Saturday, January 24, 2015

For the Bloggers And Facebook Page owners

The cover of Slumber is going to hit the web Feb 2nd and if you want to help share on your blog or Facebook shoot me an email csloat@verizon.net with the title : Slumber Cover Share.
If you share the cover you'll be in the running to win a signed bookplate. 1 winner *open internationally 

If you want to help share both the cover AND the books release you'll be entered in the running to win a Slumber Swag Pack( soap, signed postcard, eBook code, and a crown pendant) 
1 winner will be chosen on Slumber's release day
To be on the list for this please send an email to csloat@verizon.net with title: Slumber Cover and book blast
I hope to see many of my favorite bloggers emails soon! xoxo
Christy Sloat

Friday, January 23, 2015

It's Friday and that means another sneak peek into my wickedly magical new book, Slumber.
What happens when a princess kills her boyfriend and doesn't remember doing it? She isn't handed tiaras and ballgowns, she's sentenced to Spindle Ridge Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
And you thought you knew the story of Aurora! Silly! You haven't heard this tale before.


Today I'll introduce you to Malisa Fenwick, the head doctor at Spindle Ridge Asylum;



"She exuded confidence, holding her head high as she stood in front of me. In her large hand she held a tiny cup as she smiled wickedly at me showing me that she was in charge. I got all of that in one evil smile and trembled at the sight of her as a light came out of nowhere and shone on her face. She had hair as black as coal and her eyes were just as dark. She looked exactly as a woman should if she worked in an asylum; she fit in here nicely."




Find out what happens when Malisa Fenwick meets Aurora in Slumber
Add it to your Goodreads list now! Goodreads


Book cover reveal Feb 2nd! 

Friday, January 16, 2015

Slumber quote reveal and official blurb

Every Friday I'll release a sneak peek of Slumber. This could be a quote or part of a chapter to get you excited about it's upcoming release on March 16th.
Today it's a quote and image.
 Enjoy!
Make sure to click the link to add Slumber to your TBR pile and to visit my Amazon page and click the Follow button to get an email on the day it's released. Don't miss out on reading this fairy tale redo of Sleeping Beauty and Maleficent. I can assure you, you've never read a book like this before!
Add Slumber on Goodreads
Amazon Follow button


Not all princesses get their happily ever after…
They tell me I killed my boyfriend Phillip in cold blood. I stabbed him twenty one times. I’m only seventeen years old, and I am serving life in Spindle Ridge Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
I don’t remember killing him, so it’s really hard to believe I’m capable of murder. In fact I don’t remember anything before I came to Spindle Ridge, not even my boyfriend.
I can only grasp onto my realistic dreams while the madness of the asylum threatens to pull me under.  I dream I’m a beautiful princess and there is an evil faerie named Maleficent who is bent on my destruction. The dreams are the closest thing I have to memories of my life, except they aren’t real.
I’m crazy. I’m not a princess.
They’re the mad illusions of an irrational teenage girl, right?
They’ve assigned me a new doctor, and she says I can trust her, and that she’ll help me see the truth of who I really am.
When she arrived she brought a new patient, Sawyer, who is everything Spindle Ridge isn’t: exciting, mysterious and beautiful. He promises he’s here to rescue me. Trusting either of them frightens me.
Could it be possible that my dreams are more than just the imaginings of a delusional girl? Could they be truth?


Saturday, January 10, 2015

Three Years Later


The Beginning

When I first signed my contract with small press publishing house, Anchor Group, I had many aspirations for being an author; my new career.
I thought I would hit the scene with a one of a kind book and everyone would be amazed and they would all know about it. I was wrong. Boy was I wrong. 
One thing I did gain was fans. Adoring and loving fans that have been with me since day one!
But I didn't anticipate the hard work that I would have to put into my writing. I thought, "This will be easy. I'll write and then let Anchor Group publish it and sit back and watch the dollars come in."
Excuse me while I laugh at my naive self. Hahahahahahahhahah
Okay, I'm done. 

The Daily Work
Hard work is one thing you have to put into this industry.
You have to spend at least three hours, if not more, into social media and promoting daily. Once your new book comes out, you can celebrate for a little while, but then you have to get right back onto the computer and write another one. There are no breaks for writers. 
My 'muses' if you will, don't ever stop talking to me. They are constantly chatting me up and giving me new book ideas.
I have to sift through my ideas and come up with the ones that will become the best series or the best books.
After you've written the book then it goes to the editor and you have to start thinking about ways to promote this new book while promoting all your other books that have been published already. *Sigh*
Week by week I have to choose which of my two series and my standalone to promote. It's like choosing between your children.
Asking yourself, “Which child do I spoil today? Which one do I spend all day telling people about?"
Do you see the stress I go through?
No?
Well, read on.
All the Millions
Okay, how about this; I don't make millions of dollars. Yes, I'll admit it. Authors don't make a lot of money for what they do. I recently had an acquaintance ask me why I don't buy myself a new car instead of driving my Honda Accord. "If you're a writer, why don't you drive a BMW?"
After I laughed so hard that I peed myself, I calmly explained how whatever money I make gets split between my publisher and me. And then when my portion comes in, I put it right back into promoting my books. I buy swag, ad spots, or pay for promoting myself on blogs.
Never do I make enough to buy a BMW. 
Do I hope to make enough for something like that? Well, sure. Who wouldn't? Although I'm not a Beamer type of girl. I'd spend my money on other things, like my kids college fund, but that's dreaming. I need to be present in reality.

