PROVEX CITY BLOG TOUR AND GIVEAWAY

Today I’m excited to have Michael Pierce with us today to share about his debut book, PROVEX CITY, which was released March 5, 2012. I’m excited to share this with you because it’s an urban fantasy told from the POV of a male character. That is so refreshing in the YA market that has so many female main characters.

Here’s what the book's about:

Fifteen-year-old Oliver Grain begins his school year fighting off bullies, learning about the boy who committed suicide in his room, and trying to understand why his history teacher, Mr. Gordon, has taken such a personal interest in him.

Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe you can make bullies simply disappear? Do you believe you can walk through walls?

Mr. Gordon tells Oliver: "When you truly believe anything is possible, you will be able to open doors where there were only walls." And one of those doors leads Oliver to Provex City, which puts him in far greater danger than he can possibly fathom.

Hi Michael. Thanks so much for joining us.

1.  Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer. 

I wrote a lot of short stories and poetry up through high school, but looked at it as a hobby. I wanted to be the next Stephen King, but I didn’t believe it was something I could really do. It wasn’t until a few years out of college, after reading the Harry Potter series straight through, that I had a moment of clarity—if I really wanted to do, I could! Then I wrote Provex City.

2.  I think the Harry Potter series motivated a lot of us to try writing. What are three unique things about your book that will make readers want to read it? 

Provex City has action for the guys, romance for the girls, and magic for the believers in all of us. I enjoy reading books that move fast and are filled with cliffhangers to keep you turning the pages, so that’s what I wrote. I also wanted to provide a positive message and revolved the book, and series, around advice Mr. Gordon gives to Oliver: “When you truly believe anything is possible, you will be able to open doors where there were only walls.” Oliver is on a journey to gain belief in himself. 

3.  I enjoy fast paced stories too. I love stories that combine genres. Yours combines urban fantasy with some contemporary issues. What made you decide to do this and what were some of the challenges you faced in plotting your story? 

I felt it was important to talk about some real teenage issues like suicide, peer pressure, and bullying. I wanted my characters to appear real, and real teens have to deal with a lot of stuff. I wanted my main character, Oliver, to make mistakes and learn from them. But the main plot of the story and series revolves around fantasy elements, so I tried to find a balance to present them both in an interesting and entertaining way. 

4. The combination of fantasy and contemporary issues sounds unique. You’ve self-published your book. It’s critical for a good self-published book that it be revised enough and edited in some fashion. How did you approach this and what did you learn about writing from this process? 

I am lucky enough to have my best friend be a professional editor. Unfortunately, his company publishes text books, so I couldn’t get a publishing deal, but I got his editing expertise. After he went through Provex City, he introduced me to a freelance proofreader, who also did a round of editing. So the book’s been through quite a few rounds of editing. And I’m still keeping a list of small adjustments I want to give to Createspace for an updated edition in the coming months. 

5.  You are lucky! You chose to write your book from fifteen-year old Oliver’s point of view. Share why you decided to make him the protagonist and some cool things you learned about him through your story. 

For my first novel, it seemed easier or more natural to have my protagonist be someone I could easily relate to. It was fun having him presented with situations I went through in high school, but deal with most of them differently. Oliver is unsure of himself in a lot of situations, but he usually comes through when he stops over analyzing and acts.

6.  What made you decide to self-publish your book rather than go with traditional publishing? 

I queried agents for about a year and decided I wanted to take control of Provex City, from the edits I wanted to make to the cover art. I wanted it to be mine no matter what the future held. It’s definitely not the easy road, but I’ve learned a lot over that past year about formatting, e-books, and blogging. 

7.  It's great how self-published authors are so willing to share advice. Were there any resources you found helpful in the actual publishing part of this journey, like designing the cover, formatting, deciding where to sell it, etc.? 

Blogging has been invaluable with finding new resources like artists, designers, reviewers, and for promotion recommendations. Right now Provex City is only on Amazon because I started with Kindle Select to let Provex City be borrowed for free by Amazon Prime members. The catch is you have to be exclusive with Amazon to do that. I’ve now canceled Kindle Select so I can put Provex City on other sites like Barnes & Noble and iBookstore, which I plan to do soon.

8.  I think it’s brilliant to go on a blog tour like you’re doing now, well after your book was released. What made you decide to do this and how did you connect with Candace’s Book Blog & CBB Book Promotions to organize your blog tour? 

When I started blogging a little under a year ago I had no idea what a blog tour was. After connecting with some bloggers, I was encouraged to do one for Provex City. It had been on my long list of things to do for awhile. I was overwhelmed with the idea of setting a tour up for myself—and then I found that there were freelance blog tour organizers out there! I found Candace through Kathy @ I Am A Reader, Not A Writer. I made a great choice; Candace has done a phenomenal job with putting this tour together!

9.  I really like these blogs too. What are you working on now? 

I am making my final adjustments to the second book in the series, SUSY Asylum, before submitting it to Createspace. So it should be available by April. And I’ve just started the first draft for book three, which I’m very excited about! I have four books planned for the Lorne Family Vault series.

Thanks Michael for sharing all your advice. You can find Michael at:

Blog - http://www.michaelpiercebooks.blogspot.com
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/MrPierceBooks
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/lornefamilyvault
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/michaelpiercebooks
Website -  http://www.michaelpiercebooks.com.

Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dVoKoIGY2E

And you can find the entire blog tour here. 

Here's details on the blog tour giveaway:

•   Three winners will receive a paperback of Provex City and a $15 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
•   Five additional winners will win paperback copies of Provex City. (INT) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's what's coming up next.

Next Monday, I'm interviewing Marie Lu and giving away an ARC of PRODIGY, her fantastic second book in her series. I'm SO excited to share Marie's book with you because it's so good. Marie is so kind to stop by for another interview, with her busy schedule. She's already had an amazing career as an author and I can't wait to find out what's been going on with her since she became a debut author a year ago.

The following Monday I'm interviewing Miriam Forster and giving away a copy of and ARC of her debut book, A CITY OF A THOUSAND DOLLS. It's a fantasy and mystery. When I got it, I picked it up to look at and literary couldn't put it down. It was fantastic and I'm excited to share it with you.

Wednesday that week hopefully I'll post about my trip to China. 

And don't forget our Tuesday Tips and Casey's Thursday agent spotlights.

Hope to see you on Monday!