Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The News About My Newsletter!

Did you know there is a G.P. Ching newsletter?  You might not. It's only a couple of weeks old. If you sign up for my new newsletter, here is what you can expect:


1. Never miss news about new cover art, releases, tour dates, or personal appearances.


2. Find out about friends and family promotions and special giveaways.


3. Learn insider scoop on details about the books.


Here's what you won't get:


1. I will never share or sell your information to third parties.


2. I won't spam you.


To sign up, enter your email address in the upper right corner of this blog OR follow the link below OR use the QR code above.  Why use a QR code on my blog?  No reason but that I thought it was cool!  I think I might have Anjin design add it to the paperback covers.


Monday, December 19, 2011

Cover Reveal: Sleepers by Megg Jensen!


Introducing the new artwork for fellow DarkSide author Megg Jensen’s bestselling novel SLEEPERS!
To celebrate the re-launch of SLEEPERS in January of 2012, Megg is giving it a new cover with artwork from the incredible PhatPuppy.
Synopsis: An adoptee raised in a foreign land, sixteen-year-old Lianne was content with her life as handmaiden to the queen, until a spell cast on her at birth activated. Now she's filled with uncontrollable rage and access to magic she thought had been bled from her people years ago. Even her years of secret training in elite hand-to-hand combat and meditation can’t calm the fires raging inside her.
Her heart is torn between two boys, the one she’s always loved and the one who always ignored her. But when the kingdom threatens to tear itself apart due to rumors surrounding the queen’s alleged affair, who will Lianne protect and who will she destroy?

On sale now for only 99 cents!

On a personal note, Sleepers was, I think, the first book I ever read of Megg's, and I fell in love immediately with the story by this very talented author.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Guest Post: Magan Vernon on...Easter Eggs!

According to Wikipedia a Virtual Easter Egg is: A virtual Easter egg is an intentional hidden message or an in-joke in a work such as a computer program, web page, video game, movie, book or crossword. This practice is similar in some respects to hidden signature motifs such as Diego Rivera including himself in his murals, Alfred Hitchcock's legendary cameo appearances, and various "Hidden Mickeys" that can be found throughout the various Disney Parks.
As the self-proclaimed geek-to-glam poster child, I couldn’t let my debut novel go without a few Easter Eggs and the lucky readers of this blog will get to know a few of them (spoiler free!)

Calta- The planet of Ace’s origin. Why didn’t I use Mars or another planet that we are all familiar with? I wanted to create my own planet and at the same time honor my late Nana. Her maiden name was
Caltagerone, but that seemed a little too long for a planet name, so it was shortened. In retrospect I should have made it a tropical planet since my Nana was Sicilian and that is an Italian island, but I think Calta works just find as a cool planet.

Winnebago- Who would ever think of a geeky girl from Winnebago, Illinois? Uh, that would be the actual geeky girl from Winnebago-me. Yes, Winnebago is a real town and I really did go to the high school. No, Alex is not based off of me in any way, but I needed her to be from a small town and Winnebago was one that I knew inside and out. (This definitely comes around a lot more in Book 2).

Alien names- How did I come up with the names for all of the aliens in the books? I could have just made up some different names, but that would have been too easy. I figured that I actually should acknowledge my Italian heritage and decided to use the names of Italian philosophers for the different aliens in the story- Marsilo, Nerses, Machiavelli, etc., etc.

Adam Lambert- As I started writing this story I needed to come up with a visual of an alien. I texted one of my friends and asked her for a guy that had spiky black hair and was kind of squirrelly. She said Adam Lambert since he kind of looks like an alien and frightens and intrigues her at the same time. All of a sudden the original Ace I had was thrown out the window and guy liner alien was born. His lyrics also spurred a lot of changes in the novel with the dark side and the light side references and if you look REALLY closely you will see a few lyrics sprinkled throughout the novel.
These are just a few of the Easter Eggs spread throughout How to Date an Alien. Now to find more of them you will just have to pick up a copy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Smashwords.
*****
Self-proclaimed geek-to-glam poster child who channels her inner geek by writing science fiction for teens. Even though she slept with a night light until she was in middle school for fear of alien attacks. She now lives with her husband, daughter, and dog in central Illinois where she still sleeps with a night light...just in case.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Giveaway Winner

My 2,000 twitter follower giveaway is now over.  All of the entering tweets were placed into a numbered spreadsheet and then a random number in the range was selected using Random.org.  The winning tweet was by WordSpelunker Aeicha Matteson.  


I'll be contacting Aeicha for her choice of book.


Thank you to everyone who participated!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

G.P. Ching's 2,000 Twitter Follower Giveaway!

I've reached 2,000 twitter followers! To celebrate, I'm giving away your choice of one of the ebooks below by fellow authors that I admire.  Some I've read, some I haven't.  But they are all on my TBR list because these authors can write.

You might ask why I'm not giving away my own ebooks. Well, The Soulkeepers is already free, and if you're visiting me today chances are you've already read it. If not, it's free almost everywhere, so help yourself!

To win your choice of one of the following titles for your eReader, simply tweet the following:

I want to win my choice of YA ebook from @GPChing http://bit.ly/iMn5xR #kindle #nook #ebook #giveaway 

The giveaway will end in 48 hours. I'll randomly choose a winner, and contact them via twitter. Winner will have 48 hours to get back to me with their choice of one of the eBooks pictured below and their email address or they forfeit their prize (and a new winner will be chosen.) Giveaway is eBook only.


Good luck! And thank you so much for following me on twitter!


