Competition to win a Kindle Fire still running, plus Dognapped? is FREE today!

Dognapped? is free on Amazon today (free promo finishes 25th July)

I received an email from a reader who had trouble accessing the entry form below. If you have ANY problems entering, please feel free to email me with your name, postal address (in case you win) and your order number from Amazon. I'm happy to add you to the entry list myself.

As I write this post, Dognapped? is currently #1 in both its categories and #495 in the Free Kindle Store. This is a great response, a big thanks to everyone who posted, tweeted and blogged about this competition!

If you've only just found out about the competition, here's the info:

I'll be giving away a Kindle Fire! (Kindle Paperwhite if winner resides outside the US - Amazon won't ship the Fire to non-US countries). That's not all, one lucky runner-up will receive a $25 Amazon gift voucher! (Competition closes 7th July), there are two ways to enter:

1. Purchase your copy of Dognapped?, then fill in the entry form below. You'll be asked for your receipt number from Amazon (it will be on the receipt Amazon email you - keep a copy of your receipt as proof of purchase if you win). Dognapped? will be FREE June 23rd to 25th, and yes you can still enter if you downloaded your copy FREE! 

or

2. Blog about this competition or about Dognapped? (you can review, talk about or interview) then fill in the entry form below. You will be asked for your blog post link in the entry form. 

*If you'd like to review the book, but miss the free Kindle promotion, I'll be happy to send you a free review copy in mobi or epub file, simply email: charmaineclancy@gmail.com. 

If you blog and purchase the book, then yes, you get two entries.

Too easy! This competition runs from now until 7 July 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A lost dog

A stolen dog

A mysterious will

It all equals murder!

Meet twelve-year-old Kitty, friendless bookworm and amateur sleuth. All Kitty wants is to gain her mother’s attention, spend time with her miniature schnauzer Spade, and avoid Miss Perfect, Jessica Jones. 

Kitty’s world turns upside down when she finds a lost dog, and she needs Jessica’s help to find the owner, hunt down a dognapper, and solve a murder.

Introducing Kitty Walker and her mischievous dog Spade in the first Dog Show Detective Mystery.

RFW: Wedding Writing Prompt

Don't forget the huge competition celebrating the release of DOGNAPPED? 

is still running. 

It closes 7th July. For details and entry, visit:  

WIN A KINDLE FIRE AND AMAZON GIFT CARD

And from the 23rd to 25th June, DOGNAPPED? is FREE!

Romantic Friday Writers have a great writing prompt for June, and that's a wedding!  Go over and sign up, write yourself a short story or scene that includes a wedding theme - will your bride wear white?

I Do...Do You?

It’s embarrassing for me when you say goodbye and I don’t leave. My linger becomes uncomfortable for us both. So, I think, my dearest, that you should stop saying goodbye.

No, don’t speak. Keep this moment suspended, I hope forever. I know I’ve said it before, many times, too many to recall. But I’m here with you where I always want to be.

My sweet, beautiful love, oh there, I’ve said it first. Love. I thought I’d be afraid once the promise slipped my lips. I’m not you know. It feels right. Love. A truth that passes between us.

I’ve declared what we both already knew. There are no questions left. This must be done. Tell her. It really is the kindest thing to do.

The crease of your brow betrays your worry. Bad timing. I know. She’s somewhere right now sliding into that ridiculous white gown. She’ll be devastated. Calm your concerns my darling one. When she sees what must be she’ll forgive us. And she will see, for neither of us could conceal our feelings anymore, we glow with our love, our future intertwined reads like a happy neon sign upon our smiles. She’ll be happy for us, and it will free her. You could never care for her the way you care for me.

Tomorrow will be too late, so I won’t go. Don’t say goodbye, I’ll never leave. Don’t say 'goodbye', or 'get out' or 'I have a restraining order'. Those are just words.

Your denial cuts me. It slices through my soul, a ribbon on its handle. My pain gushes from the wound. How can you pretend to be unaware of our connection?

I see I’ve hurt you too my love. There’s shock in your eyes, they reflect the red of my open wrists, the stain of our destiny. It’s not too late. And you, my handsome groom, can join me. My sister may have the white taffeta dress, but I’ll have you. My blade of truth punctures your sweet throat and now your love finally flows and mingles with mine. As we crumble, our vows spread into a glossy red heart, framing us, this will be our wedding portrait.

365 words

A Writer's Insights - Interview with Jean Booth

Don't forget the huge competition celebrating the release of DOGNAPPED? 
is still running. It closes 7th July. For details and entry, visit:  
WIN A KINDLE FIRE AND AMAZON GIFT CARD

Today I have a special treat for you. Author of the popular Zombie War series, Jean Booth, answers questions on her approach to writing.

