Monday, February 24, 2014

Celebrate FIRE COUNTRY While It's HOT! Hurry! + Guest Post

Today, Fire Country by David Estes turns one year old. In the first year since Fire Country was born, so much has happened. David signed with an agent, sold more than 10,000 books, wrote five more books and published a further three). He knew he just had to celebrate and he'd love for you to be a part of it! David owes so much of his support to the blogger community, and he wants everyone to have the chance to be a part of the Fire Country Birthday Bash.
Everyone goes home a winner, simply follow the prompts below and swipe your eCopy of Fire Country from Smashwords. Read and leave a review on Amazon if you enjoyed it. Feel free to share the code with your friends, family, neighbours and literary inclined pets.
Coupon Code: WH62C
Expiration: March 1, 2014
What's a party without prizes? Yes, David is not only giving everyone a chance to download their own copy of Fire Country, book one in the Country Saga for free, but he's also giving you stuff too. You could win an Amazon giftcard open internationally, U.S residents can win a signed copy of the David Estes book of your choice, or a handful of David Estes eBooks of your choice. Awesome.
Visit David via his Blog  Facebook • Twitter and via Goodreads
Pay Perry the Prickler a visit on Twitter and Goodreads


What advice would you give your younger self (or any young person)?
By David Estes

Thanks for having me on your awesome blog, Alana, and thanks for the awesome topic! I think this is a really cool topic because I often think about my past and what I would change if I could do it all again. Living with any sense of regret probably isn’t the healthiest thing, but I think learning from mistakes IS important, particularly when you can pass that advice on to the next generation.
So if I could hop in the Delorian or some other time travel machine and have a Pepsi with my sixteen-year-old self, what would advice would I give him?
Well, besides slipping him a list of sports teams to bet on and lottery numbers to play, the first and most important thing I’d say is: Follow. Your. Heart. Although there’s a lot that can be said about making smart decisions and using your brain to make them, I personally believe that life is too short to be pragmatic all the time. Sometimes what seems like the smart decision, is really just the easy one and it won’t lead you to true happiness. For me, I went into accounting because I was reasonably good at it and I was pretty much guaranteed a decent-paying job after I graduated from college. I even stuck with it for 7 years! But was I ever really happy in that job? No. I made some good friends, saved a bit of money, and was able to move to Australia because of it though, so I don’t regret any of it, but I could have been doing something I loved all those years…writing books.
The next thing I would say is: If it doesn’t feel right it’s probably not right. That might come across as rather cryptic, but if interpreted correctly, would save him a lot of pain in the future. That being said, I wouldn’t want my younger self to avoid all the mistakes I made, as sometimes it’s our mistakes that allow us to grow the most and become a better version of ourselves.
Finally, I would tell teenager David Estes to enjoy every moment. The years pass by in a flash, and it’s the small moments in our lives that we regret not having appreciated at the time. Enjoy those moments when they’re happening, not ten years down the line when you wish you could do it all over again. Laugh more. Argue less. Count your blessings.
Although I still consider myself young at 32 years old (don’t you dare say I’m not!), to anyone younger out there who’s trying to find your way in life, I’d say to enjoy life NOW. Don’t always be looking ahead to a time you think will be better, like retirement. Love your high school years, love your college years, and love your adult lives. Every stage of your life, even the ones that feel the most awkward, are worth living to the fullest and equally important. Be yourself and don’t let anyone tell you you’re not special, because you are. Dream big and fight for what you believe in. Treat others with kindness and pay kindness paid to you forward to others who need it. Love with all your heart and don’t be afraid to let it be broken sometimes. It will heal and it will become stronger. Love you for you, and don’t try to remake yourself to satisfy someone else. Be you. Perfectly imperfect.

Now if I could just follow all my own advice, I could be the happiest man alive! In any case, we’re all human and we’re all connected and trying to live our lives as best as we can. And if we fail, we’re always allowed to get back up, even if we need someone to pull us from the front and push us from behind. 

Thursday, February 13, 2014

All Lined Up ~ Are you Ready for this Reveal?


We're extremely excited to bring you the cover for ALL LINED UP, the first book in Cora Carmack's highly anticipated Rusk University Series! ALL LINED UP is a New Adult Contemporary Romance novel published by William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins). It is due to be released on May 13, 2014!!

 

ABOUT ALL LINED UP:

In Texas, two things are cherished above all else—football and gossip. My life has always been ruled by both.
 
Dallas Cole loathes football. That's what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.

But life doesn't always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.

Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It's obliterated.

Dallas doesn't know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn't know that Dallas is his new coach's daughter.
And neither of them knows how to walk away from the attraction they feel.

