WELCOME TO THE HALLOWEEN BOOK BLAST!

The post No Tricks, Just Treats at the Halloween Book Blast & Giveaway appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

Despite me admitting that my texting skills lack something to desire, and that it still seems like I’m carrying around my copied text in my finer until I figure out where to paste it, (Hey- it’s magic!) I do have a few favorite apps that I usually peek at most days.

The Mostly Meaningless Apps

Okay, they’re not meaningless, these apps are more for fun. I take a quick peek at these to start my day.

• The Weather Channel– Because if you want to venture to the woods for a bike ride, or are just figuring out what to wear ya gotta know if it’s going to rain or snow— even though it’s not always accurate.
• Daily Horoscope– Then you should figure out just how your day will go. I don’t set my day by the horoscope, or necessarily believe it- unless it’s saying something awesome, then it must be true! If it’s not great, then I’m sure it’s fake.
• Facebook– Yep, despite all the negativity that often surrounds Facebook, I still love to hang out there. Heck, without it how would us introverts ever know what’s going on in your life?

Odds and Ends Apps

• Fitbit – Getting my steps in!
• Google Calendar – Keeping me on track (I still must have my paper calendar too)
• Slack – Helping me work with a team as a Freelance superstar
• Clinical Mastery– I help write educational pieces that I wish I had when I was going to nursing school
• Groovebook– The only way those pictures are ever  printed
• Stitch Fix – Learning if I have a style or not
• ITrackBites– Great way to stay with the old (smartbites) rather than have to go with the new weight watchers
• OneNote–  Awesome for tracking all my writing details that I’m sure to forget

It’s a Blog Hop

I realize there are tons and tons of apps, and many are awesome, but I haven’t taken much time to explore them.

But I bet I know who has, many of the other authors on the hop. See what apps they recommend. Perhaps I’ll add a few new favorites to mine.

Have you Started the Tour?

Not a Chance in on tour with Goddess Fish Promotions. Check out some of the stops and enter for your chance to win a $15 gift card.

The countdown is on with less than a week until Not a Chance is released! Did you preorder your copy yet? Click right here to order yours.

Plus, don’t forget to stop at the Not a Chance release party blog to catch up with all the great contests going on this month

What’s Your Favorite App?

The post These Are a Few of My Favorite Apps appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

Stop by now, and return all month long, as I add more giveaway information to this party page. It’s full of chances for you to win. No tricks, all treats here my pretties! 

NOT A CHANCE- Book #2 of The Enchantlings

Hope just wants to be normal—too bad that will never happen.

The last thing Hope Hallows wants is to become the latest headline. Living in a town that likes secrets, she prefers to keep hers hidden. Avoiding a nosy reporter’s questions about her ability to infuse euphoria or despair with a single touch, and those who crave this bliss, is nothing new. But having her brother’s annoying girlfriend, Berta, go missing is—especially when it makes Hope suspect number one.

As a triplet, her resemblance to her beloved dead sister causes her family to grieve even more, and her escalating supernatural skills makes Griffith, her half-human-half-Oppressor boyfriend, wary. He wants to put his unsavory past behind him—this could include Hope—since her abilities remind him of the Underworld.

In her desperate search to find Berta, she stumbles across a tunnel. Phantom voices within whisper that evil has been waiting for a new leader—and isn’t she lucky, they’ve chosen Hope.

Excerpt for my new release, NOT A CHANCE

Come Celebrate my New Release NOT A CHANCE All Month Long

Because you do have a chance to win a ton of great prizes! Check out all of the places I’ll be visiting and celebrating my new release. Join in the fun and enter to win a prize! Be sure to check the dates, since the contest times vary.

• Join in this Spooktacular Event featuring over $200 worth of prizes now through October 31st
• Constance Bretes Octoberfest Romance Ebook Giveaway starts October 4 and ends October 31– Click Right Here
• Stop by Kate Hill’s Halloween Page all month long to make a TBR of author’s favorite Halloween movies. I’m featured on October 21st.

CHOCOLATE & BOOK
BOYFRIENDS HALLOWEEN

All-Genres Romance Giveaway October 11-31

Enter For Your Chance to Win

A Kindle Fire or an Echo Dot and discover some fabulous new authors. Don’t wait, you have until October 26th to enter right here.

Stop by this multi-author giveaway as the Here Be Magic authors reveal their favorite monster. Giveaway running from October 19th until November 1st.

