Category: In Gathering Shade

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BOOKS! I have books!

As I work my way back into the writing groove, everything feels rusty and foreign. I’ve written a poem a day so far this month, some of them suck, some are okay. I’m attempting to be more present on social media…well, Threads anyway. I’ve tried to maintain a posting schedule here (Wednesdays and Saturdays).

This weekend I hope to work on one of the novels I’ve got started

The world seems so dark right now, that I need to find the light where I can and my characters are the light I choose.

However, I also need to get some cleaning done. And shopping. Somehow Thanksgiving is next week! Oh! And that means that Christmas is around the corner. Do you have readers on your list this year?

I have hardback and paperback copies of most of my novels on hand. I am happy to personalize and sign and mail them out to you!

Hardbacks $20 ($35 for 2, $50 for 3) +shipping
Paperbacks $10 ($15 for 2, $25 for 3) +shipping

If you are interested, reach out to me via email. Let me know which book(s) you want, how you want them personalized, and make sure to include a mailing address. I’ll get back to you on the shipping cost. I can take Paypal, Venmo, cashapp and Zelle for payment.

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the politics of an angry female

I got an email earlier this week from someone who advised me that as an author who wants to “make it big” in the world of books, particularly as a woman, I needed to take the politics out of my books and focus on writing better.

This gentleman told me he had read the Shades and Shadows series and thought it would have been improved by not making the politics so pointedly directed at the darker “underbelly” of the USA.  He told me it was “unseemly” for a woman to display her anger so prominently in her work, and that I should “dial it back” and “focus on the actual plot” which he apparently thought had nothing to do with the politics.

He told me he didn’t mind the prominence of a homosexual relationship, though he thought that too should be “dialed back” and not so “in the face” of the Reader.  He said I should remove all references to Muslims because it was too controversial to say that discrimination against them was wrong.

He closed the letter with what I suppose was meant to be encouragement for me, telling me that I was a “fairly good writer” who could do well as an author, provided I stopped showcasing the “politics of an angry female” and embraced the softer, more accepted kinds of stories written by women, you know, the kind with no politics and no bad words and filled with plots driven by men and the women who need men.

I haven’t responded to this email.  In fact, I nearly deleted it out of hand.  In this political climate here in the United States, how are women not angry?  For centuries, we have been silent bystanders, watching the politics of old men regulate our rights, our bodies, our place in society and allowing ourselves to be marginalized out of jobs, out of careers.  But the world has changed and we have found our voice, we’ve come out of hiding.  We’ve shaken off the dust and stepped out onto the stage.

And yes, we’re angry.  And yes, we’re political.  It isn’t going to change anytime soon.  So, if you’re reading this, Sir of the Email, sorry you aren’t happy with my politics.  I probably wouldn’t be happy with yours either.  Sorry, not sorry.

Happy Wednesday, Readers!  I’m off to poke some more job sites in hope of finding a new job sooner, rather than later.

 

Photo by Gabriel Matula on Unsplash

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did someone say F.R.E.E?

Have you been waiting to pick up the last book in my Shades and Shadows trilogy?  Now is your time.  For the next four days, April 10 through April 14th, you can get Where Shadows Fall for your Kindle device or app, absolutely FREE!

where-shadows-fallIn the exciting conclusion to the Shades and Shadows trilogy, our heroes face off against a powerful enemy, someone who has been guiding the growing anti-Shade sentiment from the beginning and wants to eliminate all of the tribes.

The world descends into ever darker chaos, and Alaric Lambrecht seeks vengeance. No matter the cost.

In Washington, evil takes another step toward true power. In the west, the 8th Battalion advances a terrible plan. The Shades’ refuge is in ashes.

Alaric’s path takes him deep into 8th Battalion territory, and on a collision course with Raven Ivany and Zero, bringing Shadows and Shifters, Sages and Shades all together against a common enemy.

The question is, can they come together to take the fight to the mastermind who is tearing the country apart – and defeat him?

