Blog Tour Stop: Guest Post with J.J. Bonds & GIVEAWAY!
[image_border img=”http://empyreanedge.com/wp-content/uploads/CRSblogtour_promo-e1326162305299.png” pos=”right”/]Hello and welcome everyone to the J.J. Bonds Crossroads Blog Tour. I’m honored to have you all here today for a special guest post by J.J. along with a giveaway of Crossroads, the first book in the new Crossroads Academy Series. Don’t forget, your comments today not only enter you in the giveaway for an eBook copy of Crossroads, but if you follow along all the tour stops and collect the hidden clues you could also win a Kindle!! Sounds awesome right? All the details are found below. Thank you and enjoy the guest post!
Crossroads (Crossroads Academy #1)
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Overview:
As if high school isn’t miserable enough, try being uprooted and dropped fangs first into an uptight prep school where everyone knows your name and they’ll stop at nothing to uncover the secrets of your past.
When Katia enrolled at Crossroads Academy she knew things weren’t exactly going to be easy. The sole heir to the worlds’ most powerful vampire, her presence was bound to cause a stir. But nothing could have prepared her for this. Whispers follow everywhere she goes. So does trouble.
But Katia will do her time at Crossroads. After all, she’s only enrolled at the prestigious school for pure blood vampires to fulfill a promise to her Great Uncle Aldo. Tucked away in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Katia hopes to shed the demons of her past and focus on her education. Raised blissfully unaware of the entire vamp world, she’s got a lot of catching up to do.
As Katia learns more about this dark society and her own legacy, protecting her past becomes increasingly difficult. Bodies start turning up in nearby Rutland and Katia is sucked into a twisted web of danger and deceit. Haunted by nightmares she can’t explain and a thirst for blood that is never sated, Katia will do whatever it takes to keep her past buried. What choice does she have? Exposure will shake the Elder’s Council to its core and likely result in a death sentence at the hands of the Linkuri.
Nothing at Crossroads is what it seems and Katia’s secrets may be the darkest of them all.
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Where J.J. Writes
In a perfect world, I’d have a great office with beautiful purple walls, a sparkly chandelier, a fluffy white rug, and a cushy desk chair where I could spend my days and nights writing in uninterrupted bliss. Unfortunately, that perfect writer’s lair exists only in my imagination. And since I live in the real world (most of the time), I have to make do with my real world situation.
I work full time in the highly demanding world of retail, so finding time to write, let alone a quiet place, is a challenge. I tend to write whenever and wherever I get the chance. In fact, Crossroads actually started as a way to pass the hours in some of my less stimulating MBA classes. I began outlining the story in my night classes and fantasizing about the characters– who they were, how they’d react in different situations, their unique qualities– all the really down and dirty stuff! I made pages and pages of notes and none of them had anything to do with the prof’s lecture (although he didn’t need to know that). Then I actually began writing the story in lieu of writing my term paper and it was fun. Eventually I had to push Crossroads aside and write that paper (which I got an A on, in case you were wondering), but when my father was diagnosed with cancer, I decided to take a risk and finish the manuscript. I wanted to be doing something I loved, something I was passionate about.
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Once I made up my mind to finish the manuscript, there was no stopping me. I wrote with fervor. Over the weekend I would sit for hours at my dining room table, neglecting my ‘real’ work and drafting the story. In truth, it came far more easily than I might have imagined, in part, I think, because I’d already spent so much time outlining. I knew the characters and their stories. I just had to get them out. Or maybe it was my intense desire to move to a more comfortable chair. You will note that my dining room table is all wood and I can assure you (as will my rear) that the chairs are no different. No cushions = one numb derriere! Still, I’d sit there until my muscles were stiff and my husband was begging me to take a break for dinner.
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My other favorite writing spot is the couch which I like to affectionately think of as ‘Big Red’. The problem? Big Red is right in front of the TV with the instant gratification of MTV and all of my other guilty little pleasures. The other problem with writing on the couch? Two four legged interruptions who simply do not understand the writing process or the need for quiet time.
What I quickly figured out was that I could write anywhere: at home, the airport, in bed, by the pool, even on my phone when I had an idea that had to be captured. As long as I followed the story and wrote from the heart, the words just kept coming.
Maybe someday I’ll have the office of my dreams, but for now, I’m just thrilled to be able to be doing something I love!
~Giveaway Time~
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For this tour stop, one lucky commenter & member will win a digital copy of Crossroads.All comments count towards the Kindle Giveaway.
