Follow the Yellow Book Road

The Golden Key Legacy Cover Reveal

I'm so excited to announce the fabulous cover reveal for...

THE GOLDEN KEY LEGACY

a fantasy romance serial novel from HarperImpulse

The Golden Key Legacy, Book I: A Furious Muse

~Available November 27, 2014~

Since the day of her birth, Princess Faedrah Austiere has been defined by he place within the kingdom. As the single heir to the half-blood gypsy king and his prophesied white queen, she is fiercely protected, shuttered inside an ivory castle and well-trained in the art of war. Yet neither her obligations as future queen nor the black infestation threatening her kingdom fail to hinder the mysterious pull of the antique armoire hidden in her parents' bedchamber. And stealing the golden key for a leap through time is the only way to confront the dark lord haunting her dreams.

One face. The image of one defiant, relentless woman has been stuck in Rhys McEleod’s head ever since he was old enough to paint her luscious curves on the canvas. But the day she walks into his life off the street—sexier than hell and itching for a fight—he’s not convinced she’s the same women he’s envisioned since childhood. That is, not until he spots the golden key around her neck—an object he’d never fully shown in any of his paintings.
Now if he could just persuade his lovely muse he’s not the enemy. Unless the elusive Faedrah Austiere learns to trust him, he’ll never have her in his bed—the one place he’s convinced she belongs.

PRE-ORDER YOUR $0.99 COPY TODAY: AMAZON / AMAZONUK

The Golden Key Legacy, Book II: The Sacrifice

~Available December 18, 2014~

The second Faedrah Austiere walked into his life off the canvas, everything in Rhys McEleod’s world stopped making sense. Not only does her story sound like a Grimm’s fairy tale, evidently he’s been cast as the villain. If that isn’t enough, the mirror inside that old, beat up armoire at her uncle’s condo is supposedly a doorway to another world. Ever since the pathway opened, something inside him has seemed…off. If what his muse says is true, they are headed for an epic showdown, but he isn’t about to let her go. Nothing is more important than Faedrah’s protection, even if her parents refuse to accept him.
Though certain their fates are bound by more than the golden key Princess Faedrah wears around her neck, it is paramount Rhys’ true identity be kept secret. Should news of his bloodline ever reach her kingdom, their entire quest to save her people could be lost. Their only hope to prove his loyalty is to steal the map to the dark lord’s Crystal Crypt. Yet her a plan endangers her beloved more than the accusations he faces in her kingdom and, to escape evil’s grasp, she and Rhys must take a leap of faith beyond her wildest imagination.

PRE-ORDER YOUR $0.99 COPY TODAY: AMAZON / AMAZONUK

The Golden Key Legacy, Book III: A Wizard Rises

~Available January 29, 2015~

The homecoming celebration held in honor of Princess Faedrah is fraught with perilous frustration. Her nightmares have returned thricefold and, to her horror, a horrendous blight has spread like a plague throughout the kingdom. Compounding her worries, Rhys’ arrival in her world has been welcomed with the exact horror-filled reaction she expected. Her beloved has been cast into the dungeons, and no amount of arguing with the king and queen will prove he’s her fated love.
Magical powers were supposed to be a gift, or so Rhys McEleod had always believed. Too bad the second he landed in Faedrah’s world the legacy he inherited slammed into his body like a weight. He’s got zero control and his constant visions of Faedrah fighting an evil entity aren’t helping. At least her parents made the right decision and stuck him away someplace safe. Until he can figure out his next move, prove himself an ally and uncover the clues to stopping Faedrah’s nightmares, he’s got no choice but to wait…and learn exactly what he’s become.

PRE-ORDER YOUR $0.99 COPY TODAY: AMAZON / AMAZONUK

The Golden Key Legacy, Book IV: A Time of Reckoning

~Available February 26, 2015~

Rhys had one job to do. One measly errand that shouldn’t have been a problem, given the nature of his powers. But when an old enemy reappears, detailing the result of his actions, Rhys is forced to make a choice between a future with Faedrah or dying before his time. Frustrated and out of options, he agrees to her suggestion they to leap forward in time to the future…even though a good chance exists his powers will be nothing but a memory in his world. Flying blind on a wing and a prayer, they prepare to fight for everything they love against a wizard of insurmountable power.

