Some Updates, Including Indie Firsts!

First, check out the first issue of Indie Firsts.  It’s a magazine that showcases a group of authors’ first chapters and Bittersweet is in it.  Woohooooooo!  Now, granted some of you might have already ready my first chapter, but the thing you don’t know is NYT Bestselling Author Victorine Lieske, among others, has a first chapter in it, too.  I’ll definitely be checking out her excerpt.  And in case you didn’t know it, she hit the NYT list at the same time Amanda Hocking did. 

Now for the important part.    Indie Firsts is free.  Do you hear me?  I said FREE!!!  Check it out at Amazon (they need to price match first), Smashwords, and Drive-Thru Fiction.

In other news, I’ve started splitting my time between Hazardous Environment and Skinned, trying to get them both done.  Which one will prevail is anyone’s guess.

Also, I wanted to give you guys an update on my tablet choices.  I’m torn between the Amazon Fire and the Nook Tablet. Right now, the Nook is winning because I like having the expandable slot.  Amazon doesn’t have that.  Unless you’re connected to the internet, you’ll have a hard time accessing anything beyond your allotted 8GB memory.  The only reason why I’m pausing on the Nook is because you must have a NetFlix or a Hulu Plus account to be able to watch movies.  I don’t have either and don’t really want to have either.  One thing I’ve thought about is going the iTunes route with it instead where I’ll download the movies I want from iTunes and play them on the Nook.  That’s assuming there isn’t anything blocking me from doing that.  I’ll just have to see.  Of course, if Samsung Galaxy lowers their prices, then all bets are off with both of these choices.    So, I’m going to wait a little longer to see what happens.

What’s going to be in your Christmas stocking this year?

 

Me? Write a Series?

I don’t know if I’m going to do another Bittersweet book again.

Let’s face it. I’m more comfortable with writing stand-alone novels than I am with writing a series.  That goes against everything that urban fantasy has been built on.  It’s like a must in this genre that you stay within your main character for a series of books before you venture outside of him/her.  Unfortunately, my attention span doesn’t work like that.  It likes to try new and different things and explore different characters (i.e. Dark Encounters series).

That’s why it took me 4 years to write another book about Alexa (Half Breed and Stripped) and more than a year to realize that a third book for her wasn’t happening.  Yet, no matter how much I loved that world, I needed something new and different, which is why I started on a book for Genevieve, her older sister.

Honestly, I don’t know how other writers can write about the same characters day in and day out for 5+ books and never get bored.  I’m humbled by their brilliance.  But if you ask me to do it, you’re lucky if you get 1 good book out of the bunch.  This is one reason why I stopped pursuing the ever elusive NY contract.  I know what my strengths are and anything other than a loosely connected series isn’t one of them, even if I flesh out enough of an overarching plot to get through me a couple of books.  At least with romances, after the characters fall in love, that’s pretty much the end of their book.  I like the concept.  Kelley Armstrong keeps her series fresh by switching to different character view points every couple of stories.  That’s probably why I’m such a fangirl.

So what does this mean for Bittersweet and the others?  It means if I feel the urge, I’ll write that second book.  I’m just saying don’t look for it anytime soon.

What about you?  Have you guys ever been bored with a series, even though everyone else raved about it?

Two Free Copies of Bittersweet for Grabs – Day #18 Giveaway

I can’t believe I practically missed this.  Anyway, two copies of Bittersweet are up for grabs today: Day #18 giveaway at CoffeeMugged.  Enter yourself in to win a copy.  Tell your friends to follow me on Twitter and you get an extra entry.  By the way, the price of Bittersweet has gone back up to its normal price of $2.99.  So, if you planned to get it at the $0.99 price, you missed out.  But…you might stand a chance at getting it for free, which is best of all. 

Sarra Cannon, Silent Scream, and The Spider Inside Her

First, if you’re in the Raleigh-Durham area, my friend, fellow HCRW member, and incredible indie author extraordinaire Sarra Cannon will be speaking at the Durham Regional Library today from 1-3pm about self-publishing.  I so can’t wait to show her my support, since she’s one of the few people who had confirmed my thoughts about going indie.  Oh, and did I mention this chick is a Kindle Best-selling author who has sold more than 20,000 books in her Peachville High Demons series?  Needless to say, I had no problem with giving her a shout-out at ConCarolinas, along with a few more of my indie friends. 

