Distraction from J.L. Campbell - The Friendship is Forever Tour

First off, know that Distraction is FREE on Amazon right now. :)))) Get your kindles and download! If you don't mind, please tweet about this so that Joy can get maximum exposure for her free book and hopefully climb the rankings.

Please welcome author J.L. Campbell who has written a wonderfully enticing book called Distraction.  I've been reading this book over the last couple of weeks, and it's a real page turner thus far (at least a four star book if not a five star). Campbell has an expressive sensuousness to her writing that leaps off the page. Each chapter begins with a Jamaican proverb, which she graciously translates for the reader who would most likely be unable to understand the meaning.  And each proverb does come into play in the chapter's content.  Distraction isn't filled with the most likeable characters, but they feel like real people.  In Distraction, Justine is hopelessly in love with Xavier (a real hunk). Only there's one hitch, she's married and so is he. And therein lies the tension. I will part by dropping these lines written by Ms. Campbell:

"He made love to her again, smothering her beneath him, holding her climax at bay. He meant to frustrate and punish her, and when she lay exhausted, he wouldn't meet her eyes."

J.L. Campbell, author

Good stuff, don't you think? Oh and did I mention that every chapter begins with palm trees in silhouette? Gotta love palm trees. Ah Jamaica. Take it away J.L. Campbell.

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As with anywhere in the world, island living has its peculiarities. Many things have changed in the past twenty years in Jamaica. We’ve seen the development of a network of highways, our public transportation system has been upgraded, and most buses now have air-conditioning. Many homes have cable television and at least half of us have two cellular phones, owing to high cross-network charges.

Despite the passage of time and changes, at heart Jamaicans are conservative. I see this in the public outrage over things that aren’t considered the norm, and I also know there are many narrow-minded people in the world.

While I was writing Distraction, I had many stirrings of doubt over whether I should finish the story. I posted chapters as I wrote them on my writing network, and there were people reading along who were outraged by the behaviour of the women. I knew I’d probably get this reaction from other readers. However, I’ve found that writers are more open to scenarios outside of what the average person considers normal and many understand need, motive and resulting choices. To date, I haven’t seen more than a single one-star review on Amazon, but I’ve conditioned my mind to the fact that more will come.

I’d like to invite you to download a complimentary copy of A Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Steps to Distraction. In this prequel, you’ll meet Dionne, Kyra and Justine a year before Distraction takes place (and before they start doing the forbidden).

The actual novel Distraction will be free to download from Amazon today through September 3rd! How cool is that?

Leave a comment on this post and you’ll be entered to win an e-copy of Distraction. At the end of this Friendship tour, there’ll be a main prize of a Distraction note pad & pen and a $10 Amazon gift card. The second prize is a paperback copy of Distraction. Sign up for that at the Rafflecopter here.

I appreciate you taking the time to read.

Michael, thanks so much for hosting me.

Distraction on Amazon

J.L. Campbell on Amazon

J.L. Campbell on Facebook

J.L. Campbell on Goodreads

J.L. Campbell on Twitter

J.L. Campbell is a proud Jamaican and the author of Contraband, Distraction, Dissolution, Don’t Get Mad…Get Even, Giving up the Dream and Hardware (pen name Jayda McTyson). Campbell is always on the lookout for story making material, loves company and can usually be found lollygagging on her blog at http://thecharacterdepot. blogspot.com

Oculus

The Cosmic Laire of Science Fiction and Fantasy (for the record, I never noticed that "laire" could be spelled that way) tagged me with a meme. It's called "Be Inspired" and has this plain "Google-esque" (that's a word, right?) badge here. The rules are simple. Answer the questions in the meme and pass them on to five other authors. Also give thanks to the person who awarded you with the meme as well as linking back to them. Thanks David and GO VISIT HIS BLOG HERE!

