Just heard the news: my debut YA Historical Fantasy, Artemis Rising, has been named a Finalist in the E-Book category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Thrilled! Sounds like they’ll be sharing the news of finalists and winners at the 2012 Book Expo America (BEA) in New York City later this month. Good exposure!

E-BOOK Category

WINNER ($100 PRIZE):
The American Challenge, Robert C. Etheredge (MiraVista Press) (ISBN 978–0966580440)

Finalists:

Ambush Proposals: The Hero’s Guide to Wedding Proposals, by Alison Skate (Self Published) (ISBN 978–0987261618)
Artemis Rising, by Cheri Lasota (SpireHouse Books) (ISBN 978–0983837350)
From Incurable to Incredible: Cancer Survivors Who Beat the Odds, by Tami Boehmer (CreateSpace) (ISBN 978–1451512601)
Oxford Messed Up, by Andrea Kayne Kaufman (Grant Place Press) (ISBN 978–0984675111)
Warm Hugs for Writers, by Larry Brooks (Storyfix.com) (ISBN 978–0983503004)

Catherine Goulet Shelley Anderson
Awards Chair Awards Co-ordinator
www.IndieBookAwards.com / www.IBPPG.com

See larger image Artemis Rising (Kindle Edition) By (author) Cheri Lasota List Price: $4.99 USD Release date July 24, 2011.

Just had to post this, because who knows if I shall pass this way again?

She puts up that tough front, but I know she’s hurting underneath. I’d give anything to take the pain away.

I hate the way he looks at me with those green eyes, like he’s trying to figure me out. I hate the way I swoon anyway.

These statements not only describe the way two of my characters feel about each other, but also the way I feel about them. Writing vivid, lifelike characters that readers will identify with is a challenge that all writers face. We hope that readers will be invested in our characters enough to want to form Team Edward or Team Jacob. But how do we go about creating those characters?

For me, there is no easy recipe. It would nice if I could say just take a healthy dose of perseverance, add a handful of trials and tribulations, a cup of past baggage, a dash of defiance, and a sprinkle of doubt to taste, and there you have a winning protagonist. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way. There are myriad possibilities when it comes to the types of characters and personalities, as well as the reactions you’ll want to elicit from readers. In my own writing, one thing has been key in helping me create complex, believable characters.

Empathy.

I would say it’s simply love, but it’s not always that. Do I fall in love, just a little bit, with my male leads? You betcha. But I can’t be constrained by the range of features I might be able to love when it comes to writing my characters, which is why I think empathy is most important.

We’ve all heard that tired old advice to “write what you know.” But do you know what it feels like to watch your father kill your mother as a teen, and then to deal with the emotional issues that stem from that later in your life? I hope none of you do. I certainly don’t. But Charlotte, one of my main characters, experienced that very thing. I can’t know what that feels like, but I can try to imagine. You might know about a different type of betrayal or pain that can help shape your characters. I can put myself in Charlotte’s shoes and live vicariously through her, figure out how the tragedy of her past might inform her present actions. Steven, the male lead in that same story also doesn’t know what it’s like to go through what Charlotte has been through, so my empathy in a way becomes his empathy as well.

In the first statement at the beginning of this post, that could be Steven reacting to Charlotte, or it could be me reacting to Charlotte. I have to feel close enough to her to want to heal those wounds, and to root for the relationship between Charlotte and Steven to work. Steven’s character then appeals to the part of readers that I hope will also want to see Charlotte overcome her demons.

The second statement at the top of this post is Charlotte’s reaction to Steven, and also a little bit of how I might react to him if I were in Charlotte’s place. Charlotte does have traits that I share, like that nervousness about eye contact (it’s the introvert in me). But I had to draw on empathy to really get into her head and draw out some of the nuances that I think bring her character to life. She hears her worst fears in what other people say, even if that isn’t what they’ve said. She pushes people away because she’s afraid of getting hurt, which pretty much everyone around her can see (much to her dismay). What other characters around her might not realize is that she also pushes people away because deep down she doesn’t think she’s good enough for anyone. That aspect of her character is something that came about as a result of my attempts to empathize with her situation and explore the complexities of her relationships and emotional state of mind.

Empathy requires vulnerability.

I write character-driven stories, so creating realistic characters is monumentally important. If I can’t find a way to love, hate, cry for/with, or otherwise connect emotionally with my characters, there’s no hope that my readers will be able to either. To have empathy is to let yourself live vicariously through your characters, experiencing what they experience. I love putting myself in the middle of an emotionally charged romantic relationship, complete with sizzling sexual tension and happy endings (pun...intended?) because it’s a lot of fun. But it’s not always that easy, and it’s not always fun.