You have four days to get your copy for free!  I would appreciate a review after you’ve read it,  if you don’t mind.  Reviews help sell books!  Selling more books makes authors happy!  You want to make me happy, don’t you?

Want more from me? Visit me!

Weight Loss: https://aweightyjourneysite.wordpress.com/
Current Events: https://myweightinwords.wordpress.com/
Poetry: https://weightywordspoetry.wordpress.com/
Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/nataliejcase

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (be warned I post a lot pictures of my cats).

 

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shades and shadows

I spent a lot of hours in the world of Shades and Shadows as I was writing and editing it.  It isn’t a comfortable world, and over the years, the story moved and changed, things got edited out that I once loved because they just didn’t fit the story any more, and everything morphed as the ending became clearer.

It isn’t hard right now to see an America divided against itself, two extremes set against one another.  Meanwhile, the middle gets trampled.  It’s easy to prey on fear.  It’s easy to rile up anger.  And truth gets lost in the rhetoric and vitriol.

Conflict builds, momentum grows and the conclusion comes crashing down in Where Shadows Fall, which is available for FREE right now for your Kindle! Just click here.

You can also enter to win a copy of all three books for your Kindle by clicking here.

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the rebellion will be free

For four days, starting tomorrow (1/10/19), the kindle version of Where Shadows Fall will be free, so if you need to get your hands on this series conclusion, this may be your time!

Recently, Where Shadows Fall received a five star review from Reader’s Favorite reviewer, Liz Konkel.  She had this to say in her review:  “Case crafts an epic and satisfying installment that carries on the darker tone of the series with a lighter feeling and an end that finds hope for a better future. Where Shadows Fall has plenty of darker moments which include war, death, and torture with an honest portrayal of trauma and grief blended into a blunt commentary on social issues and the state of society through the guise of supernatural beings.”

If you pick up a copy while it’s free, I’d love it if you could drop a rating and/or review on Amazon or Goodreads after you’ve read it.

And while we’re at it, I’m running a giveaway of the entire series on Kindle:

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books and writing and selling

It’s an #amwriting Saturday.  I need to cut some time out of my writing time to do some tasks for my publisher to help with promo opportunities.  I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m not very good at promo myself.  I find myself easily frustrated with the whole marketing aspect of being an author.

I write because I enjoy writing, and because if I don’t write, all of these characters and plots still live in my head and may one day drive me mad.  I write because I love to tell stories, not because I enjoy selling books.

Buying books is another story.  I love to buy books.  I love holding a book in my hand.  I love immersing myself in a story almost as much as I enjoy telling a story.

But, I have to accept that the publishing industry has changed and with the glut of books available to readers, promo is a necessity if I ever want anyone other than my friends to read my books.  *sigh*

So, some of today’s writing time will be spent picking out excerpts from my books suitable for social networks, and re-writing blurbs in order to aid my publisher in the promo work they do.  Maybe I’ll find some time tomorrow to do some of my own promo work.  I haven’t really done much since Where Shadows Fall was released.

But the new project is coming along well, and I think it’s going to be good.

I hope your weekend treats you well, Readers!

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a complete set

Looking for a gift for someone who loves to read?  The entire Shades and Shadows trilogy is available as a complete set for your loved one’s Kindle (or your own).  For the first time, you can own the complete story from the beginning before violence and xenophobia tear a country apart, through a sort of war that finds our heroes scattered and hurting, to the conclusion.

Come meet our heroes, Shades Mason and Raven, Shadows Alaric and Bryan, Shifters Sahara, Maddie and Evan, and young Zero who is both Sage and Shadow, and so much more, as they try to navigate a world, and a war, fighting for the survival of their tribes.

I am also holding a sale on paperbacks.  I currently have 10 copies of Forever and 11 copies of Through Shade and Shadow (with the original cover) available.  From now through December 24 they are $7 each, or both for $12 plus shipping cost.  Just reach out to me via email at natalie@nataliejcase.com and we’ll sort the details.

