(Guest Post & Giveaway!) Saving Mary: The Possession By: Deidre D Havrelock

Genre: Spiritual Memoir

Publisher: Etcetera Press

Release Date: April 1, 2012 (Available Now!)

Format: Kindle

Average Rating: 4.4 of 5

Hello everyone! Thank you for visiting. I am part of the Saving Mary: The Possession, sponsored by Tourz de Codex! Today I have a very nice and interesting Guest Post from Author Deidre D Havrelock herself (thank you!), so do take a look...and I am hosting a Giveaway! You have the chance to win One Free Kindle Copy of this Memoir, so enter down below! :) 

And one more thing...this Title is for sale right now for 0.99 during this whole month of July, so check out where books are sold! 

Blurb

If you’re a fan of supernatural fiction then you will be captivated by this true story about a spiritually sensitive girl and the path that led to her possession. Part one of a two-part series, Saving Mary is the story of a modern-day Mary Magdalene—the woman from whom Jesus cast out seven demons.

Deidre Daily is drawn to anything seemingly spiritual, desperately seeking a spiritual existence. But inside this vibrant girl hides a terrified child who sincerely believes she has married the devil. Through a series of spiritual encounters her fear turns into reality, and she ends up possessed.

Deidre’s fascinating spiritual memoir relays her story from childhood to adolescence: invisible eyes leering at her from the corner of her bedroom, horrible nightmares tormenting her, and her desperate attempt to find God—only to end up possessed. It is a candid account of possession from a first-person perspective. This dark memoir brings to light an intricate world of deceitful spirits hell-bent on manipulating and damaging an innocent girl’s life, not only through her dreams, but also through seemingly every-day encounters.

Travel with Deidre into the mysterious world of spirits, ghosts and demons. Awaken yourself to a world that isn’t supposed to exist; a world that’s as intriguing as it is sinister. And then emerge as a new person—invigorated, aware and intent on living in the light. Saving Mary; Not just another story about a girl and her exorcist.

Watch for book two, Saving Mary: The Deliverance.

Excerpt

It’s a June night and the weather is perfect. There’s no wind, just a warm breeze and a clear black sky with gorgeous winking stars overtop of us. Me and Tereena, we’re walking from her car across the school parking lot. We’ve both got our acid-washed jeans on and our tank tops and Tereena’s got a black leather cap on, and we’re both wearing spiked heels, and we’re smellin’ like hairspray and Vanderbilt. It’s Friday night, best night of the week, and the fine hairs along our necks are bristling because of the excitement. We skulk from the parking lot over toward the schoolyard.

The schoolyard is definitely nicer at night. There’s no swearing, no buzzers and no freakin’ timetable to worry about. Poor Doug, he couldn’t make it. He’s at home bummed out his mom picked tonight of all nights for them to visit his grandmother. I mean, I can hardly imagine; he’ll probably be playing gin rummy while we’re—

“What exactly are we doing here?”

“Beats me,” whispers Tereena.

We skulk through the schoolyard until we get to the back of the school where the football field is. Lit up by moonbeams and the park light are two silhouettes.  It’s our drama teacher and his totally psychic girlfriend … Lynn. 

She’s oddly preppy looking.

I mean, she’s definitely not the type we were expecting. I guess we thought she’d have a wrist full of bangles and a shabby scarf and a full black velvet skirt. Instead she has long dirty-blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, held with a frilly hot-pink scrunchy. Her ponytail bobs as she balances on her tiptoes.  She’s smiling and waving at us. 

“What the hell?” whispers Tereena. “Are we about to get a psychic reading from a freakin’ cheerleader?”

*Guest Post* 
Are you glad you put out an ebook?...what's the best thing about having an ebook? Do you miss traditional publishing?

