Purgatory Reign Facebook Party Countdown: All About Me

This week I'm joining with other young adult authors to promote our joint online Facebook Party that's coming up this Saturday. We also have two Twitter chats scheduled. We join Kate Tilton's twitter chat #K8chat this Thursday night from 8-9pm CST and on Friday we will have our official Twitter chat. During my hour of hosting duties for the Facebook Party, I plan on doing some book trivia and some character interviews with characters from Skid and my new upcoming paranormal romance novel My Girlfriend Bites. Details for the Twitter chat and the host schedule for the Facebook Party are at the bottom of this post. 

Today is my turn on our group blog tour so I wanted to give some of you a little insight into Samantha Sutton, the main character of Skid.

1. Samantha is a passionate yet stubborn teen girl with a temper she always struggles to control.

2. Her mother hates the fact her daughter races cars. She wants Samantha to go to Junior College since it's much safer.

3. Samantha is the middle sister and the only daughter who shared her father's love for racing. He died in a car crash. Samantha vows to make those racing dreams they both shared come true.

4. The girl doesn't think about death. It's bad luck to think like that when you're racing a car over 200 miles per hour. Fear can freeze you up and make you lose your edge. And your nerve.

5. Her parent's farm is near a small town in Oklahoma. When she travels to Europe to race in Formula 1, Samantha has to adjust to a new world with new pressures, new expectations, and new problems.

6. Samantha hides a secret that could rip her family apart. A family that means everything to her.

7. Boys and Tomboys can be a tricky mix. When Samantha befriends the nephew of the racing team's owner, she struggles with trying to hold on to a friend who wants to be so much more.

8. Samantha loves Amsterdam. The canal boat rides are her favorite. Especially when you can share it with the right boy.

9.  Samantha hates it when it rains. Especially when she has to race a car in it.

10. She meets her all-time racing hero and must race against him. Samantha finds that heroes can sometimes be the greatest enemies.

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading. Please feel free to say hello on Twitter, visit my website, or shoot me an email. I would love to hear from you!

If you'd like to give Skid a spin, you can purchase the ebook for 99 cents on Kindle and Nook. But if you download it free on Kobo, ITunes, and Smashwords. Or if you prefer, you can buy the paperback on Indiebound, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon.

More about Skid:

Samantha drove the car that killed her dad. Now racked with guilt, the 17-year-old girl racer from Oklahoma promises to fulfill the racing dreams they shared. Even if it kills her. Samantha sneaks into a private testing session and impresses the eccentric owner of Formula 1 racing team who takes a chance on the outspoken, yet crazy-talented girl.

​

Samantha pushes herself, pushes her car, pushes her luck at 200 miles per hour. She battles a seven-time world champion and Ferrari racing god who was once a crush-worthy hero to a girl, but now a dream-crushing rival to a young woman. Samantha befriends the nerdy-cute nephew of the team's owner who she leans on for support and to keep her sanity. Yet his gentle advances beyond friendship clash with Samantha's racing goals. How does a girl manage all this?

More about the author:

Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Doug went to college at nearby Oklahoma State where he earned a B.A. in Radio/TV/Film production. Doug started writing screenplays in 1998 and became a 2001 semi-finalist in The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting for his fifth screenplay, Father Figure. His tenth script, Rail Fan, became a quarter-finalist in 2009. Soon after, Doug made the switch to writing young adult novels. Skid, a young adult novel set in the world of Formula 1 racing, is his first.

Party Host Schedule – Saturday, May 18^th, 2013

3pm-4pm (EST) Kymberlee Burks-Miller
4pm-5:30pm (EST) Emma Michaels
5:30pm-6pm (EST) LM Preston
6pm-7pm (EST) Linda Foster
7pm-8pm (EST) Doug Solter
8pm-9pm (EST) KaSonndra Leigh
9pm-10pm (EST) LM Preston Party Close Out

TWITTER PARTY: Friday, 5/17 at 7pm-9pm EST, use the hashtag #PurgatoryReign and @LM_Preston prizes include $5 Amazon Gift cards for 2 winners & books, swag prizes

FACEBOOK PARTY:  

Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/371743026256005/

Starring 5 other authors and blog hosts, tons of prizes and fun.

