Beyond Words

I'd like to welcome author, K.C. Sprayberry to my blog today. She has a new novel titled Grace soon to be released by Solstice Publishing.   KC Sprayberry started writing young, first as a diarist, and later through an interest in English and creative writing. Her first experience with publication came when she placed third in The Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge contest while in the Air Force, but her dedication to writing came after she had her youngest child, now in his senior year of high school. Her family lives in Northwest Georgia where she spends her days creating stories about life in the south, and far beyond. More than a dozen of her short stories have appeared in several magazines. Five anthologies feature other short stories. She has three books that are Amazon best sellers: Softly Say Goodbye, Who Am I?, and Mama's Advice . Her other novels available are: Take Chances, Where U @, The Wrong One, The Ghost Catcher, Family Curse … Times Two, and ...

Show more Show less Just in time for Halloween. A short story about a girl who goes missing in Halloween and the unfortunate police officer who finds her. The Search for Trisha Campbell will be FREE for Kindle on October 14th and 15th. http://www.amazon.com/The-Search-Trisha-Campbell-ebook/dp/B00FCGIWM0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379818680&sr=8-1&keywords=The+search+for+Trisha+Campbell Here's just one of the five star reviews: John Galloway, cop, faces his worst nightmare, a missing child. The Amber Alert goes out on Halloween night. Galloway finds memories of his own daughter's death haunting him as he searches for six-year-old Trisha Campbell. He goes out with backup, with the rest of the cops feeling he's not quite up to par for this search, and makes a discovery he can't handle. Jeanne Bannon weaves a tale reminiscent of Stephen King. Ordinary situations, ordinary fears become malevolent. Bannon gets quickly to her point and...

Christmas in October   It is almost upon us.   Only five more days!   Every Monday and Thursday during October, six different authors will be spotlighting their books.     Some lucky commenter is going to win over 50 different prizes.     It could be you!   All you need to do is comment.   The more you comment, the more chances you have of winning all of these fabulous prizes!   So mark your calendars for Thursday, October 3, and be sure to visit www.pennyestelle.blogspot.com.     Ho!   Ho!   Ho!

I've recently published a short story entitled The Search for Trisha Campbell on Amazon. My husband, wanting to support me, decided he'd buy the story, read it and leave me a review. I told him to be honest - that was all I wanted. Even if it meant leaving me a one star review. Well, he read it and liked it and gave me four stars. However, to his disbelief and frustration, Amazon would not post his review. He contacted them and asked why his review was not yet posted. Their reply was that he is related to me. Hmmm, so does that mean none of my relatives, be they cousins, siblings, parents, etc. cannot leave a review on any of my work? Does this extend to friends as well? The strange thing is that we have different last names and email accounts. Sounds like Big Brother is watching and monitoring us at Amazon. Not sure I like that. What do you all think? I call it censorship. I never pay for reviews nor do I expect anyone who knows me to automatically give me a five st...

“ Christmas in October ”   The holidays will be here before we know it!   If you’re like me, you have at least one person who already has EVERYTHING!   Not to mention your sons, daughters, or nieces and nephews – who have so many computer games and toys, you trip over them when you walk into their bedrooms?   Instead of one more toy that will be forgotten by January, or spending money on a gift someone MIGHT like, why not go for something different. A gift that sparks a child’s imagination or allows your friends to relax and lose themselves in a world of humor, romance, mystery or fantasy – a book!   We just might have the solution and the good news is you just might get them for free!   During the month of October we have over 45 authors to showcase their book covers, a tagline, AND a giveaway.   Every Monday and Thursday, for the entire month, different authors will show you what they have to offer!   ...

INVISIBLE will be free for download on Wednesday, June 19th for the last time. If you’re interested in grabbing a copy, you can find it at http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-ebook/dp/B005LW21CC/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371598757&sr=8-1&keywords=jeanne+bannon

Hey there, can't remember the last I time I parked my butt in a chair and wrote a good ole blog post. I thought it was time, not that I have a lot to say. This post will be woefully short. However, I do have a question that I would love answers to. First, a little background. About a month ago, I signed a movie option agreement for my YA novel, Invisible . My question is, anyone else out there have any advice for me? I don't know what to expect (if anything). Do these things drag on for years ultimately leaving authors broken hearted with disappointment? I feel like I'm in limbo. Living in the land of dreams and what might be. Hope to hear from a few of my writer pals who have some experience with movie option agreements.

    To promote the release of the Friends & Lovers Trilogy , Bethany Lopez is giving away a Nook, an autographed skin for the Nook, and an autographed paperback of Friends & Lovers . Enter through the Rafflecopter, and earn more chances to win by following everyone who is participating in the promo on Twitter!   Friends & Lovers is Make it Last , I Choose You , and Trust in Me , and includes a bonus ending for each couple.   Check out the Awesome cover by !       You can buy Friends & Lovers here: Amazon Barnes & Noble Now, on to the GIVEAWAY!!! Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway Bethany Lopez Friends & Lovers Trilogy/Stories About Melissa Series IAN Webpage Twitter Facebook Pinterest My Books

I'm pleased to welcome Daniel C. Chamberlain to Beyond Words. Dan is among the top sellers for Solstice Publishing. I've invited him here to share a few marketing tips as well as to get to know him and his work better. Welcome Dan! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Well, I’ve been a police officer, Chief of Police and Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations where among my “few” notable achievements; I broke the largest black market ring in post World War II Europe. I sort of stumbled into that one. After retiring from the Air Force, I became Director of Security for a multi-national corporation. I’ve also been a successful “Feature” contributor for national circulation firearms magazines. I’ve combined a love of history and the old west, with my investigative skills, to   craft a frontier murder mystery: “THE LONG SHOOTERS,” that will satisfy lovers of traditional westerns, and detective fiction.    My sec...

