Masquerade: Oddly Suited #IWSG #Book Spotlight

#AtoZchallenge is taking part in the blog tour for Masquerade: Oddly Suited, a young-adult romance anthology from The Insecure Writer's Support Group which is coming out on 30th April 2019!

About the Anthology

Title: Masquerade: Oddly Suited
Release date: April 30th, 2019
Publisher: Dancing Lemur Press
Genres: Young Adult Fiction: Romance – General / Paranormal / Contemporary
Print ISBN: 9781939844644
EBook ISBN: 9781939844651

 

Find love at the ball...

Can a fake dating game show lead to love? Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince? Can a softball pitcher and a baseball catcher work together? Is there a vampire living in Paradise, Newfoundland? What’s more important—a virtual Traveler or a virtual date to the ball?

Ten authors explore young love in all its facets, from heartbreak to budding passion. Featuring the talents of L.G. Keltner, Jennifer Lane, C.D. Gallant-King, Elizabeth Mueller, Angela Brown, Myles Christensen, Deborah Solice, Carrie-Anne Brownian, Anstice Brown, and Chelsea Marie Ballard.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will mystify and surprise even as they touch your heart. Don your mask and join the party…

 

eBook / Paperback / Goodreads / Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

 

Stories Featured

Oddly Suited, LG Keltner
The silliest situations may be oddly suited for romance.

Behind the Catcher’s Mask, Jennifer Lane
Who can help her through a meltdown on the pitcher’s mound?

The Dark Charade, CD Gallant-King
The new girl in town falls in love for a mysterious boy who is maybe, probably, most definitely, a vampire.

The Cog Prince, Elizabeth Mueller
Falling in love, saving the day, and a masque—oh my! Will a missing key free a clock-bound prince?

A Diver’s Ball, Angela Brown
You can be anything you want in the online world of Cumulus. A human. An elf. A powerful beast mutation from your wildest imagination. But can you be in love?

Flower of Ronda, Myles Christensen
What if life's price of servanthood could be changed?

Fearless Heart, Deborah Solice
Is he a figment of her imagination conjured to keep her sane, or is he something else…something more?

Charleston Masquerade, Carrie-Anne Brownian
Can two worlds come together and find love?

Sea of Sorrows, Anstice Brown
What could a shapeshifting siren know about love?

Remedy, Chelsea Marie Ballard
Everything is against Remy and Rudy, but on the night of the Masquerade Ball, they must choose: each other or their lives?

You can find out more about the authors of Masquerade: Oddly Suited here.

 

Giveaway

The authors of Masquerade: Oddly Suited are giving away a $50 Amazon gift card to one winner. To enter, please complete the Rafflecopter below. The giveaway is open internationally from 12:00 am GMT 17th March to 12:00am GMT 6th May.

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Tour Schedule

Visit the other blog tour hosts below to find out more about the stories and authors featured in Masquerade: Oddly Suited.

• Mon 18th March: Spotlight @ The Story of a Writer
• Fri 22nd March: Guest post by Anstice Brown @ Nicki Elson’s Not-So-Deep Thoughts
• Sun 24th March: Interview with Jennifer Lane @ Nancee Cain, Romance with a Serrated Edge
• Tues 26th March: Guest post by Angela Brown @ Blog of Author J Lenni Dorner
• Wed 27th March: Debut author spotlight with Chelsea Marie Ballard & Anstice Brown @ Operation Awesome
• Fri 29th March: Spotlight @ April Blogging from A-Z Challenge
• Mon 1st April: Interview with Deborah Solice @ Dusting the Soul
• Thurs 4th April: Spotlight @ Elements of Emaginette
• Fri 5th April: Guest post by C.D Gallant-King @ Writer’s Gambit
• Mon 8th April: Interview with Elizabeth Mueller @ Just Jemi
• Fri 12th April: Guest post by Carrie-Anne Brownian @ Jennifer Lane Books
• Mon 15th April: Guest post by Chelsea Marie Ballard @ My Pet Blog
• Tues 16th April: Guest post by Myles Christensen @ Quiet Fury Books
• Mon 22nd April: Interview with all the authors @ Alex J. Cavanaugh
• Sat 4th May: Interview with L.G Keltner @ The Cynical Sailor & His Salty Sidekick

How To Make Your Blog "Comment Friendly"

The A to Z Challenge is a great way to find new blogs to read and to find new "blog buddies." One of the best ways to make new friends is by commenting on their blogs and replying to comments they leave on yours.