You have to give yourself permission to be vulnerable. To hurt the way your characters hurt, love the way they love, feel what they feel. You have to open yourself up to emotions and feelings that are foreign to you, and maybe even some that are repulsive to you. I don’t know about you, but when an author knows their characters that intimately, I can tell. The character’s actions, reactions, and motivations feel authentic.

Sometimes it can be emotionally exhausting to be so deeply entrenched in my characters and then write their stories. I’ve cried while writing sad scenes (I think plenty of us have done so) and cried with joy while writing happy scenes, squirmed with discomfort and anxiety and even had to take a break while writing scenes of anger or other charged scenes. I can only hope that by drawing on empathy and putting myself in each character’s shoes, the reader will have the same emotional response I had while writing.

J. Lea (rhymes with sea) has been writing since the angsty teenage years. Lucky for you, she and her writing have both matured a little since then. She writes character-driven women’s fiction and erotica, and two of her short stories are included in the anthology Spring Fevers, available now. Other short stories have appeared online in Divine Dirt Quarterly and Oysters&Chocolate. She is a self-proclaimed band and choir geek as well as a lover of jello, British television, and horrifically cheesy movies on SyFy. To hear about the similarities between life, writing and jello, visit her blog, Jello World. For random silliness (and some writing stuff too) follow her on Twitter @JLeaLopez.

Guest Post by Cindy M. Hogan

First, invite authors who write different genres to come and participate in your launch. I write YA, so I get a picture book author, a middle grade author, a cookbook author and a few adult fiction authors to take part. I plan a game, get a local business to bring a treat for the first 100 customers and get people to donate lots of prizes for door prizes and drawings.
Now, you need to get the word out to the schools.

The great thing about being a YA author is that you can easily promote your book to teens through the schools. How do you do that?

First, get some professionally looking posters made up. Photoshop does amazing things. Print up the posters at Costco or somewhere similar. The posters only cost $3 each. Take them to Jr. highs and high schools in the area of your launch. Tell  the school office it is a literary event and make sure you have all authors at least listed on the poster. Do this 2 weeks before the event.

Second, create a teacher packet.

Make fliers that advertise the event. Use Photoshop or something like it. If that is beyond you, hire someone. Make one 8X10 and then make the same flier divided 4 per sheet. Find a place that prints on the cheap when you print large amounts of the same thing. Do black and white copies. I used this for my first launch and for the second, I found a sale for double sided 3X5 cards and made them into a cool invitation to give out.

Next, write a short and to the point letter to the English teachers of the schools. Every kid is required to take English every year of school, so you’ll hit them all. This letter should explain how the teacher could benefit from telling their students about the event and encouraging them to go.Offer a big prize for the teachers. Give something that the teachers won’t be able to refuse. A Nook or something. Tell them that each student that comes to the launch and tells you the name of the teacher who sent them, will earn them one entry to win the prize. The more of their students that come, the greater the chance they will have to win the prize. Ask them to hand out the fliers to their students and hang the 8X10 of the announcement you’ve created, by their door, where all the students will see it.

Put an elastic around the small fliers and put a sticky note that has the teacher’s name on it on the letter.

Take these packets to the schools. Make sure you look nice and presentable. Ask if you can put the fliers for this literary event in the English teachers’ boxes. They will usually let you do it on your own. Sometimes they want to do it, though. Be respectful and kind and they will help you.Thirdly, you need to make it a fun event. Go early. On my first launch, I had people there a half-hour early. I was the third highest selling author at an author signing ever at that Barnes and Noble. Not bad for a debut author.

Those are the basics of getting the schools involved. If I wrote about all of it, this post would be way too long. Here is a short list of more things to do to help you be successful.

• Send a press release to the newspaper. They reviewed my book and told about the event.
• Talk it up with everyone
• Take fliers around your neighborhood the day before
• Hang some fliers around town, wherever they’ll let you
• Have all your peeps blog and Facebook about it.
• Make a Facebook event for sure
• Put the event on your author central page for Amazon
• Make sure you have a tab on your blog dedicated to it.

Most of all, have fun! Start early! There is a lot to do to be successful, but it will be worth it.

Find out more about Cindy HERE

Buy her books.    Barnes and Noble      Watched on  Amazon      Protected on  Amazon

Have you ever been to a debut author’s book launch? What would make you want to go to a debut author’s book launch?

Cindy Hogan enjoys spending time with and writing about unpredictable teenagers. If she’s not reading or writing, you’ll find her with her own teen daughters or her fun husband. She graduated with a BA in secondary educa

tion.

