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Carving The Light https://www.createspace.com/3439520 Also available at Amazon.com. Merchandise can be found at: http://www.cafepress.ca/CarvingTheLight
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Suffer The Fury Pitch - Another Draft

Everyone dreams of being someone else, but for teenaged triplets Melinda, Teri and Alexa Reid, the sentiment takes on a more literal meaning when they are transported into other people's bodies while they sleep.

As the sisters embark on their final year of high school, each has been having vivid dreams of events and emotions happening in lives not their own – but all from a victim's point of view. Melinda feels an instant attraction to one of her classmates, but fears for the girl's safety when she begins to have nightmares involving a man's frequent visits to her bedroom. Teri becomes more withdrawn and depressed each day, but it's not until she meets another cutter at school that she realizes her problems are not hers alone. And Alexa just wants to spend more private time with her boyfriend, until she endures visions of another boy being brutally bullied by some of their schoolmates.

When one sister has a vision while she is awake, the girls learn that they are Furies – ancient creatures believed by most to be only a myth. Even more troubling is the discovery that a Fury's visions will only increase in intensity until their wrath is invoked, perpetrators are punished, and justice for the victims has been done.

SUFFER THE FURY tackles some universal issues like sex, bullying and suicide, but ultimately it is a story about family and friendship, which transcends the norm by adding a modern supernatural twist to an ancient myth come to life.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Fictional Characters on Twitter!!!

Now you can follow a couple of your favourite characters from Carving The Light and Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads on Twitter!

Look for the Collins sisters' loyal dog, Trick at @TrickTheDog, and follow Ebon's favourite Dryad, Pam, at @PamDryad.

And spread the word so they both get more followers!  At the very least, it's a fun waste of time!  ;)

Until soon,

SAM

Saturday, February 18, 2012

FREE E-BOOKS!!!

Both of my books are available electronically for FREE at an Amazon near you, but only for this long weekend!  After Monday, February 20, 2012, both will skyrocket in price up to a whopping $0.99 each!  :)

So download your free copies of each today, and tell everyone you know to do the same!

Spread the word, spread the love.  Below are links to the books on Amazon.com, but both are available at Amazon sites around the world, so you can use whichever one you have a regular account with!

SAM

Carving The Light

Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads

Saturday, September 10, 2011

BOOK LAUNCH: EBON BLACK AND THE SEVEN DRYADS

Welcome to the official virtual book launch of a brand new fairytale, Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads!!!  Come on in, have a seat, grab a drink (or maybe an apple - that never hurt anyone, right?), and settle in for a spell!

There's much to do and enjoy - tell your friends!  :)


Thursday, September 8, 2011

GIVEAWAY: Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads

There are 7 (!) SIGNED copies of Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads being given away as part of the Goodreads First Reads program!  Contest ends September 30th, so head on over to http://www.goodreads.com/ and enter now!!!

Additionally, there is a direct link on this blog's main page, or you can just click 'n' go here!  :)

Saturday, September 3, 2011

BOOK LAUNCH: One Week To Go!!!



One week from today I will be selling and signing copies of my new book for kids, Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads!  I will be in person all day at Wordstock in Collingwood, ON, but I'm also organizing a virtual launch online to coincide with the in-person event!  There will be some goodies here, and a bunch more on my Facebook page.  There is currently a giveaway happening over at Goodreads, as well.

My hope is that people will interact with the Amazon page, this blog, and the Facebook page...and maybe even buy the book (which is available for the Kindle and as an e-book, as well)!  ;)

I plan to blitz the world with Ebon all at once, and hope to gain some notice, while giving people like YOU a chance to have a little fun in support!

There's even a word search - in the shape of a happy face, no less!

A contest will then be underway, in which people will be able to create their own artwork for the book, submit it to a special email address, and have a shot at winning a free copy of the 1st anniversary Kids' Edition, which will have the winners' full colour illustrations included, as well as their names in the credits!

It's a bit of a different approach, and my hope is that readers will get as excited about the possibilites as I am!

