The Promise Me Series by Paige Weaver

THE PROMISE ME SERIES by Paige Weaver

Promise Me Darkness - Released on April 8, 2013

Promise Me Light - Released on September 24, 2013

The Promise Me series is the story of childhood friends and next door neighbors Maddie Jackson and Ryder Delaney. Maddie and her father move to the ranch next to Ryder’s family when she is six and he is nine. They become inseparable as children, but as Ryder grows up, with a wild streak as big as Texas, he makes sure to keep Maddie at arms length for her own good.

Maddie is the classic girl next door. Pixie tiny, sweet to a fault, beautiful without realizing it, she is the fantasy of one Ryder Delaney. Attending nursing school, Maddie is working hard to make good grades, is dating a man she believes is her ideal and looks forward to a bright future.

Ryder Delaney is the perfect combination of tattooed bad boy and boy next door. Forever getting into trouble, be it drinking, fighting, womanizing or all of the above, Ryder feels like he just doesn’t fit in.

Eva, Maddie’s best friend, is tall, outgoing and gorgeous. Everything Maddie believes she is not. Eva takes Maddie outside her comfort zone when they visit a rough biker bar and run into someone unexpectedly.

Brody, is Eva’s on again, off again boyfriend.

Gavin is Ryder’s older brother and the epitome of the perfect son. Ryder finds himself constantly comparing himself to an unrealistic standard that he believes that Gavin sets.

Ryder finds himself staying with Maddie and Eva at their apartment as he prepares to enlist in the service. With the current political climate, Maddie repeatedly tries to talk Ryder out of the decision afraid she will lose him to what she believes is an impending world war III. During a night out on the town dancing at a local club, the trio of friends and Brody find themselves in the chaos that accompanies the aftermath of an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) strike on the United States.

The four of them go into survival mode in an attempt to get out of the city and back to the supposed safety of home. What they find at home, while more controlled than in the city, is still a far cry from what they are used to.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and close quarters cause feelings that have been simmering under the surface to develop into deeper yet equally confusing ones. Maddie and Ryder learn to live with love, loss, and the unknown in this two part series that takes them to the brink and back again.

The Promise Me series, is much more than a romance between the main characters. Paige Weaver pushes her characters to their limits. Taken from their modern conveniences and forced to learn to live off the land, this is not your typical love story. There are more than just obstacles of the heart that this pair has to contend with. With the adversities all the characters must face, the reader is taken through emotional highs, lows, heartbreak, tenderness and finally the realization that two people were truly meant for one another.

Paige is excited about the release of her new book and shared with us some aspects of her stories.

RMWTPC – How did you decide to incorporate the use of an EMP into your story?

Paige Weaver – I knew I wanted my characters to be challenged in some sort of
situation that was out of their control. I liked the idea of an outside force causing
life-threatening scenes, bringing the characters either closer together or tearing
them apart. The EMP aspect came about because I have always been fascinated
with doomsday scenarios. At the time Promise Me Darkness was taking shape in
my mind, I overheard a national news story about the threat, both manmade and
natural, of an EMP to the U.S. I thought what if I took two college kids and threw
them into the middle of an EMP attack on the U.S. That’s how the stories were
born.

RMWTPC – The characters in your book all bring useful skills to their survival effort.
When writing the story, did these skills just come together or did you have to figure
out what would be needed for them to have the best chance of survival and then gift
them with those skills?

Paige Weaver – The skills just came together. In Texas, many people hunt so it only
seemed natural for Ryder and the rest of the men to know how to kill their own
food and/or use weapons. For the women, nursing skills were a no brainer for me
because I have some background in the medical field. Also, I spent most of my
childhood on a ranch so it seemed the safest place to send my characters when
the world collapsed. I wanted to use what I knew in the story. I think if I had taken
away their particular skills (hunting, nursing), I still would have found a basic
skill that would have helped each of them survive. Having written the story, I am
surprised by the number of fans that have told me they want to be prepared for
any kind of national disaster. I think it is inherent in all of us to survive, no matter
what skills we have or lack.

RMWTPC – Do you believe with the current state of world affairs, it is possible that
something of this magnitude could happen on U.S. soil?