The Dream
Do I hope someday to hit the 'big time'? Yes! It's an author’s dream to hit the NY Times Bestsellers list. But will I quit writing if that doesn't happen? No. 
I won't. I write for myself. I write for those fans that have been there since The Many Lives of Avery Snow. 
I write for my daughters, because they believe in me. They see Mommy went after her dream and she writes pretty books.
Every book that I write, I put my heart and soul into. I've learned so much since Avery Snow came out. I've grown into a better writer since then. That’s what all writers should do. 
If your characters all sound the same in each book, you've got a problem. 
I try to write different genres; challenging myself with each book. 

My Future
This year I signed with Anchor Group again to publish Slumber. Yes, I originally said I was going to self-publish. But something that self-publishers don't tell you is the money you put into it. Wow! Give them a hand for all that they do to put into their books. *Clapping* 
I stay at home with my youngest and contrary to popular believe, SAHM's don't make any money. I added up the costs for Slumber to be published and sat back and said "Wow."
The only way to publish it would be to make it the best it could be. Pay the best editor, get the prettiest cover by the best artist and format the inside by the hardest working formatter.
I could do it cheaply but it wouldn't look very good, would it?
So I spoke with Anchor Group and they wanted Slumber. They have always had my back, since day one. They pulled me aboard when I was left out at sea after the nightmare I went through in the very beginning. And I feel good about this. 
So, Slumber will be released March 16th by Anchor Group and I'll work just as hard to promote it, even though Facebook has changed dramatically...
I plan on writing more books; I'll never stop.
But this year will change for me in my personal life. My little one will start Kindergarten this year and that means, mommy needs a day job. Yep, yours truly will need to get a job and I'll have to change up my promoting plans.
Will I still have three hours a day to promote? Probably not.
I'll write during the nights, like I do now, and during the day I'll be working like the rest of  the American women out there do. You know it's hard to be a woman who stays at home and raises children. I get a lot of flack for it. But I did it for five years. And for all those years I wrote books and raised kids. So why would that change now? My hours available will change but my passion for writing will not.

Plans
I've made plans for my books and they include some pretty amazing things.
The Brown House will become an Audiobook and I'm so excited for it. To have my bestselling book in audio is a dream I've always had.
The Past Lives Series will be rewritten and I'll add new content; making it better than ever! Anchor Group is going to put the books into one big Anniversary Edition box set. So you'll be able to buy the book and have all the books in one book. I'm also writing a special added story with Landon and Avery!
Not only will you have a new and improved original Avery story but you'll be able to have extra scenes. 
The Slumber Duology will include two books and book two, Awaken, will come out this year. I'm also planning on some collaborations with other Indie authors that I'm excited about. 
If you've read my other posts you know I plan on writing my first zombie book, The Survival Pact.
I'm not done writing just because I won’t be at home any more. My dreams won’t change, ever.
My love for my fans will never change. I owe it all to you. You've read all of my books and I can only repay you by writing more.


xoxo
Christy


Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Walking The Edge by Zee Monodee

Title: Walking The Edge
Series: Book #1 in the Corpus Brides Trilogy
Author: Zee Monodee
Release date: January 5, 2015
Genre: Romantic Suspense/ Espionage Romance/ Action Thriller
Length: 228 pages

Blurb:

Walking the edge
The next step might be the last...

A woman without a past
Left amnesiac after an accident, Amelia Jamison’s instincts slowly rise from the depths of oblivion to question her life as the wife of a cold, manipulating, and distant man. Wisps of a dream show her another man she may have known intimately, but is he a memory, or a figment of her imagination?

A man with too much information
After many aliases, today Gerard Besson is simply a police commissaire in Marseille. When a mysterious woman starts to follow him, he is suspicious. But things aren’t what they seem, and as he reluctantly gets closer to her, dredges of his painful, buried past spring to light and make him question her identity.

Each seems to have led two different lives
But neither is prepared for what awaits them when they cross the fine line between knowing your true self and that of your alter ego.

Danger is the name of the game, and as it catches up with them in the French Provence, both know they better be ready for the inevitable fall.


Get this book today!

