The Water Road by JD Byrne

Hello, my readers!
Today I wanted to write about a book I recently worked on, called The Water Road by JD Byrne. First off, here is the cover art:

Isn't it stunning?

The novel could not be more interesting. It is the story of Antrey, a half-breed who isn't quite accepted by the people of her mother or those of her father. After she discovers the truth about how her father's race has been manipulating her mother's people for generations, she sets out to expose the truth and seek justice for the Neldathi. For those of you who love sinking into a really good, long book, this one is a great choice. The novel is over 130k words. Click here to read the blurb and purchase the novel from Amazon. 

JD Byrne blogs about The Water Road weekly on his blog. The blog posts are so interesting because they provide a deeper look into the mind of the author and how he developed the fantasy world in which the novel takes place. Check out the posts here. In his website, you can find see his Twitter activity, read more about his books and bio, and sign up for emails every time he releases new books. You get a free short story if you sign up, so take advantage! 

Happy reading! 

Need your handwritten manuscript typed up?

Hello, readers! I have a very dear friend who types up handwritten manuscripts. I know I've had a few people ask about this service, which I can't offer personally anymore due to time constraints, but my friend Lauren Gardella is happy to help out with that. She is located within the continental US, which means shipping notebooks or journals to her can be done via ground shipping or media mail for very low prices. She is a college student trying to pay for her education, so she is very motivated to work. Ask her about rush jobs; she can get the document typed up faster for an extra fee. Feel free to contact her at gardella11@gmail.com.

Want to win a developmental edit from a New York Times bestselling author and writing coach?

Sign up for his free mini video course on how to write better novels, and enter for a chance to win a free developmental edit! These run in the hundreds of dollars. The author is Joe Nassise, a NYT and USA today bestselling author, and he's also a writing coach. Here's the link to sign up. 

Celebrating 200 Years of Pride and Prejudice

Having worked on several Pride and Prejudice spinoffs by several authors, I thought my readers would get a kick off this tribute to the famous novel. Here is a link to a cartoonist's homage to the 200th anniversary of its publication. It's wonderfully done, with quotes from the actual novel.

The Puppet Curse

Hi guys! So I have a book planned out, and I had a tentative cover done for it.

I'm not sure about the title font and placement, so will have those modified by the cover artist. Have any feedback? Let me know what you think! 

I have an official website!

I am thrilled to announce that I had an official website done. I hired the lovely Colleen Sheehan to design it for me in its entirety, as my efforts at creating a website from a template failed abysmally. She took less than 3 days to design everything, and I was so pleased with her work that I have also hired her to do a Facebook banner for my Facebook page and to create a logo for my editing business.
You can contact her here. She is actually also a book interior designer, and her work is amazing. Check out her full website here.
Would you like to check out my website? Click here!
And here is my Facebook page. It's very bare right now, but I will be adding a banner and picture soon. Like it so you get access to my posts, which will feature grammar tips, articles, and more!

schedule changes and rush editing

Hello, readers!
I want to update you on my schedule. Starting the second week of August, I will not be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays for two-day short stories. So if you have a deadline to meet, please send during a Monday so I can have the story back by Wednesday, or on Wednesday so I can have it back by Friday. I will work on Tuesdays and Thursdays if it is a MUST, but please be advised I'd rather not, as I'll be busy taking classes all day in college during those days.

Also, please remember that I charge an extra $100 for same-week rush editing on novels or novellas. I usually provide a two-week turnaround, maybe three to four weeks if the manuscript is over 80k words. Please take that into account so I can meet your deadlines. If you need something done rush, I will accommodate you, but it will cost extra.

Covertopia giveaway alert

OK, so I just found this awesome giveaway over at Kboards. Covertopia is raffling away a predesigned cover, your pick from their catalogue, and you also get free ebook formatting from one of their formatters. That's a $250 value according to them. Go and check out the giveaway. Here is the link.

New flat rate deals!

