The Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

Welcome to the hop!

Here you have the chance to find many new authors. Welcome to Baron Driden, who was kind enough to tag me in this event.

Baron Driden
Author of the crime thriller, Silent Destruction
Website: http://driden.webs.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BaronDriden
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/baron.driden
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6567916.Baron_Driden
Blog: http://dustybookshelf1.blogspot.com/
Blog 2, follow this to the hop! http://www.tmhorror.blogspot.com/

In this particular hop, I and my fellow authors, in their respective blogs, have answered 10 questions where you get to learn about our current work in progress as well as some insights into our process, from characters and inspirations to plotting and cover decisions. I hope you enjoy it!
Please comment and share your thoughts and questions. Here is my Next Big Thing!

1: What is the working title of your book?
Heart of Humanity

2: Where did the idea for this book come from?
My original idea came from a dream about a society divided between the haves and have-nots. That dream transitioned into a short story that continued to grow. Heart of Humanity is the final book in the trilogy.

3: What genre does your book come under?
It falls under the broad category of science fiction, but in reality is a dystopian political thriller with elements of romance.

4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Oh, please don't ask me this. Casting would be in someone else's hands if it ever came to that.

5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
If the world were divided which side would you choose?

6: Is your book self-published, published by an independent publisher, or represented by an agency?
It is self published.

7: How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I began writing Heart of Humanity in March of 2012. I plan to release it before December 31, 2012.

8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
It's in the same vein as 1984, the Hunger Games trilogy and the Chaos Walking trilogy.

9: Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The trilogy was inspired by a dream followed by political turmoil in the state of Wisconsin. Heart of Humanity specifically, was also inspired to help raise awareness of the issue of bullying and the greater issue of Human Rights.

10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
I've been told by a number of people that although at first they didn't think my story was their preferred genre, my trilogy changed their mind.

Below you will find authors who will be joining me by blog, next Wednesday, December 19. Be sure to bookmark and add them to your calendars for updates on Works In Progress and New Releases! Happy Writing and Reading!

1. Kyra Dune
2. Robin Nadler
3. Meka Blizzard-Rob
4. Julie Frayn

Seven fabulous books, half a dozen ways to win!

Welcome to the 2012 Holiday Blog Hop! Many ways to play, up to 10 chances to win on this page. Many more contests through the hop!

One lucky person will receive a $10 Amazon gift card plus a copy of the following ebooks: If Only by Robin Nadler, The Temple by Heather Marie Adkins, Letters from a Bipolar Mother by Alyssa Reyans, Wicked Sense by Fabio Bueno, Big Dragons Don't Cry by C.M. Barrett, Chosen by Jolea M. Harrison, and Canvas Skies by S.L. Wallace.

Winners will be selected using Random.org and once contacted, the winner will have seven days to claim their prize package.

RULES:

You will receive one entry for each action. To make sure I don't miss anyone, please also send me an email with the words HOLIDAY HOP in the subject line, letting me know which ones you did. Send to: author.slwallace@gmail.com

• Follow me on Twitter: @authorSLWallace
• Like my FB fanpage: Reliance on Citizens
• Friend me on FB: Sarah L. Wallace
• Follow this blog
• Think of five friends who would enjoy one of the books in the prize package and send them here! Crossroads of Humanity
• EXTRA! EXTRA! Participate in the Scavenger Hunt below and comment with your responses for 5 additional entries! (Comments won't be made public until the end of the Hop!)

SCAVENGER HUNT:

1. If Only, book 2 in the Family by Choice series by Robin Nadler is a contemporary fiction story of triumph and hope. Brittany and Tommy learn that existing is not the same as living, and sometimes we really do deserve more. Visit Nadler's Novels and then post a response to the following question. Why is the character of Brittany a hard sell?
2. The Temple by Heather Marie Adkins is a paranormal mystery. Vale Avari is an exceptional woman with a long list of superpowers. However, when people start dying mysteriously in her new hometown, she is determined to prove that there is nothing supernatural about it! Visit Heather Marie Adkins: Where Witchcraft and Writing Collide and post a response to the question, How many Vale Avari novels has Ms. Adkins written to date, and what are their titles?
3. Letters from a Bipolar Mother by Alyssa Reyans is a nonfiction novella based on her own experience. Covering a span of five years, Alyssa Reyans shares both her pain and strength in a struggle against an incurable illness that many women today also share. Visit Alyssa Reyans: A Writer Unread and respond to the following: Where is Alyssa originally from, and where does she live now?
4. Wicked Sense by Fabio Bueno is a YA paranormal romance. She was looking for a mighty witch; she found a guy with rock-hard abs and a sense of humor. Not bad. Visit Fabio Bueno, author: Dream Hard and respond to the following question. When was Wicked Sense officially released?
5. Big Dragons Don't Cry (A Dragon's Guide to Destiny) by C.M. Barrett is a fantasy novel about a water dragon, a young woman, a kitten, and the guardian of Oasis. Somehow these four must overcome communication difficulties, mutual mistrust, and delusions of human superiority to save the country of Oasis. Visit A Dragon's Guide to Destiny and answer the following: How many books has C.M. Barrett written and which one sounds most interesting to you?
6. Chosen by Jolea M. Harrison is a fantasy adventure about a young man who must come to terms with his life when he's barely become a spirit. Visit Author Jolea M. Harrison and answer this question: Which photograph of Ms. Harrison's do you like best?

