Showing posts with label Ebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ebooks. Show all posts

Monday, December 23, 2013

Our Christmas Books :) All in one spot :)

You've bought for other people, now it's time to buy something nice for yourself. All Astraea Books are between 99 cents and $3.99 so they are very affordable. Treat yourself tonight. <3 ~Kelly


A Christmas Surprise by Lindsay Downs

A Christmas Surprise by Lindsay Downs   http://amzn.com/B00A3T3BM2


The Devil Duke Takes a Bride by Rachel Van Dyken

The Devil Duke Takes a Bride by Rachel Van Dyken  http://amzn.com/B009XNIBNI


The Partridge and the Peartree by Patricia Kiyono

Partridge and the Peartree by Particia Kiyono http://amzn.com/B00A0A95TW

Ghosts of Winters Past by Christy Graham Parker
 

Ghosts of Winter's Past by Christy Graham Parker (Winters – no apostrophe)  http://amzn.com/B009YP1GFK


Nowhere for Christmas by Heather Gray

Nowhere for Christmas by Heather Gray  http://amzn.com/B00GA664GC


Scandal of Half Moon Street by Vivian Roycroft

Scandal on Half Moon Street by Vivian Roycroft  http://amzn.com/B00A13UOVG


Time for A Duke by Ruth J. Hartman

Time for a Duke by Ruth J. Hartman  http://amzn.com/B009ZPO7WS


Trust of the Heart by E.A. West

Trust of the Heart by EA West  http://amzn.com/B00GX0QXKW


Two Turtledoves by Leah Sanders

Two Turtledoves by Leah Sanders  http://amzn.com/B009X3PQMW


The Toymaker by Kay Springsteen

The Toymaker by Kay Springsteen  http://amzn.com/B00A6RBIU8


Over The Mistletoe by Jennifer Robins

Over the Mistletoe by Jennifer Robins  http://amzn.com/B00A0DAGRE

 
Over Coffee by Barbara Briggs Ward

Over Coffee by Barbara Briggs Ward  http://amzn.com/B006DTBYJI


The Table in the Window by Elaine Cantrell

The Table in the Window by Elaine Cantrell  http://amzn.com/B006GYAQ26


Twelve Kisses Later by Sandra Sookoo

Twelve Kisses Later by Sandra Sookoo  http://amzn.com/B009V36VYQ


The Christmas Phoenix by Patricia Kiyono

The Christmas Phoenix by Patricia Kiyono  http://amzn.com/B006DTOCRO


A Dog Gone Christmas by Lindsay Downs

A Dog Gone Christmas by Lindsay Downs  http://amzn.com/B006DTZ7LE


No Room At the Inn by B.G. Lashbrooks

No Room At The Inn by B.G. Lashbrooks  http://amzn.com/B00A0T7NSI


A Cornish Christmas by Nell Dixon

A Cornish Christmas by Nell Dixon  http://amzn.com/B006DTOC2O
 

To Christmas With Love by Jennifer Robins
To Christmas with Love by Jennifer Robins  http://amzn.com/B006DTNYAU

 
Gentry's Gallery of Angels by Stephy Smith

Gentry's Gallery of Angels by Stephy Smith  http://amzn.com/B006FD1GVS


The Cinderella Substitute by Nell Dixon

The Cinderella Substitute by Nell Dixon  http://amzn.com/B00A0O38G4


A Promise For Her Love by Elaina Lee

A Promise for her Love by Elaina Lee  http://amzn.com/B00A0CAK58


Operation: Christmas Hearts by Kay Springsteen

Operation: Christmas Hearts by Kay Springsteen  http://amzn.com/B006EAMRBK


Believe by Liz Botts

Believe by Liz Botts  http://amzn.com/B006DTBP38


Spell Fire by Ariella Moon

Spell Fire by Ariella Moon  http://amzn.com/B00G2VV8NO


The Grotto Under the Tree by John Theo Jr.

The Grotto Under the Tree by John Theo, Jr.  http://amzn.com/B00BBMN21U


Vidal's Honor by Sherry Gloag

Vidal's Honor by Sherry Gloag http://amzn.com/B00H3YAXT4

Teach Me Under the Mistletoe by Kay Springsteen
Teach Me Under the Mistletoe by Kay Springsteen  http://amzn.com/B00H3YAXT4

 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

An Excerpt from "The Super Spies and the Pied Piper!"





Chapter One
“What do you mean you lost them?” Sarah Cole fidgeted as she waited for Agent Gray to answer. I can’t believe it! He lost the only clue to our parents’ location. What is wrong with this picture?
Agitated, Sarah shifted in her seat and chewed on her lip. She was uncomfortable in the folding chair and rearranged her petite frame so she wouldn’t feel the cold metal against her bare legs. Shivering, she glanced around the alltoofamiliar  room.

