Tag: Thriller

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book TOur, Day 25

Posted on by joepowersauthor

I want to start off this book tour post with a small confession.

It isn’t lost on me that, by this late point of the book tour, some might be getting a little tired of seeing me pop up here each day spouting the same message, about the same topics. As an author (one of many, I can assure you) who really doesn’t like talking about or, really, drawing attention to himself, this has been an unusual experience for me. There have been days along the way where I’ve sat down to add another post and thought to myself “Dude, they get it. They’ve heard all of this before, do they really need to hear it again?” Well, maybe not.

However, besides the fact that I made a promise to myself to post daily through the end of the tour, you never know when today’s the day your post reaches someone for the first time. Maybe someone who really likes what you have to say and is intrigued enough to check out something you’ve written. Maybe someone who decides they liked it so much they blog about it, and reach someone else who’s never heard of me. This just might be the day that exposes me to an entirely new and large audience.

Or maybe not. But as the Great One famously said, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” So, while I promise to ease it back a bit once the tour is over, for the next eight days I’ll stick it out and keep the updates coming. Hopefully you’ll stick it out too.

With that out of the way, let’s get down to business. Today’s tour stop is a Facebook page called Cover Love Book Blog. Many thanks to our gracious hosts of the day for featuring Seventeen Skulls among the many titles they’ve profiled.

That’s a wrap for today. One more tour stop before the weekend, just seven days after today, and then we bring it all to a close. Thanks to all who have followed along here, whether sporadically or regularly. For those who may have stumbled in here for the first time, welcome. To everyone, feel free to subscribe on my contact page for news, updates, and more – often, but maybe not quite as often as during this book tour. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 24

Posted on by joepowersauthor

The countdown is on now. We’re into the last nine days of the book tour – just eight more after today’s post. As an interesting coincidence, the last day of the tour falls on the two-year anniversary of the release of my first novel, Terror in High Water. I’m as proud of it now as I was that day, just as I am of Seventeen Skulls. This is a big one for me for another reason, because this year – one day after the tour ends, in fact – I roll my personal odometer over to fifty. I’ll talk more about that in a later post, but suffice it to say it’s a not insignificant milestone.

On to more pressing stuff. Today we’re visiting Craving Lovely Books, where the counter tells us we’re over 2,300 entrants in the giveaway of an Amazon gift card and a free copy of my first novel, Terror in High Water. Big thanks to our gracious hosts for the day for the featured spot and the write-up, appreciated as always.

Speaking of plugs, Sheryl’s new novel, The Nixies of McGillivray Lake, is climbing the ranks and going strong. It’s reached the top 200 on Amazon’s Dark Fantasy Horror Fiction best seller list; a few nice reviews, on Amazon or Goodreads or both, would help push it further up that list into the upper echelon. She, like myself and all authors, relies on reviews and word of mouth to spread the word about our work.

On a somewhat related note, Seventeen Skulls is also holding its own, sitting just outside the top 100 Occult Horror Fiction best sellers. I’m thrilled to say the least, and grateful to everyone who’s purchased a copy, and I hope we can keep going and push it up that list even further.

A big thanks to all who keep checking back here and follow along, it means a lot. Feel free to pass my name along to anyone you know who might enjoy what I do, and tell them if they visit and subscribe to my contact page they – like you – can receive all the latest news and updates delivered directly to their – and your – inbox.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of the week, feel free to pop in here tomorrow for another tour update. Until then, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 23

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s been a long and eventful road along this virtual book tour, but we’re finally into the final ten-day stretch. Technically, there are just eight tour days left since we’re taking the last weekend to catch our collective breath before the home stretch. So, one stop per day for the rest of this week, a short pause on Saturday and Sunday, then double-headers every day down to the final guns.

Today’s stop along the tour takes us to Bedazzled by Books. They feature a ton of books over there, including yours truly today. Big thanks to our gracious hosts for the feature spot.

In other news, we’ve got less than two weeks until the start of this semester’s Writing Horror: The Dark Side. It runs on Mondays starting September 27th. Then on Thursdays starting October 7th we’ve got Crafting the Short Story. Both are entertaining and informative courses, in case you or someone you know is interested in exploring the basics and nuances of fiction writing.

That’s all for today. Thanks as always for following along with the tour here, your support is greatly appreciated. For news and updates delivered right to your inbox, head on over to my contact page and subscribe. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 22

Posted on by joepowersauthor

With the weekend behind us it’s time to dive right back into the tour. It’s day 22, which means we’re down to just ten more days after today. Today’s a special stop along the way because in addition to the feature, today we also have a book review.

