Fun Harry Potter Themed Giveaway for Newsletter Subscribers

Check out the Harry Potter themed stuff going to 1 lucky newsletter subscriber this week: a wand from Ollivanders, a tea cup with your fortune, love potion for your bath, sweets from Honeydukes, and a coffin that may or may not hold a golden snitch! Oh, and what box o’ goodies would be complete without a signed copy of ANY WITCH WAY to keep or to gift that hard-to-buy-for gal in your life! 

WHAT?? You say you're not a newsletter subscriber?? You're not a member of the Newton Nation VIP Club, and therefore wouldn't be eligible to win this box of Hogwarts goodness?? There's an easy way to remedy that situation! Just CLICK HERE to go to my contact page and subscribe to my newsletter by the end of this week! Voila! You're entered to win.

You're welcome! :) I do love to spoil my readers!

Happily My Ever After--Harry-Potter-Style!
Dylan

P.S. Did you know that I gift something to my newsletter subscribers every quarter? And I don't spam or send out needless 'buy-my-books' messages, either--just one note from me per quarter, unless I have something HUGE to announce. :)

Author Visits--Scheduling Now!

Scheduling Now for Author Visits to Your Book Club, Classroom, or Writer's Group!

Giving a workshop on Goal Setting for Writers in Sunshine
State Romance Authors workshop

I get multiple emails from groups asking to schedule time with me to come in person (where
available) and via Skype/Facetime around this time of year. I'm always happy to speak with groups of 6 or more ('cause 6 is my lucky number!), and I'm known for my enthusiasm and my giveaways/swag!

Typical classroom/young writer's swag and my book 'props'

 If you are a teacher/after-school organizer, you should know I waive my normal speaker's fee to speak with young writers, and I typically schedule 3-4 classroom and Youth NaNoWriMo talks each year.

BUT...I book up fast, and now is the time to schedule me for 2018! I have some openings before the summer, and right now, my calendar is pretty clear for October/November (right at National Novel Writing Month) but it's a first-come, first-booked situation, so plan accordingly.

To contact me to schedule a speaking event, either comment below with your email and details, or message me on my Facebook author page HERE, or simply email me directly at hidylan@dylannewton.com .

Looking forward to chatting with you!
Happily My Ever After,
Dylan

P.S. Don't forget to subscribe to my Newton Nation VIP newsletter HERE, where I post pics of my speaking events for book clubs, classrooms and writing organizations! Plus...I give stuff away in my newsletters, so it's always a good time!

Interview with indie YA author, Brittany Nicole Lewis

I love featuring up-and-coming authors on my blog, and when indie YA author, Brittany Nicole Lewis asked if I'd host her in time for her awesome Kindle book bundle, I happily agreed! Check out her author story and books below!

Hi Brittany! Welcome to Happily My Ever After! As you know, I like to share with my readers how various authors got their 'start' in the writing business, as we all have different paths to publication. Would you share your journey with us?

My three young adult novels are independently published, but my children’s series of twelve books will be traditionally published. I actually didn’t write a query letter for that series. I spent about a year building relationships with the owners of publishing companies and one day while I was talking to one of them, I mentioned the children’s series I was working on. I was planning on publishing them myself because I make more money than most of my author friends that are traditionally published, but this publisher really wanted to publish these books, so I agreed.

That's so cool! Okay, what do you think is THE most important thing writers can do for themselves to get an agent/publisher, or simply to advance their writing in today's market? 

My experience is not/was not the norm. I also do not have an agent, but I am planning on pitching my next novel to agents. I would say be professional and clean. Don’t post personal opinions or vulgar things on social media, be respectful and professional in all of your correspondence, etc. People will check you out online before they decide to work with you (usually) so if you are swearing and/or posting about a lot of personal issues or drama on Facebook, etc, that’s a turn off.

So true--it truly is a small world and you never know who might know who in this business. If you could have done anything differently with your writing career so far, what would it be?

I would have learned more about the business side of things before diving in.

LOL, me too...although that might've scared me away! Okay, now for your books! You have an upcoming release. Can you tell us about it! 

I do. I recently released the third book in my Zion Series, Reunited, and now that that book is out, I put all three novels together in a Kindle Bundle, so people can now get all three full-length novels for just five dollars. My publisher is also still working on my children’s books and they are all in various stages of publication. I do not have release dates for those books yet, but if anyone would like to be added to my mailing list to receive updates, they can email me at authorbrittanynicolelewis@yahoo.com these books will promote autism awareness and acceptance. The main character in all of these books is autistic.

I adore books with protagonists that face huge obstacles--I can't wait to read these! Okay, last question: What's one fact about you that most people don't know.

I like to put hot sauce on my spaghetti.

You're way more adventurous with your pasta than I am, for sure, lol! Thanks for chatting with me on my blog today--I know people will want to check you out online. Can you give us your website links and contact information? 

Absolutely!

My email is authorbrittanynicolelewis@yahoo.com and I would love to hear from you.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BLewis2008

Twitter: www.twitter.com/BLewis2008

Instagram: www.instagram.com/authorbrittanynicolelewis

And my website is www.brittanynicolelewisblog.wordpress.com

And here is a blurb of Brittany's three books in her Kindle Bundle, along with covers and buy links. Don't they sound fantastic??

