Saturday, May 25, 2013

A Saturday Quote


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Secondary Characters Bloghop!

Today is the day we've all been waiting for! At least I have!!! It's the Secondary Characters Bloghop! 
Sometimes secondary characters steal the show, (or the book) and become our favorites. We want you to tell us about your favorite secondary characters from books or movies, or both!
Whether it's the funny best friend or that goofy kid next door,
we want to know what secondary characters
you just couldn't get enough of and why.

Theresa Paolo, Kelley Lynn, Jessica SaylorJenny Morris and Suzi Retzlaff were all generous enough offer critiques as prizes! These ladies are brilliant, wonderful critiquers. I am also planning on giving away a three chapter critique along with an ebook of Secondary Characters, which releases on May 28th.
Cassie Mae and Kelley Lynn will also pick a winner to get either an ebook of Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend, or a signed copy of Fraction of Stone
So sign up over at Rachel's blog it's not too late!And Rachel Schieffelbein's debut novella comes out on the 28th! Make sure to order your copy!! Just click here.

I love when secondary characters steal the show! Sarah Dessen is one of my fave writers and one of the reasons I love her is because her secondary characters come to life. They make me want to jump into the book and become part of the friend group, community, work place, in which she has created. However, today I'm not going to talk about secondary characters from books. I'm going to go the movie route. 

When I think of secondary characters I think of John Hughes. From Buzz, Kevin McCallister's mean older brother in Home Alone to the Pigeon Lady in Home Alone 2 to Ferris' best friend, Cameron, in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. John Hughes is the master of secondary characters. I've picked two of my all time faves! 

Who doesn't know Long Duk Dong? And if you don't please go find a copy of Sixteen Candles and sit back and watch the awesomeness that is Dong. If you don't have time right now, I'll fill you in. Long Duk Dong is an exchange student living with the main character's, Samantha (Molly Ringwald) grandparents. He steals every scene he is in. And I can guarantee if you ask anyone what they remember about Sixteen Candles they will say Long Duk Dong.

My next favorite:
Iona from Pretty in Pink. She is Andie's (Molly Ringwald) boss and friend. From her wacky outfits and even more bizarre hairstyles to her outrageous personality, I fell in love with her from the very first minute she was on screen. I wanted to work for her. I mean she has to be the coolest boss ever! And her weapon of choice, a staple gun! I also love how she mentored Andie with years of her own mistakes and regrets.

Here's a clip of the awesome Iona:

Your turn! Who are your favorite secondary characters???

Monday, May 13, 2013

Happy Monday!

I'm over at Falling For Fiction today. Stop by and play match the book to the bad review.


Saturday, May 11, 2013

A Saturday Quote


Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Marketing Wednesday! Book Trailers!

It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that. I was caught up with stuff I can't quite talk about just yet, but as soon as I can I will fill you all in. I can't wait! So I had to refresh my memory and see what I've already talked about so I don't go repeating myself. So a quick run down.

Past posts have been on:
  1. Pinterest
  2. Social Networking (Twitter)
  3. Facebook
  4. Websites
  5. Cupcakes
  6. Covers
  7. Databases
  8. Bloghops
  9. Free Book at the Movies?
I can't believe I haven't posted a new MW since the end of Feb. Oops. Let's jump right back in. Today I want to discuss Book Trailers and would love to hear your thoughts on them as well, so please be sure to leave a comment :)

A book trailer, like a movie trailer gives you a glimpse of what the book is about. Some people may argue that book trailers are a waste of time and money. I have to disagree. The reason why, go on Youtube and type in book trailers. 95% of the book trailers that pop up are fan made. The fans want them. So much so they make their own.

It's something else to spark interest in your story and something else for your readers to talk about. To take the experience of the world you created one step further. It's like a mini movie. They get a visual of the characters they have fallen in love with. Or want to fall in love with, so much so they purchase your book to get the whole story and not just a snippet.

If you don't want to spend the money on a book trailer, have the fans do it for you. Have a contest for them to create a book trailer based on your book and submit it. Have a deadline, guidelines to length and whatever else you want and  pick a winner that you will feature on your website/blog/Facebook/Youtube or all. Have them post it to YouTube and send you the link. You can tweet ones you love, satisfying the creator as well as getting more people to see your book. And now do you not only have one book trailer but you have many. And guess what? It didn't cost you a dime. Though, personally I would offer a pretty kick ass prize to the winner.

My favorite book trailers:

All three of Simone Elkeles' for her Perfect Chemistry series. And what is so great about these is she creates short movies. The first one a rap video! She also now has three guys as the face of her series. I'm not exactly sure if they are from the book trailers. I haven't compared. But she is using these actors/models/guys for posters and signings. She has taken it to a whole new level and I think she is a marketing genius. I mean, a great story and cute boys. How could you go wrong?

You can view them all here http://simoneelkeles.com/videos/

What do you think of book trailers? Do you watch them?

Monday, May 6, 2013

Big Day! Cassie Mae's Cover Reveal!!!!!!

I'm so excited to reveal Cassie Mae's cover. This book is awesome and I'm not saying this as her critique/writing partner, but as one of her biggest fans. The cover is absolutely amazing and the book itself is fanfreakintastic! Be sure to mark it as to read on Goodreads (I made it easy for you. You just have to click.) and hop over to one of the sites below and preorder your copy today! Trust me, you'll want to read this one!

 Without further ado the cover to Cassie Mae's upcoming FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI:

 
Don't you just love it!!! And to find out what it's all about read below:


FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI
Written by Cassie Mae
Flirt |  On sale July 29
Rising star Cassie Mae introduces New Adult readers to a practical soon-to-be college freshman who seems to have everything—until a special guy shows her what she’s been missing.

 
In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud Chase Maroney.
 
Chase isn’t like the preppy, privileged guys Kelli usually meets in Sundale. For starters, he’s twentysomething, always wears black., and he shoots back one-liners as fast as she can dish them out. But Kelli’s attempts to drive Chase away falter when she realizes that he treats her like he really knowsher, like he cares about knowing her. When Kelli finally gives in to the delicious kiss she’s been fighting for so long, she faces a tough decision: make Chase a real-life boyfriend and risk her heart . . . or keep her clients and lose her first true love.

Advance praise for Friday Night Alibi
 
“Totally entertaining with as many swoon-worthy moments as hilarious ones, Friday Night Alibi is a must-read.”—Jolene Perry, co-author of Out of Play
 “A fun, funny, and fantastic story, this is one you will read in a day, and pick up to re-read again the next.”—Kelley Lynn, author of Fraction of Stone


Pre-order Friday Night Alibi: 



Oh, and stuff about Cassie too.


Cassie Mae is a nerd to the core from Utah, who likes to write about other nerds who find love. Her angel children and perfect husband fan her and feed her grapes while she clacks away on the keyboard. Then she wakes up from that dream world and manages to get a few words on the computer while the house explodes around her. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with the youth in her community as a volleyball and basketball coach, or searching the house desperately for chocolate.