** If you’re on the blog hop, you can jump to the next hop spot at Heather McCorkle’s blog. Have fun!

See larger image Protected (Watched series) (Kindle Edition) By (author) Cindy M Hogan Release date March 8, 2012.

Ebook cards for authors

It is really great that our first guest blog post is on CheriLasota.com, since Cheri was the very first author we partnered with. Not only was she thrilled by the idea of using e-book cards to promote her work, she has actually gone on to use them very effectively.

The first place they were used was at the launch party for her novel, Artemis Rising, in Portland, Oregon. Because the novel was a digital exclusive, it would have been difficult to sell the work without some tangible item to sell or give away. E-book cards just made sense. The direct result of having e-book cards at the launch was extra sales. And because the cost of each individual card was so cheap, the sale of each card was extremely profitable.

Artemis Rising e-book cards are also being sold in a few Portland area bookstores. The bookstores Cheri and her publisher partnered with were thrilled to give the cards a try, and to date, have proven to be a very eye-catching, visually appealing item. In most cases, the cards are being sold at the store from behind the register. That is to say, customers pick up a display copy out on the floor or ask for one at the register, then the clerk hands over the card there.

What else does Cheri plan to do with these cards? Whatever she wants! The applications continue to reveal themselves in new and interesting ways. For instance, Artemis Rising e-book cards contain an exclusive version of her novel, which features a bonus gallery of maps. Because of how our system is set up, Cheri can change the digital content linked to her e-book cards any time, allowing her to change or create new strategies for any marketing campaign her or her publisher may be planning.

Ordering e-book cards is easy. Simply pick your quantity and thickness, upload your e-book file and cover art, and let us do the rest. You will have the opportunity to approve the design of your card before it prints.

Our team also has the ability to build your e-book for you, and to do it beautifully and affordably. We can include custom chapter headers, hyperlinks to other websites, and images. Your e-book will be a lot more than something to read.

E-book cards are quickly becoming the natural “next step” in marketing digital content. Visit our website at GreenersideDigital.com or send an e-mail to info@greenersidedigital.com to learn more.

To see an example of what your book’s page would look like on Greenerside Digital, just click here. Also, you can check out Greenerside’s helpful FAQ page, to learn how this all works.

What risks would you take to be who you really are?

Two Worlds––Two Teens––One Wish

Geek Rhoe and Surfer Ashley would never be friends.


Even if they lived on the same planet.


But, they’ll become so much more.


They’ll transfer.

Earthling Ashley’s world revolves around winning daily popularity contests at Beverly Hills High School and surfing competitions with sweet scholarship prizes that will finally help her break free of her control-freak mother. Ashley never loses. Ashley never wishes on stars. But that changes when her senior class takes a field trip to the Griffith Observatory where Ashley’s conflicting feelings about her predatory best frenemy Tiffany, throws Ashley’s carefully-crafted Queen of B.H.H.S. title under the bus.

Meanwhile on planet Retha, Rhoe misses his dad, loves his mom’s home-cooked Glechy crag with a side of Ory sauce, is desperate to heal his sick brother and wants more than anything to win The Retha New Invention Competition. He and his best friend Yuke have worked for the past two years constructing the teleporting telescope Rhoe started building with his dad before an accident killed him. Rhoe’s never kissed a girl. Rhoe’s hero is the eccentric physicist, Ramay. But that changes when the telescope teleports Rhoe across the universe with an unintended side-effect. Ashley and Rhoe transfer––swap lives––when they make the same wish at the same time.

Popular-surfer-turned-boy-geek alien Ashley must handle life on Retha as Rhoe complete with webbed feet, low-gravity, and an obsession with Yuke, all the while being hunted by Rethan spies and resenting her hairy, flat chest. Boy-geek-turned-popular-surfer Rhoe must fit in at Beverly Hills High School as Ashley, compete in The Laguna Beach Invitational without becoming shark food, dodge boys’ affections, cool his preoccupation with Tiffany and his new body, on his quest to find the healing rocks he believes will save his brother’s life.

If only it were that simple. Some wishes can’t come true. Some have to. How far would you go for someone you love?

EXCERPT

[written from Ashley’s POV about her obsession with Rhoe’s best friend, Yuke.]

Yuke catches up to me. We walk side-by-side in silence through the Golden Meadow. The airboard launch, a sort of gigantic upside-down slide, peeks over a row of Truffula Trees.

“Listen, there are three things you have to remember about soaring. You’ll never soar if your mind is on the ground. Put it up on The Ridge,” Yuke says, pointing to a purple-blue mountain ahead of us. “Rhoe taught me that.”

