Category: Uncategorized

Don’t you f-ing quit. And if you feel like quitting, email me for an e-slap. They’re free on Tuesdays. ~ C.M. McCoy

I’m super excited to introduce C.M. McCoy. She just released Eerie, a new adult paranormal adventure with a side of sweet romance. In the midst of all her crazy-busy-new-release days, she agreed to do a little interview.

Hiya, C.M., so glad to have you. Tell us a little about you. How did you get to where you are today?

Hi Bokerah (am I saying that right?)  Thanks so much for reaching out to me and can I just say—I am more than a little bit in love with your hair. Seriously. You’ve inspired me to try a Northern Lights look during my next hair appointment. I’ll send you a photo.

Right now, I’m sitting in Alaska, but I didn’t start here. I was born and raised in a town just north of Pittsburgh. Long story short—after college, I joined the military, where I met this really cool guy who convinced me to live with him in the Last Frontier.

As for the journey from Air Force engineer to author… Well there’s a story best told over a few shots of whiskey.

I actually wrote a memoir before I wrote Eerie, which my non-fiction agent, Sharleen Martin, is shopping. In several ways, Eerie grew out of my memoir experience. I’d always enjoyed writing and telling stories, but it wasn’t until after I’d submitted my memoir to Sharleen that I felt confident enough to tackle a novel. The story itself had been rolling around in my head for a couple years. I knew the characters. I knew the world. I knew the story. So much so, that it felt like writing a memoir when it came out. The only (actually it was HUGE) difference was envisioning the history, thoughts, and feelings of each and every character so that their behavior and dialogue weaved logically and smoothly into the story. In memoir, that part is easy: the other “characters” are already drawn.

What followed was the long, arduous road to publishing, which is all too familiar to other writers, and I did cry over my hundreds (yes hundreds) of rejections.

This week, I finished reading Eerie. It’s a wonderfully creative take on the paranormal. I loved the humor. The funny bits nearly always caught me by surprise, but always made me love your heroine, Hailey Hartley, that much more. How did you come up with the pseudo-science behind the university studies and the happenings on campus?

Wow. Thank you! I’m glad you got the humor, because I was cracking myself up writing Hailey. Literally, I’d be in a full-on maniacal belly laugh, tears streaming down my face as I wrote. Hailey has a wonderful sense of humor, and it’s a good thing. I imagine she’d have gone insane without it after what I put her through.

Remember the X-Files? I LOVED that show. It came out when I was a young teen, and I so wanted to be Scully, investigating the unusual happenings in this world, armed with skepticism, science, and reason… I think watching that show planted a very strange seed in my imagination, and at some point I began to wonder: what if paranormal things were not only real, but accepted in society and seriously studied as a discipline. Like geology. Or medicine. And wouldn’t it be intriguing if that paranormal world existed as a sect in our normal society? Not necessarily out in the open, but not necessarily hidden either. Hence Bear Towne University, an accredited institution with a college of ParaScience located in The Middle of Nowhere, Alaska.

There’s a unique structure to the Envoys, their servants, and how they interact with humans. Is this something you built after mentally creating the college, or did that spiritual /  paranormal hierarchy come first?

The Envoys came first. Actually, it was a love story that came first. And in exploring Asher’s history to build his character, I realized he wasn’t the type of creature that would just live in a house, twiddling his thumbs, stalking a poor human girl. That must sound silly, but when I really dug in to his life, I realized he had an intense motivation to get back home. And having been trapped on Earth for 3,000 years, he would have done something hugely constructive to achieve that goal. Like build an entire university dedicated to tearing the barrier between this world and the afterlife.

How did you come up with Mooseltoe, Yeti spray, or the roommate from hell? Where did all those quirky details that made Bear Towne shine.

