Stricken (The War Scrolls: Book One) and the #TwitterFiction Festival

Tuesday has come and gone, and I didn't post a teaser. That's because the Twitter Fiction Festival begins today, and I'm particpating! Woohoo!

I will be tweeting the first pages of my young adult novel, Stricken (The War Scrolls: Book One), as part of the Festival. Those of you who've followed me from other writing adventures are familiar with this concept already. The Twitter Fiction Festival is just like Smut Theater... only with a larger audience, and material more suitable for readers of all ages and interests.

Beginning today, writers from all around the world will tweet their stories under the #TwitterFiction hashtag.  Starting at midnight, I will begin tweeting the first page of Stricken. At midnight the next night, I'll tweet page two, and so on and so forth until the Festival ends on Sunday.

Sounds fun, right?

It is! I've done this with my wifey for about two years now (though not on anywhere near as grand a scale), and have had a blast with it. Some of you have asked for me to bring this form of story delivery to my YA writing, and what better way to do than that as part of the Twitter Fiction Festival?

So what the heck is Stricken all about and why am I tweeting this one?

Here's the summary:

Eons ago, the Fae risked everything to save themselves and carve out a future for their people amidst the devastation of the Demon Wars. Now the Fae race and their kin are being cut down by a deadly virus none saw coming.

 

When Hafling warrior Kaeden St. James sets out on a quest to find a cure, he and his blade-brothers discover seventeen-year-old Anya Mathis, a human with a past as dark as it is mysterious, cowering in an abandoned house in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee. The corrupted races are chasing her, and Kaeden is determined to find out why.

 

What neither he nor Anya suspect, however, is their attraction to one another, or the frightening truths lurking in the shadows. The painful childhood memories she fights to bury hold answers that threaten to tear the world apart.

 

Only Anya can save the Fae people from their fate, but when they discover her family's part in the creation of the lethal virus, old alliances shatter, and her life hangs in the balance. Kaeden must choose between the future of his people and the human girl he's pledged to protect, and his choice will change everything.

 

Demons are rising, and this time, they plan to win the war for dominion once and for all.

 

If you're familiar with the Dead Sea Scrolls, you've probably heard of the War Scroll, which supposedly tells of the final battle between good and evil. Stricken is a retelling of that prophecy, with a few twists and turns along the way.

 

It's a fast-paced story that's taken on several different forms since I first began writing it. Some of you have read a very different, heavily edited version of the story in charity compilations last year. With Fall nearly finished, I'll be returning to Stricken in the coming weeks. I'm excited to share the beginning of this adventure with you as I begin whipping the novel into query-ready shape.

 

You can read the first five pages of Stricken by following me @AKMorgen on Twitter, or by browsing the #TwitterFiction hashtag.

 

Happy reading, fellow Festival goers!

 

xoxo,

Ayden

 

Fade - The Ragnarok Prophesies: Book One - On Sale at: Amazon US | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

My New Niece, and a Thanksgiving Giveaway from @dawnaraver and @courtney825

As the title indicates, I have a new niece! Yay!

Miss Rosalie was born on the 20th, and come tomorrow (contrary to anything the Keeper of the Cheerios might say), when I give her an official nickname, I will be her most favorite aunt.

Isn't she a cutie?!

Miss Rosalie

I just had to share the happy with all of you. I'm so excited to finally meet her tomorrow at Thanksgiving Part Deux. I spent my Thanksgiving cooking for 28 families with kiddos in intensive care, so tomorrow, my family is getting together to celebrate pie the holiday and our newest addition. Yay! :)

Now onto the other fun stuff!

The fabulous Dawna Raver and Courtney Worth Young are having a HUGE giveaway! See all the awesomeness below?!



Awesomeness referenced above

Through Sunday, you could win over 20 titles (including these!) from Curiosity Quills Press! You know what's equally as awesome? You have 28 chances to win! You can find the Rafflecopter (to enter) and all the pertinents at Dawna's blog here. Make sure to thank her and Courtney for being so amazing while you're there!

And don't forget that all Curiosity Quills titles, like those above, are currently only $0.99 at all online retailers. The sale ends on Sunday, so make sure you stock your ereader before then! You can find all of the pertinents here.

I'm off to dream of pie!

Your exclamation happy author,

Ayden

Fade - The Ragnarok Prophesies: Book One - On Sale at: Amazon US | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

The @CuriosityQuills Black Friday Book Blowout is Here!

Do you like good .99 cent books? Me too!