Faedrah does her best to gather their closest allies. The sides are squared in a war to control the future of both worlds. With the stakes so high, only one advantage has been cast in their favor. The sigil of utmost protection inherent in Rhys’ signature. If not enough to thwart the evil awaiting at the Austiere gates, she could find herself imprisoned in the future, while her kingdom and all those she has sworn to protect are lost to the mists of time.

PRE-ORDER YOUR $0.99 COPY TODAY: AMAZON / AMAZONUK

About The Auhor

AJ is a multi-published, award-winning author who lives in the middle of a cornfield in NW Indiana. Her loving husband, two beautiful children and a bevy of spoiled pets have agreed to stay and, in exchange for three rations per day and laundry service, tolerate her lunacy. While she spend most days happily ensconced in crafting romance across a multitude of genres, an underground coup has been percolating. The dogs just informed her the cat is secretly vying for dictatorship.

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Get to Know Me Tag

I have been tagged by Val @ The Innocent Smiley to complete the Get to Know Me Tag.

So, when I first read Val's post, I immediately thought of "Getting to Know You" from The King and I

How tall are you?
5 feet 3 inches

Do you have a hidden talent? If so, what?
Nope, I got nothin

What's your biggest blog related pet peeve?
I don't like cluttered blogs, I usually won't follow blogs that feel cluttered and difficult to navigate.

What's your biggest non blog related pet peeve?
People who are late

What's your favorite song?
I don't really have one

What's your favorite Etsy shop that isn't yours?
I've shopped on Etsy once, so I don't know. But I feel like this is a great time to mention that Pivot Book Reviews has started an Etsy shop selling hand painted book inspired totes!

What's your favorite way to spend your free time when you're alone?
Reading

What's your favorite junk food?
Chocolate!

Do you have a pet or pets?
Yes, I have a black lab mix and he is amazingly perfect!

What are your number one favorite nonfiction and fiction books?
I don't have a favorite nonfiction book, I never read nonfiction. My favorite fiction book is Ender's Game by Orsen Scott Card.

What's your favorite beauty product?
Eyeliner

When were you last embarrassed? What happened?
At the Boston Book Festival when Cassandra Clare asked me the name of my blog and I froze because I couldn't believe she asked me that!

If you could only drink one beverage (besides water) for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Dunkin Donuts Pumpkin Iced Coffee with Skim Milk and Two Sweet and Low

What’s your favorite movie?
The Goonies!

What were you in high school: Prom queen, nerd, cheerleader, jock, valedictorian, band geek, loner, artist?
umm... I don't know, I feel like these categories are really narrow. I guess nerd.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Europe

PC or Mac?
PC

Last romantic gesture from a boyfriend?
My husband made dinner the other night and had it ready and on the table for me when I came home from a long work day.

Favorite celebrity?
Jennifer Lawrence

What blogger do you secretly want to be best friends with?
Mary @ Mary had a Little Book - she reads a lot, attends a lot or events, and clearly has this blogger thing under control - also her tweets are awesome.

Tagging these amazing bloggers, along with anyone else who wants to do this!
Monique @ Mo's Books
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
Kristen @ Pretty Little Pages
Charnell @ Reviews from a Bookworm

Stacking the Shelves #20 (11/1/201)

Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Purchased

The Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani

Gifted

The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

(Thank you Boston Public Library and Boston Book Festival)

Blogger Organization

I follow a lot of blogs and every so often I noticed that bloggers post an update about how hectic life has been and sometimes they even write a post about taking a break from blogging. Life happens, we all get that and understand that. In fact, I love that when I read these posts, I also read an uncountable number of comments from their followers who support and encourage these stressed out and overwhelmed bloggers.

GIF exhausted fed up frazzled sleepy stress stressed stressing tired GIF

It seems that lately, I have been one of those stressed out bloggers, who hasn't been blogging or reading as much as I would like. I am not looking for sympathy here, instead I want to share what I am doing in order to make some changes. First, I joined the Blog Ahead Challenge and second, I purchased the 2015 Book Blogger Organizer and Blogger Resources from Parajunkie.com. Both of these ideas came from Monique at Mo's Books (thanks buddy!!).

I figured that it was time that we had a conversation about this, what do you do in order to stay on track with reading and blogging?