Ha! Mooseltoe is real. I didn’t come up with it. There’s some hanging from the light above our dining room table right now. I’ll send you some. I was “introduced” to it when I moved to this strange place called Alaska. Yeti spray is simply concentrated bear spray, also something that might sound strange to folks in the lower 48 (maybe not in bear country). I remember the first time I went camping in Alaska, and my husband shoved a canister of bear spray in my hand. I thought, “Really? I’ll take the gun, thank you.” In fact all of the quirky details about Bear Towne University arose from my “culture shock” in moving to Alaska, especially the mosquitoes and even the Luftzeug.

As for the roommate… Who hasn’t had a roommate from Hell?

Do you listen to music while you write? Did you have a soundtrack for Eerie?

Funny thing is I made a playlist for an angsty love story years before I actually sat down to write Eerie, and there is a soundtrack. It’s on my YouTube channel and features quite a bit of Evanescence.

As you know, I’m a beginning writer. What sort of advice would you give to other newbie writers out there?

Don’t you f-ing quit. And if you feel like quitting, email me for an e-slap. They’re free on Tuesdays.

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Eerie: Hailey’s dreams have always been, well…vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid. 

When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year-old beast is an equally terrifying creature who has fallen “madly” in love with her. Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety–a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive her ParaScience classes, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.

GET EERIE (you know you want to):

✔ NOW AVAILABLE!! EERIE for $2.99:
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/ntg5th2
Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/qeu4cnc
Apple iBooks: http://tinyurl.com/nm6cu5n
BAM: http://tinyurl.com/nbk4hmo
Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/poednpt

★ Watch the EERIE book trailer: http://tinyurl.com/qzszesl
★ Add to GoodReads: http://tinyurl.com/q4ggkdq

CM McCoy Social Media Links:
★ FaceBook: C.M. McCoy
★ Website: http:cmmccoy.com
★ Blog: http:cmmccoy.com/blog
★ Twitter (@eerie_o): https://twitter.com/eerie_o
★ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq1Hvat1KHssjcsL-eGKa1g/playlists

Hailey Hartley struggles to fit in. High school isn’t a good fit for her or her older sister, Holly. When the unthinkable happens, Hailey has to learn how to continue despite the absence of her sister. As time goes on, Hailey struggles to live her life. With paranormal beings after her, Hailey accepts a scholarship to a university in Alaska. Things don’t quite work out the way she or her uncles expect in Bear Towne. Hailey isn’t as safe as they all expected.

With unexpected humor and fast-paced writing, C.M. McCoy fashions a world that captures my imagination, and I couldn’t wait to read on to the next chapter. I spent the majority of my last twenty-four hours huddled on my couch cushion, plowing ahead, determined to know what happened between Hailey Hartley, Fin, and Asher. The roommate from Hell, Yetis, and bookworms… Definitely a recommended read.

Can’t wait for the next one!

Some language. Light romance / steam. Medium gore.

***I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Here’s the giveaway! (:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Title: EERIE

Author: C.M. McCoy

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Format: Paperback, eBook, ePack

ISBN:  1623422337

Summary:

Hailey’s dreams have always been, well…vivid. As in monsters from her nightmares follow her into her waking life vivid.

When her big sister goes missing, eighteen-year-old Hailey finds the only thing keeping her safe from a murderous 3,000-year-old beast is an equally terrifying creature who has fallen “madly” in love with her. Competing to win her affection, the Dream Creature, Asher, lures her to the one place that offers safety—a ParaScience university in Alaska he calls home. There, she studies the science of the supernatural and must learn to live with a roommate from Hell, survive her ParaScience classes, and hope the only creature who can save her from an evil immortal doesn’t decide to kill her himself.

