Goodreads ARC Giveaway!

Oh! I almost forgot. There is a giveaway going on for Afextra on Goodreads for three ARC copies of the book. It will be going on until September 6th. Go enter! :D

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/94128-afextra

Afextra Is Getting A New Cover!

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I posted, I know. But I just wanted to let you guys know what's up. I've been working on a lot edits for Afextra and it is on track to be released in October as planned. But, however, I will be changing the book cover of Afextra. I am having a new cover designed that I hope you guys love. The reason I have decided to do this is because Afextra's current cover, although I love it, does not have high enough resolution for the print copies. So with that being known I will be putting together a cover release event for bloggers to partake in. If you are interested in helping me show the new Afextra cover to the world email me at: jdravencroft@gmail.com. Thanks guys!

Teaser Tuesday!

Happy Teaser Tuesday everyone! I hope you guys are having a good week so far. Here's a little Afextra teaser for you guys. Enjoy! :)
***

            The ride home is so silent. None of us really know exactly what to say. The sun is still shining bright in the sky hidden behind rows of trees along the road. The city of Chesapeake fades in the background as we drive east heading home. Home. The word echoes in my mind. Redon is the only home I’ve ever known. It’s where I was raised and where my mother was killed. But as the word bounces around in my skull the feeling that Redon can no longer be considered my home engulfs me.

            Rain patters against the car. It hits the windshield so hard that I wonder if it will break, we can barely see. “This rain is going to slow us up.” Kellen says.

            “I don’t care.” Kala mutters from the backseat. She brings her knees up to her chest and rests her chin on them. “Your car rides so smooth.” She smiles softly.

            “Is sleep all you can think about today?” I say jokingly despite the weight of everything bearing down on me.

            “Yeah, pretty much.” Kala giggles.

            “Wait,” Kellen says. “Something is wrong.” He glares in the rearview mirror at the black car behind us that I hadn’t noticed before. It’s following way too close. I turn in my seat to get a better look.

            “Are they following us?” I ask.

            “I think so.” Kellen says.

Facebook Like Giveaway!

Hey all! So I am doing a giveaway to generate likes for my facebook page. I'm really close to 100 likes which is awesome, but I am doing 150 like giveaway. I'm giving away a $5 amazon gift card to one of my facebook followers once I reach 150 likes on my page. To enter all you have to do is like my Books by J.D. Ravencroft page and once you have done that just post on the page saying you want to enter.

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Books-by-JD-Ravencroft/494606633911414?ref=hl

Afextra Marketing Materials!

So...I got an email yesterday from Wal Mart and Vista print about a promotion that they were doing where you could get 250 business cards for free. That made me think why don't I get some Afextra cards? So I went onto the website and designed...

It's sooooo pretty! I can't wait to have them in my hands and start passing them out to people. Hopefully they should arrive in a week and a half. This is so exciting. Finally things are falling into place for Afextra's release. I plan on getting some posters and books marks made for giveaways during the blog tour, but I give out more info on that as it draws closer. Yay!

My First Teaser Tuesday!

Hey guys! So...as a way to get everyone hyped up about Afextra I've decided to post my first Teaser Tuesday post. This tidbit is taken from Afextra's prologue. Remember, there is still editing to be done so please don't read this and critique it. I'm just wanting to give you a guys a taste of what's to come. Ok, enjoy!

*~*~*~*~*

             Nyla!” A deep, guttural voice yelled angrily in the distance. The sound sent birds scurrying from their perches in nearby trees and a spine tingling chill wrapping its cold grasp around the young woman. Nyla suppressed the scream that threatened to spill from her mouth. She began to run, she was now heading deeper into the forest, not even sure if she was heading the way the compass had directed. The sound of wings beating the air behind her filled her ears. They had found her and they would surely kill her and take her baby.

            “No use in running Nyla!” The voice said again. “That child belongs to The Order!” she ignored the words of the creatures chasing her and willed herself to run faster. Nyla rounded a corner, momentarily losing sight of her pursuers. Sweat beaded on her pale forehead causing her brown curly hair to stick to it, her bare feet ached from being exposed to the ground for so long.

            She looked around frantically for someplace to hide, her eyes landed on a thick bush nearby. Nyla ran to it and gently placed her baby down inside of the branches of the bush, being careful not to scratch the child’s tender ski

. Her hands shook as she pulled the thin, smooth fabric of the blanket over her baby. She leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the child’s forehead.

