Monday 23 November 2015

Kyra's book release

7
Release Blitz
Everybody Knows
Razes Hell #2
by Kyra Lennon

12140170_1031431923566464_7409377351418316508_o

Synopsis
Lucy Hayes has been offered the opportunity of a lifetime – a chance to go on tour with the UK’s fastest rising rock band, Razes Hell. Lucy Hayes has been in love with Razes Hell’s frontman, Jason Brooks, for as long as she can remember. While most women see him only as a rock god, Lucy sees the real Jason. But will that be enough to make him see her as the adult she is, or is she destined to remain the baby sister of his best friend forever? When Lucy bags an invite to join Razes Hell on their Europe and U.S tour, she is under no illusions about where she fits in Jason’s life. She’s the girl next door, too young to ever catch his attention. However, when Lucy is the first to notice Jason’s struggle to keep his cocaine addiction in check while out on the road, the pair grow closer, and Lucy thinks she might be about to make her dreams come true. But how can it ever work out? With an age gap against them, not to mention concerned family and friends stating their opinions, and the media turning something beautiful into something sinister, they are fighting an impossible battle. Everybody Knows there’s something between Lucy and Jason, but will their feelings be enough to keep them afloat, or will their feelings tear apart everything they hold dear?

12164679_907416229343371_2106591601_o

Buy Links


11637977_906478696103791_951321701_n

Author Bio
Kyra is a self-confessed book-a-holic, and has been since she first learned to read. When she's not reading, you'll usually find her hanging out in coffee shops with her trusty laptop and/or her friends, or girling it up at the nearest shopping mall. Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels. Her debut novel, Game On (New Adult Contemporary Romance), was released in July 2012, and she scored her first Amazon Top 20 listing with her New Adult novella, If I Let You Go in November.

Author's Social Links


Friday 20 November 2015

Mark Koopmans' Revival Book Tour

As part of my occasional series of How-To guest posts, and as part of his blog tour for his new book Revival, I've asked Mark Koopmans "How the heck do you write a memoir?"





Aloha,
I flew over the pond to hang with Annalisa, who’s been jolly good (wot wot) in letting me park the REVIVAL – The Donald Braswell story Tour bus in her front yard. (The damage to the fence looks mainly cosmetic, don’t you think?)

Apart from the damage to her property, Annalisa wondered about how do you even start writing a memoir?

With the power of hindsight, it’s easy to see (at the beginning) I wouldn’t have been able to answer that question!

First thing I did know, in this case, was to get Donald on board. The poor man was naturally hesitant to commit, and I don’t blame him. I was a stranger on the phone with a weird Irish accent who wanted to write his life story for free. (I’m sure he was waiting for a punch line, or an offer to buy a really nice bridge in Brooklyn.)

I had tons of journalistic experience, written hundreds of articles, reports and stories, and I was passionate about REVIVAL from the get go. However, once the project was on, I totally worked on a wing and a paragraph until Donald and I had a full set of interviews recorded/written down.

My wonderful OCD could then see the “big picture.”

I later found a beginning (which took a long time) and “the end,” which allowed me to tighten things up. (Later, I added a lot more to the earlier part of the story, but beta readers said the story was slow-moving. I listened, cut 10,000 words (cried, went into the fetal position for a while), but the eventual finished manuscript was (and is) one that makes me very proud.

When I conceived the idea, I had no idea how REVIVAL would become a labor of love, and I’m so glad to announce my “baby” was born earlier this month!


###

Thanks Annalisa for hosting me and Happy Friday everyone!

On Monday, I’ll be back stateside with Carrie Butler who looking for tips on interviewing guests.




BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Five years removed from his 1990 Juilliard graduation, Donald Braswell is set to be “the next Pavarotti.” Braswell’s successful career ends, however, not with a standing ovation at Carnegie Hall, but alone, lying in a dirty ditch.

Following the hit-and-run accident that steals his voice and future, the “Texas Tenor” struggles with depression and despair—until the night his daughter, Aria, is born. Understanding this new and immediate life change, Braswell fights to relearn how to speak, sing—and share this gift of second chances with others.

Working as a plasterer, a car salesman, and many jobs in-between, it takes thirteen years—and a musical miracle—for Braswell to battle back and sing on a professional stage. His dreams and ambitions collide with a tired and angry crowd when he auditions for America’s Got Talent. For his family, his faith and his entire future, can the Rocky Balboa of the operatic world find the courage and strength to win just one more fight?

Show your love for Revival on Goodreads. And buy it on Amazon and B&N.com


AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY:
Mark Koopmans is originally from Ireland. After working in Holland, Spain, France and England, he won his U.S. “Green Card” in 1994, and is an American by choice since 2003. Koopmans began his writing career with a feature for a regional magazine in California. Since then, he’s worked as a staff writer for newspapers in Florida and Texas. Koopmans is also a proficient blogger and is working on his next book, a novel. Koopmans lives in Virginia and is a married, stay-at-home dad to three active boys under the age of nine. He writes at night.

Mark blogs here and Tweets here.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday 2 November 2015

NaNoWriMo... ish

I did NaNo a couple of years ago. I won, and I have the proof - it's in my large chest table in my living room and, although I've often considered doing something with it, I haven't touched it for over a year.

It took a lot of time and energy, and my kids needed me every time I reached a crucial scene. I swear it became the busiest month of the whole year! I haven't even considered doing it again.

Until today.

I'm not going to sign up, because I've decided to take away the word count element. Instead, I'm going to write pages. 500 of them.

For some reason, I started writing my new project on used/old scrap paper in giant writing. On average I'm probably writing slightly more than 100 words on each page.

500 pages, 100 words each... You see where I'm going with this, don't you?

I'm only a day behind the official participants, but I've started off quite solidly. And perhaps, if I'm focusing on the length, I won't focus on the story, on how silly it is, on how I have to start again because it's so awful, on how I need to have the perfect word in order to move on.

So, that's my November taken care off, what are you up to?
Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo or cheering others on from the sidelines?
And importantly, what snacks should I stock up on?