Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Author! Author! Blog Bounce

Happy March!! One of my favorite months...it starts getting warmer and flowers start to bloom. There's nothing better than a crisp spring day with a few fluffy clouds in the sky and it is just warm enough to open the windows and grab a book to read.

If you're looking for something new to read and aren't sure, try one of Omnific's new free singles! You can choose from twelve different Omnific authors (all twelve if you want even!) and find something new to read. Check out our Sexy Singles and Sweet Singles at Omnific Publishing and enjoy our special gift to all of our readers.

On to the HOP!!



Here's how this works:


If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.




If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.




So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Behind The Book Signing

This past weekend, Omnific author Linda Cunningham had a book signing event at a local bookstore for her book, Small Town Girl. Omnific Marketing Associate, Traci Olsen was there to support Linda and today she offers up her view of the event.



Here's the thing about book events: you just never know how it will go. Bill Reed, one of the owners of Misty Valley Books, was telling me that they had Gregory Maguire come read and only 10 people showed up! They later realized it was the World Series, but still. Ten people showed up to hear the guy who wrote Wicked? Sheesh.

So when Linda secured this event near her hometown, I was excited but nervous; I tried to manage expectations.

I needn't have worried. Misty Valley Books was a perfect venue for a book about a small town in Vermont, and the sweet little bookstore was full to capacity. I counted at least thirty people, and more kept coming. We pushed together, Bill got us all more chairs, and people were standing in the back.  When everyone was finally settled, Linda started reading. My favorite part was all the women giggling and fanning themselves as Linda described her leading man, Caleb Cochran:


  "Automatically, she assessed him. He wasn’t that much older than herself, probably between thirty-five and forty. About six feet tall, he was dressed in scuffed work boots and jeans, belted low around trim hips. Lauren couldn’t help noticing the jeans were tight enough to betray the muscular thighs underneath. A snug fitting black T-shirt with the obligatory company logo printed on it sheathed well developed biceps, strong shoulders and a broad, hard muscled chest. His dark brown hair was cut short, but not so short Lauren did not notice it would be thick and quite wavy if allowed to grow out. And only his obviously overt masculinity kept his full lips from seeming almost too soft."

Quite a few ladies wanted to know if Caleb was based on a local person, and if so, what is his number?! Linda said no, which is too bad. I think a real Caleb would have found his business mysteriously booming after a reading like that!

After the reading, there was a great question and answer session, and then the line formed to get books signed. After working for so long on the book with Linda, it was so fun to sit there watching so many people with a real copy in their hands! I was proud to be there as an Omnific representative.

There was a lot of praise for our great editorial staff, our quality printing, and Linda's great cover.  This cover is a single day lily, because day lilies feature in a significant scene in Small Town Girl. She is planning a series, based on people from the small town she writes about, and each book will have the same "look", just a simple cover, one flower that is significant to the story. I asked Linda what the next flower would be, and she said a lilac, as the story takes place in springtime.

I am excited to see what Linda does next, and if you are ever in Vermont, stop by Misty Valley Books. It's a great little store, and Linda left a few signed copies behind!

Author! Author! Blog Bounce

Thursday!! We love Thursday at Omnific because it means Blog Bounce time!

Don't forget that now Omnific has some free short stories for download. You can choose from our "Sweet Singles" or our "Sexy Singles" - or just get them all! Some of you favorite Omnific authors have stories available, or it's a great way to experience one of our authors before you decide that you just HAVE to read all of their other books!



Here's how this works:


If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.




If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.




So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Author! Author! Blog Bounce

It's THURSDAY!

Time for the Author! Author! Blog Bounce!

BUT - before we do that, I have another exciting announcement! So, Tuesday, February 14th was our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY--that was the day that we released our Valentine Anthology. In celebration of that day, we were giving away free Omnific ebooks with the purchase of our new release, Sarah Glover's Grave Refrain on February 14th. It was February 16, 2010, however that we released our very first novels for sale. AND, of course we want to reward all of our readers once again to celebrate this anniversary: FREE READS!

Omnific Publishing has released a series of short stories written by several of our authors that you can download in ebook form. You can choose from one of our Sweet Single titles or if you want to be really daring, try one of our Sexy Singles...


New stories will be added through out the day, so make sure to keep checking back for great short stories from Omnific authors, Sarah Glover, Jennifer Lane, Carol Oates, Nicki Elson, Susan Kaye Quinn, Robin DeJarnett, Hannah Downing, Lisa Sanchez, Jessica McQuinn, BJ Thornton, Kasi Alexander, and Deb Anastasia. Thank you all for your support and we hope that you enjoy our gifts to you!

Now...let's BOUNCE!




Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.



If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.



So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!

