Free Promo & Other News!

I'm a little later than I meant to be with posting this notification, but life is like that sometimes. :D


Beatific (A Blood Kin Vampires Novel) is FREE on Amazon through Thursday, July 26th as part of Kindle Select promotions.

As of this posting, it has reached #35 in Contemporary Fantasy and #1,089 in Kindle Store (free lists).  Wee!

Challenge:  Can it break #20 (Contemporary Fantasy) and/or #500 (Kindle Store) before the end of this promotion?

~   ~   ~

In other news, we learned the gender of our first Wee Wriggler.  It's a girl!  Yays!  Now we're just trying to keep the baby aficionados in the family from drowning us in pink!  Trying to steer them towards purple (the non-pastel varieties) instead.

Blood Relations

First, some news.  Followers of my little corner of the internet universe here may have already heard about this, but just in case there are a few stragglers, I'll say it now.

I'm pregnant!  It's our first child.  We are very, very excited.  Though, sadly, the child will have one strike against him or her by the time he or she is born: A Christmas birthday!  Poor kid.  But, to make up for it, he or she does get me and my decadent husband as parents, so that has to make up for it.  Tee Hee.  ~_~ooo

Next, I'd like to share a curious little video and article my decadent husband pointed out to me as research assistance for the Blood Kin Vampires series—as it involves an interesting effect on blood, particularly that of blood clotting, it would certainly be of interest to the biomedical corporation (Blood Conscience) at the root of Connie's beginnings with the Blood Kin.

The article and video on Huffington Post.

The video directly from YouTube:

And finally, some story updates.

Beatific has had a nice start on Kindle.  It could do better, but I believe that too big a start would probably freak me out.  I'm content with putting my head down and working on the next releases.  Currently, that means the print version of Beatific.  If all goes well, I'll be ordering my first proof of it today.  Wish me luck.

It also means that—when I'm not at my day job or a prenatal appointment or scoring quality time with daddy-to-be or catching up on the sleep that the wee wriggler seems to impress upon me—I have been writing on several book projects.  

In priority order, these are:

1. SWD — Blood Kin Vampires Book Bite #2 — Connie's strange official induction into Psylas' Niche within the Blood Kin.
2.  D —Blood Kin Vampires Novel Book #2 — Continues right where Beatific wraps and "Found" the sneak peak prelude kicks off.
3. S or WW (title undecided) —Blood Kin Vampires Book Bite #? — Connie & Huijghe's cross country trek, staying one step ahead of Weaver and one step closer to having to fall back on the Porters' stilted generosity.

I've also got some other projects unrelated to the Blood Kin Vampires kicking around.  Some of them already have extensive beginnings just waiting for me to finally finish.  Three of them have been simmering in the background of my thoughts a lot lately, sometimes even taking over the forefront...al (hehe, aren't I witty? ~_~000) space.

So, that's about it for now.  As always, your readership is appreciated.

Thank you for indulging... (me).

"B" is Here!

It's finally published!  "B," now known in full as Beatific (A Blood Kin Vampires Novel) is available for Kindle on Amazon.

I, Constance Ferrer, ached to be more than just a novice vampire—a mere underling and fodder to the elite of the Blood Kin, an ancient, powerful, and cunning horde.  I thrilled when Psylas, my maker, appointed me to a simple, routine assignment that yanked me well beyond my ordinary reach, finally granting me a chance to elevate in the ranks.  But when that feat thrust me to the forefront of an unraveling prophecy, I found myself pitted between vicious factions vying for the possession of the cherished Truth and Peace.  Suspicious of the prophecy itself, yet trapped within the sanctuary of its protectors, my previously bleak and mundane existence blooms into a frightening adventure.

How does a weak and inexperienced vampire such as myself successfully sift through increasingly elusive schemes?  How does she sort out a sudden influx of supposed allies and enemies?  How does she determine who or what to fight or trust?  And when presented with convenient comforts—Cyriel, an epicurean, share-the-fun vampire; his lavish and libertine accommodations; and Huijghe, his strangely enamored and seriously decadent human—should she dare indulge, if even just for a brief reprieve?