Save the Date to Celebrate

• Fly on over to The Paranormal Romance Guild from October 21st- October 27th where I’m hosting an e book giveaway!
• Stop over for Hocus Pocus & All That at one of my favorite monthly haunts, Still Moments Magazine where I’m sharing a creepy story on 10-31-18- Happy Halloween!
• Goddess fish Promotions will be have a blurb tour with NOT A CHANCE from October 22nd- November 2nd with a chance to win a $15 gift card and to visit some fabulous blogs.
• I’ll be at Linda Carroll-Bradd’s on October 30th

 Hey Peeps – Not A Chance is Going on Tour

This isn’t the kind of tour where you ride around in a bus—because my back would never survive that tour! This is a cyber tour where you get to visit tons of blogs hosting my new release! Plus there is a chance to win if you visit, so don’t miss it! Here’s the tour schedule for Goddess Fish Promotions!

October 22: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love

October 22: Mythical Books

October 23: Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews

October 23: BooksChatter

October 23: Wendi Zwaduk – Romance to Make Your Heart Race

October 24: Edgar’s Books

October 24: Romance Novel Giveaways

October 24: Vala Kaye’s “Other World”

October 25: All the Ups and Downs

October 25: Jazzy Book Reviews

October 25: Stormy Nights Reviewing and Bloggin’

October 26: Wake Up Your Wild Side

October 26: Hearts and Scribbles

October 26: Notes From a Romantic’s Heart

October 29: The Pen and Muse Book Reviews

October 29: The Tired Buyer

October 30: Kimmi Love

October 30: Readeropolis

October 31: Andi’s Book Reviews

October 31: Romance that’s ‘Out Of This World’

October 31: T’s Stuff

November 1: Fabulous and Brunette

November 1: Kit ‘N Kabookle

November 1: Travel the Ages

November 2: Christine Young

November 2: Danita Minnis

November 2: Mixed Book Bag

While You Wait for the New Release Don’t Miss This Sale

Wanna Help an Author Out?

The most important way you can support Not A Chance launch is to write a review as soon as possible. (P.S. a review doesn’t have to be detailed, even a few words will do.)

• Follow me on Facebook or Twitter and retweet and share posts about the book release- Here’s one on Facebook to share
• Once you have Not A Chance in your hot little hands, post a photo of the book/and or kindle on my Facebook page. It would look especially cool with your Halloween or Fall decor, but any photo will do.
• Share this tweet:

Fabulous #giveaways and lots of chances to win treats at this #Halloween celebration with Not A Chance- a #newrelease in paranormal books
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In general, just recommend the book to all your peeps who love a little paranormal. Thank you so much for celebrating with me!

Worried about missing a contest? Be sure to follow my Facebook Author Page, and sign up for my newsletter to stay informed of all the festivities! Plus if you sign up for my newsletter you get my free story – Witch You Were Here. (Previously published in the Moon, Mist & Magic anthology)

What’s Your Favorite Paranormal Creature?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Lots of Chances to Win- Celebrate My Upcoming New Release- Not a Chance appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

Since I write everywhere and anywhere, my selection or style of clothes aren’t always considered when I’m jotting down some words. Although I do have designated writing days and some clothes that I consider my writer fashion.

Writer Fashion- Not Your Business Casual

Writing is a solitary activity, for the most part. Despite trying to hide away from the world there’s still the dog that might need to go outside, an occasionally delivery person, neighbors who might glimpse me through the window and then inevitably, I have to go somewhere for something.

Therefore, I must put a little consideration into what I wear. Otherwise it would just be whatever I roll out of bed in.

Because #writing isn’t about what’s going on the outside, it’s more about what’s going on inside. #amwriting #MFRW
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So as much as I’d like to join the whole ‘no pants’ perception that many who work at home seem to claim, I just don’t think that would fly if you’re terrifying unsuspecting neighbors or others that an author may inadvertently encounter during their writing day.

Less Is More

To focus on writing and a ger-er-done attitude for getting words on the page, the most important thing to me is comfort. That means arranging my desk, chair and laptop so that it’s most comfortable and accommodating, and dressing accordingly.

My writer fashion includes loose pants, comfortable tops and a sweatshirt nearby that I put on and off as my body temperature messes with my mind. The minimal fashion sense I might have is thrown out the window.

It also means no jewelry or anything that is jangling on the keyboard, or digging into my wrists while I’m writing. Hair pulled back but not too tight that it’s straining my brain as I try to think about the next line.

In other words, I may look a bit like a homeless person, except that I’m in the house.

Check Out the Other Author Fashionistas!

It’s a blog hop, so you can find out the secret style of the other authors.

