Tag Archives: Sylvain Reynard

by

Wow. Please read a beautiful review of Utterly Loved that brought tears to my eyes. I’m humbly thrilled the poetry evokes as much feeling in others as it did for me. Thank you, Tamie and Elena.

~ Kat

Elena's avatarBookish Temptations

Utterly Loved cover

Foreword by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Sylvain Reynard. In Utterly Loved, award-winning paranormal romance writer Kat Bastion shares her poetry with the world for charity. Heartfelt poems, rich in passion and rooted in nature, transport us to misty forests and sandy beaches. What began as a private collection of poetic love letters to her husband for their twentieth anniversary, evolved into a book of poems and quotes they decided to share. Proceeds of Utterly Loved, after costs and taxes, will go directly to selected charities. They will feel Utterly Loved. Visit her website http://www.katbastion.com and her blog http://www.talktotheshoe.com for a list of charities and updates.
 

View original post 579 more words

by

First Winner of a Signed Copy Giveaway of Utterly Loved

Thank you all for your wonderful support of Utterly Loved with Foreword by Sylvain Reynard.

Please continue to purchase copies (they make perfect holiday gifts), share the news of Utterly Loved with your friends, family, and social worlds, and give what you can to those in need.

The first winner of a signed copy of Utterly Loved as chosen by Random.org is:

     Drpharmgirl

Please contact me through my Kat’s Connection’s page with your mailing information.

Oh, and did I mention… ? Sylvain Reynard has generously offered to sign custom Utterly Loved bookplates for each receiver of a signed copy.

Still plenty of ways to win a signed copy.  See Utterly Loved Release Week Giveaways & Schedule for more ways to win your signed copy of Utterly Loved.

Thank you again for all your support.  Standing together we can make a world of difference.  We will make those in desperate need feel… Utterly Loved.

Your humble shoe,

Kat Bastion

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

by

12 Reasons to Buy Utterly Loved ~ Plus Giveaway

Utterly Loved Book Cover

 

In the season of giving, where abundance trumps the daily grind, Utterly Loved has been released on Amazon to brighten your life and change the world.

 

Are you fond of lists for checking them twice?
Twelve reasons Utterly Loved is so nice…

1.   Charity funding. All Proceeds, less costs and taxes, go to World Vision and Covenant House.  The mission for Utterly Loved is to help those lost in the world, those who’ve never had a chance to know love, feel… Utterly Loved.

2.   New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Sylvain Reynard wrote the brilliant foreword on humanitarianism.

3.   The books make excellent gifts for your loved ones.

4.   There are 21 love poems… 14 have never been published before.

5.   23 inspirational quotes are sprinkled between the poems.

6.   Utterly Loved fits into a stocking… a big stocking…

7.   You’ll have the perfect holiday party exchange gift for under $10.

8.   It’s an Amazon #1 Best Seller. (All the cool elves are buying it.)

9.   The poems touch on all aspects of love.

10. Nature is threaded through many of the poems.

11.  The cover art rocks.

12. Charity awareness.  Every book you buy, every gift you give, every person you share the news of Utterly loved with, sends ripples of love globally.  Your small act will make a world of difference.

Utterly Loved went on sale on Amazon on November 29, 2012.  Due to the overwhelming support for the project, it skyrocketed to #1 New Releases Best Selling Love Poems, hit #4 New Releases Best Selling Poetry and hit #1 Best Selling Love Poems.

No dollar will ever line my pocket. All proceeds, less costs and taxes, will be donated to selected charities. So far, I’ve chosen World Vision and Covenant House.

I hope you find plenty of reasons to buy Utterly Loved.  Please tell all your social worlds and everyone you know about Utterly Loved.

Buy two copies. Buy twenty.

Standing together around the world we each do a small part to have a big impact. United we can help those who desperately need it to feel… Utterly Loved.

Your humble shoe,

~ Kat

Purchase Utterly Loved on Amazon

And now… For the signed copy giveaway…

There are several ways to enter. The more you participate, the more entries you will earn to win a signed copy of Utterly Loved.  There are 8 possible ways to enter.  Multiple entries are encouraged.

~ Comment below to share about your purchase of Utterly Loved.

