Mary Ting's Crossroad Event!

I'd like to welcome my friend Mary Ting to I Hear Voices and help her show off her gorgeous new covers for her Crossroads Series! 

It's finally time!!

We are so excited to share the BRAND NEW covers to author Mary Ting's young adult series CROSSROADS SAGA.

Every day this week (March 24th - 28th) we will be revealing the covers to each novel in the series. The series has gotten a complete makeover. I love the new covers and think they fit the story perfectly!

Not only will we be revealing the covers, but we also have a little teaser from each book. Oh, and a game for you all to play along. ;)

Each teaser will be missing a word. You have to guess that word correctly on each reveal, and at the end you could win a $25 gift card or a signed copy of CROSSROADS.

So, are you ready? Check out book one, CROSSROADS below. Let us know what you think of the cover!

Check out the FULL COVER....

Protecting her from the fallen was his duty.
Falling in love was never part of his plan.
Loving her was forbidden.
Being with her was all that mattered, even if it meant he would be exiled for all eternity.

Claudia Emerson's life is about to change when her good friend, who coincidentally shares the same first and last name, dies in a tragic accident. Distraught at the loss of her friend, Claudia's dreams become tumultuous, and through them she mysteriously travels to another world called Crossroads. There, she unexpectedly meets Michael, a nephilim--half angel, half human. Now that she's been there, fallen and demons are after her, suspecting she must be special, and it is up to Michael and the other nephilim to protect her. Her dream becomes a nightmare as more secrets are revealed about who she really is, and the true identities of the people she loves most.

PRAISE FOR CROSSROADS...

"Crossroads contains action, twists and romance that has you flipping through the pages so fast that you're at the end and ready for more before you know it." - Gabby, Nashville Young Adult Fiction Examiner/What's Beyond Forks

"Crossroads is an exciting debut book with a rich paranormal mythology, unique angel-lore, forbidden romance, action, suspense and plot twists. With her detailed writing and a plot that flow wells, Mary created a world I enjoyed visiting, and a story that was hard to put down." - Katie with Mundie Moms

Amazon † UK Amazon † Barnes and Noble

REMEMBER TO LOOK FOR THE BLANK SPACE FOR THE MISSING WORD. 

YOU CAN GUESS THE WORD ON THE RAFFLECOPTER BELOW.

“After I became your guardian angel, I never wanted to leave your sight. I wanted to protect you and keep you safe. If I were a mere human, I couldn’t do that. I found my purpose.” He paused, setting his eyes deeply into mine. “If I had to die to save you, I would. I would do it in a _________. Life isn’t worth living, unless you have someone worth dying for.”

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!

Everyday while this giveaway is running we will be adding extra entries to the rafflecopter. :) 

Make sure to check back to see all the covers, collect each word, and enter daily! 

Please read the TERMS & CONDITIONS at the bottom of the rafflecopter before entering.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mary Ting resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children’s chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.

Website † Facebook † GoodReads † Twitter † Instagram † Pinterest 

Mary Ting is also a featured author at Chapter by Chapter Book Rave happening in NY on September 20th! 100+ authors will be signing! There will be YA BOWLING, BILLIARDS PARTY, and more!

Tickets available today! www.cbcevent.com

In Search of the Perfect Title

Yeah, it's that time... time to title a book. Usually I don't have a problem. Before this particular book, Wolf Spell was the hardest one, but it wasn't THIS hard. My new christian fiction I am writing under Rose Morgan is an amazing book. You know how people say that things are skin deep? Yeah, well, this book is soul deep. Truly. I'm not just saying this. SO, every title I think of doesn't do it justice.
I've done all the tricks in the book, and even some that weren't. I've written down every noun, verb, adjective I can think of that describes the book or how the book makes me feel. I've gone through the words thinking maybe a certain phrase would stand out but nothing. I've bugged my best friends probably so much that they are sick of titles too. So what to do?

Well, tomorrow I'm going to hash it out yet again with a new ear, someone who hasn't heard my endless ideas of titles (yes I have MANY written down) and will see what we can come up with.
So this got me thinking. What do you think of titles? Whether you are an author or just a reader, what makes a title stand out to you? What draws you in? What about the title makes you want to read a book? I'm not talking cover, just title. What are things that you hate or despise about titles? I totally want both viewpoints so chime in and leave a comment!

Update: AND... HOLY MOLY.... As I was finishing this post it hit me! Like a ton of bricks and a thousand butterflies in my stomach. The title has been with me all along, but I never saw it until I wrote this post. But YES, I still want your comments! I just thought you'd like to know! :) I'll be revealing the title now very soon!

Botox on Books!