The gray cement block walls no longer gave her that creepy, closed-­in feeling she’d used to get when she first came to the interrogation rooms. She remembered the first time she’d been in that tiny space. It had been the day she’d discovered the Cat Lady’s dead body. Sarah shuddered at the memory and then smiled when she remembered forming the Super Spies and bringing the Cat Lady Killer to justice. Glancing around the room again, she realized she’d been in this room quite a bit these last few weeks, not only during the Cat Lady investigation, but the High School Bomber investigation as well. Shivering again, Sarah rubbed her arms but she really wasn’t cold. Her mind filled with the image of the bomber the Super Spies had helped apprehend just a week earlier.

Wow! Was it just last week?

She tugged at a lock of her honey colored hair, then brushed it away with an impatient hand. She sighed and glanced at her younger sister. Lacey sat beside her with her legs crossed, jiggling her foot at such a rapid rate it seemed like her whole body was electrified. She caught Sarah’s eye, and for a moment her eyes glittered like emeralds before she shifted her gaze to Aunt June, who had placed her hand on Lacey’s leg in what appeared to be an attempt to quiet her. Sarah shifted in her chair and sighed again
.
Are we ever going to find Mom and Dad?

A commotion out in the hall drew everyone’s attention. Sarah leaned forward and craned her neck to see what was happening.

“Chief, we’ve got an OD!” An officer yelled.

“What?” Chief Johnson yelled as he rushed by. “An OD on what? Give me the details.”

“The parents found their son unconscious in his room this morning, and an empty bottle of prescription medication on his bedside table.”

“What was it?” Chief Johnson asked.

“It’s Myodine.”

“Who makes it?”

“Ah… Piper Drugs.”

“Call Poison Control with the name and manufacturer and ask them what to do about an overdose. Instruct the parents to get their son to the hospital pronto,” Chief Johnson ordered.

“They’ve brought him here.”

“What?” Chief Johnson exclaimed.

The sound of policemen rushing through the hall pulled Sarah and her sister out of their seats. They hurried to the door, unable to stifle their curiosity. Peering down the corridor, Sarah caught a glimpse of a young man sagging between two officers as they desperately tried to keep him on his feet. One officer gently slapped his face while the other officers held him up. The young man blinked and then gagged, puking on the officer in front of him.

The rancid stench of fresh vomit filled the air. While plugging her nose, Sarah ducked back inside the interrogation room, followed by her sister. Sarah closed the door, hoping it would keep the smell from penetrating the room.

“Did you hear that, Lace? Piper Drugs! That’s the company Dad works for,” Sarah whispered in her sister’s ear before proceeding back to her seat.

Lacey opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when Agent Gray cleared his throat and motioned for them to sit down.

He continued his conversation as if they hadn’t been interrupted. We were on our way to the location of the ping… but before we got there it disappeared.”


“So, what does that mean? Did you find our parents or what?” Sarah blurted out as she sat down. She stared into Agent Gray’s icy blue eyes, trying to read his mind.

Thanks for stopping by. This is the third book in the Super Spies series. If you'd like to check out the first two books in the series, their covers and blurbs are below.



This book opens in a small town in Michigan where fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman. One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death. Fearing that this officer will frame them for the murder, the girls organize their own detective squad. They become the Super Spies and start their own fact-finding mission.  The Super Spies can’t understand why anyone would want to murder the “Cat Lady” until they start digging into her past and discover a horrible crime that happened thirty years ago. They uncover a connection between the two crimes and attempt to bring this information to the police, only to be reprimanded for meddling in the inquest. Not only are the girls upset by the admonition, but they also struggle with the fact that their exuberant investigating could provide a legal loophole allowing the killer to go free. To make matters worse, the police don’t even believe them. Frustrated by this turn of events, the Super Spies realize it’s up to them to snare the Cat Lady killer, or die trying…



This book opens in a small town in Michigan where Sarah and her sister Lacey are now living with their Aunt and Uncle. Still reeling from the fact her parents have disappeared, Sarah starts the school year with her new friend Jackie Jenkins. When Sarah learns the school has been bombed, she’s filled with dread. Uncle Walt is a teacher, and he was in the school when the bomb exploded. Taking matters into her own hands, Sarah decides to search for him. The rest of the Super Spies are right behind her. When a fireman chases them away from the school, Sarah becomes suspicious. She decides to investigate. The FBI arrives on the scene. Sarah realizes this bombing could have even bigger implications. Searching for the bombers, Sarah is introduced to the world of terrorism. She fears that the bombing and her parents’ disappearance are connected and terrorists are involved. To make matters worse, the bombers are determined to finish the job. Can the Super Spies find the bombers before it’s too late?





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Buylinks for "The Super Spies and the Pied Piper":






Thursday, August 29, 2013

My thoughts on Back to School, Ereaders, and Reading


Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m Lisa Orchard the best-selling author of the Super Spies series, I’m a guest here today, and I’d like to share my thoughts on going back to school and reading.

I have two boys and they are not excited about the prospect of school at all. They’ve had a lot of fun this summer, and now the beginning of a new school year is looming.

I’ve tried instilling in them the reasons why school is important, but they’re not buying it yet, they’re a little young. However, I have been able to push reading over the summer. In my opinion, reading is one of the most important life skills an individual can have.

Every day they read a few pages from their books. It was strange though, my youngest, who is reading at a higher-grade level, gave me a hard time about it. And he’s the one who likes to read! Alarmed by this new development, I took both boys to the bookstore. I pretended that I was there shopping for myself. Somehow, we ended up in the children’s chapter book section (wink). When the boys saw all the different books, they became interested, and started checking out all the titles. They were like kids in a candy store. They both ended up choosing a book that was at a higher reading level than their current one.  I considered this a success and was very happy when they both actually read the books we bought.

I believe kids will love to read, if you let them choose books that interest them. That day in the bookstore reinforced this belief.

Of course, that got me thinking. I’m always thinking and sometimes I come up with some whopper ideas! Anyway I started thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if schools could offer the same selections as a bookstore? As I thought about it, I realized that they could. If schools invested in e-readers for every student, just think of the endless selection of books that would be available. Even the most reluctant reader would be able to find something that interests him or her.

Kids would be able to carry a virtual library around in their backpacks! And the thing is kids love electronics. My boys are always playing with my kindle. They would think it was so cool to have one of their own.

Of course, manufacturers would have to make them very durable. Just like they made those toddler cameras toddler proof, they could do the same thing with e-readers.

Studies have shown that by increasing the selection in a library, it has a direct effect on the literacy levels of that community. Just think of the possibilities! Not only would we have more enthusiastic students, but they’d be better educated as well. J

Thanks for reading my post today, and if you have any thoughts on getting e-readers into schools, please share them. I’d love to read them!

Below are the covers and blurbs to my Super Spies series! They’re great reads for tweens and teens. They can be found at the Astraea Press website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Kobo.


This book opens in a small town in Michigan where fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman. One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death. Fearing that this officer will frame them for the murder, the girls organize their own detective squad. They become the Super Spies and start their own fact-finding mission.  The Super Spies can’t understand why anyone would want to murder the “Cat Lady” until they start digging into her past and discover a horrible crime that happened thirty years ago. They uncover a connection between the two crimes and attempt to bring this information to the police, only to be reprimanded for meddling in the inquest. Not only are the girls upset by the admonition, but they also struggle with the fact that their exuberant investigating could provide a legal loophole allowing the killer to go free. To make matters worse, the police don’t even believe them. Frustrated by this turn of events, the Super Spies realize it’s up to them to snare the Cat Lady killer, or die trying…



This book opens in a small town in Michigan where Sarah and her sister Lacey are now living with their Aunt and Uncle. Still reeling from the fact her parents have disappeared, Sarah starts the school year with her new friend Jackie Jenkins. When Sarah learns the school has been bombed, she’s filled with dread. Uncle Walt is a teacher, and he was in the school when the bomb exploded. Taking matters into her own hands, Sarah decides to search for him. The rest of the Super Spies are right behind her. When a fireman chases them away from the school, Sarah becomes suspicious. She decides to investigate. The FBI arrives on the scene. Sarah realizes this bombing could have even bigger implications. Searching for the bombers, Sarah is introduced to the world of terrorism. She fears that the bombing and her parents’ disappearance are connected and terrorists are involved. To make matters worse, the bombers are determined to finish the job. Can the Super Spies find the bombers before it’s too late?



Sarah Cole and her sister Lacey are at it once again when their missing parents’ cell phone is traced to Alden, Michigan. When the FBI declines to continue the investigation, Sarah takes matters into her own hands. She calls upon the Super Spies and they delve into the situation. Suddenly the teens find themselves immersed in small town intrigue and mystery involving a menacing stranger, who Sarah dubs “The Stalker.” But when Sarah finds out he’s connected to her parents’ disappearance she’s determined to find out what that connection is. The Super Spies embark on a journey that leads them into a web of corporate corruption at its highest level that leaves innocent victims in its wake. Can the Super Spies stop the greedy corporation before it’s too late?


Thanks again for stopping by! :)

Monday, December 3, 2012

FREE eBOOKS!!




