Posts Tagged With: ebooks

Last call for alcohol! (And by alcohol, I mean my Goodreads Giveaway)

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Hey guys! Just a quick post to remind everyone that my Goodreads Giveaway for Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It closes tonight! As of this writing, there are 6 hours left on the clock, so hop over and get yourself entered ASAP!

Here’s the blurb (for anyone who hasn’t heard me prattle on about the book a million times before):

A fun, flirty, fast-paced YA sci-fi/romance novel of cosmic proportions!

High school junior Eris Miller thinks she’s having a bad day when her roommate’s boyfriend catches her stepping out of the shower wearing nothing but a towel. Then she gets abducted by scaly six-armed aliens with a strange fondness for the color blue, and her day suddenly gets a whole lot worse.

Trapped on a spaceship bound for the slave markets of Sirius B, Eris fears she’ll never see her home again. But then fate whisks her away from her reptilian captors and into the arms of Varrin, a fast-talking space pirate who promises to deliver her safely back to Earth. He claims to have her best interests at heart, but Eris soon discovers that her charming rescuer has a hidden agenda.

As they race across the galaxy, outrunning a villainous figure from Varrin’s past, Eris begins to realize that their relationship is putting her planet, her life, and her heart in imminent danger. She knows that trusting Varrin could prove deadly … but what other choice does she have?

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing | Tags: benedict cumberbatch, books, ebooks, free, free book, giveaway, Goodreads, romance, sci-fi, teen, ya | 6 Comments

Chasing Nonconformity is finally taking shape!

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

As you may know, I’ve been working on the sequel to Imminent Danger for a while now. I believe I started it back in … 2010? Possibly earlier. Anyway, it’s been quite the laborious process. I’ve never written a sequel before, so there was a lot of stumbling and self-doubt and re-writing (the current version is almost indistinguishable from the original draft) and … yeah. You get the picture!

Anyway, I’m pleased to announce that things are finally taking shape with the sequel. I’ve settled on how I want events to happen, I figured out Varrin’s motivation (he had one before, but it was kind of a stupid motivation, so that’s changed), and I flexed my mediocre organizational muscles and did up a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of what the heck is going on in the story. I even made a timeline!

Guys, I’m so psyched right now. You know that point where everything just starts to come together, and you kind of sit back and go: “Wow. This feels amazing. And I can’t believe it took so freaking long to get to this point.” And then you ask yourself if all the hours of writing and re-writing and agonizing and plotting and arguing with your brother who absolutely refuses to entertain the possibility that maybe characters don’t have to make logical decisions all the time were worth it. The answer is yes — yes, it was worth it!

There’s still a heckuva long way to go before Chasing Nonconformity is ready for publication (obviously!). Part of my plan calls for new scenes, which need to be written. And then other scenes have been completely flipped around to be from a different character’s POV, or the same events happen but in a different location, etc. It’s going to be an epic re-write, that’s for sure. But now I have my lovely, color-coded chapter breakdown to guide me, so I’m confident it will turn out more or less the way I envisioned it.

So for anyone wondering how work on Chasing Nonconformity is progressing — there’s your update! I’m going to be working on it a lot over Christmas (hopefully I’ll finish the re-write!), and after that the basic process will be:

Run the draft past my mother
Wait two months for her to actually read it
Get it back — cringe at the red-coated pages — revise
Run the draft past my brother
Wait three days for him to read it and return it with a brilliant and in-depth analysis something along the lines of: “It’s fine”
Correct the inevitable logical errors he points out
Run the draft past my alpha readers (“alpha” makes them sound like a wolf pack — Arooooo!)
Make corrections
Run the draft past my beta readers (I might ask some of you awesome WordPress peeps for help with that, so stay tuned!)
Make corrections
Run the draft past my mother
Go through the entire book with her page by pain-staking page, tightening up my inevitably sloppy writing and probably chopping off about 10k from the final word count
Run the book past a copy-editor
PUBLISH!!!!!!!!

Realistically I see this book being published no sooner than Fall 2014. Cease your tears, my friends! The novel-writing process is not for the weak-hearted. We must stand together or we will surely perish!

Right. Thanks for reading! Remember to enter my Goodreads Giveaway for a signed copy of Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It!

Unrelated media

Note: Cleverbot’s responses are in blue.

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/SwjJi

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: author, books, cleverbot, ebooks, novel, self-publish, wordpress, writing, writing process | 11 Comments

Give the gift of reading this Christmas …

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

… by buying a copy of my debut novel, Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It!

