Want to join my street team?

So what is that exactly you might ask, well... that's a way for my readers who enjoy my books to help me out. In exchange for signing up through my facebook street team page, and telling others about my books (honestly... I never ask anyone to promote what they don't like) there will be prizes in store.

Things that I'll do only for you guys. :) Things like gift cards, sneak peeks to books I won't post anywhere else, and other things I won't say yet but I promise will be absolutely awesome! The only thing I ask is use the web, tell others, and help me let the world know my books exist. :)

Below is the link to my facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/583074978372221/#!/groups/583074978372221/

I'll also be sticky'ing this page so that you can refer others to it.

Again, no pressure anybody. This is supposed to be fun and that's all I want it to be. I'm not asking anyone to post bogus reviews or anything else ridiculous, I just want you to tell others about my books if you like them enough to share them. That's it! :)

Happy reading,
~Marie :D

More Hook!

Update time:

Sorry it's been a while guys. Apparently in the state of Hawaii a one week Spring Break isn't good enough, this year they decided to make it two weeks. Which means I've still got the monkeys at home, which slows my writing time down considerably. But, you'd be proud... because I'm still making time whenever I've got a minute to spare.

So I've got a little bit of an update available for you! An excerpt of Hook, Trisha's first impressions:

First thing Trisha noticed was the eyes. So dark they appeared almost inky in the candlelight room. Flecks of silver, like stardust, rimmed the irises. She’d never seen eyes like his before, but beyond their color was their shape and the length of his lashes. Lashes a woman would envy, long and curled at the tips and a shade of black that she could only achieve with mascara.

The second was the set of his broad lips. They weren’t full, or too thin, but just right as Goldilocks’ might have said.

And the third was that he had a sword pointed at her neck and was pushing in enough that she knew blood would spill if she even breathed too hard.

Hook is probably my most villanous of the five. But really, he had to be, right? He wouldn't be Hook if he wasn't. ;)

Also, I'm halfway done with it now!! I hate to set deadlines because life rarely works out that way, especially with self-publishing, but I can say I'm making very steady progress. ;)

Happy reading,
~Marie

I've come to shamelessly beg for votes

Her Mad Hatter's been voted by readers one of 2012's best paranormal romances of the year on The Romance Reviews website! This is a reader run contest and I'm thrilled that someone thought enough of my book to nominate it for such an honor. :D

If any of you are in agreement, I'd love a little love. *g*

http://www.theromancereviews.com/bookvote.php

That is the link to the contest, on that page you'll find several other categories to vote on.

Thanks again to all of you for spreading the word on my book. :D

Happy reading,
~Marie

Next Hook update and a teaser :)

Oh my gosh y'all, Hook is dastardly. He's deliciously wicked and I'm having so much fun writing him. I won't give too much away, this is just a teaser, but I love him. ;)

Hook stared at the strumpet lying on the bed. The powdered wig she wore lay skewed on her head, revealing a hint of frizzy brown beneath. Her painted face, with the fake mole over her top lip, and doxy red lips made his stomach curdle.

Drink made him do stupid things.

Shaking her shoulders roughly he woke her up. “Get out,” he growled the moment she opened bloodshot eyes.

“Wha--”

Curling his lips, he slipped his boots back on. “Out. Now.”

“But… but…” she sputtered and turned his back on her.

“Woman, I’ll give you two seconds to gather your unmentionables, get out of my cabin, because so help me, if you don’t…I’ll toss you overboard.”

 

*g* he's delicious isn't he? ;)

 

Also, to everyone spreading the word about my books, thanks guys. Seriously... I always say it but I really do have amazing fans.

 

I heart you guys!

Happy reading,

~Marie :)

Lots of updates( Hook's Pan, Her Mad Hatter contest, etc..)

So, I receive a lot of emails from you readers wondering when Hook will be up for sale. I decided to be kind and post regular updates on the progress of the book. I can tell you that it's nearly 50% completed.

