Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "jaleta-clegg"

Cutting The Fat, the novella that I co-wrote with author Jason McIntyre is now available to purchase at Amazon!

The book, which was originally an impromptu online novella, written online at BestsellerBound, is about Nestor Maronski, a book reviewer who writes scathing reviews of self-published books. 'Cutting The Fat' is a sometimes gruesome, sometimes humourous, compelling thriller about a plot to kill Nestor Maronski.

The character, Nestor Maronski, can be found on Twitter: Nestor Maronski -- Twitter and also on Facebook: Nestor Maronski -- Facebook

Some of the members of BestsellerBound.com also featured spoof interviews with some of the characters from 'Cutting The Fat' on their blogs. You can read those here:

Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick: The Tale's The Thing

The Secret Writer

Jaleta CleggThe Far Edge of Normal

Darcia Helle A Word Please

Susan Helene Gottfried West of Mars

The ebook of Cutting The Fat also features some bonus material:

An Excerpt from Thalo Blue a novel by Jason McIntyre
The short story 'Only Time Can divide Us' from my latest short story collection, Fusion.

Jason and I are due to be interviewed about the book on author Darcia Helle's blog and she will be giving away an exclusive 'Nestor Maronski Must Die' t-shirt and some pdf copies of the book. More news on that soon.

Here's a link to Amazon, where you can purchase the book on kindle for just $0.99/£0.71

Amazon UK

< a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cutting-The-Fat... US

As most of you already know, I am a resident author at http://www.bestsellerbound.com a wonderful forum for readers and writers dedicated to bringing you the best in indie fiction.

We are very proud to announce that the first BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology is now published!



It's free to download from Smashwords in any format you choose.

Here's the link you need: BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology on Smashwords

It includes an exclusive new short story by me, 'Flames', which you won't find in any of my currently published collections.

The themes in the Anthology include: romance, mystery, fantasy, wizards, witches, music, torture

It's a very diverse collection sure to contain a story or two that you'll fall in love with whatever your taste. So, click the link and download your free copy, and don't forget to tell all your friends about it.

Here's a list of the story titles and authors:

Wish Upon A Star by Lainey Bancroft

Tears For Hesh by J. Michael Radcliffe

You Can Call Me Ari by Darcia Helle

Flames by Maria Savva

Minor Details by Jaleta Clegg

Ice Cream Man by Neil Schiller

No Eyes But Mine Shall See by Sharon E. Cathcart

The First Texas Twister by Magnolia Belle

Shadow Lantern by Gareth Lewis

Stained by Amy Saunders

We hope you'll enjoy the stories, please do let us know what you think!

Happy reading :)

Bestseller Bound Anthology by Darcia Helle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One of my short stories is featured in this collection, 'Flames'. My review does not include that story.



This is a diverse collection of stories, there's something for everyone in this anthology.



Wish Upon A Star by Lainey Bancroft

An insightful tale about a gifted singer who falls prey to the ravages of fame. Lainey is an author who understands the human psyche well.



Tears For Hesh by J. Michael Radcliffe

An entertaining fantasy tale, containing wizards, magic, curses, and spells. Hesh is a likeable character and I felt compassion for him. Well written with a tragic twist.



You Can Call Me Ari by Darcia Helle

A chilling, suspense story to keep you on the edge of your seat. By far the most vivid story in the collection. The descriptive quality of the writing pulls the reader in. Fans of Darcia's writing can be assured that even though this is just a short story it is just as scary as her novels!



Minor Details by Jaleta Clegg

A humourous tale about two teenage girls, one of whom can't spell. This leads to an unfortunate turn of events (or, fortunate, depending on how you look at it!) A fun read.



Ice Cream Man by Neil Schiller

Having read and enjoyed Neil's collection of short stories Oblivious, I was not disappointed by this story. It contains the same moody feel as much of his writing. It is in essence a poignant story of disappointment.



