The Absolute Truth about My Muse—as Far as You Know

by Jordan Dane
@JordanDane

Every time someone asks me about my muse, I lie. (If you write fiction for a living, is it really lying?) I tell some people it is my two rescue dogs Taco and Sancho or I blame my weirdness on my peculiar rescue cats. There are days these aren’t lies exactly, but they’re not entirely the truth. Today I’m finally coming out with the truth, as best I can figure this out. My muse is a seven headed hydra with a flying horse body. There, I said it. And it looks something like this.

 

 

 

The flying horse comes from my love of anything HORSE. That love turned me onto reading as a kid in elementary school. I read every book in my school library that had a horse in it. I love westerns, but my favorite horse book was a fantasy with a flying one. I actually worked to buy my first horse and ended up with my family owning several. Noble creatures.

The first good-looking hunk (head) on the left is actor Eric Etebari who played the dark assassin, Ian Nottingham, in the short run TV show on TNT, Witchblade. I became so enthralled with his character of a noble assassin that I wrote fanfiction on the show for six months. When the show got cancelled, I could have shriveled up and forgotten about my writing, but it was the best thing that could have happened to me, as I look back. I made up my mind to write original stories after that.

Next to Ian Nottingham is Zig Ziglar, motivational speaker who flipped a light bulb over my head when he said that he wrote his non-fiction book doing it a page a day. I thought, “Hell, I could do that” and made up my mind to try. Zig isn’t a motivational speaker for nothing.

Next to Zig is Robert Ludlum (RIP), the master of espionage thrillers who wrote the Jason Bourne series and many other great spy novels. He amazed me with his style and pace. Even as a reader, he struck me with his amazing talent and still does when I replenish my writer’s soul by rereading books of his from my personal library. He made me a crime fiction author for life.

The Cyclops dude represents my crazy family. It takes a village to raise a writer and I was no exception. I still call my mom everyday and read her what I write in its raw form. My siblings are all very supportive. And my husband is my number one fan, but not in a creepy way like Kathy Bates and he axe. (In the book Misery by Stephen King, she used a turkey carving knife. Read it and you will never see Thanksgiving the same way again.) My husband clears the way so I can focus on my work every day and is my brainstorming partner when I need a level head.

The Grizzly bear is my memory of Alaska where I lived for ten years. My heart is still there. Whenever I get lonely for it, I contact friends I have who still live there, but I can also write about it. My books EVIL WITHOUT A FACE and ON A DARK WING are set in Alaska.

The dangerous looking woman on the right is my love for strong empowered women in the books I write. Even when these women have incredible emotional baggage, like my bounty hunter Jessica Beckett in my Sweet Justice series, they find a way to survive and thrive. Creating the right man to deserve them is a bonus.

But perhaps the most important muse is the one who reminds me why I started writing in the first place. The central woman with a book in her hand is YOU. With every book I write, I start a circle (my journey), but that journey is only half complete. It takes a reader to take that trip with me and complete the circle. Hearing from my readers, especially in the wee hours of the morning via email, can absolutely lift me to a higher place. No lie.

So as you can see, I am surrounded by my muse every day and it’s a seven-headed winged horse Hydra. Did you really think my muse was a puppy? Pffftt. Wiggly puppy tails and the smiley faces of my rescue dogs feed another (no less important) part of my soul, but my writing muse is a beautiful magnificent beast.

What about you? Do you have a hydra of influences in your closet…maybe wearing a jet pack?

Wicked Good POV Can Get Your Freak On

By Jordan Dane

In honor of Friday the 13th, my version of head hopping.

Okay, I’ll admit that when I first started writing, I had no idea what Point of View (POV) was. I head hopped in a big way. I thought that’s what writers did to show the reader what was in everyone’s head, what they were thinking. I justified my lack of skill by saying that as long as a reader understood the story and didn’t flip out with my POV gymnastics, that my poor technique would be acceptable. Wrong!

