Countdown to SHIFTERS RULE: 14 Days

Shifters Rule will be released in fourteen days.  I'm getting excited.  Hope you are too.  I decided to start a countdown.  Every day (as long as my Internet connection works) I will post something about the books.  Maybe a little teaser on Shifters Rule and something from the first two in the series.  If you haven't read them yet, it's not too late.  Vampires Rule is free right now on Smashwords.  Plus, I am doing a Scavenger Hunt on Halloween here at the blog for some lucky people to win free digital copies of both Vampires Rule and Werewolves Rule.

 

14 DAYS

 

Here is something from Goodreads on Vampires Rule, a glimpse of a scene that someone loved so much they put it up on the site and five others Liked it.

 

“Stop!” she screamed. “Don’t hurt him.”

“Back off!” Billy shouted.

She yanked harder on Billy’s arm.

“He isn’t a vampire anymore, idiot. Look! Do you see that big, yellow thing up in the sky? That’s called the sun. It’s shining down on him, and he isn’t exploding. His fangs are gone. He’s as human as we are. Case closed.”

Billy stared up at the sky, his jaw slack. “Not possible.”

Jack mumbled, “They don’t call me Jackpot for nothing.”

“What?” Billy blinked at him.

“Private joke.” —          

 

 

Now for something from Shifters Rule.  I will give you a fact each day about the book to whet your appetite.

 

 

Fact #1:  Jack and Jersey are finally going to battle each other to the death.  How will it end?

 

It's war.  At least one major player will be killed.

Free Ebook: Vampires Rule

I just wrote this whole long thing out and Blogger wouldn't save it.  I don't want to do it again.

Anyone interested in reading Vampires Rule for free can find it here: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54214

This might be a limited thing.  I may raise the price back up in a month or two.

They don't call him Jackpot for nothing.

Seventeen-year-old Jack always beats the odds... at least until now. When a werewolf tried to kill him ten years ago, vampires saved his life. At first he was grateful. Then he realized he couldn't go home to his brother, couldn't return to his old life. Humans can become vampires; vampires can't become mortal again, but somehow Jack gets lucky. Like a cat, he always lands on his feet. He wakes up one morning without fangs, and the sunlight doesn't set him on fire. This is it, his dream, only it's real this time. What could possibly go wrong?

Enter a pretty hunter with dark secrets, a brother who wants to stake him just to be on the safe side, and a psychotic werewolf. Now we have a party.               

YA Indie Carnival: Being an Indie

This week at the Carnival we are discussing what opportunities, advantages, etc. being an Indie Author has given us.  My mind is swimming with chaotic visions.  Usually, I don't have any problem writing on a topic.  But there is so much to say on this one.  Let's begin.

What opportunities has becoming an Indie given me?

1.  More Books:  Publishers will not allow you to put out very many books at once.  That's why Stephen King published under an alias for a while.  People knew it was him.  No one writes like King.  After a while he dropped the charade.  In an article, he complained about the publisher, saying his agent told him the publisher didn't want him to flood the market with his books.  So what do you do if you can write five books in a year and the publisher will only put out two? 

You can put them out yourself as ebooks or print-on-demand books.  Even King has some books out as Indie works now.  Awesome!

2.  Cover Control:  Back when I was writing with Harlequin, I was not thrilled with how they did some of their covers.  I heard a few writers complain, saying they hated their covers.  Even though we (as authors) were asked to fill out paperwork for the art department, we didn't have any real input on the covers.  You just had to cross your fingers and wait to see your books.  When the box arrived, you held your breath as you opened it.  Sometimes you were over the moon.  Sometimes you were depressed.  A great cover can be the difference between lots of sales and limited sales.

Now when someone tells me they don't like my cover, it's on me.  I do have control over it.  In fact, I produce my own covers.  A lot of work goes into them.  Someday, when I run out of ideas, I will probably hire a professional.  But, at the moment, I am enjoying the control.

3.  An Eye on Sales:  When you publish in the traditional way, you have no idea how your books are doing.  An agent might be able to tell you something, but they don't have immeditate facts.  Being an Indie Author means I can check the sales myself.  If sales drop, I am the first one to know.