The way he says Rhoe I know it’s happened. He knows. He really knows I’m not Rhoe, I’m…Ashley. It’s sunk in. Finally. I stop walking and can hardly breathe. It’s the first time he’s ever seen the real me, and his gaze warms me down to my frog-feet. Yuke spots the question in my eyes.

“The Ridge of No Return,” he says with a small smile, “It’s the prime place to catch air. But beware The Devil’s Grip. Soar too high and you’ll be caught in The Grip and lost to The Other Side. Forever.”

He misreads the question in my eyes. Again. I shiver thinking about The Grip and dying in the mythic ice and snow of The Other Side. I stare at my hideous frog-feet, my peds. I don’t care about The Ridge. There’s only one person I care about. One boy I’ll never have. Yuke.

“What else?” I ask, peering deeper into Yuke’s alien eyes.

“You’ve got to feel the beat of the wind in your peds. Surrender to the air. And know, deep in your hearts, no one is its master.”

I hear and don’t hear every word Yuke says. For the first time in my life I can’t speak. I can’t take my eyes off Yuke, now that he knows I’m not Rhoe. He wouldn’t be telling his best friend, an Astral, how to airboard unless he knows I’m Ashley, someone who doesn’t know much about soaring.

“Your catchers will always stop you if you fall,” Yuke says, filling the silence between us. He raises his arms above his head. Delicate wings expand out from under his arms. Thin pinkish-purple skin stretches over delicate, long bones. No feathers at all. Just smooth, glimmering skin. And it’s crazy. A week ago I wouldn’t even look twice at a guy with a big nose, but now, I’m hot for an alien. With wings. He’s that hot.

I have to touch him. It’s beyond wanting to. The way Yuke spreads his wings makes his pecs flare and his biceps seize. He’s beyond gorgeous. The way his sheer wings take to the breeze makes Yuke more unreal than he already is to me. He’s everything I never wanted and everything I can’t live without. It feels like we’re the only souls in the universe. The look in his golden exotic eyes melts my ability to stay away from him.

“You can’t be real,” I say taking a few steps closer to him, holding my hand out to touch his wing. Waiting for him to let me. To know it’s OK. He flexes and lets his head fall back a little inviting my touch. I lay my alien fingers on his smooth taught skin, and run them over his wing’s thin hollow bones. My eyes fill with tears. His wings flutter in a breeze. He’s beautiful.

Yuke sticks his chest out and when he drops his arms his catchers vanish back into his biceps. “I can’t let you soar. Not now,” he says, the crowd cheers just beyond the trees.

Only then do I remember where we are. What we’re here to do. A band begins to play a set of songs. The crowd beyond the row of trees cheers again and again.

“I have to. I’m doing this for Rhoe,” I say.

Yuke puts his hand on my shoulder. I shudder.

“And for me,” I say.

Yuke’s golden eyes focus only on mine, on the Earthling inside of this alien body.

“And for you,” I say, feeling the beat of my hearts in my throat. “We’re going to win this damn thing.”

GIVEAWAY

TRANSFER STUDENT is the latest novel from Laura A. H. Elliott and will release on Amazon and Barnes & Noble March 20^th.

Here’s how to enter to WIN A TRANSFER STUDENT EBOOK here today! Just follow @Laurawriting and tweet: [leave a comment here on this blog with your link– Winner announced here tomorrow!]

Suggested tweet: 

Can’t wait to read Transfer Student by @Laurawriting Check out the Blog Tour & Giveaway! #teenreads #scifi #romance #ya http://wp.me/P1J9jx-bs

THAT’S NOT ALL:

Every week all comments are entered to win some great swag too! THIS WEEK’S SWAG: EXPEDITION TO THE STARS 3-D MODEL, an IN-N-OUT Burger T-SHIRT, signed bookmarks, Griffith Park Observatory postcards, real meteorite fragments, Space Shuttle Commemorative playing cards! Check out the weekly swag here: http://wp.me/P1J9jx-bs

THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAY OPEN UNTIL MARCH 19! 6PM PST. 1 swag winner will be picked. Open internationally!

Laura A. H. Elliott loves writing about enchanted road trips, birthday gifts that are out of this world, and alien romance while eating lots of popcorn. She’s the author of Winnemucca, a small-town fairy tale inspired by her life-long love of a little-known town, Avenal, CA, and her equal love of enchanted teenage road trips. 13 on Halloween is the first book in the Teen Halloween Series. 14 on Halloween, book 2 in the Teen Halloween series, will be released in the summer of 2012. Her new release, TRANSFER STUDENT will be available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble March 20^th.

