Finally a Sequel

Last year, in March, Amy and I released our first self published book, Tristen and the Magic Shop.  It's a Middle Grade story that was written more for our kids than anything.  As I think we've told you before, they really took an interest in the writing process and the stories we were telling, unfortunately they were too adult for them.  So, to amend the issue we wrote about Tristen.

Well the book was fun to write and the outcome was exactly what we had hoped for, our children enjoyed being able to read something we wrote.  Now, as of Saturday, we are gladly able to say that they are able to read yet another adventure for Tristen, Tristen and the Whining of the Wind.

I am debating on whether we should have another Book Release Blog Party - would anybody be interested?  If so, we can have one later this week or the start of next week.  We could consider this the soft open to the grand opening.

I guess that after looking back from March of 2010 to now and thinking about the way that life is sculpting itself to be, I guess things really do happen for a reason.  I am thankful for all of the friends we have made along the way on the beginning of our writing journey and can't wait to meet the ones that are yet to come.  Thank you for being a part of our lives, our writing, and teaching us so much.  Each of you has inspired us in your own way to keep doing this.

How would we know what a smooth ride feels like, if we've never gone down a bumpy road?

Internet Bookfair Blogfest, M.A. Leslie

Before we go into too much detail about our two books out there, we just wanted to take a minute and thank all of the authors that came to join us today.  Thank you for being in the blogfest and to all the visitors out there who are just checking it out, thanks for stopping in.  We hope that you visit all of the authors and books on the list.  Maybe you will find your next favorite book.

Now on to the festivities.  For any of you that haven't read our bio, we are a married writing team from south Jersey.  We got into writing together, because we found writing separately only led to a huge pile of unfinished work.  Instead of giving up, we joined forces and have completed 2 novels; one for the 8 and up group (Including adults) and the other for a more mature reader.

The first book we self published through Amazon.com was TRISTEN & THE MAGIC SHOP.

Eleven-year-old Tristen Parker's whole life is changing faster then he can keep up with. Within a matter of months his father was deployed overseas with the military and his mother moved him out of his beloved city and to the small town she grew up in. If those changes weren't enough, he had one other major one that came with them, he just found out he is a magical druid.

After discovering his abilities in a hidden magic shop, behind an alley, his life goes on a whirlwind of spell casting and potion brewing. Unfortunately, all of the magic in the world can't help if you’re being picked on, unless you use it.

With the help of the shop owner, Tristen casts a spell to stop the bullies that were picking on him, but he soon realizes it may have been a mistake. Will he be able to stop the curse that he started or will it spread through his school like a virus before he can get it under control?

So far we have received a few reviews on Goodreads and a few on Amazon.  As like all authors, we are still looking for more input and would love, if you do read it, that you tell us what you think. 

Tristen & the Magic Shop is the first of a series of books, with the second in process and expected to have a winter release under the title Tristen & the Whining of the Wind.

Tristen is available as an EBook through Amazon and B&N for $2.99.  Also, it is available as a Paperback for $8.99 through Amazon.  If your interested in our magical story and you want to know what happens when you mix a druid's stone and a glass of water, you might want to click on of the above links.


The second book that we self published through Amazon is LIBERTY.

Liberty Sytes has spent her entire life trying to forget her mother’s schizophrenic episodes, the fear on her mother’s face and the paranoia that would broadcast in her eyes.

However, while standing on the Wildwood Boardwalk, as a part-time class two cop, she begins to remember. Not because of sadness or longing for her mother, but because suddenly she feels the paranoia of being watched.

Unfortunately, the feeling of being watched turns to blacking out and then the blacking out leads to the sights of murder. Libbi is forced to prove her own innocence and sanity after being found directly in the center of a gruesome murder scene.

Will her own new found secrets, if told, prove her innocence or seal her guilt? She remembers one thing, from watching her mother, that it may be best to leave some secrets untold.
Liberty, our paranormal thriller, has also received a few reviews.  There are a few on Goodreads and one on Amazon.  Liberty is also the first of a few paranormal thrillers, but it is yet to be determined if they will be direct sequels or not.  It's one of those things you have to read to know what we mean.  Either way, if you like to wonder what's going to happen as you turn the page and enjoy a thriller spiked with some romance, give it a shot.

Liberty is available as an EBook from Amazon and B&N for only 99cents.  Also, Liberty is available in Paperback form for $9.99.

Thanks for taking a minute to read about our two books and for joining us on this blogfest.  We hope everyone is enjoying themselves and getting the word out about their books.  Don't forget to follow the link below and read about more books by other authors in the Blogfest!

Tristen Giveaway!!!

WIN A COPY OF TRISTEN & THE MAGIC SHOP!

