CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT - Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads!!!!!

Enter for a chance to win a free illustrated edition of Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads, complete with one of YOUR illustrations!!!

Here's how you do it:

Start by reading a copy of the book - it's available in paperback (most online sites like Amazon and B&N have it available to order) for SRP $6.99USD, and also as an e-book (available on most sites like Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, etc) for SRP $1.49USD.

Then, choose one or more of your favourite scenes from the story, and create a picture for it.  You can draw, paint, sketch, take a photograph - whatever you like.  This is your chance to help bring the story alive, so feel free to go nuts with it!

Once you have an illustration-y sort of creation, scan it, and email it to PamDsPlace@gmail.com, along with helpful things like your name, age, email address, and a brief description of the scene being depicted.  You will receive a confirmation email to let you know that your entry has been received, though it won't be an instant auto-response.  It could take 1-2 business days to appear in your inbox, so make sure that you keep PamDsPlace on your safe list to keep it out of your junk folder!  :)

AND you can enter more than once - there's no limit to the number of entries you can submit - but please try to send each picture in separately.  That way, we can be sure that each attachment has been received properly on this end!

So there you have it!  There will be more details and "small print" in the coming months - including an end date for the contest (but not until the middle of 2012 at least, so there is time), but for now, those are the basics!  Feel free to post comments and questions as we go along.  I look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with!  :)

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!  :)

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!  :)

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

 

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

Ebon Pitch - First Draft

When young Ebon Black turns 21 years of age, he will inherit his deceased father's fortune, which would make him The Richest Of Them All. The current holder of that title, Malachite Vert, is determined that Ebon should not live to see his 21st birthday, and hatches a plan to get rid of him. He also happens to be Ebon's stepfather.




Ebon survives the attempt on his life, but loses his memory in the process. He awakens to find that he's been rescued by seven young women known as Dryads, the Keepers of the Trees. They are Joc, Weepy, Cranky, Sleazy, Nerdy, Needy and Pam.



In this new twist on a classic tale, it's a race against the clock as Ebon and the seven Dryads must work together to gain Ebon his memory back, find out if he can woo Pam, and return him home in time to claim his rightful place in society.



EBON BLACK AND THE SEVEN DRYADS is suitable for readers young and less-young; introducing them to an unforgettable cast of characters, some unexpected turns, and a moral for a modern age. The manuscript is complete at 20000 words.

FREE PREVIEW - Work-In-Progress!!!

Go here to read a short free preview of my current work-in-progress, Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads!!!

Congratulations!

First off, congratulations to all of the winners of the Goodreads.com giveaway!  Five lucky folks were drawn from over 700 entries, and each of them should be receiving a signed copy of Carving The Light in their mailbox sometime soon!  I shipped three copies out today, and will do the other two tomorrow, hopefully.  I'm just waiting a but longer to hear back on whether they would like it personalized, or not.  :)

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".   :)

Back to Writing - Finally!

That's right...I finally sat down today and did some more writing on my current W.I.P.  And it was not a moment too soon! 

Reading Is Like Writing

Only not.

Reading and Writing

I only have a moment, so will make this one quick.  Have to get to my day job, after all!
But I noticed something over the weekend that I thought I would share.

Reading helps with writing.

When Life Gets In The Way

Usually, I think I can be fairly disciplined, when I put my mind to it.  I wrote the first draft of Carving The Light within the 30 day time frame of NaNoWriMo, and got it ready to go to print within a few months - in time for my mom's birthday, even.

But lately, it seems that it's getting harder and harder to find the time to get it done at all during the day, let alone along with all of the other life-like stuff that has to be done.  And I am wondering why. 

Does Size Matter?

So, without going into a ton of detail, my newest book is a fairytale.  Well, a complete rewrite of an already well-known fairytale.

Compared with Carving The Light, this one is a lot lighter and more fun to write.

But are there fairytale-writing rules that I should know about?  For example, does the length of it really matter?