Douglas Rugambwa's Blog, page 3

The moment Katniss and Peeta got on that train with Haymitch and Effie Trinket, I was utterly stolen.

It’s a feeling I also experienced when Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into Hogwarts for the first time.

And probably, the same when Ivey gets transported back in time to Amazonia?

Just kidding. This isn’t about Horizon or Harry Potter. This is about The Hunger Games.

What about the epic sci-fi blockbuster? Besides selling over 50 million copies and releasing two amazing movies, especially the awesome Catching Fire film that still drives me crazy!?

I want to make a bold statement.

The Hunger Games Are Real!

Now some people will start thinking that I’m losing my bolts and my nuts are unscrewed.

They’re probably the people who like being logical and realistic.

I’ve often said the enemy of faith is not science, it’s logic.

Whoever is trying to be a realistic is doomed to be blind to the magic around them.

I know some might want to argue. I know this isn’t a post-war civilization where man has gone to the edge of his greed and has drawn a cruel line between the rich and the powerless. Where children from twelve districts are chosen as tributes to battle to death in an arena and the whole thing is broadcasted live in the Capitol.

That’s not happening. (and I hope it doesn’t)  So it’s not real.

But when I look at the impact this book has made and how many hearts are stringed to Katniss’s story. How many times we got excited and devastated by simply a book in our hands. 

Well… I suppose it wasn’t simply a book.

I’m sure at least two people in the world ever read the same book at the same time and probably experience the same feelings. Just as people will watch the same sport on TV. It’s amazing when you think about it!

I love to think of how many times I talked about this book with my friends and some pals on Goodreads and how we all got excited about Catching Fire even though we had the least idea who each of us were.

There was already common ground and we were stringed together by a story.

When something like that causes so much emotion to spread out and ripple across the universe, how can you say it’s not real?

A story that sells 800,000 copies in its first week isn’t real?

A story that brings home over $650 million from movie tickets isn’t real?

How can something that is pure fantasy, has no place in physical reality and is realistically just a couple hundred pages of black and white, create such an impact in the world? If it’s not real? 

So what is real to You?

If you were to have coffee with me and ask me that question I would tell you this: “Whatever emotion you have in your heart. That is what is real.”

Life isn’t about what is happening as much as it is about what you are feeling!

If you think about it you’ll find this to be true.

Your life experience is not based on what is happening now. It is based on what you are feeling now.

If you were a person who is constantly aware of their emotional health then you would go the extra mile and declare your life experience to be what you decide to feel.

And what you feel is based on what you think and believe.

That’s reality for you and for me and for everyone in the world.

The Hunger Games is NOT real because it hasn’t happened.

The Hunger Games IS real because you FEEL it.

Because your heart was racing every time Katniss picked the instinct to grab her bow and arrow.

Because your eyes popped when Primrose was chosen and Katniss volunteered to be tribute in her place.

Because you SMILED when Katniss famously entered the Capitol as the Girl on Fire.

Because you cried when Rue died and in my case, got all sentimental while watching Rue’s and Tresh’s faces floating on the screens in District Two when Katniss and Peeta visited (In the Catching Fire film).

Because you and I got mad and broken when President Snow called back the past Victors to the Games again (Man I hate that guy!).

Because after reading MockingJay you were sad at how much this poor girl fought for and where it took her.

Want more? I’m sure you have all the more reasons in the world because of all that you felt.

Because of all that kept your hands gripping the pages and flipping one after the other.

The Hunger Games is an incredibly creative book. And also a very real book.

It was my favorite series in 2013.

A friend of mine was always nagging me to read it. He told me Hunger Games but I kept mistaking it for Graveyard Games which I had already sampled and didn’t like.

I’m glad I cleared that confusion and read the books.

I was low spirited for three days after MockingJay. My friend was down for months!

If you haven’t finished the series, let me not discourage you, read on. I would love to tell you that it is just a story so you don’t have to feel sad in the end but that would be a lie. You will feel sad at the end because it’s more than just a tale. The Hunger Games are real.

How do you feel about The Hunger Games? What scenes made you feel? Care to share.

*P.S. Don’t forget to tell a friend that Horizon is free on Story Cartel in exchange for their review. Offer lasts till March 15th. Here’s the link:

http://www.storycartel.com/books/904/horizon

Hey there!

