Monday, March 18, 2019

Trickling Sands Novel Giveaway Winners Announced

March 16, 2019

I have spent about one week at my beach condo located in Orange Beach, Alabama. The water, waves and the sea air have rejuvenated me. Most of the day has been spent doing nothing but relaxing but I have found time to edit and to write on my new novel Secret Romances: A Forbidden Thirst for Love. I must say this novel is a departure from my science fiction novels. Think of this book in terms of a romance novel in a true sense of a Hallmark Romance, This book should be ready sometime in the fall.



Stephen Beal and D. H. Lewis
My newest novel, A.D.A.M. is available for pre-order right now. The final copy editor, Erin Wright, is going through it right now and her feedback has been amazing. "This book is so good and intriguing. I love the premise," Erin said. "This is my must-read for the year." Here is a book trailer for A.D.A.M. I must think four wonderful actors for portrayals. First, the fabulous D. H. Lewis for her bringing to life Dr. Sandra Bradford. Next up is Jamie Alyson who portrays Jessica Parker the undergraduate assistant. And, to Stephen Beal for bringing to life the character Dr. Petterson. Please enjoy the trailer. Lastly, Tina Rubin for her portrayal of Rebecca Newcombe.



THIS MONTH'S GIVEAWAY


I am happy to announce the following winners to this month's giveaway contest for the novel Trickling Sands from Jarrod Fasan. The following people will receive a digital copy of the book.

  • Robyn Winefield (Oregon)
  • Maxine Thurmond (Nevada)
  • Thomas Payne (Vermont)
  • Liz Ray (Georgia)
  • Henry Macliffe (Texas)
  • Carol Frye (Colorado)
  • Samantha Bre (London, UK)
  • Janet Pierce (Florida)
  • Brandon Lifton (Oklahoma)
  • Charles Thibidoux (Louisiana)
Congratulations to all this month's winners.

Although this months giveaway has ended, I begin next months giveaway from a fabulous writer Max Hawthorne and his series Kronos Rising. This giveaway comes just in time for summer because his books feature sharks -- think modern day Jaws. I have already told you I have been on the beach. Let me tell you, this book has kept me on the edge of my lounger reading this. I wouldn't even get into the ocean. To participate in this giveaway subscribe to my blog. If you are already a member, you have been entered. For additional opportunity to win, leave a comment below on this blog. There will be two winners. The first winner will receive all three books pictured below and one winner will receive their choice from the three. Good luck!



A WONDERFUL JEWEL FOR A CHILDREN'S BOOK

One of my favorite things to do is to read books to my grandchildren and every now and again I come across Zoo Vet and the Otter by N.E. Colby that melts your heart and brings warmth. This book is simply divine. The book's logline is:

There is never a dull day at the Zoo for Vet Logan and Zoo Keeper Scarlett Making sure that all the animals are healthy and happy in their environment is a job they love. Follow along as they share fun facts about all the animals they care for, work together to help identify the problem, and come up with a solution to help Leonard the Otter.

I am pleased to introduce you to the author.










Author Name: N.E. Colby






Name of Book: Zoo Vet and the Otter
Year Published: 2018
Publisher: Austin MaCauley
Facebook: @zoovetstories

Tell your readers a little about yourself. Where you grew up, where you live now, where you went to school etc. Let them get to know the personal you.

I was born on a Military Base at Ft. Benning Georgia. I lived in Germany for 4 years and when we returned to the States, we lived in California until about 6 years ago. My dad is a Retired Infantry First Sergeant, my brother served in the Navy, and I was in the Air Force. My mom and sister were the only ones that did it right, they married someone in the Army.
After high school, I continued my education at in community college where I worked on my general education courses. Then decided that I wanted to become an Attorney. A family friend advised I attend a trade school to become a paralegal. He said that it would be the fastest way to learn the law structure and get my feet wet. From there I could make the transition to Law School since I would have the work experience. While attending Trade School I quickly learned that law school was not for me. I decided to stop my course studies, four classes, away from a degree.

Today I am married to my loving husband, and we have two wonderful children. On top of being a full-time Mom, I have a strong entrepreneurial spirit. I have a website for inventors called Digital Inventors Journal, an app called Vidtone, and my book Zoo Vet and the Otter. I am currently working on another website and app for future additions to my business ventures. I am also working on a project for a movie and working with a producer to eventually turn Zoo Vet into a cartoon series.

What inspired you to write a children’s book?

I love writing and I have always wanted to write a book, when I first started to write a children's book, I had a very negative person in my life who told me, “you're not an interesting person and no one is going to care what you have to say. Plus, you’re a nobody, no one knows who you are, the chances of someone like you getting a publishing company to pick you up, especially in books written for children, would never happen.”

