Category: books

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in gathering shade

I am very excited this morning, Readers!  I have just sent book 2 in the Shades and Shadows series to my editor!  I am excited to introduce you to some new characters as well as to continue telling the story of Alaric and Mason.

In Gathering Shade picks up right where Through Shade and Shadow left off, with Mason and Alaric prisoners of the 8th Battalion and thrusts you immediately into a world that is tipping off it’s axis and into war.

We follow Shades and Shifters, Shadows and Sages through the growing minefield of fear and deception as they struggle to find a way to survive in a world that wants to destroy them.

In the coming weeks, here on this blog, I will introduce you to the new characters, as well as give you previews of things to come.

I hope you’re as excited as I am!

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a taste of Forever

(image via http://streamline.filmstruck.com/)

I will admit that I have had a lifelong fascination/obsession with vampires.  It started young.  I remember watching Salem’s Lot  when I was just a wee eleven years old.    I’m not cognizant of any significant vampire related moments prior to that, but I have very vivid memories of watching it on TV in the apartment where we lived in Hilton, NY.  Of course, some of that is to do with my age, and some with the fact that my younger brother had snuck down the stairs to watch for at least parts of it and was haunted for MONTHS after by the scene in the image above.

So, it would be safe to say the Stephen King introduced me to vampires.  He was by no means the last to walk me into the dark, of course.  I read the book the movie was based on that same year, and after that I dug into other books and movies and TV shows, too many to count and name, for certain.

By the time I was 20 I had read Dracula enough times to know entire passages by heart.  I wasn’t content to stop there either, I dug into vampire lore, exploring the different ways they were presented in different cultures…the similarities, the differences.  I was fascinated by the concept of immortality,  drawn in by not only the idea of being witness to history, but the mundanity of living a daily existence where every night bleeds into the next.

I was, as a pubescent teenager is like to, pulled to the erotic notion of the biting, of taking life from the very essence that keeps us all alive, the intimate nature of that exchange, while also at the same time, being a practical child, by the idea that not every meal could be an erotic buffet of hot neck biting and licking that led to what my teenage hormones could only imagine.  I found myself thinking about other ways a vampire might get what she needed, without the entanglement of the humanity that comes with drinking from a human chalice.

By the time I was sixteen, I had a pretty good idea what my vampires would be like, if I were to write about vampires…and from that idea, Amara was born.

It is safe to say that Amara comes from those first vampires I experienced, and is influenced by those that came after.

And you can experience Amara and all her nuance right now for 99 cents!  Forever is available right now for Kindle at the low price of 99 cents. Grab your copy today…and leave a review if you would!  Reviews make writers happy!

My coffee cup seems to be empty, I best go fill it up.  Happy Wednesday, Readers!

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forever and a week (at $.99)

Here we are again, another Monday, another day in the office.  We’re into the middle of July already, which seems ludicrous, really.  Before you know it, the holiday season will be upon us!

I have something to celebrate, however, and we don’t have to wait for Christmas!  My first book with Creativia Publishing is on promo this week, today through the 16th and you can get a Kindle copy for only $.99!  Yes! That’s right, just ninety-nine cents for Forever!

I spent a bunch of time over the weekend working on a short story anthology that I hope to have ready for the publisher by next Monday, and part of that was working on a story of my own that I hope to include.  It’s a short piece in the world of a novel I hope to write next year, when I’ve finished with Shades and Shadows.  It’s going to be a sci-fi novel and I’m excited to get into it, even if only in a small way.

I suppose I should go pour that cup of coffee and get my day started.  So much to do and all that.  Have a great Monday, Readers!

 

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Time for free ebooks!

Today, tomorrow and Friday (June 7, 8 & 9) Through Shade and Shadow is available for Kindle for zero dollars!  If you don’t already have yours, now is your chance!

I’m nearing the end of my first draft of the sequel, and having paged through this first book again this weekend, I’m reminded of how much the characters grow in the second book.  Alaric and Mason are favorite characters of mine and sometimes while writing the minutiae of the scenes and sifting through the plot I lose sight of where they started, so it’s fun to revisit a little bit while talking about the book with new people.

In the next book we will meet some new characters, and some of those who were briefly introduced in Through Shade and Shadow become more visible.  I’m really enjoying fleshing out characters that we only glimpse through Mason or Alaric’s eyes to start out.

Got a question about anything Shades and Shadows?  Drop a comment and I’ll do what I can to answer.

 

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it was a day

So, this weekend was the Bay Area Book Fair, and I had one of the individual author’s tables.  My agoraphobia was racing, my nerves were dancing.  I gave serious thought to not going.  But in the end, my determination beat my agoraphobia again and I set off with a big bag of books, got on BART and headed to Berkeley.

I got there fairly early, and found my spot, got set up, and then  watched as the various vendors and authors came in and did the same.  Couldn’t have asked for nicer weather, except maybe a little less wind.

