Sunday, November 27, 2011

#WinnerWonderland #Giveaway

Welcome to the Winner Wonderland Giveaway Event. This event is hosted by Put A Little Umbrella In Your Drink, Seeds of Life, And The Little Ones Too and Taking Time For Mommy. This event features giveaways with a value of $25 or more at each of the participating blogs! Check out all of the great Winner Wonderland Sponsors being featured in this event! Be sure to visit each blog from the linky below and enter for your chance to win!






I hope you have entered to win many fantastic prizes and if you are just starting out, then don't miss the other amazing stops. Here I have made a Snow Day Care Package for the winner. The winner will receive:

  • Three candles (Apple Pie, Cinnamon, and Sugar Cookies)
  • One Flameless LED candle (lilac verbena)
  • Asi Red Harmony Tea (Roibocs and Honeybush with a hint of vanilla)
  • Leopard print cozy socks
  • Mug
  • Stainless Steel Tea Infuser
  • Signed copy of Dark Corners
  • Signed copy of Secrets



 Must be 18 and US resident. Hop closes 12/4 11:59 p.m. EST. Prizes will be shipped.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Kindle Fire Giveaway


Independent Inklings has arranged a wonderful giveaway event. A Kindle Fire will be given away along with a collection of independent novel (55 authors are participating!) including both of mine. If you would like to enter for the giveaway follow the link above or enter below.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Secrets Trailer!

Thank you everyone for your support yesterday. I am so happy to share Secrets with you. Today I have the book trailer to share. Please let me know what you think!



Secrets can be purchased in ebook for .99 at- AmazonBarnes and Noble, and Smashwords

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Secrets (Guardian Trilogy)

Welcome to the release of my second book, Secrets (Guardian Trilogy book 1)!! Woohoo!

Now this is a departure from the genre of Dark Corners and I dive into a paranormal world in my newest urban fantasy Secrets. Secrets is about a woman who lives a perfectly normal life until things start to fall spectacularly apart. As the pieces begin to crumble and she puts together clues she discovers her life will never be the same. Death, love, lies, and betrayal are at the heart of this story. I hope you enjoy it!

For a brief time it will be available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for only .99!


Today, in honor of the release I have a lot of fun planned. Starting with a scavenger hunt! Since my book is called Secrets I am revealing six secrets about myself. Visit all six blogs below and figure out the answers to the clues then email your answers directly to me at Schultewrites@gmail.com to enter to win a ebook of Secrets, Dark Corners, and a $15 amazon gift card. This contest will close at 11:59pm.


Clue 1- http://somesharpwords.blogspot.com/

Clue 2- http://khloekamalis.blogspot.com/

Clue 3- http://www.stephanie-nelson.com/

Clue 4- http://lisarayns.blogspot.com/

Clue 5- http://oliviahardinwriter.wordpress.com/

Clue 6- http://spellcheckedbycgpowell.blogspot.com/


Also come by my Facebook page for more fun and giveaways throughout the day.

Thank you so, so, so much for stopping by,


Liz

Monday, November 21, 2011

Little Bunny Foo Foo: A Cautionary Tale


We’ve all heard the song, possibly even sang along. There is a GIT (Goon in Training) rabbit named Foo Foo who unduly harasses the populations of field mice. He is given more than his fair share of chances, but insists on being a thug.



Little Bunny Foo Foo
Hopping through the forest
Scoopin' up the field mice
Bop 'em on the head!
Then the Good Fairy came and said:
'Little Bunny Foo Foo
I don't wanna see you
Scoopin' up the field mice
Bop 'em on the head!
I'll give you 3 chances,
And if you don't behave, I will turn you into a goon!"

But what happened after Foo Squared was turned into a goon? Well that is hard to say, the goon network is a close knit group, but I like to think it went something like this.

Foo Squared started in bottom of the goon ranks and worked his fluffy tale off to move up the chain of command. He made a friendship with Bunny Corleone who would end up in charge of his own goon family and in one grand coup eliminate the other four heads of the goon syndicate. However, Foo Squared would never live to see Bunny’s rise to fame. One day after terrorizing field mice he was asked to go undercover into Roger Rabbits’ family. Foo Squared had the reputation for being the meanest and toughest of all goons. But one day Bunny Corleone received a fish wrapped in newspaper and he knew. Foo Squared now sleeps with the fishes.