So keep an eye out here and on Facebook, for more and more information and goodness will become available as we approach September 10th!

Hope to see you there!

Until soon,

S.A.M.

PS

 

Saturday, August 13, 2011

New Book Alert!!! Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads is now available!!!

Hey all!

Just a quick note to say that I have FINALLY published Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads!!!

YAY!!!

At the moment (because I just clicked the button a few minutes ago) it is only available on CreateSpace, but soon - very soon - Ebon will be available for sale in both paperback and e-book versions on Amazon, Smashwords, and several other locations across the World Wide Interweb.

Also, he will be the subject of my very first book launch early in September!  I will be at Wordstock in Collingwood on September 10th to sell and sign copies in person, but at the same time, I'm hoping to do a virtual book launch online, and I will be calling on some of my blogger and Facebook friends to help me out!  Details to come soon!

Finally, keep your eyes here and on my Facebook Author Page for information about the Ebon Black contest I intend to run.  Well, it's not exactly a "contest", per se, but basically, I am hoping to get some illustrations submitted from kids all over the place over the course of the next year, with the intention of publishing a Kid Edition of Ebon Black, in celebration of its first anniversary!  At the moment, there are random blank pages in the paperback version of the book.  My hope is that I'll get enough submissions to release an awesome colour edition next year, and in return for the use of their artwork, each kid will get a free copy of the Kid Edition, with their picture and their name in the credits!

Sound cool?  :)

There will be many many many more details on all of this to come very soon, I promise.  Now that Ebon is finally on his way to being unleashed on the world, I am hoping to be able to update my blog a lot more regularly from now on!

Until soon,

SAM

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

FREE e-copy of Carving The Light!!!

Available now, through the end of July!

It's poorly formatted, but it's FREE!!!

Tell your friends!

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/66162

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Book Review: Benevolence by Cynthia Holz


I want to start off by saying that I won this book recently in a Goodreads giveaway and, apart from an interesting blurb on the back, I really didn't know what to expect.


I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much I truly enjoyed reading this book! I was drawn into the lives of Dr. Ben Wasserman, and his wife, Renata Moon, right from the start. Ben is an organ transplant psychiatrist and Renata is a psychologist, but for two people who've devoted their careers to an ability and necessity built on communication with relative strangers, their own marriage is slowly falling apart due to their inability to communicate effectively with one another.



Add in Ben's widowed mother, Molly, who's allowed a man from her past back into her life, and you have a recipe for awkwardness and misunderstandings, overshadowed by deep secrets on all sides.



And yet, despite the frustration of watching from the inside as people struggle to keep their deepest feelings from those they love the most, I found myself caring very much about each and every one of them. Holz has created characters who are as real as they are flawed, and each one is painfully honest - not with one another, nor with themselves, but with me, the reader. So attached to these people was I that, when I turned a page to find myself suddenly at the end, a genuine sadness came over me and I was reluctant to let them go.



There is a sense of smoothness and heartbreaking fluidity in Holz's writing style as she breathes life into these characters, and the people who inhabit their daily lives. Spellbound by their decent into darker places, we watch - equally entranced - as they find those tiny moments to breathe for; a bit of magic, to bring back the light.
 
 
5 stars
Benevolence
Cynthia Holz

Sunday, December 26, 2010

News And Reviews


Just wanted to post a quick mention that Carving The Light has been reviewed favourably over at Living In The Kitchen With Puppies, which makes me feel better about how it's being received by people who don't know me!  ;)

Additionally, I have more crappy prizes coming in for the Spot The Ad contest - some of which actually involve a copy of the ad as the main image, so watch for photos and updates on that soon, as well!

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday thus far.  Bring on 2011!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Vote For Carving The Light!!!

It has to be a write-in vote, of course, but how fun is it that you can actually vote for it as your Favourite book of 2010?  :)

You can also vote for it in Fiction, as well.  What the heck, right?

In fact, you can get away with writing it in for Debut Author, Goodreads Author, and Cover Art, to boot!  I would encourage you to vote for Timothy D Rideout's Cherubs in the Mystery & Thriller section, as well. 