But before you go, I didn’t forget that I promised to keep sharing some of the fun giveaways I’ll be participating in this month in preparation for the release of NOT A CHANCE (Book #2 of The Enchantlings).

I’m listing a few below.

What’s Your Favorite Get-er-Done Outfit?

The post Why Does It Matter What I Wear When I Write? appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

But before any of the purging of the words onto the page can occur, something else must happen to really get myself into the writing mode. If I don’t do this task, or I try to ignore it, my muse curls up and ignores me, or it keeps stalking away. It has nothing to do with writing, plotting, or character sketches like many other authors may utilize to start their writing process. Nope. But I must do this before I dive into writing.

Clutter = Creativity Crusher

I’ve increased my tolerance for some clutter, and for delaying the endless household tasks to prioritize my writing. Often, I can wait to start dinner, or close the door to the laundry room if I must, or wait another day to vacuum.

It’s heading towards Halloween—can’t cobwebs be part of the decorations?

Well, it works for some things, for a short time, except for these things. Paper and emails.

After years of patiently waiting, I finally gained a writing space. Sometimes when I’m working, I lay out the papers and lists around me to remind me what I need to do next. And it drives me crazy.

I have a need to visualize the tasks ahead of me, but at the same time they distract me and keep me from focusing on my characters and my story.

As I organize, toss, or file each piece of paper I can almost feel the calm washing over me. Once my office looks organized, I must tackle the other task, emails.

Out sight, out of mind? Nope

Emails.

Gotta love them, but I also hate them.

I can never seem to achieve, or then maintain, a zero inbox.

I leave things that I need to address or remember in there like an endless to do list.

Even if I close out of the emails, or close the screens, I know they’re there. Waiting to be tackled. #MFRW #amwriting
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So even though my muse is often at its best when I first get up, and I often take advantage of this during NaNoWri month, usually I must clear out some of the emails first or I’m distracted from writing.

Then to increase my focus, I update my To-do list to get some of the tasks out of my mind so I can listen to my characters better.

Writing Ritual Summarized

• Clear the clutter
• Conquer the email
• Write the To-Do list
• Purge all the words

Check Out the Other Author’s Writing Rituals

This is a blog hop, so now’s your chance to discover more about the secret writing rituals of authors. Even if mine wasn’t all that exciting of a ritual, who knows, perhaps one of them does something really bizarre.

P.S. My writing ritual has resulted in releasing some of those pesky characters and their stories from my head.

If you’ve been wondering what’s happened with Hope and the rest of my friends at the Last Call, book #2 of The Enchantlings is up for preorder (releases October 31, 2018).

Grab your copy of NOT A CHANCE for your Halloween treat!

Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter to join in on all the giveaways and fun gearing up for release day. Plus you get a free story when you sign up.

Do You Have a Ritual to Helps You Get Started With a Task?

The post How Clutter Crushes My Writing Inspiration appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

You’ll never see me on the show since I’d have immense stage fright, and because I don’t know if I have a talent that is entertaining enough for America. Although I do have a few things that others might find useless, but I find some good use for these odd talents.

Useless Talents

There are a few things that I seem to have become quite talented at over the years and others that seem that their only purpose is to be

detrimental. Therefore, I’ve spent some time focusing on getting rid of these talents to make room for ones that might be a little more useful.

• Making Mountains Out of Molehills – the ability to make assumptions about something that may turn out to be completely irrelevant
• Obsessive Worrying and Rumination – side effects of this talent include loss of sleep, increased anxiety and the inability to focus on things that are actually relevant
• Driving a One-Track Mind – the detrimental (and frustrating) effects of this talent have become apparent when one of my daughters decided she was going to drive this train (now I know what my Mom used to complain about—who knew, I always thought this was a compliment)
• Staring- used to win me many staring contests and I often think shows that I’m a good listener but it seems that staring without blinking while I’m writing stories in my mind tends to freak some people out.

Not So Useless Talents

These ‘talents’ don’t necessarily serve their true purpose, but they have proven to be not as useless as I once thought.

• Psychoanalyzing Others – With experience and education in psychology and mental health, long after I’ve left the floor I’m still analyzing why people act the way they do and what makes them tick. This can be beneficial to my own mental health because it enables me to develop empathy for others. (Plus, it’s great to apply to my characters!)
• Dancing – I never did become a Solid Gold dancer, not even close! But dancing brings me joy and always improves my mood. I make opportunities to dance every day in whatever I’m doing. Because it’s impossible to be in a bad mood if you’re dancing.
• Writing – You may wonder why I’ve listed this here when I’ve published books, and that I also work as a healthcare freelance writer. So obviously, this isn’t a useless talent. It’s because it’s taken way too many years of my life to embrace this talent. Much of this is because I’d often heard that you couldn’t make a career out of writing. Or that writing a book was almost an impossible dream.

