World Autism Awareness Day

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Carrie Dalby

I find reading the easiest way to gather information. Those seeking to understand Autism have thousands of books to choose from. I personally enjoy autobiographies by those on the spectrum (like John Elder Robison) and novels because fiction is a great way to learn truths. Movies/documentaries featuring autism are a good resource as well. One of my favorite movies with an autistic character is “Molly” with Elizabeth Shue. That story changed how I thought about people with language challenges and helped me better understand the complexities of the human brain. (Yes, even though it’s fiction!)

My little book, Corroded, is celebrating a year in the wild. April is Autism Awareness/Acceptance Month and today is World Autism Awareness Day: the perfect time to read (or leave a review if you’ve already read it) for Corroded. Recommend it to a friend or family member you think might benefit from or enjoy the story. While what the character Ben goes through doesn’t describe every condition/issue individuals on the autism spectrum deal with, it shines a light on the different ways people experience the world. Knowledge leads to understanding. The world needs people who understand where those who are different from them are coming from.

Ordering links:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Corroded-Carrie-Dalby-ebook/dp/B01DWH9NFU/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460112918&sr=1-1

Amazon paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Corroded-Carrie-Dalby/dp/099733584X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1459964764&sr=1-1

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/corroded-carrie-dalby/1123641953?ean=2940152960259

Barnes & Noble paperback: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/corroded-carrie-dalby/1123641953?ean=9780997335842

Books-A-Million paperback: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Corroded/Carrie-Dalby/9780997335842?id=6604570336082

Indie Bound paperback for purchasing a paperback from a local independent bookstore: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780997335842

Kobo e-book: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/corroded

Tis the Season

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Carrie Dalby

The light of the season is upon us and the books are under the tree.

My children are enjoying the magic of the holidays, though most days they chose These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder as their read aloud as opposed to the traditional picking of Christmas books from under the tree each day. (We’ve been reading the Little House on the Prairie series out loud for over a year and they all love it.)

I was silly enough to begin a new project last week. I’m thirty-five pages in and trying to moderate myself so I don’t completely disappear into the story during this family-centered time of year. I’m trying for a thousand words a day, but yesterday I did double that. Oops. A good “mistake.”

What are you up to this month?

Goodreads Giveaway for FORTITUDE

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Carrie Dalby

Going on now:
Enter to win one of two signed copies of Fortitude on Goodreads.

YA Event

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Carrie Dalby

UPDATED June 7, 2016:
On the afternoon of June 11 at 1:00pm , I’ll be the featured young adult author at the Spanish Fort (Alabama) Barnes & Noble for a book signing during their NATIONAL TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL. They will have copies of Fortitude and Corroded for sale, which I’d be happy to sign, and lots of other cool things.

For details about this store’s B-Fest events, check out their Facebook event page.

For the run-down of “B-Fest”, happening at all Barnes & Noble stores nation wide June 10-12, 2016, check out their Teen Blog. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/teen/join-us-in-store-for-b-fest-our-first-ever-national-teen-book-festival/

Corroded in the Wild

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Carrie Dalby

Corroded, April 12, 2016.

Today’s the day! You can get your copy of Corroded, a young adult contemporary novel, on all e-reader platforms or in paperback. Last week’s Kindle pre-orders pushed it to the top spot for “Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Christian Social Issue Fiction” category. WooHoo! Ordering links can by found on my BOOKS page. In case you’ve missed the news, here’s what it’s about:

Fifteen-year-old Mary Lou Weber is suffocating in her sister’s shadow. Though she struggles to break into the light and claim her own identity—and the attention of the cutest guy in school—something always seems to pull her right back down into the role of Barbara’s little sister.

Down the street lives seventeen-year-old Ben Thomas, a lonely introvert who is captive to a sensory condition that makes it nearly impossible for him to stand in sunlight, much less talk to people whom he thinks could never understand his difficulties.

A new year kindles the friendship between a guy who pushes away a world and the girl who’s striving to find her place in it. Can the relationship help Mary and Ben find balance in a world that frequently seems too much to handle?

Like my other stories, I incorporated my love of music into the writing process for Corroded. The following is the complete soundtrack, with songs from both Mary’s and Ben’s perspectives. You’ll see some of my favorite musicians, but also a few surprises. I’m just highlighting a few of them with links, but search the others out yourself—they’re well worth it.

“Hello, Mary Lou” Ricky Nelson

“The Very Thought of You” Ricky Nelson

“You Are a Tourist” Death Cab for Cutie

“Burning Down Inside” Tyketto

“Dying to Be Alive” Hanson

“I’m the One” Mitch Malloy

“Somewhere I Belong” Linkin Park

“Start From the Dark” Europe

“Keep One Heart” Nelson

“Brave and Beautiful Soul” Europe

“Life” Rick Nelson

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this post or any of my books. Comments, questions, and reviews are welcome. Happy reading!