This sounds like a simple enough job to do, and for the most part, it is: Wordpress users have no problem commenting on Wordpress blogs, and Blogger users have no problem commenting on Blogger blogs. But, what if you're a Wordpress user who wants to comment on a Blogger blog, or a Blogger user who wants to comment on a Wordpress blog? The two commenting systems are like chalk and cheese, and both have their idiosyncracies. What I'd like to do now is to give a few pointers to users of both systems so that commenting will be a breeze (more or less) for the users of the other.

WORDPRESS

The controls for simplifying commenting for Blogger users are on the Settings > Discussion screen.

• Checking the box beside "Comment author must fill out name and email" will give users who don't have a Wordpress account (or who aren't signed on to Wordpress) three lines under the comment box for the user's name, email, and optionally the URL to their blog. (Note To Blogger users: although it isn't required, it's a good idea to enter the URL to your blog in the space provided. That way, the author can find you.)
• Unchecking the box next to "User must be registered and logged on to comment" allows non-Wordpress users to comment.

BLOGGER

The controls for simplifying commenting for Wordpress users are on the Settings > Posts, comments and sharing screen.

• It's a good idea to set the "Comment Location" to "Popup Window." Blogger can be fussy, and sometimes when you have this set to "Embedded," a person trying to leave a comment who's either doing so anonymously or with their name and blog URL can get stuck in CAPTCHA hell, having to play the Picture Game over and over until CAPTCHA is convinced you're not advertising porn, CBD oil or online casinos. I and several others found this didn't happen when the blog uses the popup window.
• Google, in their infinite wisdom, decided to do away with using Open ID as a way to identify yourself when leaving a comment on Blogger. Now, you can either allow anyone (including anonymous users), only users with a Google ID, or the owners of the blog to comment. I know there are a thousand reasons why you don't want anonymous comments, but that's just the way Google set things up. So, set this to "Anyone (including anonymous users), knowing that users who don't have Google accounts will be required to check a box to prove they're not a robot, and you might want to set Comment Moderation to "Always" or "Sometimes." (Note to Wordpress users: if leaving an anonymous comment, you'll want to add a footer to your comments (a manual process) with your name and a link to your blog, so that others can find you.)
• Please turn off word verification. This will also turn off the CAPTCHA Picture Game.

GENERAL

When commenting, you can leave a link to your own blog OR leave the title of your blog from the Master List. There are a lot of people who believe in reciprocal comments. They also believe if they can't find your blog in the first three tries, they'll (rightly) give up. Here's where they are most likely to look for you:

• The link you left on the comment form on their blog.
• Your Blogger or commenting profile, if their blog uses that and yours works.
• The name of your blog on our Master List. (Which only works if you've given that information.)

So, you could sign your comments with your URL. Or as "John Doe of Blog Name."

I hope this is helpful. If you have any questions, leave me a comment.

Theme Reveal #AtoZchallenge Tenth Anniversary

https://goo.gl/forms/KDRVGcbzVJHZO9xg2
Theme Reveal sign up link!

Welcome to the great and mighty Theme Reveal!
As always, this is optional.
It's kind of a sneak peek of what you will blog about in April.
The post builds up excitement.


Please make sure your link works and leads directly to your THEME REVEAL post, not your main blog. Thanks!
A direct link **DOES NOT** include "wp-admin" or "postID." That is a Wordpress dashboard or Blogger post creation page. You should not share a link with "wp-admin" or "postID" in it. Ask for help if you don't understand.

The Theme Reveal form closes on March 28.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/173JgAN2EqPLGmEtAtNKx6lDt65RkzJGZL3ipLU_VRA8 That's the link where you can view the sheet. If you make a copy for yourself before March 28, please remember to come back to grab other links you may have missed!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UBrVtvGoVSOhhq-3kQMTmrxqED6auxlf/view
Instructions on using the sheet can be found there.

As a reminder, you can ONLY sign up for the Theme Reveal using this link https://goo.gl/forms/KDRVGcbzVJHZO9xg2.
You should only sign up your blog, not someone else's.
Please make sure you sign up for the challenge BEFORE you sign up for the Theme Reveal.
Ask a team member if you need help.

Link to View the Master List and an Announcement

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nZ7UupzB78MvJnraN9khkLJT3jM6uOP1LTDc8gaQluY

That is to VIEW the list.
It is recommended you make a COPY of the list

AFTER sign-ups are closed.

If you make a copy now, it will not update as more people join.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UBrVtvGoVSOhhq-3kQMTmrxqED6auxlf/view
Instructions on using this method were provided last year.

