There's still time to enter Local Author Wednesday giveaways!

With everything going on and the middle kid graduating 8th grade and no kitchen *still* (and #BEA--I swear I'm not glued to the internet about this... okay, maybe I am... oh and speaking of, there's an #antiBEAReadathon going on! You can check it out HERE! FYI I am failing miserably at it, though not for lack of trying!) and all the other stuffs going on, this week's Local Author Wednesday is going to get pushed to next week. But that's great, because it gives Michael and I a chance to figure out some way cool local history to share. He's been posting quite the interesting photos on his page lately, so I can only imagine what we're going to learn next week.

As for the past three Local Author Wednesdays, the giveaway dates are coming to a close and I wanted to give everyone the opportunity to enter a few more times. For those of you who've never used Rafflecopter (*ahem* my local pals), it's a simple "enter-this-little-tidbit-of-info-and-then-you're-entered" kind of thing. I have made sure to always have a free entry for those who aren't on Twitter and whatnot (that's okay, we still love you) so hey, might as well try for that freebie! I mean, they are BOOKS? Need I say more? :D

So here's a breakdown and direct links to enter to win as many days as you want before the dates are over...

1) 1 copy of Sharon Lathan's The Passions of Dr. Darcy (historical romance--Jane Austen style) HERE

2) Set of James Garcia Jr.'s Dance on Fire and Flashpoint ebooks (paranormal) HERE

3) 1 signed, hardcover copy of Kasie West's Pivot Point (YA dystopian) HERE

Feel free to spread the readerly love and share this info!

Have a blessed Wednesday,

Jessica

Local Author Wednesday: Kasie West, PIVOT POINT author

Throughout the month of May I will be highlighting a local author once a week. This highlight will include information on the author's most recent book/s, a giveaway (in which the authors are being so gracious as to donate), and something cool about at least one of their books to give you a feel of their writing. I'm hoping this feature will bring awareness to new local and international readers. Plus, I like giveaways!!! (To check out this month's guests, click on my original announcement, here, or click the Local Author Wednesday tag at the bottom of this post.)

This week, I'd like to introduce to you fellow young adult author, Kasie West. Kasie is donating one signed, hardcover copy of her debut, Pivot Point (this contest is for US residents only).

Pivot Point's blurb:

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

In Pity Isn't An Option, Jonas, the male main character, writes a few meaningful words on a particular item and ends up giving it to someone, and we've carried out this theme for Local Author Wednesdays. I asked Kasie what words would describe Pivot Point best, and what item her main character, Addie, would put those words on, and here is what she came up with:

Pretty cool, right? (Are you curious about the storyline yet?) And now, for the giveaway! Feel free to come back every day to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Kasie:

I write YA. I eat Junior Mints. Sometimes I go crazy and do both at the same time. My debut novel, PIVOT POINT (HarperTeen) came out February 12, 2013, and will be followed by its sequel in 2014. I also have a contemporary, The Distance Between Us, coming out July 2, 2013 with HarperTeen. My agent is the talented and funny Michelle Wolfson.

Find Kasie on
her website (link) Twitter (link) and Goodreads (link)

Purchase Pivot Point at Amazon (link) or Barnes and Noble (link)

Local Author Wednesday: James Garcia, Jr.

Throughout the month of May I will be highlighting a local author once a week here on the blog. This highlight will include information on the author's most recent book/s, a giveaway (in which the authors are being so gracious as to donate), and something cool about at least one of their books to give you a feel of their writing. I'm hoping this feature will bring awareness to new local and international readers. Plus, I like giveaways!!! (To check out this month's guests, click on my original announcement, here. To enter last week's giveaway, click here.)

This week, I'd like to introduce you to James Garcia Jr., author of the Dance on Fire paranormal series. 

Dance on Fire blurb:

Two Kingsburg police officers have been butchered in an attack as ferocious as it is mystifying. Now two detectives and their families are being drawn into a battle that threatens to destroy them and those around them. In a marriage of horror and Christian themes of good conquering evil and redemption, Dance on Fire is the fictional account of characters drawn into the fire by supernatural forces.

This book centers around Kingsburg, California! Which is like a twenty minute's drive from here! So cool! 

