Read an Ebook Week

For those unaware, this is Read an Ebook Week. In celebration, Smashwords (if you don't know this site and you read ebooks, get acquainted!) has a huge site-wide sale, with tons of books free and discounted this week. Among those that are free, The Superiors and The Vigilantes. The Renegades, just published on Smashwords yesterday, is half off for the week. Tons and tons of other books are free, and it's free to sign up for an account if you don't have one already. You can download any version on the site--mobi, epub, even pdf. So go explore a bit and find some free books. The coupon codes to get the books free or half off are listed under the 'Buy' button on each book's page.

I'll be posting an ebook review on Wednesday in celebration of Read an Ebook Week.

Renegades Release Party winners

Well, I saw some posts up around the web, but no one posted in the comments section, so I'm having a time tracking down my winners. If you posted about the release, please comment below or email me at lenahillbrand@yahoo.com or message me so I can get your prizes out.
For those of you who have already contacted me, your prizes should be on the way.

The Renegades Release Party Invite

My latest novel, The Renegades, is coming to the major internet retailers on December 3rd. The paper copy will be available in early 2014, but you can win an advance copy at the release party. You can also win ebooks and swag, as well as paper copies of the first two books in The Superiors series.

I'm excited about this! Doing a bit of last-minute editing and then it's good to go.

Please stop by in a few weeks for the release day!

Read The Superiors free!

Hey all,

I got in on this late, but Smashwords is having their summer sale this month, so for the next week, The Superiors will be free on that site! If you have an ereader, you can download the book for free in any format. Check it out, and all the other great books you can get free this month.

Also, many more books are half off or more, including my second book, The Vigilantes.

Happy reading!

Lena

Hallo-week Book Reviews! Salem's Lot, by Stephen King

Salem's Lot by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I picked up this book off my sister's floor after seeing it lying around for a couple weeks. I had stopped reading Stephen King after Cell, which I read after a long break from Mr. King. When I read Cell, I thought I'd finally outgrown my love of King-style horror, so it had been several years since I'd read anything 'scary.' But I had a free copy of Salem's Lot, one of King's classics that I'd never read. Plus, I'd just finished writing my own vampire series, so I thought I'd try reading a vamp classic.



Well. Turns out I am not too old for Stephen King. This book is the first, last, and only book I can ever remember giving me shivers. The kind where I have to then go check the doors and windows before I go to sleep. I've read tons of King's books, and maybe some scared me, but I don't remember any of them creeping me out this much. This book is just plain creepy.



Parts of it were a little dull and unneccessary, like when I had to read little sections about all the townsfolk who were only in a scene or two. A couple of these little scenes were a little creepy--the guy at the dump who shoots the rats, the woman who avenges her rapist husband--but mostly, I didn't care much about those. I guess some were added to up the creepy factor, like the rats. I know SK has a thing about rats--they are in so many of his books! Mostly, though, I just wanted to get on with the story of the few survivors banding together slowly to take care of the vamps as they took care of the town of Jerusalem's Lot.



The main characters were easy to relate to, especially the kid (isn't there always the kid hero in King's books--a great way to draw sympathy and give plausibility to the monsters) and I loved the old teacher Mr. Burke, and the doctor, and even Father Callahan, although he disappeared a little too quick. Guess I'll have to find him in The Dark Tower books.



I also liked how not everyone survived, and I liked how it followed Dracula pretty closely. It could have done without a few of the character sketches, I thought, but otherwise, a fantastically creepy book!



View all my reviews

Coffin Hop!

Hey all!

As many of you know, my favorite month is coming up tomorrow!

In honor of Halloween month, I'm participating in a Halloween Blog Hop.
Details below. It will run October 24-31.

Also, all of my book reviews for October will be for horror/thriller novels. As an extra special bonus, I am posting a blog every day of Halloween week--my Hallo-week book reviews! I will post twice about the Coffin Hop that week and the other 5 days will feature horror book reviews. Oh yeah, did I mention I love October?

I will let you know about the giveaway as the blog hop approaches! Feel free to check out the website ahead of time, and spread the news!

Darkiss Reads: The Superiors by Lena Hillbrand

Got a new review on a blog! Super excited! Check it out below.

Darkiss Reads: The Superiors by Lena Hillbrand: Book Description Two hundred years after a stronger, faster, nearly invincible race takes over the earth, the Superiors rule humanity with ...

Show Me Your Teeth Blog Hop!