I wish the same could be said of sales. I sold a few books, but didn’t even break even to cover the cost of the table and umbrella rental.  I did, however, meet some very interesting people, from fellow authors to publicists, parents of students wanting to write, book lovers, etc.

Part of the issue felt a little like isolation.  The bulk of the festival is held in the park, while we were off on a side street with a good amount of distance between us and the first booth in the park.  None of the authors in my immediate vicinity sold much, though the author to my right with his epic fantasy novel sold at least twice as many books as I did.

I’ll admit, I’m thinking about contacting the publicist I met and see what their services run price wise.  It’s that part of this business that I suck so badly at.

But, now that is over and it’s back to the day job.  I hope all of you have a great week!

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one of the girls

One of my favorite things in the world right now is the growing awareness of female writers in genres that have been dominated by men for as far back as books have been getting published.  In fact, it’s one of the reasons that I embraced alternative publishing right from the beginning.

In the “traditional publishing” world, what gets published is decided by a small group of people, traditionally older white men, so it’s no surprise that they gravitate toward male writers who write male characters in worlds populated mostly by men and women who are there mostly to serve as a love interest or sex object.

But today, with all kinds of self-publishing and hybrid publishing options opening up, plus the appearance of more and more small and niche publishing companies, women are finding ways to get their voices heard.  So far this year I’ve read something like 10 books (I’m woefully behind due to writing obligations), and a full 7 of those have been written by women.

Most exciting for me is the growing abundance of women authors writing female characters in worlds of sci-fi and fantasy, bringing characters to life that are all the varied things women can be, and building diversity into the worlds they create.  I’ve long turned to science fiction for normalizing the unusual, and now it is stepping beyond the science fiction that I first learned about things like homosexuality, group marriage, alternative religions and other things I hadn’t been exposed to, and showing some real inclusivity.

Women of color are emerging as authors as well as characters.  Old, tired stories are getting pushed aside for some exciting and new tales that are refreshing, challenging, that press our sense of self to the side to experience a sense of someone else, and it’s these books that I find myself wanting to set aside the daily grind for.  My commute is far more than a train ride from the East Bay into San Francisco when I dig for my bookmark and immerse myself in an alternative time line or a space empire or a fantasy land where magic flows.

I’m currently reading The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin.  It’s challenging, and it took me a bit to connect to her changing narrative, but on page 69, I’m hooked in and find myself wishing the train ride took a little longer.

I found this book on a reading list of women writing women in sci-fi and fantasy, as part of a conference I’m going to in October.  I’m looking forward to finding myself in a group of women who write, who read.

Got a suggestion for a good book from a female author?  Drop a note in the comments so I can add it to my reading list.

 

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Forever for free

Right now, you can pick up a kindle version of my first book, Forever, for absolutely nothing!  Yes, you read that right.  Enter the dark world of Amara, born both human and vampire, caught between two worlds and struggling to be true to herself.  You can also visit the book’s page on Creativia.org to learn more.

You can also check out my author’s page on Creativia.  It’s new and improved!  Just click here.

I hope you take advantage of this special offer.  It’s good until the 2nd of May, so hurry!

And, as always, I’d love a review once you’ve read it!

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and that, as they say, is that…

My Goodreads giveaways ended last night.  A total of 2512 people joined in the fun, and 4 of those lucky people won a copy of my books!  Congratulations to them!  I will get those in the mail over the weekend.  I will probably do more giveaways in the future, but if you wish to purchase signed copies of either book, head over to my shop on Facebook where you can do that.

I really do love giving books away.  And I love connecting with people who have read my books and talking about the stories and how they came to be, whisper hints about what is to come.

I’m really glad I will have a few opportunities to do that this year, live and in person.  The next such event is at the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, California on the weekend of June 3 & 4.  I will have an author table on the Sunday of the event where I will have books for sale and signing.  I hope that readers in the area might make it out to say hello.  I will be able to take cash and credit cards at the table.

Now, with the sun finally out of my eyes, after nearly blinding me as it rose from behind the exit ramp of the Bay Bridge, I will wish you all a pleasant Thursday, exhort you to acts of kindness toward others and yourself, and turn my eyes, and fingers, to words of a more technical nature.

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time to win some books!

Are you ready for two new giveaways?

I certainly am!  Opening for entry today are my two latest Goodreads Giveaways.  I have two copies of both of my books available to win.

To sign up to win a signed copy of Forever: Click Here

To sign up to win a signed copy of Through Shade and Shadow: Click Here

Are you excited?  I know I am!  I love the feeling that comes when I drop a book in the mail for someone.

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who wants a giveaway?

I have two giveaways getting ready to start next week over on Goodreads.  Two copies of Forever and Through Shade and Shadow will be available.

Click here for Forever

Click here for Through Shade and Shadow

Both giveaways open on the 18th of April and will be open through Aptil 26th.  Both are open to the US, Canada and the UK.

If you win, you will get a signed copy of the book with a note from me.