Thursday, August 30, 2012

Blogger Spotlight: Jess Resides Here


Blogger Spotlight: Jess Resides Here

Welcome to a new weekly feature on the Seventh Star Press Blog!  We work with a lot of blog sites out there on tours, news releases, giveaways, and more, and we felt it was time to introduce everyone to the wonderful folks behind the blogs.

It takes a lot of work and dedication to run a blog site, and we hope you take a few minutes to visit with the bloggers who passion for books make these sites possible.  We feel you will come to a greater appreciation of what bloggers do and what they put into running their sites.

In this first feature, we visit with Jess Resides Here, who we have worked with since the release of Jackie Gamber's Redheart.  We are proud to introduce Jessica Lay, the creator and developer of Jess Resides Here!


Blogger Spotlight #1: Jess Resides Here







1. Tell us a little about yourself, and your background.
Well I'm 32, single a slightly blunt okay very blunt kind of person. I am not what I would consider a people person ( working in customer service will do that to you ) but those that I've decided are cool I'd do pretty much anything for. I love my family all 2 other members my mother and brother. I lost my dad almost 4 years ago now to cancer. My background well my parents are Hungarian and I was born in Australia so we kinda get around the world. My mother and I are both big readers of fiction and my dad was and my brother is more into reference books.

2.  What kinds of books do you like to read for pleasure? Any favorites?
As mentioned my mother and I are fiction fanatics. I was very lucky and my mother took me to the library often. Back in the day before internet and text I'd request books held for me and felt very grown up when I'd get a postcard in the mail letting me know it was waiting for me. I remember reading Judy Blume and thinking she was the most wonderful author ever. I still think she's fantastic and have added a great deal to my favorite list. I couldn't tell you them all as any good book lover I have a very long list but from this year my fave read was The Infection by Craig DiLouie and The Lakebridge Cycle books by Natasha Troop. I'm currently reading I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream which I'm enjoying immensely as well as my other current read Sela by Jackie Gamber which could be called my current favorites.

3. When did you start your blog, and what motivated you to do it?
I started my blog in 2009 least that's what my blog tells me which I find hard to believe that I've been doing it for so long. It was initially called Jess Vents which I am quite embarrassed about as it was started near after my dad died I wanted a little place where I could let of some steam and no one knew me or would judge me least I didn't care if they did. In time it progressed to the things I enjoy and love and wanted to write about this mainly being books.

4.  How did you come up with the name for your site? Is there a story behind it?
Again it started out as Jess Vents, when the time came that I realized that was just not working and I had to change it I thought what could I go with. I consider my blog my little corner of the internet it's my home away from home or well anywhere I have internet so I went with the most basic and called it that where I reside on the internet hence Jess resides here

5.   What kinds of genres do you cover on your site?
Pretty much everything though just in the last day I have been thinking that once I am open for reviews again which will be in the new year I will have to redo my review policy and narrow down my genre review list. I like horror which if I absolutely had to pick a favorite would be the one. I also like fantasy, sci fi, dystopian. I've recently come to be a big fan of bizarro I love the quirky satire nature of it. I love imagination and envy the talent to be able to just let your mind go to the most amazing places. While I don't have the talent to write myself being able to be in the mix and review is just a thrill.

6.  What kinds of regular features do you have on your site?
I have my usual meme's that I take part in. The most recent addition being one created by The Cabin Goddess called Sunday Shorts. I adore short stories and don't think they are appreciated enough. I enjoy sharing about ones I find on the internet and while not nearly enough people are involved in the meme right now I think I may be the only one at the moment it's one I plan to continue even if no one else does. I also take part in Monday Mailbox which is fun to show off what you got in the mail that week not to mention drool and envy others as well. Any book lover can appreciate Teaser Tuesday which is great fun and always a mission to find that perfect teaser to make others go ooohhhh that sounds like a good read I must get it myself. Yes a cover, a blurb and sometimes just a couple lines can sell a book.

7.  What is the hardest thing about being a blogger?
lol time! There isn't enough of it. I've said this before if I had another 24 hours just for blogging/reading/reviewing I'd be fine. It's hard to fit it all in. I wish I could read all the books I'm asked to review but sadly have to turn many down because I simply don't have the time to.

8. What are your favorite things about being a blogger?
People. I seriously have made some of the best most important friendships online that I would otherwise not have had without my blog. It has brought me so many great people and I can honestly say am closer to my online friends than in person ones. All the SSP authors rock for example and the bloggers omg Kriss, Jessica, Stephanie, Jonathan and more. I just love them. Smart, good people. Can't beat that.