It’s Ivey, here to make some noise in your inbox today! Again, I know.

I’ve got some great news that Douglas should’ve told you by now.

I’ll give you three clues:

•It’s about Horizon

•It’s about a gift

•It’s about a review

Okay, you can connect the dots and easily figure out that there’s a gift for reviewing Horizon. To be precise, a $10 Gift Card.

Here’s the catch. The giveaway is going on on Story Cartel where Horizon is being featured for twenty days (16 left). During this time, anyone can download the book from the page in exchange for their honest review and might win one of three Gift Cards.

If you want in on this contest, you can sign up for Story Cartel if you’re not already a member and then  download the book as well.

However, since you have probably already  read it, you can just write your review after downloading the book.

*Yes, you need to download the book to enroll in this contest. *

If you haven’t read Horizon yet then this is a great chance for you.

Click here to get Horizon on Story Cartel.

When you’re done, click here to write your review, then bite your nails and wait to see if you could be the lucky winner!

I hope you win, *|FNAME|*. Would be awesome, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, that’s all I got for you this week. Stick around and have an awesome weekend. And one more thing, don’t forget to invite your friends on this giveaway.

Tweet: Hey, get this great book for free in exchange for your review. #Giveaway: 3 $10 Gift Cards!!

storycartel.com/books/904/horizon

Share a tweet?

* Storycartel is a site where authors give their books for free to readers in exchange for their reviews which helps them gain  leverage for their books  in the market. It’s a great site if you love to read free stuff. See more here: http://www.storycartel.com

Nuddles & Love

Ivey, xoxo

Hey, I want to come out and say Thank You so much for your help.

Last time I asked you to shoot me your testimonials for Horizon’s squidoo page and some of you emailed me, others wrote them for me on the blog. I’m really grateful.

I  believe that Thank You comes in red and white and not black and white, there you go! I really appreciate your helping hands.

The Horizon squidoo book page is ready (and there’s a special offer up there too which I will also mention in this message). Click here to check it out!

All right now my crazy and true giveaway story!

Well, last December I put up a giveaway for Horizon and I listed 2 paperback copies of the book to  be won!

When I was doing this:

1. I had no money to send the copies.

2. I wasn’t even sure how I’d bang out the paperback editions for Horizon. I just had a vague idea of Createspace (an Amazon company that produces print on demand books) works but didn’tunderatand the nitty gritty of it all.

All I knew was that I’d get Horizon made into paperback soon and I’d have the money to ship those copies to the winners, wherever in the world they would be. (My giveaway was worldwide).

The deadline to ship the books was 6 to 8 weeks. In the last week of December 2013 Goodreads sent me a message with the names and addresses of my giveaway winners. I had only just begun re-editing Horizon. It was time to get to work!

Last week I finally pulled off the terrifying  feat of shipping paperback copies of Horizon after weeks of learning how Createspace works and formatting the print on demand version for Horizon. It should be officially complete and ready by next week!

The money to do this? I received in quite a magical way. I had set out this week with a goal and a strong desire to send these copies away, accept nothing less.

Luckily, I did receive some money from my mother without asking her for it and it was exactly as much as I required.

My bank account had issues and was as good as nothing. To my good fortune a great friend of mind, let me use his bank account and card to get the job done.

Bless the amigo!

Mission impossible Horizon giveaway has officially been completed!

To show you some stats, 1680 people entered the giveaway (which is quite a lot compared to the norm being 1500 WITH advertising and I had no ads whatsover) , 640 readers added Horizon to their shelves (seriously,  does that mean anything?) and Ajdin from Bosnia and Kayla from Australia will receive their paperback copies next month. 

It’s been a wonderful and crazy couple of weeks for me and I’ve loved your company so damn much.

Now about that special offer:

The special offer I’ve made that you can now tell your friends about is: Anyone who buys Horizon will also get  5 FREE ebooks for their best friends.

How about that?

Click here for more info about the offer and don’t forget to tell your friends about it too. (if they haven’t read any earlier editions of Horizon that is).

Tweet: This rocks! Get 5 copies of this book for your friends when you buy 1 http://ctt.ec/0aI1b+

Tweet that.