No Eyes But Mine Shall See by Sharon E. Cathcart

Sharon Cathcart sets the scene well in this heartbreaking story of a love denied. I liked the descriptive quality of the writing. Much of the story is written in the form of a letter that will never be read, making it all the more heartrending.



The First Texas Twister by Magnolia Belle

A fun and entertaining tale about how the Wild West collided with Native American culture to create the first tornado.



Shadow Lantern by Gareth Lewis

An interesting concept. A short story told entirely through dialogue with no narrative. At first, I didn't think it would work, and must admit to being a bit confused as to which character was speaking at times. By the end, however, I found myself entertained by this fantasy tale.



Stained by Amy Saunders

I hadn't read any of Amy's work before this short story, but now I will be seeking out more of her writing. I was very impressed by the way the author deals with the main character's emotions after a traumatic event. The tale is enthralling and the ending is moving. All believable characters.



All in all, this is a great collection and a wonderful way to introduce readers to some very talented independent authors.



View all my reviews

As many of you know, I am a resident author at BestsellerBound.com. Following the success of The first Bestseller Bound Anthology, Darcia Helle has put together a further collection of stories, chosen from those submitted by BestsellerBound.com, members.

The BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology - Volume 2, features my new short story 'Isolation'.

You can download the collection free of charge from Smashwords.com

Here is the list of titles and authors:

1. What Was Lost by James Sophi
2. The Art of Breathing by Jaime McDougall
3. Soul Windows by Jaleta Clegg
4. I Didn't Know His Name by Darcia Helle
5. Red Route by James Everington
6. Make A Wish by Susan Helene Gottfried
7. The Last Chance Motel and Mausoleum by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
8. Isolation by Maria Savva
9. Beyond The Green Hills by Tom Gahan
10. From Joy We Come, Unto Joy We Return by Ami Blackwelder

I have read the collection, and I really enjoyed the stories. Like the last collection, there are many different genres, but somehow this collection seemed to be almost themed because many of the stories delve deep into the human psyche and there are some very powerful tales.

The BestsellerBound Anthologies, Volumes 1 & 2 are now both FREE on Amazon Kindle!

Get your copies by clicking the links below:

Volume 1 on Amazon US

Volume 2 on Amazon US

Volume 1 on Amazon UK

Volume 2 is still priced at 86p on Amazon UK, but we are hopeful it will be available free in the near future. UK readers can download a free kindle version from Smashwords.com

Here are the list of contents:

Volume 1:
Wish Upon A Star by Lainey Bancroft
Tears For Hesh by J. Michael Radcliffe
You Can Call Me Ari by Darcia Helle
Flames by Maria Savva
Minor Details by Jaleta Clegg
Ice Cream Man by Neil Schiller
No Eyes But Mine Shall See by Sharon E. Cathcart
The First Texas Twister by Magnolia Belle
Shadow Lantern by Gareth Lewis
Stained by Amy Saunders

Volume 2:
1. What Was Lost by James Sophi
2. The Art of Breathing by Jaime McDougall
3. Soul Windows by Jaleta Clegg
4. I Didn't Know His Name by Darcia Helle
5. Red Route by James Everington
6. Make A Wish by Susan Helene Gottfried
7. The Last Chance Motel and Mausoleum by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
8. Isolation by Maria Savva
9. Beyond The Green Hills by Tom Gahan
10. From Joy We Come, Unto Joy We Return by Ami Blackwelder

Last year, Darcia Helle, Stacy Juba, and I, launched the message board BestsellerBound

In one year we gave accomplished so much that looking back on it, it's quite astounding. Here are just a few of our joint projects/successes that show what an awesome place it is:

1. Towards the end of last year we launched the BsB Cutting Edge campaign to try to get Darcia Helle's book The Cutting Edge to #1 in the Amazon kindle charts. We managed to get the book into the top 100, and were invited to The Indie Book Collective (IBC) to take part in a radio show talking about the campaign. Our original campaign inspired IBC to run their own series of campaigns to get indie authors into the top 100. I have noticed other websites doing a similar thing. BestsellerBound was the first website to do this; it's great to know that others are following our lead.