Monday, February 13, 2012

New Release - Grave Refrain: A Love/Ghost Story

It’s another Omnific release day!! And it’s Valentine’s Day!! AND it’s our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY (check out our anniversary special at the end of Sarah’s interview)!!!

Tomorrow, we will add Sarah M. Glover’s Grave Refrain: A Love/Ghost Story to our catalog and are so excited!

Sarah was kind enough to take a few minutes and answer some of our questions for us and share a little inside information about her process and her characters.

Andrew Hayes, a brilliant but troubled musician, has been haunted since childhood by memories of his muse. One night from a San Francisco stage, he spots her, but before he can reach her, she vanishes from sight. Desperate to find the woman, he accepts a curious offer to stay in the city, moving into a dilapidated Victorian under going renovations that stir up far more than dust.
Andrew’s life soon becomes even more chaotic with the arrival of martini-swilling ghosts and a troupe of flesh-and-blood stoner spiritualists bringing bad tidings from the Great Beyond. The dark side of his obsession creates visions both thrilling and menacing, and as he struggles to solve the mysteries threatening him, Andrew discovers his life is repeating a refrain more deadly than he’d ever imagined.
Inspired by the sexy noirs and comedies of the past, Grave Refrain transports the reader to a place where the things that go bump in the night not only thrill you, but might just take your breath away for good.




OmnificWhat was your inspiration for writing Grave Refrain: A Love Ghost Story?

Sarah Glover: I wanted to turn the paradigm of boy meets girl on its head.  What happens if boy has loved a girl for his whole life but she has no idea who he is?  How does he even begin to romance her without scaring her to death? I also wanted to play with the idea of what it means to be haunted:  haunted by loves, past and present, haunted by lost opportunities, haunted by ghosts both charming and deadly.


Omnific: Which of your Grave Refrain: A Love Ghost Story characters is your favorite to write and why?

Sarah Glover: Andrew.  He is on the edge during so much of the story, trying to come to terms with his madness and his desires, and at the same time, trying to be a normal twenty-something.  Well, as normal as he could ever be.  There is a constant state of wanting in him:  for Emily, for fame, for freedom from of what haunts him.  He is a live wire who tends not to do anything by half.  He is also his own worst enemy.  He’s the classic Byronic hero coupled with an intellectual, word-playing rocker in desperate need of a cigarette.

OmnificAs a busy mom and wife, how do you find time to write?  And when you DO find time, what’s your writing process like?

Sarah Glover: I worked for years in NYC as a management consultant and then went on to get my CPA, so I’m fairly self-disciplined.   That said, it would be great to have a door to my office as it is a small room off the kitchen with a view of the backyard swing, which is always a constant temptation.  During school days, I have a nice block of hours in the late morning to work and a decent cup of coffee can do wonders.  If a plot is complicated, I start with an outline.  I spend a long, long time with character studies to get into the skin of my people;  I interview them often, and once they reply consistently, I know I’m close.  I word smith things to death.  I’m an editor’s and typesetter’s nightmare.

Omnific: Since Omnific is all about the romance...what is your favorite romance scene of all time?

Sarah Glover: My favorite romance scene of all time takes place in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Notorious. 

A bit of background first.  A CIA agent, Devlin (Cary Grant), is assigned to watch over Alicia Huberman (Ingrid Bergman), a socialite whose father has been convicted of spying for the Nazis. In order to prove her allegiance to the United States, she becomes an agent herself and travels with Devlin to Rio de Janeiro in order to infiltrate a secret Nazi group.  Before they understand the dire nature of the job they’re taking on, they have one moment of happiness, although Bergman believes that Grant doesn’t really love her.  Grant, however, is falling hard. 

Now, in 1946 there was a rule that an onscreen kiss could last no longer than three seconds.  Grant and Bergman’s kiss lasts over two minutes and is incredibly erotic even by today’s standards.  A gamut of emotions---desire, frustration, hope, joy---pass between them in such a real and heady way.  Hitchcock is clever though; he has them break apart every 3 seconds and nuzzle or whisper before they resume the kiss, thereby staying within the rules.  The kiss, however, breaks all the rules.

 Omnific: Now, would you want recast this scene?

Sarah Glover: It is a scene I would never recast.  It could only be played by Grant and Bergman.  They’re perfect.

Omnific: Do you have anything else up your creative sleeve? Can we hope for or expect anything new from Sarah M. Glover in the future?

Sarah Glover: My muse recently bought me a martini and placed it next to my morning coffee.  I’ve been obsessed with another paranormal mystery about a San Francisco detective who is assassinated by members of a sinister family he helped bring to justice.  After his murder, he ends up in an ominous world which resembles a bizarre and antiquated version of San Francisco and is inhabited by – you guessed it--- ghosts.  Ghosts, of which he is one.  But he is quick to learn, he isn’t dead enough. 