Let’s get down to business, shall we? We’re gracing the pages of Lilyana Shadowlyn today. In addition to her review site Lily also operates The Faerie Review, which the astute reader may recall we visited on August 26th, way back on day four of the tour. But today we’re at Lily’s review site where she had… well, I won’t ruin the surprise, but I’ll just tease a little bit of her review:

“This book started off innocently enough, and piqued my interest. By the time I reached chapter two, I was completely hooked, and I didn’t want to put it down.”

To read the rest and see how many stars we got, you’ll have to click the link above and pop on over to the site. I will say, though, that the giveaway counter has reached an astounding 2,240 people vying for an Amazon gift card or a free copy of my first novel, Terror in High Water. That’s a lot of interested eyes!

Speaking of reviews, I would be remiss if I didn’t add that they’re always welcomed and appreciated over on Goodreads and Amazon, or whatever other platform you may have found me on. Even a rating can make a ton of difference in terms of the potential viewing audience. Thanks in asdvance!

That’s a wrap for today, but we’re right back at it tomorrow with another awesome tour stop. Don’t forget to visit our gracious hosts each day, they definitely appreciate the support and always love company. As do I, which reminds me to suggest you pop over to my contact page and subscribe to have news and updates delivered right to your inbox, hot off the presses. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 21

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon here. I’ve got a sleeping cat curled up on a pillow to my left, a ‘weary from a long walk’ dog sprawled on her bed to my right, and my better half luxuriating in a hot bath at the far end of the house. Here I sit, flipping through Shudder looking for something interesting while storm clouds loom large just on the horizon at the edge of my sight line. I feel like there’s rain in our future.

As for the tour, we’ve taken another day with no stops to report. It’s back to business tomorrow, but even book tour hosts need a day off here and there. So for now, it’s just me and my laid-back household, stopping by to say hi to those of you who like to drop in here and keep up on what’s new and exciting. Oh, I will mention that as of yesterday Seventeen Skulls was flirting with one of Amazon’s various sub-category top 100 best sellers lists (it has since slid back a bit, but is still going strong!). Big thanks to those of you who have picked up a copy, I’m very pleased with how many have shown their support. If you have read the book and enjoyed it, you might also like my first novel, Terror in High Water. And for the short story fan, my collection, Old Bones, is still on the horizon as something to look forward to.

Just a quick post today – I won’t take up too much of your time on this lazy Sunday. Thanks as always for following along here. If you haven’t already, or if you have and know someone who might also enjoy what we do here, you can always visit my contact page and subscribe to have news and updates sent directly to your inbox. The more the merrier, I say. There’s always room for new visitors here!

We’re back to the regularly scheduled tour again tomorrow. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 20

Posted on by joepowersauthor

It’s Saturday evening here on the east coast, but regardless of your time zone I hope you’re having a great day! We’ve arrived on day twenty of the book tour, and even though we don’t have any scheduled stops on the itinerary today I thought I’d mention some other business while I keep the streak alive.

First, a reminder that fall sessions of Crafting the Short Story (Thursdays starting October 7th) and Writing Horror: The Dark Side (Mondays starting September 27th) will be kicking off shortly. These classes are always fun and informative and provide that extra bit of motivation needed to put pen to paper (literally or figuratively) and start churning out works of fiction.

Next, I wanted to mention to any of you who use Booksprout, Seventeen Skulls can be found there. For those who might be unfamiliar, Booksprout is a site for readers to download an advance readers copy (ARC) in exchange for posting a review. As I’ve mentioned before, reviews are the lifeblood of all authors, new or established. Ratings and reviews on sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, or whichever platform you acquire a book from play a huge role in others discovering and checking out things they might not have otherwise. It’s always greatly appreciated, believe me!

Lastly, be sure to visit my contact page and subscribe for emailed news and updates sent directly to your inbox. Thank you as always for dropping by and following along here. We’re back tomorrow for another book tour update, but until then, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 19

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Happy Friday, for those in the Western hemisphere at least. The folks in the East are already into the weekend, so cheers to all the futuristic people reading this. We’re now nineteen days into this book tour, as amazing as that sounds. Just lucky thirteen to go after today. But we’re not looking ahead too far just yet, we’ve still got plenty in store between now and then.

Today we take a journey Inside the Insanity for our final tour stop of the week. Big thanks to our hosts of the day for taking the time to feature me and Seventeen Skulls today!

We’re taking a short break from the tour after today, just a weekend to recharge our batteries and gear up for next week’s dates. I’ll still be in here plugging away though, because book tours might take a day or two off but there’s plenty to talk about besides Seventeen Skulls. So for those who have been following along diligently, I’ll still have news and updates right here all weekend long. For those just joining us (and a hearty welcome to you!), stay tuned for our regularly scheduled programming which resumes Monday.

