Golden Shorts – A Story Contest in 7 genres

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Calling Writers – Short Story Contest

November 15th through November 30th, 2013

Grand Prize – a Kindle Fire HD

Other prizes include Gift Cards, ebook bundles and winner banners

The complete prize list is HERE.

You can join our Facebook Event to stay up-to-date.

 

THE JUDGES

Contemporary Fantasy – Maer Wilson

Horror – Danielle DeVor

Historical – Christoph Fischer

Paranormal Romance – Tina Moss

Romance – Constance Phillips

Young Adult – Lindsey Loucks

Mystery – LynDee Walker

 

THE RULES

1.  Submission dates – Opening date is 11/15/2013 at 12:00 AM. Closing date is 11/30/13 at 11:59 PM. All times are Pacific Standard Time.

2.  Each submission must be 3000-5000 words.

3.  Each story must be submitted as an attachment via email to goldenshortscontest@gmail.com

4.  The email should include:

Author’s name,
Story title
Genre
Author’s email address.

5.  Formatting – Submissions must be formatted in a standard .doc file as an attachment and submitted as follows :

Times Roman 12 pt
1 inch margins
Double spaced
Include only story title and page numbers. (NO AUTHOR NAMES in the story attachment)

6.  Submissions must be of original, unpublished work and all rights owned by the entrant. Copyright remains property of the author.

7.  Stories must be in one of the following genres:

Contemporary Fantasy
Horror
Historical
Paranormal Romance
Romance
Young Adult
Mystery

8.  Stories will be forwarded to the judge for that genre.

9.  All entrants must be at least 18 years of age.

10. The name of the winner and their winning story in each genre will be posted on 12/7/2013 on the judging author’s website. See below for the links to each genre.

11. The poll to vote for the Grand Winner will open on 12/7/13. A link to the poll will be available at each sponsoring author’s website.

12. Voting will close at 12:00 AM PST on 12/20.

13. The Grand Winner will be announced on all sponsoring websites on or after 12/20/13.

Good luck contestants!

In the Spotlight – Leonardo Ramirez

Author photoPlease join me in welcoming Leonardo Ramirez to the blog today. It’s always a pleasure to find new sci fi writer’s and I’m looking forward to adding his books to my To Be Read list.

About Leonardo

Leonardo Ramirez is a husband, a father, a Karate instructor with a 2nd degree black belt, and a writer. His first graphic novel, Haven, is a supernatural Young Adult story centered on an ancient war between the Dante family and the nine circles of hell. His follow up is a self-published children’s Steampunk book called The Jupiter Chronicles: The Secret of the Great Red Spot. It follows the adventure of two children as they are transported to the steam-powered cities of Jupiter, find their long-lost father, stop an attack from Mars, and witness the birth of Steampunk.

In Leonardo’s own words:

“My heart and motive have always been for people who are hurting. These can be kids who have had to suffer through child abuse or neglect or an absent parent which can be equally torturous as was the case in The Jupiter Chronicles. It can also be young girls who have suffered an assault like Haven did in Haven of Dante. Young or old it doesn’t matter. Those are the kids and adults I want to speak to because I’ve been there.

It’s not just Science Fiction.

It’s Science Fiction for the Human Condition.”

Read on for more about Leonardo and his newest book, Haven of Dante!

Read More

Book Blast – Council Courtship

 

Council Courtship by Constance Phillips

 

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Eero might be gone, but does his revolution continue?

Tristan Ipsly knows firsthand how Eero’s ideals have ripped houses apart. More than half of his family was prosecuted for supporting the revolution, the remaining fled to the otherworld, leaving him the lone member of his house, and one of two candidates for the recently vacated Council seat. As a healer who is seated on the repopulation project, he has real solutions to the problems that face them all, but fears he’s been branded a traitor, not worthy of the seat nor to court Quinn. 

Quinn Vettore knows that Fairykind is dying. Eero and his revolution have left them a people divided, but she believes tradition and the Canon’s writing are equally to blame. She wants to see the Council fill the vacancy with someone who will be the voice of change. The prime candidate in her mind is the same choice of her heart: Tristan.

Too bad her Grandfather is the one man who stands in the way of both.

