TRADING CARDS

I got this idea after looking at another author's swag.  This is an awesome idea.  Character trading cards.  These are just the digital copies.  I have physical ones on the way to my home as we speak.  How do you get your hands on them?  Well, you would have to show up at one of my book signings or win a giveaway that I participate in.  I may also occasionally give away a pair to people who buy autographed copies of my books when I offer them.  Once in a while I have a few leftover copies after a signing and I offer to sell them to the first people who contact me.  If you want to be a part of this, follow me on FB, join my emailing list (by contacting me and giving me your email), follow me at @kasiblake on Twitter, or check in to my author page once in a while.  You can go to kasiblake.com and click on the FB button at the top of the page.  That's the easiest way to do it.

Hello! My name is Kasi Blake

When I introduce myself as an author, I get varied reactions, most of them pretty funny in retrospect.  What people don't understand is how hard it is for me to do this in the first place.  For years I felt awkward about telling people.  I felt like a fraud.  Even after publishing with Harlequin, it just felt weird to say.  My tongue would tie up in knots, and part of me expected people to call me out on it.  "You aren't an author!"  I would nod.  "Yes, I am."  "Oh really," they would say.  "What awards have you won?  How much money did you make last year?  Are you on the NY Times Bestseller List?"

Then I read a book about 'owning' it and forcing myself to introduce myself as a writer.  So, I do it when I can.  It's gotten easier, but some of the reactions are priceless.

Some people don't even blink.  They don't care.  A wary look comes into their eyes like they're afraid you're going to 'bore' them with details of your latest masterpiece.

Some people ask what I've written.  When I tell them I write YA Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy, their are two possible reactions.  Half of them get excited because they love those kind of books.  The other half take on a disdainful expression as if they wouldn't be caught dead reading 'those' kind of books.

Some people get excited because they want to tell me about their idea for a book.  I try to tell them they should write the book if they love the idea so much, but that is usually met with the response, "I can't write, but if you want to use it..."  I don't.  Even if the idea is awesome, I have too many of my own to make room for someone else's.

I've had people roll their eyes at me, quickly change the subject, and flat out tell me they don't care.

By some reactions you would think I just told them I kick puppies for fun.

There have been a few people over the years who are just so delighted to hear that I write, they make it worthwhile.  I love to talk to them about their favorite books.  Sometimes I even find a new series to read when discussing books with strangers.

If you write, don't be afraid to tell people.  Get used to it.  Someday you might even make a living at it.  Then you'll be glad you had all that practice saying it.  :)

Big Problem

WRONG BOOK AT KOBO

In an experiment gone awry I tried to do a pre-order launch for WIZARDS RULE at Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, etc.  Well, in order to do it, they want you to upload your manuscript early.  Problem was, my manuscript wasn't even finished yet.  So I put up SHIFTERS RULE in its place as a temporary place holder, you know?  I didn't see any harm in it as long as I got the right one on their before it was time for the books to go out.  Well--guess what?

The wrong book is still on Kobo.  People are upset, and I don't blame them.  Someone finally told me about the problem so I contacted Smashwords.  Hopefully they will get the right one sent to Kobo ASAP.

If you bought the book from Kobo and got the wrong one, please write to them and ask them for the most recent edition.  They should have it soon.  Thank you for your understanding and your patience.  I will never try to do a pre-order again.

Bloopers, Mistakes, and Screw-ups

Third Rock from the Sun

This is one of my favorite shows.  I have all the seasons on DVD, and I'm watching a Third Rock marathon right now.  I've noticed a few odd things.

1. Did Sally pick her own body or was she forced to be 'the woman?'  At the beginning of the series Sally complains several times that they made her be the woman.  Then later they talk about picking their bodies from a catalog and they act like she wanted to be the woman.

2.  Dennis Rodman makes an appearance.  The famed basketball star runs into the gang at a hardware store.  When he sees them he calls them by name, but later it is stated that they chose their names on purpose to blend in.  Tom, Dick, and Harry.  Get it?

3.  Is Dick Canadian?  At one point they mention Dick is from Canada (at least that is what his papers say, the papers put together by Tommy), but at another point they are laughing about other people being from Canada.

4.  A fake high commander takes over and replaces the real high commander.  How does this guy know everything about the world and how it works when the rest of them had to learn?  Did someone make him a cheat sheet?

5.  Why do they forget what music and dancing are?  When they first arrive on Earth, a song is playing on the car radio and they are bopping along to it.  But later when Harry joins a CD club, they act stunned when they start dancing around the room and don't know what it is or why they are doing it.

6.  What happens after Nina finds the alien curling iron that vaporizes things?  She finds it at the end of one season, but there is no mention it at the beginning of the next.

There are more, but I can't think of them right now.  Is anyone else a fan of the show?

Top Ten

TOP TEN REASONS TO READ BAIT (and the other Order of the Spirit Realm Novels)

1. Nick Gallos is a rock star slash vampire hunter.  I mean, come on, how cool is that?

2.  Bay-Lee is a Van Helsing.  Also awesome.

3.  Sometimes they cross over to the Spirit Realm to fight monsters.

4.  There is a banshee living among them.

5.  A dark prophecy is hanging over their heads.

6.  Mock Battles are epic!  Participating students fight each other, teachers, and sometimes even real monsters.

7.  Nick fights a Border Monster.

8.  A little girl says a monster is in her closet, and it isn't her imagination.

9.  Nick and Bay-Lee share a forbidden romance.

10. Wraiths are killing students on their birthdays.

You can find Bait here on Amazon.