Second, I’ve been hit by the creative bug with a great idea for Silent Scream (book #2 of my Bittersweet series).  One thing I’d like to note is this book will probably be a tad shorter than the first (approx. 60,000 words) because that’s all I have plotted so far and it seems like a complete story.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to give enough information so that you won’t have to read the first book to understand this one.  Thanks to MTV’s Teen Wolf series for exciting my muse.  And before you go there, no werewolves (or vampires) in my YA series.  They’re all homeschooled.

Third, and most important of all, I’ve seen the cover for The Spider Inside Her and all I can say is Jax is truly an artist who knows her stuff.  OMG, I can’t wait to reveal it.  I have to because I’m having her do a few tweaks before it’s finalized.  It was hard trying to make the image I chose dark when it started out more fantasy-like.  But, she did it.  Even better, my mother took one look at the picture and said, “It looks like the spider is trying to control the woman.”  Holy crap!!  My mother, the infamous rag-magazine-only reader, totally got it.  Fan-freaking-tastic!!  Fingers crossed others will, too.  I’ve got nothin’ but love for Jax. 

What’s been exciting you there days?

$0.99 Sale for BITTERSWEET

I’m a few days late, but I wanted to do something special to celebrate the release of The Spider Inside Her later this month.  So, I’ve lowered the price on Bittersweet.    Keep in mind this is only for the month of June.  Once TSIH is out, I don’t know what I’ll do.  Seriously.  Not a clue.  I know I won’t hike up the price to $4.99 because I like selling books.   

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I’ve done a complete overhaul on an important scene from Deadlier by the Dozen.  It’s still on schedule to be released in July, so no worries there.  The scene needed to change because there was too much talking and not a lot of action.  Also, I realized during my polishing that I have this horrible–bad bad bad–habit of mentioning things that the reader should already know.  Just to give you an idea of how awful it was, after two-thirds of the way through Dx12, I sliced about 15,000 words.  Yes, it was that bad, but I have a much cleaner manuscript because of it. :)

Bittersweet is Available in Print!

I’m thrilled to say the day has finally come.  Bittersweet is available in print!  Woohoooooo!

By the way, that’s the cover flat I designed.  It’s simple and to the point with the cool Dusk Till Dawn logo in place on the back and spine.  Thanks to Dreamweaver, I actually feel like I know what I’m doing.  Oh, and ignore that black strap that looks like it got caught under the cover.  That’s what trim size is for. 

Chances are The Spider Inside Her will follow the same theme, which I’m cool with as long as it saves me a few extra bucks.

Even better.  I’ll have print copies to sign at ConCarolinas in June. 

The Spider Inside Her and Bittersweet Updates

I’m only halfway through the week and so far it’s been great.  This past weekend, I tore through more than 110+ pages of revisions for The Spider Inside Her.  I hadn’t done that in so long that I forgot what it felt like.  Better than sex, if you ask me.    Yeah, I ain’t gettin’ none.  But that’s beside the point.    I have about 50 pages left, which I plan to finish this weekend and hopefully send off the entire manuscript to my editor next week.  If all goes well, TSIH could be available as early as the first week of May.

That’s not the only TSIH news.  I might have a cover to show you soon.  I was looking at some really cool stock art and started playing around with it on my older version of Dreamweaver to get some ideas of I wanted.  By the time I finished, I came up with a really cool cover on my own.  I still want to play around with it before I decide whether or not to use it.  An artist, I am not.  But, I really like what I’ve done so far. 

But…that’s not the only cover art news.  Don’t you like the way I’m rolling into these topics?    Anyway, Dreamweaver enticed me enough to try my hand at putting together a cover flat for Bittersweet.  Just for the fun of it, of course.  The results were pretty nice for a non-artistic type like me.  But do you get where I’m going with this?  :mrgreen:  I’m talking PRINT for Bittersweet!  Woohooooooooooooo!  Now don’t get your hopes up.  I’ve ordered the proof from CreateSpace, so it should be here in a few days.  Cross your fingers everything looks okay because I’d LOVE to release the Bittersweet in print and The Spider Inside Her in ebook around the same time.  It wasn’t planned, but it looks more like a possibility now. 

