Author PJ Sharon

Falling into Winter

The leaves are pretty much down now, but man has it been a fabulous fall.
fall scape 2013 The colors, the warmer-than-normal temps, and the slow build up to this weeks first hard frost. My porch plants have finally succumbed to the elements and I’ve had to move them to the compost pile. Sigh….transitions, transitions.

Welcome back to my site, where I blog monthly about what I’m up to in my writing life and where I’ll be hanging out each month. I hope you’ll sign up for my blog over on the right sidebar so you’ll get my monthly updates sent straight to your e-mail. If you’d prefer less frequent updates and mostly just want to know when I’m running a sale, a contest, or have a new release coming out, you can sign up for my newsletter instead, which generally comes out quarterly.

November is one of those transitional months that always leaves me feeling a little sad. It’s the time of year when I lost my mom to brain cancer when I was only sixteen–a sad time in my life for sure. But it’s also the time to say goodbye to warmer weather and usher in the winter wonderland that will be the Berkshires in no time at all. Yes, I’m prepping for a deep freeze this winter.

As much as I want to hibernate, I still have work to do. We’re pretty much winterized already, but I still have a few last minute lawn chores to take care of and gardening preparations to make before the snow flies. It’s time to put on my studded snow tires, put away my kayak rack for the season, and stock up on soups.

On the writing front, I’ve just finished the first draft of PIECES OF LOVE, my contemporary YA romance about sixteen year-old Alexis Hartman who is struggling with the loss of her sister who accidentally overdoses in college. Ali’s wall of denial includes a pot smoking habit that causes trouble with the law and pushes her already fragile mother over the edge. To avoid exiling her to juvenile detention, Ali’s mom sends her to stay with her grandmother in Malibu. But when Ali can’t help herself from being drawn to trouble, Grandma Maddie has other ideas–a Mediterranean cruise–for seniors.

Yes, there is humor, family drama, a sweet romance, and lessons in healing and love that will hopefully stay with you long after you put down the book.

While I’m heading into revisions for PIECES OF LOVE, I’m also participating in NaNoWrimo, National Novel Writing Month, where together with a few hundred thousand other writers, I’m working toward a 50,000 word first draft (or at least a good chunk of the first draft) of the third book in the Chronicles of Lily Carmichael trilogy–as yet unnamed. I’d love any suggestions you may have for a title. My first and second choice, respectively, were RISING TIDE and STORM SURGE, but both are common titles and have recently been used. I’m sure it will come to me as I delve deeper into the story, but if you have suggestions, leave them in the comments section below. It would probably be helpful if you read the blurb for WANING MOON and WESTERN DESERT to get an idea for the tone and theme of the story. As I’m writing the beginning scenes, I’m already having so much fun meeting some new characters and creating adventures with Lily and the gang. I’ll share more as the story unfolds.

Also this month, in honor of Veterans Day, I’m celebrating HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES, a sweet contemporary romance about a seventeen year-old girl who sets out to help a wounded Marine remember how her brother, and his best friend, died in Iraq. Jordie and Alex’s story of friendship, first love, family drama, and discovery will warm your heart and have you rooting for them on every page.

With underlying themes of loyalty, friendship, healing, and redemption, this story ends with a Thanksgiving celebration sure to keep readers warm through even the chilliest of Novembers. If you’re looking for a sweet holiday read for you or someone you love, this one is for you.

Kristan Higgins, NYT and USA Today Bestselling author says,

“Filled with the complex emotions of grief, confusion and first love, HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES is a rich, uplifting story that will touch a reader’s heart.”

4.5 stars on 26 Amazon Customer Reviews

This book has received the IndiePENdents seal of approval for quality Indie fiction.

Heaven is for Heroes 72 dpi 600x900 WEBSITE USE

Available in e-book and print at the following retailers:

AMAZON, B&N, and SMASHWORDS

Also available on audio at AMAZON, Audible, and i-Tunes

Give it as a gift!

Partial proceeds of November’s sales of HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

This is a project near and dear to my heart since my dad was a wounded Veteran. Thank you for your purchase and thanks for helping out wounded Vets. We owe them a great debt of gratitude for their service. Blessings to all who serve in our armed forces!

In keeping with my tradition of the past few years, this Friday, November 8th, I’ll be at the Berkshire Rehabilitation Center in Sandisfield, MA, hanging out with the residents there, most of whom are Veterans. I had the great pleasure of teaching seated yoga classes there for several years and the guys are always happy to have me back to do a reading and sign some books for them. The staff are as hooked on my stories as the residents are, LOL.

So that’s where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing this month.

What are you up to?

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Awesome Indies Halloween Party & Sale

aia_halloween

Watch out! There’s demons, ghouls, ghosts and other nasties on the Awesome Indies website and they’re escaping their books on Halloween to host a party for all the gentle souls from the less frightening stories. The spread is amazing, a smorgasbord of genres, over 40 books on sale at 99c from the 30th of October to the 1st November, plus a fun quiz, a meet the monster day, and a goody-bag of give-aways.