9. If you could give a piece of advice or two to authors looking to work with a blog site, what would you say?
Well it's your baby and you think it's fantastic and want everyone to know about it which is great. As a book blogger I want to know about it but as I've said time is an issue for many. They have busy jobs or kids or personal issues or all of the above to deal with so I'd say know and understand that you may get turned down it's not personal but it's hard to find the time for all the review requests. Letting a blogger know they can take time to read and review will help immensely. Be prepared have a full media packet. It's very hard when asked to review and the author doesn't have a web site or blog or any online presence. One of the first things I do is look into an author not having anything to link to is difficult for a blogger not to mention means you lose out on a great publicity. Make sure you provide links, covers ( which is a huge selling point so invest if need be and get a great cover ) and a blurb these are the basics and many don't have these. You simply must.

10. Any last thoughts or things you might want to say to readers who are finding out about your blog for the first time?
Well I hope you check it out and keep reading I love sharing about authors and books and plan on doing so for forever I guess :) I'm so into sharing about books and authors that I'm involved in a new book publicity company First Rule Publicity *plug* It's just started and we already have some great tours in the works. I know it will be a huge success and I'm so excited about the chance to promote even more. 



We would like to thank Jess for stopping by for this spotlight, and you can visit her blog and connect with her at the following links:


Jess Resides Here: http://www.frellathon.com
Good reads
Twitter
Facebook



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Haunting Obsession Blog Tour Begins Today!



Haunting Obsession Blog Tour Begins

The Haunting Obsession tour begins today at Full Moon Bites!

SSP author R.J. Sullivan kicks things off with an introductory post that will give you some great insights to him, the book, and the tour!  Be sure to read it at http://fullmoonbites.blogspot.com/2012/08/rj-blog-tour-2012-were-off-by-r-j.html

There is much more to follow, including video posts, audio, character posts and interviews, and much more!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Haunting Obsession Trailer Unveiled!


The new trailer for R.J. Sullivan's Haunting Obsession has been unveiled!

The paranormal thriller is now available on the Kindle and in softcover, as well as a limited hardcover edition.

Click here for the Kindle Edition

Watch the trailer below:

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

SSP Feel the Fire Contest Begins!



Welcome to Seventh Star Press' Feel the Fire Contest!  Easy to enter, easy to get a lot of entries, and you can win a Kindle Fire, Amazon.com gift cards/certificates, signed books, eBook bundles and much more!

Here are the parameters of this contest.   All eBook, book, poster art, and art card prizes relating to Seventh Star Press authors directly, as well as the Kindle Fire, and the Amazon.com gift cards will be fulfilled by Seventh Star Press .  eBooks from non-SSP authors featured in the bundles of the first three prizes (Grand Prize and prizes #2 and #3) will be fulfilled by the authors themselves.  These authors assume all responsibility for fulfillment and delivery of their titles to the prize winners. They have been asked to deliver their eBooks in the week following the close of the contest at midnight on September 19th.

Grand Prize limited to US/Canadian residents only. Prizes #2-15 eligible for international entries.

Also, this promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability.

This contest uses the RaffleCopter system where you can earn extra entries merely by liking the Facebook pages or following the Twitter accounts of various authors and some bloggers.  We encourage you to get as many entries as possible and discover from wonderful new authors in the process!

And now for a description of the available prizes:

Grand Prize:  Kindle Fire, plus 10 SSP eBooks of your choice (choose from any title in our catalog from authors Jackie Gamber, Michael West, Stephen Zimmer, H. David Blalock, D.A. Adams, R.J. Sullivan, and Steven Shrewsbury), as well as eBook bundle from participating non-SSP authors, including titles from Apex Book Company, Hydra Publications, Blackwyrm Publishing, LocoNeal Publishing, and more! (total of 29 eBooks, 10 from SSP and 19 in non-SSP bundle)

Participating Authors and Titles (other than SSP):  Total of 19 eBooks in this bundle.

J.H. Glaze: 5 pack including The Spirit Box, Northwest, Forced Intelligence, and The Horror Challenge Volumes I and II.

James R. Tuck: Hired Gun:The Culvert City Crime Files and That Things at the Zoo: Deacon Chalk e-novella 1

Rachel Hunter: Empyreal Fate

Dianne Gardner: Deception Peak

Gwen Perkins: The Universal Mirror

Sara Harvey: Penemue Trilogy  (The Convent of the Pure, The Labyrinth of the Dead, The Tower of the Forgotten)

J.M. McDermott: Last Dragon

Georgia L. Jones: Legends of Darkness

Christopher Kokoski: Dark Halo

Sheila Deeth: Divide by Zero

Ren Garcia: Sands of the Solar Empire

Aaron Drown: Path of An Arrow

Prize # 2: $25 Amazon.com gift card/certificate, plus 5 eBooks of your choice from the SSP catalog, and full bundle of non-SSP authors (as described in Grand Prize).  Total of 24 eBooks in this prize package.

Prize #3:  $25 Amazon.com gift card/certificate, plus 5 eBooks of your choice from the SSP catalog, and full bundle of non-SSP authors (as described in Grand Prize).  Total of 24 eBooks in this prize package.