Paige Weaver – I do believe an EMP is possible, either because of a terrorist attack
or because of natural events such as solar flares. In fact, the government is
looking into protecting our power grids more carefully against these types of
events. You can find recent articles in the USA Today and New York Times
stating that the U.S. government is preparing to undergo emergency practice
drills in the event an EMP were to occur. Do I think enemy forces could breach
our borders and invade? I do not know. If we are weakened by an EMP, maybe.
I took creative liberty with that in my story but then again we never thought
someone could attack our country with our own planes either. In the current state
of affairs, I believe the U.S. is vulnerable for attacks, but not necessarily on the
scale I wrote.

RMWTPC – Will there be other books in this series? What can your fans expect next
from you?

Paige Weaver – There will be other books in the series but Promise Me Light was
the end for Maddie and Ryder. I will write a book for the other characters of
Promise Me Darkness and Promise Me Light. I have also started writing other
books based on the same time frame but with a different set of characters,
completely separate from the first two books. There will be new sets of friends
and family. Each will be extremely different, with different circumstances and
different personalities of the characters. My fans should expect my future books
to be just as emotional and action-packed as Promise Me Darkness and Promise
Me Light. I love writing novels with a high level of intensity. I like gritty, raw, and
the unexpected. I want to keep my readers guessing when they read one of
my novels. And the more emotion I can put into a book, the better. I have many
books underway but my next scheduled novels are a non-dystopian and Cash’s
book (from Promise Me Light). I hope to see them in reader’s hands early 2014.

You can follow Paige on her blog at: authorpaigeweaver.blogspot.com

On facebook at: www.facebook.com/AuthorPaigeWeaver

On twitter at: @AuthorPWeaver

And you can purchase her books on:
Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Paige-Weaver/e/B00CACVL22
Barnes & Noble at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/paige-weaver
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/paigeweaver

Another Great Giveaway From RMWTPC

Who is ready for another GIVEAWAY?!?! RMWTPC is giving away one ebook of the winner's choice from one of these fine Penned Con authors: TK Rapp, Sarah Dosher or Lori Otto! Enter to win now!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/20fa9e9/

THE EMI LOST AND FOUND SERIES by Lori Otto

The Emi Lost and Found Series - by Lori Otto

NOT TODAY, BUT SOMEDAY (Prequel) - Release date: September 1, 2012

LOST AND FOUND - Book #1 - Release date: March 24, 2011

TIME STANDS STILL - Book #2 - Release date: May 7, 2011

NEVER LOOK BACK - Book #3 - Release date: May 7, 2011


Not Today, But Someday is the prequel to the three book series Emi Lost and Found. It is the story of Emi and Nate. Emi, a high school junior is dealing with more than she can handle. Transferring to a new school mid year, her father’s infidelity, her parent’s impending divorce and moving away from her friends leave her feeling angry and isolated.


Nate, a sophomore, is struggling with the recent break-up with his girlfriend. To add insult to injury, his girlfriend dumped him for a mutual friend. He uses art as an outlet for pent up frustrations.


When Emi and Nate meet in art class, they find a kindred spirit in one another. The story builds the foundation of Nate and Emi’s relationship. They support each other’s artistic endeavors and work together in preparing for a class project based upon the Canterbury Tales.


Their friendship grows deeper and deeper and even though Nate has feelings for Emi, he accepts her desire to remain friends out of fear of losing what they have now, in hopes it may change to something else someday. They use the terms of endearment, Like ya Em and Like Ya Nate when they say goodbyes to one another on a regular basis.


Other characters in this series include:

Chris - Emi’s older brother

Jen - Emi’s older sister

Anna - Chris’ girlfriend

Teresa - Emi’s best friend and roommate

Jack - Chris’ frat brother

Donna - Nate’s mother


Lost and Found takes us to Nate and Emi’s relationship about 10 years after meeting one another. They are both adults working in their chosen career fields. Nate is a fine artist, and Emi a graphic artist/designer.


Nate, the quintessential player, dates many women through his 20s. Emi, does date a bit, but not near to the scale that Nate does. When Nate’s girlfriends begin to show tendencies of jealousy toward Emi, Nate makes some difficult and potentially damaging choices where his friendship with Emi is concerned.


When Chris and Anna get engaged, we are introduced to Jack Holland. Chris’s frat brother from college, Jack will be the best man at the wedding. With Emi as the maid of honor, they will be working together on certain aspects of the wedding preparations. Lost and Found takes us up to Chris and Anna’s engagement party on New Year’s Eve.


When you get to this point in the series, make sure you have tissues at the ready. Not a purse pack mind you, a brand spanking new large size box.