My decision to put out an ebook was sort of a spur of the moment thing. I have a blog called www.theagentchallenge.blogspot.com . I created this blog to journal my experience towards becoming published and also to help out other writers who are sharing in that same rather difficult journey. I started out with the simple plan of following the advice of agents themselves in order to bag me my own wonderful agent. (By the way, I still don’t have an agent.) Along my journey, I met many bloggers who had positive experiences publishing ebooks and so the idea of publishing an ebook became glaringly obvious, and I dived in. My book Saving Mary seemed like a great manuscript to sell as an ebook because there were two books to it, and the first book was finished and practically ready to go. 

However, there were snags. Finding a strong editor took some time, but I did find a wonderful one. Then formatting became a bit of a nightmare. Little formatting problems kept popping up in the manuscript. Strangely, the word ‘paper’ was changed to ‘papier’ (the French spelling) and commas showed up in odd places. It took about four weeks for my publisher (who was new to the ebook business) to correct all the code (not to mention it got ‘stuck’ in Amazon’s virtual bookstore for over a week). Neither of us knew old code could cause us problems (or that Amazon is sometimes slow), but we’ve learned from the process, and besides—it still only took a matter of months to publish! The next book Saving Mary: The Deliverance will be easier (I’m hoping). 

My ebook went up for sale in April. We took four weeks to fix code, and then the book was ready to be sold in May. I set it up for Amazon’s free book giveaway on the dates of May 17-21. I gave away a staggering 4623 ebooks over that period. There’s no way (with a traditional publisher) that I could have given away so many books for free—to a targeted audience so easily. Of course, not every one of those people will read my book, but I think I have a pretty decent chance of getting read by at least some of them, creating for me a nice reader base. Anyways, now the book is selling. Every once in a while I get emails from readers, saying things like “Hey, I’m reading ur book tonight!” Or “Just finished your book!” The best thing about ebooks? I think it’s connecting with readers. At the touch of a button on their Kindles, a reader can send me a note either through Facebook http://www.facebook.com/SavingMary.ThePossession

or through my blog http://deidrehavrelock.wordpress.com/

Do I miss publishing traditionally? I think perhaps I do. After all, I dreamt about publishing a book for so long that I had everything planned out—and this virtual book thing was never in the picture! There’s something about seeing your book in a bookstore, don’t you think? The whole idea just sends happiness through me. There’s also a truly great sort of satisfaction that comes with getting pulled out of the slush pile and being told by a publishing house that your writing really is good enough to sell. But I tell you…so far this morning I sold 6 books. And, I got to see the sales as soon as they happened. I don’t have to wait for three months or six months to see my sales figures. I can watch them from my desk in my sunroom. Did I mention I’m also going on a book tour—from my sunroom! These ‘virtual tours’ are just what aspiring authors need. I can tour the world and still pick up my kids from school! The future is digital.

Watch the video below for the future of ebooks and technology in general. The ebook is the last item in the video… so keep watching!

Book Trailer

*Giveaway Time*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you want to follow this Blog Tour Click Here!

About The Author & Her Links

Deidre D Havrelock grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where she eventually met her husband to be, DJ. It was DJ who initially noticed Deidre’s dark state and worked to seek out someone willing to perform her exorcism. Eventually, the newlyweds found their way to the southern hot spot of Brooks, AB where Deidre began writing. From there the family trekked across eastern Canada to Moncton, NB where they learned to love French fries with cheese curds and gravy. Currently nestled in the hills of Kennewick, Washington, Deidre has two horses, one dog, three cats and too many rabbits…and let’s not forget her wonderful husband and three energetic daughters. Her memoir, Saving Mary: The Possession chronicles her dark childhood and the path that led to her demonic possession. She is currently working to finish book two of her spiritual memoir, Saving Mary: The Deliverance. You can find her at - http://deidrehavrelock.wordpress.com/

Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Mary-Possession-Book-ebook/dp/B007QG7P3G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1333559298&sr=1-1

Purchase in UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007QG7P3G

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Deidre-Havrelock/e/B00859O2W0/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

Facebook –LIKE SAVING MARY  http://www.facebook.com/SavingMary.ThePossession

Follow Deidre at…Author blog - http://deidrehavrelock.wordpress.com/