Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Plus CassaFire Special, Ninja News, and Special Announcments

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.

My awesome co-hosts today are Sheena-kay Graham, Julie Musil, Jamie Ayres, and Mike Swift! Please be sure to thank them for their time and effort to make all IWSG members feel welcome.

I’ve been working on another manuscript and after a rocky start, I have finally found my groove with the story and the main character. I’m also taking notes on things I will need to either adjust or add to the beginning.

And that’s really unusual for me. I didn’t make many changes to the last two books and the only thing I added was description. I don’t think I did much more than that with my first book, either. But with this story, I will be adding entire scenes. That will definitely stretch my writing skills.

At least it won’t mess up my chapters since dividing a manuscript into chapters is the last thing I do!

I do have a request for assistance today. I don’t ask for this kind of support often, but if you can help, I’d really appreciate it.

From February 4 – 10, CassaFire will be 99 cents at Amazon and my publisher’s site. This is the first time they have ever run a promotional special like this and have ads running at several sites, including BookBub. I’m the guinea pig, so hopefully the promotion rocks the house!
It’s also featured today at Kindle Books and Tips.

Below are some Tweets and the last one is for Facebook, blogging, or whatever. If you can help me spread the news, I would greatly appreciate it! And if you haven’t picked up CassaFire, this is a good week to do so. And bonus – CassaStorm was also reduced to $3.99!

Reminiscent of the action-driven stories of Robert A. Heinlein's early fiction - Library Journal. CassaFire only .99 http://tinyurl.com/qaz7kxr

This is a book of inner and outer journeys, of inner and outer adventures, mysteries and revelations. CassaFire .99 http://tinyurl.com/qaz7kxr

“Top Gun Meets Battlestar Galactica” Amazon Best Seller and Pinnacle Award Winner CassaFire on sale .99 http://tinyurl.com/qaz7kxr

“CassaStaR is the cake. CassaFirE is the cherry.” Amazon Best Seller and Pinnacle Award Winner CassaFire on sale .99 http://tinyurl.com/qaz7kxr

From the Amazon best-selling series - A Pinnacle Book Achievement Winner! CassaFire by Alex J. Cavanaugh on sale .99 http://tinyurl.com/qaz7kxr

“Top Gun Meets Battlestar Galactica” Alex J. Cavanaugh’s CassaFire on sale .99 http://tinyurl.com/qaz7kxr #SF #99cents

“…delivers on the promise of its predecessor, combining military action sequences and political intrigue with strong, memorable characters. Reminiscent of the action-driven stories of Robert A. Heinlein's early fiction…” - Library Journal
Alex J. Cavanaugh’s CassaFire just .99 for a limited time!
Amazon - http://tinyurl.com/qaz7kxr

*And big thanks to all of you who spread the word - between your efforts and my publisher's advertising, CassaFire hit a confirmed #194 OVERALL ranking on Amazon early Saturday morning. Whoa!!!

Special Announcements!

Charlie's Scribes is a new, FREE service featuring the angelic smiles of Mark Koopmans, Elizabeth Seckman, and Tammy Theriault

Our motto is “You Snooze, We Muse.” To begin, our free services will focus on guest posting for people on vacation or anyone needing a bloggy break.

Charlie’s Scribes have only one goal: To fight writer's block, writer’s overload, and the need for some vacay time by filling empty post slots throughout the blogosphere with our charm, wit, and Mark’s Hula skills. You’ll be amazed – or your next post is free!

From Samantha Redstreake Geary - cover reveal for "Beyond the Binding", the Composers for Relief Companion Collection to raise funds for the Philippines relief effort.

Embark on an exciting journey “Beyond the Binding” of the imagination with 29 authors from across the globe, in a groundbreaking collaboration where music meets fiction. Surrender to soaring compositions as they surge through the veins of every story, capturing the triumphant pulse of the notes in heart pounding sci fi, enchanting fantasy and gripping slices of realism.

All proceeds of the Composers for Relief album and Companion Collection ebook will go to Gawad Kalinga (“give care”) and GVSP (Gualandi Volunteer Service Programme), to support the relief efforts for victims of the deadliest natural disaster in Philippines’ history, Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).

Ebook available from Amazon, Amazon UK, iTunes, B&N, Kobo, Sony, Diesel & Smashwords.
Composers for Relief album available on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, and Spotify

Swoon Romance is having a cover contest for Rachel Schieffelbein’s upcoming YA novel, DON'T FALL!

Here's the deal: You create a cover for DON'T FALL and email it to Rachel by March 5th. You can enter as many designs as you want. The covers will be posted during a blog blitz and people can vote for their favorites! Voting will be open for two weeks, at the end of which Swoon will choose a winner. Winner will have their design used for DON'T FALL, and will receive and ecopy of the book AND a $100 Amazon gif card!

Ninja News

Terry Lynn Johnson’s Ice Dogs is now out! Congratulations, Terry.

The tour for Shah Wharton’s Finding Esta is off and rocking! Check out the stops and giveaways.





One more month until the release of Liz Fichera’s Played – but you can watch the book trailer now!

Jai Joshi has a new book – How to Write a Love Letter – and it’s free on Wednesday! Congratulations, Jai.

Sheri Larsen is hosting the It’s All About Gratitude Blog Hop on March 3-5. Join the fun!



Sign-ups are open for the A to Z Challenge! You don’t want to miss it.

The Epic 2000 Followers Giveaway continues! Books for you, books for your library, t-shirts, and iTunes gift cards. Become a Google Friends Connect follower to enter. Full details HERE. Getting closer to 2000!



Ready to call on Charlie’s Scribes? Want to design a cover? Excited about the new releases? What is your writing insecurity today? And can you help with CassaFire this week?

