometime in October. Stay posted for the contest and the chance to be on my blog!

Til next time, keep readin' and dreamin'!

-Fred

Blog Tour with Kai Strand!

Happy Thusday, my lovely readers!

I am honored to participate in Kai Strand's blog tour on this fine evening. Kai Strand is a middle grade and YA author of several titles. But enough of my blabbering, I'll let her do the talking!

Hey everybody, my name is Kai Strand. I was unpacking books at a signing and came across a copy of King of Bad with a torn cover. Bummer. I can’t sell that! But my loss is your gain. Because I can hold a giveaway instead!

Along with a slightly damaged copy of King of Bad, I’m also giving away several sets of character trading cards. These cards have been specially designed for book one in the series. There will be a separate set of cards designed for each book – so be among the first to own a set.

About the book:

Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules or observe curfew. He wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; that is until he learns he has superpowers and is recruited by Super Villain Academy – where you learn to be good at being bad. In a school where one kid can evaporate all the water from your body and the girl you hang around with can perform psychic sex in your head, bad takes on a whole new meaning. Jeff wonders if he’s bad enough for SVA.

He may never find out. Classmates vilify him when he develops good manners. Then he’s kidnapped by those closest to him and left to wonder who is good and who is bad. His rescue is the climactic episode that balances good and evil in the super world. The catalyst – the girl he’s crushing on. A girlfriend and balancing the Supers is good, right? Or is it…bad?

Available in print or electronic: Whiskey Creek Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble 

Excerpt:

[Pyro] swung the door open with a flourish and indicated for Jeff to go inside. Jeff stepped into the doorway and stopped. They were in some sort of gymnasium. Kids ranging from about 12 to 18 years old were hard at work testing their athleticism in a freak show sort of way. A girl did chin-ups at twice the speed of a top Olympian. A boy ran across a high wire. The most beautiful girl Jeff had ever laid eyes on leaned against the wall across the room. Jeff tore his eyes from her when an oddly shaped ball soared over the heads of the kids. Two boys enjoyed a game of catch. At least Jeff thought the sneers on their faces indicated enjoyment. Suddenly a head popped out of the ball.

“Come on, you wimps, get further apart.”

Jeff’s stomach lurched when he realized the ball was a contorted girl.

In the far corner of the gym a couple of kids were involved in extreme wresting. Jeff watched one kid leap six feet off the ground and pile drive the other kid into the thick stack of mats. He thought they’d have a future in WWE if the super villain thing didn’t pan out for them. Jeff’s gaze wandered back to the beautiful redhead. She smiled at him and his stomach fluttered.

Pyro nudged Jeff into the gym and let the door close. “Each S.V. has at least one prominent ability. Most of us are faster and stronger than the average human, but there are a few that are faster or stronger than the average S.V. There are also those of us who have fire as well as those who have ice. You can usually find an S.V. with a complementary ability to yours.” Pyro pointed at a dark haired girl standing in the center of the room.

The girl had a large bucket in front of her. Her face was contorted with concentration, but Jeff couldn’t see anything happening. Then all at once a geyser of water burst toward the ceiling and it fell back down on the assemblage in a misty rain. The girl’s face broke into an exultant smile as the dripping kids groaned and grumbled around her.

“Wow, that’s really hard to do,” Pyro said, “break an element into so many little particles. She’ll have a headache later.”

Reviews:

I found myself falling in love with all the characters in the book. I loved the different abilities each one of them have. Kai did an outstanding job writing this book. I could not put it down. It is filled with lots of action and even some romance. Everything you want in a book. Victoria for Page Turners Blog

Can't wait for the sequel! – Christopher White for Amazon

About the author:

When her children were young and the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died. The end.” Now an award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers and short stories for the younger ones, Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults. Learn more about Kai and her books on her website, www.kaistrand.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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You heard the author! Enter to win some great prizes and find out about great books from a great author!!!

And don't forget, tomorrow is my first Featured Fans Friday! I'll be posting some of my dear fans' favorite books (Lucid clearly tops all of the lists, so they didn't even have to add it!) and celebrating all of the love and support I've gotten for Devon and co's story. So stay tuned for that and for some more opportunities to be a part of my F^3s!

