BLACK GROTTO: FREE PAPERBACK GIVEAWAY CONTEST & New Reviews Of Other Books

Recently Published!

The paperback giveaway contest for my new fantasy novel, Black Grotto, just started.

Before entering the paperback giveaway, if you'd like to learn more about the novel, you can click on the BOB'S BOOKS tab at the top of this blog.

For a chance to win a free copy, first read the Eligibility & Rules and then click on the link. It will take you to an Amazon page where you'll find out if you've won.

ELIGIBILITY & RULES

1. The paperback giveaway will expire on July 4, 2016 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time (PDT).
2. Only residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia will be eligible to enter - for those in other countries around the world, there will be Kindle ebook giveaway of Black Grotto that will take place July 10 - 14.
3. You must be 18 years old or older.
4. Prizes will be shipped to winners via Standard Shipping (3-5 business days).
5. There is a set number of books to be given away. The sooner you enter, the better chance you have of winning.
6. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY - nor do you pay any shipping or tax.

Click this link to see if you've won a copy of Black Grotto!

If you're one of the lucky winners, after you've finished reading Black Grotto, please write a review on Amazon. I would really appreciate it!

New Reviews!

Both Beatrice and The Chosen have new reviews. To read them, just click on this Book Reviews link or go to the tab with that name at the top of this blog page. Take a look!

Rooms / Agent Search / Beatrice Update

Cover Illustration and Design by Greg Opalinski

Below are some of the first reviews that have come in from Amazon and Goodreads for my science fiction novel, Rooms, since it was published about three weeks ago.

*****
I started Rooms one evening and found the story line engaging and the characters interesting. The next day I picked it up again planning to read for a bit. A third of the way in I couldn't stop--reading all day until finished. The characters became more and more real. The diversity and fullness of the plot held me.

Stegner touches on many issues--environmental, political, social, moral & spiritual. In the process he has also created just a darn good story. It engaged me in ways I did not expect and left me wanting a sequel!

*****
The story line/plot found in this novel grabs you from the very beginning and holds your attention to the point you cannot put it down. It has twists and turns that will take a reader by surprise. The book highlights many important social and cultural concerns that really need to be addressed today as our world moves forward through time to an uncertain future. This novel is destined to become a movie - Order it now --- you are in for a very interesting ride through time and space.

*****
Beautiful, deep story that captures your imagination. As you read the book, more and more elements of the plot come into play. The unique feature of the book is that it is not only a story written to entertain a reader but is also a deep, wise and touching story that will make you think about the world that we live in, what it is and what should be really important in our lives.

*****
What a great ride and adventure! You see people give books reviews all the time where they say they couldn't put the book down, well don't start reading unless you want to stay up all night with this one. Excellent writing style, you really get to know and care about the characters. It also really makes you think about what if. Love it!!

To find the book on Amazon, you can click the links below.

Paperback on Amazon
Kindle eBook on Amazon

Agent Search: This has finally begun
It has taken me a long time, but I've finally started to search for an agent. I completed my agent query for Rooms and sent out six of those the other day. I'm going to try to send a few out each day. If anything happens with that, I'll let you know.

New Book: "Beatrice" - First Draft is Complete

(Forest)

The first draft of my new book, Beatrice, is finished. The completed draft is about 72,000 words. As always, when I complete the editing process, I'm sure it will be longer.

Right now, I'm just reading it through without making any changes, and I'm getting ideas about what I want to do to improve it, but I'm very happy with how it's hanging together and the story as a whole. It's fun and changes tempo and focus throughout, while telling the overall story. I'm learning my craft, one day, one page at a time!

As I've mentioned before, the climax was really fun to write, as well as the last chapter, wrapping everything up. I will publish Beatrice when I'm done on Amazon, and my catalog of books will begin to grow.

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to enter Beatrice in this year's Amazon Breakout Novel Contest. I'm looking forward  to it.

Tree/Moon Image from:

Forest Blue Moonlight Wallpapers.. Digital image. Travelization. N.p., 30 June 2012, Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <www.travelization.net>.

ROOMS Entry in Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest

(Amazon)

I recently entered a novel competition with my unpublished novel, Rooms.  That contest was the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I was very excited about it and worked extremely hard on all the entry requirements and sent it in to Amazon before the deadline was up. Today I found out that I made it into the second round of judging.  Rooms made it into the top 2023 entries out of about 10,000, and in my category there are 398 entrants left. There will be one winner chosen out of each of the five categories.

The five categories in the contest are Romance, General Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Mystery & Thriller, and my category, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror.  If you click here, you'll go to a page about the contest with all of the categories.  By clicking on the icon of each category, you can see the list of authors and titles that have moved on to the second round.

I'm very pleased!  This morning I woke knowing that this was the day that I'd find out if I was going on or not.  I found the document with the names in my category, clicked on it and looked down the list.  My heart was pounding! Then I saw my name, Bob Stegner, and then Rooms!  It was an amazing experience!

As I'm writing this post, I'm remembering one of the things that I had to do to enter the contest. I had to write a Pitch.  It's somewhat like a summary of the book but much more.  Not only is it a summary, but you have to somehow hit the plot highlights, show your writing style and present the protagonist all within 300 words or less. I'll never forget all the time spent writing, re-writing, and struggling over that part of the entry. The work paid off, though, as I made it into the second round.

This has been quite an experience!  You never know what will happen, but no matter what, I'm extremely happy that I made it this far and am hopeful!  I'm so attached to the characters and the story that I feel like they have moved on with me to the next part of the competition.

The next date that is important will be April 14th. That's when the top 500 Quarterfinalists will be announced.


Learn more about Rooms and my published, forty page young adult novel, Wheatgrass: An Irish Fantasy, by clicking on the links below.

Rooms' Teaser

Rooms' Excerpt: Chapters 1-2

Rooms' Chapter Titles

Wheatgrass: An Irish Fantasy published and for sale on Amazon.com

Paperback - $3.23

Kindle version - $0.99 

Wheatgrass' Teaser

Wheatgrass' Excerpt

Amazon Contest Logo image from:
http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011