In Pity Isn't An Option, Jonas, the male main character, writes a few meaningful words on a particular item and ends up giving it to someone. I thought this would be a fun theme to carry on in the Local Author Wednesdays, so I asked Jimmy about words that would describe Dance on Fire best, along what item his character would share those words on. And Jimmy wrote a brand spankin' new scene for you guys! Check it out: 

Barbara Lopez watched helplessly as Vincent climbed through the nursery window. He smiled as his hunt for a meal had apparently ended in the bedroom of her twin toddlers, with her powerless to do anything about it. They cried and she finally screamed as the vampire reached inside the nearest crib and lifted out a struggling baby. His touch was icy cold, she knew, because she had felt it herself once.

Barbara jumped in her bed and mercifully woke herself up. It didn’t awaken Michael because he wasn’t home. He was in San Francisco for training. He was the Chief of Police now and that was what chiefs did - even on the one year anniversary of vampires invading their town.

She sat up while she regained her composure. When her heart rate had returned to normal and she felt able, she climbed out of bed, put on her robe and went to check on her children. She didn’t dare turn on a light of any kind, nor to venture too far into the room, for fear of waking them. Both were that good at knowing when someone was present. Instead, she simply poked her head in the room and listened for their breathing. Unlike one year before she found the nursery window securely locked. She did the same in Jerod’s room and found him safely asleep as well.

She found herself walking through her house. She didn’t double check any windows or touch any doors, but just casually walked about the rooms. She doubted she would get any further sleep this morning and wished her husband were home to at least snuggle up against. Michael had fought to blow off the conference and stay home, but she had been adamant that life was back to normal and there was no reason for him to miss it – black anniversary or not. The family was safe. Nathaniel had seen to that.

Thinking of him caused her to pause in the dining room. He had been gone one year as well and she wondered how he might be. They had received e-mail from him. He claimed he was doing well, but she wondered how true that was. Their last discussion had been in the front yard, sitting upon her bench. She went to the front window, pushed aside the curtains and peered out at it only to find someone sitting there.

Barbara gasped, but quickly composed herself.

She tapped the window. When the shape turned her direction, she closed her robe tightly, unlocked the door and went outside.

“Why are you awake?”

“I’m up the same as you,” Barbara replied, quickly taking a seat beside him.

“I see you still have your sense of humor, but you are not a vampire.”

“No,” Barbara grinned at him. “Why are you here, Nathaniel? And more importantly, why didn’t you tell us you would be in town?”

“I won’t be here long, my friend,” the vampire said. “Yet, it is an anniversary for us all, so where else would I be? I only came to deliver a message.”

“Oh”, she asked. “What is it?”

Nathaniel shook his head. She couldn’t see much in the dark, but she could see that.

“It is a secret that I will share with you tomorrow.”

“But, Nathaniel,” she begged. “I don’t do well with surprises.”

“Tomorrow. Come out here tomorrow with your morning coffee. I, of course, will not be here…”

“I see your sense of humor is coming along nicely,” Barbara quickly interjected.

“Yes. So I’m told. One monk in particular at the monastery sees to that. In any event, I am well and just wished to deliver you a message you will discover tomorrow. Now, before I go, tell me of Jerod and the twins. Michael only e-mails me so much. I want the mother’s description…” 

***

Jimmy chose this bench as the object on which Nathaniel would share his words.

And those words would be: Thank you for believing in me.

***

Thanks so much for sharing, Jimmy! And now for the Dance on Fire giveaway (feel free to come back daily to enter)...

a Rafflecopter giveaway



About James



James Garcia Jr. was born in the Central California town of Hanford. He moved up the road to Kingsburg with his family as a child. After graduating KHS, he attended Reedley College where he met his wife. They, along with their teenage sons, still make their home in Kingsburg which is also the setting of James’ vampire series. Dance on Fire was published in 2010 and its sequel Flash Point was published Halloween 2012. His third book entitled, Seeing Ghosts, a stand-alone paranormal romance, is set for a June 2013 release.

James is an Administrative Supervisor for Sun-Maid Growers of California. 

Buy Dance on Fire at Amazon (link)

Find James on
Goodreads (link)  Facebook  (link)  Twitter (link)

Connect with James at his blog (and read recent posts featuring excerpts
from Dance on Fire and Dance on Fire: Flashpoint, plus info on his newest book, Seeing Ghosts) (link)

Local Author Wednesday: Sharon Lathan, author of The Darcy Saga

Welcome to the first ever Local Author Wednesday! 

Throughout the month of May I will be highlighting a local author once a week here on the blog. This highlight will include information on the author's most recent book/s, a giveaway (in which the authors are being so gracious as to donate), and something cool about at least one of their books to give you a feel of their writing. I'm hoping this feature will bring awareness to new local and international readers. Plus, I like giveaways!!! (To check out this month's guests, click on my original announcement, here.)

