Melissa Maygrove

Are you ready for another cover reveal?  I hope so, because... Today I'm helping Aussie author Cally Jackson show off the cover of her debut New Adult novel, The Big Smoke . I met Cally on the blogosphere a while back and was immediately drawn to her upbeat personality and thought-provoking blog posts. If you don't already follow Cally Jackson Writes , consider adding it to your list. :) And now for the awesome cover. Here it is!

I’m hosting Nancy S. Thompson's book tour next month for her debut novel, The Mistaken , but I wanted to give you a sneak peek at her new book trailer—created by none other than the uber-talented Carrie Butler.  Here it is! 

Writers constantly struggle with commonly confused words, making sure they use the correct ones in their stories. Would you believe some words have more than one acceptable spelling? Today I'm going to list a few of those in hopes of mitigating the grammatical pressures I thrust upon you every Monday. One pair of these words is adviser and advisor . Although spell-check seems to prefer the former, they both mean one who gives advice and they both are correct.

I was thrust into the world of social media rather suddenly, and I've been flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to blogging. I'd like to know what you think--what you like and what you don't. Please take a moment to vote in the following four polls, and then feel free to elaborate in the comments section. As with other polls I've taken, my one request is that you either vote in all of the polls in this group or none of them. Thanks. :)

So as not to preempt GPM twice in less than a month, I decided to merge my usual grammar series post with Alex J Cavanaugh's Genre Favorites Blogfest .  This ought to be interesting... The rules of Alex's blogfest are: List your favorite genre of  Movie ~ Music ~ Books And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories! Got it.  Here we go.

I've got a great cover & excerpt reveal for you today — Betwixt by New Zealand born author Melissa Pearl — a YA paranormal romance due to be released November 5 th . YA is not my genre of choice, but Betwixt is definitely on my TBR list. After you read the book description and the excerpt, you'll see why. :)

SQUEEEEEE!!!!! xD    I can't believe it's FINALLY here — the day I get to take part in the cover reveal of Carrie Butler's debut novel, Strength . Just so ya know, Carrie not only wrote this awesome book, she also designed the cover AND the book trailer. Talk about talent! Although I could go on all day, babbling on about my wonderful CP and her book, I won't make you wait any longer. Wohoo! Here it is... When college student Rena Collins finds herself nose-to-chest with the campus outcast, she’s stunned. Wallace Blake is everything she’s ever wanted in a man—except he can’t touch her. His uncontrollable strength, a so-called gift from his bloodline, makes every interaction dangerous. And with a secret, supernatural war brewing among his kind, there’s no time to work it out. To keep Wallace in her life, Rena will have to risk a whole lot more than her heart. Strength - Book 1 in the Mark of Nexus series From Sapphire Star Publishing     ...

*Don't worry. You didn't lose a day, or your mind either. This lesson is being posted one day early so I can host Carrie Butler's cover reveal for her debut novel, Strength, tomorrow. :) ~~~ Have you ever had to eat crow over a comment you made in a critique?  I have ... more than once. *blush* :P   Today we're going to start with one of my goofs and go from there, covering a few common usage errors. In the process of swapping chapters with a critter of mine, I commented on his use of the word myriad .  I had always heard it used with the word of following it, as in a myriad of stars in the sky, and I marked it as such . He said nothing.

As you might have guessed, this post is about plotting. :)   It's also my Insecure Writers Support Group post for September. Happy one year anniversary, IWSG! So many times, we newbie writers read a book on the craft only to be punched in the gut by how much we still have to learn.  I'm here to tell you that isn't always the case.

Today were going to examine the difference between words that indicate number and those that indicate quantity or amount . Words indicating amount are words like less , little and much . Words used when referring to number are words like few , fewer and many . Basically amount words refer to things that are measured in bulk or volume, while number words refer to things that can be counted . You'll drink less lemonade if you drink fewer glasses. The amount of lemonade in a container (even if that container is a person) is measured in volume, so we use less , but the number of glasses can be counted, so for that we use fewer .  The word more can be used for either one. A common mistake is to use an 'amount' word (e.g. less ) when referring to people. People can be counted, so use few, fewer or many . On the other hand, 'amount' words are correct when referring to units of time or money, unless you are speaking of specific coins or bills (...