Tag: author

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Guest Posts

Author Tips and Tricks by Andrew Hess

In the nine years I have been writing, there have been many hiccups and bumps in the road. One of the things I have been thankful for have been the great authors I’ve had the pleasure of learning from along the way. I am happy to pass that on to others.

  • The first thing I recommend to all authors and aspiring authors is to read. Read everything you can get your hands on whether it’s a free book or costs you money. There are a few books I recommend if you are starting out. The first is called “Plot and Structure” by James Scott and “Inside the Story” by Dara Marks. Both books will help give you the basic foundation for your stories and put you on the right path. After those, start searching for books that help you write in your genre of choice or other authors that have been writing in that genre so that you see what works and what doesn’t.
  • The second thing I will recommend is to start using the social networking sites. No I don’t mean going on Facebook and talking to your friends and family. I mean using twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and Google Plus to seek out authors, bloggers, promoters, and book reviewers and establish relationships with these people. They are the ones you can learn from and build a network of like-minded people that have goals very similar to yours and know what you are going through.
  • Thirdly, ask the people closest to you for help in Beta testing your book. Have them read it over, ask for their opinions, suggestions, what they liked best about it, what they disliked about it, and what they would like to see more of. Typically I would choose a friend who will be completely honest with you or another author that you have become very close with.
  • Lastly, learn marketing strategies. Whether you decide to pay someone to do the work for you or you decide to do the work yourself, there are many options out there to help promote your book and will need to research. Promotions I suggest are; Virtual Book Tours, Virtual Launch Parties, Cover Reveals, Book Signings, and Table Events.
  • There is only one more thing I would strongly advise for all authors and/or readers. Remember to rate and review the books on Amazon.com and Goodreads. Everyone has a voice; let it be heard.

CAM00384Andrew Hess is a resident of Long Island New York who likes to spend much of his time traveling between Long Island, New York City and the Dutchess County areas. In 2011 he debuted with his first book Chamber of Souls, a small book of free verse poetry which depicted the struggles of a man who thought he had everything in the world only to feel like he lost everything after a rough break-up. In 2013, Andrew debuted his novel The Phoenix Blade: Project Justice; the first in The Phoenix Blade series.

Andrew is also a blogger at TheWritersRevolution13.blogspot.com where he interviews and promotes other authors in order to assist indie authors get more exposure. Andrew is also a frequent guest on the Anthony Charles Podcast, a show dedicated to creative professionals as they give insight into their works and the lives they lead; guests have included authors, comedians, musicians, stuntmen, actors and producers.

Purchase link: Amazon.com

Social Media Links
Amazon Author Page|Twitter|Facebook:TheRealPhoenix13|Facebook:ThePhoenixBlade

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Spotlights

Author Spotlight: Bruce Jenvey 1.0

spotlight

Today I would like to welcome Bruce Jenvey to the ToiBox of Words. He is here today to share with us the tales of his Cabbottown Witches. Enjoy!

Angela’s Coven:Reggie Sinclair is an aging British rock star living in New York City who has just found out he is terminally ill. He also has a very dark secret: When he was still an undiscovered teenager, he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his great fame and success. As his life draws to an end, he prepares to face the inevitable until he stumbles upon a very enchanting, modern-day witch named Angela, and her untraditional coven.

This is a story of the struggle between good and evil with a cast of characters that ranges from guardian angels to young witches-in-training. Together, they have to come to terms with the uncertainties of love, loss, and life decisions to save Reggie from an unbearable eternity. Here is a plot filled with unexpected twists and surprises to the very last page that will also cast an entirely different light on anything you may have ever considered as faith!

The Great Northern Coven:J.R. is a bush pilot who drifts into small town, Haines, Alaska and signs on with the local flying service. He’s looking for a fresh start and a place to hide from the painful past that literally haunts him. What he doesn’t realize is the local Inuit Indians believe he is the missing piece in an ancient prophecy they have been waiting centuries to unfold. His arrival sets in motion a series of events that risks everything for everyone, right down to their very souls. It also brings forth a great evil and the only one who can save them all has to draw on her long-forgotten heritage of witchcraft.

This is the second book in the Cabbottown Witch Novels and is a story of the struggle between good and evil with a wide range of characters from Lucifer and his minion, to pilots, barmaids and the ladies of the Tsonokwa Lodge… and of course, one very important Eagle-Man. But where Angela’s Coven centered on starting over and second chances, The Great Northern Coven is a story of letting go, moving on and taking that next step forward in our lives.