2. At the end of last year, Jason McIntyre and I wrote the online novella, Cutting The Fat, which started off as an online exercise in writing a novel together as a team and ended up as a successful book, now available on kindle.

3. One of our top members, Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick, put together the BsB Annual Sample Anthologies, including chapters from members' novels, and short stories. It's free to download and is very popular across the globe, this helps to spread the word about our members' books to all corners of the world

Here's a link to a Youtube video, made by one of our multi-talented members Magnolia Belle, introducing the anthologies:

You Tube trailer

4. We have published two short story anthologies containing top quality fiction in all genres from our members. Both volumes are available to download free at Amazon on kindle. Both are very popular having entered the top 100 downloads!

Bestseller Bound Anthology
BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology Volume 2





5. We were a top 10 finisher in the Preditors and Editors poll 2010 for best writers' discussion forum! (We came 4th! Not bad for a forum that had only been running for 2-3 months at that time!)



BestsellerBound continues to grow, with more members joining each month. We really do seem to attract the cream of the crop of indie authors.

We have also attracted quite a few readers of independent books, and they are valued members. We would love it if more readers would join, as our original intention was to create a forum where indie writers could chat to their readers. We're a bit top-heavy with authors at the moment. This is not necessarily a bad thing as most authors also love reading. But if you're just a reader and not a writer and wondered whether you could join, please do! We would love to welcome you.

As we are now celebrating our 1st Anniversary, we decided it would be nice to have a blog hop where we give away some prizes donated by our members. Here is a list of what you could win:

1. 1 coupon code for a free ebook copy of The Dream, my latest novel, from Smashwords.





2. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for free ebook copy of any one title by Darcia Helle.





3. The Choice by Sydney S. Song from Smashwords giving free e-book coupon.





4. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for free ebook copy of Echo Falls by Jaime McDougall.





5. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for free ebook copy of any one title by Gareth Lewis.





6. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for free ebook copy of The Other Room by James Everington





7. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for free ebook copy of any one title by Susan Helene Gottfried





8. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for free ebook copy of Nexus Point by Jaleta Clegg





9. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for a free eBook copy of "2010 Hindsight: A Year of Personal Growth, In Spite of Myself," by Sharon E. Cathcart





10. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for a free eBook copy of "Caraliza" and also "Breathing into Stone" by Joel Kirkpatrick







11. 1 free hardbound, signed copy of Joel's secret 5th novel, shipped the week it is released.

12. 1 coupon code from Smashwords for a free eBook copy of 'Sink or Swim' by Stacy Juba.






Over the next few days, there will be more promotional blog posts about this competition. I'll try to keep you updated here.

If you want the chance to enter to win a prize, please leave a comment here or in one of the other blog posts relating to the competition. At the end of the blog hop, all the entries will be counted and put into a hat.

The Rules:
1. These are adult books. Please know that by entering this contest, you are agreeing that you are 16 years old or older.

2. You can enter more than once if you leave a comment on each blog hop post!

3. Deadline for entries is September 17th at midnight!

4. Winners will be picked at random on the 17th and announced at the participating blogs. Good luck!

At BestsellerBound we are all about finding talented indie writers and promoting their work. So far we have produced three short story anthologies and there is another on the way. We're currently collecting stories for Volume 4, so if you're an indie writer who hasn't signed up as a member yet, where have you been? I know, too busy writing, okay, but that's still no excuse ;)
If you'd like to be part of BestsellerBound, our friendly and fun community of writers (and readers -- we mustn't forget them as we would be nothing without them), please join us. The sign up process is easy, we do have to verify your email address as we get so many spammers trying to sign up every day. A word of warning -- if you have an unusual email address, you may need to contact me or the site creator, Darcia Helle, to let us know you're going to apply for membership, or we may reject your application. We get lots of weird and wonderfully named spam email addresses trying to get onto our site each day. We'll probably reject you if your email address looks strange.