Hi guys,
I'm honored to be part of this awesome vampire-themed blog hop in honor of Rachelle Mead, author of the Vampire Academy series. As my giveaway, I'm offering a free ebook copy of my own vampire novel, The Superiors. The contest starts at midnight, August 15 CST and ends at 11:59pm on August 23. Check out the other blogs, too, there are tons of awesome giveaways of all kinds of vampire loot.

To win my giveaway, do the following:
Follow my blog (1 entry)
Follow my twitter @lenahillbrand (1 entry)
Like my FB page http://www.facebook.com/LenaHillbrand (1 entry)
Retweet, repost this on your blog, or link it on FB. (1 entry each).

Please post a comment letting me know which of these things you've done, and please include links so I can verify! Thanks and good luck!

Review Wednesday: Nightlight, by Harvard Lampoon

Nightlight: A Parody by The Harvard Lampoon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book was funny and clever. But after a few chapters it just got to be too much. Like a friend who makes jokes nonstop, and at first you think he's so funny, but after a while it's just annoying because you can tell he thinks he's just SO clever.



There was a lot of funny stuff in here, though. I especially liked the parts making fun of the whole Twilight phenomenon, not necessarily the plot. Like at one point where she says something like, "It was nothing like I'd ever experienced, but familiar enough that 3 million girls around the world could relate to it."



There were a lot of great one-liners, but after a while it was exhausting. So, cute, but nothing spectacular. I guess reading someone else's plot is boring after a while. I did, however, like the little twist and the ending. Josh was an awesome character, and I liked how the writers used two different characters to make fun of Edward's two sides.



I'd recommend this book to people who like parodies. I'd never read one, but apparently, I don't like them as much as I thought I would.

funny quotes: "I unconditionally, irrevocably, impenetrably, heterogeneously, gynecologically, and disreputably wished he had kissed me."

"I shuddered and smiled coyly, terrified." (p17). "I looked in the mirror. Staring back was a sallow cheeked girl with long, dark hair, pale skin, and dark eyes. Just kidding! That would be so scary." (p8)"

"I breathed. I exhaled. Then I breathed again."



View all my reviews

gathering leaves: Feature: The Superiors by Lena Hillbrand

Hey guys! Here's a review for my book on my blog tour, AND a giveaway if you still haven't read it!

gathering leaves: Feature: The Superiors by Lena Hillbrand: "As part of her promotional tour, Lena has provided three ebook copies of The Superiors for a little giveaway!  Details following the review..."

Blog Tour Giveaway: Free Ebooks!

Hey guys and gals,

As part of my blog tour, I'm doing an interview and giveaway today only on Dale Ibitz's blog!

All you have to do to win a free e-book of The Superiors is go to her blog, read my interview, and come back here. Please follow me and her if you haven't already--it's not necessary but we'll send happy reading vibes your way if you do!

Please leave a comment here so I know you've read her blog post. Answer this question in your comment: Name one of the three books/series I read in middle school. Also leave your email address or message me with it so I can send you your free copy of The Superiors.

That's it for today! Thanks!

Marketing blahs

Well. It seems like forever since I've posted just a regular old post from me, about this journey I've undertaken to publish my own novel. It's hard work. Harder than I thought possible. I spend hours online, until my eyes are dry and my contacts blurring. Doing what?

Not writing. Not editing. But that evil monster, Marketing. Yes, sometimes it seems it has taken over my life, and all my time for writing. It's shameless, and somewhat embarrassing, to have to plug my book. Tell people I don't even know that they should read it. Even giving it away for review is somewhat akin to begging ('please give me a good review!') I pray as I hit 'send' on my years of hard work, sweat, and laboring over word choices, sentence structure, dialogue order...all for free, in the hands of a reader who might hate it and give a 1-star review.

(Thank God I haven't gotten one of those yet).

So, is all that marketing work paying off? Are my hours of discussing Twilight translating into sales? Hard to say. It's a slow process. I can only hope it will one day lead somewhere. For now, I'm setting up a blog tour. More hours of work. I will post the dates when I have it all figured out.

Ronnie's interview

Here is the 21 questions interview I did with the wonderful Ronnie Massey. Check out her website and blog for all kinds of cool stuff, including interviews and some of her own traditionally published books!

This is the interview she did with me.

How long have you been writing? Forever! I used to make up stories with my sisters and write them in little notebooks when I was a kid. The storylines continued forever, like little soap operas.

What genre do you love writing the most and what drew you to it? I write mostly fantasy, adult and young adult. I like getting to make the world exactly how I envision it.