Now with the help of Goodreads.com, we were able to set up a Tristen & the Magic Shop giveaway.  If you are interested in winning one of the five copies up for grabs, then click the link below and enter to win!!!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Tristen & the Magic Shop

by M.A. Leslie

Giveaway ends August 31, 2011.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Tristen & the Whining of the Wind

TRISTEN & THE WHINING OF THE WIND

Book two

M. A. Leslie

With the changes and trials that Tristen Parker had faced in becoming a druid, he thought he could handle anything.  He had his magic and his best friend Brody, what else could a boy need?

But when the St Patrick’s Day festival comes around, he finds that life isn’t as certain as he thought.  New Shannon is in party mode and just about every imaginable fun event is taking place, jugglers, bards, games, relay races, and much more.

However, as the festival progresses a strange sound echoes through the wind.  And, the only way he could describe it was whining.  At first he thinks nothing of it, but as the days go by and whining gets louder, he starts to worry.

Strangely as the whining increases, so do the violent tendencies of his classmates.  Fights break out and kids that were once friends are throwing punches.

Again, Tristen realizes it is up to him to find out the source and stop the infection of evil that is encasing his town.

School Q&A

Today we went for our very first Q&A session at a school and it was amazing.  I really had no idea what to expect or what to do, but it turned out fine.

We were introduced to the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders at our kid's school and even though we knew some of them it was unnerving.

To start, we had the 5th and 6th grade classes together and we started by reading to them.  They sat silently until we finished and then we opened up to some questions, which were amazing.  Then we did the 4th grade and finally the 3rd grade, which is our son's class.

Every one of the kids that asked a question, which was most of them, made our lives easier.  They were interested in every facet of writing and what is entailed in the journey.  They asked questions about the book itself and also wanted to know about the sequel.  There wasn't a kid in the place that didn't have an interesting and sometimes difficult question to answer.

My personal favorite question of the day was, "How old do you have to be to start writing a book and get it published?"  To that we said, "There is no age limit, if you have an idea that you want to write, then write it and never think you are too old or young."

Even though we started the day with intense nausea and anxiety, now that it is done I can say it was amazing.  Thank you to the kids at CTC, your questions were amazing.  See some of the example questions at www.facebook.com/tristenmagicshop.

M. Social Networking

Social networking is such a spiderweb of tasks and a person can get easily distracted.  I know that I have work to do and writing to do, but there is so much interesting writing out there to read.  I just want to cut through all of it and read.

Then I catch up on the news and before I know it, I lost more time.  Then of course, there is networking, promoting, and eventually writing.  I am not using it as an excuse, but I feel like a lazy gardener.  If this blog were roses then it would be wilted.

I will attempt to get on a schedule of at least Monday and Friday blog posts and then work on getting the contest going ever other Wednesday.  I am still committed to making it work, I am just adjusting to some new responsibilities.

Thank you all for being patient and if you are interested, please stop by FB and become a fan of Tristen & The Magic Shop Fan Page.

TRISTEN AND THE MAGIC SHOP

Paperback        EBook

So here it is, Tristen and the Magic Shop.  In about 3 hours it will be available for download through the Amazon Ebook system for $2.99.

The cover still needs work, but the nice thing about Epublishing is being able to tweek the cover after the fact.

If you know any 9 to 15 year olds that like to read fantasy fiction this may be up their alley.  Here is a quick synopsis.

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Eleven-year-old Tristen Parker's whole life is changing faster then he can keep up with. Within a matter of months his father was deployed overseas with the military and his mother moved him out of his beloved city and to the small town she grew up in. If those changes weren't enough, he had one other major one that came with them, he just found out he is a magical druid.


After discovering his abilities in a hidden magic shop, behind an alley, his life goes on a whirlwind of spell casting and potion brewing. Unfortunately, all of the magic in the world can't help if you’re being picked on, unless you use it.

With the help of the shop owner, Tristen casts a spell to stop the bullies that were picking on him, but he soon realizes it may have been a mistake. Will he be able to stop the curse that he started or will it spread through his school like a virus before he can get it under control?

M. Contest Wash

Well the first contest was a complete wash, but that is okay.  I am going to set up another one in a few days and we will try it again.  Possibly nobody liked the words I picked.

I realize I have to get the word out some more, but networking is more difficult than it looks.

On another note, our story, TRISTEN AND THE MAGIC SHOP is going through the Amazon Ebook process as we speak and yes, we really are going to self publish it.  I figure why not, what's the worst that will happen?  Anybody that tells you that self Epublishing is easy is full of it up to their eyeballs and you can quote me on it.

Thank you for your patients as I put together a second contest, maybe we will do more time this attempt, and think we are crazy or not, cross your fingers for us as we embark into the scary world of Kindle Ebook publishing.