In It Together by Cody L. Martin

Join me in welcoming author, Cody L. Martin. He was born in Edmond, Oklahoma but raised in Wyoming. After moving to Alabama and attending the University of Alabama, he moved to Japan to become an assistant English teacher in Yamaguchi Prefecture, helping teach junior high school students. He currently lives there, with his wife Yoko.

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I'm a teacher, first in the public sector with middle school students, and now as a tutor. I wasn't trained as a teacher or got a degree in teaching. I don't even teach in America. I teach in Japan. And it's different.

I came to Japan five years ago on the JET Program. For five years I taught at the junior high level, the American equivalent being 7th through 9th grade. Even though my own middle school days were far behind me, I remembered enough to realize how different the school system was, and I'd like to talk a little about that now.

First, please forget the image of obedient, uniformed kids sitting in rows, dutifully hanging on the teacher's every word, and writing in unison. Just like America; Japan has the quiet kids, the noisy kids, the ones that can't sit still, the nippers and the book readers. They're not drones, they are their own individuals with just as widely varying personalities as you'd find in any classroom all over the world. While a higher importance may be placed on tests than in America, they don't spend every waking second cramming and studying, and don't burst into tears when they get less than 100% on their tests. I've seen a student get a 98% on an English test and two seats over in the same class, a student got 10%. All kinds.

What surprised me the most as I worked in the Japanese school system was how much the students work, not just on class work but other things as well. Like most schools in America, kids here have about six classes a day, fifty minutes each. They have homeroom before and after each school day. Come lunch time, there is no cafeteria. Students are assigned lunch duties and they must get the food from the lunch hall, bring it to the class, and serve it to each student. For the most part, food can't be refused and 'trading' is looked down on. If you don't like what you're eating, you're out of luck. At the end of the day comes cleaning. There are no janitors, every student is assigned a task and everyone, teachers included, help cleaning the school and the school grounds every day. This includes putting all the trash together, wiping windows, sweeping, and washing the floor with a rag on your hands and knees. No mops here.

Unlike American schools, most students don't have homework every day. They wouldn't have time since most students are in some sort of after school club: baseball, table tennis, volleyball, art and many more. These activities start after cleaning time, around 4pm, and let out...whenever. I've seen kendo club players still at school at 8pm. Most clubs, especially sports clubs, also have practice on Sundays and Saturdays.

By now, you're thinking this is pretty draconian, "But at least they have summer break, right? Three months of vacation, family trips, and free time." Summer break is forty days, and since it is not in between school years (the new year starts in April and ends in March), the students have summer homework and, mostly for sports, club activities almost every day. When I told my students about American summer break, they all wanted to go to school in America.

I'm not trying to paint a bleak picture. These kids enjoy school. They have Sports Day and Culture Day, class trips, and fun events. By working hard together, either through cleaning or clubs, these kids get to know each other. Unlike America, students stay in one class room, the teacher for each subject comes to their classroom. The kids are almost always together, doing things together. Junior high is a precious time for them and an important time to make friends. They may seem to have rough. But they have it rough together.

"Adventure Hunters" is Cody's first novel. When he isn't writing he enjoys watching movies, listening to Morning Musume, and reading.

Cody's blog

Amazon

Smashwords

Record Powerball Jackpot

Have you heard about the current Powerball Jackpot? It's pretty high, at an estimated $425 million for this Wednesday's drawing.