What authors do you follow and why? I'm a huge fan of young adult author Sara Zarr. Her books are more honest than most YA novels, especially YA romance. She doesn't follow the formula or write what she's 'supposed' to write, and that inspires me. I also love Cormac McCarthy's novels.

What inspired your current work? My current book, The Superiors, was inspired by a few other vampire books I'd read. I kept wondering why vampires hid in the shadows if they were so powerful, wealthy, immortal and invincible. I thought, if vampires really existed, wouldn't they use that power over humans? So that's what inspired me to start the series.

Do you incorporate parts of yourself or people you know into your characters? Absolutely. Some people would probably argue, but I think every character an author creates is a part of him/herself. Even the villains. After all, it came from the writer's imagination or experiences, so it's in there somewhere.

If you were stranded on a deserted island what three books would you want with you? Survival for Dummies so I didn't do something completely idiotic and kill myself by accident. His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman, would suck me in so much I'd forget all about being scared. Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison, because I'd need a good laugh in that situation.

If your novel was being adapted for the silver screen who would you cast and would you want it to be a movie or a TV series? Adrian Grenier (Vince from "Entourage") was in my head the whole time I was writing Draven's character. Aimee Teegarden (the coach's daughter from "Friday Night Lights") would play Cali. Nicholas Lea (from "Kyle XY") would play Byron, and Marisol would have to be someone very beautiful, like Megan Fox or Salma Hayek.

What one piece of advice would you give to aspiring authors? Just keep writing, for yourself if no one else.

Another Blog Interview

Hey everyone,

I have another blog interview out. It's on the website of Ronnie Massey, another new author. Check out her blog, her book, and of course, my interview.

Click here for interview.

Click here to look at my book on amazon.

Click here to look at Ronnie's book on amazon.

Thank you so much Ronnie!

Interview with a Vampire Author

Ha, yeah, I know, that title is super cheese! But anyway, I have exciting news! A wonderful man and blogger, James Oh, has featured me in an interview on his blog! I'm very excited to have my first posted interview up. Click here to check it out! And follow his amazing blog while you're over there. Thank you so much James! I'm honored to be your author interview.

I AM LIVE!

That's right. My ebook of THE SUPERIORS went live today. I know I haven't been hyping it up much, so here goes: This is a serious urban fantasy book about a Superior race that takes over the world and raises humans as livestock. Draven, a lower class Superior, can't afford his own human. However, one night he captures a runaway human named Cali. She in turn captures his interest. Although he must return her by law, he vows to purchase her later. Caught in a tangled and dangerous web, Draven struggles to fulfill his quest and purchase Cali at any cost. find the ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Traditional paper book coming soon!

It's been a while...

Wow. I've been taking a writing break, so I guess I took a break from writing my blog, too! Honestly, I've been so busy with editing my forthcoming novel that I haven't had time for much else (besides my day job, cleaning up my flooded house, throwing a bridal shower for my sister, and having a family, eating, sleeping, etc).
Many writers suggest reading a book aloud to find mistakes. Well, I find mistakes any way I read, but wow. This is the most time consuming edit I've ever done! I hadn't realized how long it took to read a book aloud. Much, much longer than just reading it to myself. I also made my voice scratchy from reading aloud so much. Ha. Well, it will all be worth it when those nickels and dimes start rolling in. ha.ha.ha...

The Waiting Game (again)

Must exercise patience. Yes, much patience is required in this business of trying to become a writer. I've found the best thing to do when waiting for anything....is to edit. I'm not a big fan of editing, but I'm a big fan of the results. So while I wait on queries, wait on cover artists, wait on a million other things...I will edit. And later, I will be happy I did. (Or that's the hope, anyway). At least it will keep me from all that banging my head on the wall. And it's productive, in a not-as-glamorous way. Writing is the big fun. Editing is the work that goes into making it look like the writing was big fun. Haha. A writer joke. At least I amuse myself.

query insanity

Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Sorry, I’m not sure who said that. But it brings to mind a certain habit of trying-to-get-published writers. This particular habit, which in itself is the definition of insanity, is called querying. I personally find the process grueling, disheartening, and overall a little degrading, as I’m pretty much begging for an agent to give me a read-through. I query, and query, and change my letter, and change my letter, and query some more. And all the time…nothing. But if I don’t expect a different result, then I’d probably go more insane than it’s already making me. I have to keep hoping, which is roughly the same thing as expecting a different result. So to sum things up, hope is the definition of insanity. Maybe I need a new definition of insanity.