Years ago, after I read a blog post from an acquiring New York City editor (who was a believer in one character’s POV per scene), I tried it and it completely opened my eyes to a new way to look at author craft. One POV per scene forced me to focus on one character and tell a mini-story within that scene, to move the plot or character insights forward. It can be a way of hiding plot twists or planting misdirection clues (red herrings) too. I tend to pick whose POV to write in by focusing on which character has the most to lose in that scene, but there are certainly other reasons to pick other characters too. Now I’ve broken perceived “rules” plenty of times, for different reasons, but I think it’s important to understand a method and try it to see how it can work for you before you simply dismiss it as “not your thing.”

Understanding how POV can add depth and color to a character’s voice can distinguish your work from countless others who submit to publishing houses every day. Every author makes decisions about POV in their books. If an author likes challenges, he or she may test their skill level and try different ways to convey a character’s story as in the classic examples below.

In THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak, the book is about a 14 year old girl who lives during the time of the Holocaust and steals books to read. The narrator of the story is Death. This was one of my favorite young adult reads. The author took a risk to distance the reader from the 14 year old girl in the story. I thought it might have been a mistake when I started reading it, but with the gut wrenching subject matter, I later came to believe the reader needed that distance. And with Death as an outside observer, that brought a beautiful narrative voice (with a literary quality) to the story. In the end, I cried like a baby, despite the distance.

In THIRTEEN REASONS WHY by Jay Asher, this story is about a girl who commits suicide, but leaves 13 audio tapes for the people who helped her make the decision to take her life. Great hook, right? The story is told through the eyes of one boy, but the structure is complicated by the ever present recorded voice of the dead girl, flashbacks to the past they shared, with jumps into the present while he spends one night without sleep, visiting all the places she put on a map. The intimacy of her voice often appears in one simple line or short spurts, mixed with the boy’s POV. As a reader, I got sucked into this story and totally forgot I’m an author. That’s when I know the book is really good—and the author is amazing.

If Zusak and Asher had done the standard POV thing, their critically acclaimed books wouldn’t be the same. I think it’s important for authors to push the envelope on their craft, but it takes understanding craft in order to know how to effectively “break the rules” with good result.

Okay, so here are my random thoughts on POV (from my POV):

1.)    The POV Tango Gets my Freak On - Writing is a creative process and rigid rules don’t always work, but after trying one POV per scene, I’ve learned when to utilize this technique and when NOT TO. In general, I’m a POV purest, but on the rare occasion that I shift POV in a scene, I usually transition it by an action where the reader’s attention is diverted to the new player, such as with a handshake or a meaningful glare that shifts the focus over to the other character where the reader sees their reaction. Keep the break in POV simple by doing it the one time, not back and forth like a tennis match. I may also “break the POV rule” with one sentence, but I smile when I do that. Breaking the POV rule makes me feel frisky, but you can’t fully appreciate a side trip down Freakalishess Boulevard unless you know what being “good” is, right?

2.)    Get into Heads like a Frontal Lobotomy - Developing a full character “voice” is part of what I consider “deep POV.” I’ve mentioned this before, but it bears repeating here. Average writers describe a setting as if they are detailing an inventory. Sure they touched on all the basics to trigger a reader’s senses, but if they allow their minds to fully “free associate” the character’s POV, the technique allows that character to have an opinion of his/her setting. That opinion adds color, depth to the scene, and reflects not only on his or her inner thoughts and nature, but it also sheds light on other characters too.

3.)    Crack the Whip, Dominatrix! - Determining whose POV will dominate the scene can help direct your plot or give a different kind of insight into your main character. For example, red herrings (false clues) can be doled out through the POV of a character who doesn’t know anything, or has reason to lie. Or you can hide the guilt of someone by staying out of their “head.” If you’re stuck in one POV for the entire book—as in first person POV—you have limited options.