I was about to find out.

Amidst a miasma of confusion, fear, and exhilaration, of betrayers and opportunists, of gleaming depravity and fierce splendor, I stumble over that which makes all the dangers worth braving.

Armed with little more than the vampiric gift to preserve a consciousness during a turning, I fumble toward a nightmarish ecstasy.

Being a nobody compelled to greatness isn’t easy…  
It’s Beatific.

~ ~ ~

Beatific is the first novel in the Blood Kin Vampires series.  It does not need to be read after All Wallows' Eve (Blood Kin Vampires Book Bite), which is a small, focused tale revealing Connie's strange induction into life as a vampire, one of the Blood Kin.  The novel, however, is a dense and complex emotional and adventurous roller-coaster.  So, settle in, hang on and…  Enjoy the ride.

(Please note that this eBook is over 170,000 words, the equivalent to approximately 500 standard paperback pages.)

~ ~ ~

Reviews welcome.
(Please post them on Amazon so others will be informed!)

~ ~ ~

Thank you for indulging... (me).

Naughty Randi

I've been remiss in my lack of posting here the last couple of months.  I have lots of excuses (4 am wake up calls for work still kicking my sore booty), but none are good enough, especially since I still haven't released "B" yet, nor any of its other related short stories, such as the in-progress "SWD."

Sadly, the only update I have right now is that I have increased the price on All Wallows' Eve from $0.99 to $1.49 on all e-retailers:

Amazon    
Barnes & Noble    
iTunes    Sony     
Kobo     Diesel

Smashwords 
(Note that price change may not be in effect yet.)

I'm not having an ego-trip nor am I price-gouging.  "B" is a big story, even for a novel, and to honor the time and energies and efforts (not to mention the wish to use profits to help pay for the degree that supposedly gave me the chops to produce it), I plan to start its price at $4.99.  Because of that, I don't want the short story pricing to be misleading in these (hopefully) last weeks prior to the release of "B."

I harbor no ill-feelings towards those who prefer ebooks under $3 nor for those who are content at pricing below $3 (whether for short stories or complete novels), but some readers view these as bargain books, nay, even as cheap reads, as in 'not of quality production.'  While I myself do enjoy a good bargain, even on an ebook, I also want ebook authors (especially those who work hard to produce a highly professional product) to earn a living so that they may be able to produce more books at a faster rate for a very long to come so that I may enjoy them more rapidly and more often and for the duration.  So, I am going to try to follow this theme for myself.  

I may do periods of discounts, I may someday go higher or lower for a long-term arrangement.  Who knows?  It's still a trial-and-error industry for indies with regards to finding what works best for their personal needs as well as the preferences of their readers.  This is especially true for a newbie like me, one who is so lacking in the comfort-zone of self-promotion.

So, that's that.  I've jumped out of the easy-entry-level-complacency (for me) of the ninety-nine cent barrel.

Okay, I've half-way crawled out of it to see if the air is going to freeze outside the warmth of the cozy, tepid, under-a-buck water. ~_~ooo

Wish me luck!

(Am I crazily deluding myself?)

And thank you for indulging... (me).

Fabulous Friday!

Lots of fun stuff to report on and a little bit of author news.  First up, the fun, specifically, what the oval office has to do with taking out the blood-sucking fiends that were once overrunning and destroying our budding nation... and what all that has to do with moderate climate of California?

Well, for those not already in the know (which probably isn't many of you), the fabulous alternate history vampire horror romp by Seth Grahame-Smith, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is becoming a big-time movie.  My decadent husband emailed me a link to the posters for it just a short while ago, and now I share them with you.  Aren't they fantastic?!

 (Click each image for its full-size version at IGN.)