PRE-ORDER EERIE for $2.99:
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/ntg5th2
Barnes & Noble: http://tinyurl.com/qeu4cnc
Apple iBooks: http://tinyurl.com/nm6cu5n
BAM: http://tinyurl.com/nbk4hmo
Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/poednpt

★ Watch the EERIE book trailer: http://tinyurl.com/qzszesl
★ Add to GoodReads: http://tinyurl.com/q4ggkdq

Website/blog: http://www.eeriesaga.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/eerie_o

Facebook (C.M. McCoy): https://www.facebook.com/eeriesaga

This week, we’re letting everyone know just what we’re thankful for. And that includes…YOU! There’s a new giveaway at every single stop so be sure to hop around and visit your favorite blogs and find a few new ones to follow, too!

I am so thankful for all of you that I decided to wear a turkey and make a video… but it was scary. And not scary-funny. 🙂 So these will have to do!

Thank you for visiting. And thank you for being an awesome reader.

You make our world go ’round. ❤ ❤

In honor of the AH-MAY-ZING that you are, I’m giving away

A $15 Amazon gift card & 

1 Kindle copy of Immersed by Katie Hayoz &

1 Kindle copy Sleeping in the Forest of Shadows by Eli Constant.

Two of some of the best books I’ve read in the last couple months. 

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ends November 27, 2015

Meet the rest of the incredible participants. There’s a giveaway at each one, so be sure to keep hopping. 🙂

Published as a part of the Paranormal Love Wednesdays Blog Hop.

Be sure to visit the other awesome participants!

As an author, I already have three times as many rejections as acceptances, but my pile is dwarfed by another fiction writer that I know.

She boasts over six hundred of the old fashioned – paper, envelope, stamps – rejections before she sold her first manuscript to a traditional publishing house. She went on to sell several manuscripts since that first time until finally crossing into self-publishing after her platform grew.

She attributes her success to one thing: perseverance.

While she waited to hear about one submitted manuscript, she wrote another manuscript to submit elsewhere. And then another. She believed that she had a message to give and kept putting herself forward until she was heard.

After each rejection, she returned. And in all this hard work of trying, she improved her craft, and her skills grew until success found her.

Rejection is an inevitable byproduct of trying, but perseverance is the only vehicle that will carry a writer to success.

So, remember, as always, don’t give up. Keep writing!

Coming December 2015

Watch for my Time Travel (SciFi) Romance Novelette

Dogwood Sprocket

Published as a part of the Paranormal Love Wednesdays Blog Hop.

Be sure to visit the other awesome participants!

This post is a part of the Paranormal Love Wednesdays.

Be sure to visit all the other awesome bloggers. (:

This will be fun! I was tagged by Katy Huth Jones over on her blog, Life is a Four Letter Word, for the Writer’s Life Challenge! This was a fun tagging to find this morning. I wish I could get birds to land on my flute, Katy. 😀

Write Fuel: What do you eat/drink while writing?

I drink lots and lots of coffee. I need to drink more water. At least coffee is made with water. Sometimes, I drink Singing Canary (It’s a delicious support drink for Adrenal Fatigue).

I like salty snacks, but I have a hard time snacking while I’m writing because I hate to get residue on my keyboard. I usually write for an hour or two, and then I take a break to read something while I eat. I started that read-while-eating habit when I spent summers at my Grandmother’s. We could go whole days without talking while each of us had our nose in a book. It was glorious.

I’m happy to say that I’ve passed the habit on to my kids, too.

Write Sounds: What do you listen to while writing?

Recently, I wrote the first draft of a space opera, and I was obsessed with André Rieu’s Bolero. The crescendo reminds me of the order of story-telling. Scene by scene, chapter by chapter, until we meet the climax.  I have always loved the piece, but I listened to it on repeat for most of my first draft. Also, The Piano Guys!

I have learned that the tempo of any music is directly related to how fast my keyboard clacks. Sometimes, I listen to things I already know by heart (so I am not listening to the words or tune) or wordless music. Recently, I’ve listened to Aerosmith, Johnny Cash, Lana Del Rey, Maroon 5, Adele, Norah Jones, Imagine Dragons, Secret Sisters, Punch Brothers. But everything is from a few years ago, so I already know the words.