1. What is the name of your book? Oculus.
2. Where did the idea for your book come from? It's a sequel to my first book, Slipstream. It came from the characters doing stuff.
3. In what genre would you classify your book? Speculative Fiction/Dark Fantasy
4. Who would you pick to play your characters in a movie adaptation? No idea at this point. Someone young, hot, and blond with like 5% body fat and sparkling blue eyes.
5. Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book? A boy with NHL dreams must kill demons slaughtering hundreds of cops in the streets of New York City following the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
6. Is your book already published? Nope. I'm finishing up with my edits soon. I had the best editor I've ever worked with help me with my manuscript. She really was frickin' awesome.
7. How long did it take you to write this book? I started it in May 2010. So that's 2.5 years. Geez, I'm slow. In my defense, Oculus is an incredibly intricate and complex book. I think readers who liked Slipstream will see that this book definitely raises the bar. Plus I feel that my climax is really awesome, and all my beta readers seem to be blown away by it too. That makes me feel confident, because I think endings are difficult to write.
8. What other books in your genre would you compare it to? I have no idea. I'm not trying to be obtuse, because I'm well read. But I honestly have no idea. One beta-reader said it had a Harry Potter-esque feel to it because of the Cornell University setting and the sport element. But it's an adult book, darker than Slipstream, with graphic sex, extreme violence, murder, gore, and terrifying demons. I'm going to say, it would be a cross between Harry Potter and Hellraiser, if you can even imagine that.
9. Which authors inspired you to write this book? Oh, all that I've read. Seriously, every book I finish is an inspiration to pen my own story.
10. Tell us anything that might pique our interest in your book. I did a ton of research to make the places in New York featured in Oculus leap off the page. The book loops continuously on itself, referring back to earlier events, which is some of the things that I really enjoy about great books I've read. There are many, "Oh that was mentioned two chapters earlier and now it's important" moments. It's been cut and rewritten to the point that every character is necessary (and I have a lot of characters). Each one has a role to play. Each person pulls their own weight. It's gone through beta reads and two professional level edits even before sending it to the publisher. There are no unnecessary characters and events at this point. Jordan and Kathy's powers grow in unexpected and strange ways that I think will have people marveling at my unique "magic" system. I honestly think it's pretty clever, but I wrote it.

Five people I would like to tag with this meme:
Huntress
Mina Lobo
P.T. Dilloway
Alex J. Cavanaugh
M.J. Fifield

Bonus Person: Elise Fallson 'cause I must know what she's writing and you should too.

Second Bonus Person: Matthew MacNish because I beta-read Warrior Monks, and I want him to talk about it.

Since I'm talking about my writing projects in this post, I wanted to thank all the supportive people who have purchased my book. I got my royalty statement from Double Dragon Publishing for sales thru June 30th, and it was much bigger than I ever expected (DDP by the way is really professional in case you are looking for a publisher). Then following that, I got a couple of amazing emails from readers who aren't bloggers (like actual readers who aren't authors and that's all that they want to be) who raved about my book to me. That just felt good. It made all the work that I put in seem worthwhile. I guess what I'm saying is that fan mail is really frickin' awesome. Plus, I had a person request a review copy of my book. That has never happened. I've always had to pester people "Can you review my book, pretty please with sugar on top?" This person just found me and asked for it. Maybe that's how real authors feel? I dunno. But maybe they don't have to go begging at doors asking people to post reviews of their book. Anyway, it just made me feel good for a brief moment in my day, and I hope that you get that feeling all the time with your own publishing endeavors.

Have a great Thursday. I will be featuring author J.L. Campbell as part of the Distraction Tour on Friday. I will resume blogging on Tuesday (I'm taking Labor Day off, as should you).

S.H.I.E.L.D. got greenlit and I just wet myself

S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for Strategic Hazard intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. I've seen it in half a dozen Marvel films, represented mostly by Samuel "Mother F'ing" Jackson in the role of Nick Fury. And so have many of you.

Why am I bringing this up?

I just read online that ABC has ordered a pilot S.H.I.E.L.D. for an exploration of a live-action TV series helmed by Joss Whedon.

Um, I made$1.5 billion dollars. Wait for it.
I MADE $1.5 BILLION DOLLARS.

Whedon is the guy that just made 1.5 billion dollars off of one movie, "The Avengers." How do you suppose that conversation went?

"Guys and gals of ABC...umm, I just made...I dunno, $1.5 BILLION DOLLARS. Do you want in on some of that action? Cause...there's this series I wanna do and--"

ABC Execs:  "YES! WE'LL TAKE IT! WHERE DO WE SIGN? OMG I JUST SH*T MY PANTS. YES!!"

If you are a nerd and keep nerd gods in your home, pray that this series does not follow in the footsteps of (I dunno) practically EVERY TELEVISION SERIES JOSS WHEDON HAS PRODUCED?

Am I using too many caps?

Seriously, though. Let's hope that it follows in the footsteps of "Buffy" and "Angel" and not "Firefly" and "Dollhouse." I guess he's 50/50 and that may not be so bad afterall. I'd take those odds at craps. Please tell me you guys know what craps is? And no, it's not something you do on the can while playing "Words With Friends" on your iPad. Oh, I mentioned iPad...I'm having a SIRI moment.

Nick Fury hates hotspacho. So should you.

Remember, on the night S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on ABC, it's "Date Night." Siri says so, and I do too.

So what did we learn here?  S.H.I.E.L.D. got greenlit, and I just wet myself. I hope that all the stars from the movies will make cameos. I wonder if Samuel L. is gonna play Nick Fury. That would be Mother F*cking AWESOME. <== see what I did thar?