 

You can buy Council Courtship at these links: Smashwords | Amazon | B & N |

 

 Constance Phillips

Connie

Constance Phillips lives in Ohio with her husband, two ready-to-leave-the-nest children, and four canine kids. Her perfect fantasy vacation would involve hunting Dracula across Europe with her daughter, who also digs that kind of stuff. When she’s not writing about fairies, shifters, vamps, and guardian angels, she’s working side-by-side with her husband in their hardwood flooring business.

Constance is actively involved in her local Romance Writers of America chapter (MVRWA) and the Southeast Michigan chapter of the United States Pony Club. When not writing or enjoying the outdoors, she loves reality television or can be found at a Rick Springfield concert (just look for the pink Converse high tops).

 

You can find Constance at these links:

Website/blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

 

Want to read more books by Constance Phillips? Here are her current releases:

Fairyproof: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | All Romance E-books

Resurrecting Harry: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | All Romance E-books

Book Blast – A Touch of Darkness

TinaMossPhotoMediumIt’s a pleasure to welcome the fabulous Tina Moss back to the blog today. An awesome friend who is fun and talented and ultra cool and…well let’s find out more about her shall we?

About Tina Moss

Tina Moss is not your mother’s author, but she’s got a book just for you. If you enjoy a story that’s out of the ordinary, then pick up her urban fantasy, paranormal romance, romantic suspense, or New Adult novels.  She lives in NYC with a supportive husband and alpha corgi, though both males hog the bed and refuse to share the covers. When not writing, she enjoys reading, watching cheesy horror flicks, traveling, and karate. As a 5’1″ Shotokan black belt, she firmly believes that fierce things come in small packages.

Read on for more about Tina and A Touch of Darkness!

 

About A Touch of Darkness

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Cassie’s working for a tightwad boss at a pretentious NYC diner, dealing with paralyzing pain that doctors can’t diagnose, and trying to hide her hands that glow purple whenever she …well, whenever.


So, when a mysterious stranger walks out of her dreams and into her life to spout some nonsense about her being a mythical creature, she chalks it up to one more crazy thing to add to her it’s-a-crappy-life list. Yet, when the stranger’s predictions start to come true, she discovers a world that could shake up her humdrum existence.

 

You can buy A Touch of Darkness (The Key Series) at Amazon.

 

Tina’s Giveaway!

Prizes:  2  – Digital ARCs of A Touch of Darkness

1 – $10 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

 

You can find Tina at the following links:

Tina’s Website

Tina on Facebook

Tina on Twitter

Tina on Goodreads

Halloween – It’s All About the Costumes

TrickorTreat

Giveaway

Two winners will get one copy each of the novelettes “Ghost Memory” and “Unwanted Ghost”

To win: Please leave a comment below. Winners will be chosen at random.

Halloween has been one of my fave holidays for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved the costumes and dressing up, although I don’t do that quite so much anymore.

But I thought I’d share some of the few costumes I’ve made over the years and that I actually have pictures of. Some costumes were are for me. Some were costumes I made for others.

Others still I wish I had pictures of – my brother Shawn’s C-3PO costume or his werewolf one or even the mummy one. I think he took first place in his contests in all but one year. The prize was a 4-pack of tickets to Disneyland, which was always cool.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures of costumes from years gone by. It’s fun to get to share my work again.

Andrea costumejpg

 

 

 

This was a Cinderella costume made for my niece. It was made from satin and a sheer sparkling over-dress.

 

 

 

 

Nicole costumejpg

 

 

This one was Sleeping Beauty in blue satin with a pale pink polished cotton over-dress made for my other niece. The girls are twins and looked nothing alike. It was fun to have individuality for them.

They both looked darling in these little dresses.

 

 

 

Treabee5

 

 

My more recent creations have been for myself and my chihuahua, Tréa. This is Tréa’s Queen Bee costume. Made from a durable and washable cotton blend. She wears this for a while, but as she’s gotten older, her tolerance for wearing costumes isn’t as high as it used to be. However, she does still pose for pictures.

 

 

 

 

Maer Costume Robe

 

 

This is my witch costume, a dress with a separate robe and hat. The dress was made of a cotton blend with a matching beaded bag (not pictured). The hat and robe were made of a silky material, with the purple lamé-type material for the sleeve lining. The hat had a beaded hatband and feather.

