Not Just 9 to 5 is excited to be a part of the book tour of  Rattleman:  Possession put on by Bewitching Blog Tours.

Available from Kindle - here

From George D. Shuman who served twenty years with the Metropolitan Police Department, Washington DC, and whose international bestseller, ’18 Seconds’, is currently in production as a major Hollywood motion picture. 

Better still, ‘Rattleman’ is George D. Shuman’s most gripping crime thriller yet.

The Rattleman knows every crevice, every creek, every cave, every ravine, every inch of his remote hunting grounds in the Appalachian Mountains.

He is a determined serial killer, always waiting for his next victim to cross his path.

When Park Ranger Jane Cameron literally stumbles across the remains of two of his victims, she discovers that she too has been caught in his trap.

And when the ‘Rattleman’s prey is at his mercy, she’s dead.

About George D. Shuman

George Shuman is the international bestselling author of the Sherry Moore series about a blind woman who can see 18 seconds from a dead person’s life, using her innate ability to track down their killers.

George’s first four Sherry Moore books are published by Simon & Schuster. ‘!8 Seconds’ is currently in production for a major Hollywood motion picture.

‘Rattleman’ is the first of George’s books to be published by Taylor Street. It too will be a major Hollywood motion picture.

http://georgedshuman.com/books.html

I have decided that it’s time to make a choice about my writing and this blog.

I have been doing a lot of writing lately.  And it’s been for free.  I enjoy writing and I’d like to say I don’t do it for the money, but I will be honest, time is precious, and if I am going to spend so much time writing, I would like to be compensated for it.

Speaking of time, I don’t have a whole lot of it.  Besides writing, I work full time and have a family to take care of.   So it’s time to cute out some things.  One of the unfortunately has to be this blog.  I spend a lot of time and effort here when I can be working on things that will bring me an income.

I won’t totally disappear.  I plan to post once in awhile when I have something I really want to share or get off of my chest.  And I still have some book reviews/spotlights to share with you.  For now though, I have to say farewell to Not Just 9 to 5.

For more heartfelt writing, head on over to Things I Can’t Say.

I think maybe one of the most important tools for me as a writer, besides an actual place to write, is “the cloud.”  Now, to me, “the cloud” Means many different things.    Here’s how I use it.

1.  To save my work

I save all my work in Dropbox.  I don’t really save anything of importance on my computer anymore.  It all goes in “the cloud” known as Dropbox.

2.  To back up my work

In addition to Dropbox, I save all my documents in Google Drive too.  I am a big fan of google drive because I can access my files from any computer whether Mac (which I use at home) or PC (which I have at work).  I figure it can’t hurt to save things in two spots either just in case one happens to go down for whatever reason.

3.  To make notes

I use the Notes app on my phone to jot down quick ideas and also use things like Evernote to save articles and such that I might want to reference later when I write.

4.  To access anywhere

This is probably the number one reason I use “the cloud”.  I love that I can access the stuff that I am writing from anywhere.  I can work on it at home on my laptop or quick on my iPhone if I am waiting for something.  As a busy mom that has a full time job while trying to start a writing career, it’s important that I steal snippets of time to work when I can.  ”The cloud” makes all my files readily accessible.

Do you use “the cloud”?  If so, what do you use it for?

Not Just 9 to 5 is excited to be a part of the book tour of  Daughters of the Night:  Possession put on by Bewitching Blog Tours.

About the Book:

Daughters of Night: Possession
Daughters of Night series, Book Two

Ashley Torbeck

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Young Adult Paranormal

ISBN: 1480213195

ASIN: B00ASBZ0JM

Number of pages: 380

Word Count: 69,031

Createspace   Amazon   Author Site

Book Description:

Carmen’s family is being threatened by a new group of vampires, and she is forced into another battle. Only this time it’s not just her life on the line. Now she must face an evil unlike any other. One that is dangerously close to consuming her, and Carmen’s only hope of succeeding is in the hands of a girl she doesn’t know. Will the demons inside Carmen bring her down before she and Gaviyn can save the delicate life of the mystery girl, or will they all fall over the edge into a pit of death and despair?

Guest Blog – Possession: The Soundtrack

I don’t know about anyone else, but music is a huge part of my life. Seriously, I listen to it all the time, even when I’m watching TV, surfing, YouTube, and trying to read all at once. There’s got to be music playing. It’s one of the few things that can help keep my insanity in check.

So, it should come as no surprise that I listen to music when I write. What was different about this book, however, is that instead of just turning it on random and waiting for inspiration, I actually had songs in my head that helped me develop my characters, so they each kind of have their own theme song. Here are some of the theme songs for a few of the major players in the book:

• Carmen – Wide Awake, by Katy Perry; Admittedly, this was the hardest song to come up with, because she goes through so many changes and struggles. But ultimately, she went from a false sense of security as a human who repeatedly dies, to the real reality, where she had to learn things aren’t always what they seem, and she has to let go of fairytales and fantasies to protect her family and friends.

• Gaviyn – Stand, by Rascal Flatts; This song is kinda perfect, because he’s been through hell and back for love, and each time tragedy strikes, he just picks up the pieces and keeps pushing on. Even at his lowest point (which actually is coming up in the third book, but for now, we’ll say it’s his wife’s possession by a demon and captivity of his son), he doesn’t give up, he fights back.

• Damien – Here Without You, by 3 Doors Down; For Damien, since he doesn’t have a lot of time in this book, I chose a song that would reflect how the other characters might feel toward him after he gets taken. He’s such an important person in the story, and so many look up to and respect him, even though he’s so young, this song pretty much sums it up. They’re sad, but holding onto the hope that they’ll get him back. The tone of the song just really sets the mood.

• Abby – Bring Me To Life, by Evanescence; Even though in the beginning of her story, Abby is a happy teenager living the good life, she goes through a few metamorphoses. The first is the coma, where she’s trapped within her own mind, then there’s a vengeful and anger-ridden vampire, then she comes to her senses and finds herself again. The whole time, she just wants to get out of the madness and find her happiness again.

• Jackson – Far Away, by Nickelback; When Jackson loses Abby-first to the accident, then to Connor-he still hangs onto the idea that somehow he can make her remember who she really is and bring her back to him. The line “Keep breathing, cause I’m not leaving you anymore” is what really did it for me.

• Connor – Last Resort, by Papa Roach; Connor has some psychiatric problems and a broken past, leading to depression and self-mutilation. He’s desperate for acceptance and happiness, and this song just embodies him perfectly, even down to the cutting. His anger and rage are irreparable, and mixed with his pleas for acceptance, end up costing him the very things he desires most.

• Zariah – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), by Marilyn Manson; Zariah has let the quest for power go to her head, and she’s teetering on the edge of psychosis. This song, in this version, is the penultimate psychosis song, in my mind. It starts slow, ominous, but misleadingly calm, then rages off the deep end. That’s exactly what Zariah does.

• Seth – Welcome to My Life, by A Simple Plan; Seth had a hard life as a human and as a vampire, both of which were filled with abuse, neglect, and anger, and he has a hard time coping. He’s not totally depressed all the time, but he hides his pain and anguish inside until he befriends Abby, and suddenly his view of the world changes.

I like a lot of different types of music, can you tell? There are so many more songs that spawned creativity, though, and while working on the playlist for the third book, Daughters of Night: Tribulation, I can tell you it’s going to be fast-paced, upbeat, and completely psychotic. I hope you all join me as the series comes to a close. At least…for now.

I also want to take a second to say thank you to the readers of this blog, as well as to Not Just 9 to 5 and all its contributors. Without the readers, writers would be out of a job. Without bloggers, nobody would know we exist. So thank you! May each of you be blessed with all the love and insanity your minds can handle.

About the Author: 

An avid reader and sarcasm specialist, Ashley’s quirky and bubbly personality stems from the vast amount of information she crammed into her head as a child. No genre was off limits, but she developed a fondness for Stephen King books early on. Of course, growing up in Eastern Kentucky, life moved a little slower, so books became her closest friends.

Fast forward a few years, and the vast insanity that surrounded Ashley became her life. In January 2009, she married the only person on Earth as insane as herself, and they now reside in Louisville, Kentucky, patiently awaiting the zombie apocalypse while she taps away at the laptop with a plethora of stories to keep you entertained.

www.ashleytorbeck.webs.com

www.drunkenspacepenguin.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/Ash_Torbeck

www.facebook.com/ash.torbeck

www.goodreads.com/author/show/6523844.Ashley_Torbeck

www.amazon.com/author/ash.torbeck

Have you caught this new show on Fox?

If not, you should.

I can’t really describe the show, so here’s the trailer.

The Following is a little gruesome for a few but my husband and I love it!  It keeps us on the edge of our seat and I definitely look forward to watching it each week.

You can read more about The Following on their page at Fox.com.

You can catch The Following on Monday nights at 9:00 PM Eastern time.

I am not affiliated with Fox or The Following in any way.  I just love the show and wanted to share.

Some of your probably think, duh, you just are realizing that now?

But I have ventured into new territory.  Before I mainly focused on this blog and trying to write for magazines, both online and print.  I have gone back to my true passion – fiction.  And if you know me at all, you know that I am impatient.  I see people say that they are so excited that they got a book deal but the book won’t be out until October.  What?  Really?  I mean it’s exciting that they are having a book published, but I would die waiting that long.

I also like to have control over my projects, the cover, etc.  So, I am probably going to venture into the world of self-publishing.  It’s scary and a lot of work, but I am excited.

In this little journey, I have started to make some awesome friends with other authors.  Yesterday was one of the most productive of my writing thanks to writing sprints one author kept post on Facebook.  Then I started chatting with another author that also works a day job while trying to start her writing career.  Today we are cracking the whip in each other to make sure we get writing done.

I love the support.  It’s amazing.  And the friendships.  And the laughs.

The optional prompt for today was “It’s like going to…” but I have been thinking about this since last night, so I had to get it out.  For more Stream of Consciousness Sunday, head on over Jana’s Thinking Place.

Not Just 9 to 5 is excited to be a part of the book tour of  Reckoning put on by Bewitching Blog Tours.

Reckoning
Dark Prophecy, Book 1

Molly M Hall

Genre: YA Paranormal

ISBN: 978-1479342112

ASIN: B0095JKKFC

Number of pages: 276

Word Count: 77,782

Cover Artist: Claudia McKinney -PhatPuppy Art

Amazon Print, Amazon Kindle

BN Paperback , Nook

Smashwords

Book Description:

“They say the truth can set you free. I found out it can kill you.”

Seventeen-year-old Kat Matheson has never revealed the dark secret that sets her apart from everyone else: She can see and hear the dead. Until now, she has been able to ignore the strange apparitions and whispering voices. But it may not be that simple anymore. Haunted by eerie visions and increasingly frightening nightmares, Kat begins to fear she may be the target of a dark and ominous force from beyond the grave. Complicating matters is the arrival of her new neighbor, a young man she instinctively distrusts but is inexplicably drawn to. Gorgeous and mysterious, he seems to hold a disturbing knowledge of her long-held secrets.

As she desperately tries to maintain control, events take an unexpected and violent turn. Discovering that nothing is what it seems and that her psychic abilities may involve far more than just communing with the dead, Kat may be forced to confront her worst fears and the powerful curse that controls her destiny.

Add it to your Goodreads list

Guest Blog by Molly Hall:

My Writing Process

I’m often asked about my writing process—if I start at the beginning and continue smoothly to the finish; if I know how the story will end; if I create a detailed outline or make it up as I go along, etc. And the answer is, well…yeah, kind of. I know—good solid response, right?

In reality, my writing process is more like a layer cake inside a jigsaw puzzle. What?? I have the idea for the story along with how it begins and how it ends, as well as some of the elements that comprise the plot and characters. That is essentially the border for the puzzle. Then I start adding location, time period, character names, conflict and resolution—all those elements that are the heart of a story. After that, I start fleshing out the characters themselves: their personalities, what motivates them, how they interact with one another throughout the book. It is all of these things that become the layer cake. And, finally, I put all these pieces together, completing the puzzle. In the end, hopefully you have a fantastic picture in the form of words.

It’s not always easy. There are some days when the writing just flows, and the pieces seem to magically fall into place. But there are others, when it’s a struggle to come up with one decent sentence. And that can be beyond frustrating! That’s when I know it’s time to step away and take a break, because no matter how long I stare at the computer screen, it’s just not gonna happen.

My writing process doesn’t really have specific rules. In general, I try to follow a linear pattern, but that never lasts for long. I’m always adding, deleting, rearranging, and swapping until I give it the final read-through and say, “OK. That’s the story.” I know of some writers who can sit down and write a story from beginning to end with very few rewrites. I just shake my head in awe and bow to their genius. They are obviously a different race of people from a higher realm.

Writing, and more importantly, writing well, is a challenge. But in a good way. Bringing the characters in my imagination to life on the page is extremely rewarding. I love what I do. Crafting and completing a story gives me a great feeling of pride and accomplishment. I hope to be able to do it for a very long time. And I hope my readers get as much joy from reading my books as I do in writing them.

Excerpt:

A gentle breeze moves through the trees and gooseflesh creeps up my arms. I look around cautiously, my ears straining for even the slightest sound. Nothing. No dreaded flashes of a ghostly pink dress. No brain-numbing whispering. Just an empty expanse of green, dotted with trees, the stark silhouettes of houses rising behind.

My phone buzzes again, the vibration rippling through the nerve endings in my hand like a low-voltage jolt of electricity. I feel a sudden desire to fling it as far away from me as I can.

Reluctantly, I look down and click on the message.

RUN

Turning around, I see Rick, smiling back at me, waiting patiently. A scream of anguish and frustration begins to build deep inside of me and I hear a noise to my right, like the whooshing of wings. Jerking my head to the side, my eyes widen in shock, and I duck, narrowly missing a massive black bird as it sweeps past me, angling upward. I think I hear Rick say something, but his words are drowned out by the sound of my pulse pounding in my ears. I glance up, looking for the bird and see a large, dark shape sweeping past the top of the trees. I have no idea how any of it is connected – the girl, the texts, the bird – but instinctively I know they are. And it isn’t good.

I look at Rick again, the wonder and magic of this evening still singing through my veins, and my shock turns to anger. Hot, fiery, rebellious anger. This will not happen. Not tonight.

Clenching my jaw, I glare up at the sky. LEAVE ME ALONE, I scream in my head. Whatever issues this dead girl has, it has nothing to do with me.

      Rick begins walking toward me. “Everything OK, Kat?”

I swallow, gathering my emotions back into a tight bundle. “Fine.” I force a smile onto my face, jogging back to him. “Just Rachel sending me another message.”

I step into the pool of light beneath the streetlamp, anxious to leave the darkness behind. Suddenly, the light flickers, an odd sizzling sound emanating from the globes. I stop and stare, watching as several sparks shoot out the sides. The bird, the largest crow I have ever seen, swoops down from the trees, one shining, jet black eye looking directly at me. Sound disappears and time seems to fold in on itself, slowing to half-speed. The same weightless feeling I’d experienced at school creeps over me, and I tense, fighting off the panic.

I stare at the bird, watching it descend lower and lower. It’s wings beat once, moving slowly down and back up again. Sparks continue to jet from the streetlamp, each brightly pointed flash of light spewing out in a torpid, glowing trail, before dropping slowly and silently to the ground. The bird is nearly on top of me. It sweeps past, close enough that I can feel the rush of air beneath its wings, gently lifting my hair. Then it arcs upward, higher and higher, before turning and diving back toward me again, it’s beak open in a silent cry.

I stand and stare, frozen in place, numb with shock and disbelief. My phone vibrates dully in my palm, and I slowly lower my head. As though acting strictly through muscle memory, my thumb pushes the message button.

NOW

I look back up at the bird. Then at the streetlamp. And suddenly, I understand. The obscure text messages melding into clear and precise meaning. But my legs won’t move.

I gasp, inhaling sharply as I struggle to break free of the torpor that has possessed me, and the world abruptly charges back into normal motion, sound and movement taking on a vivid clarity. The bird rushes toward me, it’s head cocked at an odd angle. The sparking and sizzling of the streetlamp grows louder, the globes glowing and flashing like some kind of deranged sparkler on the fourth of July. I take one slow step backward just as the globes explode with a loud bang, hundreds of tiny pieces of glass slicing through the air. I yelp and duck, lunging to the side.

About the Author:

Molly M Hall is the author of Reckoning, the first novel in the Dark Prophecy series. She has spent most of her life in Colorado and currently lives just outside of Denver. She pursued a degree in English Literature at Columbia College, and worked in the corporate world for several years before turning to writing full time.

When not reading or writing, she can be found shopping for awesome boots, listening to music, exercising, working on her very inadequate French, playing piano, or looking for inspiring landscapes to photograph. More at: mollymhall.com

Blog – www.mollymhall.com

Twitter – @mollymhallbooks

Facebook – www.facebook.com/mollym.hall.31

www.facebook.com/pages/Reckoning/457393657635234

Goodreads – www.goodreads.com/book/show/16077558-reckoning

From Amazon.com:

Hannah Sugarman seems to have it all. She works for an influential think tank in Washington, D.C., lives in a swanky apartment with her high-achieving boyfriend, and is poised for an academic career just like her parents. The only problem is that Hannah doesn’t want any of it. What she wants is much simpler: to cook.

When her relationship collapses, Hannah seizes the chance to do what she’s always loved and launches an underground supper club out of her new landlord’s town house. Though her delicious dishes become the talk of the town, her secret venture is highly problematic, given that it is not, technically speaking, legal. She also conveniently forgets to tell her landlord she has been using his place while he is out of town.

On top of that, Hannah faces various romantic prospects that leave her guessing and confused, parents who don’t support cooking as a career, and her own fears of taking a risk and charting her own path. A charming romantic comedy, The Girls’ Guide to Love and Supper Clubs is a story about finding yourself, fulfilling your dreams, and falling in love along the way.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authordanabate?ref=ts&fref=ts

Twitter: @danabate

Dana’s website: http://danabate.com/

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-girls-guide-to-love-and-supper-clubs-dana-bate/1112492719?ean=9781401311001

Thank you to BookSparksPR for the chance to read this great book.

Not Just 9 to 5 is excited to be a part of the book tour of  Magic Seasons put on by Bewitching Blog Tours.

Step into a world of magic and passions…. 

Take a dash of spice, heat it

Can they survive their pasts to be together as they struggle to find a killer before the wheel turns again?

About the Author:

Jacqueline Paige is a world class multi-tasker being a mother to five adventurous and unpredictable children, a cafe manager and having a colossal imagination that allows her to step outside of reality into a world of paranormal romance —with just a touch of suspense.

Jacqueline lives in Ontario, Canada and avoids the ever changing weather of the region she lives in by creating other worlds to fall into in her stories of all things paranormal.

Her first book was published in 2009 and since then has published ten.  She is always writing and currently has more than a dozen stories in one stage or another of the writing process.

You can find all of Jacqueline’s books at:  www.jacqpaige.webs.com

First and foremost, I feel blessed for my family. I have an amazing (and hot) husband and two beautiful, smart, funny, and healthy girls. I totally blessed for the rest of my family too – my parents (all 4 of them), my sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and my in-laws.

I feel blessed that I have my health.

Even though it’s been rough lately, I am blessed to have a good job with good benefits and awesome co-workers.

I feel really blessed lately by writing and the whole writing community. I have amazing writer friends and have meet some amazing other writers that have inspired me in so many ways. I have learned so much about writing and publishing and marketing – everything! The past couple of years have rocked.

I feel blessed that I live here in the United States.

And with that, my 5 minutes is up. For more Stream of Consciousness Sunday, head over to Jana’s Thinking Place.