Customer Review
K M Weiland’s Creating Character Arcs: The Masterful Author’s Guide
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This book will stay on my shelf., November 15, 2016
Falcon Flight is launching – only $0.99
Today’s our day!
It’s launch day for Falcon Flight (a medieval fantasy adventure), $0.99 today 5/13, through Monday 5/16, click here. And be sure to grab your ebook copy of the first Chronicle, Falcon Heart, free the 13th – 16th. Click here.
Then my friends Mariella and Ashley’s books (I’ve read them, they’re very good) are a steal. Continue reading
Falcon’s Ode: a gift for visitors, reviewers, and readers
Falcon’s Ode, 1st of 10 lyrics, a poem which Kyrin created for her falcon, Samson, in Falcon Flight, sequel to Falcon Heart.
This is my gift to my visitors, readers, and reviewers. You are the best! Especially recently, this is for my reviewers Julia, Ember, and Candace. Thank you so much for the reviews!
This will be the only lyric on my blog. But I will be adding another lyric almost daily to my Reader’s Swag page here, until 5/13/16, when Falcon Flight releases. This Ode is for everyone. Share, steal, squeal at will, pin and let all in! LOL
Please just add the link back so that others can find it.
Thank you, and enjoy the adventure!
Azalea Dabill
2016 March YA Fantasy Blog Letter
Well, I’m getting on to adventure.
Journey beginning . . .
First, a bit of news:
I’m excited and just wanted to encourage you all that our fans really appreciate us taking time to talk to them.
Yesterday I emailed Rachel Neumeier of the Griffin Mage trilogy, The Floating Islands, etc., asking to order a signed copy of her new book Keeper of the Mist that is coming out for my book giveaway that Derek is helping me set up. *Giveaway coming soon.*
Azalea’s Scop Talk
If you’re in the Klamath Falls, Oregon, area and want local good eats, community artisans’ craftsmanship, and an enjoyable stop to booth-shop, come join me at Shepherd’s Spring Fair.
This Friday-Saturday, May 15th-16th 9 am-5 pm.
Hosanna Christian Academy, 5000 Hosanna Way, Klamath Falls, Oregon
Falcon Heart will be there too, and I’ll be happy to autograph your book!
Have a great day,
Azalea
The Ultimate Self Publisher’s Resource Guide review
Not quite what I thought, but still good. I give it three stars.
At first look I thought the Self Publisher’s Ultimate Resource Guide was a tome inches thick. (I did not pay too much attention to the description since I’d been pleased with my experience as Joel Friedlander’s customer and blog follower before.) So I was a little dismayed when he asked for a review of his and Betty Kelly Sargent’s book within about a week.
Still, I had signed up, and was determined to do my best to keep my word to give a review of this giant resource for Indie writers. The contents looked extensive. I began reading.
On the one hand I was pleasantly surprised that the topics were flashing by, but wondering on the other if this resource was all the title touted it to be.
I finished the last section on consumer protection agencies. I was disappointed. I had mistakenly thought this was more than a generic index of resources. A place to begin. The Ultimate Guide, I felt, should have more advice and how-to.
But there are many books and blogs, etc., on how-to methods, with endless advice. In fact, the Guide lists many of them. These resources put the ball in my hands and spread the park before me. That is a good place to begin.
There are numerous links in each resource field, and the Guide states that it is a beginning. More information will be added. On top of this, the resources listed are relatively time-tested and customer vetted. This is invaluable.
How many sites have you gone to looking for info on a subject, and come up with info or a company you wished had a track record? An easily accessible record, made by people like you, entrepreneurs with roughly your experience and goals? Many times. If you’re new like me. I have not personally tried and tested these resources, but I’m willing to bet Joel and Betty have done good background checks.
This Guide is especially useful for the beginner. Just don’t stop here. Despite its name, no book can contain all the resources in the world. Many are developing, imploding, or being created at this moment. If you need resources, Indie entrepreneur, search out these and then bravely go beyond. But keep the Ultimate Guide on the shelf for reference.
All the best to you on your journey. Search and try: fail, search, try again. Succeed. Never give up.
One note to the Guide’s formatters: it would be nice if you would add a little more space between listings. It’s slightly hard to read and keep track of my place on the page. Thank you.