~ Copy the below phrase and post onto Twitter or post any comment sharing about your purchase of Utterly Loved (you must include the hashtag #BuyUtterlyLoved)

     I bought Utterly Loved with Foreword by Sylvain Reynard. Romantic poetry with proceeds to charity. #BuyUtterlyLoved http://amzn.to/SsmarW

~  Tweet again at least 4 hours later with the same #BuyUtterlyLoved hashtag and you will earn one separate entry per every 4 hour Tweet.

~ Post on FB so the hashtag #BuyUtterlyLoved hashtag appears onto Twitter and earn another entry.

That’s 8 possible entries.

Disclaimers:  The contest runs for 24 hours on December 3rd, 2012 from 07:01am EST to December 4rd, 2012 at 07:01am EST.  Winner will need to email proof of purchase to receive the signed copy.  Giveaway is international where allowed.  Winner will be chosen by Random.org. 

The bottom line? 

You help with every purchase.  You help by spreading the news of Utterly Loved so others purchase.  Small acts of kindness make a world of difference.  Thank you for being a part of the difference.

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

by

Utterly Loved Release Week Giveaways & Schedule

Hello, my friends.

On the heels of an unexpected early release for Utterly Loved with Foreword by Sylvain Reynard, and the book still rocketing to #1 on Amazon New Releases Best Sellers Love Poems, #1 on Amazon Best Sellers Love Poems, and #4 on Amazon Best New Releases Poetry, a very exciting Release Week is lined up with Utterly Loved signed copy giveaways.  A schedule of upcoming events that will be updated with links as they post, links to blogs who have already posted stories about Utterly Loved, and links to purchase Utterly Loved all appear below.

Utterly Loved Release Week Schedule with a signed copy giveaway of Utterly Loved on each blog:

12/01/12 ~ Destiny or Free Will on That’s What I’m Talking About
12/01/12 ~ Undone a poem from Utterly Loved on THESUBCLUBbooks
12/03/12 ~ Twelve Reasons to Buy Utterly Loved on Talk To The Shoe
12/04/12 ~ Utterly Loved 5 Star Review on Bookish Temptations
12/05/12 ~ Utterly Loved Feature on Girl Who Reads
12/05/12 ~ Utterly Loved Feature on Fiction Vixen
12/06/12 ~ Utterly Loved 5 Star Review on Literati Literature Lovers
12/07/12 ~ Everyone Deserves Happily Ever After on Kindles & Wine

12/08/12 ~ 12 Days of Utterly Loved In Time For Christmas Event
Signed copies, Amazon gift cards, and a grand giveaway Kindle Fire? Oh. My.

Please read the wonderful posts already shared about Utterly Loved:

11/20/12 ~ The Story of Utterly Loved on Under The Covers Book Blog
11/21/12 ~ Interview on Literati Literature Lovers
11/28/12 ~ Foreword Author Reveal on Bookish Temptations ~
  The story behind Sylvain Reynard and Utterly Loved.

For more information on Utterly Loved and the charities it benefits, visit the Utterly Loved ~ Foreword by Sylvain Reynard page.

Please buy your copy of Utterly Loved today.  Buy twenty.  They make great holiday gifts and stocking stuffers.

Standing together around the world, we each can do a small part to have a big impact.  United, we can help those who desperately need it to feel… Utterly Loved.

Thank you for all your support of Utterly Loved and wanting to help change our world.

Your humble shoe,

~ Kat Bastion

Buy Utterly Loved at Amazon
Internationally buy Utterly Loved at CreateSpace

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

by

Utterly Loved Hit Number One on Amazon Best Seller List

One day after release, Utterly Loved with Foreword by Sylvain Reynard is a #1 Amazon Best Seller.

Thank you for all your tremendous support.  Due to your enthusiasm and excitement for Utterly Loved and the charities it champions, it currently sits at #1 for Love Poems and hit #4 for Poetry on the Amazon Hot New Releases Best Seller Lists.

Your spirit of giving during the holiday season is making this possible.  I hope Utterly Loved continues to inspire such selfless acts of love.

Please see the Utterly Loved page on the sidebar under menu for more information on Utterly Loved, the charities it supports, and links for you to purchase.

Thank you for your amazing generosity.

Your humble shoe,

~ Kat

by

Utterly Loved Release Day!