How to Date an Alien
Sleepers
Severed
The Fairy Godmother Dilemma: Catspell
The Secret Of Spruce Knoll
Tangled Tides
Running Wide Open
Untraceable
Oubliette
Open Minds
Become
Vex
BOUND
Burn
Clockwise
Wicked
Land of Corn Chips
Tremble
Bloody Little Secrets
Loramendi's Story: A Lord's of Shifters Novel
Getting Sideways
Into the Shadows
Exiled
Dream Smashers
Ethereal
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Friday, December 9, 2011

Like YA from a Boy's POV?

As a writer of one of the rare YA books from a boys POV, I was excited to hear about this original, new contemporary series about boys, cars, and growing up by fellow author Lisa Nowak. Check them out.  These books are available now.


Getting Sideways: Book 2 in the Full Throttle Series Getting shipped off to live with his uncle Race was the best thing that ever happened to fifteen-year-old Cody. Then a wreck at the speedway nearly ruined everything. Cody’s making every effort to get his life back on track—writing for the school paper, searching for the perfect girlfriend, and counting the days until he gets his drivers’ license—but there’s no escaping the nightmares that haunt him. A chance to build his own car seems like the perfect distraction. Until Cody realizes he’ll have to live up to Race’s legendary status. But that’s the least of his worries, considering he doesn’t have his dad’s permission. All he has to do is the impossible: keep Race from discovering his lie until he can convince his dad that racing’s safe. Yeah, sure. That’ll be easy.
Haven't read the first book? Running Wide Open is on sale now for 99 cents. Running Wide Open: Book 1 in the Full Throttle Series Cody Everett has a temper as hot as the flashpoint of racing fuel, and it's landed him at his uncle's trailer, a last-chance home before military school. But how can he take the guy seriously when he calls himself Race, eats Twinkies for breakfast, and pals around with rednecks who drive in circles every Saturday night? What Cody doesn't expect is for the arrangement to work. Or for Race to become the friend and mentor he's been looking for all his life. But just as Cody begins to settle in and get a handle on his supercharged temper, a crisis sends his life spinning out of control. Everything he's come to care about is threatened, and he has to choose between falling back on his old, familiar anger or stepping up to prove his loyalty to the only person he's ever dared to trust.

Praise for Running Wide Open: "It doesn’t matter if you are a racing fan or not, Running Wide Open will captivate you and capture your heart." – Cari J, Amazon reviewer “The roar of engines practically explodes off the page in this compelling, heart-thumping debut. Cody Everett is a straight-shooter with attitude, smarts, and whip-cracking wit; he doesn’t pull any punches, and neither does author Lisa Nowak. The collision of Cody and the world of stock car racing makes for a great story, one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Running Wide Open is a book not to be missed.” - Christine Fletcher, author of Tallulah Falls and Ten Cents a Dance "The racing is easy to understand and does not get in the way of a rattling good story. I still couldn’t put it down on a re-read." – Elisabeth Miles, Amazon reviewer "We race stock cars during the summer and even though this is a recommended read for Young Adults, we are seniors and enjoyed every page. We can hardly wait for the sequel to come out. MUST READING!" – Maxci Jermann, Barnes and Noble reviewer "I say read this book, it’s fun, it’s beautiful, it’s a very cool read that will give you a feel-good state of mind. Awesome read." - L.E.Olteano, Butterfly-o-meter Books
Author Bio: In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and stout beer and constantly works toward employing wei wu wei in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an oxymoron. Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she’d use it to tend to her expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four feline companions, and two giant sequoias. Connect with Lisa online:

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Airing of Grievances


Today, in an early version of the great Festivus tradition, I am airing my grievances.  Here are the five things that drive me CRAZY about the holiday season. *Shakes Fist*

1. People who drive, shop, and park as if they have nothing better to do all day long. You know this person. They drive ten miles under the speed limit, sometimes because they haven't driven in a really long time, but usually because they are trying to smoke, eat, talk on the phone, or wrap a present in their lap while they drive.  These are also the same people who walk slowly around the mall, shoulder to shoulder with their four friends, so that you have no hope of getting around them. Or they stand at the counter of your favorite store, ignorant of the lengthy queue of people behind them, digging in their insanely large purse for a mysteriously missing coupon while you wait, and wait, and wait. You also find them in the parking lot.  They are the ones sitting in their car drinking coffee while you wait with your blinker on for their spot.

2. Coupons. Not the coupon itself but the crazy restrictions and sheer quantity. We have a stack of cardboard squares that say things like this: save $10 (big print) if you spend $75 (really small print) between Monday and Wednesday. You would have to be a full time coupon analyzer to take advantage of these things. Is there an iPhone app that takes pictures of your coupons and sorts them for you, automatically deleting the expired ones?  Let me know if there is.  I'm on board with that.

3. Planned Obsolescence. I hate it when you buy a gift for some one and something better comes out in January. When it comes to clothes, have you noticed that the sale merchandise is sometimes a lesser quality than the post holiday merchandise?  But my real grievance is with electronics.  My GPS recently informed me that I could either pay a certain sum to download new maps or buy a new GPS for close to the same amount.  Really?  When I buy a pricy electronic item, I don't want to think of it as disposable.  I want the functionality to last.

4. The Holiday Robot: He or she already has all of her Christmas cards done, presents purchased and wrapped, party planned, cookies baked and can actually enjoy the season with a cheery smile. I will be her next year. *Writes self a note on tiny post-it.*

5. Cold Weather/ Hot Stores:  You get bundled up because it's 20 degrees outside.  But then you get to the store and they have the heat turned up to 75.  So you take off your marshmallow down jacket, and so do your kids, and before you know it you look like a human coat rack, hopelessly juggling your packages with bulky winter wear.

Ahhhhh. I feel so much better.  How about you?  Any grievances to air?


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