4.)    Boingee Boingee…Whatever - Head hopping bounces from character to character, removing the reader from building any great affinity or insight into any one character. This is reason enough to pick a POV per scene. Readers need to get emotionally involved and having a universal narrator describing the scene in omniscient fashion from afar can distance the reader from making any meaningful connection. This worked beautifully in THE BOOK THIEF as I mentioned, because the author told an emotionally charged story, but for the average author, an omniscient POV can sever any hope of a reader connecting with your character(s).

5.)    Dogs are Better than People - Picking the right POV can affect your research. If you don’t feel comfortable writing a police procedural, establish the POV in a character at a crime scene who isn’t a cop. They can be clueless for a reason and you can stay clear of research you don’t feel is “your thing.” Tell a dystopian, post apocalyptic story from the POV of a dog. It could happen.

6.)    Eenie Meenie Mynee Mo, Pick a Loser by the Toe - Selecting the right POV can shove the reader right into the middle of the action or put them in the backseat. For example, in a scene where a guy is undercover and on stake out, he could witness the abduction of a girl. An author could decide to stay in his POV or shift into the girl’s head. Putting the reader into the victim’s head could be scary and more emotional. You can always spring back into Mr. Action’s POV and watch him come to her rescue, but I tend to pick POV by the character with the most to lose. In every scene, I make a choice for a reason. POV doesn’t have to stay with the main character. Be open to new ways to tell a story.

7.)    Name Your Poison - Combining first person with third person POV is tricky but can be done effectively if the transitions are clear. I first tried this in my YA debut book – IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS (Harlequin Teen). I wanted to have the intimacy of a first person narrator through my central character, Brenna Nash, but I also wanted to bring my mystery/thriller techniques to YA and write third person POVs for other characters. The reason I chose to do this was to give the reader insight into some pretty nasty people, so the reader would fear more for my central boy and girl. I also wanted to hide clues to the mystery of who killed Heather. I combined first and third POV in another of my YAs, ON A DARK WING (Harlequin Teen), but after reading other YAs that mixed POVs, I added a tag to the start of every scene in first person. By doing this, I made the transitions easier for the reader to follow.

I'd like to hear from readers who have discovered a great book with an unusual point of view story teller. And from you authors, I'd love to hear any tips you have to share on POV.

First Love

By Jordan Dane

I’d like you to meet Abbey Chandler from ON A DARK WING. By getting to know my character, perhaps you’ll get a glimpse of me. I’m her shadow. Authors often share bits and pieces of their life’s experiences with the character they create. One of the big personal inspirations I shared with Abbey in her book was my first love.


Hal was the name of my first major crush. Tall and lanky, he was shy and had a quirky smile and tousled dark wavy hair. Totally cute. He played drums in my brother’s garage band and drove a yellow VW bug. The boy banged on drums, but his sweet quiet nature drew me to him. Like my character Abbey did with one perfect guy, I watched Hal from a distance and was too shy to talk to him much. Yeah, he hung out at my house for band practices, but I was too young to do more than ogle him. He stole my heart in a big way and took a piece of it when he left. I have never forgotten him.


More on Hal later.


In my latest book with Harlequin Teen—ON A DARK WING—Abbey falls totally in love with Nate Holden. Who wouldn’t? He’s a great guy. Nate is hot with an amazing body, smart, and popular. He dates likeable real girls, not cardboard cutouts, and volunteers as a mountain rescue guy in Alaska, sacrificing his life to save others.


Here is Nate in Abbey’s words:


“At that moment, I had two really good reasons to forget how much my life sucked and Taco Thursday paled in comparison to the reason standing next to me. Nate Holden stood talking to his buddy, Josh Poole. His deep voice tingled in my ear and made my belly twist into a major knot, the kind of thing that felt terrible and amazing at the same time.


Even with his back to me, every side of Nate Holden was excellent. I loved how his dark hair curled at his collar and he always smelled good, but with a full frontal, his hypnotic blue eyes made me forget to breathe. Whenever he talked, his lips could mesmerize me for hours. Being next to him felt like getting sucker punched—and liking it. He’d always be out of my league, an unreachable boy from an alternative universe who came to me in my sleep and tortured me. Sweet torture.


