YA SCAVENGER HUNT #60

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YA SCAVENGER HUNT #60

Congratulations! You’ve reached the next port in the YA Summer Scavenger Hunt! Scroll down to find my word to complete my portion of the short story.

In this meantime, you can read my article called “Hidden Inspiration,” and enter to win a signed softcover of my book, The Rite of Wands, through June 30th!

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Enter to Win a Signed Softcover of The Rite of Wands.


BHC Press Spotlight and Book Giveaway – June 2017

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Please also remember to signup for my newsletter to keep up-to-date with my latest books, promotions, events, etc.

And now, what you’ve all been waiting for.

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The next word in the scavenger hunt is:

“MADE.

Now you can put all the words together (in order from 1 ~ 140) and reconstruct the “Secret Legend.”

When you’re done, enter the grand prize here.
If you have any questions, make sure to visit the main post and list of participating authors here.

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If you couldn’t find a post, or an author forgot to upload something, we’ll allow 3 blank spaces.

Just do your best.

Good luck and thanks for playing! We hope you enjoyed the event and found some free books and prizes.

The YA Summer Scavenger Hunt (free books and giveaways!)

In June, the Alliance of Young Adult Authors is sponsoring a massive young adult scavenger hunt. This is a chance to meet some new authors, grab a bunch of free books, and sign up to win a whole bunch of epic prizes! In addition to the $500 grand prize, each of the authors will be offering free books and other prizes.

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RULES

Each author will be given a special keyword, which will be bolded and all caps like this: BUTTERFLIES.

All you have to do is visit all the author’s sites in this order, write down the special keywords to discover the short story, then enter the giveaway with the completed secret legend here:

>>Enter Secret Legend to Win the Grand Prize<<

There will be one main giveaway for the main prize, but most of the participating authors will also have smaller giveaways for free books, amazon credit and author swag, so make sure you read their post carefully to see what else they’re offering while you’re on their site for the keyword.

OPEN JUNE 1ST ~ JUNE 7TH

Just go through the “treasure map” above to find the keywords and reconstruct the secret legend. Once you’ve got it, enter for the grand prize HERE. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for other giveaways or free books as you search for the keywords, most authors will be offering their own prizes as well.

Author Interview: Sojourner McConnell

Today I’m fortunate to present Sojourner McConnell, author of Who’s That in the Cat Pajamas?

Hi Sojourner, thanks for agreeing to this interview.

Question 1) What part of the world do you come from?

61GRPiWN1bL._UX250_I come from the Southern part of the USA. Alabama to be exact yet, now I live in Kentucky. Not quite south but not exactly like living in the north either.

Question 2) What do you think makes a good story?

Interesting characters and a lot of heart. I love when a book makes me feel strongly about the characters and their journey. If I can connect to a character and want to know more about them and desire to share their story, then I know I am on track.

Question 3) What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book was inspired by a little voice in my head that I now recognize as Melanie. Melanie is the main character and she is quite involved in the story line. Her story was easy in some ways to write but painfully difficult in others. I still believe it was a story that needed telling. 

Question 4) What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?  

I wake up early before everyone else is up and I begin to write. If I give into temptation and sneak over to Twitter, Facebook or email, I am in trouble. I lose all sense of hard work if I get into a chat with someone.  I tend to chat more than I should. I write all day off and on and then in the evening I play about on the computer. At about ten when the house is again quiet, I add in a little more writing time.

Question 5) What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I suppose the quirkiest thing I do, is to write several projects at the same time.  Several books, plus blogs and articles. I get restless and let the characters lead me into which project I deal with at a time.

Question 6) Give us the title and genre of your latest book.

My latest book is a children’s chapter book. It is a story that interested a four-year-old and a twelve year old and a few of varying ages in between,

Question 7) What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your book?

That I had a children’s book inside trying to get out. I thought I would be too constrained with vocabulary, but I found that children love to learn the meanings of words, even brand-new ones.

Question 8) Do you have an excerpt from your current work you’d like to share?

I would love to share this little bit, thank you!

41hlTLtEPGLDolcey moved from one end of the porch to the other, tail held high, pointed black ears perked forward, and silvery whiskers pointing straight at the front door. Twitching her cat whiskers was always tricky, but Dolcey was getting better and better as she strutted around. Purring and meowing enough to stir some compassion from the parents seems to be the hardest part, thought Dolcey.

“Emily, go get the milk and let’s get this boy somewhere warm.” Emily sped into the kitchen but Dolcey was no longer listening. Her fur was bristling as she glowered at Emily’s dad.

“Obviously, I am a girl,” she meowed with such ferocity that she almost scared herself.

Question 9) What can we expect from you in the future?  

More children’s books. Now that I have written this one, I see more in my future. I will also be writing another YA book to follow The Path of the Child. It was my first book and the characters and readers asked for a revisit.

Question 10) What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? 

Paying for my British illustrator, Ellie Barrett. She worked with me and brought the images to life.

Question 11) How can we contact you or find out more about your books?

I am a bit of a social media hound, so I can be found on the following:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sojourner-McConnell/e/B008IQDX4S

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35086496-who-s-that-in-the-cat-pajamas

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8283786.Sojourner_McConnell

Facebook, I have an author page: https://www.facebook.com/SojournerMcConnell/

Facebook author & reader group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/288061251632208/

Blog: Https://sojournermcconnell.blogspot.com

Book Spotlight: The Blackstar Gambit

blackstargambitGenre: Science fiction thrilling adventure


Book Description

The Blackstar Gambit, book 7 in the thrilling Col Sec series will see Kurt Stryder and Zara Hardy face their most challenging threat to date as they are faced with choices that place millions of lives in the balance. From one side of the galaxy to the other they race to find the truth behind an ancient cult that has spawned an evil so deadly it threatens to destroy the entire Confederation starting with planet Earth. Kurt and Zara learn that the good guys don’t always win and that bad things do happen as they stand by helplessly to watch the Blackstar Gambit play out.