“Someday, you will find out who you really are.” She whispered into the baby’s ear. “Someday, you will know the truth, but for now please know that I love you, and everything I have done has been for you.”

Nyla stood up straight and forced herself to turn away from the child, she fought back the tears that swelled in her eyes. She had promised to protect her baby from The Order at all costs, even if that meant she had to die doing it. Nyla pulled out a dagger she had concealed in her blue tattered dress and ran back the way she had come.

The frightened beating of Nyla’s heart seemed like it filled every inch of the once silent forest. She caught sight of her pursuers who were now heading towards her head on. She would fight for her child’s freedom at any cost. Nyla gripped the small dagger in her right hand as the reality set in that she was going up against The Order, the most powerful Fairies in the world. 

~*~*~*~*~*
I hope you guys liked it. Please comment and tell me what you thought. Thanks!!! :)

Afextra Has a New Synopsis!

Hey all. So I've decided to give Afextra's synopsis a bit of an update and here it is...

For him to live, she must die. 

Lita Marr must choose between her life and the life of Kellen, the man she loves. She is the key to his race's survival and to his race's destruction, but Lita will do anything to be with him. 

Kellen Fiametta knew the moment he saw Lita that he wanted her, but their love is condemned. In a world of shadows, unearthly beings, and betrayal, their love will be put to the ultimate test. Just how far will one go to save the other?

It's not too different from the original synopsis. Hope you guys like it. :)

Another Afextra Update

Hi all, so I just wanted to write this post to give you guys another update about Afextra. I know it has been a while, which I do apologize for, and I hate that it has taken me so long to bring this book. I started Afextra back in 2012 and I knew early on that this would be the first book I published. I wanted to do something different which is why I incorporated Gargoyles into the novel. Anyway, this post is just to kind of let you all know what happened over the past year that delayed me publishing my book.

First of all, my grandfather died suddenly which was really difficult for my family because he was my last living grandparent and the only one that I had really gotten to know. A little bit after he died my mother was hospitalized for a major health condition. She later went on to be hospitalized four more times last year and then again this year. She is not recovering and we pray that she has beat the condition that has been trying to take her life.

 Thankfully all of that is in the past and my focus is fully on Afextra and publishing it as soon as possible. Like I mentioned in my last post Afextra is due out October 2014, but I might be moving the release date up since things are moving quicker now than I expected them to. I plan on posting an Afextra Teaser on Tuesday so stay tuned. I'm really excited about everything and I hope that you guys are still excited to read this book because I am going to publish it ASAP.

Also, I am in the process of reorganizing the blog tour that I was putting together when I had first planned to release Afextra. I will be giving more details about that very soon. Thank you guys for hanging in there!

Update

Hey you guys. It has been a while since I updated you all on what's going on with Afextra. Just wanted to let you guys know that I have not stopped working on it. Just trying to make sure that Afextra is ready for you guys to enjoy. I have decided to push the release date back again to October 2014. I'm going to work very hard to bring you guys Afextra as soon as possible. Thank you all for your patients.

Afextra New Release Date

Hi everyone! Afextra now has a new release date and it will be August 2014! Thanks for hanging in there with me. If you would like to request a review copy don't forget to send a request to swoonworthybooks@yahoo.com and remember all of the copies of Afextra are ebooks right now. Thanks! <3

Afextra Release Date

Hi guys! It's been a while since I updated you on all things Afextra. I've had some family emergencies come up recently that has caused me to not be able to devote as much time to gettting Afextra done as I would like. I'm unfortunately going to have to push the date back a couple of months. I will let you know the official new release date soon.
Thanks for sticking with me!

Facebook Page!