This offer is for people who are new to the book though. If you’re a new subscriber this is for you. *And thank you for joining too.

If you’ve been around with me for a while there’s something else you can help me with…

I’m featuring Horizon on BookBub newsletters for $60 (I’ll find that money somehow) and they require the book to have a few reviews on its Amazon page.

I’m very thankful you awesome fellas rated and reviewed Horizon on goodreads and even sent me your testimonials last time. I’m coming back again, asking for your reviews on Amazon as well.

Oh God, you’re gonna hate me.

Please, it will just take 3 minutes of your valuable time and it’s very essential that Horizon does have a few reviews on its Amazon page.

But I wanna make it easier for you. If you’ve shared Horizon with your friends and they have loved it, I have a pre-made email that you can use to send to your friends, asking them to review Horizon on Amazon.

**To get the pre-made review email, just reply letting me know. **

You  could also ask them yourself. A picture speaks a thousand words. So this one may help:

You can leave your own review here:

Horizon

Hey there, Ivey speaking.

Douglas has been working on some really interesting things the past couple of days. Now I’m not gonna tease you with suspense, I’d rather spill the beans, besides, you may have heard about this before anyway.

Remember that musician friend Duggy mentioned once? Well, he’s working on a little song for Horizon!

Isn’t that great? A song for a story? I’m soooo excited! I’ve listened to it and it’s great, though the tune so far is quiet bittersweet. Probably fitting for the moment when the final battle in Amazonia was over, or the time when Aadrika and I had to move all the time and I ended up leaving a lot of friends.

I think if there’s any sad part of the story that you still remember then the song could relate you to it. I’ll update you on the progress. Duggy and his buddy are trying to bust  this thing out during the weekend with a song cover art and all, and who knows… maybe a short video of the singer working his riffs?

I know it’s just a little little song but it’s a dream come true for me. A very special tribute I hold dear to my heart.

And you know what? Without you I don’t know who I’d be talking to right now! I don’t know who I’d have to share this my story with. So I owe you A LOT!

I want to say THANK YOU for your support. Thank you for opening this email. And all the ones before and after. Thank You for reading my story. Thank you for letting me ramble and hang out with you. Thank you for helping me choose the right book description and cover for Horizon. God, we make such a good team!!

I am so grateful and I don’t forget one good deed. I appreciate everything you’ve been to me. Keep rocking!

And one more very special request I have before I say goodbye… Douglas is putting up an ad for Horizon on squidoo and you know, ads work best with social proof so I’m asking you to comment what you loved about Horizon by replying to the email or commenting on the blog.

Your comment will be included on the ad page.

Now to avoid confusion, this is not an Amazon or Goodreads review type of thingy. (and by the way thank you for your ratings! You guys are the best!) I only require a few comments of yours to add to help market Horizon on other pages where a review is technically not possible.

So just comment what you love about the book or review if you prefer that language, and I’ll add it. If you’re not comfortable having your name mentioned I can use a pseudonym for you. (Just let me know in your reply).

All right that’s it for now. Take care, keep rocking and don’t forget to spare a minute for that little review.

Nuddles & Love

P.S. Miss talking to you, *|FNAME|*!

- Ivey xoxo

A friend of mine once told me a lesson I fight everyday to remember. She had read my story, Horizon, and she told me one thing, “Duggy, never sell yourself short!” She told me how great I was. Each day I try to give myself what I deserve and to not throw away the person I really am. 

Many times I will look at this picture of myself, 3 years old, and stare deep into my own eyes. And I will think about all the things that I went through after that day as I was growing up. 
 
And I tell myself, “I’m sorry, Duggy. I’m sorry about your mom and dad separating and I’m sorry that Interpol says you are kidnapped and I’m sorry you missed growing up under your mother’s wing when she could have been there. I am sorry for all the days you are going to cry and for all the things that didn’t deserve to happen to you. Including the days you had to run away from home and dropped school for weeks because you had a dream to change your life.”
 
And every time I say that to myself I always make a promise to make it up to that boy in the old photograph. I say, “I’ll make it up to you. You’ll see! You’ll be an amazing author one day and you’ll live exactly the way you want and nobody will keep you away from your mother anymore. And no one will dare misjudge her and talk negatively about her. Your life will be all that you dreamed it to be. And most of all, you’ll be happy!”