“Laughter + heartache + hot sexual tension = the perfect Cora Carmack book.”
—Monica Murphy


Pre-Order Links: Amazon Barnes & Noble iTunes

  Headshot
About Cora Carmack: Cora Carmack is a twenty-something writer who likes to write about twenty-something characters. She's done a multitude of things in her life-- boring jobs (like working retail), Fun jobs (like working in a theatre), stressful jobs (like teaching), and dream jobs (like writing). She enjoys placing her characters in the most awkward situations possible, and then trying to help them get a boyfriend out of it. Awkward people need love, too. Her first book, LOSING IT, was a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.

Links: Website Twitter Facebook Author Goodreads ALL LINED UP Goodreads

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Saving Quinton Launch Day Blitz! + Excerpt!


SAVING QUINTON by Jessica Sorensen (February 4, 2014; Forever E-Book; $4.99)
Nova Reed can't forget him-Quinton Carter, the boy with the honey-brown eyes who made her realize she deserved more than an empty life. His pain was so similar to her own. But Nova has been coming to terms with her past and healing, while Quinton is out there somewhere, sinking deeper. She's determined to find him and help him . . . before it's too late.

  Nova has haunted his dreams for nearly a year-but Quinton never thought a sweet, kind person like her would care enough about a person like him. To Quinton, a dark, dangerous life is exactly what he deserves. And Nova has no place in it. But Nova has followed him to Las Vegas, and now he must do whatever it takes to keep her away, to maintain his self-imposed punishment for the unforgivable things he's done. But there's one flaw in his plan: Nova isn't going anywhere . . .

About the author:
Jessica Sorensen is a #1 New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author who lives with her husband and three kids in Idaho. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

Social Media Links:
Buy Links:
iTunes

Excerpt:



It’s been a long three days, filled with visits to Quinton that seem to be leading nowhere. We have the same conversations and he won’t open up to me at all and I’m not sure how to bring up to him that I know about the accident, so I just keep dodging around it, lying to him. But bringing up memories like that is complicated and painful. I know because every time someone would even mention Landon’s name after his death, it’d feel like a part of me died inside.
When I’m not over there with Quinton, I spend my time hanging out with Lea. We haven’t gone to the Strip yet, but we chatted about going out this weekend when it’s late and all the lights are on, just as long as her uncle doesn’t mind that we come home late. He actually just got home from his business trip last night and chatted with Lea and me for a little bit. He seems nice and even cooked us dinner while he asked us about our plans while we are here. Lea was vague about the details, telling him that we were here to see a friend.
It’s late morning and I’m sitting in the guest room at Lea’s uncle’s house with the computer screen aimed at me so I can see myself as I get ready to record before I head over to Quinton’s for my daily visit. I have the curtain pulled shut to avoid any glare. My brown hair is wavy and runs down to my shoulders and the blue studs in my ears match my tank top. I have shorts on and no shoes. “It’s been three days of going over to see Quinton and the time I spend with him feels so short and the time in between feels so long because I’m always worried about what he’s doing when I’m gone.” I lean forward in the chair, getting closer to the screen. “I still hate going over there, though, because it’s so terrifying…his place. I’m not even sure why. If it’s because there’s so many rough people walking around doing things that are bad and illegal or if it’s the fact that if I didn’t change paths, I could have ended up there.” I pause, considering my next words carefully. “What’s really hard is that sometimes I can see myself there, sitting beside Quinton on the shitty mattress in his room. I can picture myself there getting high beside him, connecting with him, and life is so different. Less stressful.” I make a guilty face. “Maybe that’s not the right word, because it is stressful in a different way, but it’s like you’re so wrapped up in drugs that you can’t register the stress until it’s too late and everything’s falling apart. I don’t want to get sucked into it again, but it’s so easy and even though I won’t tell Lea this”—I lower my voice and lean closer to the screen—“there’s been a few fleeting seconds where I think why not? Why not just join him again? What’s stopping you? Which makes me wonder if maybe I’m not the right person to save Quinton.” I raise my arm in front of the screen and get a shot of my scar and tattoo. “But then I look down at this and I remember that place, where I was so lost, drifting, drifting, drifting. I could have died and it wouldn’t have mattered,” I say. “But right now it does matter because I want to live.”
I sigh, knowing I’m rambling at this point. “Honestly, I don’t know what exactly I’m trying to say with this recording, other than to get my thoughts out.” I faintly smile. “Sort of like a diary.” I click the camera off and shut down the computer. I slip my sandals on and grab my bag, ready to head out, hoping that I can continually remember, never forget just how bad things can get, because it’s what keeps me going.