*GIVEAWAY ALERT* Hi guys, It's been a minute since I posted because my internet has been down. But it is up...for now and I wanted to announce that I started a facebook author page which is in desperate need of some likes. Therefore I am going to hold a 100 like giveaway! Once I reach 100 likes I will choose one random liker to recieve a swag pack complete with bookmarks, tattoos, and stickers from various YA authors. Also, the person who sends the most likes my way will recieve a swag pack, but please make sure the likers you send say who sent them. So overall there will be two winners! Please Share and spread the word! :)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/JD-Ravencroft/494606633911414?ref=hl

Afextra Blog Tour

Hey guys! So I wanted to announce that I am making plans to start a blog tour for Afextra. The blog tour will be called, "25 Days of Afextra." The tour is set to start May 1st and go until May 25th which is Afextra's release date. If you are a book blogger with 25 followers or more and think you might be interested in participating please email me at: goldenapplereviews@ymail.com. In your email let me know a date you might be interested in. I am hoping to make this blog tour HUGE to get the word around about Afextra. I am hoping to have two blogs post either an author interview, character interview,  review, or promo post a day. All of the ARCs of Afextra will be eARCs.I am planning to send the ARCs out aroung early to mid April so you will have plenty of time to read the book before your post. I hope to hear back from some of you guys out there. Thanks!

50 Follower Giveaway + Afextra Teaser!!!

Hi guys!!! Ah!!! I'm so happy! You help me get to 50+ followers! :D So as promised I have picked a giveaway winner to recieve the book swag combo pack! I also have a teaser from Afextra for you guys!!!


First things first. The winner of the giveaway is...Alise of Readers of In Wonderland! Congratulations Alise you have won a Perfection by J.L. Spelbring bookmark, a The Fallen Star and Darkness  Falls by Jessica Sorensen bookmark, and a Eternal Starling by  Angela Corbett bookmark, tattoo, and sticker. :)

New Cover Name

Hi guys! Just a little update to let you guys know that I am going to be publishing Afextra and working from now on under the alias J.D. Ravencroft. The cover maker has changed the name on the gorgeous cover for me. Just thought I'd let you guys know. :D

GIVEAWAY!

I know I already posted about the giveaway but this is just a reminder that after I reach 50 awesome followers I will be giving a swag combo pack! :D And just to clear up any confusion I am not giving away any copies of Afextra just yet. Some of my followers thought that this was a book + swag giveaway and just to be clear it is just swag such as bookmarks, tattoos, and stickers for books by fellow authors. I will be giving away ecopies of Afextra in the future but as of right now I am still finishing the book then I will be editing. :) SO press that follow button and you are automatically entered! And this is for US only.
WE ARE SO CLOSE! Yay!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Hi you guys! So It's been a minute since I posted here so I decided to sort of write a book review for a book a recently read, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Before I do I just want to say that as an upcoming self-published author all the support and help I have gotten so far means so much to me. :)




Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Publisher: Gollancz
Pages: 310
Publication Date: March 10th, 2009
My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

*Potential Spoilers*
Goodreads Synopsis:

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

What I Thought:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth follows Mary as she and a few survivors from her village travel along a fence trying to find safety after the village was destroyed by zombies. TFHT is the first book to ever actually make me cry at the end. This book, to me, was so very powerful and amazing and depressing all at the same time. My heart seriously went out to Mary and the predicament she was in. It's like life just wouldn't give her a break!

The charcter I didn't like was Mary's brother. Even though the brother sort of redeems himself in the end he was just such a jerk to Mary through out the book that I just thought that he got what he deserved by the end. TFHT is the first zombie book I've ever read completely and I am sort of on the fence about reading another. At the end of TFHT I found myself balling like a baby. I did enjoy this book though...sort of..but I would only reccommend for serious zombie lovers.

Afextra Blurb!

So I have been asked by a few followers to post the blurb for Afextra. I hope you guys like it. Here it is...


Afextra (Gargyles Vs. Faeries, #1)

For her to live, he must die.

Lita Marr must choose between her life and the life of Kellen, the man she loves. He is the key to her race's survival, but she will do anything to be with him.

Kellen Fiametta knew the moment he saw Lita that he wanted her, but their love is condemned. In a world of shadows, unearthly beings, and betrayal, their love will be put to the ultimate test. Just how far will one go to save the other?

Afextra Cover Reveal!

Here it is! The gorgeous cover for Afextra created for me by Book Beautiful!!! I LOVE it!

Giveaway!

So, as of right now I have no followers, but I want to change that. :) So I am going to have a 50 follower giveaway! I am giving away a book swag combo pack to a randomnly drawn follower AFTER I reach 50 followers! My goal is to reach 50 followers by this weekend so if you guys help do that you could win! Once you press that follow button you are automatically entered. :)

Everyone is welcomed to participate the contest is open to US only. Sorry, international postage is costly.