CassaStorm Launch Week! Awesome Tour Stops and Prizes! Plus Cassa Facts, Cassa Trivia, and Ninja News

I was incredibly honored when Natalie asked to be part of my tour. Literary Rambles is a HUGE site, focusing on children’s and young adult books. Today’s stop is an interview at Literary Rambles, focusing on my books and blogging tips. Natalie, really appreciate it!


For those who don’t blog on the weekend, I was also honored with a guest post at a Writer’s Digest Best Site - Anne R Allen’s Blog - where I outlined how to create an online community. Anne often features New York Times best-selling authors, so it was an incredible privilege to contribute to her site. Thanks, Anne!!


And CassaStorm’s release week kicks off with prizes every day! Comment between September 16 and 20 to enter. (Ends 6:00 pm EST Sunday, September 22.)
Prizes include:
Cassa mousepad
Cassa Universe poster
Cassa magnet
Cassa mug
Autographed copy of CassaStorm
One person will be randomly selected each day and the five names will be drawn from a hat – first person gets first choice and so on.

This week I will be featuring my tour, unique Cassa facts, trivia, and prizes every day. Plus others are announcing CassaStorm’s release, and almost every post features a unique interview question. List of participants on the CassaStorm Page. So join the fun!

And tomorrow night is the RUSHED Twitter party! Between 8:00 and 9:00 pm EST, follow the hashtag #RUSHED for an hour of fun, questions, answers, treasure hunts, and giveaways. Hosted by the awesome Lynn Rush and featuring giveaways from both of us. It’s my first ever Twitter party, so I hope someone shows up!

Ninja News

Writers4Writers is today! Visit Cherie Reich and Helen Ginger for their suggested Tweets and Facebook posts.

Roland Yeomans is hosting the HAPPY HALLOWEEN BLOGFEST. “From now until Halloween describe the book that scared you the most and what you think of my LUCIFER'S ORPHAN serial monthly trilogy.” Winner receives an autographed Brad Pitt photo. See Roland’s site for details.

Great opportunity! Lynn Kelley posted this: “Attention teachers and librarians! The Emblazoner’s New Catalog – filled with great middle grade and tween titles your students and patrons will love – is coming soon! To celebrate, we’re holding a giveaway of stuff you can use: gift cards to add books to your collection and swag to hand out to your students and patrons. The giveaway is from September 16th – 23rd!”

Jackie at Bouquet of Books and Dani at Entertaining Interests are hosting Spooktoberfest the last week of October. See their sites for details.

RaShelle Workman’s latest is out - Volume 2 in the Cindy Chronicles - Witch Land. Congratulations, RaShelle – you rock!

Cassa Facts

One of the influences on my first book was the original Battlestar Galactica series. (As Bob so aptly nailed in his review.)

When I rewrote the story several years ago, I still envisioned the Galactica’s fighters when describing the Cassan’s Cosbolts. In the first round of edits with my publisher, they suggested I alter the ships and make them more unique. While I didn’t picture them exactly as the cover artist depicted, they still came out rather cool.

And I still got to use that basic design for the smaller Dartens!

Battlestar Galactica’s fighters weren’t the only idea I used. In the series, Apollo had a sister, Athena. I shortened the name and came up with Athee. (So, for those of you still wondering how to pronounce Athee, it’s Athena without the ‘na.’)

Cassa Trivia!

Since it was an early influence, here is some original Battlestar Galactica trivia for you!


1 – What was the name of the Galactica’s fighters?

2 – Boxey had a mechanical daggit for a pet – what was its name?

3 – Who played Starbuck?

4 – Four pilots were in almost every episode – Captain Apollo, Lt. Starbuck, Lt. Boomer, and Flight Sgt. ____

5 – Who played Serina, Boxey’s mother, in the first three episodes?

6 – At the time, it was the most expensive television show ever. How much did each episode cost to make?

7 – Who was the head writer and executive producer of the series?

One more day! Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. Big thanks to all who are announcing this week.

See any good blogfests or opportunities? Anyone else watch the original Battlestar Galactica? Know any of the trivia? Placing bets on whether I sleep tonight or not…?

Please be sure to visit Literary Rambles! And Anne R Allen’s Blog if you missed it yesterday.

And the Winner is...

 Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway contest! Many of you sent out Twitters and Facebook messages, posted the contest on your blog, and featured my book and book trailer. (And a couple bloggers still have the cover art and trailer in their sidebar - you guys rock!) I really appreciate everyone who participated - the response was overwhelming! And the winner of a copy of CassaStar and an upcoming feature is... Angela McCallister at Jaded Love Junkie Congratulations!!! I hope you enjoy my book. (Really - I mean that!) Thanks again to my blogger buddies and new followers. Damn, what on earth will I do if I hit 300 followers???

Time to Celebrate!

200! Not as awesome as the 300, but damn close.

Thank you, everyone! I'm stunned and amazed 200 people find me interesting. Maybe I should place that on a t-shirt...

So to celebrate and honor those who follow my blog, I'm holding my first contest! I had to check with my publisher first, but they've agreed to do a giveaway. Here's the scoop:

The contest is for a copy of CassaStar and a big feature here for the winner.

To enter:

Become a follower and leave a comment. One point.

Tweet this contest (hashtag #CassaStar) or mention it on your blog. Two points.

Post my book trailer on your blog - located on the page above marked CassaStar. Ten points! (And those who've already done so qualify - just leave a comment.)

Contest runs through August 8th.

Sorry I can't send everyone a bottle of champagne! But I do thank each and every one of you for following my ramblings about movies, music, games, etc. (Oh, and yes, I stood in line Monday night and got a copy of Starcraft II - and it rocks!)