So let that be a lesson to you. Goon today, gone tomorrow.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Holy Grail of Boots

Joe may have fought the volcano.
David squared off with Goliath.
The Trojans brawled the Spartans… all sweaty and shirtless, what Hollywood never lies?!?
And Robin Hood went head to head with the Sheriff of Nottingham (ooo da lolly ooo da lolly, golly what a day—couldn’t resist)

Liz (that’s me) went head to heel, mano y zapato, toe to toe with my new boots. The weekend started bright and early on a lovely gray Saturday morning. I have been in the need for a new pair of brown boots for some time. The only ones I have are 1. 10 years old at least, 2. 4 inch heels and 3. Uncomfortable if I wear them more than 2 hours and 13.41 minutes. So it was my mission to find the perfect pair of tall brown leather boots. I started at Macy’s. Lots of cute choices and I tried on about 4 pairs, but nothing fit quite right. After that I went to seven more stores, but still nothing was working for me. You see I did what I always do. I found a picture in a catalogue (J. Jill to be exact) of the perfect boots, just like what I want. Now nowhere where I live can compete with my love for J. Jill. Every time I get a catalogue, which seems like weekly, I feel I must have one of everything in it. (I think they know so they taunt me)

You are probably wondering then why don’t you just order the boots from them. Well that is an excellent question. I may be old fashioned but I prefer trying on shoes, especially boots, before forking over $200 for them. Second, they are $200 and my money tree still hasn’t sprouted. So I was about to break down. I found a $50 coupon off a purchase of $200 which felt like a sign. I was poised ready to purchase the pretty, pretty shoes when mom calls to tell me she found me the perfect boots at the mall. Needless to say, I had my doubts. Mom always means well, but her taste is sometimes questionable or as she calls it, the kiss of death. A few hours later she is delivering shoes that are surprisingly awesome. They look a lot like the J. Jill boots only they are $80 cheaper and I can have them immediately. Bonus!

I go to try them on, but there is no zipper I just have to pull them on. I am pulling and tugging and possibly grunting , but the damn heel keeps collapsing preventing me from getting my foot all the way inside. I am now cussing and scrunching and wiggling, but the heel is still bending. I search for a shoe horn, none. I search for my back stretcher, nada. I finally settle on a wooden spoon, now sweaty and worn out, but I will not be defeated. I briefly think of Cinderella’s poor stepsisters when they are trying to get their foot in a shoe they will stop at nothing to get. Would cutting off my toes help? Then suddenly pop, my foot slides in and it’s not so bad. In fact it feels pretty good, I just need to put on the second one. I struggle for no less than thirty minutes trying to get this rat bastard on my foot, vowing never to wear these gems in an airport, when inspiration strikes. I fold down the top and voila the shoe goes right on. One hour and fifteen minutes later, I am the victor, but I may never take them off again. 

Friday, November 18, 2011

Secrets: Guardian Trilogy Book 1

4 more days until the release! So in honor of that I having a little #giveaway and an excerpt.

First I am giving away an ARC to one person when I reach 500 fans (only 19 away). Second, I am giving away a bookmark to everyone who comments on this post with their favorite fictional stalker. **Don't forget to leave your email address!** :-)

No matter how much of my dreams were real, no one had eyes like that. I needed to see once and for all, so I could dismiss the silly notions suddenly floating around in my head. Vampires? Ridiculous! I’d read too much Ann Rice. And a lot of people had cold hands—poor circulation. So what if he’d found me without a car, maybe he’d been following me since the morning.
Great, Liv, now you're hoping he’s a more dedicated stalker.
 I stopped in front of him and studied the determination settled across his face, which was now completely smooth of all lines. His eyes never moved or fluttered. I took a deep breath.
“Holden.”
He opened his eyes—his perfectly normal eyes: green flecked with gold. The only change was that now they lacked their indifference; an inner flame waged war against the coldness surrounding it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Thursday, November 10, 2011

#GCHop #Giveaway

Welcome to the first annual Green Christmas Gift Giving Guide giveaway hop hosted by Home Grown Families and Just My Everyday Life.




Liz Schulte's Bat Country is happy to be participating with over 60 other awesome sites to show you many ways that you can have an Eco-Friendly Holiday season!


Each blog participating is offering a prize package to a (in some cases, multiple) winner worth $25 or more consisting of Eco-Friendly, sustainable, up-cycled, and recycled items, as well as items from independent consultants, authors and Etsy!


We hope you have as much fun learning more about the different Eco-Friendly items you find on these sites and entering the giveaways, as we had putting this together for you!

Here in Bat Country I am giving away some awesome products Bluecorn Naturals. I love every product of theirs I have tried. (The Bee Yummy Skin Food is a-mazing). I am giving one lucky guest: One Asana Jasmine & Honeysuckle Soy Candle (these candles burn clean so you do not have the carcinogens that come with other candles), Two aromatherapy beeswax candles in travel tins in Relaxing Lavender and Uplifting Lavender, Geranium, and Tangerine, a coconut citrus beeswax lotion bar, and a signed copy of my book, Dark Corners!


All you have to do to enter here is to leave a comment with your email address. For an extra entry also sign up to receive email's from Bat Country (in the upper left hand corner). 


Thank for entering and we wish you and your family Happy Holidays!