If I’m really adventurous, I might try to put out the print version of TSIH along with everything else.  But that might be pushing it.  It’ll depend upon my editor’s findings and if the damage can be controlled. 

Oh, and I sold my first copy of Bittersweet overseas.  :D 

How’s your week been going so far?

Why Indie Works for Me

I know why indie publishing works for so many authors.  They like feeling empowered–raising hand–and going straight to their readers without a middleman.  Those things appeal to me, but there are more.

1. Write to my own schedule. 

One thing that worried me when I was pursuing the elusive NY contract.  Deadlines.  Pre-mommy days, I made all of my deadlines for all of my previous books with time to spare.  Now that I’m a mom, my free time is dedicated to Baby Girl.  Unless NY paid me enough money to quit my day job–seven figures–that won’t change.  The only reason why I can put out as many books as I have planned for this year is because most of them are already written and need polishing.  Polishing is a lot easier and faster than first-drafting.

2.  Experiment with endless possibilities.

I’ve been trying to write something “fresh” for so long that it’s hard for me to stick with one thing for more than one story.  I’m trying, but it’s like I have ADD with each book I write.  I like trying new and different things.  Things not thought of before.  My Hex Series is really easy to do because it’s basically a series of interconnected stories where the focus is around curses.  I don’t think I could get away with that in NY.  In fact, I don’t know of one Urban Fantasy writer who does stand-alone novels.  So, going indie let’s me be bold and gives me the ability to try something different. 

3.    Getting paid.

Bittersweet isn’t a blockbuster.  It might take a long time before it is, assuming it ever happens.  But it’s done one thing for me that my other back-burner stories haven’t.  It’s making money.  Since it’s debut on March 4th, I’ve only sold 31 copies with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords combined.  That’s $64 more than any of my back burner stories.  And to think Bittersweet was about to join them.  Thankfully, I believed enough in this story to be too bullheaded to shelf it.  $64 amounts to two large packs of diapers, some baby wipes, and a talking (Not Tickle-Me) Elmo doll that my daughter loves and is driving me nuts.    But the hilarity that belts out of Baby Girl whenever she flips Elmo’s mouth open and he sings or laughs back: priceless.  So yeah, Bittersweet is a huge success for me. 

I’m on Indie Paranormal Book Reviews

I’m hanging out at Indie Paranormal Book Reviews today.  Check out my spotlight.  You get a chance to look at the inner working of Bittersweet and a little bit of the story behind the story.

I love interviews. 

 

Acknowledgements

I didn’t put an Acknowledgement page in Bittersweet because…well…I didn’t want to.  I’ve always put Acknowledgements in my books, but I wanted to do something different, more intimate by using a Dedication page.  Not only that, but I had a long overdue Dedication to make and given the nature of Bittersweet, the timing was perfect. 

But, that doesn’t mean I can’t let it go without mentioning a few names, so  here it goes.

First, a huge thank you to my beta readers, Edie Ramer and Stacey Curtis.  Bittersweet wouldn’t be anywhere had it not been for you guys calling me to the plate.  Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my fabu cover artist Jax Cassidy.  This girl rocks!  Also, Lisa Hazard of Hazard Editing, thank you for doing a fantastic job with keeping my grammar on track and giving me the ah-ha moments during my critique.  Like Jax, you have a client for life as long as you’re willing to have me.     Also, a big thank you to my fans.  This book is for you more than anyone else.  For that, I thank all of the indie/self-published authors who came before me and convinced me that this might be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made with regards to my writing career.  To some of my favorite teens and pre-teens Allie, Syd, Colby, Jorden, Sara, Jackie, Paige, and anyone else who I might have forgotten to mention, I love you guys. 

So, there you have it. And if you missed it, check me out my video interview with the amazing Kalayna Price. 

What do you guys think about Acknowledgements?  Do you read them or skim over?