- For the Giveaway – Be a Member and Comment to Win (tell me in the comments how you followed)!
- One random comment will be selected to win a digital copy of JJ Bonds Crossroads.
- All comments will be counted to win a KINDLE FIRE with a Crossroads Gel Cover. No need to double comment.
- Collect Clues along the tour for a chance to win
- Comment at each tour stop for extra chances to win
- Tweet and use #crossroadsbooktour for extra chances to win along with random drawings to win digital copies of the book
- Collect clues to find the final entry to win the Kindle Fire
- Contest will run January 10-30th. Winners will be selected January 31st
The Rafflecopter Wideget will be used to collect email addresses. Please do NOT leave your email in the comments section. Thank you for your cooperation.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
!!Good Luck!!
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Thanks
Four legged interruptions are the best interruptions in the world! 🙂
Sound great! Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway!
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com
lol, too funny! love the big red couch.
Please count me in! Thanks
I love the big red couch. And now I am wondering what happened in her past
I have to agree that the chairs did not look comfortable at all. I would very much prefer to write sitting on Big Red too. 😉
Thank you for sharing with us. Your desk is so clean I do not understand how you can concentrate LOL I look forward to reading The Crossroads and appreciate the giveaway opportunity 🙂
tweeted = https://twitter.com/#!/ZDz59001/status/159859070415802369
I’m glad you decided to finish writing Crossroads, J.J. I’m excited to read it! 🙂
My cats are the same way when I’m at the computer. I sneak over when they’re sleeping, but a few minutes later they start coming by. And what better place to lay?!? across the keyboard.
acm05atjuno.com
LOL You named your couch? haha It’s great you can write anywhere. Yes my dogs and a bad-ass cat are constant distractions also. Your ideal office sounds great. You’ll get it soon enough. Thank you for this fabulous book tour! I’m really loving it. DeAnna Schultz
Here’s to your dream of a shamancy fancy office!! 😉
thewildtwo @ sbcglobal (dot) net
Kali Skittles
dontkillkittens8@netscape.net
This book sounds very interesting. Thanks for the giveaway.
Fun bloghop. Crossroads sounds like an intreguing book..Good luck with your dream office.
She has a KILLER couch! Seriously that is an awesome couch and it looks super comfy!
This was a great guest blog. I really enjoyed the author’s story. Wonderful giveaways. Donna
J.J. I can say that I don’t envy you those wooden chairs, it would certainly have given me one nasty case of what I affectionately term “butt slush” (where one’s posterior goes totally numb from sitting on or in an uncomfortable spot/position for too danged long). I follow several of the blogs that your tour is featured on (Under the covers and a few other Networked Blogs). On that topic I wanted to let you know that the link for this site posted on a few of the other blogs comes up as a 404 error and I had to actually access this site from your own webpage. Loving this blog tour and Big Red looks super comfy!
Thanks for the chance to enter this giveaway! It looks like an awesome blog tour!
I am a follower through network your blog and my email tess.m.watson@gmail.com
Thanks for the feature Diayll! It sounds like Big Red made quite a splash with the readers. Sabot, my puppy, and I are enjoying its comfort right now!
It was definitely my pleasure having you here, feel free to come back any time!!
Haha I love that she names her couch! And the puppy is cute!! 😀 This sounds like a great book I’ve been seeing it around lately. Awesome post!
Giselle
Xpresso Reads
JJ…Did you finally get your MBA?
catherinelee100[at]gmail[dot]com
Catherine- Lol. Never one to quit in the middle, I did finish my MBA last year! I learned a lot, but I’m glad to be finished as it leaves more time fore writing!
Hi, thanks for the awesome contest, I would love to win a kindle, I wanted one for xmas but I think santa didnt make enough lol.
nataliejhillier@yahoo.ca
Good luck Natalie! I would have liked one too, but I figured perhaps I just wasn’t well behaved enough!
Thanks for this great giveaway!!!! this kindle thing is popular how weird XD
This sounds like an awesome giveaway!
Your dream office sounds fantastic, but being able to write anywhere is definitely a gift. 🙂
Crossroads sounds great!
It’s great you finished you’re manuscript. It sounds like that little push was what you needed as the characters and their story soon took a hold of you 🙂
Your ideal office sounds really nice. I too would love an office like that, and while I’m not a writer, like you my laptop is at the table (kitchen) and the furniture is all wood. I have to agree that “big red” is comfy and the doggie is adorable. Crossroads sounds like an interesting book. Thanks for the giveaway.
junegirl63 at gmail dot com
wow.. big red sure looks comfy..