Excerpt

“What have you got for me?” the stocky man asked as he entered the room.

It was a small room, an office really, with a desk at one end behind which the other occupant sat. On the desk was a monitor screen, which held an image frozen in time.

The other occupant, a taller, thinner man pointed to the seat before him on the opposite side of the desk.

“Sit, if you will, and watch,” he offered.

The stocky man did as instructed, the man he had come to see knew he was not a man to trifle with and was aware he was more than a little afraid of him.

Goran Visjic, the stocky man, turned the screen fully so he could see it better.

Thomas Patten sat back and watched as the image on the screen began to play. He had seen the footage several times but was still amazed by it.

The footage was of a fight that had been captured in a nightclub. Not just any fight, this was different, for it was between one man against three much larger men while another stood by watching. The fight didn’t last long, the larger men attacked and quickly overpowered the smaller one, as expected, but then the situation changed and the smaller one took charge. In a display of savage, raw strength, he took the three men out as fast as the eye could see. The most remarkable aspect of the fight though, was something that had only been picked up briefly by whoever took the footage. They clearly did not know what they had witnessed but Patten most certainly did. He had the footage cleaned up and enhanced so that when the final version was shown him his heart almost stopped with excitement. This was what his visitor was now seeing.

The image clearly showed the person who had been attacked in close up just as he reared up from the floor after being pummelled there by the three larger men. The image zoomed in on his face and the cuts and scratches from the earlier skirmish miraculously healed as the footage unfolded. Before the man had flattened the other three, his face was as good as new, it had completely regenerated new skin over the damaged tissue.

“What’s this? Are you trying to pull something over on me here?” Visjic snarled, his lip curling up.

“What you see is actual footage of an incident that was witnessed by clientele of a nightclub. Someone watching this fight thought I would be interested so I acquired it from them,” Patten stated, a smile crossing his thin lips.

“This can be verified?” Visjic asked.

“It can, I have located the person in question and everything is in place for the next phase.”

“What are you offering?”

“I propose to obtain a viable sample of his DNA from which we will extract the means of duplicating this amazing ability.”

Visjic looked at Patten, his eyes narrowing as he contemplated his next move and what it would cost. The super soldier syndrome was the Holy Grail for every military in the galaxy. If Patten had it, he could name his price from anyone. He had to lock this down to him and him alone.

“Is this offer open to me alone?” he asked.

“If you meet my price, if not it might well become an auction.”

“You do not want to make an enemy of me, that would be most unwise,” Visjic threatened.

“You are in no position to make threats Visjic,” Patten said sounding much braver than he felt.

“And you have not even verified this serum yet either. When you have a sample let me know your price and we will negotiate further,” Visjic goaded, sensing the man was not as confident as he sounded.

“I’m sorry, did I say this was open to negotiation, no I did not. You will meet my price or I will go elsewhere. Do you really want your competitors to have this, think of the lives lost if they do?”

Visjic was furious but he knew what Patten said was true. He was entirely at this man’s mercy for the moment, which was something he could not allow to continue. For now though he would have to admit defeat. The battle was not lost, just postponed.

He rose from his seat, took a calming breath and said, “You have three days. If you fail then I’ll go after this myself.”

With a scowl, he turned and left the room.

Patten sat back and relaxed.

Visjic was someone he should not antagonise, for he had a way of exacting revenge for the smallest of slights and he had just been dealt a huge one. Still, if he pulled this off, Visjic would be more than pleased and he would be off his back for good. He was not too happy about the time constraints he had given him but he was sure he could deliver.

He reached forward and turned the monitor towards him. He watched the footage one last time stopping it at a close-up of the man in question.

He looked at the blond hair, the chiselled cheekbones and the cobalt blue eyes that shone with an intense vibrancy he envied.

“Okay, Kurt Stryder, let’s see what you’re made of,” he said at the screen.

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Where to buy the book

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Blackstar-Gambit-Jan-D…/…/ref=sr_1_1…
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-blackstar-g…/1123886733…
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-blackstar-gambit-2
iBooks: https://itun.es/us/ki_Kjb.l

About the Author

Iauthor was born in Staffordshire to a working-class family, my father worked down the local mines whilst my mother worked in one of the local Pottery manufacturing factories.

At school, I discovered the joys of reading. I was a big fan of sci fi books but I would read almost anything I could get my hands on. My mother took me to join the local library as soon as I could read and from that day on, if it had words on it, I’d read it.

In the early 70’s there wasn’t much choice where I worked so I ended up in an apprenticeship in screen printing for the ceramic industry.

I’m still in the same trade after a forty -year career but my passion is and has always been writing. After several abortive attempts, I started the Col Sec series around seven years ago, it’s an action adventure series set in the twenty fifth century.

Books by Jan

Books in this Col Sec series

Ronin

Omega

Discovery

Retribution

Extinction

Resurrection

The Blackstar Gambit.

And many more to come…

How to find Jan Domagala 

Amazon page – https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Domagala/e/B004F6BRNO
Col Sec series book page – https://www.facebook.com/ColSecSeriesByJanDomagala/
Col Sec fan group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/752844848143378/
Website – https://jandomagala.wordpress.com
Twitter – https://twitter.com/JDDoubleTrouble