The party starts today with a fun quiz. Click over to the Awesome Indies blog to find out what you didn’t know about Halloween.

The Awesome Indies take the risk out of buying indie. They list only books that meet the same standard as mainstream fiction, so all you have to do it choose what you think you’ll like. You can click here to search through all the excellent books approved by the Awesome Indies, WANING MOON included!

Check out Tahlia Newman’s recent 5 star review of WANING MOON here! You can buy it now for .99 cents and get WESTERN DESERT, book two in the trilogy, for FREE today and tomorrow, October 30-31st only on Amazon.

Click here or on WANING MOON‘s book cover to buy for .99 cents and download WESTERN DESERT NOW for FREE! Please invite your friends by sharing to facebook or twitter. Thanks for coming!

Discounted and Free e-books for Halloween, and a MILLION reads on WATTPAD

Welcome readers and writers who love to read YA!

So lets get to the DISCOUNTED and FREE e-books first.

If you haven’t read Book One in the Chronicles of Lily Carmichael trilogy, WANING MOON, I hope you’ll take advantage of the .99 cent price for Kindle e-book.

Check out the ad on Kindle Books and Tips, and don’t forget to “like” their page.

WANING MOON is now also available for .99 cents on B&N and Smashwords for Nooks, i-pads and other e-reading devices.

Here’s a brief synopsis of Book One in the trilogy, WANING MOON:

In the year 2057, in a post-apocalyptic world where a polar shift threatens the survivors of a widespread pandemic with extinction, sixteen-year-old genetically enhanced Lily Carmichael has more immediate problems. Her uncle is dying of cancer and her healing abilities are ineffective against the blood ties that bind them. In order to find a cure, Lily must leave the protection of her quiet town and journey to the trading city of Albany, all while avoiding the Industry, an agency that would like nothing better than to study and exploit her abilities.

Seventeen-year-old Will Callahan has been searching for his father since severe storms blasted through the Midwest, killing his mother and sister. When he learns that his father may be in the city, he catches a ride with Lily, a girl who has come to his rescue more than once. As the two embark on a dangerous journey, the tension between them grows. But the secrets Will’s keeping could put Lily in far more danger than traveling to the city with him, and if he was any kind of man, he would have told her to run the minute she found him.

Click here to read the latest reviews. You can read the short story prequel to the trilogy which is available for FREE at Smashwords.com or you can read it on Wattpad.

New Beginnings

Hello readers,

I’m glad you stopped by to see what’s up with me and my books. September is always about new beginnings for me. I’ve recently moved my massage office to a new location–always an adventure! And I’ve been diligently working on a new Contemporary YA Romance about a sixteen year-old girl on a Mediterranean cruise with her grandmother. Of course, Ali meets Ethan and it’s all about the preppy boy she can’t seem to stay away from. When her grandmother insists on calling her Lexi, could it be a chance for Ali to become the girl she always wanted to be?

Sunset over the Mediterranean
Yes, there is family drama, and there is a sweet romance. And best of all, you can share in Ali’s journey as she cruises the Mediterranean, visiting such ports as Portofino, Italy; Palermo, Sicily; and Rome. From the Greek Islands to Tunisia, North Africa; and Barcelona, Spain to Dubrovnik, Croatia; you’ll see the sights and walk with Ali as she learns about herself, her family, and what it means to love someone–even when you have to let them go.

Gaudi’s La Familia de Segrada in Barcelona, Spain

The book is called PIECES OF LOVE. I’ll have a cover for you soon! As well as a theme song…written by yours truly.

Don’t worry, though; I haven’t forgotten about book three in the Chronicles of Lily Carmichael trilogy. I’m still doing research, including a trip later this month to Nashville. Then it’s a road trip down to New Orleans to explore the deep south for when Lily has to cross the Southern Swamps to find her way home. I’m also working on the plot–to weave in all those story line threads from WANING MOON and WESTERN DESERT that I left hanging. Being a pantser by nature (someone who writes by the seat of their pants rather than plotting), makes it a little more challenging for me to organize the story and create authentic and accurate details. Make no mistake; writing is HARD work! But I’m on it!

I’m hoping for the release of Book Three of the trilogy (as yet unnamed), in fall of 2014. I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, if you haven’t read Book One, WANING MOON, I hope you’ll take advantage of the .99 cent price for Kindle e-book. It will also be available on B&N and Smashwords later this month.

For now, you can get the short story prequel that’s available for FREE at Smashwords.com or you can read it on Wattpad. SOUL REDEMPTION is about Lily’s thirteen year-old brother, Zeph who must deal with the difficulties of being a teenager with the power of life and death in his touch. It will definitely give you insights into why Lily is so driven to protect her brother in WANING MOON and WESTERN DESERT.

