Zombies, Ghosts, and Psycho Killers for Breast Cancer Awareness!!!

While I was lying in bed last night, it hit me. October is the perfect storm for something I've been wanting to do for a while.

October 2012 means:
-The return of The Walking Dead for season three. (And you all know I love ZOMBIES!)
-Breast Cancer Awareness Month
-This October marks 19 years for me of being cancer-free, and 19 is my lucky number. (I am the survivor of a very rare childhood cancer called germ cell cancer of the ovaries; sometimes also called germination cell cancer. Even though it wasn't breast cancer, people still become more aware of cancer during this month.)
-Silence of Souls has been nominated for Book of the Month on The Paranormal and Horror Lovers Group on Goodreads. (Winner will be announced tomorrow.)

So, with all this adding up, I've decided that I will donate 50% of all my income from book (both eBook and paperback) sales for the month of October to cancer research and treatment.  Every time someone purchases one of my works, a donation will be made to cancer research and treatment, for the benefit of those currently battling cancer, those who have fought and won, and those who have been lost to cancer.

The donations will be given to St. Jude's Children's Hospital and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

If you like reading scary stuff, ghost stories, thrillers, or zombies, check out something to read and help make a difference in someone's life!  Author Page with List of Works

"Silence of Souls" is wearing a pink ribbon this month.

Big things are happening!

Even though I was sick, this weekend turned out to be pretty awesome.

Friday morning, I went down to the local library where they were having a meet-and-greet with the new librarian (her name is Valerie, and she happens to be a friend and a wonderful woman). It was nice- Val talked about herself, her love of books, her experiences, and what she planned to do for the library.

After the introduction, there was mingling and some refreshments. The head of the Friends of the Acton Library committee was there, and she approached me and started talking about upcoming events. Long story short, she asked me to do a book signing at the end of October! I was thrilled.

Then, on Saturday, I had some major story revelations for Resurgence that I am pretty excited about.

Sunday was awesome, too. I discovered someone had posted a glowing review of my novel on a popular zombie-forum website! Here's a screenshot:

Click to enlarge

Also on Sunday, I found out that Silence of Souls has been nominated for book of the month over on a Goodreads group!  Here's the screenshot of that:

Click to enlarge

It's very exciting, and I'm thrilled that Silence of Souls and Resurgence are gaining buzz!

One last thing- the Goodreads giveaway for autographed copies of both the novels is up and running.  Be sure to enter and tell your friends about it!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Silence of Souls

by Stefanie Oberhansley

Giveaway ends December 19, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Fictitious dreams that influence the future.

Last night, I had a dream about one of my characters from the Silence of Souls series.

First, an announcement: I've decided on a title for the sequel.  It's going to be Resurgence.

I'm working on the sequel, and it's going to be so much more intense and emotional than the first.  The first, in hindsight, was really just setting the stage for the series.  In the sequel, there is a deplorable, absolutely horrible thing that happens to one of my characters.  I debated for a long time, and spoke to several people about it, before I decided to actually do this thing in the novel.

Back to the dream... last night, I dreamt about this character whom something terrible happens to.  This character was very sad, very hurt, and couldn't understand why this terrible thing had to happen.  I held this character in my arms and comforted them as they sobbed.  I told them they would be alright, and that times may seem hard right now, but they would get better in the future.

I promised my character that life would go on for them, and that it would, eventually, be great.  I think, inadvertently, that I have (unofficially) committed to continuing the series for as long as the story keeps going.  It may end after three books, it may end after twelve.  We'll see.  All I know right now is that my character is having a hard time understanding why this terrible thing had to happen to them, so I must continue on with the story until things get better for that character. It could take a while- there's a lot more hell they'll have to go to before they start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The story must go on.

I'm doing a giveaway, so pass along the word.  You could win autographed copies of Silence of Souls AND Resurgence!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Silence of Souls

by Stefanie Oberhansley

Giveaway ends December 19, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

"Silence of Souls" Official Release!

Today's the day, it's finally here!  I'm so very excited!

Be one of the first people to read it- click to get Silence of Souls!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway when you get your copy of Silence of Souls- click here for details!

Plus, check out Kindle Author. Silence of Souls is featured in the bargain book section on the left-hand side of the page! (The price is under $5, so it's considered a bargain! Less than $5 for 95,000+ words? Quite a deal, hehe! That's pretty close to the length of The Hunger Games, but half the price!)

Gift Card Giveaway! Zombies are almost HERE!

If all goes according to plan, I'll be hitting the "Submit for Publication" button tomorrow at 7pm for Silence of Souls!  If I'm estimating Amazon's review process correctly, it should be available on August 1st!  I'm so excited.


As promised, I'm going to give away prizes to readers.  If I sell 500 copies in the first 30 days (August 1st, 12:00am PST to September 1st, 11:59pm PST), I am going to give FIVE readers each a $20 Amazon gift card!


So here's how it's going to work:
1) Take a screenshot of the "Thank you for your purchase of Silence of Souls" page, like this one (or the mobile version, whichever you use):

OR
If you don't know how to take a screenshot, forward the email with the purchase receipt.


2) Include your name (at least first name, please) and how you heard about Silence of Souls.


3) If you "Gift" a copy of Silence of Souls to someone, you can enter that entry into the contest as well.  Just be sure to send the screenshot or receipt of any purchase of Silence of Souls to silencegiveaway@yahoo.com.