Til next time, keep readin and dreamin!

-Fred

Thrills and Chills: Kathy Bosman's Latest Book Honors Halloween!

Ahoy, trusty readers!

First, I’d like to thank all of you who participated in my Facebook contest! There are still 2 more spots available for my Featured Fans (new monthly installment on this blog.) So, go on ahead and comment on my Facebook fanpage for a chance to have your 10 favorite books featured on the Internet for all the world to see!

What? You mean you aren’t a fan of mine on Facebook? Best go do that now: http://facebook.com/only.but.a.dream

I’ll post official winners and the Featured Fans release date next Monday!

But for now, I’ve some holiday cheer for you all! No, not that holiday (give me some credit!) I’m talking about my favorite,  Halloween! Costumes, parties, candy, tricks, and treats: what’s not to love? I’ve always been a huge fan of Halloween, so it’s only right for me to have my first holiday feature be about my ghoulish favorite.

This is also my first time featuring a book that is pure romance and for a non YA crowd. So, without further ado, let me introduce you to Kathy Bosman and her book, His Halloween Kisses!

The Book

You’d think a Halloween book would be a bit scary, right? Well, this one has chills of a different kind! It all starts when Ali, our heroine, is house-sitting on a dark Halloween night. Ali’s friend’s brother, Byron, makes things a bit complicated by playing hide-and-kiss with her in the dark. What begins as a spooky evening ends up one full of potential romance and frustration. Can Ali and Byron reconnect in the daylight? You’ll have to find out!

But for now, I’ll play Byron and tease you with this excerpt:

The TV made a fizz, and the light from its screen compressed into a small dot. All the lights in the house went out.

A power failure.

She sat frozen for a moment, unsure what to do next. This wasn’t her own home. Where did they keep candles and torches? At her place, she stored them in the kitchen drawer, and so did her parents in her childhood house. Wouldn’t that be the logical place? Blinking furiously, she hoped to find some light somewhere to guide her to the kitchen without bumping into something. Nothing. She couldn’t see a single thing. There was no moon tonight. Probably as overcast as it had been the whole miserable, rainy, windy afternoon. She spread out her hands in front of her and walked slowly, one awkward, terrifying step at a time.

In the darkness, the sounds were magnified. Wind whined like a strangled prisoner through every window, door crack, and ceiling board. Something tapped at one of the windows from the dining room. Tap…tap…tap. Probably just a branch from a nearby bush. It couldn’t be a ghost or a zombie, could it? Her quickened pulse didn’t believe any logical arguments tonight.

Images streamed through her darkened vision—pictures of real witches, zombies with bared teeth and deathly pale faces, and horrible creatures with horrific wolf-like snouts and sharp fangs. She shivered. For some reason, tonight, Halloween was getting under her skin.

And not in a nice way.

A crash sounded in the kitchen.

Her leg remained poised for the next step, but she couldn’t take it.

She couldn’t go in there.

What was that? Terror strangled her a moment, making it hard to breathe.

Possibly only the Bauman family cat, their little black and white tabby. A smile curled her mouth in response to the calming thought. Black cat—bad luck. Yeah, she sure was overthinking this whole simple inconvenience of a power outage.

Something brushed past her leg, something warm, soft, and silent.

Hot tears sprang to her eyes.

Need more? Here’s a scene-skip excerpt (also, here’s where it gets good!)

She felt his breath upon her face, heard him mumble something, not sure what. His voice was right by her ear, or so it seemed. The wind drowned out what he’d said, but all she wanted to do was feel him, sense him, allow him to take over her senses fully, so she didn’t feel any more fear.

Her heart went crazy. He was kissing her. His mouth pressed on hers, exploring her lips with such courage, such boldness, such impudence. How dare he?

She wanted to slap him, wanted to pull his hair, wanted to shout to him, “Get out! Who do you think you are?” but her body didn’t listen. Her lips sought his with fervor, with need, with joy. They moved up and down, exploring every texture of his mouth, the plumpness in the centre and the way they tapered out thinly to the edges; the moist, softer part just on the inside of his mouth and then horrors, she touched his tongue, just the tip, but it sent a swirl of pleasure through her, causing her heart rate to soar through the roof. She felt like she plunged the depths of mischief, of intrigue—kissing a stranger in the dark.