The Ragtime Coven: (Coming late 2014) The third book in the Cabbottown Witch series is a prequel to Angela’s Coven and ties all three books together in an unforgettable history of The Coven through the uncertainties World War I and the rough and tumble days of the Prohibition Era.

Benny: Benny Shapiro prays every day to be released from the pain and the indignities that have become his daily existence in the Good Sheppard Nursing Home. And, every night, he dreams of being a hero with super-human powers… But are they just dreams?

Kevin: Kevin Andrews is dead. Having lived a short but privileged life, he had not yet accomplished anything to define himself as good or evil in the hereafter, and is devastated to find himself rejected by Heaven and seated in Hell. Unfortunately, Lucifer doesn’t think Kevin is ‘his’ kind of people either…

Bruce Jenvey is the award-winning author of Angela’s Coven and other tales of the paranormal. He was raised in rural Michigan with a great interest in history, popular culture and the paranormal. After twenty years in the advertising industry, he spent the next decade traveling the Great Lakes region as a journalist Now, Bruce has turned to fiction and shares many of his real-world experiences through his Cabbottown Witches.

Jenvey’s other works include: Heroes and Haunts of the Great Lakes, The Gun Primer (A Writer’s Guide To Firearm Facts For Fiction), The Complete Stupid Boat Ticks, and Christmas Eve At Shorty’s.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Spotlights

Author Spotlight: Ian Mathie 1.0

spotlight

An Introduction

Ian Mathie – non-fiction author who writes gripping tales every bit as exciting as the best thrillers.

Having spent much of his childhood and early school years in East Africa, Ian Mathie returned to Africa after military service in the RAF, to work as a rural development officer. Flying himself in a light aircraft for long range transport, he specialised mainly in water supply projects, and his work took him all over the continent: sinking boreholes, digging wells and building small dams in West Africa; establishing clean water filters in the sweaty jungles of the Congo basin; building storage facilities in the Kalahari, and irrigation systems in the intense heat of Ethiopia’s Danakil desert. Living intimately with the people he was there to help gave him a unique insight into their cultures and traditions that were largely hidden from outsiders, and are now rapidly disappearing under the onslaught of twenty first century progress and technology. Along with his working notes, much of this was recorded in the notebooks he kept at the time.

The political situation changed, and more local people became available to do the extension work, so Ian decided to return to Europe and retrain as an industrial psychologist. He spent the next twenty years designing and delivering leading edge motivational and performance development programmes, in both Europe and in some African countries. For these he exploited principles he had developed whilst working with African tribesmen and applied them with innovative twists.

When medical issues curtailed his travelling and work, he dug out the field notebooks he had kept whilst working in Africa, and began writing a series of fascinating African Memoirs. Focussing on the people among whom he lived and worked, rather than on his own activities, these memoirs provide an intimate view of tribal life from the inside, and yet they read with all the excitement and tension of top grade thrillers.

Best selling Australian author, Rosanne Dingli, commenting on Ian’s writing said:  “His narratives have a terse, engaging style. No embroidery, no fancy metaphors, no needless personal disburdening … just deceptively plain narrative that is gripping and memorable.”

His first Memoir was BRIDE PRICE, the story of an orphan girl, to whom he became a foster father whilst working in a forest village in what was then called Zaïre (now Democratic Republic of Congo).

This was followed by MAN IN A MUD HUT, a tale of culture shock, witchcraft, African problem solving, and development work across several West African countries.

SUPPER WITH THE RESIDENT, the third volume, is an anthology and includes memorable meals under somewhat unconventional circumstances with four African Presidents. These included President Mobutu Sese Seko, whom Ian was privileged to know as a personal friend.

The fourth volume, DUST OF THE DANAKIL, is about the relief effort during the great drought in the Horn of Africa during 1973 – 74, during the final days of Emperor Haile Selassie.

All four of these are available in both print and e-book format and can be found through Amazon.com.

A fifth volume, SORCERERS AND ORANGE PEEL, is due for release any day and will be released in both print and e-book formats at the same time. This one is set in three countries in West Africa and is about sorcerers and….er….orange peel!

Non-Kindle users who require books in other e-formats can find all Ian Mathie’s books at Smashwords.com.

Further information about this author, his work, and sample chapters, can be found at his website: http://www.ianmathie.com.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords