Happy Holidays December Cash + Books Giveaway

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Announcing my Happy Holidays December Giveaway!

I always feel gratitude for the readers who spend some of their valuable time with my stories. But this time of year always make me especially grateful that I get to do what I love: write and share stories.

Without further ado, I announce my December giveaway. This one is special because the first prize is some cool cash to help with holiday expenses. The second prize is pretty cool too: a copy of my latest audiobook, H.A.L.F.: ORIGINS, narrated by the talented actor Dylan White.

So enter early and enter often! :-) Good luck and winners will be chosen on 12/19 so stay tuned.

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H.A.L.F. is FREE on Amazon for a Limited Time Only!

BREAKING NEWS - FREE BOOK!!

H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath
by Natalie Wright

For the first time ever, and only for 5 days, my award-winning book H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath (H.A.L.F. #1), is FREE on Amazon!

If you haven't yet picked up a copy of H.A.L.F. (#1) but you've wanted to try it out, Now's the time!

H.A.L.F.: The Deep Beneath is free from 5/6-5/10/16, only on Amazon. Here are the links:

Amazon
Amazon U.K
Amazon CA

And if you want to pre-order H.A.L.F. #2 - The Makers - you can do that here.

And to learn more about the special pre-order offer that I've got going on (including an exclusive full-color book that you can't buy in stores), click here.

As seen in SyFy Magazine

Writer Wednesday: Announcing FREE and 99 Cent Morgan Wylie Books!

This Writer Wednesday I welcome back to the blog author Morgan Wylie. Morgan's new release, Fractured Darkness, is now available! And if you haven't already read the first two books in the series, you can snag the first one FREE and the second for only 99 cents! A true bargain. Click the Amazon links below to pick up your copies. 

Celebrate Read an E-Book Week and Deep Discounts on The Akasha Chronicles

Hey, did you know that it's Read an E-Book Week? To show my support of the event, I'm offering DEEP discounts on the e-book versions of my books at Smashwords.com. Click on the link to download all three books of the Akasha Chronicles in the e-book format of your choice (Kindle, Nook, iBooks, etc.). 

Emily's House is FREE! (usually $2.99)

Emily's Trial is $1.50! (usually $2.99)

And Emily's Heart is $2.00 (usually $3.99)

The coupon codes are shown on the book pages.

But hurry. On 3/9/2014 the prices will return to normal retail.

Hop on over to Smashwords and enjoy the great deals authors and publishers are offering for one week only :-) And thank you for your support of this event.

Emily's Heart Release Celebration and February Book Giveaway

The Akasha Chronicles
by Natalie Wright

As you know, my third book, Emily's Heart, *officially* released on February 1. And what better way to celebrate a new release than with a giveaway? What's up for grabs? How about a copy of Emily's Trial, book 2 of The Akasha Chronicles (*see details in the Rafflecopter below). And a gift card. And a swag bag! I've given you lots of ways to enter and the easiest is to leave a comment here on this blog post. 

And to increase your chances of winning the giveaway, you can stop by other blogs hosting me this month and comment and tweet to increase your odds ;-) I'll update this list all month to add additional blog links, so check back often.

As always, thank you for stopping by my blog. Happy Reading!

Andrea Heltsley Books

Amy Durham, Author

Bookish Things & More
Pippa Jay's Blog

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Emily's House is FREE this Week!

St. Patrick's Day is coming, its emerald green putting us in the mind of Spring and all things Irish. What better way to celebrate the season than with a Celtic-inspired read?

My Spring gift to readers is to offer Emily's House, Book 1 of the Akasha Chronicles, FREE for the next five days :-)

Click on this link to go to Amazon where you can download it gratis. And pass it along! 

Oh, by the way. Reader reviews make authors squee ;-) So please, after you've read Emily's House, please be kind and leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and anywhere else where book stalkers lurk.

Thanks so much and Happy Spring!

P.S. Click this link to go to a page with my latest Giveaway :-)

Book Review Friday: LEVERAGE, by Joshua C. Cohen

Today I'm reviewing Leverage, by Joshua C. Cohen. In case you missed it, please check out my interview of the author, Josh Cohen, AND enter the Giveaway for FREE, signed copy of Leverage, by clicking here.


