Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway for Night Stocker by Anyln Hansell

Please join me in welcoming Anlyn Hansell on her book tour for Night Stocker, presented by Reading Addiction Book Tours.  Please leave a comment or question for Anlyn to let her know you stopped by.  You can enter Anylyn's tour wide giveaway by filling out the Rafflecopter below and follow her tour here, the more stops you visit, the better your odds of winning.  I apologize that my review will post later tonight, I'm still finishing up the book:)

The Great Cover Debate by Anlyn Hansel

To me? Writing a book is easy. Characters, dialogue, plot…the creation in my head and subsequent tapping on my laptop are fairly simple for me because I know what I want to write. The first time I seriously considered actually publishing something I wrote brought a whole new barrage of things to consider.

Blurb? Got it.

Author Bio? No problem.

Formatting for ebooks? Easy Peasy.

Book Cover?  (crickets)

Ok, so while I may be creative with the writing, my talents in graphic design are limited. I have tried my hand at art and I quickly realized that some people have a natural predisposition to create visual works of art and excel at it. Me? Not so much.

I do know that when I’m searching for a book to read (which I do quite often), the cover is everything. It’s the first glimpse, that love at first sight type of thing that makes you want to click on the image and delve into it a bit further. I needed to create something eye-catching, something that would set my book apart from the millions of other books out there and the task was daunting, to say the least. I typically use an image from a scene in the book, tell the graphic artist or even draw it up for her in my notebook and take a picture of it. How she deciphers my chicken scratch sketches is beyond me, but she never fails to produce. Bright colors, bold fonts, cartoonish images are prevalent in my covers. My books are rarely serious, definitely quirky and so are my covers, and I like them. Me, personally. The general public? I’m not sure.

Looking through the selection of books out there, I do find many of the top rated books have chiseled male torsos, couples kissing; couples in compromising positions…stuff that generally makes me pass it up. Those books are top rated for a reason, though. Good writing, known authors and apparently romance readers like a little steam on their cover. I often think about chucking at least one cover and coming up with something that would fit that mold – just to see if I can increase the interest level. 

The book I’m promoting now is a great example. I love this cover. It reminded me of a tattoo. I conjured this image in my head of swirling hair in a question mark, with lips and a winking eye – a halo and horns. I was so stinking proud of myself and I fell in love with the cover after it was all said and done. It is a very quirky book, unusual compared to what else is out there and I love it. I have had a couple comments that stated the cover is confusing and it makes me seriously consider starting from scratch and producing something that might be a bit more spicy – because the book itself is what I would give a 7 on the Steam Scale of 1 to 10.

And so I am embroiled in an internal debate right now. Stay true to myself and a cover that I am seriously married to, or try my hand at mass market appeal?

Night Stocker, The Misadventures of Meghan Foster, Part One

By Anyln Hansell

The Balance, Book 1

Publisher: Anyln Hansell

Release Date: January 25, 2013

Print Length: 336 Pages

Book Description: 

My name is Meghan Foster and I'm going to save you from yourself.

That is, if a certain someone doesn't stop me... 

Don't let the pretty face fool you. I am a product of a seriously troubled past, but I'm a resilient little bugger. I'm a night shift stock replenishing machine and if by chance, you don't think that sounds too exciting? You are sorely mistaken, my friend. This is my life. I can't explain it. I won't even attempt to try.

I do have certain powers of persuasion that I am more than willing to use, especially if aforementioned 'certain someone' doesn't interfere. 

His name is Lance and he is by far the most delicious creature I've ever laid eyes on. I have no idea who he is or what he wants with me, but I guess I'm about to find out the hard way...

Who says stocking shelves is boring?

Buy Links: Amazon Print, Kindle 

Excerpt:

I’m walking toward the grocery section, actually speed walking to nowhere in particular.

Where to go? Where to hide? Is hiding even a possibility?

“What did I tell you?”

I can hear Lance’s voice behind me.

Whipping around, I raise my hands and cans of various types begin to fly off the shelves and hurl toward him from all angles. Just as fast as they’re flying, he stops each one within inches of his body and they drop to the floor.

Man, I hate this dude. Is there nothing I can do to one-up him?

“Oh hey, Mr. Carson…”

I’m looking over Lance’s shoulder to my imaginary Mr. Carson, when he turns his head; his face looks a bit confused. Just as soon as his head turns, I flick my wrist and a can of peaches screams off the shelf and hits him.

Square in the crotch.

Direct hit. His hands immediately cup his privates, and I see him wince, but only for a fraction of a second.

I’m standing in the middle of the aisle, wanting so badly to yell out “Ha Ha”…or “Gotcha”…or “How ya like me now?” Or something clever like that. My mouth has turned up into a smile, and I watch as he slowly looks up.

My smile dies a quick death.

He’s pissed. I mean…pissed. Like his eyes are glowing kind of pissed. I have no idea what he is, and suddenly I am full of fear. I do what every self-respecting intelligent adult female would do.

I turn around and run for my life.

Author Bio:

Anlyn Hansell is a 40-something wife and mother of one residing in a small town in South-Central PA. She has a BS in Distribution, a Masters in Business and an overactive imagination to boot. Writing credits previously included all manner of extremely boring ISO documentation, a published editorial on core sand in a foundry magazine and a recurring article in her company newsletter. Not much chance for creative writing there! She began her writing career two years ago, and in that time, has completed seven full length novels. The first four novels centered around romance, but she quickly began including a mystery element to keep the pages turning. She enjoys cooking and baking and of course, indulging in the products of those pursuits. She not only loves to write, she is compelled to do so. Every morning, starting at around 3:30 am, you can find her in her living room tapping away in the dark. It truly is the best time to write! She is currently working on yet another endeavor with the sole purpose of keeping her readers up well into the night.

Contact Links: 

Facebook: Anlyn Hansell

email: AnlynHansell@yahoo.com

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