Can You Stand to Hear More?

A friend of mine just emailed me the review by Publisher's Weekly.  OMG!! I may have that stroke after all. Here's what it said.

From Publishers Weekly


This stellar historical novel brings ancient Nubia to life as one girl struggles to understand her destiny. Kandake, 14, is the youngest child of King Amani, ruler of Nubia. Her desire is to protect the land she loves as a warrior, but the decision is not in her hands. When Great Mother announces Kandake as the heir to the throne, she sadly accepts the inevitable, striving to understand Great Mother’s reasoning. Meanwhile bandits have been raiding Nubia’s trading caravans, and Egypt, Nubia’s ally and neighbor, is asking for assistance to protect its borders from the Assyrians. When Kandake’s brother Alara fails to return from a hunting expedition, King Amari makes a difficult decision: Nubia must use her resources to defend her border. Alara’s rescue must take second place. Unwilling to accept this decision, Kandake and her friends sneak away to find Alara. This skillfully crafted novel weaves cultural details into a remarkable, well-structured plot featuring a strong African heroine. The characters are fully developed, and their motivations, inspirations, and the growing maturity of these teens are believable. Readers will eagerly hope for a sequel to resolve the larger political issues facing Nubia and its future Queen.
 
Can you believe it. It doesn't get any better than this. If it does I'd better be sitting down and have a canister of oxygen standing by.

WOW!! Semifinalist!

That's right, I've made it to the semi finals. I can barely stand it. The contest started with 5,000 entries. Then that was cut to 1,000 and again to 500. Now they have cut that down to 50 and I'm still in the running. How awesome is that?!

I checked the website early this morning and the list had not been posted. Then I checked again in the afternoon and still nothing. I went to the movies to distract myself. I saw How to Train a Dragon, a really cute film. When I got back I went online to the Amazon site and found that the list was posted AND MY NAME WAS ON IT!!!!

If you still haven't reviewed the excerpt, now is the time.

Go to http://www.amazon.com/  and search Nubian Princess by Stephanie Jefferson. It's Kindle ready. No Kindle? Don't worry, just download Kindle for PC/Mac.

Now buy ($0.00) Nubian Princess. It will be downloaded to your Kindle PC/Mac. Read the excerpt and then review it on Amazon. Of course you loved it and will give it a 5 star rating. Don't wait to do this. The editors are reading all the reviews and using that as part of the judging criteria.

Now here's the big deal, between May 25 and June 2 vote for NUBIAN PRINCESS.

The Princess

Lately there has been some controversy over  a princess who does not want to be queen. There are those who have called her selfish, foolish, or even immature. Having grown up in the US where there are only elected officials, I wonder about that question, too.

All of the tales we read and have read talk about a prince or princess fighting to get to the throne. There are even stories where siblings fight for that privilege to rule. Then there's the buzz that we get over here about the Royal Family in Great Britain. To me it looks like you get a lot of what you want, wear really nice clothes, and ride in parades waving at people. There's always the problem of having you mate chosen for you, or the public appearances you have to make whether you want to or not. But from the perspective of most of us, being a Royal looks pretty cushy.

Yet, there is a princess that has made it pretty clear that the throne is not on her list of things to do. I thought it would be nice to get her perspective on what it would be like and why she would choose differently. I was able to reach Princess Kandake and she graciously agreed to interview with us. She is more than willing to answer any questions you might have about being a member of a royal family.

We're still trying to work out a date that works for both of our schedules. Since the date is not yet set, you have time to pose any questions you might have for her in the comments of this blog. Once the date is set, I will announce it in time to collect those last minute questions. So get those questions in.

The Fury of the One-Armed Paper Hanger

Now I know how politicians feel when they're in the middle of campaigning. Once I found out I'd made it to the quarter finals, I've been busier than a one-armed paper hanger (as my mother would say). Posting on Facebook, tweeting, blogging, creating and distributing postcards and flyers. All to get you to download the excerpt of my book and write a review. Have you done it yet? If you haven't, get to it! The steps are fairly easy.

1.  Go to Nubian Princess by Stephanie Jefferson.
2.  Click the 'buy' link to download. The cost is a whopping $0.00, but I don't think that will break this week's budget. If you don't have a Kindle, the right sidebar has a free download for PC or Mac.
3.  Read and enjoy the excerpt.
3.  Now write your review raving about the wonderful writing and story. You'll want to give it a 5 star rating.
4.  I will thank you profusely for you review.

Of course this is a shameless plug for my book. Did you expect anything else? Now click the link, click the link!

Date Confusion!

Boy! I had no idea how much the excitement of moving to the next round would cloud my ability to reason! I have been telling people about the Amazon/Penguin Contest and not giving complete information. I think my brain is a little clearer and I'll try again.


First, I need you to read and review my excerpt of Nubian Princess at amazon.com. Here's how:

1. Log in at www.amazon.com If you don't have an account with Amazon it's simple to do and it's FREE!

2. Search Nubian Princess by Stephanie Jefferson.

3. Download the excerpt. The price is a whopping $0.00. Be aware this download is for Kindle. If you don't have a Kindle, there's a FREE download that's Kindle for PC or Mac. FREE!

4. Read the excerpt.

5. Write a glowing review (of course it will rate 5 stars!) and post it.

Second, I need you to do this really soon, like before May 18th. The sooner you do it the better. The judges are making selections for the next round so do it now, Now, NOW!

This concludes my shameless attempt to get you to help me get the much coveted contract with Penguin. My next shameless attempt to get you to help me will be the information you need about voting for me!