Short stories under 10k words will be edited for $20.
Short stories up to 25k words will be edited for $50.

some shameless self-promoting

Hey all! So, I just put up my second book for prerelease on Amazon. It is available here.
I suppose it's a YA fantasy novella. It's around 30k words. Don't mind what amazon says; it's not 4 pages long. Here's the cover I had made by Ronnell Porter over here:

Pretty awesome, right? Ronnell did a wonderful job. And his turnaround was quick, only three days or so. I'm looking for reviews, so if you want a free copy in exchange for a review, just contact me! My email is on the sidebar to the left. 

'Witch Hollow and the Spider Mistress" by I.D. Blind

Hello readers!
I have worked with I.D. Blind since her very first Witch Hollow book. Recently, I had the pleasure of working on the fourth book in the five-book series of Witch Hollow. This new book is titled 'Witch Hollow and the Spider Mistress".


If you haven't been following the story from the very first book, here is a short summary.
(BOOK 1 IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD IN AMAZON)
The story takes place in Ireland, in the small, magical town of Hollow. Cassandra, Medea and Electra, although not sisters by birth, were raised together by their Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Colin when their parents were killed in a witch-hunt over a decade ago. The girls became close as sisters, and they each have magical abilities and quirks that differ from each other. Cassandra can speak to animals, while Medea is allergic to moonlight and cannot go out at night unless it is Halloween night.
When Eric, a handsome Australian fellow, moves to Hollow, his heart is torn between Dinah, a girl whose family is very anti-witches, and Electra, who is sweet, kind, but a witch.
Unfortunately for the witches in Hollow, every few years the Hunters come to try to destroy all witchcraft in the town, even though originally it was meant to be a town for all witches and magical beings to live peacefully. Several prominent and wealthy families in town, including Dinah's, support these Hunters.
Eric follows his heart and enters a relationship with his chosen girl, and is branded a traitor by the opposing side. Together, the girls and their friends must fight against the Hunters, for the Trials have begun in which they will be branded witches and killed.
If you want to follow the story, I strongly encourage you to read all the books in the series. I.D. Blind's writing has grown along with her sweet characters, and as the girls age and the years pass, the books become more intense in terms of the adventures the girls must endure.

Here are links to all the available books in the series:
Book 1 (free to download!)
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4

So go ahead and download the first book in the series. It's free, after all, so you have nothing to lose. You will fall for the sweet witches like I did. This is a great series for children. There is no gore or mature content.

www.inkspokes.com

Well, how's this for a nice surprise? I was contacted a while back for my info so I could be added to a list of resources for indie writers, and apparently they went ahead and added me to the list of editors and proofreaders!

The website is called inkspokes, and it features the most delightful illustrations. Apart from being a resource where you can find editors, there are also lists for those looking for illustrators and book cover designers. Not only that, but these is a wealth of information for those indie authors looking to make it in the business.

As I was mentioning, there are illustrators who have contributed to the site, making for a delightful and whimsical page instead of a boring old website. It truly is a welcoming site where you can even submit to have your new book announced! I will definitely be using this resource in the future.

Thank you, inkspokes, for having me in your list of resources.

$50 discount for new clients

New clients, now is the time to book my services for your editing needs. I'm offering a $50 discount to the first 5 clients who book this month and pay upfront. Take the opportunity to get your manuscripts edited so they are ready for the coming year!

Edited to add that 3 of the discounts have been claimed. Contact me before they run out!

Joseph Lallo

So I contacted Joseph Lallo to see if he had anything for me to look over, and he sent me the first few chapters of his new Work in Progress, the third in the Big Sigma series. I must admit I love Joseph's Book of Deacon Series, but for some reason my favorite characters became the ones in this other series. Maybe because they're snarkier and more prone to having amazing adventures and beating up lots of bad guys and big corporations.

Here is his blog post which says a little something about his upcoming book.
Once it's out and I've read it, I'll definitely post a more thorough review of the book. From what I read, it seems promising, action-packed, and full of intrigue and a very particular, rare creature that promises to cause all sorts of mayhem. Oh, and the Luddites are at it again in this book, meddling where they shouldn't be, so I hope Lex and his companions do some butt-kicking there!

An erotic fantasy?!