Nate Holden had been a constant reminder of how messed up I was. He was the complete opposite of me, someone I had no business even wanting. We had absolutely nothing in common. Brownie points for him. But that didn’t stop me from practically stalking him. Deduct said brownie points. I played scenarios in my head, where he needed me as much as I wanted him. How sick was that? That would never happen. My fantasies were the only way I’d ever get close to someone like him.”


~Abbey Chandler – ON A DARK WING


But of course with every book there is conflict. ON A DARK WING (Harlequin Teen – Jan 2012) is a coming of age story for a girl who is lucky to be alive after she survives a car accident five years earlier where her mother was killed. She crossed paths with Death once and lived past her expiration date, yet she can’t move on with her life because she carries the burden of guilt over her part in the accident. That tragedy marks her. Tanner Lange looks out for her from a distance, the only way he thinks she’ll accept him—as her best friend. Being a boy in a wheelchair, he doesn’t feel he has much to offer her except his unflinching loyalty, the same loyalty she had always shown him after he was paralyzed. Tanner sees the major crush Abbey has on the perfect boy—a great guy who doesn’t even know she exists—Nate Holden. But Death has a reason for finding Abbey again. When she crosses paths with Death again, she’ll learn what love and loyalty truly are.


To share more about me and an inspiration behind this book, I finally need to talk about Hal, my first crush who had his own link with Death. Hal was killed by a drunk driver while he drove his little yellow VW. I can still see his cute face in my mind. I clipped out his death notice from the newspaper and for years I kept it in a special secret box of “his” things. I never told anyone how I felt about it. That was too personal. I never got to see Hal grow into a man. He’ll forever be that cute boy with a crooked grin, tooling around in his yellow bug. A first crush is special because it’s the first. It’s intense and none that come after will be quite the same, even if you find THE ONE.


But not every first crush story turned out sad like mine, so I’d like to hear from you. I want DEETS, people! You don’t have to share full names, but I’d love to hear about your first crush. Was it someone you knew or a famous celebrity? How did you stalk him or her? What things did they do that you still think about? Spill it!


"Dane's well-developed characters provide an authentic exploration of guilt, loyalty, and belonging."
~Publishers Weekly for IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS (Harlequin Teen, Apr 2011)

Lyrics That Make Your Heart Bleed

by Jordan Dane

I don’t think I could write a YA book without thinking of music. Lyrics really ground me in a character’s world. They can be powerful. One of my favorite research things to do is discovering music for the book I’m working on. Maybe you can help inspire me for future books by sharing your favorite song and share why you LOVE it.


Sometimes an inspiration is only one song that triggers something in me about a character or feeling. Listening to certain songs can stir my creative juices and entice my characters to come out and play with me. When I know I’ll be writing a scene for a specific character, I often will listen to the song that reminds me of them before I start. That gets me in the mood. I love how lyrics can connect us all. Books are like that too.


I’d actually love to hear from readers when they find good songs with lyrics that make your heart bleed. Yeah, I tip the scales toward Emo when I write.


Two songs played a part in the writing of ON A DARK WING. Abbey Chandler has a crush on a boy she thinks is perfect, Nate Holden. He’s a great guy, but reminds her of all the things she’s not. Abbey doesn’t feel worthy, but that doesn’t stop her from fantasizing about the guy. The lyrics to the song “Not Meant to Be” by Theory of a Deadman became a melancholy reminder to her that she was never going to “get” the guy, but those same lyrics told a different story for another character. Her best friend, Tanner Lange, knew this song reminded Abbey of Nate, but Tanner had his own crush on his BFF, Abbey. Those lyrics worked him over, hard. When he heard that song, which Abbey played often, he knew she was thinking of someone else—someone with two good legs and not in a wheelchair. Here are a few lyrics that inspired me from “Not Meant to Be” by Theory of a Deadman and an excerpt from ON A DARK WING from Tanner.


