Saturday, May 6, 2023

Insatiable Darkness and Caged Fire in Audio Books Now!

 


Insatiable Darkness on Audible, Amazon, Nook

The Audio Book is here! And I must say, the narrator did a beautiful job bringing EmVee to life, in Insatiable Darkness and Caged Fire.

EmVee didn’t know what to think about this new town her father’s passion for boxing lured them. It was an unlikely location for her to pursue her dream of going semi-pro. Just when she started getting used to the school with gorgeous jocks and strange cheerleaders, the depth of the danger her father’s choices dangled them in front of became clear. EmVee hoped Silas and Kayson will be able to help her uncover the mystery identity of the person who is threatening her family. The question is, will she survive to expose the mystery.


Caged Fire on Audible, Amazon, Nook

EmVee refused to believe in monsters, until she became one. They say you can't run away from your problems. EmVee knew from experience it was true. She and her father tried to run, until the truth came and got them. Now with nothing to lose, she must confront the monster that changed her life forever. Unfortunately, she has to work with his best friend, Kayson who she is almost sure, isn't quite as nice as he seems. Kayson revealed not just why her father disappeared, but a new world of magicals that wanted the debt he left behind to be paid.


Books in the Series:


Insatiable Darkness (Book 0)


Caged Fire (Book 1)


Unbreakable Darkness (Book 1.5)


Scepter Of Fire (Book 2)


Break The Darkness (Book 2.5)


Rebel of Fire (Book 3)


Sword of Darkness (Book 3.5)


Blade Of Fire (Book 4)


Monday, March 20, 2023

Why Building Your Empowered Steps starts with Mindset Changes

Empowering Your Steps, by LM Preston, is about setting clear and specific goals helps you to identify what you want to achieve and create a roadmap for how to get there. Goals should be measurable, achievable, and realistic. By setting specific goals, you can break down a larger objective into smaller, manageable tasks, which can make it easier to track progress and achieve success.

In addition to goal setting, a mindset change is also necessary to achieve success. Having a growth mindset, where you see challenges as opportunities to learn and grow, can help you to overcome obstacles and stay motivated in the face of adversity. A mindset shift may require changing old patterns of thinking or behavior that are holding you back and replacing them with new, more positive and constructive ones.

Finally, financing your dream is crucial to turning your vision into reality. This may involve seeking funding from investors or lenders, developing a sound financial plan, or seeking out resources and support to help you achieve your goals. It is important to identify the resources you need to achieve your goals and create a plan for how to obtain them.

In conclusion, goal setting, mindset change, and financing your dream are all critical components to achieving success. By setting specific goals, adopting a growth mindset, and identifying the resources you need to achieve your goals, you can overcome obstacles, stay motivated, and turn your dreams into reality.

Experience the brick road and discovery of Building Your Empowered Steps at the Empowerment Conference in Hawaii, July 14-18, 2023.



Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Empowerment Conference Hawaii July 16 to 18, 2023

 



Sponsored by Phenomenal One Press
based on Best Selling Book
Building Your Empowered Steps



This intimate retreat features workshops ranging from financial to spiritual health as experts provide participants with the practical tools for whole-body self care and progress. Workshops, speeches, and activities are aimed to empower guests mentally, financially, and physically to make self-directed changes to improve their life. From inside to outside, this retreat will present new perspectives and ideas to expand guests' mind and prepare them for their next steps towards success. The retreat's size is catered to provide guests with exclusive access to guest speakers and unique experiences to help rejuvenate spirits.

Hawaii will be your place of growth and the sea breeze will help you in the journey of discovery. You will see Hawaii's spirit of togetherness and ohana while venturing forth with your group at the Kroc Center in Kapolei. Guests will be able to join the group on a variety of add-on excursions (not included with general admission) for a chance to explore the island after a day full of self-improvement activities.

Not only will you be learning to build yourself up, but there will be talks on how to empower your community. Guests will be building up the community around them just from attending. A majority profits from the conference will be donated to Ho'ola Nau Pua, a local nonprofit which fights for the prevention of sex trafficking in Hawaii and provides care for children who have been exploited.










Thursday, June 16, 2022

Sword of Darkness - New Release and Excerpt!

 



New Release Alert!