In true Utterly Loved whirlwind fashion, Utterly Loved with Foreword by Sylvain Reynard surprised us all with a release day less than ten hours after submission instead of 5-7 business days.

Please see the new page on this blog dedicated to Utterly Loved, which can also be accessed under Menu on the left sidebar.

On the page you will find the latest information about Utterly Loved, links to purchase the book, and links to the charities Utterly Loved will be helping.

Please share, like, and comment on the page.

Please share the news of Utterly Loved with all your social worlds.  Together we can make those in desperate need feel… Utterly Loved.

Thank you for all your help and support.

Your humble shoe,

~ Kat Bastion

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

by

Utterly Loved Foreword Author… Sylvain Reynard

Utterly Loved Book Cover

 

Finally, the Utterly Loved news you’ve been patiently waiting for, and I’ve been keeping secret, can now be shared.

 

I’m humbly thrilled to announce that the foreword author for Utterly Loved is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author and true humanitarian who inspired so many aspects of Utterly Loved… Sylvain Reynard.

In the brilliant foreword of Utterly Loved, Sylvain Reynard eloquently captures the enormous need in the world and inspires abundant generosity like no one else can.

Please read the incredible story of what transpired in Utterly Loved Foreword Author Reveal at Bookish Temptations.

Stay tuned for a schedule of blog tour events and signed copy giveaways for Utterly Loved beginning December 1st as we head into an exciting release week!

Utterly Loved…
Where not one dollar will ever line my pocket…
Where your involvement can change the world.

Your humble shoe,

Kat Bastion

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

by

Embracing Sensuality

Tamie, thank you my friend for inviting me to guest post celebrating your One Year Blogiversary. Congratulations!

Tamie's avatarBookish Temptations

Today’s blogiversary guest post comes from Kat Bastion…and it’s a good one peeps.

Read and enjoy…O…and there’s a giveaway at the end 🙂

View original post 1,231 more words

by

Highlander – Alpha Incarnate

Highlander – Alpha Incarnate

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

 

Those of you who’ve been following my adventure know that I’ve just finished my manuscript. This weekend, while doing my final read through, I’ve had the incredible pleasure of falling in love with my Highland and Pict warriors all over again.

As I described in an earlier post, The Lure of the Great Alpha Male, I have a love for a powerful primal man who is brought to his knees by love. He’s an impenetrable force of nature, yet no matter how hard he fights it or denies it, he is felled by one woman. In my opinion, the romance of such a story is unrivalled.

Great Alpha Males take many forms. Sylvain Reynard’s Gabriel’s Inferno has the tortured, sinful academic, Gabriel. {shivers} Karen Marie Moning’s Fever Series has the primal Barrons. {sighs} I could go on… and on…

There is one place and time on earth, however, where Great Alpha Males were born and bred. Unique among great warriors across the globe and through time, geography, circumstance, and lore shaped them.

The quintessential Great Alpha Male?

The Highlander.

The landscape had a great hand in shaping the warriors forged in the Highlands of Scotland. Unforgiving. Rugged. Harsh. Cold.

Agendas of other warfaring nations played a role. Centuries of Viking and English invasions bred strong warriors to defend home and land.

Men that lived hard? Played hard.

And, those kind of men? … Loved hard.

Nothing instigates my imagination more than envisioning a man who dedicated his life training and fighting to protect those he loves, until one true love takes him by surprise, and…

Knocks him down with a feather.

Destroys him with a whisper.

But first, the beast needs to be tamed. And don’t you want to be the one who breaks him?

Wouldn’t you love to be dropped into medieval Scotland, a damsel in distress, but feisty as hell at having been dumped there in the first place? (No coffee, internet, or movies, of course.)

In a dress with bindings too tight around your ribs and a neckline too low for modesty, you stand in the center of a castle’s Great Hall downing a goblet of ale, trying to make sense of why you’re there. Women eye you with barely restrained hostility. At that moment, the feeling is mutual.

The heavy oak door creaks open on iron hinges. A dozen men enter, arguing over a clan dispute. Their footfalls echo into the room. Massive chests and bared arms glisten in the firelight. For some inexplicable reason, one stands out from the others.