This is me, painting shapes on paper. I remember I loved to paint a lot. I loved colors. I loved to make art. And I never knew I’d write stories too. So I tell myself again, “You’re going to love to write. Your imagination will erase your pain and take you to worlds of a million shapes. Your stories will heal you. So write them. Because you’re also going to learn to write the best books ever! There’s nothing you won’t be able to do. You’ll be great, I know. I’ve seen it happen. Just remember not to give up on the 3rd page of your second attempt to write a story. Because after you cross that page, everything in life will start to get better.” 
 
 
Today, I finally got my story on Amazon. I’m 19 and I’ve felt all sorts of emotional thunderstorms. I’ve had loss, love, faith and I’ve felt very powerful and also extremely small and insecure. And I recall the words a friend once told me, “Duggy, never sell yourself short!” 
 
And I look back at the photo and promise myself, “I will not sell you short anymore.” That’s the greatest sin to my soul. From now on it’s time I gave myself what I really deserved. 
 
I’m done with having less than what this boy truly deserves. I’m done settling for a life I don’t want to live. I’m going to give that boy the best life ever. Every single day I’m going to dedicate myself to this. To loving myself better. The real me. Not a fake me anymore. 


Here’s a picture the night of that day I painted with a friend, 16 years ago. I went to sleep happy and sound. Because I made great art and someone put down the words “The Big Day” on my painting.  
 

 And I know that Big Day is coming. It is more near than it has ever been. Every day I believe in my heart that my story, Horizon, will change my life. That is what I truly say and want. This faith puts a smile on my face every time. 
 
I’ve put my heart on the line and my soul is out there. This is my Big Day!
 
I republished Horizon so the link to the eBook is different. You can now get it here:
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I65OVFG
 
And please NEVER sell yourself short, your Big Days await YOU. I believe there is something out there that you deserve too. Peace and love. 
 
 
LOVE•BLISS•FAITH•DREAMS

My hands are stuck to the wheel. My palms are wet. My entire body feels like it’s perspiring uncontrollably. I have my eyes wide open, staring out the windshield and swiping a look around the streets. It almost feels like I’m not even driving anymore. I’m just zooming past the world, pounding the accelerator. My brain isn’t responding to my orders. Aadrika and Lisa Chang are barking at me but the screams of the sirens is all I can hear. The streets vanish under the blue and red police lights, flashing and draining me. It’s hypnotic, calling me to give in. Fear has it’s games.

Hey, *|FNAME|*! It’s Ivey. Gail and Alex asked me how it was to drive in the car-chase scene. Well, it was CRAZY! Wild. I was exploding with adrenalin. When Aadrika and Lisa told me that I would drive in the getaway I thought they were bluffin’. In Italy I had a couple of test drives with the Ferrari and Lee (their other co-spy who is just ridiculously funny and cheerful), who gave me most of the special training and tips told them I was good to go. I honestly wasn’t taking it seriously.

But I think no amount of preps would prepare me for that car chase. I was so scared out of my skin when the police starting pursuing us. There was a lot of noise. Inside the car and out. My brian decided to block out everything and focus on not crashing the car. But as I look back at it now and relive the moment in my head, I can still feel the blood pulsating through my veins and pounding in my fingertips. My heart was a beating drum. And being the action-craving girl I always am, I still love it!

I remember how overwhelming it felt to be motoring through the streets, how it felt to see other vehicles diverge as I was speeding. The colors of the world converged together with all the emotion, it was like accelerating through a tunnel of blurring pink, green, yellow and black. I don’t think I did much thinking either. With mom and her best friend/co-spy telling me to calm down and relax all the time. It’s hard to remember all the details when you were afraid.

Dropping off Lee wasn’t difficult. He’d showed me how to drift already. Not professional drifting just the you’re-a-beginner kind. When I had to drop off mom and Lisa that’s where the problem came. I had to get them off the right bridge but all the bridges looked the same. Even though we still cruised down the road a day earlier my brain had turned off. I was without the circuits and in the fritz because of being so nervous. I had big black police cruisers trying to smash into the nose of our Ferrari. I think if there is anything I hated about the experience then it was the time I almost crashed head-on with one of the cruisers.

