Unknown Authors vs. Big Time Authors

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Today I wanted to start a discussion and get some thoughts from other readers.  When you are cruising around your book blogs, are you more likely to buy books from authors you have heard about, or do you like to find books by authors that you have never heard of before?
For me, I like to find new authors.  They are like finding diamonds in the rough.  It is hard to fathom why so many wonderful authors are still struggling to be picked up by major publishing companies.  Now, I understand those big companies can only sign on so many wonderful authors due to money and demand.  Wouldn’t it be great though if they had a program for new authors?  Maybe one new author a month to offer a contract to? 
If you are a follower of my blog, you will notice that I do a lot of reviews for authors that are not only from small publishing companies, but they aren’t as well known as some of the bigger authors.  Does that mean they are horrible writers? No.  It just means that they haven’t been discovered yet.  I feel that every book that is written is someone’s hard work and effort to open a new world to someone in the joy of words.  That is why on my blog I strive to not only review huge authors, but the little guys as well.  Just because I haven’t heard about them, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a chance to share their work as well. You would be surprised at how many of the books have made my favorites list.  
For example, RIVER OF TEARS by Michele L. Montgomery is still my favorite book of 2009.  I have read that book 3 times and the words still send my emotions into overdrive and tug at my heart.  It is a book that has stayed with me and I still have not found a book that touched me as much as it did since then.  It will probably be my favorite book of 2010 if I keep re reading it over and over again.  This author was one that I had never heard of, the cover was not fancy with half naked men on the front, and I still wanted to read it.  A true diamond in the rough was found.
I have also read and reviewed several books from Tierney O’Malley and Tory Richards.  Both of these wonderful authors have several books out.  Do a lot of people know about them? No. Well, if you are a big publishing company you need to wake up and snatch them up before you lose out on some amazing writing!  They both have a wonderful talent for writing romance and the details are great.  
Chastity Bush is another writer who I have read for several times.  Each book I have reviewed is from different genres so I know this author does not have a problem writing.  She can put a story together wonderfully and she can write on different subjects. I have read paranormal, romance and historical from her.  Not bad for an author as young as she is.
This is just a small sample of what is out there waiting to be discovered.  I believe that if given the chance, an unknown author to you, could easily become a well loved author for yourself as well.  So my challenge for everyone is this– the next time you are out shopping for books, pick up a book from an author that you haven’t heard of before.  Whether it be from a regular book store or from an online small house publishing company, you never know what kind of diamond you will find.  You just might be reading the next Nora Roberts, Stephen King or James Patterson.

WEEKLY CONTEST/GIVEAWAY

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Here is this weeks giveaway contest.
  At times, there will be more than one book, but most of the time I will be featuring a weekly giveaway of one book. For these giveaways, I will NOT contact you if you win.  I will announce the winner and you will have 48 hours to respond.  If I don’t hear from you.  the book will be passed to the next winner in line. 
Now here is the book(s) for this week and the rules will follow after the description:
Holy Smokes  Light My Fire

Fire Me Up  You Slay Me


Set of 4 USED copies of the Aisling Grey series by Katie MacAlister.  You can find the descriptions of each book on her website found here: Katie MacAlister

GIVEAWAY RULES:
1. You must be a follower to enter.
2. Contest is only available to the USA.  Sorry, but limited funds at this moment in time. This could change later.
3.  Leave a comment on this post.

OPTIONAL:

4. Mention the contest on your blog for extra entry. (Please post the link in a separate comment to qualify.)
This contest is open until 2/22/2010 with the winner being announced on 2/23/2010.
Good luck!

Weekly Giveaway Winner

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The winner for the weekly giveaway of Single White Vampire by Lynsay Sands is:
 
You have 48 hours to claim your prize.  Just email me at:
djsfoxylady@gmail.com
with your mailing address.
Please include in the subject line: WEEKLY GIVEAWAY WINNER
 
Next contest will be up shortly! 

GUEST POST with author Jeffrey Bryan

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Today I would like to welcome author Jeffrey Bryan as a guest post today.  He is the author of Silent Desperation.  You can find the review I posted of his book here.  Welcome Jeff and I will hand it over to you now!
How the idea came about for the book
The mix of stories and poetry in “Silent Desperation” reflect pieces created over a 15 year period.  So while none of them was written to be part of a book like this, a friend suggested that putting together a collection of my favorites might be fun for my readers.  So I set out to select stories and poems that had a common feel or theme.  Oddly, the hardest part of the exercise was choosing the title for the collection.  Originally I had wanted to title the collection for the story “The Forever Man”, but my editor insisted that the title should be that of “Silent Desperation”, as, in their opinion, that was the most powerful piece in the mix. So in the end, and as usual, I did as the Editor suggested.
The process of writing (for me anyway)
As I imagine is true for most authors of fiction, over the years I’ve enjoyed reading for pleasure for years. Recently I’ve been exploring epic stories that range between science fiction and more contemporary fiction, and I had been trying my hand at capturing some of my own ideas during that time.
In essence, many of the poems were written as a sort of conceptual shorthand – capturing an idea/emotion/impact that I wanted to convey in a longer story. In many cases, I never stopped with the poem, but just moved right on into the story. Most of the stories in “Silent Desperation” are of that variety. The poems included after the stories are mostly topics that I expect to write short stories or novels around in the future.
The key to writing for me is the tale – the actual story that I’m trying to express. The primary tool, of course, for doing this is outlining. If I didn’t outline my stories first I’m certain I’d wander off away from the point of the story and get lost. And if I get lost as the writer, it’s certain that I’d lose the reader as well.
It’s often starling to me in retrospect to realize where (and when) the ideas for the stories dawned on me.  Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s poignant, but it’s always like a lightning bolt – a bolt of inspiration or insight that has me running for a computer or scrambling for a pen to write down enough of the idea to ensure I can flesh it out in time.
As examples, “One Dark Night” was a story inspired by actual events, “The Forever Man” was the result of a lonely isolated evening of introspection, and one story was the literal chronicling of a dream… or was it a dream?  I still don’t know.
What’s next?
I have several novels in the works, including the novelization of the story “Eyes of Echo” in my recently released book. The next work I expect to complete is almost half written now and it’s the story of an unusual birth of an unusual creature under unusual circumstances. So you probably get the point that it’s a rather unusual story. 🙂
I don’t want to give too much away, but the title of the work is “The Gilead” and the teaser is:
Born in blood, raised in darkness, the creature known as Gilead has a purpose – a purpose he never expected to share, even with those whose trust he has gained.
The story starts with a mute and very pregnant woman brought to an inner city emergency room late at night. In severe distress, her baby is born through the efforts of a dedicated young emergency room doctor and her more experienced nurse, Nancy. A dreadfully difficult birth, the mother is unable to be saved, yet her child survives. The creature born looks nothing like a normal human baby, however.
Taken to safety by Nancy, the creature named Gilead grows quickly, learning far more rapidly than any normal human baby could. In the process, Gilead begins to teach Nancy things that she finds hard to believe, things that are beyond her understanding of normal human capabilities.
Resigned to a role as student to Gilead’s teachings, she discovers that he has a driving purpose that he cannot or will not share. Compelled to travel west from his initial birthplace in search of answers to this purpose, Gilead discovers that he has begun to learn from Nancy what it is to be human, even as he teaches her what it could be to be a human.
That sets up the first part of the book, and I hope to have it ready to send to a publisher (no idea who yet) by the end of the year.