THE ZION SERIES

 KINDLE BUNDLE

 Get THREE NOVELS for just FIVE DOLLARS HERE

Finding Freedom (Book One)
Katie was born into a cult. Her family lived there for generations. As she got older, she realized the Elders were keeping secrets from the community. Risking everything, she leaves the cult and searches for the truth. With the help of outsiders, Katie and her young husband David are put in touch with an organization called Purple Haven, which provides medical care, shelter, counseling and job training to individuals who have escaped from cults. She soon discovers she’s pregnant. With the help of her husband, her therapist, and two friends, Katie learns what it means to have a relationship with God.


Heir of Zion (Book Two)
Michael felt like his life ended the day his family left. In a way, it did. While he struggled to remain composed when he was in the company of others, he allowed his thoughts and anxieties to consume him when he was alone. Though the life that he had always known had ended, a new one quickly emerged, one that had been suppressed by the Elders for far too long. While Michael struggled to wrap his brain around the information he was learning about his true identity and the community he had grown up in, his heart continuously pulled him toward a young girl and his new found romance, while it simultaneously ached for the family he lost.




Reunited (Book Three)
Just as Katie's life is settling into a new normal after leaving Zion and the birth of her son, she is given news that will forever alter her reality. Meanwhile, the moment that Michael has so desperately wished for, but never thought would come has finally arrived. He must make the hardest decision of his life, and if he doesn't choose correctly, he could lose everything, forever.

Finding my BLISS in 2018 as a writer...and a TASK MINDER GIVEAWAY for you!

If you've followed me for a while, you know that I'm a goal-setting, list-keeping kind-of-gal, so it will come as no surprise to hear I'm setting new goals for 2018. (If you want to check out my past goals, there is a great post HERE. and two FREE hour-long workshops I did on SMART Goals for Sunshine State Romance Authors can be found HERE.)

Except this year, I am including NON-WRITING GOALS! (Yes, gasping would be appropriate here!)

In preparing for a workshop earlier this year, I came across the super-addicting world of Vision

Boards and decided to incorporate all aspects of my life into my Vision/Goals for 2018--as you can see from the picture, I divided it up into Writing, Home/Family, Personal and Spiritual/Philanthropy. Honestly, I debated on 'sharing' it with all of you--sharing goals for me is a bit like running in tight, all-body spandex. Something I never do because it's very uncomfortable, with every ripple and blemish out there for all to see. And judge. Yikes!!

But, in the end, I decided that perhaps something in my writing journey would help others...so here it is! Keep scrolling for the TASK MINDER that I'd created for the workshop--I have several left over and will send to YOU for FREE if you'd like!

You'll notice my 2018 Word/Theme is : SEEK BLISS and I worked with each section of my goals until I was satisfied that those bullet points were those things that bring me/my family BLISS this year. Lately, I've had difficulty finding daily BLISS--a couple of years ago, it led to a heart scare and a day of wearing a heart monitor (you can read all about that here). There is so much negativity and divisiveness, it's been a challenge to focus on inner peace. Bliss. So. Back to my new goals...

In writing, bliss means TONS of giveaways to readers/fans/newsletter subscribers! I dearly love giving fun swag and other fun things away, so be sure to subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Writing new fiction brings be BLISS, so that means submitting a new manuscript to my agent in March (because while writing brings me joy...the royalty checks help pay the bills!). In Personal, I am in the throes of training for a Half Marathon with my daughter, among other things. In Philanthropy, I'm busy booking time with writers (kids and adults) to share my passion for my craft, and focusing on the quality of time spent leading Girl Scouts (going on 13 years as leader now, so the burn-out struggle is REAL!).

The Historic Pink House that I've drooled
over my whole life, lol! 
(Photo from Discover AlleganyCounty website HERE.)

Finally, in the Home/Family section, finding BLISS meant going after something I've wanted since I was 4 years old and peering through the wrought-iron gates at Wellsville's historic Victorian (the Pink House at the left)...I want to own a Victorian home as a vacation property. (Ok, truly, I'd really just like to own the Pink House. But since that's probably an unrealistic goal, I'll settle for another historic cutie!!

I hope some of my 2018 Goal posting has you thinking about your own goals this year--it's not too late to make them...or even change them! And to help you out, I've got a FUN FREEBIE for you! Simply message me before the end of February 2018 on my Contact Page here with your physical address, and I'll send you one of these adorable TASK MINDERS I've created for your goals for FREE--I'll even cover postage!

Get one of these Task Minders for YOUR 2018 Goals for FREE!
Just email/message me your address, and I'll pop one in the mail to you!

Using the little booklet is easy: simply put your goals on the left hand side, and write the tasks it'll
take to achieve those on the right hand side...and then check them off as you accomplish! Thanks for staying with me on my writing journey--your continued readership of my blog means a great deal, especially considering I'm not the most avid blogger in the world, lol! Here's to our continued BLISS in 2018!

Happily My Ever After,
Dylan


P.S. Do you want MORE FREEBIES? Have you subscribed to my Newsletter? It's easy to do--just enter your email address on the bottom of the page HERE and voila! You're in the Newton Newsletter Nation where I do quarterly giveaways of fun stuff!