My dear friend and author, Sheila Dalton has invited me to participate in the “My Next Big Thing” blog hop in which I am asked and answer the ten questions below. You can read Sheila’s post here: http://sheila-anne-dalton.com/Bee%20Happy%20blog%20tour.html 1. What is the title of your book or project? I’ve decided to talk about my YA novel, Invisible . 2. Where did the idea come from for the book or project? The idea for Invisible came when I was watching my daughter, Sara, who was seven years old at the time, at her swimming lessons. She was not enjoying them and for a moment I put myself in her place and imagined that she was wishing with all her heart that she could disappear. That idea lead to a time in my life where I wished I was invisible. In grades seven and eight, I was bullied and would have done anything to be able to disappear. 3. What genre does it come under, if any? Young adult. 4. If applicable, who would you choose to play your...

Michael L. Thal, an accomplished freelancer, is the author of The Legend of Koolura and Goodbye Tchaikovsky . He has written and published over eighty articles for magazines and newspapers including Highlights for Children , The Los Angeles Times, and San Diego Family Magazine . You can learn more about him at www.michaelthal.com . On February 18th, Michael's Novel, The Legend of Koolura will be free on Amazon   The Legend of Koolura tells the story of a sixth grade girl and how she obtained the cool powers . She has the ability to dematerialize at will and reappear where she chooses. She can move objects with her mind and she can even defy gravity!   But will these powers be of any use in stopping a stalker intent on her destruction? The stalker is determined to retrieve Koolura’s unrealized cool powers and hurt any of her friends who get into his way.   As the hour approaches for Koolura’s final confrontation with her nemesis, she...

For those who missed my last freebie day for INVISIBLE, I'm happy to announce that on February 8th and 9th, it will be free again. You can download the ebook on either of those days from http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-ebook/dp/B005LW21CC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1360067421&sr=8-3&keywords=jeanne+bannon Lola’s not pretty. Lola’s not popular. Lola wishes she could disappear … and then one day she does just that...   For seventeen-year-old Lola Savullo, life is a struggle. Born to funky parents who are more in than she could ever be, Lola’s dream of becoming a writer makes her an outsider even in her own home. Bullied and despised, Lola still has the support of her best pal Charlie and Grandma Rose.   Not only is she freakishly tall, Lola’s a big girl and when forced to wear a bathing suit at her summer job as a camp counselor, Lola’s only escape from deep embarrassment seems to be to literally vanish. Soon after, she discovers the roots of her ne...

Synopsis - After Forever Ends   Orphaned by her mother and brushed off by her dad, fifteen year old Silvia Cotton has lived a lonely life. That is until her father moves the family from the Highlands of Scotland to the Midlands of Wales. It is there she is enrolled in Bennington, a private boarding school, and meets the charming and rebellious Dickinson twins, Oliver and Alexander. Her regrettable life is changed forever.     Locked into a fierce friendship with Alexander and lost to a whirwind romance with Oliver, Silvia finds herself torn away from everything she thought she knew. Married too soon, she moves with Oliver to a rustic cabin deep in a Welsh wood and embarks upon a life she'd never planned for, surviving on hope she never knew existed and faith she never knew she had. Through the years of laughter, joy, sorrow and tears, she makes her way through university and onto a career, only to surrender her ambition to raising her children...

    It's nearly the end of January and I haven't yet abandoned my new year's resolutions. I'm still exercising and watching what I eat and I'm writing more. So, good for me. However, my weight hasn't changed much and this is frustrating. But, I think I may have found a diet that's not really a diet. It's the Paleo Diet or, as it's better known, the Caveman Diet. The idea behind this way of eating is to eat as our ancestors did and by ancestors I don't mean grandma and grandpa. I mean our ancestors from waaaay back - cavemen and women.   Apparently, our bodies haven't changed all that much from the way they were way back when. And since farming/agriculture didn't exist in the days of the caveman as it does now, our bodies aren't used to grains and other simple carbohydrates, thus, we have a hard time digesting them. Most of the energy from these foods are unfortunately stored as fat. The Paleo diet consists of eating mainly...

     As a writer I'm always trying new ways to market my book, especially in this day and age when publishers expect authors to do much more than simply write the novel. Since the publication of, Invisible , I've run the marketing gamut - from blog hops, to radio interviews, to guest blogs, to every type of social media out there. My novel was selling but in no way was it a best seller.   When I heard about Amazon's Prime Select Program, I figured I had nothing to lose and gave it a try. I was pleasantly surprised. Recently, I had my first 'free' day and just discovered that almost 6,000 copies were downloaded. This is a wonderful way to get your book out there and in the hands of readers in order to develop a following. I know I won't be making any money when my book is given away for free, but something wonderful happened. In the days following the freebie day, my sales soared. Another fringe benefit has been the positive feedback Invisible has...

It's been a week since my surgery and I'm feeling pretty good. So good in fact that I've started to exercise again. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to exercise yet but I took it easy and went slow, only doing light aerobics on my elliptical trainer. I did 40 minutes! Yay me! I'm still swollen and bloated from surgery so I'm not bothering to weight myself yet. I don't want to be disappointed. Exercise and weight loss weren't my only resolutions. I'd also resolved to write more and to be more diligent with my writing. I'm proud to say that I've opened a vein and have begun to pour out my soul onto my computer screen again. I'm working on the second draft of my novel, Incarnate . I find rewrites to be slow going so I've set easily attainable goals. Just taking baby steps at the moment but at least I'm heading in the 'write' direction. I'd be curious to hear how other writers keep themselves motivated. I want to tha...