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#IWSG Writing Research
Holla, writers! Good to see you for the Insecure Writers Support Group started by Alex J Cavanaugh.
Join us HERE to share insecurities, worries, tips, and celebrations.
Let’s talk research. How do you research unfamiliar topics to increase the authenticity of your writing?
My WIP Spiked (Blocked #3) has two main characters:
* Mateo is a music performance major with diabetes
* Jessica is an art major on the varsity swim team
I have part lungs, part gills after swimming all my life, so I’m good with that aspect of the story. But I know very little about the intricacies of music, art, and diabetes.
Thank goodness for Professor Google. For this story, I’ve consulted the inter webs for ideas about college curriculums, acoustic guitars, and the Secret Service. Of course there’s a lot of crap on the internet, but I try to verify information with two or three sites.
Human capital is awesome for research, too. Lovely reader Nelly Guajardo guides me with the diabetes aspects and my kickbutt crit partner Nicki Elson helps me as well.
How do you research?
Happy writing!
New Release: LOST and FOUND by @Maria_Savva #ShortStory #Collection
I love Maria’s short story collections. Check out my REVIEW for Fusion.
What makes us betray a loved one?
Can isolation lead to irrational behaviour?
Why do other people’s lives always look more appealing?
Ordinary people living ordinary lives, torn apart by regret, remorse, and deceit. We’re all stumbling through life together. This collection of stories shows you the Lost and Found among us.
It will also be available in paperback soon.
Find Maria!
Website: Maria Savva – Official Site
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Author-Maria-Savva-171466979781/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Maria_Savva
Keep Calm and Hop On Blog Hop #Giveaway #KeepCalmHopOn
Time for the Keep Calm and Hop On Giveaway Hop hosted by The Kids Did It and The Mommy Island.
In addition to a $10 Amazon gift card, I’m giving away two ebooks of my college volleyball romance series BLOCKED. Who loves volleyball? I think it’s an awesome sport.
To enter, complete the Rafflecopter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hop over to these blogs to win more stuff!
#IWSG Balancing Writing with the Day Job
Happy February Insecure Writer’s Support Group!
IWSG is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh. Join us HERE.
How’s your writing? I’ve been making good progress on book three in my college sports romance series Blocked. Too bad I came to a standstill due to a psychology conference I’ve attended the past few days.
Check out the gorgeous Montana mountains where I’ve learned more about psychology and interacted with lovely colleagues.
Book Spotlight: Thirst by @RPChanning #YA #Paranormal #Romance
Thirst: Blood of my Blood
Spotlight
240+ Pages
WITH BEAUTIFUL PHOTOGRAPHS
~ Kira Sutherland ~
~ Cory Rand ~
Genres:
Buy Links
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018M5GTLI
Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B018M5GTLI
$20 Amazon Gift Voucher Giveaway
Author Bio
Author Links
http://blog.rpchanning.com
#NA #Sports #Romance DEBT by @RachelDAuthor #SALE only $.99
Over 400 Pages
Standalone Novel
New-Adult Romance / Sports Romance

Expected Release Date:March 2016
The Debt Collector
Kyla Hensley
New-Adult Romance
Sports Romance
Links:
Rachel Dunning hit the scene in August 2013 and is the author of the highly praised Naive Mistakes Series, Truthful Lies Trilogy, Johnny Series and the paranormal romance series, Mind Games.
Get Rachel’s Newsletter
You can sign up here:
http://www.rdunning.com/p/non-spammy-news.html
Blog / Website: http://www.rdunning.com
Facebook: http://bit.ly/RachelDunning
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachelDAuthor
Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/racheldunning
Barnes and Nobel: http://bit.ly/RachelDunningBN
iTunes: http://bit.ly/RachelDunningiTunes
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/racheldunning
Cover Reveal: Abandoned by @ElisaDane #YoungAdult #Romance

