The Ad by @ElleQuinnCage

It's here! The book that will melt your panties off and leave you in a heap. If you aren't into girly romance novels, you should probably stop reading right now, the contents of this posting are 18+ in nature. ;)


Here is my review of Elle Quinn Cage's debut novel, potential spoilers ahead! (I won't give away anything tooooooo major. promise, but just in case I'll put the links up here.)

US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NZ6MALS

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NZ6MALS?*Version*=1&*entries*=0
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Whenever I read a book in order to beta or give a review, I always always read it twice. Once for enjoyment and once to take notes. Both times I completed it in a matter of hours because it is just too good to put down.

Here is the book blurb: Parker Stratton is a below-average Joe when it comes to talking to women. 

He sees an unusual personal ad from a woman who trains men to become better daters, and replies out of idle curiosity. 

Little does he know he will decide to go through with the plan, and he learns far more than he realized he would. 

As Jess tries to remain passive and emotionally distant, he becomes more obsessed with who she is and why she lives the life she does. 

When they accidentally stumble upon each other in "real life" being impersonal is no longer an option. 

He comes to learn that she is not all she seems to be, there is far more to her story than he ever expected.
Some of the elements I enjoyed the most were as follows:

I LOVED the male point-of-view the story is told in. You don't see this a lot with romance and when you do it is rarely believable. Parker tells his story and he tells it like a guy would tell it. The character he plays fits the voice of the story.

No one is a virgin. Let's get real here, this happens all the time in romance novels, however it is very, very rare in the real world. I like that this book takes place in the real world.

SURPRISES GALORE. dude. seriously. I tend to think I can predict everything and I did NOT see some of this stuff coming. Like, at all.

Taboo issues. Cage touches on some pretty taboo points without making it scream activism or anything like that, once again, the book takes place in the real world. I love when I can see messages in romance novels especially.


The characters in this book are believable. They are flawed but also have amazing points. They make mistakes. The chemistry between Parker and Tessa is beyond beautiful. The way the plot unfolds is genius, she keeps you hooked to the very end. This book has everything from romance to drama to sadness to crime and even a guy in a tinfoil hat! I highly recommend this for any romance novel lovers! And it is a STEAL at only .99 USD.

Check it out and if you love it as much as I do, share it with your friends and help out a budding author! :)

Free book Saturdays!!

Hello!!

Reed sold exceptionally well over the weekend so I have decided to do 2 more back to back Saturdays to get Reed free! This Saturday and next, Reed will  be available for a free download across the globe on the Kindle Marketplace.

I would like to thank all of you people for its amazing success so far. It has only been out for three months and has sold far more than I ever expected! This is thanks to all the many people who have pimped me out on social media, read, and left me amazing reviews. I love you all and I sure hope you keep doing what you're doing. I owe you for making my dreams come true.

Here are your links!

US:  http://goo.gl/8Ldcfi 
UK: http://goo.gl/7RclA0 

Please share/tweet/facebook/pimp this out as much as possible because I would love to give as many away as possible!

Thanks again!

Free Ebook!

Reed has been updated with a fresh new cover and will be free this weekend (July 19th & 20th). Please be sure to download it and share the information with all of your friends/social networks. Thank you!

Links:

U.S. http://goo.gl/8Ldcfi

U.K. http://goo.gl/7RclA0

The Challenge Update

Hello!

I told you all a while back about my 30 in 30 every month challenge, in which I challenged myself to write 30k words a month for 12 months straight. I am happy to update that I am still on track and finished the first draft of another novel this month! I am hoping to finish one more but of course inspiration has struck and that means I am also starting another. I hope I can at least try to finish one a month if I am also going to be starting one a month (or sometimes two).

What am I working on?

A fantasy

A Sci-Fi

A couple of very different romances, though all fairly mild (Think more Nick Sparks and less E.L. James)

Some are stand-alones

Some have sequels

I've also dabbled in the idea of a sort-of sequel to Reed (purchase the first here: http://goo.gl/8Ldcfi) in which you would see the main characters about 3 years later and what is going on in their lives, and would change to a Sam-focused POV. Not everyone would be in it, and I would write it so they could be read together or separately. I would love to have some feedback on this idea, I will probably write it regardless, but I don't want to go through the work of publishing if no one wants to read it, you know?

Keep encouraging me (I need it!) and thank you to all the people who are always giving me support and helping me be brave enough to talk about this huge part of me which has remained a hidden one for too long.

Book blogging.

Hello all!
I would like to start doing 2-3 book reviews per month. I will be doing them on a simple 1-5 star basis and my reviews will be spoiler-free. I will also do some author interviews for willing participants with 4-5 star ratings. If you would like me to review your book (or know someone who would) please contact me via G+ (see widget above) or on Twitter (@AlleySaltz).

Genres I like (though am not limited to) are:

Romance
drama
fantasy
chick lit
sci fi
self help
historical fiction
various nonfiction.

I DO NOT read Horror, that's the only one that is all out. I will consider any other book/genre but this one. Please send me a brief description along with the length of your book and if it is a series and I will contact you to let you know if I am in.

Thanks & please pass it on! :)

June adventures; Beta reading

Just stopping by for an update on my progress.

June has been one of the most difficult months since I set my goal. For one of the first times in my life, I had serious writer's block for over a week.

I did everything I could think of to kill it, but it just wasn't happening, and I was at a transitional point in all 3 of my works-in-progress. (yes, THREE)

This was pretty much me:

I did things I don't normally have time for, like...clean...and cook healthy meals...