Monday, November 7, 2011

Secrets Revealed

Hello friends! I know I have been quiet. Lots going on here in Bat Country. Of course there is NaNo and editing, but I am also getting the final polish on Secrets for you so it will be ready on the 22nd. Woohoo! I just sent it for formatting and so far everything is going well. So I thought I would share a juicy excerpt of the book with you if that's okay.
Secrets
Urban Fantasy Book 1 Guardian Trilogy

“I’m Olivia Martin.” I extended my hand towards him. Instead of shaking it, he took my fingers and planted a smooth, cool kiss on the back of my hand without breaking eye contact. His eyes weren’t cold when they looked back into mine. This time they were warm and inviting . . . hungry even. He kept my fingers in his cool grasp, then slowly, deftly pulled me closer to him. No thoughts, warnings, or alarms were in my head, the only thing on my mind were his lips moving closer and closer to mine.
“Holden, I’m bored,” said a whiny voice from behind us. My eyes flickered from him to see who was interrupting. He gave a low growl of frustration and pulled away, releasing my hand.
“Candi … Didn’t you look at the pictures?” His patent expression of boredom was back in place, masking his face.
“It’s Cathi.” Holden shrugged as if her name was a minor detail. “Besides they're only of ugly people.”
A bitter laughed slipped out of my mouth. A slight smile touched Holden’s lips. He wasn’t apologetic or embarrassed though, he was amused which irritated me further.
“Cathi, this is the photographer, Olivia Martin.”
“Neat,” she said as if she couldn’t care in the least. I extended my hand towards the 60% plastic model who obviously lived to make others feel inferior, because I was determined to be an adult. She looked at my hand as if it might not be safe to touch me—some plainness might wear off on her—but eventually shook it. I resisted the urge to squeeze her fingers together until she said mercy. Like I said, I was being an adult.
“It’s lovely meeting you, Candi was it?” I asked innocently
“Candi, why don’t you go get our jackets? I'll meet you at the door.”
“Cathi—”
“Does it matter? Please get them.” He brushed his hand against hers and her face went blank. She went towards the coat check line. Holden gave me his attention again, raising an eyebrow.
“Can you not remember all of your girlfriends’ names, or was that for my benefit?”
He leaned in close and whispered in my ear. “I bet I'll remember your name, Olivia.” His breath was warm and made me want to press up against him. And the way my name rolled out of his mouth like a caress made my cheeks flush.
“Only time will tell,” I whispered back, then forced myself to step away, and flashed him a dazzling smile. I wouldn’t let him muddle my thoughts; his girlfriend was waiting. “It was nice meeting you, Holden.”
“And you,” he said with a slight bow. He walked out of the door with stripper Barbie. Story of my life. 

Friday, November 4, 2011

The Thing 1982 vs 2011


Recently I watched both 1982 and 2011 versions of The Thing (movies will from here on out only be referred to by the year to save confusion). 

1982- Starred a very young and very hairy Kurt Russell as helicopter pilot with a ridiculously large hat. Sadly could not find a screen shot of it. It is totally worth laughing at.
2011- Stars a cute helicopter pilot who sort of looks like a less tall, skinny, and red headed Conan O’Brien who does not have a ridiculous hat, but he does have an earring.




1982- The story starts off with some apparently crazy Norwegian man trying to kill a very pretty dog from a helicopter. If I didn’t know what was going on I would so not be cool with this.
2011- Starts with a snow mobile filled with Norwegian guys trucking along a glacier who fall into some crazy cave and discover a spaceship. Spelunking anyone?

1982- Takes place at an American base in Antarctica.
2011- Take place on a Norwegian base in Antarctica.

1982- Awesome 70’s music.
2011- Awesome 80’s music.

1982- Dogs die.
2011- Dogs die.

1982- Lots of the people on this base are tool bags.
2011- Less tool bags, more turtleneck sweaters.

1982- Horribly cheesy graphics.
2011- Better gruesome graphics.

1982- Not a fully developed story line. Enough plot holes a Norwegian snow mobile could fall into it.
2011- Better explained.

All in all I liked the 2011 one better. I think it is cool that is was done as a prequel to the 1982 movie. They paid attention to detail, and it was sort of cool to watch the older one after the new one. Neither of them are bad movies, as far as alien movies go.  2011 is definitely louder and gorier, but enjoyable. Lesson to be taken away from both of these movies, people without fillings are suspect.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

#NaNoWriMo

Begins today!!!! For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National November Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words during the month of November.

I am sort of prepared for it. I have a partial outline (something I never do) and chatty characters in my head. I also have a cover and a blurb, again something I normally wait until I finish to work on, but this time I am trying something new. So with out further adieu here is what I will be doing this month.
The ninth floor of St. Michael’s Hospital in Goodwin Hollow was shut off to the public, staff, and administrators in 1984. The doors were welded and chained shut, the stop was removed from the elevators, and the no one talked about what happened there—ever. The deaths stopped and the voices lessened, but the evil wasn’t gone, it merely slumbered.

Ryan Laurie’s life was going well until she received news her favorite aunt was deathly ill. Ryan moved back to the town she swore she would never set foot in again to help. When strange things start happening in the hospital, Ryan’s investigation leads to a horror she never imagined possible.

Ryan never wanted to go home again, now she may never leave.
 
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