It's a happy Wednesday oh nerdy peeps. Be sure to rub your stuffed wookie, click your heels together, and say, "There's no director like Joss Whedon. There's no director like Joss Whedon."

If this guy does a cameo, can you not see the potential here?
Come on, Chris Evans even gives straight men a man crush.

The Cool, the disturbing, and the vulgar of season five's finale of True Blood

Ever wonder how the oldest vampire in the world would die and what he'd say? Russell Edgington to Eric "Well, f*ck." Edgington was in the episode for less than five minutes. Like that joins some kind of Kate Beckinsale quota of flashing tit before title. I want to borrow a quote from Lafayette...

Kind of anticlimactic to kill the oldest vampire in the world like that, don't you think? However, "anticlimactic" does not describe Sunday's episode of True Blood. It was by far, the most satisfying episode of the season. I think it could have stood by itself, and HBO could have just canceled all the others. For one, this episode had a HUGE body count. It reminded me of "Body Count" by Ice-T.

The Cool Stuff:

Eric killed Russell Edgington after an entire field of fairies pooling their magic couldn't even make him pause in his monologue. You know it's bad when all the power you and your allies can muster won't stifle a monologue. But just like in the Incredibles, Russell got caught monologuing and Eric squished him.

Eric and Sookie were like Batman and Catwoman teaming up to face the bad guy. 

Salome got snuffed. She drank up the Jesus juice, only Bill spiked it with silver. How could you not see that one coming? And it wasn't the Jesus/Lilith juice anyway. Maybe it was just Kool-Aid.

Tons of people died. HBO cleared house AND it's about damned time. Jason Stackhouse took out like ten vamps. Eric killed ten. Tara killed about five. Eric's sister killed about ten. And in True Blood, when vamps die, they explode like water balloons filled with food coloring.

Jason Stackhouse as vamp slaying commando had me at "Fang banger!"

Tara French-kissed Pam. Serious vamp on vamp, interracial, face sucking goin' on. *Throws confetti. Best line from Jessica, "I KNEW IT!" Yes you did, honey. Yes you did. But so did we. *yawn

You would never guess that Pam was a former hooker by the way she dresses.

Bill became a naked vampire god. It isn't True Blood unless you are drenched in blood and running around naked. And his fangs were larger than Eric's. Yeah, you read that right. Vampires are size queens too.

Bill's fangs are bigger than Eric's. Sookie can verify that. She's been with both.

Alcide killed the deranged wolf-pack master and got twice as many lines in one episode as he's had all season. However, he didn't kill the wolf pack master shirtless. I take away one point for this short-sightedness on HBO's part.

Roz is killed by Sam expanding in her head. That's the only thing about this entire season of shapeshifters that paid off.

The Disturbing Stuff:

Sam Merlott doing reconnaissance as a house fly when he wasn't nude. It was ten minutes too long, which is probably precisely the amount of time they could have spent cutting all that out entirely. I guess they needed to wrap up the Emma storyline, not that there even was one to begin with.

Andy Belflour's pregnant fairy woman gave birth to four kids. Only birth sounds a lot like orgasms, there's lots of light emanating from "down there" and it apparently requires a lot of salt as she downed an entire container of Morton's. I guess fairies don't have to worry about their sodium levels.

My favorite lines from the birthing scene:

"My light broke."
"Who knew watching an alien giving birth could be so comforting?"
"Andy Belflour, you're a dick."

"I only slept with her twice in the time I've been dating you." At least
he's honest, ladies. Oh infidelity thou art a cruel mistress,
especially when the other woman is a fairy.

The Vulgar Stuff:

Jason and Eric hit it off like schoolhouse buddies.  Here's their exchange (NOTE that it's less effective unless you visualize Jason's lines said in a thick southern accent):

Jason: Fanger

Eric: Blood Bag

Jason: Leach

Eric: Breather

Jason: Dead F*ck

Eric: Meat sack.

Jason: "If I want to be a fool, I will be a fool. That's my God-given right as an American."

Ain't that the truth. Oh True Blood, I shall miss your craptasticness. Writers of the world who receive rejection after rejection, take heart from True Blood. Know that you are rejected because your writing is NOT THIS GOOD. Long live Sookie Stackhouse!

Have a great Tuesday. Ciao.

Please welcome the rockin' cover of Blood Fugue by E.J. Wesley

Author E.J. Wesley is throwing a blog party to celebrate the release of his new book cover and wants you to join in the fun. Jump over to his blog to learn about how you can win some awesome prizes, including $50 toward a cover of your own and advance reader copies of Blood Fugue.

Now here's the rockin' cover!

Cover work by Sketcher Girl, LLC

What's the Story About?

“Some folks treated the past like an old friend. The memories warmed them with fondness for what was, and hope for what was to come. Not me. When I thought of long ago, my insides curdled, and I was left feeling sour and wasted.”