To find out more about Laura’s upcoming books, visit her blog Laurasmagicday: http://laurasmagicday.wordpress.com/ or @Laurawriting.

Want to see what my YA historical fantasy novel, Artemis Rising, looks like in the flesh? Well, here she be! I created the paperback version for two reasons:

1. Fans kept asking me when it would come out.
2. I was curious to learn how to design a print book.

See larger image Artemis Rising (Kindle Edition) By (author) Cheri Lasota List Price: $4.99 USD Release date July 24, 2011.

Just in time for Valentines Day, The Indelibles bring you a one-of-a-kind young adult anthology! Sixteen original short stories, all from the point of view of our favorite male characters — some are old flames from our novels and some were dreamed up especially for this anthology.

Let these imminently crushable, swoon-worthy guys show you what romance looks like – in his eyes.

The contributors to In His Eyes include award winners, frequent “Top 100” placers, and hot 2011 debut authors.

In His Eyes is FREE at Smashwords, and $0.99 at Amazon and Barnes&Noble — hopefully to go free there as well by our release date on February 14th for Valentines Day. Or you can add In His Eyes to your TBR list on Goodreads.

For more information about The Indelibles, check out our blog, facebook page, or follow us on Twitter.

Stories included in the Anthology

Surprise, Surprise by Stacey Wallace Benefiel, author of Glimpse: Half the women in Melody’s family can see the future, which makes it nearly impossible for Raleigh to surprise her. What’s a guy to do for Valentine’s Day when his girlfriend is always one step ahead of him?

First Kiss or First Kill? by C.K. Bryant, author of Bound: Love isn’t always rainbows and kittens, sometimes it can be downright deadly. (A deleted chapter from Bound)

Shattered by Ali Cross, author of Become: James and Desi use each other in an effort to cling to the darkness in each of them, but in the end they discover that love changes everything. (A short story from James’ POV)

Before by Jessie Harrell, author of Destined: When a younger Eros is exiled to a land that doesn’t believe in the Greek gods, he finds the first love of his immortal life. Read Eros’ first person account of his romance, and heartbreak, in the time before he met Psyche.

The Qualm Before the Storm by Karen Amanda Hooper, author of Tangled Tides. Yara Jones doesn’t want to be a mermaid. Treygan doesn’t want to be the monster who turns her. You can’t always get what you want. (A short prequel to Tangled Tides)

Unspeakable by S.R. Johannes, author of Untraceable: When Mo sees a strange girl in the woods, he follows her. He soon realizes they are both in a dangerous position and might not get out alive.

In the Beginning by Katie Klein, author of Cross My Heart: Seth is falling hard for Genesis Green, but the guardian angel is determined not to interfere, until an accident changes the course of their lives forever. (A short prequel to The Guardian)

A Chance Encounter by Cheri Lasota, author of Artemis Rising: Finnian’s eyes hide a terrible secret. But a girl on the train home, the girl in tears with a secret of her own...She sees right through him. (An excerpt from the upcoming novel, Echoes in the Glass)

Family Bonds by Heather McCorkle, author of The Secret of Spruce Knoll: A Halloween party filled with teens who can channel energy and use it to kill, what could go wrong? For Spruce Knoll fans who are dying to read more about Fane.

Getting Closer by Lisa Nowak, author of Running Wide Open: Megan is smart, hot, and an upperclassman—in other words, way out of Cody’s league. So why did she choose him? (An excerpt of Getting Sideways)

Precalculus by Cory Putman Oakes, author of The Veil: a re-telling of the fateful class period that changed Addison Russell’s life, from Luc’s point of view (a.k.a. Chapter 2 of The Veil from Luc’s perspective)

The Almost Assassin by Laura Pauling, author of A Spy Like Me, releasing Spring 2012: Malcolm tries his hand at the family business but his conscience and a beautiful “spy” may be his downfall.

Mind Games by Susan Kaye Quinn, author of Open Minds: Raf wants to take Kira—the only girl in school who doesn’t read minds—to the mindware Games, but his friends have other plans. (A short prequel to Open Minds)

By The Firelight by Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise: When Nate McKenzie asks an unpopular girl to dance on a dare, he’s in for the time of his life.

A Very Alien Valentine’s Day by Magan Vernon, author of How To Date An Alien: After surviving confinement and an intergalactic war for his human half, Alex, now he has to live through the biggest challenge of them all: Valentine’s Day.

Aligned by RaShelle Workman, author of Exiled: A half-Eternal boy and an Eternal girl must free millions of tortured souls from a creature whose been feasting on their pain and suffering.

GUYS — here’s a Valentine’s Day trivia question for you.  What’s more romantic than a sizzling love story?