That’s right, folks, it’s shameless self-promotion time! For all my lovely readers who haven’t yet read my book, why not give it a shot this Christmas? Or if you have read it and loved it, how about grabbing up a copy for your friends, daughters, sons, nieces, nephews, alpacas, rutabagas … whomever in your life you think might enjoy a little science fiction fun!

Click the gigantic book cover in the sidebar to get links to all the various online retailers that carry the book. Or just click here to go straight to Amazon.com.

Now, sadly I can’t actually offer any discounts, because iUniverse controls the pricing, not me. I know, I know, I’m working on it! In the meantime, while I can’t offer a price drop on book, I can offer a signed copy (sort of) if you buy a softcover or hardcover. Basically, I’m using this newfangled contraption called a “bookplate” (also known as a “sticker”). The idea here is that you buy the book, you send me an email letting me know you want a signed bookplate (along with your mailing address), and then I send you a bookplate free of charge, along with some Imminent Danger swag (bookmarks, stickers, personal thank you note for supporting me, etc.) Here’s a picture of a hastily done up bookplate that I totally didn’t just make five seconds ago:

I promise I’ll get a better gold marker so it isn’t all fuzzy looking. And if you want me to address the bookplate to a certain individual, or write a custom message or whatever, just let me know.

Anyway, that’s my shameless self-promotion for the Christmas season! If you’ve got a spare minute, please consider spreading the word about this whole “bookplate” thing … or just about my book and how awesome it is in general. And if you already bought a copy and want a bookplate, shoot a message/email my way and I’ll hook you up!

Unrelated media of the day:

As always, I can’t remember if I’ve already shared this or not, but either way, enjoy!

Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/7FNBr

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: Bookplate, books, Christmas, ebooks, hunger games, iuniverse, romance, sci-fi, self-publish, stickers, writing, ya | 5 Comments

Guest Post: Back to Creative Writing School (Bridget Whelan)

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Today we welcome fellow author Bridget Whelan to tell us about her new creative writing how-to book! Take it away, Bridget!

Following Michelle’s excellent example of shameless self-promotion, I jumped at her invitation to guest post about my new ebook BACK TO CREATIVE WRITING SCHOOL and how you can get hold of a free copy.

What’s it about?

It’s about finding ideas and developing them through a programme of 30 practical writing exercises that range from magic for grown ups to humour and horror writing. It’s about playing around with language and injecting a little rhythm into prose. There are lucky dip exercises that fling strange ideas together and formulas for creating characters that will walk off the page and start throwing their weight around. There are story prompts and poetry exercises for writers who do not want to write a poem, alongside exercises that will help you to start a memoir or look more closely at the world you live in.

All the exercises in the book have been tried and tested on real students. I’ve selected the most popular ones that offer an interesting challenge and have the potential to push you in new directions. And the ones that are fun. Writing is hard work: it doesn’t have to be punishment.

I’ve developed these ideas over nine years while I’ve been teaching creative non fiction at university, fiction in adult education and worked as Writer in Residence at a community centre serving the unwaged and low waged. In that period I’ve had one novel published by a mainstream publishing house and won $US4000 in an international short story competition, but no writer knows all the answers. Every time I am in a classroom I learn something new about creative writing. Every time I pick up a pen. Or read a book that grabs my imagination.

However, fair warning, this book will not tell you how to:

Bridget Whelan (author)

write a bestseller next weekend
win competitions
become rich and famous as a novelist.

Nor is it a guide to finding an agent or selling a short story. There are other books – good books – that can help with all that (except about being rich and famous, never trust a how-to book on that subject) but BACK TO CREATIVE WRITING SCHOOL is about creating the material that could become a prizewinning short story or the novel you’ve always wanted to write.

And for 24 hours it is free.

Download it from midnight Sunday December 1^st (tonight!) to midnight Monday December 2^nd (Pacific time) from your most convenient Amazon.

Amazon.ca

http://www.amazon.ca/Creative-Writing-School-Bridget-Whelan-ebook/dp/B00GJN576E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385418878&sr=8-1&keywords=Bridget+Whelan

Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJN576E

Amazon.uk

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Writing-School-Bridget-Whelan-ebook/dp/B00GJN576E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385399583&sr=8-1&keywords=bridget+whelan

And come over and say hello on facebook. I’d love to see you! https://www.facebook.com/creativewritingschool

Unrelated link of the day:

The tone matrix! Make beautiful music with no musical experience whatsoever!

http://tonematrix.audiotool.com/

Categories: Guest Post | Tags: amazon, books, bridget whelan, Creative writing, ebooks, free, free ebook, guest post, Writer Resources, writing | 5 Comments

New website for my book!

