Hosting Mindy Larson's Wake Up! We're No Longer Dead with an inquisitive guest post and an exclusive giveaway.
Hadley and Dominic seem to have it all. Each other. A beautiful little girl named Piper. Endless amounts of time. Fulfilling assignments as spirit guides.
But Piper is not like the rest of them.
What would you risk? What would you give up to secure your loved ones safety?
Fear drives Dom and Hadley to give up everything when they leave Piper behind on the only place the Masters can't go. The Purple Planet.
Piper may look the part, gifted with the soothing tones of lavender, her eyes, hair, even her skin is kissed with a purpled glow, but she's different. She is special. She's alive. Fitting in, in the afterlife, proves to be more than difficult, even after she finds her soul mate, Aiden Hall. He is not only a resident but he runs the bar next door. Just when they reconnect and despite everything Hadley and Dominic gave up, Piper doesn't stay hidden long.
The Masters are back and Piper is taken where she belongs to Pre-Earth.
Attempting and failing at making contact with Piper from the other side, Aiden feels as if there's no other choice but to follow his heart. All the while knowing the risks are great.
Struggling with their reality neither Piper or Aiden remember a thing past waking up. Both feel as if they should remember something. Someone. But what? And who?
Will they end up together once more? Or will they choose to follow an easier path?
About "This Morning I Woke Up Dead" (Pre-Earth #1) :-
Sadly, on her way to work, Hadley is in an accident. Before taking her last breath, she realizes she is already dead - and everyone on Earth is too. Now Hadley and Dominic must each find a way to live without one another. How do they continue when they are two parts of one flame?
Hadley is given permission by the Masters to contact Dominic in the hopes he will also realize he is already dead. If Dominic can open his mind to hear Hadley they can be together forever. Is Dominic ready to give up life the way he knows it?
About "The Beginning of the Dead" (Pre-Earth Prequel) :-
In the Prequel to This Morning I Woke Up Dead, we meet Emerson Morris and her boyfriend Logan; soul mates on their path to forever after. Logan soon learns the secret to Earth and must leave Emerson behind. While Logan is hoping Emerson learns the secret too, he must fight his need to contact her or face the wrath of The Masters.
While Emerson is moving on with her life, her brother Dominic falls in love with Hadley Christensen. Hadley has a special bond with each of her Alzheimer’s patients and soon starts to have a glimpse into The Secret.
She is fighting against this knowledge, but will she succeed?
Find out in “The Beginning of the End”.
About Mindy Larson :-
With a very vivid imagination storytelling came only natural. Often she entertained her younger brothers with evening story tales. Her strong passion for reading and a desire to write her own fairy tales led her to write her first book at the tender age of seven. It remains locked up in a box for safe keeping.
At the age of fourteen she baffled her classmates when she looked forward to her honors English homework rather than heading off to the movies or to canyons with the rest. Mindy often completed twenty page book reports on the day they were assigned and rarely got less than A's on her writing assignments.
She has written dozens of kids’ books, short stories, and many other works “This Morning I Woke Up Dead” is her first published novel. Currently Mindy is working on the sequel and has plans to publish numerous more and to never stop writing.
When Mindy isn't writing she is looking after her four kids, cats, and dog. Being a passionate person her other favorite pastimes include; working out, playing disc golf, cooking, baking, traveling, and exploring.
After a long search, she has finally found her true love and lives happily ever after in South East Idaho with her four kids, two girls and two boys, and the love of her life.
Some very important Links :-
A Guest Post just for you all ....
My first experience publishing
After eight months of pouring my heart into my book, This Morning I Woke Up Dead, I typed the words, The End. The most powerful words I'd ever written. Many emotions overcame me. Joy. Relief. Excitement. I was even a little sad that it was over. I remember, gazing at the words in complete awe. It felt similar to having just had a baby. It took nearly nine months. I fell in love with my book, just as I did with my babies. It was a lot of work. It was painful at times. Knowing my job as as the author was finished, and that I had a responsibility to my beloved characters, Hadley, Dominic, Logan and Emerson, I wanted to share their story with the world.