His hands brushed the back of her neck, and fingers ran through her hair. He stroked her wet cheek, oh so gently, while his mouth still remained on hers, locked in the sweetest kiss of her whole lifetime so far.

Should she pull away first?

She couldn’t. She didn’t want to.

She needed this. Needed to forget everything. The confusion of the last few months. The uncertainty. The fear.

Who Should Buy It?

Haven’t done this section in a while, but I feel like I need to clarify. While this is clean romance, my middle school fans should probably stay away from this book. Boys still have cooties, anyway, right?

Everyone else, however, should definitely go check this out! It’s one of those rare books where you have suspense that doesn’t scare you half to death! If you love a fast-paced, drama-filled romance, I highly recommend His Halloween Kisses!

Intrigued? Go get your copy of His Halloween Kisses at any reputable e-book store!

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/His-Halloween-Kisses-Kathy-Bosman-ebook/dp/B00NLW3O20/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411038027&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=his+hallween+kisses

BN.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/his-halloween-kiss-kathy-bosman/1120353198?ean=2940150741317

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/477020

The Author

Kathy Bosman loves reading and writing even more. She homeschools her three kids, so in between unsuccessfully explaining the difference between subject and predicate or how to divide fractions, she enters an imaginary world of troubled and passionate characters whose stories take over the page. Kathy lives in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, where the summers are hot, the winters cool, and bugs thrive. Her first published novel, Wedding Gown Girl, came out in 2012 with Astraea Press. She belongs to the Romance Writers of South Africa Group (ROSA) which has been her greatest support and inspiration the last few years.

Want to learn more about her other novel or connect with Kathy? You can find her at these sites:

Website and blog: http://www.kathybosman.com/

Facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/KathleenBosman

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathleenLBosman

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5257900.Kathy_Bosman

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/gracewalk17

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kathy-Bosman/e/B007GCQBNK

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxifimh0X62uZLvKkon8tDQ

Newsletter Subscription: http://eepurl.com/NokET

That’s it for now, kiddos! Got lots of great things coming your way, so stay tuned!

Til then, keep readin’ and dreamin’!

-Fred

Romance during Time Trials: Nicole Zoltack Talks about her New Book!

Ahoy, lovely readers!

Hope you didn`t miss me too much this time. It has only been a few days, after all! Told you I`d be posting more frequently, giving you all of the good books YA and beyond.

And what a good book I have for you today! The very-talented Nicole Zoltack is on my blog today to talk about her newest novel, The Test of Time. If you love romance, fast-paced fiction, time travel, 19^th century England, and hot guys, then this book is definitely for you!

I mean, just look at that lovely cover? If that alone doesn`t pique your curiosity, then the blurb below will!

The Book

Katia jumps at the chance to go to England with her best friend after Rose ditches her deadbeat boyfriend. While walking through the market, she spies a large mansion and recognizes the guy out front as her high school friend Tony. Just as they start to reconnect, Katia passes through times and lands in the arms of Lord Landon, who looks like Tony but certainly doesn’t act like him.

Soon, Katia learns that this 1815 is different from the one in history books. Trapped in a parallel world, Katia struggles to not fall for Landon but his charm proves too much for her. Just when she is about to confess her love for him, Katia travels through time yet again.

The course of love never did run smooth and if Katia can’t figure out and master the test of time, she’ll never see or friends again, or worse, never be reunited with Landon.

Will Katia travel through time yet again? More importantly, does she end up with Landon from the past or Tony from today? The only way to find out more is by reading The Test of Time available as an e-book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks, Overdrive, and Wattpad later today!

Sadly, I am 14 hours ahead of the American publishing time clock, so the links will be live sometime during the middle of the night in Japan. Be on the lookout for this great book, 

though!

The Author

Nicole Zoltack loves to write fantasy/paranormal, romances, horror, historical, for adults and young adults, novels, short stories, and flash pieces. She doesn't want to get boxed in by genre -- she might be claustrophobic! She's also an editor for MuseItUp Publishing and works as a freelance editor.