There's been a couple of bumps in the road (namely real life) that forced me to set the book aside to take  care of things, but it is progressing nicely. :) I wish I could set a hard date of when publication will happen, but being Indie means I don't always know. Regular publishers can take months, even years to set a publication date which is why the sale dates rarely get pushed back, an author can literally have a year to write a novella. In this case, an Indie author writes, edits, edits some more and then publishes, so it's really depending on how quickly those factors can take place.

What I can say is that Hook's Pan will be my next book published and that I really hope it'll be worth the wait. :D

Also, I received an awesome email yesterday from The Romance Reviews website. My book, Her Mad Hatter, has been nominated one of 2012's best paranormal romances. How AWESOME you guys are!!! This is a reader nominated award, and the fact that you guys have stuck my book up there with some heavy hitters of paranormal... I'm just floored.

If any of you would like to vote for my book, or any other book... here's the link:

TRR Nominations

In the next few days I'll start posting tiny snippets of Hook as well, so keep coming back. I think you'll enjoy reading them. :)

Happy reading!
~Marie

P.S. Wednesday I'll be running a bookbub ad for my book The Witching Hour: Grim Reaper Saga, if any of you could tweet or FB posts about it, that would be super. The book has been dropped from it's normal 2.99 to .99 for this promotion. So if you haven't read it yet, now's the time to get a copy before it goes back up to regular price next week! :)

The Witching Hour: Grim Reaper Saga

And my winner is...

Thank you all for hanging out with me this weekend during the Lucky in Love bloghop, and my winner is...  chosen completely by random...

Mary!

You've won a free copy of my newest release: A Moment.

Thanks to everyone else who stopped by.

Happy reading,
~Marie

Weekend Writing Warriors: A moment

Good morning, all. :) Hope you all had a great weekend, I know mine has only just begun because my son is on Spring Break. Lots and lots of fun! ;) I have another word for it, or rather two words. No writing. I love him, but he's a little whirling dirvish, for sure.

So taking a quiet moment away for myself I decided this week to go back to my newly released book, A Moment. This is the blurb, just to get your all caught up on what's happening in the book.

New Adult College Romance:

Ryan Cosgrove and Liliana Delgado are on a collision course with destiny. They don't know it yet, but before the night is over their lives will be forever changed.

Spending Valentine's Day at a burlesque bar, hadn't been Liliana's ideal way of spending a Friday night. She'd much rather be back at campus, doing homework... until she meets Ryan. Tall, athletic, and gorgeous, Lili can't keep her eyes off him, and despite his gruff manners and drunken disposition she's intrigued.

Ryan's got demons, and they're deep, dark, and eating him alive. Regardless of his attraction to the petite brunette he's tired of fighting, of pretending the last fifteen years haven't been a daily struggle just to get out of bed every morning. That night he decides to end his pain, to leave it all behind and float away into the blessed darkness of oblivion. But fate has other plans for him, Lily finds and rescues Ryan, determined she'll not only save his body, but his soul too.

This is their moment...

So here's their first time meeting as seen through the hero's eyes:

So I look around, following his gaze and it’s like someone just pulled the floor out from under me. A petite Hispanic woman is walking toward him with an equally large smile on her face.

Her hair is dark and silky, glinting under the dim red lights of the bar, it spills down her back in a graceful heap. Her body is toned and trim, legs a mile long and encased in a tight pair of red pant, a white top accentuates the bronze of her arms.

But her face is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. Heart shaped, with a tiny cleft in the jaw, full lipped and a short button nose. She stops in front of us carrying the scent of flowers with her.

Which is amazing I can even smell that because the bar reeks of scotch and smoke and food.

Turning green eyes toward me, she smiles. “Hi, I’m Liliana.”

 

Okay! That's it, hope you all have a great week and make sure to check out the other fantastic www.wewriwa.com authors!

 

Happy reading,

~Marie

Lucky in Love Blog Hop!

Lucky in Love? Well, are you, punk? ;)

It's a time of luck and wealth...or not. With each romance we find ourselves in a new world of love and memories. Are these just by chance? Is it luck?