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/507353

Amazon US - http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Edge-Corpus-Brides-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00RJN0768/

Amazon UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Edge-Corpus-Brides-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B00RJN0768/






Excerpt #1

She flew straight to the bedroom and its adjoining bathroom the minute she stepped into the cold dwelling, wanting to get to the pills she had to take—pills scheduled like clockwork every six hours, and the reason why Nathaniel had said they needed to get back before Peter came home. She could ditch them down the drain while Nathaniel struggled to get in with the mountain of shopping bags she’d piled on him back at Selfridges, and thus escape the drugs’ heavy, losing-control sedation.
As she closed her hands on the vials in the medicine cabinet, she froze. The plastic tubes rolled with a clatter of shaking pills into the sunken marble sink.
Someone stood there.
Oh, no. Peter.
Her breath hitched in her throat as she sensed more than heard his approach, his Italian loafers making no sound on the bedroom carpet, then on the polished floor tiles of the en-suite. Like a stealthy big cat, a predator on the move... The closer he got, the more she recoiled and cringed, dreading the feel of his cold, slimy paws should they touch her.
He dipped his head so his mouth would be level with her ear, and the whisper of his breath teased her skin with a malevolent reek.
“There’s a good girl.”
His tone thrummed low, soft, chilling...with a hint of mockery, a distressing reminder that he called the shots around the house. Gone was the distant, detached man who had been by her side at the hospital. In his place had settled a manipulating monster who took pleasure in making her jump out of her skin.
Against her will to not give in to his silent threat, her body shook with subtle tremors. The one vial of medicine still in her palm rattled with a nerve-wracking jangle as the pills inside danced from the involuntary movement. Couldn’t she be made of sterner stuff? Why did he have this effect on her, damn it?
Peter placed his cold hand onto hers and rubbed his long fingers along her wrist. She yearned to shrink back from the creepy, reptilian touch, but she couldn’t move. He’d make her do what she didn’t want.
He’d make her take the drugs.
Misery threading an icy path down her spine and into her soul as he reached for the small bottles. Her lower lip trembled to contain a sob, and she bit down on the flesh so hard, the coppery tang of blood flooded her taste buds, making her yearn to retch even more.
“Seems like you need to rest, Millie.”
His still-low voice sliced her like a thousand shards of sharp crystal, stabbing into her gut and at her pounding heart. He took one pill from each of the white vials, and two from the pink one, before he cradled her hand in his and placed the little spheres in her palm.
After putting the medicine bottles back in the cabinet, he swung the door closed. The mirror on the panel reflected their images. She stifled a gasp when the visual confirmation that he stood so close drove home. What a devastatingly handsome man; tall, with pale skin as flawless as the most precious Italian marble. His eyes had a unique, deep green hue, and locks of his expertly cut dark hair—the shade as intense as gleaming mahogany—brushed his wide forehead, which tapered down to an otherwise lean face. But no soul existed behind that façade. Nothing but darkness... And she couldn’t let him win. Ever.
She tore her gaze from his reflection to stare at her own. For all the racing heartbeat and thundering blood pounding in her veins and at her temples, her face betrayed no hint of the fear and pooling dread inside her. No, she appeared detached, regal, as if she didn’t give a damn.
Peter filled a glass at the tap and placed it in her other hand. His stare caught hers in the mirror, and she shook inwardly at the empty hollowness of his soul that darkened his bottle-green irises.
Drink, they seemed to order, a barely concealed command obvious in the penetrating gaze.
No, she craved to scream, but something else took over. She needed to show him she’d never cower. Defiant, she threw the pills into her mouth and swallowed them with a big gulp of water.
Satisfied? Her blue gaze insolently asked as she stared back.
He smiled. Only the corners of his mouth stretched, his eyes remaining hard, emerald stones in the smooth, chiseled
perfection of his otherwise expressionless face.
She shivered—at his calm, detached demeanor, or at the drugs hitting her bloodstream with no food as a buffer in her empty stomach? The stuff he plied her with proved potent, and it could knock her out in minutes. Already, she grew groggy, wisps of oblivion snaking through her consciousness and laying siege upon her mind, intent on numbing any functioning neuron in her system so the abyss could consume her.
Peter’s hand settled under her elbow, the chill of his touch permeating the fabric of her cashmere twin set. He made her turn around, his grasp firm as he led her, stumbling steps and all, into the adjoining room.
As her blurred vision made out the silhouette of the king-size canopy bed, the last thing she clearly recalled before darkness claimed her was someone pushing her forward with all their might.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Tix on sale!

 So the awesome L.P Dover is hosting the Carolina Book Fest this August!
Tickets are now on sale and are only 10.00
Not only will I be there but the list of attending authors is so huge, I can't fit them all on here.
Click the link below to get more information and to order your tickets now.
You don't want to miss out on this event, trust me!
Carolina Book Fest