Hahaha okay, well, maybe not Botox, but an up lift/makeover for sure! The Wolf Trilogy is a favorite for so many people, but to those who haven't read them get hesitant not because the covers weren't awesome, because they were, but because they didn't look as "old". Many times I was emailed about how someone read Wolf Spell but only because someone told them it was awesome, but they were nervous because the cover made them think it was for middle school. After so many of these emails it got me thinking. How many people were bypassing this awesome (NOT middle school) book because they thought it was too young? After a lot of contemplation, the decision came.... It was time for a makeover to give the story the covers it deserved. Here are the old covers:


What is your opinion? Did they remind you of Middle School? The Wolf Trilogy is Older/Mature Young Adult, ages 16+, but not middle school, so finding the happy medium isn't as easy as it sounds lol.
So, without further blabbing by me... here are the NEW COVERS for Wolf Spell and Wolf Dream. Wolf Fate's cover will be released soon and the book is expected to release early summer 2014! I hope you'll comment and let me know what you think of the new covers :)

Wolf Spell 

Flirting with boys and hanging out with her best friend pretty much sums up Esmerelda’s life, but it’s all about to change. At eighteen, the toughest decision she should have to make is whether or not to go to college, not helping her dad pick out a casket for her mother. But, it’s not until wounds heal instantly and flowers bloom in front of her eyes that she begins to question her sanity. 

Nothing. Absolutely nothing, could prepare her for being kidnapped and flown out of the country, only to find out her kidnapper is a warlock. Sanity? At this point she is sure either hers or his is gone. Magic isn’t real, it’s in stories and fairy tales parents tell little kids. Or is it? But there’s more, much more… her blood is the secret gift bestowed by five dead witches and there is one warlock who’ll stop at nothing to get it. To end the curse to his power and save herself, she must awaken the witches from their graves. Shouldn’t be hard, right? 

With life as Esmerelda knew it officially over, it isn’t until she meets Ian that she starts to feel normal again. He’s all the eye candy plus a Guardian wrapped up in one hot package. But, the feelings she has for him aren’t welcome because they make her forget the danger she’s in. And forgetting could mean her death. 

Amazon 

B&N

iTunes

Wolf Dream

Even at his weakest, Esmerelda’s enemy has the upper hand, he has control over her dreams. What she doesn’t know is that he has also made a deal with the Death Keeper—her life for his soul. Even those who are close to her are becoming suspects when her life is the one at stake, and the only one she can trust is the guy who holds her heart—Ian. 

Fighting to stay awake so Nicholas can’t find her in sleep, Esmerelda and Ian prepare for the battle that will finish this war. One of them must die for her nightmares to end - unless the Death Keeper, with plans of his own for Esmerelda’s soul, gets to her first. 

Amazon

B&N

Saying Goodbye

So since I already stated that this blog was going to be whatever I wanted and how I wanted, I am choosing tonight to have this be a personal blog post. A way of remembering and a way of letting myself grieve. This morning one of my very best friends passed away. There are three women in this world who I love enough to not only call my best friend, but also my sister, and she is one of them. So this post is for her. Forgive the tears as I type through blurry eyes... Julie wasn't just a friend, like I said, she was more like my sister. Her passing has taken me by the heart and pulled me under.

(Julie and I at my wedding. She was my maid of honor)

When I first met her, I was a new mom to my third child by 5 days. She was the amazing photographer who took his newborn pictures. Sometime during that session a friendship started. I was a single mom at the time and when my pictures came in, I looked no where near ready for an interview but asked about a job she had open, and she hired me right then and there. My first look into this woman's amazing life was looking at her as my boss. She was amazing and taught me everything about photography and then I was able to go with her to SLC and learn even more until I got my photography cert. Working side by side, we became best friends. Our road trips were epic every time we traveled for work and watching someone light themselves on fire by accident is one memory we laughed about and I will still giggle every time.

(Julie and I laughing at my wedding)

 I promise if you had been there you'd be laughing too. All we could do is laugh and yell "you're on fire!" It helped that the person we laughed at was with us. Annnd... it helped that it was the funniest accident we ever saw and that she didn't get hurt. Like at all. Not a single burned hair or stitch of clothing. We aren't mean, mind you. If she had been in any danger laughing would have came later, like at the hotel.
Julie was always there for me, no matter what. Our closeness was something that was stitched tighter than the wrangler patch on a good looking cowboy's tight jeans. Her feisty attitude and strong will, make her passing even harder to understand - or bear. She was so beautiful... So vibrant... So alive. I just saw her. I just talked to her. Her voice is still clear in my head. I see these pictures and just can't wrap my head around the fact that she's gone, because she's not. She's still here, with me, in my head, in these pictures, in my heart. Nothing can take her or the epic memories I have of her away. We've been through so much together. So much laughter, so many tears. Life is better when you have a friend like her to go through all the crazy stuff with.

The last time I saw her she was just coming out of it from heart surgery on Monday. She gripped my hand and told me she loved me. I told her she did good, because she did. She made it through. I might be hitting the anger part of my grief because I am so frustrated. She was fine yesterday.
I'm not sure I am ready to say goodbye. I'm not sure I will ever be ready. But, I am grateful you are bearing with me and letting me get this small bit out. Because the world is missing one of the most beautiful souls tonight, and I miss her so much. And since I can't bear to really say those parting words, I'm gonna say goodnight. Goodnight, Julie.