Featured Author Cat Connor and book Databyte

 

Comments in blocks [ ] are my own, and not ( ) citations.

 

I’m here talking with the lovely Cat Connor from Upper Hut, New Zealand. She’s the mother of seven children, though only the two youngest remain at home. She also has a retired Greyhound racing dog named Romeo [Romeo, where art thou? Ha, ha], who hangs out with her in her office, and a cat named Missy. She’s a coffee addict and lover of red wine and tequila [though I hope not at the same time!] and has been recently described as irresistible, infectious, and addictive.” She believes music is essential to life and always plays it when she works.

The Lovely Cat Connor

Her latest book, Databyte, is book 6 in The _byte series starring FBI agent Ellie Conway, and is published by Rebel ePublishers, USA, a small independent publisher she has been with since 2009. The inspiration for her stories come from a question, in this case: “Whose hand is it?” She’s one of those writers who has no preconceived notions of how her book will turn out until she gets to the end of it.

Databyte was just released in June of 2014, and can be found at all major book retailers in paperback and e-format. Cat writes all of her book in first person format, in other words, as if you, the reader, were the character. [In my particular case, Once Upon a Western Way is written in first person, but I found it was hard to stick to in many locations. Cat has better luck with it than I do.]  In Databyte, Ellie is wanted for a murder she didn’t commit and is on the run from both FBI and Metro.

 

Cat wishes her readers to be thoroughly entertained by her book, and to laugh and cry right along with her characters. She’d like the audience to experience life through Ellie’s eyes, and to feel her fear and joys. Book #7 of the series, Eraserbyte, is due out next year, and Cat has just finished book #8, Psychobyte, which will be on its way to her publisher early next year.

Cat has also written Snakebyte, a novella which fits between book 5 and 6 in this series (a must-have for serious fans), and three short story collections and a poetry book, and all of these are independently-published. Cat spends a lot of time on social media, but more because she enjoys the interaction than to market her work, though she admits, she does make sales through social media. She also hosts a writer’s workshop/group at her local city library.

Finding Cat is easy! Check out her website: http://www.catconnor.com Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cat-Connor/76140493745?ref=hl, her blog: http://catconnor.blogspot.co.nz, and on Twitter @catconnor.

 

**Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement of the books in question, as I’ve not read them and can’t vouch for their contents.**

Featured Author Paulette Harper and book Princess Nevaeh

Welcome to Happy Geek Media's Debut of Princess Nevaeh by Author Paulette Harper

ABOUT THE BOOK

Princess Nevaeh by Author Paulette Harper

Genre: Children's Books

Release date: September 4, 2014

Age Level: 4 - 7 | Grade Level: K - 3

34 pages

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Princess Nevaeh by Author Paulette Harper Six year old Nevaeh wants to be something she already is. She will soon learn that her wish to be a princess takes a little bit more than just asking. Some of the Lessons taught in Princess Nevaeh:  1.Self- Worth 2. Behavioral skills: fighting, bullying, and name calling. 3.Encouraging the kid to do better) 4.Teaches manners and how to conduct themselves. 5. It encourages listening skills pertaining to adults, parents and teachers. In regards to listening and obeying adults: this is a great opportunity for parents to share with the child the difference between those you can trust and those you can't. These types of story books are perfect for kids to learn, improve and grow.

 PURCHASE LINKS

Purchase on Amazon here/Check out Reviews on Goodreads

FOLLOW THE TOUR SCHEDULE HERE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author Paulette Harper Beginning her career in 2008, Paulette is an award-winning, bestselling author and the founder of WNL Coaching and Marketing Services. Along with being an ordained Elder, she is the author of several books and founder of Write Now Literary Virtual Book Tours, a service to help promote authors of the Christian genre and authors of clean books. As an inspirational and motivational speaker, Elder Paulette’s desire is to empower, influence and cultivate women to move forward while dealing with issues that hinder women from becoming all they are created to be. Her topics are biblically sound and pertinent to the needs of today’s women. Paulette is a wife, mother, grandmother and Bible teacher. Paulette has appeared on numerous radio and Television shows. Combining enthusiasm with an energetic speaking style, audiences describe Paulette’s presentation as inspiring, enriching and encouraging. She is committed to speaking a message that is always uplifting and edifying. As a writing coach, she is the visionary behind her own writing ministry called “Write Now,” a literary program that specializes in coaching aspiring writers in the areas of creativity, development, and publication of Christian books. She provides her listeners with tools, resources, and opportunities to help them succeed in the writing business. Her books have ranked consecutively on the Black Christian Publishers Bestsellers List for Independent Publishers (non-fiction category). Connect with her below...