Speaking of new and updates, you can have those delivered directly to your inbox by heading over to my contact page and subscribing. It just takes a minute, and then all you have to do is kick back and wait for those emails to come rolling in. Thanks all, and until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 18

Posted on by joepowersauthor

Welcome once again, newcomer and regular reader alike, to the Seventeen Skulls official book tour. We’re eighteen days in now, chugging along toward our final date on the 23rd. We’ve got a whopping fifteen more stops to make in that time, so let’s get to it!

Today we’re off to Sylv.net, a Facebook page dedicated to book trailers, social media teasers, and various other book services. They’ve given Seventeen Skulls a nice feature today, so a tip of the hat to them for that. As I’ve done earlier in the tour with Facebook pages, I checked out their website and encountered difficulties in doing so. But their Facebook page looks and works just fine!

I don’t always remember to say so, but if you’ve read Seventeen Skulls (or Terror in High Water, or any of my work) I would greatly appreciate it if you’d take a few minutes and write a quick review. Whether on Amazon, or over at Goodreads, or even a copy & paste and do both, it means a lot. Other potential readers have a better chance of discovering and, subsequently, reading one or more of my books. Word of mouth has always been the best method of advertising for authors, and leaving reviews is essentially the digital version of that. So, thanks in advance (and a huge thank you to those who have already done so)!

As I’ve done once or twice during the tour, I wanted to pass on a little plug for Sheryl’s new release, The Nixies of McGillivray Lake. It’s an excellent young adult dark fantasy novel, the first of many we’ll see from her in the coming months and years.

That’s a wrap for today. Thanks as always for taking the time to stop by and visit. Feel free to wander around the site and check things out, and if you’re so inclined – as quite a few of you appear to be lately – you can go to my contact page and subscribe to have all the latest new and updates delivered right to your inbox. Until tomorrow, when we’re right back here with another tour update, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 17

Posted on by joepowersauthor

We’re seventeen days into this tour now – seventeen days of Seventeen Skulls, and we’re barely past the halfway mark. Just before we launch into the tour stops for the day I wanted to take a moment and mention that with school starting again, that means it’s time for another round of Crafting the Short Story and Writing Horror: The Dark Side. There’s still time to register – Dark Side kicks off on September 27th, while Short Story begins October 7th.

With that out of the way, let’s take a look at our stops for the day. We’ve got another double header today, beginning with I Smell Sheep – an interesting name for a pretty cool blog which has a Seventeen Skulls “story behind the story” feature today. A short interview segment along with an excerpt from the book, and more.

Up next we’re off to Books All Things Paranormal and Romance, a popular Facebook page that has a nice feature on Seventeen Skulls today. Big thanks to our gracious hosts today and every day for taking the time to shine some light on me and Seventeen Skulls. Oh, and the giveaway counter – two lucky winners will receive one of two prizes, an Amazon gift card or a eBook copy of my first novel, Terror in High Water – has topped the two thousand mark as of today. That’s a lot of readers’ eyes!

That’s all I’ve got for today – a lot to take in, I know. With so much going on at once, I have to squeeze it in here and there whenever possible. Hopefully some of it is entertaining. To subscribe for news and updates delivered right to your inbox, be sure to head on over to my contact page. Until next time, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP

Seventeen Skulls Virtual Book Tour, Day 16

Posted on by joepowersauthor

We’re heading into the back nine of the book tour, and even though things are going slightly off the rails behind the scenes I’m doing what I can to keep it all together here on the stage. Such is my dedication to you, readers and followers both casual and die-hard.

Our regularly scheduled tour stop for the day is Stormy Nights Reviewing and Bloggin’. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit to having a bit of trouble navigating this site but I did eventually locate my piece, which I’ve linked directly to here. There’s a lot going on over at Stormy Nights, including the daily giveaway tracker update which now stands at 1,920 people with 16 days still to come!

Following a minor hiccup in the itinerary we’re back on track and able to bring you a special bonus tour stop today. eBook Addicts, which I believe is our first overseas stop along the way, has Seventeen Skulls featured today (note: I’ve linked to their Facebook page; my browser seemed to think their website might not be completely safe, and accurate or not I chose to pay heed to that).

Thanks as always to our gracious hosts today, it’s a pleasure seeing so many new places and being among like-minded book lovers. Thanks to you as well, the regular followers, the first-timers, and all points in between. Your presence is greatly appreciated. Don’t forget to drop by my contact page and subscribe for news and updates sent directly to your inbox. We’re back tomorrow with more tour stops as this train keeps steaming ahead. Until then, stay safe, talk soon!

-JP