Recently, Harlequin re-published two of my books as ebooks.  It drives me crazy, not knowing how they are doing.  I have no idea.  It will be almost a year after the first one went up before I get a sales report.  Until then, your guess is as good as mine.

That's it for me today.  Check out the other Carnies below to see what they have to say.

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series	4.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
5.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog	6.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
7.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter	8.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
9.	Ella James	10.	Maureen Murrish
11.	YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings	12.	A Little Bit of R&R
13.	Melissa Pearl

Cover Reveal: SHIFTERS RULE

As promised, here is the cover reveal for Shifters Rule.  You voted and a winner was selected.  It was a landslide.  Only two people voted for the other cover.  So here it is... Drum roll please.

Thanks to all of you who voted!!!

Shifters Rule will be released on Halloween.

YA Indie Carnival: Importance of the Wolf Pack

This week on the Carnival, we are posting about the wolf pack.  In other words, the people who help us with our writing.  This includes Beta Readers, Editors, Graphic Artists, etc.  How important are they?  What would we do without them?

1.  Beta Readers:  I have no idea what I would do without these people.  They are wonderful wrapped in awesomeness.  Although I haven't always agreed with them, they get me thinking out of the box.  There are scenes that simply wouldn't exist without them. 

2.  Editors:  This is a must have.  Most of my editors work for free (people I know and others wanting to help), but I hope to have the money to hire some truly great ones soon.

3.  Graphic Artists:  I wish I could afford to hire one of these.  I've seen some covers that are so amazing they put mine to shame.  But, for now, I have to do my own.  I do think I've come a long way when it comes to creating covers.  Compare my first one (Vampires Rule) to my latest Bait and you will see a huge difference. 

I can't think of anything else to put.  Check out the other Carnies.  I'm sure they've come up with stuff to write about that I haven't dreamed of yet.

1.	Laura A. H. Elliott	2.	Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
		4.	T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5.	Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga	6.	Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
7.	K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed	8.	Gwenn Wright, author of Filter
9.	Heather M. White, author of The Destiny Saga	10.	Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
11.	Ella James	12.	Maureen Murrish
13.	Valerie Sloan	14.	YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings
15.	A Little Bit of R&R	16.	Melissa Pearl

Cover Reveal: NaNoWriMo

This is my cover for the upcoming NaNoWriMo.

What do you think?

What To Do Before You Write

I am getting ready to join NaNoWriMo for the month of November.  So I am working hard on plotting the book, setting up characters, and figuring out the different settings I will be using.  This is the hardest book I have ever worked on.  This is a book I have been trying to write for over three years.  Maybe writing it now when I have to push through the writer's block and get some major stuff done each day is not a good idea, but that's what I'm doing.  This whole month of October I will be putting together a huge folder with everything I need inside.  I have never been so organized.  I'll let you know later if it works out for me or not.  Here is what I am doing:

1.  Major Outline:  In the past I have jotted down a quick outline in a notebook, sometimes making index cards to help me on my way.  That didn't work out for me this time.  I had to make an extensive outline.  First, I took the ideas for each scene (one or two sentences) and turned them into huge paragrpahs.  Second, I added even more detail to each, adding pieces of dialogue and the emotions the characters are dealing with.  I want this outline to be so complete that writing the actual prose turns out to be a walk in the park. 

2.  Character Sheets:  I always fill out character bios, but this time I'm taking it a bit farther.  I am writing first person bios, filling in detailed sheets, and interviewing the characters.  I want to know them better than I know my own mother.  By the time I start writing this book, I want to know without having to think about it exactly how my characters would react in any given situation.

3.  Setting Sheets:  Usually I just write and figure out my setting as I go along.  But this time I am filling out sheets on setting.  I want to know exactly what every room and every exterior place looks like down to the last details.     

Now, I have printed off all of this stuff and put the pages in protective sheets so I can place them in a nice binder.  I'll let you know in December how it worked out.