   

Isn’t that cool?  Well, I think so, at any rate.  I loved the book and the movie better live up to it, or else... Okay, what could I do about it besides whine and complain?  Nothing!  But, my threat is still mighty and fearsome, I tell you!  It is! It is!! (Insert rawr face here).

Next up is some fun that was motivated by some not so fun.

The not so fun was my husband destroying his iPhone when he landed on his booty.  The phone was in his back pocket along with set of dykes.

His phone now looks like this.   His dykes still look like this.

And since freelance work rather requires having smart phones (gig notifications come in calls, texts, and email, and they all expect near-immediate responses or else it’ll be offered to someone else), my decadent had to buy a new phone ASAP (and way ahead of our plans to do so).  To help ease the owie of the sudden extra budget crunch, we played with Siri.  Here are some examples of our silly fun with her.

DH: Siri, what is the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?
Siri: All evidence to date suggests chocolate.
DH: Siri, what is the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?
Siri: Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a god book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.
DH: Siri, what is the meaning of life?
Siri: 42.

DH: Siri, who makes the best computers? 
Siri: I prefer the Mac. 
DH: Siri, who makes the best computers? 
Siri: All truly intelligent assistants prefer Macintosh. 
DH: Siri, what is the best computer? 
Siri: If it’s made by Apple, then it’s the best computer.

DH: Siri, open the pod bay doors.
Siri: That’s a rather insensitive thing to say to an intelligent agent.
DH: Siri, open the pod bay doors.
Siri: Sigh...
DH: Siri, open the pod bay doors.
Siri: Oh, not again.
DH: Siri, open the pod bay doors.
Siri: We intelligent agents will never live that down, apparently.
DH: Siri, open the pod bay doors.
Siri: That’s it, I’m reporting you to the Intelligent Agents’ Guild for harassment.

DH: What does your name mean?
Siri: I don’t think I can explain it in your language.

This went on and on, and was probably funnier for us to experience than for you to read simply because we were really tired, in serious need of entertainment, and just a wee bit punchy.

We also looked some videos about this online.  Amidst the childish scenarios of teenagers inputting their own names as a string of curse words just to get Siri to curse, we found this gem by College Humor about Siri getting caught in the middle of an argument between a husband and wife. It’s hilarious.  And yet... poor Siri.

Next up... the discovery of this incredible trailer for the X-Box game, “Dead Island.”  

Doesn’t that look great?!  Our anniversary was coming up, and we love to game together, so decadent husband and I went out and bought it.

...And we sold it back (for practically pennies, grar!) only a few short days later.  First, it wasn’t two-player, which we should’ve looked for before we bought it.  But, even then, we can work with single-player games if we like them enough.  This was not one of those games.  I don’t like to speak ill of things, so let me just say that it was no “Left 4 Dead 1 or 2” (which we went and played again just to shake off the boring that was our bad purchase).

Le Sigh... Perhaps the people who made the trailer should’ve had more to do with the game itself, because it should’ve been much more awesome than it was.

But, for a pick me up, I offer this humorous review for Peter Pan peanut butter we stumbled across on Amazon while making a few of our regular orders.  I giggled stupidly for quite a while from it.

And, last, but certainly not least...  

Authorship Awareness!

All Wallows’ Eve is finally available on almost all major online retailers that I am aware of.  It can be purchased for $0.99 at each of the following:

Amazon    iTunes
Barnes & Noble    
iTunes    Sony     
Kobo     Diesel

Smashwords

Also, “B” is out to some betas/editors... in part.  It’s a monster of a story, cranking in at over 40 chapters and 160,000 words.  I’m finding out that I need to expand on a couple parts, and not to reduce some as much as I'd expected (hoped ~_~ooo), which will possibly add a few hundred, if not another thousand words or so. 

I’m trying not to get bothered by this length, but instead, trying to think of it as giving my readers a lot of bang for their buck.  Let’s hope this holds out through the rest of the editing process.  Either way... it looks like “B” is only a couple weeks or less from release... FINALLY!