Also, I have been given a free ebook version in return for my honest review, though I would pay $8 to own the Guide. It might have saved me a half-year of research time when I started my writing and editing journey. And I may have need of a cover designer soon. 🙂
Guest: Land of My Dreams, Norma Gail Thurston Holtman
Change in Plans
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3
We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. Proverbs 16:9
The tiny bundle placed in my arms was warm and sweet, the answer to years of prayers, heartache and uncertainty. My husband and I stood in the chapel at the adoption agency with tears of joy in our eyes as we looked at our son. The day of delayed flights and rushing through airports was a microcosm of the turmoil of tests, surgeries, and years of waiting.
Four long years of hoping for a child were over, culminating in the joy of a three-week-old baby boy, wide awake and somehow aware that his world was changing forever. He looked around, taking everything in. A sensitive, reflective child, he has always had a tender heart and gentle spirit.
Twenty-one months later, a phone call during the Super Bowl brought us a baby girl who has never ceased to bring excitement into our lives. Arriving two years earlier than we thought possible, becoming an amazing athlete and never slowing down once, she never fails to surprise us.
My husband and I had often talked about adoption when we were dating. We were products of the “zero-population” generation. We talked about having two children and then adopting two more. God’s plans didn’t include the biological children. He had something so much more special, a plan to show us His loving control over our circumstances, while accomplishing His perfect purposes.
As friends had two or even three children in the time it took us to have one, we learned that God’s plan is unique for each of us, but always meant to make us fall on our knees and acknowledge His loving sovereignty.
Perhaps you have seen your dreams all turn to dust and your hopes fall to the ground, nothing growing to fruition, nothing turning out the way you planned. You may carry the scars from battling disappointment and confusion about where God is leading you. It may seem He doesn’t care and has turned a deaf ear to your prayers.
When doubt and disappointment seem to follow you everywhere, turn to Jesus and lay your hopes and dreams at His feet. Commit to serve Him no matter where He is leading and He will establish a way for you that is far higher and better than anything you ever imagined.
Copyright April 16, 2012 by Norma Gail Thurston Holtman. All rights reserved.
Norma Gail’s debut contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, set in Scotland and New Mexico, released in April 2014. She is a former Bible Study Fellowship discussion leader who established the first weekly women’s Bible studies in her church in 2003 and continues to lead a weekly small group. Her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She has led weekly women’s Bible studies for 19 years. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, FaithWriters, and the New Mexico Christian Novelists. She is a former RN and homeschool/soccer mom who loves family research, history, and Scotland. Norma lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 38 years. They have two adult children.
www.normagail.org
https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNormaGail
https://plus.google.com/b/102717101441594679714/+Normagail/about/p/pub
http://pinterest.com/normagailth/boards/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874459.Norma_Gail
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2
https://twitter.com/Norma_Gail
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170/ or
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/land-of-my-dreams-norma-gail/1119606864 ?ean=9781941103173
A Bit of Soul Baring: Or Glimpses of Adventure
Publishing Update:
For my readers or soon to be readers: Falcon Heart is scheduled back from my editor (professional editors do have their own editors) within the month. After corrections, Falcon Heart is in queue for formatting in InDesign for e-book and print, and to have a cover of art work designed, with interior art added. The art work and cover are in progress.
Falcon Heart is in the works, and I plan to release this title by December 2014 or earlier.
Meanwhile, the sequel Falcon Flight is going chapter by chapter through my crit group, then it will go through another revision, then off to beta readers, then my editor, and back for a final revision.
If you like historical fantasy and want to join my beta reader team, contact me at azaleadabill@gmail.com.
Keep alert for upcoming sneak peeks of Falcon Heart.
Now an Author’s thought for the day:
There is a purity to the writer’s work. With concentration, it can drive away all kinds of ill winds and disturbing thoughts.
Others have written better than you. Still others will surpass you in the future. Would you want things to be otherwise? Better to accept that we all get our turn at excellence.
This acceptance makes your turn draw closer.
It is deadly to compare ourselves to other writers. Those writers have not lived our lives. They cannot tell our stories.
The telling of your own story is an act of complete absorption. It leaves no room for nibbling, negative thoughts. It drives away everything but what is true and right for this story.
Today, I’ll let my work provide relief from envy and self-doubt. It is ready to sweep me away to a place where comparisons do not matter.
–A good quote from Susan Shaughnessy’s Walking on Alligators, pg 53