This week, I'd like to introduce you to historical romance novelist Sharon Lathan, author of The Darcy Saga (link), including her most recent release, The Passions of Dr. Darcy. If you love Jane Austen (or even if you haven't read her before or seen any of her books-turned-to-movies), The Darcy Saga is a great view into the "what ifs" had Ms. Austen continued on with her stories. 

 

The Passions of Dr. Darcy synopsis:

George Darcy is the second son of a wealthy landowner in Georgian Era England. At 22 he is one of the youngest medical doctorate graduates of Cambridge University and admitted licentiate from the London Royal College of Physicians, and thus considered a brilliant, rising star in England’s field of medicine. Yet Dr. Darcy refuses the easy, comfortable pathway and enlists as a physician with the British East India Company, embarking on a personal quest to broaden his education and practice his craft without the restraints imposed by British society.

The Passions of Dr. Darcy spans thirty-four years in the life of this incredible, eccentric man. Using vivid descriptions of the culture and atmosphere, the story traces his early steps as a new doctor in a strange land on to his eventual return to England and his childhood home decades later. This is a story of India and the people as well as of the diseases and medical care available. Primarily, however, this is the story of one man who strived to change the face of medicine while yearning to fill the void left within his soul upon the death of his identical twin when they were 12. His search for family, enduring love, and lost companionship is a quest not wholly realized until returning to England and Pemberley. There a new generation of family and friends will heal the physician, and to his greatest surprise, the true love of his life awaits.

***

Sounds pretty great, right? And now, for something a little different...  

In Pity Isn't An Option, Jonas, the male main character, writes a few meaningful words on a particular item and ends up giving it to someone. I thought this would be a fun theme to carry on in the Local Author Wednesdays, so I asked Sharon what few words would describe The Passions of Dr. Darcy best, and what item her main character would choose to share those words on. 

In Sharon's own words: 

Dr. George Darcy would etch his memorable words onto the lid of his massive traveling trunk. He would not wish to mar the thick deerskin, so would use a surgical scalpel to scratch onto the strips along the edge.

1.    Alex - the name of his identical twin who died at age twelve

2.    Pemberley - his ancestral estate, home of his heart, and where his family resides

3.    India - his adopted country and home for thirty years

4.  Healer - physician, surgeon, or apothecary... Western medicine or Ayurvedic techniques... for Dr. Darcy the only goal is to heal

5.   Humor - innate in his character, an epiphany while reading Proverbs 17:22 enforced the necessity of cheerfulness and humor to aid healing and live a happier life

6.   Passion - whether for medicine, life, adventure, friends, family, women, or even food and clothing, passion drives George Darcy onward and keeps him young

7.   Children’s laughter - after three years of introspection, George told a dear friend that this was his “favorite sound in all the world”

8.   Marriage - a deeply held desire not to be realized for a very long time

9.   Learn - George’s conviction is to never cease in his quest for more knowledge 

***
Thanks so much for sharing, Sharon! :) And now, for a giveaway!!! Sharon is giving away one free copy of The Passions of Dr. Darcy (ebook or paperback--winner's choice)! Enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win (feel free to come back every day to enter)!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Sharon

Sharon Lathan is the best-selling author of The Darcy Saga eight volume sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Sharon began writing in 2006 and her first novel, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One was published in 2009. Her eighth novel was released in April 2013, The Passions of Dr. Darcy, an epic tale of an English physician in Georgian Era India.

Sharon is a native Californian currently residing in the sunny San Joaquin Valley with her husband of twenty-eight years. When not hard at work on her faithful MacBookPro laptop or iMac desktop, Sharon is at the hospital where she works as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU as she has for twenty-eight years.

Sharon is a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, the Romance Writers of America, the Beau Monde and Hearts Through History chapters of the RWA, and serves on the board of her local chapter, the Yosemite Romance Writers. In 2010 Sharon created Austen Authors with novelist Abigail Reynolds, a group blog for published Jane Austen literary fiction authors.

For more information about Sharon, the Regency Era, and her novels, visit her website/blog at: www.sharonlathan.net or search for her on Facebook and Twitter.

 Buy The Passions of Dr. Darcy on Amazon (link)

Find Sharon on 

Goodreads (link)   Facebook (link)  Twitter (link)