Not wanting to give away any more of the plot in this wonderful series, Time Stands Still and Never Look Back take us deeper into the lives of these complex characters. Just as a warning, this includes some gut wrenching, ugly crying chapters that will leave you feeling the excruciating pain that these lovely people endure with what happens early in book #2.


After the worst of the emotional situation settles, there will still be times where tear dabbing with tissues will be necessary, but I never felt it got to the point where I could not continue reading.


Reading this series was made even more enjoyable for me as I did it as a participant in a group read led by Lori herself. She invited bloggers to go on a virtual scavenger hunt, asking questions about certain events throughout the book and if answered correctly, the reader collected a badge. RMWTPC successfully completed all the badge activites!


I cannot say enough good things about this series. It was wonderfully crafted from start to finish and I am looking forward to reading the companion piece “Contessa” when my schedule allows.


Lori agreed to be interviewed in regards to this series and here are her answers

to the questions posed by RMWTPC.


RMWTPC - When you began writing Lost and Found, how soon did you decide this would be a multi-book series?


Lori Otto - I'm kind of laughing at this. Halfway through Nate's section, I knew the story would be epic. I had been aiming for a 150,000 word book… but when I was 75,000 words into Nate's section and it wasn't anywhere near finished, I began to have concerns… but I allowed myself to tell the story as it came to me, not limiting myself, and the word count grew and grew. Reality sunk in when I started querying to agents. Writing "Emi Lost & Found is completed with 356,000 words" was laughed at more than once by potential agents. I realized I needed to chop the book up, but because of the way it was written in different perspectives, this was easy to do.


RMWTPC - We loved that you included references to classic literature throughout these books. Between the Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare, your characters came off as intelligent and well rounded. How did you choose to include these elements into your stories?


Lori Otto - Those came from my personal taste in literature. I will readily admit I have not read quite a few classics, but the ones I've read tend to stick with me. I have always loved Shakespeare, so that one was a given. As for the Canterbury Tales, that was actually a really nice discovery. As I was writing Not Today, But Someday last summer, I was thinking back to what we read in my class. In high school, we did have to read parts of the Canterbury Tales, just like Nate and Emi did. I remember reading my section (which I think was Wife of Bath, but I'm not sure), and I remember really liking how Chaucer wrote. That being said, I didn't remember anything else about the book. I downloaded an edition of it (by Peter Ackroyd) that was FABULOUS and started at the beginning. I was struck with the story of Palamon and Arcite (which was actually a retelling of another story) in the Knight's Tale, and how well it really tied in.


RMWTPC - Was it as difficult to write the second book as it has been for your fans to read it? How did you get through that emotionally turbulent section?


Lori Otto - I have to believe it was more difficult for me to write. I experienced actual depression and grief for about a month when I went through that. What I did have that most readers didn't have was the rest of the story. I knew what was going to happen, so I think that helped, but actually writing it was rough. I wanted the conversations to be authentic, so I actually did a lot of audio and video recordings to listen to and watch the delivery of different lines. Twice in my life I was told by teachers to write how I talk; to write what I feel. I have taken this to heart and I think I really accomplished this, especially in Time Stands Still.




RMWTPC - Did you ever get frustrated at Emi or Nate for not seeing the inevitable sooner than they did? How about with Emi and Jack?


Lori Otto - It's funny, because so many people get so frustrated with Emi and Nate, but no. To me, there was a natural flow to that year of their lives. There was bad timing, and many bad choices… but I think even at the beginning of the year, they both knew deep down that they were going to have to make that choice soon. I mean, put yourself in Emi's shoes. You're waiting for that magical feeling, you have the opportunity to experience it again… and it's not there. That's confusing. That will lead to soul searching. Of course Emi and Nate always loved each other in their own way… but she had to look beyond some things – that feeling, his past – to make that commitment. As for the situation with Jack, I think Emi's reluctance was realistic. There was a lot of fear: fear of losing him, fear of letting him down, etc.


RMWTPC - Your characters were so artistically gifted and talented. Emi as a graphic artist, Nate as a painter and musician and Anna as an interior designer. Do you have an artistic streak outside of your writing?


Lori Otto - Not really, but I've always wanted that. I love art, music, photography and design. I was a graphic designer for ten years, and I do enjoy doing some little things every now and then (like the badges), but my style's my own, and not really in demand. I do love men who are creative, but I have never been successful in relationships with them. I always end up second fiddle to the art. I think that's probably why Jack is very different from that.