Website /Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

Entry-Form

Good luck and happy reading and winning!

                          Tour hosted by... Happy Geek Media

 

Hello friends! Today I’m very pleased to be talking with author Paulette Harper about her children’s book, Princess Nevaeh. I’m not much of a review writer, a skill that I’m constantly trying to improve, but I thought when I was offered a chance at this blog tour, I’d give it a try!

 

Paulette Harper is the founder of WNL Coaching and Marketing Services, and she’s also an ordained Elder. She has authored several books and started the Write Now Literary Virtual Book Tours, a service to help promote Christian genre books and authors. She’s also an inspirational and motivational speaker. She’s also a mother and grandmother [Congrats on the family! Kids can so enrich our lives!] In her role as a speaker, she is committed to speaking her messages in an uplifting and edifying way. As an author, her books have ranked consecutively on the Black Christian Publishers Best-sellers list for Independent Publishers.

 

I downloaded Princess Nevaeh for my Kindle, though I’m still a bit old-fashioned when it comes to books (I like the good old paper pages that I can feel in my hands, and the smell of a new book, or even an old one.), but the Kindle version was a-okay in my book. The colors and illustrations were bright and eye-catching, and the pages on the Kindle automatically defaulted on my phone to the landscape (sideways) view so that I could see the full page at one time, which was really nice. Not sure how the formatting was done to insure that, but I’d love to learn how, in the event I ever publishing another book with illustrations.

 

Nevaeh is a young girl who asks her grandmother what it takes to be a princess. Her Mimi explains that she must be nice to people, never bite or kick or hit, never bully people or call them bad names, and to always do what grownups tell her to do. Nevaeh is a little sad, because she doesn’t always clean her room when her parents tell her to or stay quiet in class when the teacher says it’s time to pay attention. Nevaeh is afraid this will prevent her from becoming the princess that she so longs to be.

 

However, Mimi goes on to explain that she can see how Nevaeh works hard to improve her behavior, and that Nevaeh has always been her princess, from the moment she was born. In the end, Mimi encourages Nevaeh to keep behaving well, that she is beautiful inside and out, and that she can accomplish anything she can dream of.

 

This book is well-written and I can see it being quite engaging for young children, in my opinion maybe 4-8 year olds. It explains very succinctly that it’s not nice to hit, or call names, or bully others (and as you know, bullying in school has become a very big problem as of late), and it lays down the rules in a way intended to be easy for young children to relate to, as well as retain. Anyone who has young children around, parents, grandparents, caretakers, or foster parents, should consider this book for the library of their children. It has the feel of a book they’ll want to read (or have read to them!) over and over again. It’s encouraging as well as educational! Nicely-done! 5*****!!

Featured Author Elora Carmen Shore and book A Road to Count my Days By

 Author Elora Shore lives in the southern USA and is looking for a “day” job as she’s just moved. She lives with a vain cockatiel named Snowflake (though she often calls him “His Lord Grumpship”!) and a Beagle named Buddy. She is a self-published author, whose family introduced her to the possibilities of e-book publishing.

A Road to Count My Days By is a book of poetry. She was looking over them one day and discovered that she had plenty to publish into a book. Rather than have them collect virtual dust in a document folder, she decided to share them instead. This book was released in October of 2013 on Amazon for Kindle readers. She is currently trying to get it available in print as well.

The first piece in the book, Falling Into My Dreams, “opens with an invitations for the other to lose herself in her own dreams, where she will find comfort, and perhaps save a bit of herself.” She hopes to inspire comfort, and hope, and let her readers know that they’re not alone. One Kindle reviewer comments, “A delightful read. I liked this book from the moment I looked at the cover. The author’s vivid observations lead to questions of existence and introspection… …the feeling you get is along the lines of ‘Ah, I am not alone.’” (Amazon review) A Road to Count My Days By currently holds an Amazon 5* rating.