I hope to have a giveaway set up soon (amazon is giving me headaches over it). If you have already read any of these, I would appreciate it if you would leave a review on Amazon.  Every review helps us get the books in front of more readers.

It’s writing day, so I am off into a land of fantasy.  Happy Sunday, Readers!

 

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book link and other fun stuff

You might have noticed a few changes around here, which can only mean that the new book is finally here!  You can find Where Shadows Fall on Amazon.  Only the Kindle version is available, but the paperback should follow shortly.

As usual, this also means the push to get reviews, as my publisher’s promotion apparatus only functions well with a minimum of 10 reviews on Amazon.  To help facilitate that, I am setting up an Amazon giveaway of 4 Kindle copies.  I should have the link to that later today.  I’ll update this post when I have it.

Eventually, the trilogy should be available as a set for Kindle, and I’ll probably do a giveaway for that too when the time comes.

And, if you’re more of a paperback person, I’ll have links to those as soon as I have them.  I may even do a flash giveaway of paperbacks just in time for Christmas, provided I get them in time.

Now, however, on this rainy Wednesday in San Francisco, the day job has begun and I must switch from creative word making to technical word making.  Hope your Wednesday is filled with awesome and amazing things, Readers!

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so you want to start a revolution…

Through Shade and Shadow is just that, the start of a rebellion, though no one involved knew that at the time.  And, right now, Through Shade and Shadow is available for free for your kindle.

This first book in the Shades and Shadows trilogy introduces Alaric Lambrecht and Mason Jerah, and the world in which they live.  It’s a world that is starting to come apart at the seams.

If you haven’t read it yet, now is your chance to get it before Where Shadows Fall drops.  Let me lure you into an America not so different from our own, one where tribes of paranormal people have blended into the fabric, hiding their talents to prevent their own destruction.

Shades, a name given to them because of their particular weakness to the sun, are primarily healers, though they can kill just as well as heal.  They are feared for their gifts, particularly after one is found to be a serial killer. Of the tribes, Shades are the most feared and have the hardest time hiding due to their issue with sunlight.

Shadows are psychics and mind-readers, among other things.  Their gifts come from their minds and their name comes from the ability to control another person, shadowing them. Of the tribes, Shadows hide the easiest among the human population, their gifts easy to disguise.

Shifters are shapeshifters, people with the ability to shift into something else.  Of the tribes, Shifters have been hunted the most voraciously over the years, resulting in a low number of them still in existence.

Sages are those who use magic and each Sage is attuned to a specific form of magic based on their elemental affinity.  Of the tribes, Sages have had the easiest time adapting to the modern world, hiding among the new age and Pagan populations.

America is falling apart, shredding itself in it’s fear of those it once thought were myth, and Alaric and Mason are directly in the path of the destruction.  War is coming.

Shades and Shadows

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Looking for a signed book for a Christmas present for the reader in your life? I have a limited number of books available, including Forever and Through Shade and Shadow with the old cover.  Hit me up in email at natalie@nataliejcase.com  or in DM on Facebook.

 

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where shadows fall

I received word yesterday that my manuscript for Where Shadows Fall has been accepted by my publisher.  This means it should be ready for release in time for holiday sales.  Where Shadows Fall will serve as the ending of the Shades and Shadows trilogy, though not likely the end of stories in that world.

I have at least two short stories I want to write with these characters, possibly more, so I won’t be leaving it for a long time.

There aren’t really any new characters for me to introduce to you this time around.  The story moves from where In Gathering Shade left off and drives through the gathering darkness without really picking up any new characters.

We do get to see more of Emily and Victoria in this book, and some of the side characters really get ot shine as well.  I can’t wait to see the cover because I know that my publisher always comes through with great covers.

I hope you, dear Readers, are as excited about this as I am!  But for now, I have to go get another cup of Death Wish Coffee and get some work working.