I love to get stuff for FREE... How about you?

FREE! FREE! FREE!

As a writer, I feel it's important to support other writers, so let me share some free books by some of them. Plus if you know you're getting a Kindle for Christmas, then here's a good start for you if you love reading YA, fantasy, vampires, mermaids, witches, etc...

Click on the book covers below to get any of these FREE eBooks to feed you eReader! I don’t know how long these books will be free, so don’t hesitate too long.

(Note: I haven’t read any of these, so I can’t really say if they’re good or not. But how can you pass up free, right? Well, maybe you can...I’ll admit I’m one of those who initially judges a book by its cover. LOL But I do like these covers, so that’s one reason I picked them up. If you’re not sure, then check out the book descriptions first... :)

Happy Holidays!!! Happy Reading!!! And thank you for visiting my blog. Up next... Get two of my books for free too!

Happily Ever After Giveaway Hop and Cover Reveal!

Welcome to an enchanting giveaway hop hosted by I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Murphy's Library.

In any book that I read I ALWAYS want a happily ever after! Likely because of this, all of my books have happy endings too. If you want a gloomy, tragic ending, then my books probably aren't for you. ;)

Today I'm revealing the new cover for Fair Maiden's re-release. I've added an epilogue to the end so you can have a little bit more of the story and to introduce you to the upcoming sequel, The Trapping Club! (Don't worry, Fateful fans, I'm working on Max and Nadia's story too!)

Do you like it...?

In Fair Maiden, I promise you a happy ending! Here is the description:

It's the Victorian era in England, but Tessa is from the medieval past. She awakens within a castle she has never seen before. Knowledge of her name also evades her. However, even worse than not knowing who or where she is, she cannot recall how she died or why she is dressed as a bride.

Along with Christian, the earl of the castle she haunts, Tessa tries to discover who she is and break the spell holding her in a prison of death. They never imagined the curse keeping them apart is the only thing protecting her, until it's too late.

(This month is a month of giveaways from me. I'll only be giving away ebooks via my blog, but if you'd rather win signed books and other book swag from me, then enter my FB giveaway too! Only my FB giveaway is open to my international readers! ;)

The Prize:
Win Fair Maiden in either Nook or Kindle eBook formats. (You must have an account with either Barnes & Noble or Amazon to accept this prize. USA only. However, if you have an account with the US site but live outside of the US, you may also enter! ;)

To Enter:
(This giveaway just ended. Thank you to everyone who entered! I'll contact the winner very soon!)
Follow my blog via Google Friends Connect or Email subscription, and fill in the form below so I can contact you if you win.

Update! The eBook copy of Fair Maiden with the new cover and the added epilogue just went live on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The print copy will be soon to follow.

For Kindle, go here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Z1DFAM/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=authcherschm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B004Z1DFAM

For Nook, go here:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fair-maiden-cheri-schmidt/1100045843?ean=2940012518743

Guest Post by KC Blake ~ Author of Witch Hunt

Author, K. C. Blake is visiting my blog today. She just released Witch Hunt! I haven't read it YET, but I'm very intrigued by the synopsis. Check it out! The rest of this post is brought to you by K. C....

Something occurred to me the other day while I was working on my latest book Witch Hunt (available now at Amazon).  Before I wrote the first word I already knew my characters intimately, but the readers don’t know them at the beginning of the book.  As a writer I have to introduce the reader to my characters through action, dialogue, internal monologue, and narration.  It’s a daunting task.  I find myself wanting to throw everything at the reader at once, but you can’t do that.  The introduction has to be slow and easy. 

Witch Hunt is the second book in my witch-game series, but each book has different characters.  Plus there are several important characters in this book.  The more characters you have, the harder your job becomes.  Because this book is a paranormal romance I needed two main characters to fall in love.  They had to be strong, fun characters that the readers will learn to care about. 

Starr Hughes and Dylan Winchester aren’t supposed to be together.  He is in a group called the It-Squad, and they aren’t allowed to date outsiders.  Starr hears whispers about a game they are about to play.  It sounds dangerous and sneaky.  She worries that Dylan is up to no good.  Before she falls harder for him, she wants to find out what he and his little group are doing. 