Now for the latest news. I'm very excited to announce that the third BestsellerBound Anthology has just been published! At the moment it's FREE to download from Smashwords

Here's a list of the stories and authors who appear in this volume:

Winter Blues by Maria Savva
Skins by Jess C. Scott
Whisperer by Jaleta Clegg
The Wars Within by Jaime McDougall
The Old Bookshop by Julie Elizabeth Powell
Scale of a Dragon by J. Michael Radcliffe
Counting Blessings Along the Horseshoe Canyon by Sharon E. Cathcart
Eve & Ian’s New Love Life by Cynthia Meyers-Hanson
Laundry Day by Stacy Juba
The Day the Lights Went Out by Cliff Ball

We're also trying to make it free on Amazon. The way Amazon works is that it won't let authors who upload books onto the site sell them free; the lowest price we can choose is $0.99. So, our third Anthology is currently $0.99 on Amazon US and 86p on Amazon UK

In the coming weeks it will also be available free at B&N. We will keep trying to get the book to be available free on Amazon, and I'll announce that when it happens. In the meantime, if you have a Kindle ereader, you can download your free copy from Smashwords!

I'm currently reading Volume 3 and I'm really enjoying the variety of stories. I hope you will all enjoy the collection, and if you haven't tried the other two volumes, they are also free to download on Smashwords, B&N and Amazon. We want to get as much exposure for our members' stories as possible and help readers to find new authors, so we will always be offering these anthologies free.

Happy Reading!

Christmas was in December, right? Well, come the end of this month, one lucky book addict will be thinking it's Christmas again when he or she wins 17 books in the BestsellerBound Book Bonanza!

10 authors, all members of BestsellerBound (including me), have donated books to the giveaway. Here's what's on offer:

[image error]

All books will be signed print copies.

Yes, all these books could be yours! To enter, all you have to do is click on the link below which will take you to Darcia Helle's website, and fill in the form. It's an international competition open to anyone aged 16 and over.

The contest closes on 29th February 2012.
BestsellerBoundBookBonanza

There can only be one lucky winner! Good luck everyone!

It's Read an e-book Week between 4th and 10th March 2012.

Smashwords.com is celebrating with a promotion where authors can offer their books free. It's a great opportunity for readers to discover new authors.

I'm participating in the promotion by offering my novel, Second Chances , free. To get a free copy, go here: Second Chances, and use the code RE100 at the checkout!




As many of you already know, my short story collection, Pieces of a Rainbow, is also available free on Smashwords. To get your copy, go here: Pieces of a Rainbow. You don't need to use a code for this book as I am keeping this one free for a while.



There are lots of authors participating in this promotion. Many of my fellow BestsellerBound authors are offering free books. Here are links to their free book pages:

His Story by Cynthia Meyers Hanson
The GNAW Project by Cynthia Meyers Hanson

Stoneweaver by Gareth Lewis
Street of Lost Gods by Gareth Lewis

Caraliza by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
Harmony's Passing by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick
Breathing Into Stone by Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick


Recall! Return of the IRR by Doug DePew


ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes (Year 1) by Susan Helene Gottfried


ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes (Year 2) by Susan Helene Gottfried


Mannequin by Susan Helene Gottfried


Nexus Point by Jaleta Clegg

All of Sharon Cathcart's books are available free: Sharon Cathcart

Quiet Fury by Darcia Helle

The First Kill by Darcia Helle

Enemies and Playmates by Darcia Helle

And, remember, the BestsellerBound Anthologies are all available free:

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3


So, when you get a spare minute, pop over to Smashwords... you never know, you might find a new favourite author!

Happy Reading!

This month a few BestsellerBound members have got together to offer some free signed print copies of their books.

Up for grabs is a copy of my novel, Second Chances, along with 7 other books:








There are 2 packages of 4 books to be won! For your chance to win one of the prize packages, follow this link: http://quietfurybooks.com/contests.html

Good luck!