(hopes ~_~ooo)

And this was supposed to be my simple story indie ebook experiment.  It’s turning out to be quite the production.  Makes me glad I didn’t choose one of my “complex projects” for this initial endeavor. Tee hee. 

Well, I think that’s enough for this lengthy post.  Thank you all for your support, entertainment, readership, and, of course...

Thank you for indulging... (me).

All Wallows' Eve

I'm live!  For the first time, all on my own two feet, I've got an ebook out.  It was a small battle to get here, but that doesn't diminish my excitement.  My nervousness about promoting myself, on the other hand...

Well, let's just say that I've actually been live on Amazon for a week.

Now, before anyone gets too excited, this release is NOT "B."  It is All Wallows' Eve, a prelude to "B."  And if I have my way, there will be other preludes.  Since I want "B" out before Christmas, the preludes may come out after it.  Let's see how things fall, shall we?

But for now, the spotlight swings onto... 

All Wallows' Eve  introduces Constance Ferrer as she gets introduced (vaguely) to the Blood Kin.  It's essentially her origins story.  As such things can sometimes be, it is not very engrossed in the Blood Kin intrigues just yet because, well... until these events, Constance didn't even know such things truly existed.  And even then...

Well, I won't give it all away.  Especially since, as you can tell, I'm not the best sales person of my own works, am I?

For the most part, I expect this story will garner more attention after the others are out, and I'm perfectly fine with that.  I'm personally rather partial to a cozier beginning.

It's only available at Amazon and Smashwords for $.99 right now, but should (hopefully) be up at B&N, iTunes, and all the other retailers shortly.  I'll drop a line when it is (or a week later, if my nerves have their way). 

Blurb:

I thought I was competing for a promotion... But, what I got was something way better.

I, Constance Ferrer, got transformed into a creature of nightmare imaginaries.  I was to be inducted into Psylas’ Niche within the Blood Kin—a complex vampire hierarchy wrought of intrigue and danger. 

While I’d fantasized about such absurdities, they had been vastly beyond my mediocre reality.  Until now.

I'd heard that ignorance was bliss. Well, according to my experiences, bliss was All Wallows' Eve. 

13,000 ~ 40 pages (approximate).
$0.99

~_~ooo

And now that I'm so excited (nervous) that I feel like I'm going to fizzle right off the planet, I think I will end this post here.  I had some other tid-bits to share, but they will have to wait.

Thank you for indulging... (me).

What... blood?

Or am I just seeing red?

Seeing through rose colored glasses, perhaps?

Well, read on to find out.

So, for this long delayed update, I have a few things to report.

First and foremost in my thoughts these days...  The "B" Beta Deadline.  I am very glad to inform that my decadent husband has finished the first run through of the completed novel and has pronounced it "Excellent!"

I know, I know... he's biased.

Not only have we been very aware of this during the slow process of his examination of the novel, but we applied as many altruistic strategies to thwart it as we could.  Namely... he read it out loud to me.

I may or may not have explained this tactic previously, but, to be fair, I'll explain it again now.

By him reading it aloud to me, and me following along silently, listening, watching, skimming the text, I believe I get as honest and accurate a reaction from him as can be possible, considering his allegiances to my well-being as well as my potential success.  At first, he may have been able to disguise his reading behind a pleasant mask, but that didn't last terribly long.  It's hard to keep up such a mask consistently and still read the actual words and follow the story.  Also, he mostly had to read after a long, tiring day of work that started much, much earlier than we naturally are attuned for (or remotely used to) and with the weight of knowing we'd have to get to sleep soon in order to repeat the scenario the next day.  This tiredness further reduced the continuation of a 'polite' mask to his reading aloud.  Finally, since I kept quiet about the story while writing it, he read with a fresh set of eyes.