Missouri's own E.J. Wesley

Jenny Schmidt is a young woman with old heartaches. A small town Texas girl with big city attitude, she just doesn’t fit in. Not that she has ever tried. She wears loneliness like a comfy sweatshirt. By the age of twenty-one, she was the last living member of her immediate family. Or so she thought…

“We found my ‘grandfather’ sitting at his dining room table. An entire scorched pot of coffee dangled from his shaky hand. His skin was the ashen gray shade of thunderclouds, not the rich mocha from the photo I’d seen. There were dark blue circles under each swollen red eye. A halo of white hair skirted his bald head, a crown of tangles and mats. Corpses had more life in them.”

Suddenly, instead of burying her history with the dead, Jenny is forced to confront the past. Armed only with an ancient family journal, her rifle, and an Apache tomahawk, she must save her grandfather’s life and embrace her dangerous heritage. Or be devoured by it.

BLOOD FUGUE by E.J. Wesley, is the first of the MOONSONGS books, a series of paranormal-action novelettes. At fewer than 13k words, BLOOD FUGUEis the perfect snack for adventurous readers who aren’t afraid of stories with bite. Available wherever fine eBooks are sold September 2012.

Join the Party! Here are some links you may want to check out.

The Open Vein, E.J.'s blog -

E.J. Wesley on the Twitter

******

If you are feeling particularly supportive and happen to have a twitter account, please tweet this sample tweet or feel free to make one of your own:

Join the party! Author @EJWesley is previewing the cover to his story, Blood Fugue. Win an ARC & other stuff http://the-open-vein-ejwesley.blogspot.com/

*****

If you have the time, Brinda Berry interviewed me on her blog today. Check it out HERE. Have a happy Monday.

All greatness comes from mediocrity

Have a great weekend.

Excited for Season 7 of Dr. Who. Are you?

They look remarkably calm given that they are surrounded by Daleks. Those guys are mean.

I've been watching Dr. Who for a little while now on Saturday nights on BBC America. For one, no commercials! Yay.  And for two, great production values and special effects. It's easily as good as any Star Trek I've seen and better written by far. I like how the show seems to be able to capture a very human element in nearly every episode even though it's open format basically allows for everything. Just to clarify, I might be using the wrong words in saying "open format" but because the doctor is a Time Lord, basically, any writer can write about anything and it will fit.  If you wanted to talk about blue mushroom people that only procreate when pigs eat and defecate the spores out, this could be an episode.

Rory Pond is my favorite of the companions. Who wears vests anymore? But Rory
totally makes this look work for him. I think it's the distressed jeans and the shirt
tails untucked, the gelled hairdo to look unkempt, and the intense stare that says, "I'm hot."

You know the one thought that goes through my mind when I think of Dr. Who? It's something that a physicist said on one of those science channel shows. He stated that if the universe truly is infinite, then anything that we can possibly imagine can happen. Even if it has a 1 in a gazillion chance--in the scope of infinity it becomes mathematically possible. I'm not a mathematician so I have no idea if this is correct or not.  But I have to think, somewhere out there is a flying Tardis. Weird, huh? My brain has no ability to grasp what infinity is anyway, so I'm content to just see what other people come up with.

The adorable Amy Pond. Yay, we get a peek into the Pond life.

I'm really excited for this upcoming season which starts on September 1st. For one, we are getting more of the weeping angels (which is probably the most terrified I've been from a science-fiction television show in some time). Those things were just plain scary, and I think everyone else in the world agrees because "They're back!" And yes, I had trouble sleeping the nights I watched those episodes.

These guys can only move and attack you
when you're not looking (so don't blink!).

Plus, I think Rory is handsome and have liked him ever since he's been on the show. I despaired when he got zapped out of existence in an underground episode and am happy that they brought him back, even if he was as a Roman centurion. Amy is beautiful and a wonderful companion for Rory and the fact that they love each other and travel around with the doctor is just really cool. I hope that the two of them survive the season unscathed (even though they are definitely gone after I think five episodes). Rumor is, someone is dying. I know that this will be the last season featuring these companions. *Sniff. I hope that the writers are not reading George R.R. Martin. If you read George, you know exactly what I'm talking about here.

I'm also kind of excited about the spinoff series that Amy and Rory are getting online. It sounds suitably quirky, and it's called Pond Life. The first episode premieres this Monday online. So just when Falling Skies and the Newsroom and my trash addiction of True Blood is ending, I get an infusion of Dr. Who love. :) It would be my dream to write just one episode of a show like this. In the least, they should take my suggestion and do a crossover with BBC's other hit show Merlin and feature Bradley James as King Arthur hanging out with the Ponds. That would be made of awesome.

Are you going to watch Pond Life on Monday?