About Purgatory Reign by LM Preston

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance, Action Adventure

Book Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atvKA9E4bPI&feature=youtu.be

Read sample: http://www.freado.com/book/13273/purgatory-reign

Brief description of Purgatory Reign

Seventeen-year-old Peter Saints’ life stinks. But things are about to get much worst. First, his parents are murdered in front of him. Then another victim dies in his arms.

Visions plague Peter with warnings that something wants him for a sinister cause. It desires the one thing that Peter refuses to give – his blood. Peter carries within him the one gift or curse that could unlock a secret to destroy the human race.

On the run with Angel, a girl disguised as a scruffy kid, Peter starts to unravel the mystery. It’s the one treasure the heavens sought to hide from the world. Unfortunately, when Peter finds the answer he hopes that will save them, he opens the door to a great evil that happens to be salivating to meet him.

By LM Preston,

(www.lmpreston.com)

Order Below:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Indie Bound

Books A Million

Kobo

Smashwords 

RaffleCopter Prize Pack: Paperback or Ebook copy of Purgatory Reign, $20 Amazon Gift Card, T-shirt, a prize from all participating authors

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purgatory Reign Facebook Party Countdown: Author LM Preston

There’s a Party Going On – Saturday May 18^th, 2013 on Facebook!

Did you hear? There’s a PARTY going on! Twitter this Friday, May 17th at 7pm-9pm EST just use the hashtag #PurgatoryReign

AND...are you listening … AND … A Facebook release party for PURGATORY REIGN!

6 hour Party with Spotlight Authors, trivia games, food, itunes gift cards, list of freebie party favors, interactive chatting, singing, dancing, nonstop games, music, prizes and free stuff!! Author segments each hour that are themed and more giveaways!!!

PURGATORY REIGN, Something Evil This Way Comes…unfortunately for it, Peter Saints awaits…

Prize list:

- itunes gift cards

- free books of course  

- Swag galore from multiple authors

and so much more  

Party Host Schedule – Saturday, May 18^th, 2013

3pm-4pm (EST) Kymberlee Burks-Miller
4pm-5:30pm (EST) Emma Michaels
5:30pm-6pm (EST) LM Preston
6pm-7pm (EST) Linda Foster
7pm-8pm (EST) Doug Solter
8pm-9pm (EST) KaSonndra Leigh
9pm-10pm (EST) LM Preston Party Close Out

TWITTER PARTY: Friday, 5/17 at 7pm-9pm EST, use the hashtag #PurgatoryReign and @LM_Preston prizes include $5 Amazon Gift cards for 2 winners & books, swag prizes

FACEBOOK PARTY:  

Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/371743026256005/

Starring 5 other authors and blog hosts, tons of prizes and fun.

About Purgatory Reign by LM Preston

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Romance, Action Adventure

Book Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atvKA9E4bPI&feature=youtu.be

Read sample: http://www.freado.com/book/13273/purgatory-reign

Brief description of Purgatory Reign

Seventeen-year-old Peter Saints’ life stinks. But things are about to get much worst. First, his parents are murdered in front of him. Then another victim dies in his arms.

Visions plague Peter with warnings that something wants him for a sinister cause. It desires the one thing that Peter refuses to give – his blood. Peter carries within him the one gift or curse that could unlock a secret to destroy the human race.

On the run with Angel, a girl disguised as a scruffy kid, Peter starts to unravel the mystery. It’s the one treasure the heavens sought to hide from the world. Unfortunately, when Peter finds the answer he hopes that will save them, he opens the door to a great evil that happens to be salivating to meet him.

Blog Post:

The Meanest Character You ever wrote

Introducing Gavin Steele, he's the #1 villain in my 2013 new series PURGATORY REIGN

He's the most evil, conniving, slightly deranged character I've ever created. And he scares me. I'm going to share just a taste of what happens when he comes on the scene.

Note: this isn't the final edited excerpt from Purgatory Reign

Gavin knew from experience he’d only have a short time to get his answer before the greedy one would consume the spirit in which it hid and demand the price. “The name of the one who can stop me, the one I should remove from the equation,” he demanded from the psychic.

She hissed, and her white pupils turned on him. “Peter. Peter Saints.”

Her body jerked from side to side in an attempt to fight her way free of an invisible force, but it was too late, the price would be paid. For one moment, shock and fear laced her expression before she slumped to the floor, permanently silenced. He slipped his hands into his pocket, pulling out rubber gloves and a knife that he calmly unfolded. For a brief moment he stared in space while in thought.

“Peter. Peter Saints.” the sound of the name left a foul taste on his tongue.

Shrugging off his jacket, he grinned. Messes, he hated to leave messes. And tonight, like all the other nights, he’d clean it up.

By LM Preston,

(www.lmpreston.com)

Order Below:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Indie Bound

Books A Million

Kobo

Smashwords 

RaffleCopter Prize Pack: Paperback or Ebook copy of Purgatory Reign, $20 Amazon Gift Card, T-shirt, a prize from all participating authors

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My First Ever Gif Interview

The brilliant book blogger Kate Tilton interviewed me on her blog today! What's cool about this interview is that I could only answer her questions using pictures instead of words. Kind of challenging but it was fun. For some reason my answer to the first question isn't animating so if you want to get the full answer to that one, right click save as and view it on your computer. That way the gif should animate correctly.

There's also a little teaser about my new young adult werewolf book My Girlfriend Bites. And if that's not a good enough reason, Kate is also giving away a paperback copy of Skid signed by yours truly along with some cool bookmark swag I'm throwing in.

Recap of 2013 Oklahoma SCBWI Writer's Conference

Forgive me readers. I've been busy with rewrites on MY GIRLFRIEND BITES so I've been naughty on neglecting the blog. But...On Saturday, April 20th I attended our local SCBWI writer's conference in Tulsa, OK. In my opinion, it is one of the best Kid lit writer's conferences in our part of the country and this year's event was no exception. If anything, it was even better than last year. What makes it great is our people. Anna, Pati, Helen, Jerry and everyone else involved in organizing the conference. And let us not forget the attendees who always seem to come back for more. This year, some of the illustrators wowed me with some impressive artwork that made me seriously want to start writing Children's Picture Books. Oklahoma SCBWI member Regina Garvie wrote a wonderful blog post about this year's conference that captured the day perfectly. So I've decided to feature it on my blog today. So without further ado, here's Regina...

So I went to my first writers’ conference on Saturday!

I have been excited and nervous about it for months. I’ve only been a part of SCBWI since January, but I’ve been attending all the gatherings faithfully. I wanted to make sure I knew people before going to my conference. I’m so glad I did!

This year’s conference was in Tulsa, but I couldn’t spend the night there because of $$ concerns. The eldest daughter also had a dance competition all weekend, so I was at that with her on Friday until late. I ended up getting about four hours of sleep, and then I met with some writer friends and we drove to Tulsa together. (I’ve only been to Tulsa a handful of times, so I was thankful for my mom’s GPS.)

The conference was absolutely perfect. I cannot think of a way it could have gone any better. Of course, we’re not supposed to discuss specifics from the speakers, but they were all great. Here’s a little overview.

First we heard from Maria Middleton, Associate Art Director at Abrams Books for Young Readers. Since my focus is on YA, I didn’t think that I would get much from this speaker, but it was really enjoyable. I had no idea how many steps were needed to tie art into a manuscript. Her step-by-step discussion allowed us to learn about the fascinating process. I particularly enjoyed seeing early sketches and polished artwork compared via Powerpoint.

MORE FROM REGINA GARVIE....

Plunder My Links!

Pardon me, Everyone. Today's post is geared towards writers and self-published authors doing their hustle to get paid and/or published. I've been doing some reorganization of my favorites list recently and come to the conclusion I have a lot of useful writing links that might benefit my fellow scribes out there. So please feel free to plunder through these links like good little Vikings and take anything of value.

Unless I've indicated it, I haven't used the services of some of these companies. But if you have used their services, please leave a comment and tell us about your experience!



Writing Sites

Word Hippo  Need another word or a similar word? Need to find the meaning or maybe translate a foreign word? Try this site.

Smart-Edit  First-pass-editing tool for creative writers and novelists. Free-Trial available.

Editminion  A free online robot editing site where you can edit a chapter at a time.

Galley Cat  Excellent site for traditional and indie publishing news.

The Bookshelf Muse - Look down the right edge of this site for the full online writer's Thesaurus...but not for words. The wonderful people there have compiled this awesome grand Thesaurus grouped by these subjects: Setting. Character Traits, Weather & Earthly Phenomena, Color, Textures, Shapes. and Symbolism. These are all free and useful during rewrites. They also have an Emotional Thesaurus that you can buy. 

Wordplayer  This site focuses on screenwriting BUT much of the information is useful to writing any type of story. I strongly urge you to read through the Columns section of the site. The creators are Academy Award ®-nominated writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio who co-wrote the DreamWorks animated feature SHREK, winner of the first Academy Award for Best Animated Film in 2002

Barry Eisner - For Writers   Great marketing tips and other goodies for writers. Indie-pub and tradition authors can pick up some good stuff.

Great Opening Sentences From Classic Fantasy Novels - See how good writers opened their books. 

Randomly Awesome Sites for Writers

Query Tracker   About to go through the agent query process? Use this site! It helps you keep track of who, when, and where you've sent queries. Also gives you other writer's experiences with a particular agent. Contact info for agents also provided as well as links to other relevant info to help you research that agent. And best of all it's FREE! I've used this one and I can vouch that it was quite helpful during my agent query campaign.

Authors for Libraries  Good tips on contacting and building relationships with libraries!

Mailchimp - If you want to set up a great author newsletter, use this service. It's free and simple to use. I use it to manage my own email list.


Indie-Publishing Sites

Pro Book Covers  My book cover designer. Travis is affordable, easy to work with, and his designs can compete with traditional covers!

Indie Recon  A FREE online conference for indie authors! Next one won't come around until early next year BUT this year's stuff is still on there so please take your Viking ship over there and plunder it. You won't be disappointed with the info you'll find there.

52 Novels  Designs high-quality eBooks for writers. Used by authors Barry Eisner and JA Konrath

Ebook Architects  Another ebook conversion service.

Extended Imagery  Book Cover Designer. Used by authors JA Konrath and Barry Eisner.

Book Buzz  Full service book publicity firm ran by Susannah Greenberg.

BKR critique   Editing services by Bev Katz Rosenbaum. She specializes in Middle Grade, YA, and New Adult. Former in-house Harlequin editor.

Authorgraph  Free service that allows author to "autograph" their eBooks. Not affiliated with Amazon.

A Newbie's Guide to Publishing   The BEST site to follow latest developments on indie-publishing. Blog by indie-pub pioneer JA Konrath.

 Pubslush  Need crowd funding for your book? Unlike Kickstarter, this site is for books only.

Kobo Book Hub  Do you have your book on Kobo? Good site to let Kobo readers know about it!

Book Blast  Author JA Konrath recommends using them to help promote your Amazon KDP Select Free or Bargain book promotions.


Young Adult/Children's Writing Sites

Write On Con  FREE online conference for Children's writers. (Kid and YA) Date hasn't been announced for 2013 yet but get on their email list so you'll know. Excellent conference with fantastic information. Last year's conference material is still available on their website so take your Viking ship over there and pillage! It's worth the trip.

YA Books Central   One of the top sites for young adult books. Active community and a place to be if you read and write young adult fiction.

