I need your vote... please vote.

Hello all,

Two blog posts in one day? I guess I'm finally getting active on social media, at least for today 😁.

Anyway, I have a huge request for you all... once again, I need your votes.

So, it's that time of the year again... the time to hunt for the 50 Best Indie Books of the year. My baby's book "Mama, It's Me!" has been nominated. Could you help me vote, and help my baby bag this one? The book is the first of its kind... a story of the before-life.

To vote, please visit: http://www.readfree.ly/50-best-indie-books-2018/ and click on "Others" as the category. Scroll to the bottom of the page and tick the 4th option "Mama, It's Me!"

(I believe there's also a direct link to the page here: http://www.readfree.ly/vote-50-best-indie-books-2018/)

The good thing is that, you don't have to have read the book to vote, but if you want to read it, I can gift you an e-copy. Would you like that? If yes, please vote, and let me know that you have voted via email (laybels at g mail dot com), and I will reply with a copy of the book. Alternatively, you can ask for a different book to read if you prefer.

Voting is open until the 3rd of December 2018, so you have until that time to ask for one of my books to read after voting.

Thank you so much in advance for voting and accepting to be a part of my success story.

Literarily Yours,
CMO.

Newest Active Member - International Thriller Writers

Hi readers,

#Greetings #HappySaturday #TGIS #GoodNews

Say hello to the newest Active Member of the International Thriller Writers - ITW... ME!

Okay, I'm five days old, as my membership was granted on the 19th of November 2018.

No one knows what this means to me to officially be an Active Member of the organization, to learn, share and give back, and most especially, to be able to contribute to literacy and to the improvement of reading culture the best way I can.

Why is this important to me? Well, because I was turned down in 2013, LOL.

In November 2013, I self-published my first novel (The XIth Hour, Psychological Thriller/Suspense) and short story (Closed Door, Mystery/Suspense). This was before I developed "Closed Door" into a Novella, and a series (Angela Hunter Series). I was new to the self-publishing world, so I wanted to participate in events, become an active member in several organizations for writers, and just improve on my writing.

I came across ITW, as I had only written thrillers at the time, and I sent in an application to join the organization. I also sent in my novel and short story for the International Thriller Award, but I wasn't considered because I wasn't a member. In fact, they asked me which of my books qualified me for membership. The answer was none. So I didn't follow up on that.

For my request to become an active member, I was told that ITW was new to accepting self-published authors, but they would review my application and get back to me.

Fast forward three months, on February 2014, I received feedback on my application. After review by the board, I wasn't granted membership. The board asked me to consider re-applying for active membership when I become a bit more established in the self-publishing world. To be honest, I didn't remember reading that email after I closed it, but I saved it in a folder.

When I was about to create a new folder for ITW five days ago, I came across the old folder and read the rejection email again. I smiled, because now I know that I'm a lot more established in the self-publishing world, and even better, as I got a publishing deal with "Black Rose Writing" for my upcoming novel titled "When It's Murder."

Thanks to BRW, as my publisher and for giving my book a chance, I was able to join ITW.

Back then, five years ago, I had only one published novel and one published short story, but today, I have six novels (with the seventh to be published on 14 March 2019), five novellas (with the sixth to be published on 14 December 2018) and six short stories... and many more others to come.

I'm looking forward to an amazing experience with ITW, and I'll be bringing you updates on the publishing progress of "When It's Murder."

Literarily Yours,
CMO.

Book Review: 30/30: Short Stories On Love, Life And Other Such Nonsense

Book description:

A collection of short stories discussing love, life, loneliness, culture, sexism, the human condition, sex and other such interesting topics.

***

Fantastic storytelling and writing in this collection of short stories. I loved the author’s play of words, the dialogue used, and the topics he wrote about. I liked the titles of the stories, and also liked that some stories were sequels to other stories. In the short but infrequent time I spent reading the book, I knew each character, so when their names came up again, I got excited to know what more they were up to.

The first short story “Lady In Waiting: A Tale Of Loneliness” was a nice one, and had a few twists in the just few pages that it had. I read it twice because I enjoyed it.

New Book, Cover Reveal and Preview: All That Glitters

Hello readers,

I hope you all are doing great, because I’m also doing great. In fact, I have some great news...

My novella, which was a top 5 finalist in the Quramo Writer’s Prize 2018 is coming soon... actually, it’s coming exactly one month from today, on 14th December 2018. I can't wait to share the story with you all.

While waiting, I have three other interesting things to share with you: the book cover. the book description, and a preview to wet your reading appetite.

So first off, the cover...

Drum roll...

More drum roll...

Okay, enough of the suspense, here goes:

Book Review: Once

Book Description:

Once is the story of a young Jewish boy who is determined to escape the orphanage he lives in to save his Jewish parents from the Nazis in the occupied Poland of the Second World War.

Everybody deserves to have something good in their life. At least Once.

Once I escaped from an orphanage to find Mum and Dad.

Once I saved a girl called Zelda from a burning house.

Once I made a Nazi with a toothache laugh.

My name is Felix. This is my story.

***

“Once” is a historical fiction novel by Australian author Morris Gleitzman.

I read this book with my nephew to help him develop a reading culture, and I’m glad I did.

Although it was a bitter-sweet story, it was fantastically delivered from the point of view of a young boy, Felix. We don’t know how old he is, but it would have satisfied me to know.

Felix is a Jewish kid living in an orphanage in Poland, an arrangement his parents have made to keep him safe from the Nazis. After more than 3 years there, Felix escapes in search of his parents. He manages to locate his house and his parents’ bookshop, but his parents are nowhere to be found. In fact, another family has taken over their home and bookshop, and they threaten to hand him over to the Nazis. He escapes and is advised by an old man to leave immediately. He should never have returned. He is now on the run, for reasons unknown to him, still with the goal of finding his parents.

Happy National Authors Day!

 Hello,

#Thursday #NewMonth #November #1st #2018

This post is to all the amazing authors out there.

It's our day today; our day to celebrate; our day to be proud of who we are and where we are.

Let's celebrate:
our limitless imagination,
our ideas,
our creativity,
our talent,
our skills,
our hard work,
our drive,
our sleepless nights,
our addiction to coffee,
our overworked fingers,
our ever-active brains,
our tired eyes,
our pain,
our joy,
our feeling of fulfillment,
our achievement,
our supportive families,
our supportive friends,
our editors,
our designers,
our publishers,
our reviewers,
our author buddies,
our books,
and any other thing or person we want to celebrate.

To all aspiring authors... you can do it. You can complete your book, don't kill that wonderful idea. Ask for help, if needed. Get a writing buddy. Reach out to authors who write the same genre as you. Someone out there wants to read your masterpiece.

Thanks to all the booksellers, offline and online, that sell our books, and all the media companies that recognise and promote the books.

Finally, thanks to all the fantastic readers, who actually make this day happen each year by reading our books and providing feedback, whether positive or negative, there's always something to gain from a review.

#Happy #Thankful #AuthorsDay #NationalAuthorsDay

Literarily Yours,
CMO.