“Not meant to be” by Theory of a Deadman (Inspiration Lyrics)


“Baby, I’m starting to see
Maybe we’re not meant to be.”
It’s never enough to say I love you.
No, it’s never enough to say I try.
It’s hard to believe,
That there’s no way out for you and me
And it seems to be the story of our lives.”


Excerpt from ON A DARK WING – Tanner


The sun had already gone down by the time Tanner got home from Anchorage. For the last hour, he’d been sitting in his wheelchair, looking out his bedroom window with only one lamp burning. As he listened to the song “Not Meant to Be”, one of Abbey’s favorite songs, he thought about her. The lyrics put him into an epic tailspin, but they seemed to make her happy, so he played the song because it reminded him of her.


He imagined her skulking through the woods on her way to see him. Sometimes she’d come to his front door, but the times he liked best was when she climbed the tree and came through his bedroom window. He knew that wasn’t going to happen tonight, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to see her.


Guess he missed his best friend—and not just a little bit.


Another song that I thought was very haunting for this story is “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles. The lyrics can make anyone long for love, the kind that doesn’t hurt. But in ON A DARK WING, Abbey comes face to face with the grief and guilt she feels for the part she played in her mother’s death and also must come to grips with the reality of her fantasy boy and what love truly is. Here is a beautiful YouTube video of the song with the lyrics and an excerpt from the book—from Abbey.


“Gravity” by Sara Bareilles (Video with Lyrics)




Excerpt from ON A DARK WING – Abbey



By the time my dad got done with his ax, freaking me out like he was Jason on Friday the 13th (so not funny), he came in breathing a little heavy and got a fire going in our stove. I smelled the wood burning and heard the crackling as I shut the door to my room. The place was always real quiet, which drove me crazier than usual. I had to have music in my ears and snag alone time behind closed doors, scarfing on a Kit Kat bar. Lying on my bed, I got completely wrapped in my tunes.


When one of my favorite Sara Bareilles’ songs came on my iPod—“Gravity”—it reminded me of Nate. Listening to her sing about wanting to drown in love and being fragile always made me cry. I imagined Nate looking at me, really seeing me. In my dreams, I looked thin and smelled really good too, like chocolate. Nate’s blue eyes were the color of new denim and they always made it hard for me to breathe. Even in my daydreams, it was the same. I wanted to know what it would be like to touch a boy, for real.


The lyrics made me ache to kiss him…and hold him…and know what it felt like to really be in love. When my throat tightened, tears rolled down my cheeks and my room turned into a major blur, making it easy to cuddle up in Nateworld. I would never even come close to having someone like him and he sure didn’t need me. He had a real life ahead of him. I could totally see him saving lives and doing real stuff, but that didn’t stop me from fantasizing. I closed my eyes and blocked out the cabin to picture him with me now.


That would’ve worked too—except for Dad.


He barged into my bedroom and ruined everything. I jumped off my pillows and wiped a hand over my face as I pulled the music from my ears.


“Come on, Dad. Knock.” I couldn’t look at him or else he’d know I’d been crying.



So for future reference in books to come, please share a song that you LOVE and share the reason it makes your heart bleed. Who knows? You could inspire me to use your name in my upcoming THE HUNTED series with Harlequin Teen. O’Dell Hutchinson of BookTwirps has already earned a character spot in book #1 – INDIGO AWAKENING – by suggesting DOWN by Jason Walker, an amazing song with powerful lyrics. Share a song that you love and you may inspire me to name a character after you.

DARK WING Tour starts tomorrow!! WOOT!

The ON A DARK WING Virtual Blog Tour kicks off December 19 and ends January 2, followed by a live chat on January 5 at 7:00 PM EDT when winners will be announced.