July 8th on Amazon

June 16th on other platforms: Barnes & Nobles, Kobo

Sword of Darkness by LM Preston

Reece had a thirst for the adrenaline rush that came with taking risks. He’d avoided paying the price for most of his push of the envelope until he met one person that used his lust for fast cars, wicked weapons, ditching school, and beautiful girls to trap him in the most seductive ways. Someone he least expected put her life in danger to save him from himself, and he wouldn’t waste her sacrifice. Reece would use the anger fueled by the strikes to an innocent to start the beginning of the turn of justice that would change the course of his life. He hoped his family could forgive him for the deal that put a target on their heads.


Read other books in the Vigilant series: Insatiable Darkness, Caged Fire, Unbreakable Darkness, Scepter of Fire, Break the Darkness.


Excerpt:

“Show time.” He did a quick glance at Zamina, who was smiling at him. Reece gave her a wink and hopped onto the hood of his car, sliding to land smoothly on the other side, then got into the driver’s seat.

He gave the car a rev-up and sped to the starting line. Reece felt eyes on him, but he focused straight ahead. One thing he learned from past races was to never seek out the taunts and abuse of other racers. It just killed his precision and concentration. The girl in front of the cars was Megan. Her red curls hung around her shoulders. With the backlight of the moon, it resembled flames. Reece blinked because her hair actually appeared like it was curled fire. It was nothing—he was just pumped on adrenaline, and it did something to him. Took him to that place where his irritating ability to feel things that others didn’t, and see the unseen, irritated the grasp of his reality space in his mind.

“On your mark! Are you ready?” She lifted the gun and fired.

Reece hit the accelerator and cut off the orange Mazda MX-5 Miata. He felt the angry bump of the shorted car’s hit push him forward. Someone in one of the cars tossed a ball of fire in the air. Reece pulled the throttle, and his car surged forward. An explosion lit the side of his car, and he pushed his elbow on the armrest to roll up his window, barely in time. Flames of ash rained on the side of his vehicle. From a tree, some girl with a face of a clown and pink hair poured acid on the passenger side of the car ahead of his.

“Damn! The race I can win, but making it out of here alive is another story.” Reece jerked the car to the left; he was only a few behind the leader in the red Chevrolet Camaro. 

A guy jumped in front of his car. Before Reece could hit the brakes, the boy smiled and threw an ax straight at him. Reece sped up. The guy’s eyes widened in fear. Then Reece shifted gears, barely missing the running boy and the axe by several inches.

A green Nissan 350Z kept pace with him. “You gonna die tonight, meat-boy!” the driver taunted.

Reece glanced to the side in time to see a boy with glowing eyes and dipped brown bushy eyebrows point a flare-gun at him. Just as the weapon fired, Reece pushed the button on the dashboard to arm the windows with an electric charge. Sparks flew off his window as the fire bounced from his car to his assailant. The car swerved, was hit by an acid bomb, and caught fire. The rider jumped out of the car in the nick of time. Reece smiled, glad he had installed bullet- and fireproof glass with an extra added defense. Didn’t pay to be cheap.

He took deep calming breaths, no music, no distractions. He was going to win. The red Chevrolet Camaro was only two cars in front of him. Reece had to time the nitro release right. His was different than anyone else’s since he’d tampered with it, adding other chemicals to not only push his car forward but to burn out the view of any cars behind him. The smoke it released helped him get a gain on the competition. Reece sped up between the two racecars tailing the lead and tried to get a pass through. One, a silver Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, and the other, a white Ford Mustang, were not giving an inch. There was a brief opening, but as it began to close, Reece took it. The fit was tight, and the Mustang rammed into the side of his car. He heard a grinding sound—a drill from the other car cut through Reece’s passenger door. 

He smiled at what he planned for the other opponent. Reece pressed the button on his wheel that held metal sharp and flat tools. The squeal of the lever pushed them out within reach of the car next to him. His car groaned, and Reece smashed into the car on his right. The Mustang was dislodged as it was rammed with the flat side of the bar from Reece’s car. 

Adrenaline pumped in his veins. Only two cars blocked his path to the finish line. He released the nitro valve on his dashboard. The car heated up with intense smoke. Fire blasted from the rear of his car. Reece was catapulted through the air to land with a thump at the tail bumper of the leading racecar. The finish line was close. Reece was going to make it. He veered to the right to get an opening on the car ahead. The racer slowed up a bit, to slam into Reece’s car. The car skidded into an abandoned truck. Reece jerked the wheel in time to lessen the impact and regain momentum. He countered the opponent’s every move. “Ahh!” he couldn’t get a break through. Instead, he ramped into the car, hoping to piss off the driver and make him careless. The driver recovered and released nitro to take him over the finish line. 

Reece came in second. He tightened his hand on the steering wheel and stopped the car. 

