Prejudice - RJ Scott blog hop

2nd April is World Autism Awareness Day. I joined RJ Scott in her blog hop for the whole month of April to raise awareness for it. Many other authors have done the same, and you can find a list of the other blogs further down.

Here is a fact about autism that I wanted to share: If one identical twin is diagnosed with autism, the other twin has about 90% chance of develop an autistic disorder.

Autism isn't much I personally know about, so I will use this month to follow the blogs to learn more about it. However, I would like to take a moment to talk about prejudice, specifically about prejudice faced in every day life. I am sure everyone has come across some form of it (at work or at school, or because you can't neatly fit into the pigeon hole everyone wants to push you into).

Personally, I've been told many times I'm too strong a personality. It's hilarious, really. Apparently, I am too straight forward, I dare to tell people if I think they are talking bullshit, and this offends them. So, I'm the bad guy. I also a hide a huge part of myself because I know most might not react favorable to it. I also am a huge geek. Growing up, I always felt there was something wrong with me because I liked Star Trek and Doctor Who. I also never liked to play with dolls. I preferred to climb trees and swim in lakes. Apparently, not proper girl behavior.

Overall, I've been lucky. I know this. What I've learned (took years, moving across an ocean, coming back home only to move across a smaller ocean etc...) is that you need to stay true to yourself. Sure, sometimes you might have to make small adjustments, but overall, you should stay true to who you are...because if you don't like yourself, then no one else will. I know it has been said many times over but the statement is still true: it's their loss, not yours.

What are your experiences with prejudice? With any kind of it? And what are your suggestions of dealing with it? What tips can you give?

One of my books, Darkest Hour, deals with prejudice in a roundabout way. Basically, our hero's coming out ends in tragedy, and when he tries the second time around, it might just as well go all to hell. I thought it would be fitting to offer up this book to a lucky winner.



But I don't want to be just bleak (LOL). I've just finished my Watchtower Series, so I am also offering another lucky winner a book from the series. If you're interested in legends, snark/talking cats, warlocks, kings and old myths come to life, then I'm sure you might just have as much fun with the series as I had in writing it.



Anyway, how to enter? Simple. If you would like to be considered, just leave a comment below with your E-mail address so that I can get in touch with you.

Anyway, I am looking forward to all your comments, and please don't forget to check out all the other blogs this month too!
Here is the list of other authors who have joined the blog hop. Please take a moment and visit their blogs for facts, discussions, and I am sure great giveaways.

Siren Song, WT 5

 The time is finally here. The last in the Watchtower Series - book 5 - has been released TODAY! I am not ruling out revisiting this world of mine at a later stage (namely in the book called The King Who Lived), but for now, this is it!

I hope you will join me for the final ride, see how it all ends! This is Rafe's story. A story about an end and a new beginning.

Join me in learning more about Rafe, his family, and his long forgotten heritage!

SIREN SONG, WT 5 - out now!

Purchase LINK.

Icelands, Watchtower Series #4

ICELANDS, Watchtower Series book 4 is now available for pre-order.

It will be released on 18 January 2013. Pre-order HERE.

Welcome to a hell of a different kind: Icelands. The future hangs in the balance; one sacrifice is required to save them all. The question though is: will saving the future be worth the cost of losing someone you love?


Aidan races against time to find the last Watchtower to complete the circle, only to figure out that it doesn’t end there. In order to fire up the walls of protection, one sacrifice needs to be made to safe them all. But is losing someone you love really worth the outcome? One love is needed to safe them all and doom one of them to a life of misery, struggling to find new meaning in life. Does the end really justify the means, even in a matter of the heart?

From the elegant towers of Dinas to the unyielding Cursed Lands into a hell of different kind where everything is white and cold to touch—the race is on. The only question remaining is: Will they succeed? Or will they vanish into an icy hell never to be seen or heard from again?

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

Week 25: THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP

There are the books everyone has heard about: Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Gray. But what about all those books written by people you've never heard of? Some of them are treasures, just waiting to be found, and that's what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, but that you might end up loving.


This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags five other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag five more authors! If you follow the blog hop long enough, you're bound to find some books you'll love! Maybe you even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.


I was tagged by Caitlin Ricci. You can learn more about her by visiting her awesome website (HERE).


This blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author's current work in progress, so here's a little info about my current project:




1: What is the working title of your book?
Well, I am working actually on two. They are the conclusion to my Watchtower Series called Icelands and Siren Song.


2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
Icelands is the end of one particular story line, started in Over the Rainbow and carried on throughout the first three books. Where did that idea come from? I wanted our heroes to try and overcome the prophecy, I wanted to try and think they have suceeded...only to figure out that prophecy has a way of coming true regardless of what you do...guess that makes me mean...

For Siren Song, I couldn't resist the siren mythos...I have always thoughts sirens were just a brilliant idea and I wanted to use the idea for a long time but didn't know where to put them. Then I added dragons in the mix, a broken hero, his true destiny (mate) and a long forgotten family legacy...I just couldn't help myself.



3: What genre does your book fall under?
M/M for both of them...plus the books fall into the scifi/fantasy category...including romance and happy endings because regardless of how much angst I put into the stories, I am a romantic at heart and I don't write anything without a happy ending.


4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Errr...I don't know? That's a tough one because finding an actor that matches exactly the image I have in my head is next to impossible...I am always in awe when they make a film out of a book and actually find an actor where you go: yes, it's him! (or her!).


5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Icelands: trading one hell for a different kind.
Siren Song: Going home should come with warning labels since you never know what you might find!


6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
Due to personal reasons, the Watchtower Series is no longer available throught the publisher I was with for the first three books. I thought about finding a different publisher for either the series or for the remaining two unpublished books, but then I decided against it. Every new publisher would edit the stories to their liking, which is their right, but I like the stories as they are. With only two more books to go, I decided to make all availble as self-published. 

Icelands will be published as promised in January. I am currently in talks to get a brilliant cover for it. Once that is done, it will be live. Siren Song should be available earlier than the original date, which was scheduled for April, but I am not sure exactly when. The other 3 titles are already available on amazon and allromance. More details are on my website (HERE).


7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
For the first book in the series, Over the Rainbow? All it took was to look at her. She is Belze, the talking cat in my stories. About a week later, the first story was done.

Siren Song took a bit longer since I had to find the perfect headspace for a seasoned warrior. This story will be the story of Raphael, King James' trusted friend and leader of his knights. It was fun, but took about a month to have it sort of ready for editing.



8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Hm...One day I would love to write books as good as some of my favourite authors but I am nowhere near their genius. So I'd rather not mention them...I don't want you to go and compare me to them! LOL.


9: Who or What inspired you to write this book?
See cute cat above! She is real...(or was, poor thing vanished) but I swear to you, she was talking too! She was the snowball which started the whole thing!


10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I always think readers might get just as excited about me when reading about a world where magic is real, where dragons roam freely and where there are cute wolf shifters to be had. Plus, travelling among the stars, portals to distant worlds, isn't it fun when magic and science is combined?

Happy Reading!

Here are the authors I am going to tag for week 26, starting on 19 December (sorry, I know there should be five but I only found two):


Lexi Ander: HERE.


Casey Holloway: HERE.

Watchtower Series

Over the Rainbow, WT#1 is now back for purchase at amazon and allromance.com.

Missing: Prophesized warlock to the King. Has anyone seen him? Please contact your nearest guard station if you do find him.

Aidan never knew he could do magic until a cat dared him to have sex. His life truly must be tragic if even felines knew he was too pathetic to find someone to share his bed with. Unfortunately for him, the cat turned out to be his familiar leading him not only to his First Time but also to King James who in turn refuses to let Aidan slip through his fingers again.

For there is a prophecy: James can only truly unit the lands and bring prosperity to all if he has his trusted warlock by his side. Roping Aidan into coming home with him wasn’t the happily ever after everyone had expected. Instead, it set in motion a chain of events which would lead both Aidan and James further away from home than they could have ever imagined.

Purchase links:

AMAZON
All Romance 

Over the Moon, WT#2 is now back for purchase at amazon and allromance.com.

In Over The Rainbow, Aidan discovered the ancient Watchtowers. His discovery ignited a race against time to have them restored before the first Watchtower’s dire warnings come true. There is an enemy lurking out there in the distant shadows and only the long forgotten protection those towers can provide, can save them all.

But will he be able to unravel the mystery in time? Will the first meeting between King James and Prince Alric go off without a hitch or will they, on top of everything else, also have to deal with strife on their home shores?