GRAND PRIZE: Jordan Dane is giving away a Kindle Fire to one lucky person!!! Contest rules will be posted at YA Bound on December 19, the start of the book tour, using Rafflecopter.


PRIZES: Ten blog stops along the tour will be hosting giveaways for signed copies of ON A DARK WING with a secret gift from character Abbey Chandler. Rules for each giveaway will be posted on the blogger's site using Rafflecopter.


WINNERS will be announced at the live chat with Jordan Dane on December 5, so make sure you're there! Special thanks to YA Bound for hosting the tour. YA author Trisha Wolfe is AMAZING!

On a Dark Wing Blog Tour Starts Dec 19th!

On Dec 19 through Jan 2, 2012, the fabulous YA debut author Trisha Wolfe of the YA Bound blog will host my ON A DARK WING virtual book tour. We had over 50 blogs wanting to host a stop so we will have a BLAST tour format. My dark angel will be everywhere. Be on the lookout.



Here is the LINK for the tour schedule. Check out all the great blogs and tour stops planned. We'll have loads of reviews, character interviews (including one with Death), the inspirations behind the book, Dream OADW Film Cast and plenty of excerpts from the book, plus sneak peeks at my upcoming Crystal Child series with Harlequin Teen. There will also be a LIVE CHAT hosted by YA Bound at 7:00 PM EDT on January 5th to announce the winners of the grand prize and the giveaways. What a way to kick off 2012!


For book giveaways, my character Abbey Chandler will be sending a SECRET gift with each book. Shhh! She's not telling anyone what it is, not even me. Only the winners will know when they get the package. (She's such a drama queen.)


And the grand prize is named GRAND for a reason. Stay tuned for that. Announcement coming soon!

Virtual Book Tours – YA Style

By Jordan Dane

On A Dark Wing (Harlequin Teen, Jan 2012)

When 16-year old Abbey Chandler cheats Death and lives past her expiration date, her lucky break comes at a heartbreaking price. And Death has never forgotten. 

After reading my Young Adult (YA) debut book – IN THE ARMS OF STONE ANGELS – YA fantasy author Trisha Wolfe of YA Bound loved my book and contacted me. We kept in touch. She’s a talented author with her debut book – DESTINY’S FIRE - coming out in early 2012. When she heard I had book #2 being released soon—ON A DARK WING (Jan 2012, Harlequin Teen)—she asked if she could host a virtual book tour for me. I’m learning so much from her. She’s a very generous soul. Here’s what we’ve done to date and I’ll share what’s ahead.

COVER REVEAL - I held off on revealing my cover until YA Bound was ready to launch the sign up for bloggers wanting to be tour stops. This took coordination with my house so they wouldn’t make my cover available to public forums like Amazon or Goodreads.

TOUR HOSTS – From my Twitter & Goodreads activity, I had the pleasure of meeting Trish of YA Bound online, but I’ve learned since then that hosts sometimes charge for their services to host a tour. Another site I’ve heard about is THE {TEEN} BOOK SCENE. Coordinator Kari has a great reputation and conducts her services for free, but asks for donations. If you query “Virtual Book Tours” online, you will find many links on the subject, including host sites that may specialize in your type of genre.

TOUR SIGN UP - On Oct 3^rd, when I posted a reveal of my cover, I announced that YA Bound would host my online tour and sign ups would start on Oct 4^th. On the first day, Trish told me we had a record number of blogs join the tour and more were coming. The sign up period ended Oct 31 and we had 52 blogs on our final list. Since we had so many and didn’t want to turn anyone away, we opted to have a BLAST TOUR. A blast tour is condensed down into a 2-3 week period with bloggers allowed to schedule their own tour stop through the host so each stop is different and not redundant.

TOUR REQUIREMENTS - What do bloggers do on the tour? Look at YA Bound’s tour requirements HERE. Trish’s experience as tour host shows in this detailed list of requirements. The more that is spelled out in advance, the smoother things will run, but an experienced tour host is vital to make the tour look effortless.