First of all, you need to know one thing about me, one of my flaws is that I'm impatient. This gets me in trouble from time to time. I'd like to think I've gotten better at 'playing the waiting game' as I've gotten older, but I'd also like to think I don't look a day over twenty five either. Anyhow, in March of 2013, and in my haste to get my book 'out there', I self published. Mistakenly, I never bothered to write a single inquiry letter to an agent or publishing house - until later on and I'll get to that- but first, back to my adventures in self publishing. Head first, I dived right in! I created an account on createspace.com and they walked me through the process. It was super easy. My nine year old could do it. This is one reason why the business I am in is so difficult to be a part of. Its flooded and hard to shine amongst all the others.
Anyone and everyone can now be a published author.
After I created my account, I uploaded my document and it was approved in about 48 hours. All that was left was to do was hit the submit button. It was live within a day. Wow! My story, my words are now out there for the world to see!
What a shame no one knew.
And that no one cared.
I sold one copy the first day and I'm pretty sure it was to my brother! A week went by. Two weeks. Three. And I had only sold two copies. Two!
Somewhere along the line, I joined lots of groups on Goodreads.com. In hopes of getting others to read and review my book, I posted in numerous forums saying I was seeking reviews and in exchange I would send them a copy of my book. Luckily, my title and the premise of my story stood out and people took notice. I met a lot of great people; readers, bloggers, and other authors. Most of the people I met, I'm still friends with today. (Jen being one of them.) From here I did a few book giveaways on Goodreads and gained more exposure. Over 800 people entered to win a signed copy and nearly all of them added it to their reading list. I found out later that it doesn't necessarily mean they will in fact read my book, let alone buy it.
In late April of 2012 I contacted my local radio and news stations and I got spots on their morning shows. If you ever get the chance to be on the news or the radio, I highly recommend it! What a rush! I was also fortunate enough to do a few book signings in my hometown. No one really knew who I was. Most didn't care enough to ask. A few were kind enough to stop and chat with me about my book. All the same I had a blast. By this point in the game, I might have sold in upwards to twenty or thirty books.
The months went on.
And on.
And on.
Besides promoting on my Facebook, Goodreads, twitter, and Pinterest accounts, I was at a loss as to what to do next. I knew I had a good product but what I didn't know was how to get it in the right hands. Not to mention, I was spending more time trying to spread the word than doing what I loved, writing. In the day after my book was finished, I started a sequel but it wasn't getting the attention it deserved. Part of me wanted to throw in the towel. The only thing that kept me going was all the great reviews that kept trickling in. They kept me positive and told me I was on the right path.
Talk about validating!
Another thing I did in my pursuit to becoming noticed, I participated in a lot of Facebook love fest's; I liked others pages and in return they liked mine. It was fun to see the numbers grow from 200 to over 800 in just a few days. And again, I met a lot of people this way. Readers. Authors. Reviewers. Bloggers. And even publishers! Bingo! There it is.
Things changed for me when I liked a new up and coming publishing company, Lavish Publishing LLC. I remember it was a Saturday afternoon and, for whatever reason, I was feeling gutsy. I sent a private message to Lavish; I told her a little about my book. She was intrigued and messaged me back quickly, saying she was interested and wanted to read it! I sent her a copy of my book that minute and by late Sunday night, she emailed me back. She was in love with my vision and wanted to work with me! Little ole' me. Just a stay at home mom, turned author. The feeling was empowering. Thrilling. Exciting. I had no negative emotions about it at all. This is how I knew I was, once again, on the right path.
On November 11th 2013 I signed a contract with Lavish Publishing LLC. It felt great to be a signed author and to no longer be going at things alone. Before my book was re-released, changes were made. Things were revamped. I wrote fifty or so extra pages including a new expanded ending, received a beautiful new cover, a press release was written, a book trailer was made, a virtual book tour was in place, and websites and bloggers were contacted. My reviews, number of fans, and networking circle grew.
So have I hit it big yet? No. Do I just sit back and let my publisher do all the work? No. I still do a lot of marketing and networking on my own. But I no longer do it all alone. Michelle and I are a team. She bounces ideas off of me, and always has new things up her sleeve for us to try. The best part is that I have more time to write. I've learned to do my thing, let things be, and allow things to unfold as they will. My motto is always believe and never give up!
Thanks for reading about my publishing experiences!! Best of luck to you and I hope you'll follow your dreams as well!
Giveaway :-
Giveaway will include $25 Amazon Gift Card and an e-copy of Wake Up!...
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