Readers, have I some juicy gossip for you.
I am working on an extremely captivating erotic fantasy. Boy, is it good! It had me blushing and laughing nervously throughout. The male lead, Killian, is no flat character. He has his problems, and he doesn't like vanilla relationships. He is dreamy, a tall, dark and handsome artist who came from the streets and turned into a painting prodigy of contemporary art. His paintings sell for thousands of thousands, and he's in high demand by the wealthy elite of society. He seems to have everything going on except for that stable partner for life.

I'll share links when the book is due so we can all giggle and swoon over the amazing story written by one of my fantastic clients. It's a must-read for female book clubs who like steamy fantasies.

UPDATE- Here's the link to buy on amazon!
 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q5XM504/ 

Clients: send in deposits for coming months!

Hello,
just wanted to remind everyone that the tail end of the year is usually a very busy time for me and that it's now the time to start sending deposits to book spots for the coming months. Please remember that normal turnaround time for a first and second draft is around 4 weeks depending on how fast you send back the first draft. Book as long as possible in advance, especially if you have release dates set already.
I look forward to working on all your new projects!

Need a real-life forensic consultant for your novel?

Hello, readers!
I've recently gotten into reading a lot of fictional books about crimes, with all sorts of interesting characters ranging from FBI agents down to crime scene techs. If you happen to be an author of this type of novel, I have great news for you!
Today I'd like to promote a friend's website. Brette O'Connell studied and worked in the field of Forensic Science Technology. She has real-life hands-on experience in processing crime scenes. How amazing is that, anyway? How many people do you know who can say the same?
Her studies and job experience put her in a sweet position where she can provide accuracy to those crime scenes you're developing in your book. Feel free to contact Brette, and she'll help you get all the forensic details right.

"An unusual job" by Trudy Wassenaar

Readers, greetings! I have been busy busy with projects and thus haven't been updating my blog as often as I'd like. Let me make it up to you by telling you about this book I worked on recently, "An unusual job" by Trudy Wassenaar.

Dr Trudy Wassenaar has intensive experience in the medical field. Her medical background puts her in the unique position of having vast knowledge with which to weave this medical mystery. The main character, Sue Swanson, owns a scientific consulting company, specializing in microbiology and genomics, much like the author. She seeks some outside work to occupy her time, and ends up working for a pharmaceutical company as a packer of pills. She quickly discovers some irregularities with the products she's packing, and from there embarks on an adventure to help the CEO of the company uncover exactly what nefarious activities are happening right under his nose, things that could ruin the big pharmaceutical company's reputation irrevocably.

Trudy's medical background is the perfect complement to her writing, as she provides the readers with lots of interesting scientific information that helps move the plot along and also throws the readers even deeper into the story. Sue Swanson, the heroine, is very well developed. You can almost believe this person exists in real life, and that the book isn't fiction at all, but a truthful retelling of a woman's adventure. I had never experienced such a wonderful form of storytelling like when I read and worked on Dr Wassenaar's book, such a mix of fiction and real-life scientific truths. It's a truly enjoyable read, not boring at all, and with some humor thrown in, so the book isn't serious or dry.

Feel free to check out the book on Amazon. You can get it in print or ebook format. Go ahead and leave a review if you enjoy it as much as I did!

guest post for Lindsay Buroker

Hey there! I've been away for forever, I know. I promise to update more frequently in the coming months. There are a lot of new authors I have worked with that I have yet to feature, so be on the lookout for posts with links to buy their books.
Today I'd like to share a guest post I did for author Lindsay Buroker a while back. It's about common mistakes authors make. I hope you find it informative!

Building Dad: Journal Of A New Father by Chris Osborn

Hello, readers! Today I'd like to blog about a book I recently worked on,

Building Dad: Journal Of A New Father by Chris Osborn You guys have no idea how enjoyable this book is. I suggest you read it to find out. It's nothing what you expect. It's not a typical parenting book. It's more about the journey of becoming a parent from a man's point of view, told in a hilarious way. It is touching at times, but mostly it's a hilarious, unique read.  The book can be purchased through Amazon here.