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

I was hit by the website-creation bug today, so I built a website specifically dedicated to Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It. It’s just one of those free websites, so nothing fancy. And most of the content is the same as my main author website, michelleproulx.com. But hey, I figure it can’t hurt to have a website dedicated to your book, right? So without further ado …

Click here to check out my new website!

As I went to the site to grab the URL, I laughed out loud as I noticed how many times the words “IMMINENT DANGER” appear on the home page. What do you guys think? Too dangerous, or too awesome? Maybe a little bit of both?

In other news, I’m at about 17k words for NaNoWriMo, so a victory on that front definitely isn’t in the cards. Still, it’s been fun! And then besides that … work … more work … and possibly lunch if I ever get away from my computer and track down some food.

Have a great weekend, everyone! Don’t forget to enter the Goodreads Giveaway for Imminent Danger (link in the sidebar) if you haven’t done so already!

Unrelated media of the day:

I’ve been listening to this song on repeat for the past two days, so hopefully by sharing it with you guys, I can get it out of my head!

Categories: Random | Tags: books, daft punk, digital love, ebooks, giveaway, Goodreads, website, weebly | 24 Comments

Barnes & Noble Black Friday 30% Off!

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Hi all! The lovely Tania L Ramos brought to my attention via her Facebook page that today is Black Friday, and that Barnes & Noble is offering 30% off your purchase when you use the promo code “BFRIDAY30”.

So if you’ve always dreamed of purchasing my debut novel Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It but thought to yourself, “Alas! If only it were 30% off, it would be in my budget! But as it is full price, I shall sadly have to pass up on reading this most glorious book!” … you’re in luck! Today’s the day!

Click here to buy Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It from Barnes & Noble!

And don’t forget to use the promo code: BFRIDAY30!

Happy Friday, everyone! And thanks in advance to whoever decides to take me up on this fabulous offer that I totally didn’t just found out about like 5 minutes ago. Hehehe.

Unrelated media of the day:

Categories: My Works | Tags: author, Barnes & Noble, bfriday30, Black Friday, books, ebooks, nook, sale, self-publish, writing | Leave a comment

What should I call my book series?

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

As work on the sequel to Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It proceeds at a glacial pace, my thoughts turn to the series as a whole and what it should be called. Considering that the first two things that draw me to a book are 1) the cover, and 2) the name, I want to make sure the series name is just as catchy as the book names themselves.

So to recap you, the two books currently in the series are Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It (published) and Chasing Nonconformity (not yet published). The genre is young adult space adventure / romance / humor. And now I need a series name.

The obvious choice is to base the name off of “Imminent Danger”, since that’s the first book in the series. But that could look a bit silly. Imagining browsing through Amazon and coming across this name:

Imminent Danger And How to Fly Straight into It (Imminent Danger, #1)

Seems a bit redundant. Then again, that sort of thing happens to Twilight, Divergent, The Hunger Games … lots of popular series. Hmmm …

Time to draw inspiration from popular book series! Let’s see which popular YA series have “series names” that differ from the name of the first book in the series …

The Mortal Instruments (first book = City of Bones)
Caster Chronicles (first book = Beautiful Creatures)
The Infernal Devices (first book = Clockwork Angel)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (first book = The Lightning Thief)
House of Night (first book = Marked)
Lunar Chronicles (first book = Lunar)
Gemma Doyle (first book = A Great and Terrible Beauty)

Time to analyze! Weeeeeeeeeee …

So it seems like most YA series go with whatever the name of the first book is. Probably makes life easier. The series that don’t do that seem to draw their names from either the protagonist, important items in the story, or … well, whatever the heck “House of Night” means. The word “Chronicles” also seems popular.

Either I go with something slightly dull, like The Imminent Danger Series, or I spice it up and capture the essence of the book with something a bit more vague, like The Lamri Chronicles or The Reluctant Xenophile Saga or Abducted! (I quite enjoy the gratuitous exclamation mark in the last one).

Hmm … what do you guys think? What’s a good series name for my fledgling YA space adventure / romance / humor series? All suggestions welcome, no matter how silly!