Thankfully, the short mission was a success. The spies escaped and we finally retrieved the Matrix shard. There’s a bitter taste to the memory though. The same shard that we so badly needed was the same one that got my father killed. And even though I finally got my answers to my life-long questions and we saved the world, I still look back and wonder what it would be like to not have to get the shard back. If my dad was still around and everything was different. A short smile is on my face now. But then, I can’t change what’s happened. The future is waiting. I can only make room for the best of what’s left.

Thanks for the Scene Interview question, Gail and Alex. And *|FNAME|*, if you have any scene you’d like me to talk about, let me know! Reply or comment and I’ll answer you in the coming newsletters.

And one more thing. I’d really appreciate it if you wrote a review for Horizon!

Click here to review the book on goodreads.

Click to review it on amazon.

Thanks! Till next time.

Nuddles.

Ivey xx

Hi, *|FNAME|*.

As I’m writing this to you I’m listening to a song that I think you should get too. It’s Burning Bridges by OneRepublic. The acoustic version. A beautiful song.

I guess there comes a point in life when we have to burn own bridges down and move on with our quest and do so without turning back, or risk turning into a pillar of salt, cursed by indecision.

That’s sorta where I am in my life. My own journey to paradise. I’m just another human dreaming big under the banner of heaven, living knowing that today is the best I have because tomorrow the world could be different. I’m still learning to put my security in my soul rather than in the world. It’s the magic inside us that opens the magic outside.

Anyway, I guess I’m in a quite personal mood today. I wanted to ask you something important about when and how many newsletters per week you want to receive from me.

I normally send 2 or 3 emails a week to you. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays or Saturdays.

What days to you prefer to receive my updates and do you enjoy getting them 2 or 3 times/week? Just reply to let me know or voice your opinions in the comments.

Okay, now down to the real business!

Ivey has another important message from you so listen up, here’s your girl:

Hi, *|FNAME|*! It’s great talking to you again. My author gets “emo” when listening to music. I love alternative music too and if you noticed in my story, I was wearing a Paramore T-shirt the day Sara Hilson and I exchanged plane tickets so I could escape my mom and go to India and so she could see her dad in Chicago. And I’m going to say this tongue-in-cheek-ishly: I think EVERY teenager should try that at least once in their lives. If you’re not a teen  you can still try. Just know when you get caught the laws are harsher on adults! (I know I was 18 at the time but I was lucky and desperate).

Anyway, Paramore is a band. My favorite. I don’t know what music you listen to (you can let me know by the way) but remember the time in my story when the other Zartans and I touched the Matrix and then we went into  space? It was quite an abstract scenery for me with the river of memories drifting below as I was suspended in space in a unified body (*extremely creepy*). It was the time when we stopped the meteorites from coming to earth using our paranormal abilities and that moment I had this old Paramore song playing in my head like a soundtrack for the moment.

The song was “Careful”. Maybe I remembered the song because I was trying to be careful not to make a blunder up there and be the reason for the extinction of mankind. (No one wants to live with that in their conscious. I bet not even Al Qaeda would dare do anything so terrible.)

Anyway, the reason I’m telling you about my little experience up in space as a Zartan is because my author, Duggy (it’s cool to call him that by the way ) is planning to start something called Scene Interviews!

Scene Interviews is YOU asking ME (Yes, me, Ivey) about any one of your favorite scenes in my book and in the next newsletter I’ll be explaining what it was like for me to do or experience it. You can ask stuff like what it’s like to fight hybrid dinosaurs or fly in a private jet for the first time. You can ask anything and I’ll create a short story about it so you can know how I personally felt about some stuff.

And if you don’t understand crap of what I’m saying because you unfortunately haven’t read the book yet then click on book banner in this email to get it on Amazon now or click here to get it on Smashwords , it’s free there.

All right, that’s it. I’ll leave you to my author now. Be good to him! I love him a lot. And I love you a lot too!

Nuddles!

Hope you like the Scene Interviews idea. I would love this to work but I need YOU to help Ivey and I make it work. I don’t like doing things with you that you don’t like to be a part of so if you like the idea, go ahead and comment or reply with any of your favorite scenes you liked from the book and Ivey will make a short for you!

Much like an interview if you think of it.