 

Everyone loves a good book sale, especially when it means you don't have to elbow your way through crowds of people driving their shopping carts like they're in a bumper car death race. So stay home this Black Friday, and take advantage of the amazing Book Blowout from Curiosity Quills! All CQ titles (including Fade!) are on sale for .99 cents from the 21st through the 25th of November. Woohoo!

Check out the details from CQ below. :)

Curiosity Quills Press has a lot to be thankful for this year. As a way of showing their gratitude, the CQ team is proud to announce a very special Black Friday Book Blowout for this Thanksgiving Day shopping season.

All Curiosity Quills Press electronic titles will be marked down to just $0.99, with the special pricing available across major online retailers from November 21 through the subsequent Sunday of November 25.

Here's the rundown of the awesome titles available!

• Mike Robinson’s The Green-Eyed Monster combines a detective story untangling a mysterious murder, with creepy, horror-infused storylines demonstrating the victim’s and his killer’s entangled powers over reality.
• Nina Post’s hilarious Last Donut Shop of the Apocalypse, follows the post-apocalyptic bounty-hunter-turned-condo-manager, Kelly Driscoll, as she wheels and deals with angels, demons, and more to keep the last remaining condo building still standing and keep another apocalypse at bay.
• Randy Attwood’s Blow Up the Roses is a gritty mystery showing how the vilest of evils can infest a seemingly normal cul d’sac, and that every closet has (at least one) skeleton.
• Rod Kierkegaard, Jr.’s Wet Dream plunges readers into a futuristic detective pulp novel with twists to spare, while staying true as a tongue-in-cheek satire of the porn industry; that is, until things get really wild!
• K.H. Koehler, author of the popular Mrs.McGillycuddy steampunk vampire novels, strikes back with a brand new quirky urban fantasy series following a its clever, sarcastic hero as he matches wits with angels, colludes with devils, and battles false gods in The Devil You Know (Nick Englebrecht, No. 1).
• Michael Shean’s new cyberpunk dystopian novel, Bone Wires, follows a jaded detective on the hunt for the elusive and deadly “Spine Thief” in this companion piece to his debut Shadow of a Dead Star.
• Nathan L. Yocum’s cinematic narrative style makes a comeback in his second CQ novel, the steampunk mystery – Automatic Woman – in which a thief-catcher races to capture a rogue clockwork ballerina and discover its bloody secrets.
• Jessa Russo’s debut hit, Ever, serves up a very different take on eternal love, with some of the most memorable ghostly characters we’ve ever met in this urban fantasy romance.
• Krystal Wade completes her Darkness Falls urban fantasy trilogy with the last book of the series, Wilde’s Meadow, seeing the conclusion of Katriona Wilde’s struggle against the God of Darkness, and the high – often tragic – price of peace.
• A.K. Morgen’s Fade turns the werewolf romance genre on its ear with the intertwining of Norse mythology throughout this urban fantasy romance debut.
• Michael Panush, author of the outstanding Stein & Candle Detective Agency series, is back with another pulpy franchise – El Mosaico, Vol. 1: Scarred Souls. Follow Clayton Cane, a “patchwork man” put together through dark voodoo and evil science, as he outwits and outguns his way through the Weird West of Civil War times.
• Lisa Collicutt’s The Gathering Darkness takes a Celtic view of Witchcraft, past lives, and paranormal romance adventures in modern times and beyond.

The Black Friday Blowout will also include all previously published CQ titles as well.

Pretty cool, right? I think so! So roll up your sleeves, loves, break out the Amazon (or B&N) card, and get busy cramming your ereader full of Curiosity Quills goodness.

xoxo,

Ayden

Fade - The Ragnarok Prophesies: Book One - On Sale at: Amazon US | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

Your Perfect Paranormal Pitch Winner is...

Hello everyone,

I am very pleased to announce that we officially have a winner for the Perfect Paranormal/Fantasy Pitch Contest! The vote was incredibly close, but after tallying all responses the winner is....

Please join me in congratulating Kristin, who's won some fantast prizes, including the opportunity to have her entry, The Book of John, read by a Submission Editor for Curiosity Quills Press. You can read Kristin's winning entry here.

In addition to the grand prize above, Kristin has won:

*A live plot session with C.L. Parker, author of the Supernova Saga. Plot session will be one hour long, held on GChat during a time mutually agreed upon by author and contest winner. C.L. will help tighten up plot, answer research questions, and more. 

*A first page critique by Jamie Ayres, author of 18 Things.