Thanks for joining us Jean, first of all, which team do you belong to: Plotter or Pantser?

I'd have to say, I'm more of a pantser. There are a few things I plot out, however I typically leave it up to the characters on how they want to get there and solve the issues. I like to give my characters the freedom to tell their story the way it needs to be told, while sticking to a few plot lines that can't be changed because of the flow of the series.  

I see you write in two different genres, romance and horror. Do you think elements compliment each other? Can we expect a touch of romance in Zombie War: Zombiefied!?

I actually write in more genres than just romance and horror, those are just what I've gotten finished and published so far! :) I was thinking of this question just the other day! I believe romance and horror do compliment each other in quite a basic way. I believe fear, hate, loathing, love, lust, and desire are all such intense emotions, just a slight push one way or the other can completely transform desire into loathing and vise versa. My good friend Candy has been begging me to do a zombie romance. We giggle about it, picturing skin and body parts sloughing off while in the act of mating. I wasn't sure how I'd pull that off while still keeping this series relatively ok for younger audiences. While there's a touch of romance, it's no where as intense as in my Origins series. 

* Do it! I'd love to read a comedy/zombie/romance!

What lessons did you learn while writing a series? How do you keep all your plot lines linked?

I never intended for Zombie War to become a series. I had a crazy dream that eventually became The Beginning, and I thought I was just going to leave it at that. I thought it'd be fun to just have a short zombie story that would give people a chance to see how I write and broaden my audience. I never expected it to be this popular. I had people begging me for more, and finally my brother in law came up with such an amazing title that I had to write a sequel. I guess one of the things I learned about writing this series was how to bring it all together and wrap it up. That was a lot more complicated than I thought it'd be. I keep my plot lines linked by reading and re-reading my previous books, and I also have an outline and glossary of characters and events that I continuously check to make sure things are consistent. 

What sort of writing schedule do you keep... if any?

I wish I had a schedule! I typically write when the muse inspires, which has typically been 2-5am Sometimes I force her to sit down with me and get words out, and those days are 50-50. Sometimes I have to trash everything I've written, sometimes it's gold. The muse prefers to have pencil and paper to write ideas on rather than the computer which can be both good and bad. 

* OMG - I would BE a zombie at 2-5am!

And what's your favourite marketing tip for new authors?

Haha! I SUCK at marketing! This is my absolute, hands-down, WORST ability. I guess I would say, blog, tweet, fb, post on social media everywhere. Get your name out there and be nice to people. We're all in this together, if you find a secret that helps sell books, share it! I'm an open book. I share everything with my fellow authors. I had to hire a publicist because I'm horrible at sales. It's never been my strong suit. 

* '...be nice to people.' This is actually great advice and the thing that will probably most help writers network sucessfully.

And please, tell us a little more about Zombie War: Zombified! to wet our appetites.

Here's a little sneak peek of Zombified!:

Prolog

One Month Prior to Outbreak

"You don't have to do this, you know. There's still time. They caught it early, you still have options." Jessica pleaded with Caleb, her voice scratching unintentionally with how scared she was for her twin brother. He'd only recently been diagnosed with AIDS and she knew there was still time. There were still things they could do to help him. He didn't have to risk his life on this untested, unapproved treatment.

"They said this was proven to not only stop the progression, but to eliminate it completely, Jess. I'd rather try it now, while I'm still healthy enough to fight. I don't want to wait for this to not be an option." He explained, as rationally as he could again to his twin sister, hiding his nerves and fear from her. He wanted to be brave. He didn't want her to know how terrified he was at contracting AIDS.

"It's been proven on primates, Caleb. Not humans." She said with irritation. She wanted him to understand the risk he was taking. They didn't know how this vaccine, this cure, would react with the human genes.

"You wanna go with me?" He asked, ignoring her implication and trying to sound like he was doing her a favor, when in reality, he wanted to break down, weep, grovel and beg for her to hold his hand. He couldn't do that anymore. They were adults and he was supposed to be a man, not a scared little boy who still needed his sister's support.

"Of course! What a silly question. I love you." She pulled him close to her, hugging him fiercely and wishing to whatever higher power was listening, that they weren't having this conversation - that this was all a very bad dream.

If you'd like to connect with Jean or learn more about her books, here's some useful links:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Amazon

B&N

Win a Kindle Fire and Amazon Gift Card

The launch for Dognapped? has been awesome and it's all thanks to you!

Releasing a book onto the world is always a little bit scary. What if it's not well received? What if everyone hates it? I may have chewed my nails (just a bit), but I can now say the experience of releasing Dognapped? has been amazingly rewarding.

It continues to sit in the top 100 of its categories and is often in the top ten. I've even got a couple of reviews up now, this is all thanks to you awesome bloggers who posted about my book - THANK YOU!