However, I also really enjoy the Dr. Zhivago soundtrack as well as The Hunger Games (Songs from District 12 and Beyond). I connect the feelings I get from reading or watching a great story told with the music in it. When I saw Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, I listened to Gollum’s Song sung by Emiliana Torrini on repeat for several days, and for several weeks after we watched The Hobbit, my middle son asked to hear the Misty Mountains song before bed. And Pippin’s Song… I could go on.

Write Vice: What’s your most debilitating distraction?

Facebook and Twitter usually catch me. Although, I do spend a significant amount of time researching the publishing industry and book marketing techniques.

Write Horror: What’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to you while writing?

Editing. Editing is brutal. It’s horribly dramatic in the vicinity of my desk when I have to remove superfluous characters or cut scenes. So far, in my rather limited experience, this is the most dramatic occurrence.

Write Joy: What’s the best thing that’s ever happened while writing or how do you celebrate small victories?

I love it when I complete a story. I spent 20 years starting stories, but never finishing. I get to the end now. That’s a huge accomplishment, and it means that I’m closer to being a decent writer. There’s nothing that beats the learning curve of taking a story from concept to completion, then through all the stages of editing and proofing.

To celebrate? Coffee. I drink coffee, and start over.

Write Crew: Who do you communicate with or not communicate with while writing?

My older boys are getting mature enough that I talk to them about things that I’m trying to work through in plots. They also help name planets or people. Birthdays often appear in my books as codes for locks. They ask regularly if I will make them characters in the science fiction series that I am writing. I probably will.

Otherwise, when I’m spending thousands of words a day on a manuscript, I sort of turn into the writer recluse cliché. I try to remember to lift my head up every so often and contact people outside of my home. Sometimes, it takes those “Hey, are you alive?” texts to remind me.

Write Secret: What’s your writing secret to success or hidden flaw?

I have no secrets to success. The only way to success that I know is hard work. But if you think of something faster, however secretive, I’d love to know. 😀

I think my biggest flaw is that I crave monetary success. Sometimes, I worry more about whether I can sell my idea than whether it’s the story I’m supposed to tell right now. I’ll take lines or ideas out to make the story line more generic.

It’s difficult to walk the line between who I am, my voice, and what I am meant to say, and the desire to be commercially viable in a broad market.

Write-spiration: What always makes you productive?

Music makes me productive. Sometimes, I take a break of a week or two off. But by the end, I’m ready to write everything. Blog posts, flash fiction, short stories, novels, all of it.

Write Peeve: What’s one thing writers do (or you do) that’s annoying?

Those that try to make someone else’s work fit their mindset. I enjoy reading a wide range of voices, but I don’t think I could say that if the editor had said, “Okay, you need to put more ______ in because that’s what’s expected.”

Obviously, certain genres require certain things, but it’s awesome when there’s a spin on the normal. It’s okay to stand out, to be different. The key is to learn to do your version of story-telling well.

Write Words- Share one sentence from a project. Past or present.

Here’s a line from Dogwood Sprocket. It’s a novelette that I’m polishing for inclusion in an anthology later this year.

“Parallel realties?” Grace considered his explanation. “Above my sink?” Of all the bathrooms in all the world…

Thanks for tagging me, Katy! Don’t forget to check out her blog, Life is a Four-Letter Word.

I think I will now tag Cassidy Salem and her blog Cassidy Salem Reads & Writes. Can’t wait to read your answers, Cassidy!

This post is a part of the Paranormal Love Wednesdays.