RMWTPC - What is next for Lori Otto?


Lori Otto - I'm actually in the middle of five books right now: the final two in the Choisie series, and all three in Steven's spin-off series. Unfortunately, my full-time job has become more demanding and is keeping me from doing what I love. At this point, I'm just taking things one day at a time and doing what I can do to survive. My ultimate goal is to be able to write full-time, but I need to sell a lot more books to make that happen. I have to believe it will happen someday.


You can follow Lori on her webpage at: http://www.loriotto.com

On facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/LoriLOtto

and Purchase her books on:

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Lori-L.-Otto/e/B004VYOIYK/

iBooks at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lori-l.-otto/id438512389

Smashwords at: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/lorilotto

Nook at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/lori-l.-otto

Spotlight on Penny Reid

SEX! It all started with sex, between my parents. Personally I don’t like thinking about it, but

whatever works for you is a-ok with me. No judgment. The sex happened in California and much of my

life also occurred in that state until I moved from the land of nuts (almonds), wine, silicon… boobs, and

heavy traffic to the southeast US. Like most writers I like to write, but let’s get back to sex. Eventually I

married and gave birth to 2 small people-children (boy-5, girl-3 as of this writing).

By day I’m a biomedical researcher with focus on rare diseases. By night I’m a knitter, sewer, lino block

carver, fabric printer, soap maker, and general crafter. By the wee hours of the morning or when I’m

intoxicated I love to listen to the voices in my head and let them tell me stories. I hope you enjoy their

stories.

Connect with Penny:

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReidRomance

Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PennyReidWriter

Subscribe to Blog: http://reidromance.blogspot.com/

Fan on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ReidRomance

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/reidromance/boards/

Penny Reid's Cover Reveal

Penny Reid is about to release her newest book Friends Without Benefits.  She had been toying around with multiple covers and has revealed her choice. 

So what did she choose?

 

 

You can click the link below to find out more and to subscribe to her blog!

http://reidromance.blogspot.com/2013/09/cover-reveal-friends-without-benefits.html

Friends Without Benefits can be read as a standalone, is a full length 120k word novel, and is book#2 in the Knitting in the City Series.
There are three things you need to know about Elizabeth Finney: 1) She suffers from severe sarcastic syndrome, especially when she’s unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her like Nico Manganiello, and 2) She knows how to knit.
Elizabeth Finney is almost always right about everything: the musical merits of Boy Bands are undervalued by society, “benefits” with human Ken-dolls are better without friendship, and the sun has set on her once in a lifetime chance for true love. But when Elizabeth’s plans for benefits without friendship are disarmed by the irritatingly charismatic and chauvinistic Nico Manganiello- her former nemesis- she finds herself struggling to maintain the electric fence around her heart while avoiding electrocution or, worse, falling in love.

You can add it to your Goodreads list by clicking here:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18001399-friends-without-benefits?ac=1

RMWTPC will be spotlighting Penny very soon as recapping her new book shortly thereafter.

Spotlight on Paige Weaver

 

 

Paige Weaver’s first passion has always been reading. Many hours were spent getting lost in love stories and adventures. That turned into a love for writing at a young age. She wrote her
first book when she was a teenager and hasn’t stopped since. Thanks to pressure from family and friends, she finally decided to take the leap and self-publish. Her first book ‘Promise Me
Darkness’ became a New York Times and USA Today Best Seller within a month after being released.

A native Texan who still resides in the town where she was born, Paige lives with her husband and two children. When she's not writing or reading, you can find her chasing her kids around and living her very own happily ever-after story.

Paige's new book. Promise Me Light, is set to be released on September 24th and can be preordered by clicking here! http://amzn.to/14yOb9s

STORMS OF LIFE SERIES by Sarah Dosher

 

 

Book #1 Haven from the Storm Release Date – March 28, 2013

Book #2 Before the Storm Release Date – August 29, 2013

The Storms of Life books, Haven from the Storm and Before the Storm are tales of love, tragedy, heartbreak and hope. The stories are crafted in such a way that make you want happiness to find these friends and take them away from all the things that hurt them. The characters, however, are so strong that they endure what life puts before them and deal with it without asking for outside assistance.

The Storms of Life series introduces us to Lily, her brother Easton and his best friend Dean. This trio hails from rural Kolby, Oklahoma and while they are rich in love for each other, they have received more than their share of heartache from and disappointment from the adults and authority figures in their lives.

