The next book to be released from L2L2 Publishing is Keen, a stirring banshee story from Author Laura L. Zimmerman that has completely captivated us.

To help you get to know our newest author, our very own Jebraun Clifford, editorial assistant, recently interviewed Zimmerman.

We hope you will love getting to know her as much as we have.

Enjoy!

Jebraun Clifford: “Let’s start with a little bit of background. What sparked your interest in writing?”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “I’ve always enjoyed creating stories, even from a young age! (My dad is a natural storyteller, so he says I got my abilities from him. I shall allow him continue to believe that. *wink*) I never aspired to become a writer, but I did have grand ideas of being a visual artist, actress, and musician. Somehow, writing just remained a hobby for me. A story would hit me and I would squirrel away for days/weeks/months to get it out of my head. It wasn’t until 2013 that my husband planted the idea in my head that I should actually publish something that I wrote.”

Jebraun Clifford: “Have you kept any old drafts of stories?”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “I do have old drafts of some of my writing, and it’s hilarious to go back and re-read them! My earliest is from when I was seven years old. I wrote a story called “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” and used my Fashion Plates for the artwork. (Yes, I’m serious about this!) I also have vivid memories of trying to write the scariest stories possible and begging my sixth grade teacher to allow me to read them out loud, just so I could see the reaction of my classmates. (There was one where a hand came out of a toilet. Oh yes, there was.) I’ve got a few other partial manuscripts from middle and high school, but the majority of what I have is after I got married, when I actually took the time to complete my novels before moving on. (I guess I just didn’t have the patience when I was younger?)”

Jebraun Clifford: “Scary stories are great. I’d love to know where the idea for your banshee tale, Keen came from. Because banshees can be pretty terrifying!”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “Singing has always been a big part of my life. It was one reason I wanted to become a Broadway actress (*cough, cough* A girl can dream, right?) and eventually went on to major in music in college. About eighteen months ago, my teenager asked me to join her in watching the CW show Teen Wolf. I was immediately drawn to one character that was a banshee and got curious about banshee lore. From that mythology—and mixing that with my love of singing—a story spiraled inside my head. I never intended it to become what it did, but it just sort of flowed out. (Which I’m quite grateful for!)”

Jebraun Clifford: “I love the combining of different elements that launched this story. How did you end up being a part of the L2L2 family?”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “I attended my first Realm Makers Conference in 2017. I had a couple different manuscripts I wanted to pitch to publishers and was downright terrified at the prospect of doing so! A friend of mine knew Michele and you and told me I should definitely pitch to you because you were both so sweet. I met many different publishers at that conference, but I will say, my pitch to L2L2 was by far my favorite. My friend was right! You and Michele helped me to relax and made the whole experience wonderful. Although neither of those stories were right for L2L2, I came back to Realm Makers the next year with Keenin hand. Working with L2L2 was high on my “wish list” of publishers, so I was thrilled to get to submit my work to Michele again!”

Jebraun Clifford: “I really enjoyed hearing your pitches that year, and I’m so glad you’ve found a home with us. Tell us about your love affair with coffee. ;-)”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “Well, it began in a café in Paris twenty years ago… Just kidding! I wishit had. Wouldn’t that be the most romantic story? In truth, I hated coffee until college. (Yes, this is the proverbial “I needed coffee to survive exams in college” story.) One night, a friend dragged me to an Open Mic night at a local coffee shop. I asked her what coffee beverage I could order that would taste the leastlike coffee. (Because EW!) She hooked me up with an ah-ma-zing cappuccino, and I haven’t looked back since! I now actually enjoy drinking it black(scandalous!) and couldn’t help but to allow my obsession spillover into my blog, Caffeinated Fiction. (See what I did there?) The perfect Christmas or birthday present for me will always be anything coffee related, even if it’s something as simple as chocolate-covered coffee beans. (Yum!)”

Jebraun Clifford: “Chocolate-covered coffee beans are amazing. I imagine they help fuel your writing?”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “If I’m super focused, I usually skip any eating or drinking while writing. But if I think about it before I sit down, I do prefer to have a coffee (safely off to the side, so it won’t spill on my laptop!) and maybe a light snack. (Cashews and cheese are my go-to yumminess for brain power!) But I have been known to skip major meals if I’m in the writing mood. Not recommended, but when inspiration hits, you’ve gotta grab it, right?”

