Family of Spies Blog Tour Schedule

And so it begins! 

So excited to start the tour for 

Family of Spies.

Won't you join me as I travel the Internet and visit bloggers across the globe?

April 30, 2018 – Chapters Through Life – Review

May 1, 2018 – Chapter by Chapter – Interview

May 2, 2018 – BookHounds YA – Guest Post

May 3, 2018 – BooksChatter – Interview

May 4, 2018 – Stacking My Book Shelves! – Interview

May 7, 2018 – Belle’s Book Blog – Spotlight

May 8, 2018 – Writing Pearls – Review

May 9, 2018 – Mango Bubbles Books – Review

May 10, 2018 – CanLit for LittleCanadians – Review

May 10, 2018 – MG Book Village – Review

May 11, 2018 – laura’s bookish corner – Review

Available Now!

It will be a busy two weeks. 

Hope to see you in the comments section.

The FAQ's on a Blog Book Tour!

We are just one stop into the Forever Julia Blog Book Tour and it has come to my attention that some folks have never heard of a blog tour.

Naturally I decided to plagiarise myself and steal from one of my old blog posts from my Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food Blog Tour.


I believe I am safe, as I promised not to sue myself.

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions, which should provide a good review of how a BBT works.

Q. What exactly is a blog book tour?

A. It's an online book tour that stops at various blog sites, where the book in question is discussed. In this case, Forever Julia.

This can be done, by posting a book review or by conducting an interview with the writer - aka Yours Truly. Once the host blogger posts their review or Q & A, a lively discussion follows.

Q. Who can post comments or ask questions?

A. Well, anyone - which includes you! Maybe you are wondering how writers come up with ideas. Perhaps you relate to one of the characters and you want to share your experiences with others. Or you may possibly want to know what Julia's favourite colour is - who knows? But if you ask it, I'll try to answer it.

Q. Am I obligated to buy the book if I follow the blog tour?

A. Absolutely not! But, of course we hope you fall in love with Julia and want to read Forever Julia from cover to cover. Or give it as a gift. Or share it with your students. Really the possibilities are nearly endless!

Q. Why isn't there a "traditional" book tour?

A. Although jetting from city to city is a writer's dream, the world of publishing has changed immensely over the past 5 to 10 years. Extravagant book launch tours are a thing of the past and are now reserved for the biggest names in literature.

Q. Who hosts the blog stops?

A. Extremely awesome bloggers, with large followings have graciously agreed to host our tour.

Q. Are there any other benefits to taking a virtual tour?

A. Most definitely. Blog tours create permanent posts discussing Forever Julia. They'll be there...FOREVER. If you're 21 and posted pictures of your Spring Break trip to Daytona Beach, this may be a problem, but for authors this is MARVELLOUS! When readers are searching for information about a book, author, or topic, up will pop these blog posts.

Q. How do I know where the Forever Julia Tour will be stopping?

A. Here are the dates and blogs that I'll be visiting. (Click on the Blog Sites and you will be magically taken to their outstanding blogs.)

Click Here for the
Blog Book Tour Schedule

Order at your local bookseller or

through Amazon!

Forever Julia Blog Book Tour Begins...

Climb aboard the Blog Book Tour for 

Forever Julia!

Hope to hear from you along the way. 

Feel free to comment, share, and tweet with us as we travel the internet, meeting new readers.

Click Here Blog Book Tour Schedule

Order at your local bookseller or
through Amazon!

All Aboard the Blog Book Tour for Forever Julia!

Yup, it is that time again! Time to ride the information super highway to promote my latest book, Forever Julia.

Launching at 7:00pm this Thursday in The Atrium at 

McNally Robinson Booksellers, 

I'll be appearing around the globe on various bloggers websites near and far from 

April 27th to May 10th!

What?! Never been on a BBT? 

I'll be posting my "itinerary" next week so you can take a peak and see what the hullabaloo is all about!

Central Canada Lit Fest

I'm growing more excited about presenting at the first Central Canada Lit Fest in Winnipeg.

My topics: 

Creating Characters with Special Needs in MG/YA Fiction; The Importance of Blog Book Tours; and Kindle, KOBO, and NOOK - Reading in a Digital Age.

Central Canada Lit Fest

Young Adult | Fantasy | Paranormal Romance | Science Fiction | Horror

April 20th & 21st

Central Canada Lit Fest

April 20th & 21st 2013

Place Louis Riel

190 Smith Street

Winnipeg, MB.

Canada

Come join us for two days of learning and sharing the craft of writing.

Follow this link to the schedule:

C4 Lit Fest Schedule 

Happy New Year - Blogging Style!

www.hellolidy.com

Happy New Year!

2012 was one fine year.

So many great things happened over those 12 months, that I was sad to bid it adieu, farewell, au videsen, good-night.

Yes, I watched The Sound of Music over the Christmas holiday. Twice. And replayed my favourite songs, singling loudly, proudly and completely tonelessly.

Nothing says Merry Christmas better than the sound of a yodelling, possibly dying, moose. 

You'd think my children would've been horrified. Nuh-uh. They were only mildly annoyed. They rolled their unamused eyes, with perfection, and popped in their ear buds, tuning out my loud braying. Kids. No accounting for taste.