“Get out of the car!” The other racer with the grey eyes banged on Reece’s door. 

He went to open it at the same time the guy yanked it right off the hinges. Reece frowned; the bastard was strong. 

PreOrder - Sale 99cents! 

Barnes and Nobles


Friday, January 21, 2022

Ten Things About LM Preston

 Let's Get To Know Each OtherLet's Get To Know Each Other


When I first started on my writing journey, I was extremely naïve. If I had it to do over again I would have researched the publishing business inside and out, hired a writing coach if I had the money or taken some classes before I sat down to write the first word. It would have saved me a school full of hardknocks 😀


Here’s my list, read it, breathe it, learn from it.


1. Being a writer means being able to take rejection, critiques, and to grow and thrive in spite of it.


2. Being a writer means I have to sell myself, learn how to, and it all starts with selling your stuff to a beta reader, then to a lit agent, a publisher, a reviewer, and then to your audience.


3. As a writer, I’m a business owner, and my business is my career.  My product is my works. 


4. Being a writer opens doors that you wouldn’t believe! And you don’t even have to be published to get those doors opened! There are tons of soon-to-be published authors doing amazing things that they only would have pursued if they were writers.


5. I wished I would have researched the publishing business from the author side, the publisher side, the indie publisher side, the promotions side, the marketing side – doggone it – every side!


6. Being a writer means having a platform – yep, friends on twitter, a meaningful blog, involvement in a writers’ organization – as an active member.


7. I can market my book before it’s even published! Create a book trailer, share teasers, promo samples on twitter, do contest, and get myself out there!


8. Conferences, pitch sessions, agent inboxs are great places to get face time with agents. I should have hung out there.


9. Use Beta Readers, Critique Partners and Writing Groups to build a better product. As the writer, you want to know what the reader is getting out of your work.


10.Realize that anything I write is marketable (once it’s edited professionally, beta read, critiqued and flushed out) I need to figure out what that market is and not be afraid to go into unknown territory to promote it and myself. (i.e., anthologies, magazines online or print, or even sell it myself.)


I end this list to say, once you learn the business, you’ll know how you fit in, how many ways you can create your own success, and you’ll know that giving up simply isn’t an option when YOU decide your destiny.


By LM Preston

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Sneak Peak at Rebel Of Fire

 




Here is a sneak peek (unedited) excerpt:

Rei smelled blood. The metallic taste was in her mouth enveloping her senses. Sirens blared, but the throbbing of her head hurt so bad she didn’t have the will to open her eyes. She had to open them. The accident, her last thought before being suffocated by the chilled waters beneath the bridge where they’d crashed, was that her sister, EmVee was thrown from the van. Her brother hit his head; Dexter was drowning. Her mom and her twin brother what happened to them? Reece, her the accident, it was her fault. She had to save them, get them away from here. She struggled and jerked, feeling if she was fighting to get out of the suffocating waters of the lake.

“Ah!” She fought the pain that coursed through her entire body and pushed herself up. Rei’s trembling hands braced herself on the hard cot in what appeared to be the inside of an ambulance.

“They are on us!” a gruff curse from a medic behind her yelled. The ambulance sharply whipped to the side.

Rei slid off the hard bed, her knees buckled when she hit the floor. “God! Ah.” She willed herself to stand and pushed her back up against the wall, wincing at the burn in her side and on her head. She opened her eyes; one was bandaged closed, but the other she could see clearly through a hole in the covering over her head. Everything on her hurt, but suddenly an energy she couldn’t explain rushed through her in waves, dulling the pain, giving her focus.

The crouching medic held on to a rounded looped strap in the corner of the ambulance van. The medic pointed a gun through the broken glass window of the back-double doors. Several pops sounded and the doors flew open. Someone was shooting at them? At an ambulance? Why? Rei crawled backwards, grimacing at the pain.

“I can’t die today.” Rei searched for something to hold onto and a weapon, anything she could use. The bed slammed the opposite side of the ambulance, then surged at her. Rei dropped to the floor barely in time to keep her head attached to her neck.










Insatiable Darkness (Book 0)

Caged Fire (Book 1)

Unbreakable Darkness (Book 1.5)

Scepter Of Fire (Book 2)

Break The Darkness (Book 2.5)

Rebel of Fire (Book 3)

Sword of Darkness (Book 3.5) anticipated 2021

Blade Of Fire (Book 4) anticipated 2022




Thursday, October 29, 2020

Monday, September 28, 2020

YASH FALL SCAVENGER HUNT IS HERE!