The air crackles with electricity like a charge before the storm. Power emanates from him.

A pulse of heat spears through you, catching you by surprise. You gasp.

His dark gaze locks onto you.

No one needs to tell you he’s master there. You feel it.

Did he just growl?

Your heartbeat accelerates.

He stalks forward.

Hungry eyes paralyze you.

You swallow hard.

A slow smile tells you he’s going to devour you whole, and it has nothing to do with food.

The cup falls from your hand.

Lightning reflexes catch it.

Your eyes close as you inhale the scent of earth and woods.

He is hunter.

You are prey.

Hot breath caresses your neck.

You sigh as heat travels down, warming more intimate places.

Fragments of thoughts fall out of your head…

Where has he been? What makes him tick? Who has his heart? Why has he locked onto you?

Wouldn’t you like to know?

{smiles slowly}

I know of a girl from California who found herself lost in the past. Stay tuned as I tease you all incessantly until I can tell you all about it… {smirks} 

For a tiny excerpt, please see my website Contest Excerpt and see what has the judges raving.  Here are some of the Awards & Comments.

Meanwhile, share your favorite Highlander in a movie or a book.

Me? I fell in love with Brodick in Julie Garwood’s Ransom. {sighs}

 

Your Favorite Shoe,

Kat

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

by

The Writer and The Industry – David and Goliath

The Writer and The Industry – David and Goliath

© 2012 by Kat Bastion

This week another deal was struck, causing major ripples with readers, writers, and reviewers. Oh. My.

Penguin’s imprint, Berkley, purchased Sylvain Reynard’s Gabriel’s Inferno series, including a first printing of 500,000 copies of each book, and the purchase of world and audio rights. The deal inked went into seven-figure territory.

Reynard’s writing began as fan fiction. Thousands of readers loved his books enough to rave about them. And they told two friends, and so on. Sound familiar? Fifty Shades ring a bell?

{stands up and applauds the authors} Good for them. I whole-heartedly support the successes of writers in this difficult to break into industry.

What does this amazing deal mean for us writers?

Nothing.

…and everything.

The publishing industry suffered upheaval in the last few years with self-publishing and e-books shaking the brick-and-mortars. Those that rely on the success of the authors don’t take chances. They want dead-ringers. The beast is an animal we wish we could tame. Alas, we cannot.

The formula hasn’t changed for a writer. Write the best story possible. Get the story out to agents and publishers. Catch someone’s eye… and away we go.

Ahhhh… but therein lies the secret of success. We must catch someone’s eye.

What did Sylvain Reynard and E L James do differently than so many others? The Marketing Fanatic in me is fascinated by their stories.

They started small. They used networking, websites, and social media to gain exposure for their work. When support for their writing flooded in from fans, they were encouraged to reach a broader base through publishing.

Isn’t that what we’re all doing?

Are there critics upset about the wild successes of an author’s quick rise to fame? Of course. There will always be naysayers. Debates and discussion are fueled by opposite points of view.

What does all the excitement mean to me?

{smiles wide}

A grass-roots writer rising up into the big time means that the world is filled with possibilities. Starry-eyed writers, working diligently as they spin stories flowing from their hearts, can have their books published and share their dreams with everyone who wants to escape in them.

There is plenty of room in the industry for the big successes. Some are literary masterpieces and some are wildly popular due to their raw cult appeal. Some are game changers.

Reynard and James are not pioneers in breaking out due to their preliminary accomplishments. Amanda Hocking and John Locke are recent indie-author icons. Don’t forget James Redfield who self-published The Celestine Prophecy, selling 100,000 copies from the trunk of his car—and then the publishing world took notice.

It matters not to me the reasons why someone garnered all the successes that came their way. I’m thrilled and motivated by their rags-to-riches fairy tales. My role as a writer, beyond writing the best novel possible, is to support other authors. I celebrate their successes and support their dreams.

They are my successes. They are my dreams.

I am David. The barrier into the industry is my Goliath. All it takes is one small effective stone to bring that giant to its knees.

{looks at the stone sitting on my desk}

…the ripples of casting that stone … go on infinitely.

I look forward to the day when our time comes, my friends.
Keep believing. Keep writing. Keep supporting.

Kat Bastion

© 2012 by Kat Bastion