I put this dream, and this #talent of mine, aside for years because I thought it was useless, when in reality it was my best talent. #MFRW #amwriting
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Discover More Talent

Go ahead and hop around the other blogs and discover what odd, or useless talents the other authors want to share. Perhaps one of them will be the next to display their unusual talent on television!

But before you go, check out what’s available for pre-order! This is no trick!

NOT A CHANCE is the second book in The Enchantlings series, after DESTINY CALLING. Either can stand alone, but I find it more fun to get to spend more time with the characters.

Pre-order NOT A CHANCE today for a treat on Halloween. Releasing October 31, 2018.

The post My Useless Versus Not So Useless Talents appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.

And I’ve not missed a week during the #MFRW Blog Challenge the entire year of 2017, nor so far in 2018. So…I couldn’t do that. I hate to repeat myself and didn’t want to bore you with something I’ve discussed before, so instead, I have a surprise for you.

I’m still going to talk a little about point of view, but I’m also going to share the cover reveal for my upcoming release NOT A CHANCE! Because sometimes, like my characters, I like to bend the rules a little.

My Stories Go Both Ways

My books are written in both first and third person POV. My third person POV stories tend to be more playful and sexier. They’re still full of magic, but there’s a little more humor in the story.

Those would be my books GRANDMA MUST DIE and FORGET ME NOT, THAT MAGIC MOMENT and if you got a copy of my story, WITCH YOU WERE HERE, from the Moon, Mist & Magic anthology. (Didn’t get your copy? If you sign up for my newsletter you can get a free copy of that story.)

Meet Me on the Darker Side

My other books are written in first person POV, which is usually the POV I prefer to read. Although when I write first person POV these stories tend to delve deep into the character’s emotional struggles as well as add a little more scare. They’re more and like a delicious, dark fantasy.

These would be my last release EVIL SPEAKS SOFTLY and the first book in The Enchantlings Series, DESTINY CALLING and—guess what?! The second book in this series (NOT A CHANCE) will be released as soon as I squeeze a date out of my publisher. Ok, they don’t like squeezing, but soon!

If you’ve been waiting to see what Hope has been up to since we left her at the Crossroads, it won’t be long. (What? Haven’t met Hope yet? Start the journey into the woods right here.)

But to make the waiting just a tad more agonizing (and exciting!) I have the cover for NOT A CHANCE. If you’re signed up for my newsletter, you already got a gander. Plus, I’m going to give you a little more and share the blurb.

I planned on doing a separate blog post next week to share the cover reveal.  Then I got impatient and couldn’t wait to share this gorgeous cover with everyone.

Plus, Scuff couldn’t take the waiting anymore. He’s even more impatient than me sometimes. So without further ado, here’s the cover just for you by the fabulous Debbie Taylor of DCA Graphics!

Cover Reveal for NOT A CHANCE

The last thing Hope Hallows wants is to become the latest headline. Living in a town that likes secrets, she prefers to keep hers hidden. Avoiding a nosy reporter’s questions about her ability to infuse euphoria or despair with a single touch, and those who crave this bliss, is nothing new. But having her brother’s annoying girlfriend, Berta, go missing is—especially when it makes Hope suspect number one.

As a triplet, her resemblance to her beloved dead sister causes her family to grieve even more, and her escalating supernatural skills makes Griffith, her half-human-half-Oppressor boyfriend, wary. He wants to put his unsavory past behind him—this could include Hope—since her abilities remind him of the Underworld.

In her desperate search to find Berta, she stumbles across a tunnel. Phantom voices within whisper that evil has been waiting for a new leader—and isn’t she lucky, they’ve chosen Hope.

Hope banished the Underworld Queen. Now is she destined to become her? #NotAChance #coverreveal #MFRW #POV
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It’s a Blog Hop

Hop around and check out the other authors who might be better at following directions than Hope and I and see what they think about point of view.

Plus, scroll down to check out the two Facebook parties listed below that I’m participating in. One is tonight! And the other is Tuesday. So, come and meet some new authors, maybe win a prize or two or just talk our favorite subject—books! All while in your PJ’s if you like.

Ready to Party?

Join me for some fabulous, author fun and your chance to win some prizes.

The post More than POV—I’ve Got a Surprise for You appeared first on Author Maureen L. Bonatch.