Abandoned
Elisa Dane
Published by: Swoon Romance
Publication date: February 15th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
My name is Tierra Owens, and I like to kiss. A lot. It numbs the hollow ache in my chest and—for a few minutes—makes me forget how truly alone I am. My mother is an alcoholic. She hates me and insists I’m the reason she’s not married to my father, whom I have never met. My best friend, Kaylee, is the only person who knows the real me. Everyone else sees what I want them to: a happy, confident, popular girl who has the world at her feet.
I am a fraud.
Relationships are forbidden. I avoid them at all costs. Sex? Emotions? Those things make a person vulnerable, and vulnerability always leads to heartbreak. When my childhood crush, Mattie shows up at school my world tumbles off its axis. The shell I surround myself with feels more like a pathetic crutch than a protective barrier, and I find myself wanting things. Daydreaming about what it would be like to have a boyfriend, a relationship—love.
The sad fact is: I’ll never have any of those things. I am unworthy—trash. Which is why my mom abandoned me.
Author Bio:
ELISA DANE is a self-proclaimed book junkie. A lover of handbags, chocolate, and reality television, she’s a proud mother to three All- Star cheerleaders. Writing is her absolute passion, and it’s her mission to create stories that will not only take you on a romantic journey that will warm your heart, but help you find a new respect and interest in the sport of All-Star cheerleading.
Elisa is no stranger to the publishing world. She writes steamy paranormal romance under her real name, Lisa Sanchez. Her adult works include the Hanford Park series (Eve Of Samhain, Pleasures Untold, and Faythe Reclaimed), Obsessed (an erotic suspense), and a paranormal novella, Cursing Athena. Elisa lives in Northern California with her husband, three daughters, and a feisty Chihuahua who stubbornly believes she’s human.
#SALE Spanish Nights by Valerie Twombly @FangedFantasy
A Jinn’s Seduction, Book 1
by Author Valerie Twombly
Print Length: 150 pages
Publication Date: September 24, 2014
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1NDQbSX
AllRomance: http://bit.ly/1Pi5EE4
Begin A Jinn’s Seduction now for only 99 Cents.
Book 2: Sultry Nights – coming March 7
in the Shades of Desire 2: Sexier by the Dozen box set.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1SDfG8p
B&N: http://bit.ly/1HjSlWj
iBooks: http://apple.co/1YnRfgt
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1N24ICy
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1SSN60a
ARe: http://bit.ly/21bNtce

#IWSG: Extrovert Writer Seeks Social Interaction
Time for the first 2016 Insecure Writers Support Group, the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. Join us HERE. Because it’s a party every month!
We often stereotype writers as introverts–off alone typing their stories. But not all writers are solitary souls. Read about the benefits of both styles for writers HERE.
I’m more extroverted according to this brief, free version of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. (Check out your personality styles HERE.) I talk to people all day long in my day job as a psychologist. I never intended to become a solitary writer…until I found the social world of fan fiction.
In 2007 I was struggling in my psychologist job and came across the TV show Prison Break. The dark themes and conspiracies mirrored the darkness in my career at the time. I binge watched season one, then found a fan forum as I searched for season two episodes I’d missed. One section on the forum was for fan fiction. “What the hell’s fan fiction?” I thought. “What losers are writing stories about the TV characters?”
You guessed it–soon I joined the ranks of losers and started writing my own fan fiction. My early writing sucked, but readers were so encouraging. Every time I posted a chapter online, readers would comment and cheerlead.
Fast forward 9 years and I’ve published six novels. Without fan fiction, writing and publishing can be a lonely venture for this extrovert. Thank goodness for:
1) my critique partner Nicki Elson. I send her one chapter at a time, just like my fan fiction days
2) the wonderful writers I’ve met through Insecure Writers Support Group
3) the amazing readers I’ve met in person and online
Another social writing outlet is writing challenges where writers see how many words they can complete in an allotted time. One Facebook Author Sprint group I’ve joined is HERE.
What about you? If you’re an introvert, how do you handle social media marketing and book signings? If you’re an extrovert, how do you find more social outlets? Or are you more of a flexible ambivert?






