Jebraun Clifford: “Absolutely! Since you’re a busy woman, you’re married and have a family, what’s your strategy when it’s time to write? Do you have a particular routine to help you get in the groove or a favorite place to retreat?”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “I like to look at my writing as a seasonal affair. My writing life has looked many different ways throughout the years and the one thing I’ve learned is to allow it to change with whatever season of life I happen to be in. (Otherwise, I just get sad.)

“There have been times when I woke at the crack of dawn and got a full two hours of writing in before my kids woke. This is notthat season, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. Right now I homeschool my three daughters, with one in high school, one in middle, and one in elementary. That takes up a good portion of my day. However, we’ve struck a balance where they understand that I need to spend one to two hours per day locked in my room without interruption. I can usually find one of them to tag along to a coffee shop with me, too, which I try to do at least once a week. (The smell of coffee helps me to focus!) And my teens are happy to help me with some of my writerly things, like taking #bookstagram pictures or giving me ideas for flash fiction stories for my blog. It’s nice to involve them in what I do.”

Jebraun Clifford: “This is great! A family collaboration of sorts. Now for something completely serious: If you could be any magical creature, what would it be?”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “As much as I would love to say faerie—since my main character in Keen is half-fae—I must stay true to my heart and say mermaid! I’ve been a little obsessed with them since tenth grade, when I first saw Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Of course I loved the singing, so I hadto memorize every song and “be” Ariel, right? My love for mermaids carried me right through high school and college. And yes, I’ve even written a series of books about mermaids. (Of course!) I love any and all mermaid mythology and made sure my youngest daughters got proper mermaid tails to wear in the bathtub. (How much fun is that?) I would love to go swimming with “mermaids” someday, at a vacation spot that offers that, and maybe try on a tail myself? #bucketlist”

Jebraun Clifford: “Mermaids would be an awesome fantasy creature to turn into. What about your preference for a magical creature as a pet?”

Laura L. Zimmerman: “As for a pet, I’ve gotta say dragon! (A sweet, adorable one, like Toothless!) I mean, how amazing would it be to have a pet that you could ride. In the air! And could breathe fire. Cause that’s just cool.”

Jebraun Clifford: “A dragon would be a handy pet, especially as a watch, erm, dog, or if you were having difficulty lighting your BBQ. Well, thanks so much for chatting, Laura! And we’re all very excited for your debut, Keen, later this year.”

And thank you, Jebraun, for interviewing our lovely new author!

We hope our readers will adore the latest book from L2L2 Publishing.

Happy reading!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

This year, two of our titles, Alara’s Call by Kristen Stieffel and Spark by J.M. Hackman, won the 2018 Excellence in Editing Award, sponsored by the Christian Editor Connection.

Not only was Spark also on the long list for the 2018 INSPYs Awards, Alara’s Call is a finalist for the 2018 Realm Awards, sponsored by Realm Makers, and a semi-finalist for the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards, sponsored by the Florida Writers Association.

And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better than that, we found out that Ending Fear by Deanna Fugett is also a finalist for the 2018 Alliance Award, sponsored by Realm Makers.

{Check out all of these titles here.}

We are so proud of our authors, and we are thrilled all of the hard work they put into writing the best speculative fiction stories are being recognized.

Did you know we are this year’s bookstore sponsor for Realm Makers?

Each attendee will received a free paperback copy of Beast Hunter by Michele Israel Harper, and all of our books will be on sale for a discounted price in the Realm Makers bookstore.

Most of our authors will be signing their books at the Realm Makers Book Festival on Saturday, July 21st from 7:30-10 PM EST.

{More details here.}

Be sure to snag your favorite title of ours and have it signed by your favorite author!

Happy reading!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

*Realm Makers graphic © Kirk DouPonce of DogEared Design. Used by permission.

Beast Hunter

Beast Hunter

A curse has overtaken Ro's kingdom, blackening the soil, wiping out crops, and bringing ruin. The only people who thrive are the huntsmen, brought in to stem the flow of ravenous creatures. When Ro kills a wolf, an idea begins to form. Could she become a huntress? Before she can act, her father trades her life for his—to a magical beast.