And before I say goodbye, I also wanted to give you something I once made for a friend. It’s an audiopoem called Company of Stars and it relates with Ivey’s experience in space as she described above. Click here to listen to Company of Stars.

If you’re completely new to this idea of audiopoems that I really hope is my invention then click here to know more about them. I send these as gifts to people.

Who knows? You might get one from me too.

Thanks for hanging out with me and Ivey today. Was great talking to you!

P.S. If you think this email is also too long. Let me know.

Happy week!

P&L

-Duggy

Hello, *|FNAME|*. Last week I announced an online book party for Horizon and I realize that I made a mistake.

I was quick and probably recklessly. I gave you short notice and I guess I was trying to move things too fast.

I’m sorry about that.

So this is me, trying to be better. I even got a new snapshot on the side to prove it.

Okay, jokes aside, I feel bad about the whole thing. I had  to cancel the party and it’s postponed  until a better time. In case you’re wondering last Friday wasn’t a success.

I’m glad though, I got to learn a lot. I got a chance to rebirth, refocus and zero in on my true goals. And that includes entertaining you with great stories and communicating with you as I go on.

Oh! And listening to what YOU have to say too. (that’s my favorite part :-). )

By the way, I didn’t want to just pour out in your inbox so I also got together a post I wrote a year ago about The Real Reason We Cry For Bedtime Stories.

It’s not something you necessarily have to agree with 100%, but you can meet halfway. I wrote it to provoke an idea. To give you a reason to question something.

The thesis in Ivey’s story is identity and the post says a lot about that. Click below to read the post.

The Real Reason We Cry For Bedtime Stories.

And thanks for sticking around with Ivey and me.

Lots of love.

P&L

-Duggy

Hi, *|FNAME|*. It’s Ivey. The girl from Horizon, remember? My author isn’t here today so it’s just me and you. Great, isn’t it?

Well, I just wanted to thank you again for downloading my story and the Amazonia gift I gave out last Christmas. If you missed it, you can grab it here. (9.8mb). 

It’s great to no longer work for the Secret Circle. Amazonia was trouble enough. But it was worth finding myself. Yeah, that’s the thing that had always been bothering me. The question always drifted in my mind like a cloud moving in circles in the sky. 

You see, before I found out the truth, before Warren found me and my life took a tailspin, way back while I was growing up… I felt like I was growing lost. If that makes any sense.

It was Aadrika’s cat/mouse game. Moving here. Then leaving. Abandoning friends. I was without roots.

You know the song Jungles by Stepdad? The soundtrack  in Fifa 2013? Well, somewhere in the song they sing:

“We don’t belong to ourselves  at the mercy of the cats, we belong to places, to places.”

I can easily claim that I had myself. Through the madness in Amazonia. Through the gunshots, in the midst of fire and the blue smoke drifting away from the ashes of hybrid dinosaurs. But I never felt like that. I never really knew me. I fell in love with the action wholeheartedly, because I was so desperate to hold onto something.

I had lust for my identity.

I felt torn apart. Leaving pieces of my heart scattered all over Asia and Europe. And then being swept off my feet, mercilessly into a world roaming with dinosaurs, blood and bravery. And of course, the most beautiful and breathtaking landscapes I had ever seen.

I was breathless. Stolen. Gone. It was like a fantasy. 

After my return from Amazonia, I had a psychiatrist help me… heal my wounds. Help me move on after so much. It took a while but I finally got back to normal. And I was able to hold a spoon at the table without seeing dragons out the window.

You didn’t expect all of that to vanish after the fight did you?

If you can read between the lines then I guess you already know that my story was all about discovering my identity. And I finally did. Right here:

Sparkle is barking beside me. He loves watching the sunset. The sun reminds me of one thing: identity . It’s all I want.

And at the horizon where the sun becomes the ocean and the sky drifts with a deep shade of pink, spilling into the clouds like cotton candy, I smile because I can see my face.

Horizon, epilogue. (Click on identity to get the book on Smashwords or on the banner that says “Available Now” to get it on Amazon.)

But the journey doesn’t have to end there. There’s an online book party for Horizon starting Friday  (today), 17th 10pm GMT. If you missed the message last time, then here’s what’s happening in brifef:

The Online party will be held for one hour on my author’s Facebook page Douglaswriter. Click the F icon under his bio to view it.