I know most of my blog readers already know about the competition, so you can feel free to skip the next bit :)

To celebrate the release of Dognapped?, I'm hosting a competition: I'll be giving away a Kindle Fire! (Kindle Paperwhite if winner resides outside the US - Amazon won't ship the Fire to non-US countries). That's not all, one lucky runner-up will receive a $25 Amazon gift voucher! (Competition closes 7th July), there are two ways to enter:

1. Purchase your copy of Dognapped?, then fill in the entry form below. You'll be asked for your receipt number from Amazon (it will be on the receipt Amazon email you - keep a copy of your receipt as proof of purchase if you win). Dognapped? will be FREE June 23rd to 25th, and yes you can still enter if you downloaded your copy FREE! 

or

2. Blog about this competition or about Dognapped? (you can review, talk about or interview) then fill in the entry form below. You will be asked for your blog post link in the entry form. 

*If you'd like to review the book, I'll be happy to send you a free review copy, simply email: charmaineclancy@gmail.com. 

If you blog and purchase the book, then yes, you get two entries.

Too easy! This competition runs from now until 7 July 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to know more? Here's the blurb:

A lost dog

A stolen dog

A mysterious will

It all equals murder!

Meet twelve-year-old Kitty, friendless bookworm and amateur sleuth. All Kitty wants is to gain her mother’s attention, spend time with her miniature schnauzer Spade, and avoid Miss Perfect, Jessica Jones. 

Kitty’s world turns upside down when she finds a lost dog, and she needs Jessica’s help to find the owner, hunt down a dognapper, and solve a murder.

Introducing Kitty Walker and her mischievous dog Spade in the first Dog Show Detective Mystery.

Insecure Writers - I'm Doing it Wrong

The first Wednesday of every month, us insecure writers get together and discuss the things that make us writers insecure. We also look at ways to overcome those insecurities.

One of my biggest worries as an author/blogger/parent.. and just about everything else, is that I'm doing it wrong. I've made loads of mistakes along the path, so there's a lot of evidence (still in people's basements) to prove I've done it wrong. A lot.

Even now, with the release of my new book, Dognapped?, I keep thinking I'm doing something wrong with my giveaway. The book sales are going great - thank you to everyone who downloaded it! But not a lot of people have put their name down to win a free Kindle Fire. Is that unusual? Am I not promoting it right? Should I care if the book sales are still good? 

But I do care. I worry that people have earned an entry and won't have their fair chance. I worry that I'm doing it wrong. I worry that I'll disappoint people. And I have mild panic attacks.

Then I calm down (usually after sleeping it off), and remember getting it wrong has taught me a lot. It's shown me better ways to do stuff. And I remember that the people I think are judging me, are actually just like me. They're not perfect, they make mistakes too, and they'll understand.

If it wasn't for you guys, I would crawl under a rock whenever I got it wrong and stay there.

Now, if you did get your copy of Dognapped? (even if you got it when it was free) don't forget to get your entry in for the Kindle Fire comp!

KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of my new mystery novel for girls, I'm giving away a Kindle Fire and a $25 Amazon gift voucher! Simply download Dognapped? A Dog Show Detective Mystery or blog about the book to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Google+ - Why can't I love thee?

Conceptually, Google+ is my favoured platform for writers. It's easy to accumulate followers and has many bonuses, such as grouping those you follow into 'circles', links to your YouTube channel and the ability to 'hang out'.

So why can't I fall in love Google+? 

In social media I look for useful advice/information and personal interactions (please, no more random pics of LOL cats). Twitter often shares useful links, but with so many people scheduling their tweets, I often wonder how many are actually reading them.

Facebook killed MySpace, and it seemed for a while there Google+ would repay the favour. It was all the talk, it was the new wave (pun intended). There's a lot to lure me in, I have 5,000+ followers on Google+ compared to my Twitter's 1,500+ and Facebooks 500+. I've also started up a community for writers with blogs: Writer's Blogs

And yet, I only visit my Google+ page about once per week. Most of my close friends are on Facebook, and lately I've been having some whimsical fun on Twitter. So why not Google+? Perhaps it's the layout? 

I'm going have another try, for the next week I'll focus interacting with members on the Google+ platform (this plan conveniently overrides my need to finish editing my current manuscript). How about you? Are you on Google+? Like it, hate it, indifferent?

Speaking of distractions, the family and I headed out this weekend to see Doctor Who on the big screen! We watched Angels take Manhatten and Asylum of the Daleks, and it was a blast. There were loads of great costumes.

KINDLE FIRE GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of my new mystery novel for girls, I'm giving away a Kindle Fire and a $25 Amazon gift voucher! Simply download Dognapped? A Dog Show Detective Mystery or blog about the book to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway