New Years Giveaway Extravaganza!

2015NYGSorry for the email that went out early. Funny thing about time is that there’s an AM and a PM! Turns out I’d set the post to go live at 9 AM instead of PM!

Regardless, our subscribers who saw that oops this morning know what’s coming – our Melange New Years Giveaway Extravaganza!

I am so excited for this. We’ve done giveaways in the past here and there, but nothing like this. We’ve got ebooks, we’ve got ARC’s, we’ve got autographed print books AND one lucky winner will walk away with a brand spankin’ new Kindle Fire HD6 AND a $25 Amazon Gift Card to stock it full of books! How awesome is that? Even if you already have an e-reader, you know what great gifts they make.

Instead of posting all of the giveaway sign up forms here on the blog, I’ve opted to list them on the Melange website to avoid the wonky formatting that sometimes happens with the blog posts.

To enter, go HERE: https://melange-books.com/2015NYGiveaway.html
And for the blog comments entries, come back and leave a post here!

NOTE: There are a LOT of giveaways on that link above! Please let the page fully load all of the giveaways before entering. Click the link, go check your Facebook or Twitter, then check back!

A “Within Reach” Interview with Jill Bisker + Giveaway

The talented Jody Vitek took some time out of her busy writing schedule to interview fellow talented author Jill Bisker about her shot story “Within Reach.”


 

Within Reach is a very moving and touching story about Emma and the relationship she has with her mother who is suffering with dementia. When Emma finds a special box her father carved with a seashell from her childhood inside, something happens and questions arise that she wants to ask her mother. Questions go unasked and when a small agate replaces the shell, she questions her own sanity.

Within Reach is a short, fast, fulfilling story I recommend everyone reads. The ending will have you looking within yourself.

JODY: I’d like to say hello to everyone and thank you for joining us. Jill, can you share a little about yourself? Where you live? Are you married? Do you have children?

JILL: I live in Stillwater, Minnesota.  I am just celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary with my wonderful husband, George.  I have a 21 year old son named Nathan and a 13 year old cat named Senora.

JODY: Have you always wanted to be a writer?

JILL: Yes, but it is only in the last few years that I was able to believe in myself enough to allow anyone else to read my stories.

JODY: When did you start writing?

JILL: I remember writing stories as soon as I was old enough to write.  I would staple pieces of paper together and make story books.  My mother used to tease me that I couldn’t finish a story because I was so intent on writing the dedication page.  It made me laugh a little to write the dedication page to her.

JODY: You write many different genres and I wondered if you write multiple stories at one time, within these multiple genres, at different times of the hour, day, week, month or when the mood strikes? How do you decide what to work on?

JILL: I have a lot of stories in production at a time.  I am outlining, writing and editing all at the same time.  I have many projects in various stages of completion.  My husband edits my work and helps with story continuity.  Outlining can take some time but when I am ready to write then I write 6 – 8 hours a day until a story is done.  I decide on a word count that I have to get to, usually 1500 – 2000, and I work until I get there.  As far as what to write, I find a story will often ‘demand’ to be told, whether that’s what I had planned or not.  It also helps me to rotate amongst different projects because after a first draft, it’s good to step away from it for a while so that I can return to it with fresh eyes at a later date.  So I typically have a few stories percolating in my mind, am actively writing one, and have one or two in a holding pattern waiting for the next revision.

JODY: You acknowledge your mother, Marlys, in the acknowledgments. Will you share how close to home this story is to you and your mother? If at all.

JILL: I wrote this story when I was helping my mother through the last stages of chronic illness, dementia and leukemia.  I simplified elements in the story just to keep the flow moving.   Some of the elements in the story are things that really happened.  All of the feelings and emotions are genuine.  In our family’s real story – I come from a Yours, Mine and Ours family – my father is living and I have many siblings, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.  We were all deeply affected by my mother’s struggle with dementia.  A portion of the proceeds from this story will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.org.

JODY: Was it difficult to write at times?

JILL: It was actually cathartic to write.  I could focus my feelings into the piece, and it gave me a way to express those feelings and share my experience with others.

JODY: What are you working on now?

JILL: I will be starting edits on my paranormal novel that is coming out in June. (NOTE: “Finding The Way Back” was released from Melange on June 19, 2014.)  I just finished a first draft of the next story in the series and I am on the second draft of a fantasy novel.  I am outlining 3 other stories as well.

JODY: Where do you see your writing career in five years?

JILL:  I hope to continue to be able to bring new stories to life.  Who wouldn’t love a movie deal?  😉 Honestly, as long as I’m able touch others with my writing in some way, I will feel successful.

JODY: My own writer’s curiosity has to ask a few questions: Are you plotter or pantser or both? Organized working area or a mess? Do you have a designated work area? Critique group and/or beta readers?

JILL: I am a firm believer in plotting.  I have many different ways that I outline.  Each story seems to come to me in a different way.  I ask my characters a lot of questions before I even start writing so I know them very well.  I know how they act and what motivates them as well as where I want them to go in the story – how I want them to evolve.  I am very organized, I can’t work in upheaval very well.  I have a vintage vanity I use as a desk and a vintage table in the room to work on outlines.  I don’t let anyone read anything until it’s finished and then I have beta readers.  I tried critique groups but it hasn’t worked for me.  I have found that I have to write in a way that’s true to who I am and what I believe in, and if it’s good enough then hopefully it will find an audience.