I'm not sure what I believe in. Is it luck? Are we predestined to meet our mates? Is it written in the stars? I don't know, but I do know that I love LOVE and I love the thought of finding it in the most random places.

I recently released a book called A Moment, (New Adult Sexy Contemporary College Romance) and in it my h/h meet on Valentine's Day. But, as many Valentine's Days often do, this one doesn't exactly end well. In fact, neither hero nor heroine, wanted to meet Mr./Mrs. Right. But it just happened. Love is one of those tricky things you just cannot control, and even when the situation seems bleakest, it still manges to thrive. That's why I love writing about romance, because it's the possibility of more, of joy and even sometimes great sorrow... but it's a defining aspect of who we are as possible. Even the unloveable want to be loved. So tell me... how do you view love? Is it luck, spontaneous chemical combustion.. what is is?

Welcome to your second annual Lucky in Love Blog Hop where we want to hear about your love, your romance, and how much you love St. Patrick's Day!!! Are you wearing green? Ready to get pinched...or wait...do you like that?

I hate getting pinched, but I love pinching. *g* So don't get too close or you're liable to get one right on your rear. ;)

Almost 300 bloggers have giveaways and posts about those men we love!

But that's not all....

We have TWO grand prizes. You as a reader can go to EACH blog and comment with your email address and be entered to win. Yep, you can enter over 200 times!

Now what are those prizes?

1st Grand Prize: A $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

2nd Grand Prize: A Swag Pack that contains paperbacks, ebooks, 50+ bookmarks, cover flats, magnets, pens, coffee cozies, and more!

That's not all, I'll personally be giving away one free copy of my Contemporary Romance, A Moment. All I'll need from you is to say hi, sign up for my newsletter if you feel so inclined, and tell me which format you'd prefer the ebook in. I have .doc, .mobi (for Kindle), .epub (for B&N), and PDF. Also include your email address you'd like this sent to. Below is the blurb!

Ryan Cosgrove and Liliana Delgado are on a collision course with destiny. They don't know it yet, but before the night is over their lives will be forever changed.

Spending Valentine's Day at a burlesque bar, hadn't been Liliana's ideal way of spending a Friday night. She'd much rather be back at campus, doing homework... until she meets Ryan. Tall, athletic, and gorgeous, Lili can't keep her eyes off him, and despite his gruff manners and drunken disposition she's intrigued.

Ryan's got demons, and they're deep, dark, and eating him alive. Regardless of his attraction to the petite brunette he's tired of fighting, of pretending the last fifteen years haven't been a daily struggle just to get out of bed every morning. That night he decides to end his pain, to leave it all behind and float away into the blessed darkness of oblivion. But fate has other plans for him, Lily finds and rescues Ryan, determined she'll not only save his body, but his soul too.

This is their moment...


 

Goodreads blog readers

This post is specifically for you. Since I do get quite a bit of fan interaction there, but it always takes you guys about a day to get my blog posts, I'm giving you guys a chance to win a free copy of A Moment.

The response for my free books has been overwhelming and I'm so excited that you guys all wanted a  copy of the book. I've filled my quota, but I didn't want to forget you Goodreaders, so here's your chance to win.

First one to say hi on Goodreads gets the book. That's it. :) Just let me know which format you'd like, either Kindle, B&N, or if you read on a phone or computer and I'll send it to you. Just make sure to include an email address you'd like the book sent to.

Everyone, I just want to say a great big thank you for helping me spread the word about this book. :D

Y'all are awesome!

Happy reading
~Marie

A Moment is finally here!!

Well, sort of. The book's been uploaded everywhere, however it'll take a day or so for it to go live. That said, I promised to hand out a few advanced copies of the book to anyone willing to leave me a review on it. Either at Amazon, B&N, or Goodreads. Simply because in order to submit the book to certain promotional sites I need reviews. I've got 9 copies left to hand out.