In addition to answering all of our questions, Sarah was able to share with us one of her favorite excerpts from Grave Refrain. Enjoy!

With her Earl Grey in hand she found a bench near the park, opened her book, and started to read. Across the lawn, the Friday night gathering of T-shirt and shorts-clad pothead bongo drummers had started up, oblivious to the cooling fog making its way from the ocean. Their tie-dyed, peasant-skirted groupies twirled barefoot to the music, arms raised in some sort of farewell rite to the disappearing sun. Emily tried to ignore them, but the sound of nearby chuckling made her glance up from her book.

On a low stone wall several yards away sat a homeless man who was only slightly less shabby than the hippies. He stared at them, laughed, and strummed his guitar idly, his case open for donations at his feet. Clearly he wasn’t bothered by too much competition for one corner, as this end of the park was notorious for its stoner population who liked to camp under the trees, defecate in the bushes, and frequent the McDonald's across the street. Emily turned the page and took a sip of her tea, hoping to God that she and her roommates would not be reduced to this if worst came to worst. The guitarist began to play in a more complicated way than befitted the average drug addict. Emily had read the same paragraph three times before she gave up and peered over the top of her book at him.

He wore a thick fisherman’s sweater, a shabby red scarf, and equally disreputable jeans, although his shoes looked new, but those could have been part of some shelter’s outreach program for all she knew. Though the black cabbie cap pulled down over his forehead was intriguing, it also shielded his eyes. Why she wanted to see them, she couldn’t say.

The damp wind made her huddle into her coat and wrap her fingers around her tea. As always, she felt the cold clear through to her bones and shivered. She had been raised in New York City, a place with four vocal seasons, not this interminable wet fall. The chill moved through the trees, and the bongos became a distant heartbeat. Even the guitar was muffled, for he had turned to the side, his leg hitched on the low wall. He began to sing. 
There was a guitar and there were hands---beautiful hands strummed those chords. Emily understood this; she could see this. She could smell pot and the grease from McDonald's and the dregs of her tea. Other people had gathered to listen now; she did not know what they could see or smell or feel, but a hush fell over them, and they stopped and waited. It reminded Emily of the feeling she had when she was very young, sitting in the dark in her living room, waiting for her parents to turn on the Christmas tree lights for the first time…the very air around her changed. Everything changed. She was bewitched.

She watched him until it grew late. She did not move a muscle, only held her tea between her frozen fingers. He finally packed up and left, oblivious to her still huddled on the bench. When she was sure he had gone, when she was sure everyone had gone, when she was sure she was alone, she whispered to the night, to the empty space on the wall.

“It’s you.”


Thank you so much for your time Sarah, and I am really looking forward to getting this one in my hands!

If you are like me and really intrigued, I have a GREAT deal for you. Tomorrow (February 14, 2012) if you buy a copy of Grave Refrain from AMAZON, and send the AMAZON proof of purchase for that date to Omnific at promotions@omnificpublishing.com we will send you a code to go to Omnific Publishing and receive an ebook download of your choice from our collection! So not only do you get Sarah’s book, but you will get a free download of any Omnific book!!

And if you want to find Sarah, look for here in these places:


                         

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Author! Author! Blog Bounce and GIVEAWAY!!


It's Thursday once again (funny how that happens...) which means that it's time for the Blog Bounce!

Before we get to that though, we have a GREAT announcement - Tuesday February 14 will be our TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY here at Omnific! Yes, two years ago Omnific released our Valentine's Anthology. It seems like it was just yesterday doesn't it??

In celebration of this exciting day, we want to reward YOU!

This Valentine's Day will be release day for our next novel, Sarah Glover's Grave Refrain. (Come back Monday to get the scoop on this release and Sarah Glover!) Our gift to you is free e-books...and here's how you get them:

Buy Grave Refrain on AMAZON on February 14, 2011, then send your AMAZON email receipt to promotions@omnificpublishing.com to receive a code for a FREE ebook from Omnific!

That's all there is to do. Not only do you get a great new book to read, but you get a free e-book of your choice from Omnific's entire collection.



Now that we have you all excited...let's BOUNCE!!!


Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.



If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.



So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!



Thursday, February 2, 2012

Author! Author! Blog Bounce


It's February!! That means romance and love are on the horizon! And it's Thursday and that means that the blog bounce is here!

Make sure to follow us here and on Twitter and Facebook to get all the news on new releases, giveaways, contests, and all things Omnific!

Okay...let's BOUNCE!!

Here's how this works:

If you are an author, click on "Get the Code Here" to get the link. Copy and paste that link in your blog post. Then hop right on and add your blog url to get added to the list.



If you are a reader, you get to bounce from blog to blog and meet some great new authors and maybe find some new books to read.



So everyone hop on and go for a bounce!