DISTRIBUTING ARCs - Harlequin Teen uses Netgalley to get advance reader copies into the hands of tour members as well as other online reviewers who are approved by them. My book is HERE on Netgalley. To read Harlequin Teen’s reviewer criteria, click HERE.

BANNERS & COUNTDOWN WIDGETS – Trish created a tour banner using my cover and the logo of my publisher. These graphic designs can cost money, but you can do it for free using WidgetBox. Click HERE to see my tour banner and the countdown widget. These banners and widgets can be cross posted by bloggers and sites signed up for the tour to help spread the word. Anyone can grab the code, even if they aren’t participating in the tour.

CONTEST GADGETS – I recently ran a book giveaway contest on Twitter that linked to my blog. It lasted several days. I promoted my giveaway on Twitter using a link to my blog and asked entrants to become eligible by using a contest gadget I had posted through Rafflecopter. I set up the gadget to garner more followers on Twitter, so one of the requirements was to have them follow me. They could also earn extra entries into the random drawing by posting tweets about the contest, at their option. I set up the gadget for all the mandatory and optional objectives and Rafflecopter uses Random.org to help select the winner when the contest is over. It makes everything easy to administer. Rafflecopter is by invitation, so enter and wait for their follow up that could take 7-10 days or so. It’s totally worth it.

TOUR STOP VARIETY –Tour hosts work with each tour stop to come up with different kinds of features. I’ve seen longer lists of ideas to make each stop unique, but here are only a few (some of my favorites): Vlog Interviews (video interviews with the author posted online), When I’m not writing (highlights of hobbies, family or pets), Author Book Picks, Cover Interview, Author with Editor Interview, Character Tweets (I’m planning one with Death), Character Interviews, or a Top Ten List that can be related to the author or the book. There’s more, but this will give you an idea of how creative tour stops can be.

GIVEAWAYS – My publisher has contributed books to giveaway on the tour, but my character, Abbey Chandler, will have a special gift for readers who win a book. She says it’s a secret. [Insert eye roll here. She can be a real drama queen.] And at the conclusion of the tour—on a live chat hosted by YA Bound—a Grand Prize will be given away. It’s really cool, but I’m not saying what it is yet. Shhh!

GRAND PRIZE – A grand prize will be given to tour participants on a number of criteria that the host will track through the fabulous Rafflecopter widget. Tour stops enter what they did and random.org makes the winners easy for the host. As you might imagine, the grand prize is aptly named for its GRANDEUR, incentive for blogger to FLIP OUT!

SOCIAL MEDIA TANGO – With every tour stop, it will be important to promote on Twitter or other social media sites. My tour host will help with this, so will my publisher & other bloggers on the tour. This could be significant & retweeting (RT) by others can add fire to the buzz. I’m a big lover of Twitter.

TWITTER CONTESTS – I recently saw an author run a series of quick contests on Twitter for a limited period of time. She had simple rules stated in advance, but her main reason for conducting the giveaways was to get her ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) into the hands of readers AND to gain followers. Her ARC freebies earned her hundreds of followers in 2 days. ANOTHER CONTEST TIP - If you’re running book giveaways on Twitter or via a link you are tweeting, use the hashtag #BOOKGIVEAWAY to call attention to your post and reach beyond your own followers.

GAUGING RESULTS – A daily posting group blog like ADR3NALIN3 can lighten the load of posting to a blog and is very helpful for name recognition. Plus, if you blog or have a website, you can use stats to gauge traffic to your site. Using Blogger stats, you can see where traffic comes from and Twitter is a big resource to drive people to you. If you’re not using Twitter to its fullest potential, you’re missing out on a freebie.

Please share your thoughts on what you like about virtual tours, as a reader or an author. What are your favorite kinds of posts? What do you want to know about an author and a book? How do you learn about a new book you want to read? If you’re an author, feel free to ask questions on this type of promotion. ADR3NALIN3 is about sharing ideas.