But, 2013 has been rung-in with excitement and huge plans for the future of Connor and his adventures in Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons. 

www.themovieblog.com

Firmly at the helm and driving Spaghetti upward and onward is my fearless, tireless, and possibly genius publisher, Rana DiOrio. Every few weeks, she whispers to me another few words of her Master Plan, and my heart leaps, my mind whirls with the possibilities. Oh, and she has plans. Big, audacious plans.

Top Secret, "Jodi, you must keep this to yourself until the time is right," plans.

Argh. Being quiet is extremely difficult for someone whose dreams are soaring to heights only dreamt in private. Plus, I'm a might bit excitable. It's part of my very nature. It sits right next to my hyper rabbit-talk, and fidgety feet. It occupies the space where patience lives, in people other than moi.

And I've tried to keep pace with Rana. I've even tried to "out-think" her plan. To "expect" her next whisper, but every time she astounds me. Trying to keep up with her, is like chasing the wind - and she's a mighty Nor-Easter that is hell heck bent on success. (Keeping it family friendly, peeps.)

What I can share is the news of my upcoming 

Blog Book Tour, running January 7 - 13th. 

Come join us for some laughs and find out more about Connor and how he came to be.

Here are the dates and blogs that I'll be visiting: (Click on the Blog Sites and you will be magically taken to their outstanding blogs.)

January 7   - The Connor Chronicles
January 8   - Magic Dog Press
January 8 -  Maryann Miller's - It's Not all Gravy
January 9   - mom-ology
January 10 - Confessions of An Aspergers Mom
January 11 - Blood Red Pencil
January 12 - Leslea Tash
January 13 - Inneraspie

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ADVR54U/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

Busy is as Busy Does

www.smittenandhazel.com

The days are quickly ticking down.

Only 14 more until Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons launches on Amazon. The past week has been a rush of haphazard activity, lumped onto my already overflowing schedule.

Due to my inability to remember anything more complicated than the middle names of both my daughters, I meticulously created my to-do list, so that no tasks were forgotten.

My ever-so-long list included; writing two guest blog posts, a book review for McNally Robinson's Night Table Recommendations online site, completing a blog book tour course, working (best not to skip that), a critique for The Word Junkies, and chauffeuring my girls to art class, swimming, orthodontic appointments, and my mom to the grocery store and physio.

Hm, after reading over that last paragraph, I'm reminded of an article I read recently regarding how list-making-whiny we've become as a society. According to this study, we North Americans love to wallow in our busyness and compare hectic lives, like farmers comparing prize winning pumpkins.

I'm not sure I want to pit my life against the lives of my neighbours, but I do think many of us have gotten into the habit of over extending ourselves, to the point of exhaustion.

My theory also conveniently explains why every night at 9 pm I eagerly climb into my blue plaid "man-jammies" and burrow under my duvet 'til dawn.

And I do so love my man-jammies. They're the most hideously masculine ladies' pj's ever sewn, but they're also the softest, coziest pair of jam-jams I have ever owned. I highly recommend you pick up a pair. Some even come with matching fluffy socks. I kid you not.

Alright, enough about sleepwear. I'm fairly certain I had a point to make.

Oh, right. The one thing I miss most, in all this recent mondo busyness, is writing new material. I have entirely neglected my current WIP, Who Needs Romeo. My poor protagonist Julia is still muddling along, lost in those pages with her hormones in a jumble, trying to figure out if Evan like-likes her or just likes her. Oh, the humanity.

Who knew I'd ever be in this position? Too busy launching one book, to write the second? How completely ridiculous a concept. It's a thrill of a life time and if getting published means I'm more tired than normal, then bring on the busy! I'll make a to-do list that's Santa-length worthy.

First, let me add a back up pair of Man-Jammies to my shopping list. I might just get too busy to get to that Kilimanjaro sized mountain of laundry in the basement.

If only I could remember where I put that list...

Changes are a Comin'!

www.taniaboutin.com

You can’t avoid change – it surrounds us.

How we bank has changed, how we buy books has changed and now my blog design has changed. Not quite in the same, "impacting society" category, but still, it counts.

The world of book tours has changed as well. Long gone are the days of jetting from city to city, holding book signings and readings, all at a hefty price tag. Now authors take part in Blog Book Tours.

A Blog Book, what?

A Blog Book Tour is an online book tour that stops at various blog sites, where a review of the book is posted by an incredibly talented blogger and a lively discussion follows.

So, I am currently taking an exciting online course from blog guru, Dani Greer, on how to run a successful Blog Book Tour or a BBT, to those in the know. Apparently I will become one of those smartie-pants by the end of this course. That would be this Friday. No pressure. The course is called, none too surprisingly, the Blog Book Tour Course.

Dani, or Sarge; as her students like to call her, is an expert at coordinating BBT’s and chaperons all the Little Pickle Press tours. In January when I’m travelling the digital world for 2 weeks promoting, Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons, Dani will be firmly at the helm.

Now its full blog ahead.

My mission: to become a world class blogger

My strategy: to whip my blog into shape

My plan: to change my template and layout so they’re clean, easy to follow, dynamic and fun

My back-up plan: to look sad, pathetic, and even desperate so my computer genius husband will take pity and fix all my “oopsies” and “uh-oh, that wasn’t supposed to happens.”

Oh yeah, and I have 28 days to become a pro. Wish me luck.
(Or send Chardonnay.)

www.4photos.net