And if you haven’t listened to the audio book version of HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES on i-tunes, audible or Amazon, you should get your copy now. Audio books are easy to download onto any i-phone, i-pad, or android device, and the narrator, Erin Mallon, is phenomenal! She totally does Jordie and Coop justice in her vivid portrayal of this heartwarming contemporary YA romance.

Kristan Higgins, NYT and USA Today bestselling author says,

“Filled with the complex emotions of grief, confusion and first love, HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES is a rich, uplifting story that will touch a reader’s heart.”

Thank you, Kristan Higgins!

On the appearances front, I’ll be signing books at the Granville Harvest Fair in Granville, MA. on October 12-14th. I’ll also be signing at a book fair at the Enfield Public Library in Enfield, CT on November 2, from 10 to noon. I hope you’ll stop by and say hi if you’re in the area!

And because I appreciate you all so much, I would love to give away a signed copy of any one of my back list books to two of my readers. HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES, ON THIN ICE, SAVAGE CINDERELLA, WANING MOON, OR WESTERN DESERT. You choose!

Simply leave a comment as to which of my books you’d like to read, and make sure to include a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. Giveaway ends at midnight September 30th and is open to US residents only.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and blessings–

WESTERN DESERT is finally here!

Hello Friends and Readers!

I’m pleased to announce the release of WESTERN DESERT, Book Two in the Chronicles of Lily Carmichael, a YA dystopian trilogy. If you read Book One, WANING MOON, you’ll be anxious to see what happens with Lily and Will’s (or as I sometimes mistakenly refer to them, as Willy and Lil’s), next adventure. No doubt you are wondering how they will fare against the Industry and its malevolent leader Malevich. If you’re anything like me, you’ll also want to see how their relationship evolves and read about some of their steamier moments. Ah…teen love. You’ll likely be looking forward to hearing about Sam, Nora, and Maggie again, and even Lily’s annoyingly pretty best friend, Garnet and those pesky Johnson brothers. And you’ll definitely want to know what’s up with Lily’s younger brother Zeph (you can read his story, SOUL REDEMPTION, for FREE on Wattpad or download a FREE copy from Smashwords any time). Don’t forget about those lovable wolves, Bo and Pappy. They will reappear in books two and three.

Here’s a hint of what you’ll find in Book Two.

WESTERN DESERT takes off where WANING MOON ends. Genetically enhanced sixteen-year-old Lily Carmichael, and seventeen-year-old Will Callahan embark on a journey across a sun-ravaged and decimated U.S. in the year 2057, bound for the Western Desert on a dangerous rescue mission. The survivors they meet along the way put Lily’s healing abilities to the test and challenge Will’s resolve to find his missing father—no matter the cost. But even with the burden of life and death on their shoulders, and the Industry hot on their trail, the greatest challenge they face is trusting their hearts to each other.

Buy Links: AMAZON BN Smashwords

If you haven’t read WANING MOON yet, what the heck are you waiting for? It so happens that you can get it for .99 cents on Amazon. I hope you’ll enjoy the story and fall in love alongside my characters as they journey into danger and a brave new world.

In the year 2057, in a post-apocalyptic world where three quarters of the population has been wiped out by a global pandemic, and a polar shift threatens the remainder of earth’s inhabitants, sixteen-year-old genetically altered teen, Lily Carmichael, faces bigger challenges—escape capture by a rogue government agency, save her family, and avoid falling in love.

Don’t forget, you can read SAVAGE CINDERELLA in its entirety on Wattpad for the next few months. Since it has been a featured story there, it has had almost a quarter of a million reads!

Also, HEAVEN IS FOR HEROES is now available on Audio book through Amazon, Audible, or i-tunes. If you love audio books, why not sign up for an Audible.com membership so you can get all your favorite audio books at discounted prices!

I guess that’s about it for news, other than the following…

Here’s where you can find me this month:

July 6th and 7th, I’ll be signing books with some other local authors at the Fourth of July Celebration in Enfield, CT. I’ll be there from 10-4 on Saturday, and 11:30-5 on Sunday. If you are in the area, the event is one of Enfield’s highlights every year. Fabulous food, fun, and fireworks! We’ll be on the town green on Enfield Street (Route 5) which is exit 48 off of I-91.

July 17-21, I’ll be at the RWA National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m always excited about this yearly conference. It’s a time to get together with my writing tribes, take some fantastic workshops, and celebrate the successes of my peers in the writing community through the Rita and Golden heart Awards. Not to mention all the cool parties, the opportunity to dress in something other than yoga pants, and the chance to meet some amazing industry professionals. I’ll be tweeting from the conference using the hashtag #RWA2013, so you’ll get the latest updates about who’s who and who’s wearing what.

While I’ll be busy schmoozing with readers and writers this month, I’ll also be starting work on Book Three in the trilogy (as yet unnamed), and trying to squeeze in some time for kayaking and hiking with my wonderful, handsome, and patient husband. Have I mentioned lately how much I love that man? He really is a blessing and a gift, without whom, I would know nothing about love and romance.

See you guys on the Green in Enfield or maybe even in Atlanta!

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