However, I want anyone who reads this to feel the right to be brutally honest. Not that it won't suck to be told the book bites, but hey... I always prefer honesty to anything else. :)

That said, anyone willing to review in exchange for a free book please contact me at mariehallwrites@gmail.com Make sure to tell me which reading device you have and that'll be that. :D

Below is the blurb:

Ryan Cosgrove and Liliana Delgado are on a collision course with destiny. They don’t know it yet, but before the night is over their lives will be forever changed.

Spending Valentine’s Day at a burlesque bar, hadn’t been Liliana’s ideal way of spending a Friday night. She’d much rather be back on campus doing homework… until she meets Ryan. Tall, athletic, and gorgeous, Lili can’t keep her eyes off him, and despite his gruff manners and drunken disposition she’s intrigued.

Ryan’s got demons, and they’re deep, dark, and eating him alive. Regardless of his attraction to the petite brunette he’s tired of fighting, of pretending the last fifteen years haven’t been a daily struggle just to get out of bed every morning. That night he decides to end his pain, to leave it all behind and float away into the blessed darkness of oblivion. But fate has other plans for him, Lily finds and rescues Ryan, determined she’ll not only save his body, but his soul too.

This is their moment…

Happy reading!
~Marie

A Moment COVER REVEAL

 

A Moment:

Ryan Cosgrove and Liliana Delgado are on a collision course with destiny. They don’t know it yet, but before the night is over their lives will be forever changed.

Spending Valentine’s Day at a burlesque bar, hadn’t been Liliana’s ideal way of spending a Friday night. She’d much rather be back on campus doing homework… until she meets Ryan. Tall, athletic, and gorgeous, Lili can’t keep her eyes off him, and despite his gruff manners and drunken disposition she’s intrigued.

Ryan’s got demons, and they’re deep, dark, and eating him alive. Regardless of his attraction to the petite brunette he’s tired of fighting, of pretending the last fifteen years haven’t been a daily struggle just to get out of bed every morning. That night he decides to end his pain, to leave it all behind and float away into the blessed darkness of oblivion. But fate has other plans for him, Lily finds and rescues Ryan, determined she’ll not only save his body, but his soul too.

This is their moment…

 

In the next few days I'll be offering up 10 free copies to anyone willing to leave me a review on either B&N, Amazon, or Goodreads for it. :)

 

So what do you guys think? Beautiful, huh?

 

Happy reading

~Marie :)

 

Weekend Writing Warriors: A Moment Part 3

From my soon to be released New Adult novel: A Moment.

“No matter what happens after tonight, I will never regret this.” I don’t look away from him, trying to let him know I understand what we’re doing and I’m still a willing participant.

My heart is racing, my nerves shot.

“I love you,” he whispers and I’m so stunned I never think to say it back.

I can’t do anything other than blink.

There are times, you know, when a man tells you they love you, and it means nothing. It’s like saying hi, or see you later. Meaningless jabber that they hope will get them into your pants. But this… this is different.

I call this the moment you know it's real... :)

Be sure to check out more awesome writers at www.wewriwa.com !

Happy reading,
~Marie

And my winner is!!

I loved, loved all the names. There was something really special about each one of them. you guys are seriously awesome coming up with those. So... because I had so many suggestions it was almost impossible to wittle it down to my favorites, but here goes:

Kai- Thanks Jessica!

Amane- Hillary ;)

Sirenade and Sircco- Copper Goddess (They will be twins)

Aolani- Amelia (I live in Hawaii, only fitting to go with the Hawaiian name)

Julie- Julie (I would be honored to put you in the book)

Gabriella- Lauren

Maiven- I shall call you crazy numbers since that's all I see any time you post. :p

All those characters will appear in the book, since you know... if you're gonna have a mermaid cove there should be more than one. That said, Trishelle can only have one best friend and it is..... *drum roll please*

Sirenade!

Really fantastic choices y'all. This was so much fun!

Have a great weekend and don't forget to  come back and check out my weekend warriors post on Sunday!!

Happy reading
~Marie :D

Kingdom fans, unite

Okay, guys and gals... I have a favor to ask you. I'm writing a scene where Trishelle meets a friend, a mermaid to be exact. But I don't have a name.