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About the Book

Ro’s people are starving. A curse has overtaken her land, blackening the soil, wiping out crops, and bringing ruin to all. She doesn’t know what to do.

The only people who thrive are the huntsmen, brought in by the mysterious Gautier to stem the flow of ravenous creatures looking for food.

When Ro accidentally kills a wolf, an idea begins to form. Could she become a huntress? Earn enough livres to feed her family?

But her world is shattered when her father promises her to a beast in exchange for his own life. If she doesn’t go, a curse will fall on her family worse than the one destroying their land. But Ro is determined to save her family another way.

Will Ro have the courage to seek her own fate instead of the one pressed upon her?

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Series: Beast Hunters, Book 0
Genre: Fairy Tale
ASIN: B078KPF1XP
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Ending Fear releases in two days! Be sure to pre-order your ebook copy for $2.99 before it goes up to $4.99 after the launch.

And on Thursday, we are having a Facebook Release Party to celebrate Ending Fear’s release. Hosted by the author herself, Laura A. Grace, and Michele Israel Harper, this party is overflowing with fun, games, and prizes. See you there!

Check out Deanna’s blog tour and scavenger hunt here (the prize is one copy of Ending Fear as well as its companion coloring book). The posts have been wonderful this past week, and we look forward to the coming week’s blog stops as well.

Thank you for joining us to celebrate our newest release, Ending Fear by Deanna Fugett!

Want to be a part of the cover reveal of Alara’s Call by Kristen Stieffel?

Sign up now!

We will reveal the cover Friday, July 21st, and we would love for you to share it as well. It is lovely!

Have an unpublished manuscript to pitch to us? The only submissions we are accepting this year are those pitched to us at conference appointments.

Come see us at Realm Makers, Taylor University’s Professional Writing Conference, or Indiana Faith and Writing Conference.

We cannot wait to see what marvelous books have been written over this past year!

Happy Reading!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

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Ending Fear’s blog tour begins tomorrow! Hurray!

And our very own Jebraun Clifford has added a special treat to this blog tour: a scavenger hunt.

There will be an image with a different word at the bottom of each post. Collect them all, and at the end of the blog tour, you will have a complete sentence.

Then follow this link (this one right here) and enter the sentences in its entirety to be entered to win both a paperback of Ending Fear and Ending Fear: the Coloring Book.

Easy, right?

Here is the blog tour schedule:

And here is the final clue for the Scavenger Hunt!

The links have all been updated so you can easily and quickly navigate Deanna’s lovely blog tour and collect all of the scavenger hunt clues.

Also, don’t forget to preorder your own copy of Ending Fear and Ending Fear: the Coloring Book! Barnes & Noble has special preorder pricing for the paperback (29% off!) and the Kindle version on Amazon is now $2.99.

“Deanna Fugett’s writing is gritty, fast-paced, and absorbing. Once falling into her stories you’ll be pleasantly lost in a well-crafted world where characters explore hard questions and truth resonates deep.”
~Brandy Vallance, Award-Winning Author of The Covered Deep

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“Deanna Fugett seeks to create more than memorable characters. She truly desires for her readers to dig deep within themselves to expose the sort of moral questions that ultimately a faith in God can answer. She hopes that through her writing the audience will not only unearth their own bravery, but know that while evil exists in our world, good will conquer in the end. Her passion for her readers is evident in each sentence she crafts.”
~Lauren Brandenburg, Author of the Boone Series, MG Fantasy

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“Ending Fear is an engrossing, thrilling read! From the first sentence, the reader is plunged into Fear’s world. Add this dystopian novel to your library because Deanna Fugett is a bold new voice in speculative fiction.”
~J.M. Hackman, Author of Spark

And don’t forget Ending Fear’s fabulous release party! We’ve had to extend this Facebook party 30 extra minutes because we had so many prizes to give away.

So now the party is from 7 to 9:30 PM MST.

Repeat: The end time for this party is now 9:30 PM MST because of the number of prizes. Wow! We are thrilled!

Here is the link for the Facebook release party.