Let's start with the description of Leverage from Goodreads:



"The football field is a battlefield

There's an extraordinary price for victory at Oregrove High. It is paid on - and off - the football field. And it claims its victims without mercy - including the most innocent bystanders. 

When a violent, steroid-infused, ever-escalating prank war has devastating consequences, an unlikely friendship between a talented but emotionally damaged fullback and a promising gymnast might hold the key to a school's salvation.

Told in alternating voices and with unapologetic truth, Leverage illuminates the fierce loyalty, flawed justice, and hard-won optimism of two young athletes."


Okay, this is accurate description - sort of. But I found it odd that nowhere in the description of this book does the publisher ever use the word "bully." And that's odd, since this is a book largely about bullying.


Yes, there is an ever-escalating prank war, but that makes it sound like what happens in the book is somehow the shared fault of the victim of things gone too far. And that is NOT how the book is written.


Yes, there are football players - and male gymnasts. Yes, they engage in a prank war. And yes, the school's pride - in fact the whole town's pride - in their football team is at the heart of the story. It informs as to why some of the characters make the choices they make.


But in Leverage, sports is part of the setting. It's the background of the human drama. And Leverage is, more than anything, a human drama, and a story about bullying.


In our social media age, bullying these days often takes the form of cyber-bullying. But in Leverage, bullying is the old-fashioned kind. "I'm big, you're small, therefore I can do to you what I want. And because I'm seen as popular (i.e. powerful), I'll get away with it." 


Bullying is pervasive in our society and it doesn't end when you become an adult. A person can be bullied at work, in their marriage, or even bullied by media. For that reason, books like Leverage are so important. We need to discuss this topic. We need to explore it. 


Leverage is not a sports book. It's a book about bullying, choices, courage and relationships - and that's why it's worth a read. So take the cover and the cover copy blurb (chosen by a publisher, not the author), with a grain of salt.


The story is told from two different perspectives - Danny and Kurt. Danny is a sophomore, small and a gymnast. Kurt is a large, hulking football player. He's not stupid, though his stutter makes him appear so. Danny and Kurt form a strange duo and an unlikely pair.


Of the two, I enjoyed Kurt - liked Kurt - so much more than Danny. Kurt's story is entirely sympathetic. We root for Kurt and hope that it all works out for him. Kurt is a well-crafted character and one of the highlights of the story. 


The poignant thing about reading a book like Leverage is that you just know that there are Kurt's out there. People who have suffered abuse like he has. Who have been dealt shitty cards like he has. You just  hope that real kids dealt cards like that find the inner fortitude that Kurt finds to do the right thing and to lift themselves out.


I am not a fan of sports stories. If it wasn't for hearing the author discuss this book at a book festival, I probably would not have picked it up based on the cover and description. I would have judged it by its cover.


I am so happy that I picked it up, despite the cover. Leverage is a tautly woven tale about making choices, about finding courage, and about the consequences of our actions. Cohen creates wonderful tension in the book. You know from the first couple of chapters that something bad is going to happen. You don't know what and you don't know when. But you know it's coming.


The "bad thing" that happens comes at about the 40% mark. And as a reader, I felt the tension - actually began to sweat - as the "bad thing" began to unfold. Author Cohen did a great job of "showing" just the right amount. The big scene isn't for those who cannot abide any form of sexual violence (fair warning). As someone who avoids contemporary realism (I love Ellen Hopkins' writing but find her books too harsh to read), I was able to read Leverage. The author didn't resort to sensationalizing the scene to emotionally manipulate the reader. 


The remainder of the book explores the aftermath of the horrible thing that happens. The main characters, the ones involved - even the town itself - is explored.


Joshua Cohen is a bright star of a writer, giving us a wonderful first book that makes us want more from him.


I highly recommend Leverage and give it:

 5 Hawks

A WORD OF CAUTION: Leverage deals with mature themes and includes graphic violence of a sexual nature. I do not recommend this book to those under 13, and give it a PG-13 rating.