"I Wanna Be Rich" by Calloway and "If I Had a Million Dollars" by the Barenaked Ladies are just two examples of songs that encourage us to dream, and dream big...or small in the case of the Barenaked Ladies.

So...what would you do if you won?  Let's not even talk about amounts, but what would you do if you suddenly had a large sum of extra money coming your way?

The first thing I would do is wait.  That's right.  I'd wait.  All right, maybe I'd splurge with my family by going out for a celebratory dinner, but that's it.  And I wouldn't spend a dime of the winnings for at least a month.  We're doing okay financially.  (No, that's not true.  We're really not, but that's beside the point.  We could afford to sink a little further while we take some time to think and plan.)

And then...

First I'd repay the people I owe.
Then I'd pay off our financial debts such as credit cards and financial aid.

And then...I'd insist that we wait some more.  There are people I'd love to help, places I'd love to go, things I'd like to do...but more important that all of that is my dream of no longer needing to worry about money so that I can focus on what's really important to me: time with family and friends and time to write.

Would you keep your day job?  I would, for now.  Would you buy a new car?  I wouldn't, but I would repair the one I have.  Would you move?  I wouldn't right away and then not to a place much bigger or more extravagant than where I live right now.

Now that you know what I would do, what would you do?

Black Friday Sales

Price of a Bounty will be free from November 23 - November 26, 2012.  It's exciting for me to know that many readers who are not typically into sci fi or distopian fiction, have publicly stated that my books have changed their mind. Won't you consider trying book 1 to see if that's true?  Each of my books can be read as stand alone novels. They are all approximately 300 pages in print. You can learn more at the Reliance on Citizens FB page.

Does anyone else wish they could control the flow of time? I wish I could stop it for everyone else and give myself a little extra time every day to relax, to vent and to write.

You see, I'm a full time teacher by day who runs two after school clubs per week to try and make ends meet. I'm also a mom of a very active preschooler. And I'm sick and tired of being told I'm worthless.

Wait...worthless? Who says that? You're right, no one says it to my face. But public policy that lowers my wages instead of increasing them every year sends a strong message. Busting public unions so that no one has my back, sends an even stronger message. Putting me in a position where I'm required to obtain a higher degree than thousands of "leaders" who make over three times my salary (and that figure may be going easy on them) sends the message that I'm expected to do a whole lot for little to nothing.

During my free time, I enjoy writing. When I can't find a pick-up volleyball game, it's another way I've found to blow off steam. And it's also a way to make new friends. I've found a tremendous support network on the Indie writing scene comparable to that I find in teaching, from other teachers and even from some administrators.

But that worthless feeling kicks in every now and then when it comes to writing too. Have you noticed it? Have you ever gotten "the look"?  You know the one. It's the look people give when they realize you published your book all by yourself. It's a look that says, "Oh, you must not be very good if you have to self publish." Well guess what? I chose to self publish. At some point, I may choose to submit some of my work to a publisher but not today. And when I do, it won't be because I need someone else to validate my creations.

It makes me want to scream! Are readers really not willing to use the free preview feature and decide for themselves whether or not a book is any good? Are so many people really that lazy?

Thank you for reading my rant. I welcome open discourse. Hopefully, even if we don't agree, we'll still have a lot to talk about.

Conviction Pandemonium!

Have you ever been in a public place and overheard a conversation you wished you had not? Yes, I have too, and I'm about to share it with you.

Let me set the scene. People sit at small tables enjoying each other's company while they eat a light lunch and drink a bit of coffee. Music plays softly, a backdrop to the gentle hum of conversation. Suddenly, a voice cuts through my concentration. It grates, not because of the tone or volume but because of the words.

I sigh and put my work aside.

Two university students sit nearby, young and attractive with flawless complexions. I believe they were working on an essay for a religious studies course. Their conversation about faith could have been deep. Indeed, one offered insightful comments and asked interesting questions. The other told anecdotes about court cases in which the defendants used examples of priests getting away with rape as a reason that they should be able to do the same. She told these stories to her friend in a gossipy tone. She made inflammatory statements and said nothing to back them up with facts. She repeated her comments and anecdotes over and over again. The comments she made had no bearing on their discussion of faith. Meanwhile, she texted other people questions about faith, laughed at their responses and proceeded to work on her essay, using others' thoughts as her own.

When she said, "I never participate in class discussions. They move too fast," my jaw just about hit the floor. Being a teacher, part of me wanted to exclaim that there is no good reason not to participate in class discussions while the other part of me decided that may not be such a bad thing.