Thank you so much for joining us today! We hope you love Deanna Fugett’s book, the coloring book, and each stop of her blog tour.

Happy Reading!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

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Ending Fear’s blog tour starts next week!

We have a wonderful line-up of varied posts that explore Deanna Fugett’s story world, The Gliding Lands.

Be sure to check them out here:

Ending Fear is now available for preorder, and we have gotten wonderful feedback from our advance readers regarding this gripping tale.

Preorder yours for $2.99 today!

Happy Reading!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

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We cannot wait to share this lovely coloring book with you!

It releases July 18th, the same day as its companion YA dystopian novel, Ending Fear by Deanna Fugett.

We have had so many questions regarding the coloring book, we thought we would share a few details with you.

A companion coloring book to the YA dystopian novel Ending Fear by Deanna Fugett.

Fourteen-year-old Fear learns she was a parachute baby, dumped over the edge of the Gliding Lands as an infant. Running from her abusive Downer family, Fear discovers a new family—one who knows how to love. But then her new little sister is kidnapped and sold to a harem. Fear must go against her namesake and journey to the dreaded Gliding Lands before the little girl’s innocence is ripped from her forever. Can she save Happy in time?

Bring the characters of Deanna Fugett’s debut novel to life with lovely illustrations by the talented artist Keighley Kendig!

About the Illustrator:

Artist Keighley Kendig began drawing when she could barely walk and hasn’t stopped since. She landed her dream job at Disney World, where she sees dreams come true every day.

Follow her on Instagram at @keighleyk to learn more about her.

And now a preview of what you will find within this coloring book’s pages.

Isn’t that gorgeous? We are thrilled to have worked with such a talented artist!

We hope you enjoy bringing these pages to life as much as we enjoyed compiling them.

Happy coloring!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

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We want to thank everyone involved in Michele Israel Harper’s cover reveal for Kill the Beast.

We couldn’t have done this without each one of you, and it was exciting to see all of the shares and buzz on social media surrounding this fairy tale retelling.

We especially want to thank:

Josh Hardt (Blog post: www.joshuahardt.blogspot.com)

Kristen Stieffel of New Authors’ Fellowship (Blog post: www.newauthors.wordpress.com)

Laura Pol: (Author Spotlight and Cover Reveal: www.pagesandhope.com)

Robin Mason (Blog post: www.robinsnest212.wordpress.com)

Julie Bradley

Barbie DeNisi

Laurie Lucking

Pam Halter

Linda Samaritoni

Dominique Sprouse

Sara James

Sarah Ott

Deanna Fugett

Amy Brock McNew

Sarah Armstrong-Garner

Savannah Goins

Tina Yeager

Sarah Grimm

Priscilla Pheifer

Ashley Olibas

And last but most definitely not least:

Sara Helwe of Sara Helwe Digital Arts, who designed this spellbinding cover. (www.sara-helwe.com)

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

What about you? Did you also share Kill the Beast’s cover? Comment below with a link, and we will be sure to share your post on our social media. Thank you!

Coming soon: Cover Reveal and Release Date for Reconciliation by Amy Brock McNew.

Happy Reading!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

Author Amy Brock McNew recently signed for her full series of the Reluctant Warrior Chronicles to be published with L2L2 Publishing.

Below is a video Amy produced through her book trailer company, Amaeris Designs Productions, to celebrate her dream becoming reality.

L2L2 Publishing will be releasing four more novels and three novellas in the Reluctant Warrior Chronicles.

Reconciliation: Book Two of the Reluctant Warrior Chronicles

Resistance: A Reluctant Warrior Novella (2.5)

Resilience: Book Three of the Reluctant Warrior Chronicles

Resurgence: A Reluctant Warrior Novella (3.5)

Retribution: Book Four of the Reluctant Warrior Chronicles

Redemption: A Reluctant Warrior Novella (4.5)

Reckoning: Book Five of the Reluctant Warrior Chronicles

We are beyond thrilled and cannot wait to put the rest of this captivating series into your hands.

We will soon have a release date for Reconciliation: Book Two of the Reluctant Warrior Chronicles.

Happy Reading!

~The L2L2 Publishing Team

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