:)

So, anyone who responds to this post within the next days will be entered into the raffle to have their name, or the name of their choosing appear within the book as a mermaid, or merman as the case might be. Though you'll have to be gay because otherwise Hook will have some serious beef with you, just sayin'.

Anyway.... say hi, tell me your name or whatever name you want and please be kind, don't call her twinkle toes fluffy bunny, because then I might have to use that name and I'll put you in the introduction and let the whole world know it's your fault for making me write about such a ridiculous name. Yes, I'm petty that way. *wink*

This contest is open to my goodreads blogger readers too. Two days guys. :)

Say hi!

That is all,
~Marie

PS... if you haven't signed up for my newsletter, I'm going to be sending out a blast in the next few days for the launch of my sexy new adult contemporary romance, A Moment... sign up, you just might win something if you do. ;)

www.mariehallwrites.blogspot.com

I have the *sniff sniff* best fans

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I have no idea who did it, but Her Mad Hatter reached #156 on the Amazon free rankings this morning. That's pretty huge. And it's all because word of mouth, that means you guys.

And at the risk of sounding stalkerish, I love y'all. You guys are helping me fulfill a dream, and that's to write.

Because I'm feeling all mushy and melty right now I'm coming with a tiny little gift to say thank you...

First 3 to respond, get a 10 dollar gift certificate to the reading site of their choice.

Just say hi. :D

In a few days, I'll be releasing my New Adult contemporary novel, different than my Kingdom books (Just a warning now). This book is real, gritty, but romantic. (I hope...lol) Because I'm hoping to get some reviews on this soon after release I'll be giving out 10 free copies of the book. My hope is whoever receives the book will take the time to leave me a review, but no pressure. Though it would be nice. Just sayin'. ;)

And to leave this on a happy note, here's the new cover for Hook's Pan, release date *soon* :D

Happy reading,
~Marie

Weekend Writing Warriors: Ryan's descent into darkness

So picking up where I left off, obviously you know at this point Ryan has his demons... here's a glimpse into his head. Warning: His head is a dark, lonely place...

I’d worked my entire life to forget, to fight and forget. To become a man, to never look back. But I’m stuck in a revolving door, no matter how many times I push, all I ever really do is stay in place. I’d flown halfway across the world, but could never outrun Texas. Could never get away, because the dog is always on my heels, always there to remind me who I really am.

Squeezing my eyes shut, a terrible sound draws from my mouth, one I’d never heard before. I can’t do this anymore, can’t pretend, can’t keep lying that it isn’t hurting, isn’t killing me a little every day.

He wins, but I think in the end he always knew that.

 

Okay, that's it, be sure to check out the other www.wewirwa.com authors!

 

I'm aiming to release A Moment sometime next week! I'll update here soon as I pinpoint an exact date.

 

Happy reading,

~Marie

A Moment Part 2

Because this book will soon be released, I'll be posting a few lines from the book. To continue with my previous entry, this is a book about Ryan (a man at the end of his rope) and Liliana (a woman struggling to make it through the daily grind that is her life. This is a smexy New Adult Novel and like the title of my blog says, it's called A Moment.

This is how the two first meet and I like the scene, I hope you all like it too:

Chapter 1

Liliana

The smells are the first things that hit me. Huddling into myself, knees tucked under my chin as the hospital doors whisk open and shut a sick sort of feeling sinks its claws into my stomach. I’m ill. Have been for days.

Throwing up, always nauseous, and my boobs hurt.

Biting my lower lip I glance at my father sitting beside me. Angry doesn’t even begin to describe how he’s feeling. The school called, said their daughter was puking her guts out. He’d seen me puking my guts out the last ten days. Every time he’d give me a look that said, “girl, that better not be what I think it is.”

I close my eyes as the ache in the back of my skull intensifies.

The smells in here are awful-- blood, sweat, and vomit. Beside me a little kid is hacking her lungs out. I’m not a germaphobe, but each time I get blasted with the spray I tuck further into myself and count to five before taking another breath.

