New Author JA Campbell talks about her short story & there's a giveaway!

Today we have a visit from a debut author, JA Campbell. Her first novel, Arabian Dreams, is due out August 1st of this year and her first short story, Into the West, was released yesterday, March 8th, 2011. It's part of an exciting new series from Echelon Press and marks her debut as a published author.

JA is yet another author from the Online Writers Group at Kelley Armstrong's discussion board. If you want to improve your writing and possibly get published, you really need to go join. They have about a dozen members who have gone on to be published.


 A little bit about JA:  Julie writes fantasy novels. When she’s not out riding her horse, she can usually be found sitting in front of her computer with a cat on her lap and her dog at her side.  You can find out more at her website www.writerjacampbell.com

Thank you so much for having me here today.  This is my second stop on my blog tour (http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/book-tours/) for my eBook short story series Into the West. (http://writerjacampbell.wordpress.com/into-the-west/)

The first story in the series of six is titled Westward, Yo! and is about Tina Harker, a typical New Jersey girl in that she loves malls, manicures, and, well like many teen girls, horses.  Her life is turned upside down when her dad takes a transfer to Arizona.  Not only is the nearest mall over an hour away, but her skin is peeling in the dry air and she’s out of lotion.  Her only hope of survival is to find a new horse.  Fortunately the local ranch allows her to trade riding time for some easy barn work.  In true cowgirl fashion, she agrees to go on a cattle drive, and then things get really interesting.

The series is part of a concept (http://echelonpress.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/sparking-young-imaginations-to-win-the-future/) my publisher, Echelon Press (http://echelonpress.com/) is exploring.  They are marketing the stories towards reluctant teen readers.  This means the stories have to be easy to read but super interesting.  I’m one of 12 authors from around the world who accepted her challenge.  With the tight turn around and deadlines, not to mention my day job and keeping up with edits on my other projects, it has been very challenging.  It has also been very rewarding.

So, that’s the story… Here’s the super exciting thing… Today is release day!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Today is the day that my dream of becoming a published author comes true.  This is the first story I’ve ever had published.  I’m very proud of it, and I’m literally on cloud 9 (great view up here).

I’ve been writing my whole life, but I didn’t get serious about getting published until just over five years ago.  NaNoWriMo 2005 was a big turning point for me.  Now I know dreams really do come true.  And sometimes they come true in a big way.  Not only do I have this short story being published, but there are five more in the series.  Each will be released on the 8th of the month for the next six months.  I also have two young adult novels coming out this year.  My next big dream is to be a full time writer.

***Thank you so much for stopping by.  To celebrate I want to give one lucky commenter a pdf copy of my short story, Westward, Yo!  Just leave a comment and some way to contact you.  Random.org and I will pick a winner on March 15th.***

The journey has just begun, but so far it’s been a heck of a ride!

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Some info about the book. 


Book Blurb:
Tina Harker is a typical teenager. She loves hanging with her friends at the malls, shoes, and manicures. More than that, she loves horses. Life is everything she wants it to be, until her father packs their family up and drags them across the world to Arizona. Does he really think she’ll be happy living in a ghost town in the middle of the desert? It’s a million miles to the nearest shopping center, not even a real mall. Her only hope for survival is finding a new horse.
Tina is no quitter. She prepares herself for western saddles, rattlesnakes, the horrible desert heat, and limited shopping. However, nothing can prepare her for Wild West bandits, cattle thieves, and a really cute cowboy. Maybe things won’t be so bad—or will they?

Westward, Yo!
Trying to make the best of her horrible situation, Tina agrees to go on her first cattle drive. When one of the calves wanders off, Tina, in true cowgirl fashion and looking for excitement, rides off to rescue the poor little thing and gets a lot more adventure than she ever expected. A cowboy she’s never met accuses her of stealing cows, bandits kidnap her, and that’s not even the exciting part.
Westward, Yo! Is available here:

Omnilit
Amazon
Barns and Noble