Send the entry to silencegiveaway@yahoo.com


On September 2nd, I'll use a random generator to pick five winners.  The winners will be announced (first name only) on my blog and will receive an email notification that they have won!  (Your email address and all other personal information will not be shared!  I will ONLY post your first name!)

**BONUS ENTRIES**

If you want your name entered into the drawing more than once, there's a couple of bonus ways you can enter (each one will be one additional entry into the drawing; complete them between August 1st 12:00am PST and September 1st 11:59pm PST)):


1) Tweet about Silence of Souls using the hashtag #silenceofsouls.


2) Share Silence of Souls on Facebook and send a link to the post or a screenshot of it to silencegiveaway@yahoo.com.


3) This one will be worth TWO additional entires to the drawing: create a cast list!  Pretend Silence of Souls is being made into a feature film, and YOU are the Casting Director!  Pick the actor or actress you want to see in each role.  Cast five or more roles and email your list to silencegiveaway@yahoo.com.


4) This one will be worth TWO additional entries to the drawing: draw/paint/create a picture of one of the characters from Silence of Souls.  Email the photo to silencegiveaway@yahoo.com or post it here!


5) This one will be worth FIVE additional entries into the drawing: post a video of you acting like one of the characters in Silence of Souls!  It can be anyone you want, get creative!  Email the link to silencegiveaway@yahoo.com or post a link to the video in the comments section on this post.




I'd love to share some of the stuff you send, so please let me know in your email if I have permission to post your cast list, pictures, and/or video on my blog, Facebook, and/or Twitter.


Thank you everyone, and best of luck!!

You're Amazing!! And I want to thank you for that. :)

Well, it's no secret that I'm über-excited about the release of Silence of Souls coming up in a month-ish. It's been completely unbelievable how well received the preview was (in this post here) and how many people have sent me messages about how much they are looking forward to the rest of the book!

It's overwhelming the amount of support I've gotten so far, and the book isn't even out yet!  You are all so incredible, and I am truly thankful to each and every one of you who have said positive things to me about Silence of Souls and what I am doing.

So, as a "thank you" to you all, I am announcing a giveaway and a goal- if I sell 500 copies of Silence of Souls in the first 30 days of its release, I'm going to giveaway a $20 Amazon gift card to FIVE random readers!

More details soon.  If you haven't already, please follow me on Twitter (@smober) and/or like my Stefanie Oberhansley Author Page on FaceBook.  I'll be posting more details there as it gets closer.

Thank you all, and I hope you'll enjoy Silence of Souls when it comes out!!!  May zombies spare your brains and refrain from biting your flesh!  ;)

"Silence of Souls" Special Preview

 Hello everyone!  I'm back from Texas and am getting so close to finishing the novel.  As a special treat, I'm giving you all a preview of Silence of Souls.  Below the cut, you'll be the first to see the cover and read an excerpt from Chapter 1!  I hope you'll like it.

Be aware, you're getting the raw, unedited version here.  You might find some typos or errors that need to be fixed, and I assure you I'm working on it to give you the best product I possibly can.  This is for your enjoyment, to get a little taste of what's coming soon.  This is copyright Stefanie Oberhansley, so please respect my work and don't copy it without giving credit.  (Otherwise I won't be able to do special previews like this in the future.  However, please DO share the link to the page and invite your friends to come check out this special preview.

The book will be released early August 2012.

Enjoy!

On The Road and an Announcement

This seems to be the year of traveling.  Between March 2011 and now, I've done more traveling than I did during the entire period of 2006-2011.  Alaska, Washington, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and Colorado have all been very welcoming to me.

Tomorrow morning I'll be heading out on the road again.  This time, it's off to Texas; driving all the way there to deliver a car, and then flying home after a week of visiting relatives.  I'm looking forward to it.  The plan is to drive all the way to Albuquerque tomorrow, stay the night, then finish the second half of the trip and be in Dallas Sunday evening.

Appropriately, I'm reading a book right now called On The Road.  It's by Jack Kerouac, and it's fantastic.  It's written in first-person POV, all about this guy Sal who travels across the United States and meets different people along the way.  He and his friend Dean and Dean's wife Marylou go through all sorts of places and do lots of different things.  I'm loving it, and it really captures the simplicity of driving long distances with little money and how adventurous it can feel.

For me, every trip feels like an adventure.  There's always something new to see, interesting people to come across, and places that have such a unique feel to them.  I love driving long distances, especially when it's at a leisurely pace and you can stop and take notice of the sights.  Even a small town, dusty diner can feel like a whole new world, and each person has a different story.  I've come across people who have never actually seen the coast or dipped their feet in the ocean; I've come across people who have done things I could never see myself doing.

If I ever get the chance, I want to spend four weeks on the road, just going wherever the path leads.  I think it would be so much fun and such an amazing experience.

If you get a chance, take a road trip and enjoy every moment of it, even especially when you're lost.  If you don't get to do that anytime soon, at least read this book:

"On the Road" by Jack Kerouac

And now time for a special announcement: I've decided on a title for my zombie novel:  

"Silence of Souls"  

It's coming along very well, and I'm excited that the completion of my novel is just around the corner.  The gentleman who is doing my cover has sent me the first draft of it, and I love it.  I can't wait for everyone to see it!