 Welcome to YASH FALL Scavenger Hunt at LM Preston's House


LM PRESTON's HOUSE
YASH SCAVENGER HUNT


SEE ALL PARTICIPATING TITLES:  Goodreads

YOU ARE AT THE BLUE TEAM STOP


 
Please welcome authors of MERGED to my blue house! And don't forget my secret number is mumbo number 9

PRESENTING SMOKE
Darcy Woods    


This compelling drama reveals what lengths a straight-A student and avid rule-follower will go to in order to save her family. A look at the issue of poverty and marijuana legalization for fans of the TV show Weeds.

Sixteen year-old Honor Augustine never set out to become a felon. After all, she’s the embodiment of her name as an academic all-star, avid recycler, and dedicated daughter to her PTSD-afflicted father. Coloring inside the lines is what keeps Honor’s chaotic existence orderly. But for the sake of family, some lines must be crossed. 
 
When she discovers her father’s VA benefits drying up, coupled with a terrifying bank letter threatening the family’s greenhouse business—Honor vows to find a solution. She just doesn’t expect to find it on the dry erase board of English lit—“Nature’s first green is gold.”

The quote by Frost should’ve been as innocuous as the beige walls of the classroom. Instead, it becomes the seed of an idea. An idea that—with patience and care—could germinate into a means of survival. Maybe marijuana could be more than the medicinal plant that helps quiet her father’s demons. Maybe, it could save them all. What lengths we will go to for the people we love?


Hello my fellow adventurers, from Darcy. 

Greetings Hunters! And a big thanks to the prolific LM Preston for giving me a home along the hunt to reveal the cover for my forthcoming YA contemporary, SMOKE! This book holds such a special place in my heart since it borrowed heavily from chapters of my own life story. So it’s been especially meaningful to see the extraordinary care that’s gone into this cover—from conceptualization to creation. And the end result? Designer Ray Shappell completely blew me away (serious debt of gratitude over here!) with this eye-popping, nuanced, and well . . . dope reflection of the story inside.

Now please, go forth and ogle. ;) I hope you enjoy! 

Preorder link: https://bit.ly/3hVP3eZ

Goodreads add link: https://tinyurl.com/y4fb28kc


Also, I'm having a little giveaway of my own for FREE $5 Amazon Gift card and bookmark: CLICK HERE



GIVEAWAY!




CONTINUE TO THE HUNT at author Heather Reid

CLICK HERE



Wednesday, July 29, 2020

BREAK THE DARKNESS by LM Preston




Get Your Pre-Order here: Amazon

Rei was nosy. She’d been told it would always get her in trouble, but it never did. Until she met Megan, who promised her the job of a lifetime. Sure, the high school newspaper wasn’t the ideal job for most, but for Rei, it was a dream. She’d never considered putting her investigative nature to work, but what Megan was asking her to do was way beyond the requirements of a school newspaper. It was part of an underground news for favor service. Her partners, Asher and Eli, annoyed her by never trusting her to do a job alone. Maybe, this one time she should have listened, because being trapped with no one to bail her out may surely be the death of Rei. Not only hers but will spill the secrets about her family she’d been withholding, placing every one of them in grave and serious danger.



Friday, May 22, 2020

Being an Author in the Pre-Qual of a Dystopian Novel


QUARANTINE HAS GIVEN ME A LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH MY WRITING

It's true. It's hard to live through dark and uncomfortable times, then write about it - but make sure there is a plausible ending that doesn't crush your readers - when you are feeling a bit crushed.

THE REALITY and MY FANTASY

There is a great difference between the reality of my life during the stay in orders and the crazy world I've created in my latest series, but one thing prevails. Hope. 

Also, the revealing of certain situations I had never considered would happen when the world starts to show a major change in the way it operates day to day. The response of people and the disorganized information being shared was something I realize happens, but to live through it is this unsettling feeling of unbalance that expressing through my characters seemed lighter than what a person feels in real life.

It makes me wonder if my readers will want to experience emotion so close to home during these times.

PEOPLE LIKE TO READ OTHER DARK REALITIES

It is amazing to me that many post apocalyptic books and fantasy novels had an uptick while people are forced to stay at home. I've even read and played games that reflected the times. (Yes, I have played Plague, Pandemic and Dead of Winter lately, several times) 

I believe it instills the hope that we will win. The human race will overcome it all. You know what, we usually do.


IF YOU WANT TO ESCAPE YOUR REALITY to one where YOU CAN SEE A WINNER a SURVIVOR, the paperback released this week to Scepter of Fire.