*A query critique by A.K. Morgen, author of Fade. (Yes, me!)

*Collaboration with freelance cover and graphic artist Amber Wilson on a story or author banner or graphic for your website or blog.

Plus Kristin has raked in the loot with:

*E-copies of Krystal Wade's Wilde's Fire and Wilde's Army.

*E-copies of Vicki Keire's Gifts of the Blood, Darkness in the Blood, Worlds Burn Through and Shadowed Ground.

*An e-copy of T.M. Franklin's MORE (Release Date: 10/4/12).

*An e-copy of Jessa Russo's EVER (Release date: 10/1/12).

*An e-copy of A.K. Morgen's Fade.

Kristin has also won the banner above, designed by the amazing Brandi Whitmer, which can be displayed on her site, and will be displayed on the site here as well. Congratulations, Kristin, on all of your hard work and your success in the contest!

Please also help me congratulate Geoff Wright and Christine Kuehn Kelly, our other two finalists. Their submissions were fantastic, and I personally hope to read more from them both in the near future. :)

If you didn't win, don't fret. This doesn't mean you can't query your entry to Curiosity Quills later. :)

xoxo,

Ayden

Fade - The Ragnarok Prophesies: Book One - On Sale at: Amazon US | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

Guest Post: Why We Fight by @Fandom4Preemies #worldprematurityday

Hello everyone!

Today is World Prematurity Day and we would like to encourage each of you to take a moment today to remember the preemies we have lost, and honor those still fighting by making a donation to the March of Dimes.

The latest update on prematurity across the globe is not pleasant. When we began Fandom for Preemies two years ago, 13 million children were born prematurely each year. In the last two years, that number has risen by 2 million. That's right. This year alone, 15 million children will be born prematurely. 1.2 million (up from 1 million in 2010) of them will not survive. Equally as heartbreaking: pre-term birth is now the second leading cause of death in children under the age of five.

To put this into perspective:

• More children die simply because they were born early than die from cancer, car accidents, and heart failure.
• 1.2 million is more than the population of Wyoming, Washington D.C., Vermont, North Dakota, Alaska, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, and Rhode Island.
• Over 50% of these children (the entire population of Washington D.C. or the state of Wyoming) could have been saved had they had access to adequate healthcare.

Clearly, the fight is not over and we are needed now more than ever before.

$5 is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the costs preemies will incur this year. It's one cup of coffee from Starbucks. Less than the cost of one take-out meal at most fast food restaurants. Less than one gallon of gas in many areas. But that $5 can make a difference. It already is.
Despite the rise in pre-term births across the globe, there is good news.

Just a few short years ago, an infant born at 24 weeks gestation had only a 20% chance of survival. With access to adequate healthcare, that chance of survival is now at an all-time high: 50 to 60% of infants born at 24 weeks gestation survive. The survival rate of a micro-preemie receiving care at a high-level NICU is now 30 to 50% higher than those receiving care in a traditional NICU.

Just last week, Ayden was able to talk with the family of twins born at 22 weeks gestation. That means Mom was only 5 and a half months pregnant when she gave birth. A few short years ago, these little ones would not have survived. In fact, a few short years ago, most doctors would not have even attempted to save their lives. Last week, both twins were six days old and still fighting.

That is amazing, and with your help, the survival rate will continue to increase.

If you haven't already, please make your donation to the March of Dimes (or a similar organization fighting in your nation) today. Once done, forward your confirmation to fandomforpreemies@gmail.com so we can send you a copy of the compilation our authors are putting together to say thanks for your commitment to preemies everywhere.

And authors, if you haven't signed on to contribute a piece yet, there is still time. Please visit: http://fandomforpreemies.blogspot.com to learn how you can submit a story to the compilation. 100% of proceeds go directly to the March of Dimes.

You can make a difference. And we cannot wait to welcome you to the fight.

All the best,

Your Fandom for Preemies Team Captains

(Ayden, Andy, Jen, Leah, Lisa, and Marita)

http://fandomforpreemies.blogspot.com

 

 

The March of Dimes, a 501(c)3 non-profit, works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. The organization carries out this mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies' lives. March of Dimes researchers, volunteers, educators, outreach workers and advocates work together to give all babies a fighting chance against the threats to their health: prematurity, birth defects, low birthweight.



 

Fade - The Ragnarok Prophesies: Book One - On Sale at: Amazon US | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | Barnes and Noble | Kobo. 10% of proceeds will be donated to the March of Dimes, and 10% to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas through March of 2013.