Surrounded by people, but I’ve never felt so alone.

I wish mom was here with me. She would hug me, tell me it will be okay. But she hasn’t been feeling good the last year.

Doctors say she’s in the beginning stages of multiple scoliosis, which means dad had to come.

The doors slide open with a loud whoosh. Huffing the bangs out of my eyes I look up and my heart stills.

In fact, everything seems to freeze. It’s a strange sensation, sounds grow dim, and the world recedes to a pinprick of light, a halo that surrounds him. I have no idea who he is, a perfect stranger in a room full of them, but something about him stands out and makes me notice.

He has dark wavy hair and intense blue eyes. He stands squinting in the doorway and it’s obvious why he’s here. The entire left side of his face is a swollen mass of discolored skin. Grabbing onto the corner of his jaw, I notice his knuckles are also split open. Hard eyes scan the waiting room, and for a second, I glimpse in his face the same emotion I’m feeling right now.

Anywhere but here…

Then our eyes meet. He’s older than me, I can tell. There are whiskers on his cheeks, and he doesn’t look like a boy.

Especially not like the boy who did this to me.

The look lasts only a second, but feels more like an eternity-- a stolen moment in time that exists outside of where we’re at right now. But like so much in my life, it’s fleeting.

He sits far in the back of the room.

I want to turn and look. To see if I’d been right and he’d understood-- if somehow a stranger understood exactly what I was going through.

But I can’t, because then a nurse comes out and calls my name.

“Liliana Delgado?” Her voice is calm, cool, and it sends chills straight through me. Wrapping the ends of my thick sleeves around my closed fists I sit like a deer in the headlights, spooked out of my mind with a mouth tasting like cotton.

“Get up,” my father growls low, for my ears only.

Coming here, it’s just a formality. We all know, but it’s one of those things that you can ignore until you no longer can.

Swallowing hard, I look back at the guy one last time.

He has his face turned and is staring at the wall. No one is going to save me from this.

Grabbing my stomach, I force my feet to move. The nurse’s smile is small, but reassuring. My father’s look is full of hate.

An hour later he won’t even look at me.

The test is positive.

At fourteen, my life is over.

***

Ryan

Fuck! This is just what I need.

The bastard had cracked my jaw in two places, granted they’re hairlines, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t throb like a sonofabitch.

It’d been worth it though.

I smirk, even though doing it makes the pain feel like someone’s shoved a hot poker through my face. I don’t care. It’s done. Over. Never again.

The doctors gave me pills, sent me home.

Home.

I don’t have one of those anymore.

But I don’t care. I’m more free now than I’ve ever been. My parents, they’ve never believed me. Just think I’m a big fucking screw up. I barely graduated high school. There goes Ryan, such a disgrace to his parents. Such good god-fearing people, what a shame to be saddled with something like that.

I’d heard it all before.

It’d stopped bothering me a long time ago.

But today I’d had to do it-- had to confront my uncle, because I’m eighteen and I’m a man and I had to show him that.

Never again. Not to anybody else. I’d pounded that truth into his fat face with my bloody fists.

Flexing my fingers I stare at the swollen and distorted mass of tissue, the sun is beating down on my head. All I have left in this world is the clothes on my back. I’m not going back home, couldn’t even if I wanted to.

My dad kicked me out after the fight, says he can’t handle me anymore. Honestly, I think he would have found a way anyway, but this fight was the perfect excuse-- a way for him to maintain his spotless reputation within the community.

All I’ve ever wanted is for him to fucking believe me. But his chance is over. I’m done and no matter what anybody else says, I’m not stupid, but with my grades there won’t be any college in my future.

Glancing down the busy street it takes me all of two seconds to decide where I’m going.

Away.

Far, far away from Austin, Texas. In fact, I want out of the country.

I can’t breathe here anymore.

I’m joining the Marines and I’m going to war.

Happy reading,
~Marie

Come back on Sunday for another 8 sentences!