 

 

 

 

Poof - Good Dog

 

 

 

 

This is my Renaissance dress. I’m quite proud of this one as it took the Grand Champion ribbon at the fair one year. It doesn’t show up much in this picture, but there is beading around the armbands and hem of the sleeves, as well as the collar and waistband. Pretty much wherever you see gold? Over that trim is beading – and yes I beaded it by hand. It was close to thirty feet of beading. The sleeve hems alone were nine feet each.

 

 

 

 

The picture below is of the matching bag I made to go with the Renaissance dress. Each of the dresses has its own beaded bag. Plus I made a lot of other beaded bags as gifts for friends. I think I actually have one or two bags left that I never gave away. 🙂

Picture 195

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win ecopies of my two novelettes, “Ghost Memory” and “Unwanted Ghost”!

Be sure to stop in for the rest of the Blog Hop!

Katie OSullivan ~ Read, Write, Repeat                                  Constance Phillips, A Writer’s Musings

Danielle DeVor: Loving the Dark since 1976                          Shawna Romkey Author blog

Dangling on the Edge of (In)Sanity                                         Cindy Young-Turner

All Hallows Eve with Author Louann Carroll                            L. V. Pires

Author Avery Olive                                                                   Iyana’s Rainbow

Lindsey R. Loucks                                                                   Moms Bookshelf ?Halloween?

Sophie Weeks, Author                                                             Dr. Shay West, Author of Scifi and Fantasy

What scares you? Barbara Strunas Blog                               Kit Bakke’s Cut & Paste

Scariest Hallowe’en EVER!                                                     Tamsen Schultz, Thrillers and Chillers

In the Spotlight – Courtney Farrell

Courtney author pic

Loving the paranormal and YA as I do, it’s a pleasure to welcome Courtney Farrell to the blog with her new novel, Enhanced.

About Courtney Farrell

Courtney Farrell was once a molecular biologist, but her habit of daydreaming destroyed far too many experiments. As it turned out, writing down the movies behind her eyes was a lot more fun than lab work. Courtney is the author of fourteen nonfiction books for young people, mostly on social and environmental topics. She lives with her family on a Colorado ranch where they support a barn full of freeloading animals, including a fat draft horse and a bunch of crazy chickens. Enhanced is her first novel.

Read on for more about Courtney!

Read More

Book Blast – Knowing Vera

Knowing Vera by Rachelle Ayala

Nerd Blast

About Knowing Vera

Knowing Vera
Some secrets are best untold. Vera Custodio has never fallen in love, though she has strong feelings for her friend and sometimes lover, Zach Spencer. Long-forgotten memories resurface when Vera discovers Zach’s mother was the woman her father supposedly murdered many years ago. After losing his leg, former triathlete Zach Spencer reevaluates his life—and realizes he’s falling in love with Vera. When she ends their relationship, Zach is determined to prove his love and follows her to Australia in search of the killer. Caught between a web of family secrets and a deranged adversary, Vera and Zach must depend on each other for survival. Love blossoms, but the truth explodes everything Vera knows about herself. Will she close her heart forever or risk it all for a shot at happily-ever-after?

 

 

About Rachelle Ayala

clare-rico

Rachelle Ayala is the author of dramatic fiction crossing genres and boundaries featuring strong but flawed characters. She writes emotionally challenging stories and is not afraid of controversial topics. However, she is an optimist and laces her stories with romance and hope.

Rachelle Ayala has written four novels. Michal’s Window is a powerful and emotional journey as lived through the eyes of Princess Michal, King David’s first wife. Broken Build is a story of redemption and healing where a man learns to love and trust the woman who destroyed his life. Hidden Under Her Heart is a heartfelt love story mixed with controversy over difficult decisions. Her latest is Knowing Vera , a steamy romantic suspense involving family secrets, disability, and an unsolved murder.

Rachelle’s Giveaway

    Giveaway is open to US Only. | Must be 13+ to Enter

Prizes:

A copy of Knowing Vera

A $10 Amazon Gift card

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

 

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You can buy Knowing Vera (Romantic Suspense, Family Drama) (Chance for Love) at Amazon.

You can find Rachelle at the following links:

Rachelle’s Website
Rachelle on Twitter
Rachelle on Facebook