Prize #4:  Your choice of 1 limited edition hardcover version from the following titles: Poseidon's Children or Cinema of Shadows.  Signed and numbered by author.

Prize #5: Your choice of 1 limited edition hardcover version from the following titles: Redheart, Overkill, or The Fall of Dorkhun.  Signed and numbered by author.

Prize #6: Your choice of 1 limited edition hardcover version from the following titles: Angelkiller or Haunting Obsession.  Signed and numbered by author.

Prize#7:  Softcover of your choice from SSP Catalog

Prize#8:  Softcover of your choice from SSP Catalog

Prize#9:  Softcover of your choice from SSP Catalog

Prize#10:  Poster Art from Matthew Perry and Bonnie Wasson:  includes the  "Kissing Image" from Poseidon's Children, and the "Elf Woman" from The Fall of Dorkhun.  Posters are 14X20 and sent in cardboard tube.

Prize#11:  7 eBooks of your choice from SSP Catalog

Prize#12:  7 eBooks of your choice from SSP Catalog

Prize#13:  7 eBooks of your choice from SSP Catalog

Prize#14:  Sets of 5X7 art cards from Poseidon's Children, Angelkiller, Overkill, Redheart, and The Fall of Dorkhun plus 2 SSP eBooks of your choice from the SSP catalog .

Prize#15:  Sets of 5X7 art cards from Poseidon's Children, Angelkiller, Overkill, Redheart, and The Fall of Dorkhun plus 2 SSP eBooks of your choice from the SSP catalog.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Seventh Star Press Announces New Anthology Project With James R. Tuck

For Immediate Release
August 2, 2012

Seventh Star Press Announces New Anthology Project With James R. Tuck

Seventh Star Press proudly announces a new anthology project with James R. Tuck, author of the highly acclaimed Deacon Chalk stories released by Kensington Publishing.  An open call for submissions has been issued regarding the new anthology, Thunder on the Battlefield, which will take the reader on many adventures within the realms of Sword and Sorcery.

Writers are encouraged by James to explore the possibilities of the genre.   The time of the story could be placed in an ancient world, or even perhaps a futuristic one where a cataclysm has set a modernistic society back into a barbaric age.  The setting could be the heart of Africa, the steppes of Russia, the snowbound wastes of Iceland, or  the hills of China.  Warriors were found throughout the ages, the Celts, the Vikings, the Samurai, the Israelites, the Zulu, the Romans, and many more.  The challenge to the writer is to bring their best and make it heroic.

James brought the project to Seventh Star Press for a number of reasons. "I have been extremely impressed with the professionalism I have seen from Seventh Star Press. Their books are quality, they always make a big presentation at conventions, and their authors are happy. Happy authors mean a LOT in this business. Plus, with the stable of incredibly talented authors working with Seventh Star I knew that this anthology would be taken seriously and done right."

James, whose latest Deacon Chalk adventure, Blood and Silver, is to be released in mass market paperback by Kensington on August 7th, is a former bouncer and a professional tattoo artist who lives in the Atlanta area with his wife, two children, and four dogs.  His first Deacon Chalk novel, Blood and Bullets, was released in February of 2012 and received high praise in urban fantasy circles.

What inspired James to do a project like Thunder on the Battlefield?  As James explains in his own words:

"Because sword and sorcery rocks my face off!

"On a serious note, I was a young kid when I discovered sword and sorcery for the first time. I have always been an artist, drawing when I should have been studying, and I found this artist, you may have heard of him, named Frank Frazetta. His artwork blew my preteen mind, just took the top of my skull right off and spilled in all this masculine power and feminine beauty and horrible monstrosity right inside my brainpan. I studied that book I had found, furrowed away in the back corner of my junior high library. Reading, I discovered these were the covers to books.

"I loved to read. The next trip to the used bookstore I found a book with a Frazetta cover, it was Robert E.Howard's Conan The Adventurer. Those words, those damn near poetic, dark, strings of prose ate into my brain like acid. I was hooked from the first paragraph. I became voracious in finding more, more Robert E. Howard, more Conan, more sword and sorcery. I ran through Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, Karl Wagner, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
.
"All those stories imprinted on my DNA and helped form the kind of stories I write today. I wanted to bring more of them to the forefront and put together a collection of today's heirs to Robert E. Howard and his colleagues. To put new faces in the hands of the fans of the genre."
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Thunder on the Battlefield is slated for release in the 2nd quarter of 2013 in both print and eBook editions.
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The guidelines include a 10,000 word maximum, 2,000 word minimum.  The full call for submissions is now posted at the Seventh Star Press site at:
http://www.seventhstarpress.com/submissions/
The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2013.



Seventh Star Press is a small press publisher of speculative fiction located in Lexington Kentucky

Contact: C.C. James
Public Relations, Seventh Star Press
ccjames@seventhstarpress.com

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