There will be prizes to win! Book talks and very possibly a special guest interested composing a soundtrack for my story. So come on and have some fun!!

For all the details including your  local time and date for the party,  click here.

Click here to quickly view the time and date of the party for your location.

Thanks for hanging with me. Was great talking to you. If you battle with identity in life just like me and Douglas then share in the comments or reply to this email.

Have a great day and please don’t miss the party session on Friday. It’s the most important one.

Love & Nuddles!

Ivey, xoxo

Hey, *|FNAME|*!!

This week I’ve got some really amazing stuff for you (Horizon release + an online book party) so let me break it down!

First, Horizon just debuted on Amazon!

Yippee! Just click on the new banner above that says “Horizon Available Now” to buy the  book  on Amazon for $2.99 or click here to get it free on Smashwords.

Horizon will also be available on other sites in the near future  (for free)  so iBooks and Sony Reader fans please hold on. It’s coming.

I’m so glad for finally reaching  this milestone and I know I couldn’t have accomplished this much without your support, *|FNAME|*.

So, to celebrate, I put up an amazing  event on my Facebook page (Douglaswriter).

***drum roll***

Welcome to the Horizon Online Book Party!

The online party is a one hour session that will begin at 10:00pm GMT, starting this Friday, 17th January. There will be 6 parties over a span of 12 days.

Here are the dates:

Friday 17th Jan

Saturday 18th Jan

Tuesday 21st Jan

Thursday 23rd Jan 

Saturday 25th Jan

Tuesday 28th Jan

You don’t want to miss this event!!

Click here to see the time and date for your location (because missing parties can suck!).

You can also click here to confirm that you will join the event on  Facebook. (For obsessive facebookers)

There will be:

Frequent Pop Quiz Questions about Horizon.

Book related talks between you and other fans.

Because it’s a party it will be centered around chatting, games and having FUN!

Did I mention there are prizes to be won on each party?

You can win a mailed letter from any story character you love from Horizon!

Also win a never-read-before, Hidden Chapter from Horizon!

Plus, there’s a chance to get featured in one of my newsletters where you can voice your opinions about the book!

The Mystery Host!

Excited? I sure am! But to make this event even more entertaining there will be a Mystery Host for each party. Their names will be revealed at the end of the party.  Anyone can become a Mystery Host so long you show up, stick around and have fun.

If you badly want to be a Mystery Host just reply to this email and I’ll assign you to any one of the parties.

*For this I prefer you don’t comment on the blog because I will need your email address to contact you and you probably don’t want strangers spamming you.

So reply  to this email (or via douglasr_writer@yahoo.com)  OR send me a message through my Facebook page (Click the icon under my head).

For more info about this party click the link below. (I tried to summarize the main points to not take up too much of your time).

https://bravewriters.wordpress.com/horizon-online-book-party/ 

And one more thing.

I need your help to invite more people to this Book Party.

You can help me by forwarding this message to your friends or using the share buttons below to share this message on twitter, Facebook, Google +. It depends where you hang out most.

Remember, we’re doing this for Horizon and for Ivey. She’ll come say hi in the next newsletter or if you’re lucky, you just might win that mailed letter from her.

So that’s what’s up. Please come and have a great time.

P.S. There’s a possibility we will have a special guest who’s interested in composing a soundtrack for Horizon based on your favorite scenes in the book (which will be one of the opening topics). So yeah, I really really need you to come and have a helluva time with me  and other fans!!

Tweet: Don’t miss the Horizon Online Book Party! It will be awesome! http://ctt.ec/cKL73+

Because this message is so long here are the main points you can refer to when you come back from time to time:

Horizon is available on Amazon and Smashwords. (Click to purchase).

Horizon Online Book Party! (Douglaswriter)

•click to view your local time for the event.

•click to visit my Facebook page. (Douglaswriter)

•Dates: 17th, 18th, 21st, 23rd, 25th & 28th.

•Learn more about this event in detail.

>>Share this message on goodreads, Facebook, wherever you please. Come with a friend and have a great time!

Thanks for your time, hope you’re as hyped as I am. You can also voice your opinions about the Online Book Party by replying or commenting. It’s been great talking to you.

Have an exciting week,

P&L

Duggy