After a destructive storm hits Kolby, Lily’s life is turned upside down. Left to virtually fend for herself, she works hard to create a level of normalcy and safety in her now chaotic world. So when Dean returns from college to begin his student teaching requirement, it throws them back together, left with lingering feelings of love and loss.

Before the Storm is the prequel to Haven from the Storm. This story begins with Easton, Lily and Dean as children. While left to their own devices, Easton, Lily and Dean spend their long summer days playing outside, swimming in the river and enjoying their small town’s public activities. When Taylor, aka Stretch, arrives in Kolby to spend the summer with her aunt, Easton is immediately drawn to her. He tries to draw her out of her shell as best as a young man his age is capable.

Years later, Taylor returns to Kolby just as Easton and Dean are graduating high school. The story bounces back between both summers and reveals how painfully raw misunderstandings from their youth can be.

Lily Grace is enjoying the summer before high school. She has a serious crush on her older brother’s best friend Dean. These feelings have grown exponentially over the years for Dean, but are always thwarted by her very protective brother Easton.

Dean Haven, Easton’s best friend has just graduated high school. He is spending the summer enjoying the company of his friends before heading off to college and hopefully leaving Kolby behind for good.

Easton Grace, Lily’s older brother and Dean’s best friend is the anchor of this group. He is strong, protective to a fault, caring deeply for his sister and his friend.

Grandma Violet is Dean’s grandmother. The only adult to show love and concern for this group, she provides them a place of solace when it is needed.

- From Book 2 

Taylor Monaco shows up in Kolby just in time for graduation. She is tall, gorgeous and a total mystery to Easton Grace. Flattered that he is attracted to her quickly fades to disappointment when she realizes he does not know who she is.

Sarah Dosher took time out of her busy schedule as wife, mother and author to answer some questions about her books for us.  Thank you Sarah for sharing your wonderful gifts with us!

 

RMWTPC – Kolby is a fictional place. How closely does it resemble where you grew up or live now?

Sarah Dosher – I grew up in a small town and now live in an even smaller town. A lot of the quirks of small town life that you glimpse in this series are true. But the level of devastation seen in Haven from the Storm is not something that I have personally experienced but there are numerous places in Oklahoma that have been through something similar.

RMWTPC – Was it difficult to write about this type of natural disaster as Oklahoma is part of Tornado Alley and these events happen somewhat regularly in your region of the country?

Sarah Dosher – It wasn’t hard to write about the actual storm because I think growing up in Oklahoma we grow accustomed to hearing about tornado devastation and living through it yearly. However writing about loved ones losing their life was definitely hard. A little under two months after I released this novel there was massive destruction with numerous lives lost in several tornadoes in Oklahoma. It was very sad and hard for me to watch after having just released a fictional book that seemed so close to reality.

RMWTPC – Have you or close personal friends suffered the kind of loss that the residents of Kolby did?

Sarah Dosher– I have known several that have had a huge loss of personal belongings to tornadoes but not the loss of life to the extent seen in Kolby.

RMWTPC – At different points in the story, school officials discuss Lily’s bruises and other signs of physical abuse. How did you feel when you wrote their sense of helplessness because she would not come clean about what was really happening?

Sarah Dosher – This has actually been a very hot topic for my novel. There are many that feel this was not true to life and would never occur. Some reviewers have even said that it ruined the whole story for them and I hate hearing that.

I can promise that it is very true to life. I did not make this portion of the story up. I have seen this occur over and over with my own eyes. I even spoke with several that work within Child Protective Services in Oklahoma and they confirmed that this scenario happens on a regular basis. Haven from the Storm has been passed around to many different employees in Child Protective Services because they feel it is so true to what they see –and I am very proud of that!

RMWTPC – How many books do you anticipate will be in the Storms of Life series?

Sarah Dosher – At this time I envision one more in the Storms of Life Series. It will be focused on Adley and Derek from Haven from the Storm, but you will see all the same characters to some degree. The title is Sanctuary from the Darkness and is set to publish early in 2014.

You can follow Sarah on her blog at: sarahdosher.com

On facebook at: facebook.com/authorsarahdosher

And you can purchase her books on:

Amazon at: http://goo.gl/vCS87S

Barnes & Noble at: http://goo.gl/VoYLbm

Kobo: http://goo.gl/qaPrGM

iBooks: coming soon!