Unrelated media of the day:

I may have already shared this last Christmas, but whatever. It’s a lovely Christmas medley shot in a very cool way, so listen/watch and enjoy!

Categories: My Works, Self Publishing | Tags: author, Book series, books, Christmas, City of Bones (Mortal Instruments), Clockwork Angel, ebooks, Gemma Doyle, House of Night, Infernal Device, names, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, self-publish, writing | 46 Comments

Cover Reveal! Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies (Charles Yallowitz)

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Happy Monday, everyone! I’m psyched to announce that I’m taking part in fellow blogger Charles Yallowitz‘s cover reveal for his new book Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies.

Without further ado … the cover reveal!

Isn’t it gorgeous? It was created by talented artist Jason Pedersen — click his name to check out his website!

And now, since you’re probably wondering what the heck the book is actually about, here’s the blurb:

The epic adventures of Luke Callindor and Nyx continue after their journey down the L’Dandrin River in Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower.

Reeling from his failures in their previous adventure, Luke leads his surviving friends to his hometown. With his mind frayed and his confidence fractured, Luke must face the family and fiancée he left behind. It is a brief homecoming when the vampire Kalam attacks the village, forcing Luke and Nyx to break into his lair for the key to resurrecting a fallen warrior. It is a quest that will force both young heroes to reach new heights of strength and power that they never knew they had.

Can Luke and Nyx escape the lair of Kalam? And, what role will the orphaned gypsy Sari play in their looming destiny?

The book will be released on December 1st, 2013 — so mark it in your calendars!

Also, this is the third book in the Legends of Windemere series. If you want to check out the first two books, here are some links:

Book 1 — Beginning of a Hero: http://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Hero-Legends-Windemere-ebook/dp/B00BL9GBU2/

Book 2 — Prodigy of Rainbow Tower: http://www.amazon.com/Prodigy-Rainbow-Legends-Windemere-ebook/dp/B00E8WUD5S/

Aaaand to round out the cover reveal, here’s some info on the author himself, Charles Yallowitz!

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After his wife decided that she was tired of hearing the same stories repeatedly, she convinced him that it would make more sense to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house under orders to shut up and get to work, Charles brings you Legends of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and his wife is happy he finally has someone else to play with.

Check out his blog to learn more about his books!

I think that covers it! Best of luck to Mister Yallowitz and his new book!

Categories: Self Publishing, Writing | Tags: art, author, books, charles yallowitz, cover reveal, ebooks, fantasy, jason pedersen, legends of windemere, self-publish, writing | 8 Comments

VLOG #11 – Argyle Arts Festival + Writing Update!

Posted on November 2, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

Remember how I lost my flip cam and therefore couldn’t do any more vlogs? Well, I found it! It was hiding under Tibbers, my enormous teddy bear.

Thus, without further ado, my new vlog!

Categories: My Works | Tags: author, books, ebooks, Festival, Halloween, imminent danger, pirate, self-publish, vlog, writing | 9 Comments

Opinion time! What should I put on the Imminent Danger bumper sticker?

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Michelle Proulx

That’s right, my friends. It’s time. Time to make an Imminent Danger bumper sticker. Please, contain your excitement. Falling off your chair and collapsing on the floor in a quivering wreck is undignified. And what are we without our dignity, I ask you? WELL?

Moving on. I want to make an Imminent Danger bumper sticker, mostly because I want one to stick on my car. That’s right, I have a car now! Technically it’s my mother’s, but she bought a new one and gifted me her old one — virtual high five for awesome mothers! The car’s a bit rusty, but it’s now mine, and I want to decorate it. So let’s talk bumper stickers!

I’m thinking text is probably the best option, since bumper stickers are small and I’m not sure intricate artwork would really come across well. I was originally thinking of just putting the book title on the sticker, but that doesn’t really do much to promote my book — and ideally, the sticker would both say “Yay! Imminent Danger!” and “Buy this book!”.

Any thoughts? I’m considering including my website on the sticker, but I’m worried that’s going to put too much text to read clearly from a distance. Hmmm.

My brother suggested just having one big word — “SHWOOP”. That is, of course, the sound my spaceships make when they leap across great distances. Very appropriate for a vehicle. But no one would get the reference, not to mention it wouldn’t advertise my book at all. Then again, having a SHWOOP sticker would be pretty cool. If a couple of people got them, we could be like a secret SHWOOP club.

What do you guys think?

Unrelated media of the day:

I may have shared this already, but whatever, it’s funny.