Happy Book Lovers Day!

August 9th is Book Lovers Day, widely celebrated around the world (or at least on the Internet). Since a lot of our A to Z challenge participants are authors or book bloggers, we though it would be nice to acknowledge this cheerful and bookish day.

So.

HAPPY BOOK LOVERS DAY!

If you have a book that was born from an A to Z theme, please drop links in the comments!

To celebrate, I wanted to share my favorite reading challenge with you. There are a lot of amazing reading challenges out there - please share YOUR favorites in the comments!

The challenge I have been enjoying the most in the past years is run on a Hungarian book site (moly.hu) by community members. It's called Polymath Training. Every January they announce 12 topics that participants have to read freely selected nonfiction books for. Topics range widely from astronomy to animation to church history to classical music. 11 topics are the same, the 12th is generated randomly for each participant (using Wiki articles). I have found amazing books through this challenge that I would have never found (or been interested in) otherwise, and I learned a whole lot of fascinating things about the world. Whenever I finish the list early, I usually generate some more topics for myself just for the heck of it. There really are no prizes or anything, just the adventure of discovery.

Whatever your genres and tastes are, I hope you have a great time reading today! :)

#AtoZChallenge Better Book Discovery

The team's theme of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year is:
ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS, AND THE DUALITY OF 22

It's letter "B "day on the A to Z Challenge blog. It is said that the second day of any challenge is the hardest. Motivation is pelted with realizations of the commitment needed to succeed. Scheduling and prioritizing become tangible instead of theoretical (inked-in instead of penciled-in 🖋🖉). 

Banish the voices that say you can't do this. Hundreds of bloggers JUST LIKE YOU have completed the challenge successfully for over a decade. Don't bow out!

What benefit can come from completing the challenge? Building a better blogging community, for one. 

And if you're using your blog to write a book, you might publish it one day!

https://shepherd.com/best-books/created-from-the-april-blogging-a-to-z-challenge

That's a list of books that exist right now because of this blogging challenge. How many of them have you read?

Shepherd.com has many book lists with various topics and themes. Over 40,000 people visit the site every month. And now our A to Z Challenge is there with a list of books that were written by bloggers like you who completed the A to Z Challenge in the past. A big thanks to Ben Fox for making this possible. 

When you're looking for a website with better book discovery tools, check out Shepherd.com. 

Authors recommend books and market their own for free on this site. Reach out with a theme idea for a list of five books that go along with a book of your own. 📚

Email: forauthors@shepherd.com
https://twitter.com/bwb
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bweeb

Have you ever published a book you wrote during and because of the A to Z Challenge?

The first of three #AtoZChallenge 2022 #AZchat sessions on social media is today.
📅 April 2 ⏰ 11pm GMT
See the time in your area:
https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html


bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742
@a.to.z.challenge @atozchallenge
@AprilA2Z Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge
Please follow us on social media.

Sign up for the 2022 challenge? Click this:
https://forms.gle/pN8xCbvnxGLScj4V8

File, Make a Copy of the Master List for yourself! Click this:
https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22
Be sure your copy is updated with everyone who signed up for the challenge. Hopping to other blogs to leave comments is half of the challenge!

Get your 2022 merchandise here: 
https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/103818836

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

#AtoZChallenge #Book Launch: Do You have Imaginary Friends?

         The A to Z Challenge has given birth to many books (my post about them here), and the latest to hit the stores is Imaginary Friends by Melanie Lee. 

         It has been published by MPH, Malaysia, and recently I went to the book launch in Singapore-- a fantastic event, full of warmth and good cheer!
          Melanie wrote this book inspired by the A to Z Challenge, writing a story a day, and then tweaking and polishing each to bring it to a publishable level.
        

What do an overachieving octopus, a zealous zither and a hopeless hippo have in common? They're all part of the zany world of Imaginary Friends, a collection of 26 hilarious, satirical tales by Melanie Lee. Note: This is NOT a children's book. These fun fables are for the BIG kids, the young-at-heart adults who love laughs and poking fun at the silly grown-up world!

Imaginary Friends on Amazon

     The Author Melanie Lee, and Illustrator, Arif Rafhan

 
MORE ABOUT IMAGINARY FRIENDS:

 A SUCCESSFUL EBOOK HIT IN KOBO IMAGINARY FRIENDS was first released as an e-book of witty, original fables targeted at teens and adults. It has done remarkably well since its debut, shooting up the Kobo Top 50 chart and being picked up by e-book vendors from around the world, hence the subsequent release of it in Print version. 

           Originally published by MPH Digital (a subsidiary of MPH Group Publishing), IMAGINARY FRIENDS made it into the Kobo Top 50 in the week of its release and even briefly touched the No. 2 spot. Launched in mid-October2013, IMAGINARY FRIENDS (at the time of writing) was still in the Kobo Top 15 under several categories. At first glance, Imaginary Friends may look like a typical children's book but its sophisticated wit and references to modern pop culture make it an enjoyable read for New Adults.

       I found the book entertaining on different levels-- a feast for the imagination, with fluid illustrations, and a bite in the writing that only got enhanced by the moral of each story. As the author said at the launch, the morals are a way to end each story with a snap. I think the morals bring the stories out in relief, and I spent happy two hours reading all the stories. 

          Imaginary Friends is also available on Amazon. If you’d like to buy the print edition, you can buy it from MPH Online (they do international deliveries). If you’re from Singapore or Malaysia, the book is available at MPH and Kinokuniya bookstores. If you’d like to buy the ebook version, it’s available on Amazon and Kobo.

          Melanie Lee is a freelance writer based in Singapore. You can find her at her site, her blog or talk to her on twitter: @melanderings and her Facebook Page.

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Have you thought of compiling your A to Z posts into a book? Would you enjoy a book like Imaginary Friends? If yes, please leave a comment below, and Melanie would randomly choose two commenters-- she has an ebook and a physical copy to give away! To support this excellent author, consider buying the book-- it makes a sweet little gift, I'm told-- and share this post on social media. Have a question for Melanie? Ask away in the comments!