Go vote!  No matter what you vote for, it's good to get people thinking about books, for a change, so get to it, folks!

Until soon,

S.A.M.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Carving The Light Free Previews

This will be news to some of you, a quick reminder to others, and met with complete indifference from still more!  ;)
But I wanted to just put it out there as we wade through this holiday season.  There are some free previews of Carving The Light available out there on the world wide interweb!  The first few pages of the book are visible through the Search Inside feature on the book page at Amazon.com (Carving The Light).

Additionally a full scene from further along in the story can be found here.

In other news, the Ryerson Chang School ad is appearing more and more frequently across the city of Toronto, on subway platforms and now in public transit vehicles all over the place.  So keep your eyes peeled and cameras at the ready!  The Spot The Ad Contest is in full swing, and there are tons of crappy prizes to be won!  Search Carving The Light on Facebook, and this blog, for full contest details!

Until soon,

S.A.M.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

You Are Invited To The No Hope For Gomez! Birthday After Party!!!








“Instead of heading for the big mental breakdown, -- Gomez Porter

     I decided to have a little one every Tuesday evening.”



You are cordially invited to Gomez' online after party. It starts right now and runs till December 10th. You'll receive:



- ‘Activated Carbon’ exclusive short story collection

- Making of Gomez: behind the scenes eBook



A kindle will be raffled off. Extra prizes for those who bring friends.



Simply purchase your copy of "No Hope for Gomez!" from Amazon and forward your receipt to nohopeforgomez@gmail.com. Find out the details HERE

Toronto - Spot The Ad Contest Now On!!!


Okay, Toronto, here we go!  The Ryerson ads are going up all over the TTC, across the city, and will be up through the holiday season!  Keep your eyes peeled, and your cameras at the ready, to give yourself a shot at winning any number of the fabulously crappy prizes available to be won!  :)


Friday, November 12, 2010

Reviews For Carving The Light!

Thanks in no small part to the Goodreads.com community, I have finally started receiving reviews for my book online!  They are all visible on my book page, but here are some of the highlights thus far:

DangerGirl says: 

Have tissues at the ready.


Ms. Maynard is so apt at creating characters that are both vivid and complete that you are immediately drawn into their lives and empathize with their struggles and their joys. She has knit together a journey that truly will have you laughing out loud with tears rolling down your face.


Arliss writes:

I enjoyed this story of three sisters who endured a tragic event during their childhood.


Ms Maynard allowed me to travel with the sisters, feel their painful experiences, and know the secrets they kept from each other. Through her writing I laughed, I cried, I cheered, and I pitied these girls as if I too was part of their family.

I look forward to her future writings.

And Delilah feels:
 
I thought that this was a great book. It spoke from the heart and was a very true account of the feelings of guilt people can carry around with them. It is so true about the fact that if more people would talk about their feelings it would avoid so many misunderstandings. I would highly recommend this as a goodread.


I will be posting individually on Goodreads, probably later this evening, but I wanted to say overall how grateful I am to each of those women for taking the time to post their thoughts about Carving The Light.  And I am REALLY happy that people are enjoying it!  The Collins girls and the fabulous people in their lives became very important to me while I was writing their story, and I suspect that they will always occupy a special place in my heart.  So, thank you, to everyone who's taking the time to look at my book, or to pick it up and read it, and to those who spread the word and let others know (and me, too) how they feel about it, or how it's affected them.
 
And if anyone feels like posting similar thoughts on Amazon, please feel free to do so!  lol
 
In OTHER news, we are now just mere weeks away from the beginning of the Ryerson Chang school's winter ad campaign, and I can not wait!  I got an update email from them today, letting me know that they will be submitting materials to other print publications and such, as well, so that is outstanding...I'd love to see where else I turn up!
 
I've started putting together small prizes for the contest, too, so get ready to keep on the lookout!  I just got a cute little Carving The Light totebag in the mail the other day, and there will be much more to come!  Pictures to follow, but for now, this is what the ad will look like. 
 