When she isn't writing about girls wanting to be knights, superheroes, and swoony gentlemen, she spends time with her loving family. She loves to ride horses (pretending they're unicorns, of course!) and going to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, dressed in period garb. Her favorite current TV show is The Walking Dead.

To learn more about Nicole and her work, visit her blog at http://NicoleZoltack.blogspot.com.

You can also check out Zoltack`s other novels and author pages at the links below:

Twitter @nicolezoltack: https://twitter.com/NicoleZoltack
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorNicoleZoltack
Google+: https://plus.google.com/112850281244279638997/posts
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2887586.Nicole_Zoltack
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolezoltack
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/nicolezoltack
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/NicoleZoltack

Tumblr: http://nicolezoltack.tumblr.com

Authornewsletter: http://nicolezoltack.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=2f8ea3d70f54c40f7be57fcd3&id=0eb487465e

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nicole-Zoltack/e/B00304YARW/

That`s all for today, y`all! Stay tuned this month for some holiday festivities! Halloween is my favorite holiday, after all! After that, I`ll be chronicling my NaNoWriMo adventure on this blog and the official site all through November. I may even write a new novel!

Tons of fun things coming your way! Until then, keep readin` and dreamin`!

-Fred

A Journey to Happiness: A Feature on Adventure and Self-Discovery

Hello, lovely readers!

I bring to you today some inspirational non-fiction. Why you ask? Well, for starters, I want nothing more than to bring each and every one of you a book that moves you in some way. Whether it be my own, one of my colleagues’, or some book I randomly found in my new apartment, if it moves me in some way, I hope it moves you as well.

Also, as a new writer living in a new country, I sort of need a bit of inspiration myself.

So, it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Sod’s Law and Silver Linings by a fellow traveller, Gavin Bingë. Not familiar with Sod’s Law? It’s basically the pessimistic notion that if something can go wrong, it will. It’s also known as Murphy’s Law, which is commonly heard back in the good ol’ US of A.

Sound familiar now? Knew it would. I’m sure we have all experienced bouts of Sod’s/Murphy’s Law at one –or several—points in our lives. Gavin writes about his own misfortunes, which will tug at your heartstrings—you have been warned, and how moving to the other side of the world helped him face and overcome all of his setbacks.

Sod’s Law and Silver Linings started as a JET Program (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, where young adults are placed in the Japanese school system as assistant language teachers for a year or more) participant’s account of his journey, which –for obvious reasons—sparked my interest. While the book does have some helpful information for current and aspiring JETs, it touches so much more beneath the surface. The story of falling down, way down, and coming back up through sheer determination and forced optimism is truly a tale that needs to be read over and over again. You will start reading this book and come out on the other side a different person.

But enough of my ramblings! I’ll let Gavin`s synopsis do the talking!

"How did I end up on the JET programme and in this magical land of mystery called Japan? How did I survive a string of robberies, two near-fatal car crashes, two (more) exploding cars and both devilish depression and awful anxiety? 

Quite frankly, I didn't know.

That's why I wrote this book, and I was surprised at what I found.

(And there's some practical information on the JET programme in there too!)"

I had a spot of bad luck over the last few years. Amongst other things, I was robbed at gunpoint, suffered a near-fatal car-crash and was robbed again immediately after. Sadly, I do mean immediately after: my phone was snatched out of my bloody, trembling hand as I was coughing blood and trying to call the ambulance. He grabbed it before I could make the call, of course.

A few months later, I had another really bad car crash, lost my job, ate my savings (quite literally), and had two cars break down on me in a spectacular fashion while driving on the highway at speeds of greater than 100km/h.

I also suffered from debilitating depression and her sinister handmaiden, crippling anxiety.

I wrote this book to try and figure out both how and why I'm not yet dead, and I was surprised at what I found.

You can buy Sod’s Law and Silver Linings on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Sods-Law-Silver-Linings-Programme-ebook/dp/B00IGU7W34

Well, that’s it for today, folks! Tune in next week for some more exciting spotlights! I have a great month of posts planned, maybe even some Halloween stories to get you in the spirit!

Til next time, keep on readin’ and dreamin’!

-Fred