Blog Ahead Challenge

It's a new challenge time! The Blog Ahead Challenge, which is a bloggery version of NaNoWriMo. It's hosted by Herding Cats and Burning Soup. It runs from November 1-30th, 2014 and the basic goal is to get "ahead" in your blog posts. Hopefully at the end of the month of November you will have 30 additional pre-schedules than when you started the month.

I spotted this challenge on Mo's Books and was really excited about the idea. I love when I have posts scheduled in advance and life has been pretty crazy lately, so I could use some serious discipline. The most I've ever had scheduled in advance is about 6 posts, so this challenge will be a pretty big undertaking for me.

For this challenge, my goal is to have 15 pre-scheduled posts and to get some new ideas for pre-scheduled posts in the future.

If you're interested in signing up for the Blog Ahead Challenge and would like more details, just visit Herding Cats and Burning Soup.

Boston Book Festival 2014

This Saturday, my mom and I went into Boston to attend the Boston Book Festival. First of all, I can't believe that I have been living under a rock and missing this annual event for such a long time!

The schedule was almost overwhelming, there were so many sessions running at various times and at various locations around Copley Square. So, I browsed the sessions and found my "must do" session, which was "Masters of Fantasy" featuring Gregory Maguire (author of Wicked), Soman Chainani (author of The School for Good and Evil), Holly Black (author of Coldest Girl in Coldtown and co-author of The Iron Trial) and Cassandra Clare (author of City of Bones and co-author of The Iron Trial).

My mom and I got to Copley Square around 10am and browsed the various tents. Honestly it was really cool to see the various vendors and associations that were present. My mom didn't really know what to expect when i invited her, but she ended up purchasing some mystery/thriller books from three local authors and a historical book on New England. My favorite tent was the Boston Public Library tent, they were trying to raise awareness about the importance of libraries and were giving away free books and pins! I walked away with a copy of The Fire Wish by Amber Lough.

Copley Square

Boston Public Library had a map for people to post
a sticker over the city/town of the library they use

I knew that the Masters of Fantasy session would be packed, so after browsing the tents, by mom and I headed over to the Emmanuel Sanctuary. We got there so early, that we were actually able to enjoy a session that was taking place prior to Masters of Fantasy. We got to attend the "Boston Stories: Tears, Triumphs, Mysteries, and Sports" session which had local authors with their local stories. It was a really cool session that I probably wouldn't have attended on my own, but I'm really glad I did.

The Masters of Fantasy

Thank goodness we arrived as early as we did because there was a huge line for the Masters of Fantasy session! The authors started by introducing themselves and their most recent book. Right away I couldn't help but like them all.

Here is a clip of Cassandra and Holly introducing themselves and their new book, they also showed the Book Trailer for the Iron Trial. (How cute is it that Cassandra and Holly are wearing the same dress?!)

Soman also showed the Book Trailer for his new book A World Without Princes.

When it was Gregory's turn, he said he didn't have a fancy video, so instead he would perform a song for us.

When we got the the question/answer portion, we learned quite a few fun things. One of my favorite parts of the session was hearing the authors talk about books that introduced them to fantasy and made them want to be fantasy writers. Some of the books mentioned were: The Lord of the Rings (tip that someone gave Cassandra - if the beginning is too bogged down for you, start at chapter 9), fairy tales, The Chronicles of Prydain, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler, The Children of Green Knowe, and The Diamond in the Window.

It was also really cool to hear the "confessions" of the writers, for example Cassandra said that she waits to write the first few chapters until after she has written most of the rest of the book because she likes to know her characters really well. Holly and Soman both said that they write consecutively, but continue to edit (and sometimes rewrite) all previously written chapters as they write new chapters.

After the moderator finished his questions, they opened the floor for audience questions. Mostly middle grade and high school students lined up to ask their questions. Then, we lined up to purchase books and get them signed. All of the authors were super friendly and kind as they met and signed a seemingly endless number of people and books.

All in all, it was an awesome day! Hopefully next year I'll be able to dedicate more time to the event and attend more sessions!

Me and Cassandra Clare after she signed my books for me!

Me and Holly Black after she signed my books for me!

What I purchased: two copies of The Iron Trial (1 for me and 1 for a giveaway!), one copy of The School for Good and Evil, and one copy of A World Without Princes.