Most books have a villain.  They’re always fun to work with.  Witch Hunt is no exception.  I added the shadow of a villain in the background.  Writing for a villain is different than writing for the protagonists.  Sometimes you don’t want the reader to know who the bad guy is until the reader nears the end of the book.  In the case of Witch Hunt I wanted the reader to suspect at least three people of being bad, so I had to add more characters.

Then you need to think about friends and family for your protagonists.  Starr had to have someone to confide in.  I gave her a good friend and a sometimes-absent father.  Dylan has his friends on the It-Squad, so I didn’t have to scrounge for someone for him to talk to. 

How do you introduce your characters to the reader?  Try not to throw too many at the reader at once.  I prefer to start with one or two characters.  Although in Crushed (number one in the witch-game series) the book begins with all three sisters.  A situation like that is doable as long as the characters have different personalities that will make each one stand out from the first page.  Be careful not to thrust the reader into a crowded room with several characters talking.  You can’t expect to keep the reader’s interest if they feel confused from page one.

Start off slow if you’re a beginner.  Write for one point-of-view character.  As a writer you will grow and your writing will grow with you.

Up and Coming! Borrow Fateful, Fractured, or Forever for FREE!

I hope everyone is having a nice Spring Break! If you’re looking for something to read, YA Indie Carnival has some great new releases available, go here to check them out!

And The Fateful Trilogy just went prime, so you can borrow any of the three books for FREE from Amazon if you’re a member of their prime program! Just click on the book covers in this post to get them from Amazon.

The Fateful Trilogy is Ethan’s and Danielle’s story only. But I know many of you fell in love with the side characters as well. To be honest, in some cases, that really surprised me! They were just side characters, after all! But I’m also very flattered and my head is still in that world as well as with Ethan and Danielle. So I simply can’t stop myself from writing about these “side characters” that you’ve fallen in love with. While the Fateful Trilogy was just for Ethan and Danielle, the Fateful Series is for all of them!!!

I have so many books planned, it’s really hard for me to list them all especially since I don’t know how soon their releases are, but I’ll do my best to give you a preview. Note: The titles of all of these could change...and these are not in order of release:

Sophia's Cookbook for Mortals: A fun and real recipe book featuring recipes Sophia likes to mess up her apron with.

Maximilian: A novelette on how Max joined a new Order of Knights and then met Nadia. This one will start out in a historical setting and move to a modern one. (For an excerpt of this story got to the blog post right before this one!)

Becoming Cursed: A novelette in a historical setting on how Beon became a vampire and then courted Sophia by kidnapping her.

The Black Prince: A novelette on your favorite surly prince.

Little Red: A novelette about the red-headed witch in Forever and her forbidden love for a werewolf.

I have plans for some of the other Fateful side characters as well, like Brianna, Danielle’s cousin. I just haven’t worked out all of the details yet. so please stay tuned! ;)

The Trapping Club: I have a lot of handwritten notes for The Trapping club—this is the sequel to Fair Maiden, or book 2 in that series. Beginning with a magical masquerade and a kidnapping, The Trapping club is the tale of second sons as they struggle for survival in a society that leaves such forgotten. Those who’ve read the first book will be surprised to find that the hero of this next enchanting tale is the brother of the villain in Fair Maiden, and the heroine will be a grown-up Emma...

The Mistaken Reformer: This is book 3 in the Fair Maiden series. Peter, Christian’s brother will be the hero and the heroine is still a mystery as of yet...

The Fairy Ring Enchantment: This is the first story I dreamed about, thinking it would be a short picture book. But when I started writing, it was turning into a novel. With no plans of becoming a writer, I was extremely confused by that. I never thought I'd have a novel in me. This is a story about fair rings and why you shouldn’t step inside them...

I’m also working on a steampunk story and, believe it or not, a new twist on Peter Pan! But a gown up Peter Pan. Just like a grown up Jeremy Sumpter as shown in the photo on the right. LOL In truth, the Peter Pan one totally took me by surprise and came to me in a dream a couple of weeks ago. Both of these stories should appeal to those of you who loved Fair Maiden. I'm sure I'm forgetting to list a few, but this is all I can recall at the moment.