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2019/03/master-list-atozchallenge-2019-and-post.html To sign-up, click here.
You must use the Google Form to sign up. You cannot input your data on the sheet.

To quickly check if you are on the Master List, go to it https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nZ7UupzB78MvJnraN9khkLJT3jM6uOP1LTDc8gaQluY and use the find function (Ctrl+F, or Edit > Find), then type the name of your blog.

Co-hosts cannot, and will not, sign you up. Do not sign up blogs that are not yours.
You must use the Google Form to get on the Master List. The Google Form may also provide an option to edit your response.


Announcement:

We have done away with the daily lists.

This was discussed at length.

• The daily lists confused some people.
• Some people were upset that they had to spend 36 seconds a day to get on the daily lists.
• There was too much debate about how long the daily lists needed to stay open.
• Some people weren't making copies with all the blogs.
• Some people weren't able to get on the list before it closed.

The drawback is that there may be some "dead" links as the month goes on.
Keeping the Master List perfect requires several hours a day. People have tried, and have run away screaming.
So the Master List might not be perfect. The team will do the best we can to remove spam and inappropriate links.
HOWEVER, if blogs drop out in April, we won't be cleaning the list to reflect it.

Here's the thing though:
Most of you will make your own copy of the list anyway. (Hopefully you'll wait until sign-ups close on April 6. Or go back and grab the information on the blogs you may have missed.)
Therefore, we won't be able to edit YOUR private copies anyway. If you find a blog that dropped out, and you've made a copy of the Master List for yourself, just delete it on your copy. Or don't. We'll never know.
The daily lists were less popular than the Master List. That's something we learned from the after survey.

We urge you not to make personal copies of the current Master List until more bloggers have had a chance to sign-up.
Several people have asked for the link so they can make sure they signed up. That's why this is being shared now instead of later, as planned.
Please keep spreading the word about the challenge to all the bloggers you know.

#AtoZChallenge Sign Up!

Hey you. Yes, you. It's time to sign up for the A to Z Blog Challenge!

Don't delay! Sign up for the A to Z Challenge today!

 

Testing technical issues: Please Ignore

Hi, John here. Just making sure everything is working properly.

MASTER LIST #AtoZChallenge 2019 and post 1000

This is the 1,000 post on this blog! That's amazing, isn't it? And on the same day as the sign up for our TENTH anniversary!

To see all the available badges for this year, click on the Banners and Badges page.

Here's the link to sign up on the Master List:

https://goo.gl/forms/iVrbiZdbx0KQNybC2

The Master List sign up is how participants officially register to join the A to Z challenge.

There is NO OTHER way to officially sign up for the challenge.
Need a refresh from last year? Is this your first time? Click here.

What you need to know to sign up:

• Blog Name : What your blog is called.
• Blog Link : The main link to your blog (NOT to a website or an individual post)
• Category : Usually the type of posts you have. Or, if you prefer, the type of blog you run.
• Comment : This is NEW for this year! We've made a column so you can keep track of which blogs you've gone to.
• Adult Content : This challenge is based out of America, where adulthood begins at 18. If your blog has, or will have, content not suitable for minors, you are required to state as such.
• Continuous Story : For those who write a part each day, and it makes more sense when read from A.
• Voting : For those who need votes to determine their next post. (Such as Choose Your Adventure)
• Year : What year did you first take part in the A to Z Challenge?
• Twitter Link : The url of your Twitter page. (NOT your @name Handle.)
• Facebook Link : The url of your Facebook page or profile, if you'd like to be followed/ friended.
• Theme : This is not the theme reveal. Just an optional teaser.

The results of this form will be MADE PUBLIC.

Please only sign up YOURSELF, your blog. Do not try to sign up blogs of other people. 

Calendar for your use:

Are you making a post announcing that you've joined the challenge?

GREAT! 😁😍

Please consider using this hashtag in your blog post title:

#AtoZChallenge

It helps when you or others share the blog post on social media.

If you use Twitter, please consider liking and/or retweeting this:

MASTER LIST #AtoZChallenge 2019 and post 1000 https://t.co/XFVY1guv4K pic.twitter.com/0jKMIcbNDI

— AtoZChallenge (@AprilA2Z) March 1, 2019

If you use Facebook, please consider clicking https://www.facebook.com/events/280869735882853/ "Going" on our event. The more you interact with our page, the more you'll see the notifications.

Please also consider sharing the event. This helps us spread the word. Thanks!