And why does Aidan keep on stumbling over Moon references? Everywhere he goes, the bloody moon pops up, almost as if something, some unknown force, is sending him a message but surely this can’t be right…for the moon is nothing but a distant rock in the sky and surely they have no means of getting there…right?

Purchase links:

AMAZON
All Romance

Out of the (Werewolf) Closet, WT#3 is now back for purchase at amazon and allromance.com.

Waking up collared to his worst enemy wasn't the most horrific thing that happened to Rick: waking up to an impending forced marriage was. And as if this wasn't bad enough, he couldn't deny that underneath all the anger, he was actually attracted to Tom, King of bloody everything and enemy to his people since the dawn of days. And yet, Tom's bumbling efforts to get closer to him, his puppy dog eyes and surprising honesty are slowly winning him over. But travelling to the cursed land where no one outside Tom's Clan had set foot on in centuries was only the start of their adventure.

Betrayal from within and his promise to Aidan to investigate the ancient magic of the Watchtowers, make Rick's life more than just interesting but even in his wildest dreams, he couldn't have anticipated where his search would lead him.

CONTENT ADVISORY: This title contains elements of dubious consent.

Purchase links:

AMAZON
All Romance

Watchtower Series - back this weekend

The Watchtower Series will be back up for purchase this weekend.

So if you are looking for a copy, you won't have to wait for much longer! More coming soon!

Watchtower Series

Watchtower Series - temporarily taken down

But don't worry, the series will be back shortly with new purchase links including all titles.

This includes:

Over the Rainbow
Over the Moon
Out of the (Werewolf) Closet
Icelands
Siren Song

I will keep you updated once everything is back - watch this space!

Out of the (Werewolf) Closet: Review

Out of the (Werewolf) Closet received an excellent review by Jymbo at top2bottomsreviews:

Author: Anna Marie May
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Pages: 195
Characters: Prince Alric, Prince Tomas
POV: 3rd Person
Sub-Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Werewolves
Kisses: 5+

Blurb:

A marriage to his people’s worst enemy is only the start of Rick’s troubles. Ancient magic rears its ugly head, and his promise to Aidan, to find the third Watchtower, puts him right in the middle of an oncoming storm.

Waking up collared to his enemy isn’t the worst thing that happened to Rick–waking up to an impending forced marriage is. Yet, he can’t deny that underneath the anger he is attracted to Tom, King of bloody everything and enemy to Rick’s people.

Tom’s bumbling efforts to get closer to him, his puppy dog eyes, and surprising honesty are slowly winning Rick over. But travelling to the cursed land where no one outside Tom’s clan has set foot in centuries is only the start of their adventure.

Betrayal from within and his investigation into the ancient magic of the Watchtowers make Rick’s life more than interesting. But even he can’t anticipate where his search will lead him.

CONTENT ADVISORY: This title contains elements of dubious consent.

Review:

Alric is the Prince of Lantea, a country comprising of a peninsula jutting from the much larger country of Allin, which is ruled by Prince Tomas. Allin and Lantea have been at odds for a few generations and Prince Tomas has been obsessed with Prince Alric since they first met in college. Prince Alric is captured by Tomas who convinces Alric’s father to consent to his son’s marriage to the Prince of Allin and an adventure steeped in mystery, suspense and intrigue follows. The ceremony is set and the vows exchanged. But one of them is harboring a secret. In fact, both Princes are harboring secrets that they themselves don’t even know about.

Anna Marie May will take you on a delightfully entertaining adventure in a land deep in history, legend and lore. Her uncanny ability to solve one problem while simultaneously creating even more mystery will both amaze and amuse you. Her attention to detail informs the reader without being distracting or boring and her characterizations are highly descriptive without being tedious. Her scene descriptions allow the reader to walk with her characters side by side.

This is the 3rd book in the Watchtower Series and although it will stand on its own, I recommend reading the previous books first as it will add to the mystery and intrigue that the author carries from book to book. However, if you choose to read this story first, you will still be highly entertained.

The Watchtower Series in order are: 

“Over The Rainbow”, “Over The Moon”, “Out Of The Werewolf Closet” and coming soon, “Icelands”.

Reviewed By: Jymbo

Purchase Link: HERE.