…or at least a chance to win some! It’s a Christmas Regency blog hop, with each participating author giving away copies of her Astraea Press ebook at each stop on the tour. Plus, enter here for more chances to win:

First prize: FIVE Regency Christmas ebooks
Second prize: THREE ebooks
Third prize: one ebook

Winners can select their prizes from this list:
A Christmas Surprise (Lindsay Downs)
Ghosts of Winters Past (Christina Graham Parker)
Partridge and the Peartree (Patricia Kiyono)
Redeeming the Deception of Grace (Kristin Vayden)
Scandal on Half Moon Street (Vivian Roycroft)
The Devil Duke Takes a Bride (Rachel Van Dyken)
The Duke of Christmas Past (Kim Bowman)
The Toymaker (Kay Springsteen)
Time for a Duke (Ruth J. Hartman)
Two Turtledoves (Leah Sanders)
Vidal’s Honor (Sherry Gloag)

Each author has her own rules on each blog, so be sure to read the fine print on each stop. To enter here on the AP blog, just leave a comment below.

Ready? Here’s the blog hop entry link. Let’s visit Kim Bowman and The Duke of Christmas Past. Rumor has it the infamous Mrs. Peabody has something to say about Miss Tess Warren… but Mrs. Peabody has something delicious to say about everything that’s going on!

http://kimbowmanauthor.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 3, 2011

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Writer Wednesday: A Somewhat Magical Formula

It's Writer Wednesday here at Astraea Press and we are pleased to have Therese Gilardi guest posting about becoming published and the magic powers she employs for those endeavors. Take it over Therese...


A Somewhat Magical Formula

            Whenever people find out I’m a published writer they inevitably want to know how I managed to land my poems, prose and essays between the covers of numerous magazines, journals and book covers. Even those who disdain reading are curious. To some, becoming a published writer is a twenty-first century parlor trick, requiring some sort of sleight of hand or at least a lot of luck. Writers and non-writers alike insist there must be a secret handshake, or perhaps a how-to manual not available to the general public. I understand this mentality, for that’s how I thought when I first set pen to paper.
            Back in the day (that would be 2002), sending out queries meant that the writer had to spend hours pouring over publishers’ guidelines that were often out-dated by the time they hit bookstore and library shelves. These guidelines directed the writer where to send a cover letter, writing sample and the all-important SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope). Hours were spent crafting submission packets, which then had to be carted to and from the post office. Submitting a poem or short story was a labor intensive and often costly undertaking that required the patience of Job, since it was not at all unusual to hear of response times upwards of eighteen months. Ah, the good old days.
            I don’t think so. For, while today’s e-publishing marketplace does bring with it the peril of online piracy and the depressing demise of the brick-and-mortar bookstore, it also heralds a time of great opportunity for the writer. Online publishers’ guidelines make it a snap to find out where to submit that essay on the eating habits of iguanas or that short story about a talking baseball bat. The ability to contact potential publishers from any place with an Internet connection means far less time is spent going about the tedious task of formulating submissions packets, which frees up far more time for the writer to spend on developing her craft.  E-submissions equal less paper waste, generally much shorter response times and a more egalitarian process, since the cost of postage is no longer a barrier driving writers of lesser economic means from the marketplace.
            Since 2002 my work has appeared in print and online. There are advantages and disadvantages to both formats. While I’m convinced that there is still no perfect method for ensuring that a piece of work will ultimately reach the marketplace, I’m convinced that e-publishing has allowed many more writers to hone their craft and submit their work for consideration. Ultimately this means that far more writers are able to see their words in print. Which sounds to me like a pretty magical formula for success.

"What do you like best about e-publishing? What, if any, changes would you make to the e-publishing format?"
To Therese or find out more about her...click her name.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

After You Purchase E-Books From Astraea Press

So you are surfing the web and you found the wonderful, amazing, fabulous (ok I'll stop now) Astraea Press website.  You've been shopping around, picked out your books, and paid. Now what? Well that's what we are going to address today.

  • The email address that you used to fill out your order form will be the address the e-book will come too or if you used PayPal it will be the PayPal email you used.
  •  Two emails will come. The first will be a receipt of your purchase.
  • The second email will be a list of links for the book you bought. It will look something like this...
  •  

  • The next step is to decide what kind of file format you want. This will depend on your E-book reader device, such as Kindle, Nook, Ipad etc. I'm not going to get into all that today but here's a link that will explain the different e-book file types that you can reference
  • Last but not least make sure you make a backup copy of your email and save your receipt. It helps if you have any problems in the future and have to contact us. 

So dear readers have you ever had any problems with e-book file formats? Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below and I will try to answer them.

Bri