Elora continues to write poems and may eventually release another compilation of her work. She’s also writing her first novel, a romantic comedy about a young woman who wants to escape the rut of trying to survive in the world of part-time jobs and increasingly high living expenses. She’s also working on book one of a trilogy, The Nelessar Legends.

Another book by Elora is called Eloise (a short story): “Day in, day out, the past follows one girl on every side. But not at night. Eloise is the role that defines the longings of her heart. But when Eloise is taken away…the glass structure of her sanity is fractured…” (Taken from Amazon description). This book is rated 5*.

 

Elora says marketing is difficult for her, as she realizes that “poetry is a small, tough market.” But she welcomes teaming up with others and has learned that, even if a relationship with another author, for example, doesn’t net any extra sales, the networking alone is worth it to her. She can be found on GoodReads, in their “I poetry” group, and many others. You can find her on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Elora-Carmen-Shore/e/B00n6H2AOJM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1 , her blog: http://elorashorependragon.blogspot.com , on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/elora.shore , on Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/107132215954495827545/about and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/elora-shore/82/237/456 .

 

**Disclaimer: This interview is not an endorsement of the book in question, as I haven’t read it and can’t vouch for its contents.**

The Other Side of Me

I don't usually post twice in one day. In fact, I don't think I've ever done so. And I certainly don't want to take the spotlight off my featured authors (I had one blog tour post today and will have one of my regular featured author posts tomorrow.)! But, I've been sitting here watching the movie Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford, and I just felt absolutely compelled to write a post.

I literally broke out in tears when I watched the scene where Henry and Bradley (the physical therapist) were sitting in Henry's kitchen drinking a beer. Bradley told the story of how he hurt his knees and told Henry to ask him if he minded having bad knees. The moral of the story, of course, is that Bradley would have never become a physical therapist if he hadn't hurt his knees playing football, and so never would have met Henry, and so on and so forth. And then Bradley tells Henry not to listen to anyone else tell him who he is, that he'll figure that out himself, eventually.

Before June 27, 2014, I was Henry. I was a hugely busy, type A personality, always challenging myself physically and mentally to be the best that I could be. Likely a result of my poor self-esteem; I was always trying to be better (not even really knowing who I wanted to be better than, or FOR who). And like Henry, disaster struck rapidly in my life.

For me, the tragedy was cancer. At 37 years old, a diagnosis of cancer sounded like a death sentence to me and my family. The fact that I had to be hospitalized alone so far away from home for my treatments didn't help any. And over eight months of intensive treatments, some of which almost took my life, I've returned home to begin my journey to figure myself out.

I'm no longer strong enough to return to my before cancer job (I was a manager at an auto parts store, requiring lifting, moving, and sometimes installing heavy parts, climbing up and down ladders, and so on), and I may never return there. I have good days but I have bad days too. The post-chemotherapy fungal infection that took nearly a year to treat has left scar tissue deep in my organs, and this scarring causes intense pain, sometimes preventing me from taking a full breath. I'm still underweight, still get chilled easily, and don't sleep well. I have a constant ringing in my ears, the thundering sound of a thousand cicadas. This is part of who I am now.

But ask me if I mind having suffered through cancer. Because you know what? I'm learning that I really don't! After all, had I not been sick with cancer, my dear friend Denise Mercer Blackwell might not have friended me on Facebook. If that hadn't happened, I may have never published in print. (I'd already published Once Upon a Western Way through Smashwords in April of 2012, and it was only available digitally.) Had I not been encouraged to publish by Denise, I likely wouldn't have written my other two books (My Butterfly Cancer certainly wouldn't exist if I'd not had cancer), or even started this blog, which has come a long way in a short time. I wouldn't have had the time if I still had my "regular" job to go to.

So, here I am, with you, my readers. I'm still learning who I am now, and at times I have a hard time letting go of the woman I used to be. Sure, I'm not a best-seller (though no one can know the future), and I don't expect to be a best-seller. But stories are written to be told or read, and as long as I know I have readers out there, I'll keep doing what I'm doing. I love writing! I love reading, too! Eventually, I'll learn to love the woman I am now!