Need to find some young adult book bloggers? Try these two sites...
YA Blogosphere
Kidlitosphere

YAlit Chat  Another great resource of information and online services. Yearly subscription is only $30 but they have a lot of useful resources. I'm a member and I would recommend it if you can spare the money.

Verla Kay Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Chat Board  If you only want to join one old-style chat board for YA and Kidlit writers, join this one. They share lots of info on lit agents, critique query letters, even will critique first couple of pages of your MS. Look around because there's even more.

YA Novel Reader Blogtours   Blog tour organizer focused more on YA book bloggers.

YOYA Magazine  Free online magazine for young adult librarians. Great info about teens and children's reading preferences.


Teen Culture/Point-Of-View

IAAM  Covers Teen Culture and Perspective.

FMLlife  A collection of quick story posts that people send in about their life. Many teens and young adults post hilarious stories on it.

Hypable  Website that covers entertainment from a teen/young adult perspective.

YPulse   This site helps people market to teens. I only include it because it does have some interesting information on Millennials.


Miscellaneous

27b/6  Okay, this one isn't "writing" related. But Australian David Thorne is funny as heck. Bookmark this page. Next time you feel depressed and need to laugh your butt off.  Go here. You're welcome. 
(WARNING: If you're easily offended and don't like high-brow humor, don't bother clicking.) 


UPDATE:

The most wonderful Kate Tilton volunteered a page on her site that has even more awesome and useful links. Go plunder her page here.

Random Thoughts: Things That Annoy Me at Starbucks



Photograph by Carlos yo



This is a new series composed of random thoughts that I have. Maybe you'll find them interesting...or extremely sad. Don't know which but here it goes...

Things that annoy me at Starbucks:

1) The guy who treats the arms of his comfy leather chair like a drum set, mindlessly going BANG BANG BANG. Is the name Ludwig or Gretsch listed on the front of that frickin' chair? No? Then it's not a set of drums!!!!! Respect a nice piece of furniture would ya?

2) Girl on the phone who's next in line and who is standing in front of the barrista and who is clueless that she's holding up the line because she's on the phone and we're waiting for her to order but she's too busy and the people behind her are thinking evil thoughts. Should we download a nasty virus to her phone? Should we use her phone to play the game, how deep is this water well? Should we just drown her in a vat of steaming Sumatra? Word of unsolicited advice? Love the people around you. Not your phone.

3) The person who blocks the entire electrical outlet because they have a mini-brick for an AC plug yet chose to use the top plug. You could plug that into the bottom one and leave the top one open for others to share. Related gripe: The jerk who uses all the plugs to power his laptop, phone, I-Pad, and his electric car parked just outside. Don't be an outlet hog.

4) When a particular location has cheap, wimpy chairs made of thin metal and plastic. You can be comfortable for maybe 15 minutes if you're lucky. Good wooden chairs are the way to go and the locations that have them are my personal favs. Extra points if they have comfy chairs to read books in!

5) The lady who came up to me as I was writing and asked what I did. She had seen me almost every day at this particular Starbucks working on my little laptop and was just curious. With a courteous smile, I informed her that I was writing a novel. Her reaction? She turned away and left without a word. I'm serious! It was like she was thinking, A writer? Oh, I thought you were doing something important. Well lady who-thinks-writing-isn't-a-real-job...Let's get something straight....When I write, I can travel to any place in the universe or go back to any time in history or create things that don't even exist yet. I can experience the triumphs and failures of hundreds of lives. Now, what did you do on that day? All you managed to achieve was to buy some coffee and then insult someone. Lady, I hope that cup of delicious Pike Place Roast burned your tongue. And by the way, the fictional teen girl whose life you think is trivial? She flipped you off when your back was turned.

*Side note: The one thing that keeps me going BACK to Starbucks are the barristas! Most of the ones I've dealt with are friendly and bust their butts to make coffee. So I salute all you wonderful barristas! You guys always rocketh with me.

What do you guys love/hate when you visit Starbucks? Or any cafe in general?