Niche News Vol. 2 Issue 10 Thank you for subscribing! The current issue appears below. A new one goes out about every two weeks. Enjoy, and have a great day! -- Nicole Givens Kurtz, Publisher __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ This issue may be FREELY distributed to friends, family, discussion lists and writing groups as long as the _entire issue_ is included. __________________________________________________ Nicole's Niche & News- December 4, 2003 The official newsletter of Nicole Givens Kurtz, offering the latest news on writing and Nicole's projects. ___________________________________________________ You are receiving this email because you subscribed at Topica.com or at Nicole's Niche located at http://www.mochamemoirs.com/NGivens.htm ____________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE: 1. Note from Nic 2. Calling All Reviewers 3. A Note to All Fans of Books 4. THE SOUL CAGES on Amazon.com 5. Nic's Top Ten Recommended Books for 2003 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTE FROM NIC I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day (if you live in the U.S.). Otherwise, I do wish everyone a happy, safe holiday season. Speaking of holidays, don't forget that books make the best gifts! What could be better than the gift of knowledge and/or entertainment. It's better than DVDs, CDs, and even candy! ~Enjoy! Nicole Givens Kurtz ________________________________________________________ If you like what you've read here, feel free to send it to friends, family, discussion lists, or writing groups. Just be sure to include the _entire issue_. Spread the word about the newsletter. It's FREE! ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ CALLING ALL REVIEWERS and READERS Two of my novels, BROWNE CANDIDATE and THE SOUL CAGES are now available on Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Alibris.com. I am calling all readers and reviewers to write reviews of my books (if you have read them) on the site listings. I feel that actual reader comments and thoughts about my novels will be the difference in whether a new potential reader, purchases them or not. This feedback from actual readers also helps me with my writing and is invaluable when I am beginning new works. As loyal readers, I would greatly appreciate any feedback, comments and reviews you could post on these online bookstores. Thank you in advance. Nicole ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ A Note to All Fans of Books What can you do to keep your favorite authors writing and their books on the shelves? by Diana Pharaoh Francis · Tell your friends. · Spread the word to anyone who will listen. Got a website? Post a review on lists, blogs, newsgroups, newsletters, etc. · Belong to a book group? Recommend the book for the month. · Email the author and tell her what you think—moral support counts too. · Ask for the books in your bookstore. In every bookstore you go into. Don’t let books disappear off shelves. · When you’re in the bookstore, face the book on the shelf so that the entire cover shows. Certainly the employees will come by later and face them in again, but for awhile, that cover was exposed to who knows how many interested eyes. · Buy books as gifts at Christmas and birthdays. · Link the writer’s page to yours. · Go to book signings when they are announced. Over the years, I’ve seen some of my favorite books go away, series dry up, because the publishers didn’t feel there was enough interest. If you want to see your favorite authors survive and keep writing, help them out. Spread the word. _____________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ THE SOUL CAGES at Amazon.com I have checked and it's definately there...THE SOUL CAGES is available from Amazon.com! You can snag your copy of this wonderful novel at the world's largest bookstore or at Fictionwise. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ FREE your SOUL. Read THE SOUL CAGES, the new fantasy novel by Nicole Givens Kurtz. It's less than the price of a value meal. $4.99 USD at Double Dragon Publishing. http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com or rank it at fictionwise.com _________________________________________________________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nic's Top Ten Recommended Books of 2003 #10- Blood is Thicker Than Water by Wynette A. Hoffman #9- Children of the Old Stars by David Lee Summers #8- #7- Nothing Human by Nancy Cress #6- Year's Best Science Fiction by Gardner Dozois #5- Lion's Blood by Steven Barnes #4- Such a Pretty Face by Lee Martindale~highly recommended! #3- The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson #2- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling #1- Wolves of the Calla:The Dark Tower Book 5 by Stephen King ___________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ FREE your SOUL. Read THE SOUL CAGES, the new fantasy novel by NEW! THE SOUL CAGES Reviews In speaking of THE SOUL CAGES, recently three reviews have been posted online in regards to the latest novel from yours truly. Here are some excerpts of those reviews. Please visit the websites for the full review. *Jeanne Allen of Knowbetter declares, "Ms. Kurtz has a great talent for building the plot layer by layer, first with the idea of cages holding the souls of doomed slaves, then of Sarah's plight in worrying about her sister, all while a love intrigue involving Sarah, Marion, and Zykeiah plays out. Will the warring planets discover that Valek has been double-crossing them? And where exactly does the drug Solance come from? Do the Minister Knights stand a chance against Valek and his henchmen? What is Sarah's larger purpose in the galaxy? Many questions, I know, and most are answered satisfactorily, and as for the one that isn't, the epilogue leaves us with a juicy twist and the promise of a sequel. The Soul Cages is highly imaginative, gripping fantasy. I highly recommend it!" Read the rest of this wonderful review at Knowbetter.com * Barry Hunter of Baryon writes, "On the world of Solis, Valek keeps slaves and those who give them trouble have their souls removed from their bodies and kept in a soul cage until he has another use for them. He is also selling Solance to the other worlds. It is a drug that allows mind reading and is sold to the other worlds to use in their battles for conquest. Sarah and Amana are trying to escape when Marion – one of the Queen’ s Minister of Souls helps Sarah escape while Amana is captured. Sarah is taken to Veloris where she meets with Queen Zoe and learns that she is the subject of an ancient prophecy to free the worlds and destroy Valek. Kurtz has written an action filled adventure of oddessy and prophecy, courage and love, and throws in a curve or two to keep you guessing as to the outcome, even though you know how things will come out in the end. It’s a well written tale and is different from her earlier BROWNE CANDIDATE. Read it for yourself and enjoy the journey. * The notorious Brutal Dreamer raves, "If you enjoy reading of encounters of an evil villain leading a galaxy, warring planets, mind altering experiences, breathtaking and heart-thumping captures, brave rescues, and cloak-and-daggerish escapes, and even some secrets slowly revealed --then I highly recommend "The Soul Cages" because it has it all. Kurtz has taken special care to intertwine her thick plot (and several subplots intermingled as well) of the soul cages with characters that her readers will genuinely care about. The coverart of this book breathes an emotional essence and air of visibililty about the soul and flesh giving the tale the final warm touch. " Read the entire review at DDP (http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/fantasy.html. ______________________________________________________________________ THEY ENSLAVED HER BODY, BUT NOT HER HEART....Browne Candidate from Nicole Givens Kurtz. Make this EPPIE & DREAM REALM AWARD FINALIST in SCIENCE FICTION a permanent part of your library. Grab it in ebook for less than $5.00 at http://www.synergebooks.com ~OR~ Grab it in paperback at Crystal Dreams Publishing, http://www.crystaldreamspub.com _________________________________________________________________ --------------------------------------------------------------------- This Issue Brought to You By: Nicole's Niche & News P. O. 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