 
Watch out for it all over Toronto via the TTC, starting November 29th!
 
Until soon,
 
SAM

Monday, October 25, 2010

Everything Is Happening

So, here we are, with only 9 days left before I head to sunny California with my lovely girl for a whole week!  Mayhaps we shall even work on illustration ideas for Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads, especially when we will be exposed to such incredible ingenius ideas at Disneyland!  For certain, though, there will be much giggling and good times.  I can not wait.  :)

I am WAY overdue in sending out many thanks to the boys at my photo shoot last week!  Jim, Mark and Ted made it great fun for me, and it was actually kind of hard to leave!  I can't wait to see how it all turns out!  I will be posting it everywhere, once I get a look at it myself, of course!  ;)

Additionally, I have submitted Carving The Light to Guys Can Read, in the hopes that they might pick it as a finalist in their indie author contest!  Basically, they will announce a group of finalists on November 2nd.  If my book is among them, I will be looking for everyone I know to go vote for my book to win.  IF it wins, the guys will read and review it on their podcast!  Which is about the coolest thing I've heard in recent memory. 

I know my book is kind of girly at first glance (you know...all emotions and drama everywhere), but guys have been enjoying it, too, and I think it's likely because the characters are all easy to relate to, no matter what gender you happen to be reading from inside of.  So, hopefully, my little book will be given a shot at finally having a review or two done on it...and if some of those reviews come from the boys' perspectives, ALL the better!  I am really excited by the opportunity, and would encourage all of you to go check out their podcast/site, when you have a chance.  It's truly unique, and I look forward to hearing more from them as we go along!

OK, that's it for now.  I am too distracted to write much at the moment, apparently!

NINE MORE DAYS!  :D

Until soon,

SAM

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Book Review: No Hope For Gomez! by Graham Parke

I loved this book! Gomez Porter is an instantly likeable character, and he draws the reader ever further into his (sometimes off-balanced) mindset through the openness and honesty of his blog entries. As a test subject in an experimental drug trial, Gomez is told to update his blog entries as regularly as possible, and record everything and anything, especially that which could be considered strange. Soon, however, Gomez starts to find pretty much everything in his world strange, and thus the reader is pulled into Gomez's messed-up internal reality, even as he struggles to make sense of it all for himself.


I was fortunate enough to win a copy of this book through a FirstReads giveaway on [...], and I am so happy that I did. The pace is fast and action-packed...from the first page, author Graham Parke takes his readers on one of the strangest, most hilarious rollercoaster rides of the psyche that they are ever likely to go on, and he doesn't let up until the end which, incidentally, just leaves you wanting more.

The story is compact, fun (I laughed out loud more than once while reading this), and while it may have you looking at the world a whole different (and possibly very askew) way, once you've been inside the mind of Gomez Porter, if you're like me, you'll find that you don't mind that one single bit!

Maybe there is no hope for Gomez, but after reading this hilarious, twisted little novel, I personally hope for MORE Gomez very very soon!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Current Work In Progress

I'm heading downtown shortly to check out Word on the Street, but first, I would like to introduce you all, finally, to my latest work-in-progress. I've resisted talking about it in much detail before now, as I was still trying to work my way through the first draft, and just get the story down. But last night I completed said draft, so now I feel I can talk about it more without getting things mixed up in my head! lol


It's titled "Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads".   :)

Monday, September 20, 2010

Carving The Light Giveaway At Goodreads!

Enter to win a FREE AUTOGRAPHED copy of my first novel, Carving The Light!













Goodreads Book Giveaway






Carving The Light (Paperback) by Sue A. Maynard







Carving The Light



by Sue A. Maynard





Giveaway ends October 21, 2010.




See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.







Enter to win



Thursday, July 1, 2010

Finally! Carving The Light Is Now Available In CANADA!!!

At long last, my first novel has made it's way across the border and into Canada.  It's showing up on Amazon.ca, and I am hoping it will hit the Chapters/Indigo market at some point, as well.