Well, I let this rent space in my head for many years and tried to write books and novels, but I wasn’t happy with what I was writing. So, Nov. 17, 2017, I sat down at my dinner table with a pen and paper and started to write. About an hour later, I had finish Zoo Vet and the Otter. My husband and sister helped me edit it in a week. After that I told my sister I was thinking about self-publishing this and she said: “don’t be stupid, send it out and see what comes of it, what do you have to lose?” So, I did. I sent it to 12 different agents, and about 5 publishing companies. By the end of January 2018, I had 2 contract offers.

Tell us about your book.

Zoo Vet and the Otter is a great book for children. There are many components to it. Not only does it give fun facts about animals, but it shows children how to care for animals. It shows how to identify a problem and then how to come up with a way to solve that problem.

Where did you get the inspiration for your book’s cover?

My children were the only thing that I wanted to make sure were on the cover since the book is based on them.

What challenges did you face when it came to getting the illustrations for your book? How did you overcome them?

After we edited the book, we decided that we would make the illustrations ourselves, however, my sister didn’t have a lot of time to draw and neither did my husband and me. So, we decided to take sections. My sister created the characters Vet Logan and Zoo Keeper Scarlett. My husband did the structures and background and I did the animals and parts of the enclosure. It took us almost 2 weeks to get this mailed back in forth from Arizona to Colorado then from Colorado back to Arizona. I then told my publisher that we had illustrations and they asked for them. Less than a month later they told me that they were going to take a polite pass and go with their illustrator. Hahahaha, we tried it was a good try, I think.

What were your struggles or obstacles you had to overcome to get this book written?

I didn’t have a hard time writing this book, the biggest thing that I had to really work on overcoming was the space that was rented in my head years ago. It was rather remarkable once I decided to just go for it. I felt this huge weight lifted.

Your book is about a vet and an otter. Why did you choose this?

I chose a vet because my family loves animals and we are always taking are of injured animals. We go to the zoo every year just to go, but we make it a point to spend our birthdays there. Other than otters being super cute, it was the first animal that popped into my head when I started to write and so I just went with it.

How has your career, other than an author, guide you in your writing?

I would say that it hasn’t. nothing that I have done prior to becoming a published author has really set me up for this. I have spent a lot of time doing things that weren’t really my path in life and so when you're off your path, things don’t line up for you. We can all relate to that. But once I made the choice that I was going to do what really made me happy and what I truly wanted to do, things slowly started to fall into place and get better.


If you were going to give one reason for anyone looking at your book to read, why should they buy it?

It’s a different perspective on zoos and the animals in it and what care goes into ensuring their health and happiness.




What do you consider your greatest success in life?

My family! I have the best children in the world, and I mean that in a completely biase way lol. They are so smart and funny. Both are well rounded and loving. I am so lucky to have them. My husband is the love of my life. He is so supportive and gives me the best advice. He is not only a great husband, but he is also an amazing dad and will do anything for his kids.


Everyone has life lessons to learn, tell your readers one or two of yours and how they make you the person you are today.

I would say that I spent a lot of time trying to make others happy. I think that’s because I didn’t really value my dreams or realize at the time that I didn’t have to do what the “norm” was and I was afraid to be different. See I love inventing and creating and trying to make things function better, but that isn’t the number 1 job your told that will make you enough money to live comfortably and raise a family later on in life. I had to really learn to be okay with following my dream, even if it was different from everyone else and learn that I don’t need to make anyone happy, I need to make myself happy and trust that what I want to do is the right choice.

What one unique thing sets you apart from other writers in your genre?

I don’t honestly know how to answer this question. I don’t feel that I can speak for all writers but one thing that I can say that sets me apart from most is that I won't let anything hold me back again. I love who I am and what I am trying to make happen for my family.

Do you have any future books in the works? If so, please tell me about them.

As a matter of fact, I do have other books in the works right now. I currently have outlines for 38 other books. I am going to make Zoo Vet a series. Out of those 38 books, 6 of them are written, but not edited. So I have a lot of work to do still. lol

Tell your readers anything else you want to share.

When I first signed my contract with Austin MaCauley, I used to say, “It’s just a children's book.” But the reality is that its so much more then that. This is where the next generation of reads falls in love with books and grows up reading because of that love. 


Coming Fall 2019








Audiobook Excerpts From Dr. Melissa Caudle


Please enjoy an excerpt from my novel NEVER STOP RUNNING available in eBook, paperback and soon the audiobook narrated by Jessie Drumm. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.




HOW TO LAUNCH AND MARKET A BOOK - Audiobook Excerpt narrated by Timothy Burke. This is a must have book for authors to increase sales and launch your book as the #1 New Release on Amazon.






A.D.A.M. FLIPBOOK TRAILER