 

 About Jill Bisker

Jill Bisker lives in Stillwater, MN with her husband and a calico cat named Senora. She believes in empowering women to be strong enough to protect themselves, while still soft enough to be loving and compassionate. Her work includes paranormal mystery and traditional high fantasy, as well as contemporary and humorous fantasy and an everyday living blog. Her novella Within Reach is her first publication with Melange. Once a dedicated stay at home Mom, Jill now writes full-time.

Website: www.jillbisker.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjillbisker
Blog: http://www.unaccompaniedjaunt.blogspot.com
Melange:  https://melange-books.com/authors/jillbisker/index.html


About Jody Vitek

Born and raised in Minnesota, Jody has remained close to home living with her husband of twenty plus years, three children and a cat named Holly. Growing up, she enjoyed reading V.C. Andrews’ the Dollanganger series, starting with Flowers in the Attic, S.E. Hinton, and Stephen King to name a few.

She has traveled throughout the United States, to the Bahamas and Cancun, Mexico. Between watching soccer games, scrapbooking and being the COO of the Vitek household, she writes contemporary romances.

Visit and contact Jody at: www.jodyvitek.com
And on Melange: https://melange-books.com/authors/jodyvitek/index.html


GIVEAWAY

Want to get your hands on a FREE e-book copy of “Within Reach”? Simply leave a comment below and you’re entered to win!

A winner will be chosen on or soon after June 30, 2014.

Book Releases for August 18, 2013

 

Melange Books Releases ~ August 18, 2013

Melange Books Releases ~ August 18, 2013

Now presenting, the book releases from Melange Books and Fire and Ice Young Adult Books for August 18, 2013!

 

Melange Releases

 

“Grane” by S. C. Dane
The Luna Chroincle #2

“Grane” by S. C. Dane (Luna Chronicle #2

In the northern Maine woods, a wolf pack unlike any other reigns the landscape. With the ability to shift into human shape, they are the supreme rulers of their territory. Until the real humans threaten their secret realm…

A seasoned fighter who has murdered too many of his fellow wolf-men to bear counting, Grane is long past salvaging, no matter the reason behind his lethal campaign. But then he meets Suma, the white wolf who wields the power to heal his emotional scars.

But Suma is not a wolf-woman who can easily forgive Grane his horrific deeds. She mistrusts him, and seeks every opportunity to remind the wolf-man of the pain he’s caused her pack.

Yet it is through this fire that Grane’s redemption is forged, and as he heals, Suma witnesses the unfolding of a generous heart, and learns there just might be passion and loyalty to be found in forgiveness—if they can survive long enough to find out.

“Rescue Me” by Jody Vitek

“Rescue Me” by Jody Vitek

Can Catherine accept the consequences of a great-aunt’s dying wish without losing her heart or independence?

Taking in stray, injured or needy animals, veterinarian doctor Catherine Mornelli opens the Four Hooves and Paws Rescue program. But the land where the animals are kept is being sold. She approaches her Great-Aunt Elaine about possibly using her barn. However, visiting her aunt and checking out the barn also means seeing her ex-boyfriend.

Josef Garrison farms land that once belonged to his family for generations but went to his neighbor Elaine after his great-grandfather lost it in a poker game to Catherine’s great-grandfather. When Catherine returns, he sees a way to win back her heart and the land at the same time.

“Outlaw’s Son” by Sherry Derr-Wille (The Outlaw Series #2)

“Outlaw’s Son” by Sherry Derr-Wille
The Outlaw Series #2

Gary Tyler knew his future would end with a hangman’s noose. When he was spared such a fate he vowed to do his best for Eli Otto for being willing to take a chance on a man by the name of Tyler.

Clara Otto couldn’t understand why her grandfather would bring a non-believer into their home. She felt drawn to the handsome outlaw, but knew unless he believed in God nothing would ever come of it.

Although Gary didn’t want to believe, little by little he came to realize he was comfortable exchanging his gun for God. Especially when the prize could easily be Clara Otto.

“An Elegant Swan” by June Bradley

“An Elegant Swan” by June Bradley

An Elegant Swan is a love story set in the time when letter writing was one of the main sources of communication.

Ten years ago, Nancy Smith fell in love with her brother’s best friend Lt. Commander Sam Arlington, but their courtship is hindered by her Bipolar sister, Rita and a future senator who thinks Nancy would make the perfect senator’s wife. Sam goes out to sea before Nancy learns she is pregnant. With no word from him she gets on with her life.

Young Adult Releases

 

“No Horse Wanted” by Shannon Kennedy (Shamrock Stable #1)

“No Horse Wanted” by Shannon Kennedy
Shamrock Stable #1

The only thing that Robin Gibson wants for her sixteenth birthday is a 1968 Presidential Blue Mustang. Following their family tradition, what her parents promise her is a horse of her own, one with four legs, not four wheels. Mom competes in endurance riding, Dad does calf roping, her older brother games and her older sister loves three-day eventing, but Robin proudly says that she doesn’t do horses. She’ll teach her controlling family a lesson by bringing home the worst horse she can find, a starved, abused two-year-old named Twaziem.Robin figures she’ll nurse him back to health, sell him and have the money for her car. Rescuing and rehabilitating the Morab gelding might be a bigger challenge than what she planned. He comes between her and her family. He upsets her friends when she looks after his needs first. Is he just an investment or is he part of her future? And if she lets him into her heart will she win or will she lose?

And….

congrats to Kathleen C. for winning the ebook copy of John Steiner’s “Tampered Tales!” Check your inbox for an email from us!