March Madness

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Carrie Dalby

There’s some catching up to do! This month’s been a productive time, and I still haven’t shared some fun news from February. Seeing how I labeled this post with the current month’s name, I’ll stick with the newest information this time around.

Last Saturday I crossed Mobile Bay and did a presentation for Baldwin Writers Group titled “Kid Lit 101”, in which I discussed what differentiates children book categories including board books, picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult novels. It was my second time doing the presentation (the first was in December 2015 with my “home” crew at Mobile Writers Guild) and I enjoyed it just as much. If there’s one thing I can geek out about (other than my favorite musicians) it’s children’s literature. I converted at least one person to the Kid Lit side, so hooray!

The first slide on my KID LIT 101 Power Point.

Then, on Monday four of my fabulously creative friends and I held a panel discussion on writing and illustrating with a local 4-H Arts group in an amazing meeting room in a contemporary art gallery downtown.

Thanks to Candice and Robina for the picture.

After a short introduction we fielded questions ranging from research to plotting. It was energetic and fun, just like the original work created by Steven Moore for the event: The Inscribables. (Can you guess which one is me?)

Original art by Steven Moore. Find him at http://www.grimtrojan.com

The past several days have been a great transition for me in my roll change from writer to author. I can’t imagine more supportive people to start my journey with than these two welcoming groups and my friends.

Bonus: I’ve kept my writing cap on, managing to add well over seven thousand words to my current project, plus completing final line edits on Corroded, out April 12, 2016. March/Spring is definitely going great here—I hope it’s shiny for you as well.

Guest Post: Jaded Love Tour

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Carrie Dalby

Today I’m pleased to host fellow Anaiah Press authors, Kara Leigh Miller and Jody Holdford. Last year I enjoyed the first book in The Mending Hearts series, Dangerous Love, and now they are celebrating the release of book two: Jaded Love.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Kara Leigh Miller & Jody Holford

“A Picture is worth a thousand words” is a phrase originally credited to Frederick R. Barnard in reference to the effectiveness of graphics in advertising. Later, he then attributed it to a Chinese proverb. Regardless of who first said it, this is really a very powerful sentiment, even for writers.

As authors, words are our currency. We spend our days, nights, weekends, (every spare moment) make our living by playing with words. We string them together to create new worlds and people, to create situations and invoke emotions that will (hopefully) resonate with readers. We agonize over each word choice, each sentence, each paragraph until we feel it’s the absolute best it can be. But what people might not realize is that readers are also very visual people. We have the ability to visualize our characters, our settings, our books! They often play out like movies in our minds.

Sometimes, seeing an image can spark an idea for a new scene or some new dialogue. So, to help keep us motivated, to stave off writer’s block, and to assist in our promotional efforts, we utilized a lot of visual aids — namely, stock photos of our characters and our settings. It helped us solidify them in our minds and they worked wonders in keeping us both on the same page as far as writing descriptions. Jody even created a Pinterest board for Jaded Love, which you can visit here: https://www.pinterest.com/jholford/jl/

Today, we’re sharing some of these pictures with all of you so that you can see how we’ve always envisioned Jackson, Kristy, and the world that is Jaded Love. Hopefully they’ll resonate with you as they did with us.

Meet Jackson Reed… We always imagined him as this tall, somewhat imposing, closed off tough guy detective. He’s generally sporting some days’ old stubble because he’s a workaholic, but deep down, he’s got a heart of gold. The snippet is Kristy’s first impression of him.

This is Jackson and Kristy’s first kiss, which takes place during a singles dance hosted by Pastor Ethan and his church. When the evening started, neither of them expected a kiss, so it certainly took them by surprise, but as soon as it happened, they knew there was no going back.

An important part of Jaded Love is the group therapy sessions that Jackson and Kristy attend in the basement of the church. Even though it’s an emotionally intense thing that they go through, we’d always envisioned it as a small, close-knit, supportive group.

Even though we deal in words, pictures are often just as important, and to us, they really do speak a thousand words.

Jody Holford

Kara Leigh Miller

Thanks for stopping by, ladies! I loved visuals, too. As a bonus, this tour is hosting a giveaway. ENTER TO WIN A $25 Amazon Gift Card: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/527093932/

Find Jaded Love on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jaded-Love-Mending-Hearts-Book-ebook/dp/B018HS72VG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453766083&sr=1-2&keywords=jaded+love

And on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28378045-jaded-love?from_search=true&search_version=service

To see more posts about Jaded Love check out the full tour: https://anaiahpress.wordpress.com/2016/01/25/follow-the-jaded-love-blog-tour/

Carrie Dalby

Don't let your fortitude get corroded.

Category Archives: READING