I finally DID get over it, thankfully, and am caught up on my word count-- for now, but I did order some "performance-enhancing drugs" AKA some ENVISION essential oil this month just to keep the juices flowing, just in case, because:

In other news, Elle Quinn Cage (Find her on Twitter @ElleQuinnCage) is writing a romance novel, and I have been privileged with the honor of beta reading/editing it for her.
She's hoping to release by September (which happens to be when I am also hoping to release Make a Wish) and I just have to hyper her a little bit here.

If you like steamy romance, this book has it. Thick plot? check. Twists & surprises? Double check.

This is not your cliche, dark broody man is fixed by the girl next door kind of story, but is a completely different take.

It has far more realistic elements than many other romance novels I've read, which I love because it helps you get lost in the story more easily.

I am probably giving away too much, but anyway, I will be giving a full review in September when it's released, but stay tuned because this baby is going to be good!!

Also, if you or someone you know is a BETA READER or a BOOK BLOGGER, feel free to contact either me or Elle if you would be interested in reading/reviewing our upcoming works. Mine is a (non-erotic) romance, Elle's is a steamy romance, and both are ready for their beta phase!

360 in 365

With the turn of the year January 1st, I did something I had never done before; I made a New Year's resolution.

I have set goals in the past but I rarely do resolutions since most people break them by valentine's day anyway.

So my resolution was simply this: to write more.

When I was a kid and all through high school I wrote all the time, and when I went to college I planned to major in English and become a writer. Life happened, however and with that, I stopped writing. I went through a solid five year writing drought where the only things I wrote were for assignments.

I missed it though, and I decided 2014 was the year of Alley, since 14 has always been my favorite number.

I wrote in January, started Reed, and eventually finished it in early February. When I realized what I was capable of, I decided to better define my resolution to "write more."

I joined a small facebook group collaboration called 30 in 30, whose goal is to write 30k words in 30 days, three times a year. This is similar to the goal of Nanowrimo to write 50k words in the month of November. Instead of only doing it a few months out of the year, though, I decided to really push myself and try to do 30 in 30 every month of 2014.

This is month six, and, in case you are wondering, blog posts don't count. If I am successful, I will write 360,000 words this year. Keep in mind, 30k is only the minimum quota for the month, and if I finish early, I keep writing. I ended off May with a whopping 56,333.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because, my friends, I need your encouragement. I know there will be moments when I lose steam or feel like giving up, and I have the sinking feeling about 3 days out of the month that I am complete and utter rubbish, wanting to scrap everything I have ever written and taking Reed off the market.
I need encouragers, you see.

The second reason is, I need Beta Readers! I am averaging a novel every 2-3 months and need people to read, proofread, and give me constructive feed back!
If you would be interested in helping in this capacity, contact me via Twitter @AlleySaltz or on G+

I know I am not the best writer, but I want to continue to grow and get better, and the more I write, the more I get sucked into the magical worlds I can create with my words.

Thank you for reading.

Alley

T minus one week

Ok Y'all it is only 1 week until the big release of my book.

I got the go-ahead from copyright, I have reviewed what the book will look like on different platforms, chosen my desired marketing approaches, am at the end of my author interviews for the other bloggers who are helping me out, the cover is done and set on, and the text has been picked through with a fine tooth comb.

I can't say I am not nervous, because I really am. In spite of that though I have this horrible feeling it is going to do really well. I know, this should be a good thing, but I cannot shake it and what if I'm wrong?

I guess now it is just a game of wait and see. In the mean time, what can you do to help?

1. From April 18th on, please use hashtag #readreed to help it trend
2. Post on facebook, tweet, text, and talk about Reed to your friends. Once the info is out there hopefully it will spread, help me get it out there! If you have a blog, blog about it and let me know, I will share it on my twitter/etc.
3. Leave a positive review. Of course you have to like it to do this, this one can also be translated as don't leave a negative review. follow the "if you can't say something nice" rule here. Its not that I am afraid of criticism, its just that bad reviews early in the game can make or break a book. If its not everyone's cup of tea (which I know it won't be) that is totally fine.
4. Buy it. Yeah, that would help. It will be starting at 2.99. That's less than most people pay for their morning coffee.
5. Pray for me. This would also be appreciated. Or send positive thoughts, or whatever it is you do.

Thank you so much for your continued love & support!! See you all again with a link April 18th!

I need bloggers!

Hello!

I am currently seeking book review bloggers to review/talk about my book which is being released next month. You will receive a free digital copy of the book and I ask you state the release date (Most of the people I have so far will be publishing their post on the release date) and a link to the book on the Kindle store.

It is a romantic/crime/drama type book so if this isn't the sort of thing you typically read, this is probably not for you.

Feel free to message/email/comment/call/text/tweet/carrier pigeon/smoke signal me if you are interested. The more followers you have the better, and the further you are from Michigan the better also!

Thanks!

Update:

Copyright process for the book has begun and once it is through we can set/announce an official release date. This will likely be sometime in March or early April since we are releasing electronically to start off and all the major editing is done. We are declaring May 20 as the official "Read Reed" day. We are asking everyone to use hashtag #ReadReed to help promote the book. It would be very appreciated!
Thanks loves <3

I'm alive!!

Hello all,
I am so sorry I have been absent. I need to find an afternoon to type out some posts and schedule them. I have been very busy with a few projects;

1. Darcy turned 2! Hooray! We are planning a little home party with her for family and a couple of her friends from the nursery.

2. We are working on the studio! We have been cleaning and prepping to paint the basement as well as getting my props and equipment organized for my studio!

3. The best I saved for last-- I WROTE A BOOK! Yes, that was a big project. I have a publishing company, am working with an editor (though I am doing the actual editing myself with guidance) and am meeting with someone later this week who will be designing the cover! If all goes according to plan it will be available around the world in ebook format by the spring!
I really hope you will buy it, just because that would be super cool.

Thank you all for your continued support for my writing and artistic career!