Be sure to visit all the other awesome bloggers. (:

Coming Spring 2016

Daughters of Men
by A.R. Draeger
published April 5, 2015

Devastated by the loss of her son, Rebecca is struggling to salvage her marriage to Jacob, a cold and detached pastor. When he goes on a men’s hunting retreat and does not return on time, Rebecca fears the worst. Jacob arrives three days late, citing bad weather and poor cell service as the reasons none of the men called home. Jacob appears healthy, but Rebecca is concerned with the deep gashes on his arms and is even more alarmed when he tells her that he stitched them himself. As the weeks pass, Rebecca begins to wonder what happened in the mountains. Jacob is not the same man he was before. While she is relieved he is no longer detached, she cannot comprehend why he’s become so flirtatious, so sexually aggressive. So obsessive. Jacob’s odd behavior mounts, and the actions of the men who joined Jacob on the retreat grow more and more strange, convincing Rebecca that the men who came home are not the men who left. Who are these pretenders… and what have they done with her husband?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A.R. (Amber) Draeger resides in rural Texas with her husband, Josh, and son, Logan. When not writing or reading, she is watching reality TV shows or tromping through the nearby woods.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Brief Review:

Daughters of Men is a SciFi written with a substantial basis within our current reality, but with strong undertones of horror. It begins like any other novel, but quickly takes a turn for the thrilling. There’s a great twist in the second half, and it will keep you guessing.

Love A.R. Draeger’s mind-bending take on Genesis 6:2. Chilling, spooky, and she does a wonderful job of describing things for the reader to experience – sights, sounds, smells, feelings. As her debut novel, I cannot wait to see what A.R. Draeger writes next!

Several surprises and lots of “just one more chapter.”

Recommended Reading.

***Some Adult Themes, Situations, and Language***

//widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

This post is a part of the Paranormal Love Wednesdays Blog Hop.

Be sure to check out the other awesome participants!

Margo Bond Collins

Books That Aim for the Heart

Blaire Edens

New Release 11/1/2015

I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak: Along the Bumpy Road of Rural Life

Description:

After ditching a full-time career and moving to a small hobby farm to enjoy a slower pace and a healthier lifestyle,  isn’t  everything supposed to be idyllic or “peaches and cream” as they say in the South?  Well, not exactly …

In this second installment of the I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak series, follow the author as she holds on for the ride, “along the bumpy road of rural life” where her friendly neighbors become not so nice and her farm animals evolve into completely coddled pets – with her Royal Palm turkeys becoming the most pampered ones of all.

Available on Amazon:

I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak: Along the Bumpy Road of Rural Life (Book 2)

Daily updates of the happenings on the farm and the latest adventures of the farm animals can be found at: I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak on Facebook

Enter the New Release Give-a-way! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

About the Author:

S.A. Molteni is a retired systems engineer. She is also currently a hobby farmer, avid traveler and an author of several award-winning short stories. She lives on a small homestead with her husband and a menagerie of farm animals.

S.A. Molteni can be found on the following social media sites:

Blog – http://samolteni.blogspot.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/author.samolteni
Twitter – https://twitter.com/samolteni 

Cover Reveal – I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak:  Along the Bumpy Road of Rural Life

Mark your calendars for November 1st!

Or if you like, you can pre-order I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak: Along the Bumpy Road of Rural Life (Book 2) at the following link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015IG50IM

Description:

After ditching a full-time career and moving to a small hobby farm to enjoy a slower pace and a healthier lifestyle, isn’t everything supposed to be idyllic or “peaches and cream” as they say in the South? Well, not exactly …

In this second installment of the “I.T. Geek to Farm Girl Freak” series, follow the author as she holds on for the ride, “along the bumpy road of rural life” where her friendly neighbors become not so nice and her farm animals evolve into completely coddled pets – with her Royal Palm turkeys becoming the most pampered ones of all.

Enter the New Release Give-a-way!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author: 

S.A. Molteni is a retired systems engineer. She is also currently a hobby farmer, avid traveler and an author of several award-winning short stories. She lives on a small homestead with her husband and a menagerie of farm animals.

S.A. Molteni can be found on the following social media sites:

Blog – http://samolteni.blogspot.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/author.samolteni
Twitter – https://twitter.com/samolteni