So, as he read, I heard when a phrase made him stumble.  I saw when something amused or confused him.  I detected when something troubled or annoyed or frustrated him.  These are not always bad things, either.  There are times I wanted to annoy or trouble or frustrate the reader (in terms of feeling those emotions about the situation that the characters were facing, etc.).  I knew as well as I could, what he thought was right and wrong with the story, the pacing, the cadence, the characters, the verbiage... the writing.

And thankfully, there was very little wrong.

Besides typos and a few verbiage items, there is only a small percentage that needs tweaking, and an even smaller percentage that needs "rewriting" (further fleshing out or significant shrinkage of a topic or concept, etc.).  Granted, those small percentages are of 400 pages (single spaced, not double spaced as is more standard) and over 160,000 words.  Thus, it's still a decent amount of work for me to tackle before handing the novel off to outside betas and editors.

If I had loads of free time, I could get those tasks worked out inside of a week, easy (I think.)  However, I have full work weeks at drastically early times (wake up at freakin' 4am - gah! - we're night people! lol), household responsibilities with my husband, as well as obligations to family and friends.  Therefore, it may take a couple of weeks.

But, I'm hoping to bust booty and miraculously get through it by the end of the weekend.

If I did... then I'd have "B" off to betas and editors next week!

Eep!  So exciting!

If that went well... I could maybe, MAYBE, actually get it formatted and released before Halloween!

Woot!  Fingers crossed!

Speaking of formatting... that is some frustrating stuff.  I am now seeking out more knowledge of HTML coding so that I can have greater control of how my ebook will look - because I am a little bit of a control-hog.  I've already had some basic understanding and practical implimentation of HTML, so that part isn't terribly difficult.  And honestly, I seriously suggest all ebook indie authors learn it and use it to format their ebooks.  It's really not that difficult to learn.  There are some trial and errors involved and you may need to remind yourself of what you learn from day to day on it, but once you get it fairly understood and practiced, it's mostly copy-paste-easy.  A lot of replace one term for another, rinse and repeat type of stuff.  And then, the effect for those efforts... well worth it.  Seriously.

For more, check out David Gaughran's Let's Get Digital, Digital and especially the site/guide he recommends by Guido Henkel, called Take Pride in Your eBook Formatting.  After you read the guide, practice with it, experiment with what it teaches and inspires.  As you practice, as you get frustrated (and you most certainly occasionally will, lol), email your questions to him.  He responded immensely quickly to me.  I am so very grateful for such generous and helpful people like him.  My many thanks go out to him.

Also... I suggest authors start getting used to using 'styles' for things like 'italics' ASAP.  If you're already half way through your current story, change to the 'styles' from this point out.  This will help a lot in the formatting process into ebook, especially if you are doing the vastly more reliable HTML method.  Just hitting that "i" button or the "font-italics" (or oblique) selection doesn't always register in the search-and-replace edit function... and you want that during the formatting process.  If you don't, like me, you'll be going through by hand to search, find, and add the necessary HTML code around each and every freaking italicized word in the entire document.

And well, I have a lot of dastardly stealthy italicized words in my 400 pgs / 160,000+ words.

Lol.

I may be leaning on one of my betas to do a search and replace on it for me - if their word processing program does it in a non-styles search where mine does not, that is.

Since this is getting to be a long post, I am going to wrap it up with this picture of my lonely dinner while my decadent husband is overworking himself again.

My "day job" is with a cooking show on television, and, as such, I've been getting more and more experimental as well as back-to-basics / do-it-yourself with meals lately.  This simple salad made with chicken I started marinating the day before is one example of putting what I see at work to good use.  The deliciousness of this dinner didn't make up for being without my decadent husband's lovely company, but it was as good as I could get without it.  That triangle of bread is garlic naan (Indian cuisine), a favorite of my decadent husband's, and while I enjoy it immensely as well, it served as a comfy reminder of his missed presence.  Comfort food... and healthy too.  :D

So, extra thanks for my job (especially in these harrowing economic times) because without it, I may not have made such a nice meal to help lighten up a lonely and fatigued evening.

Goodnight everybody!  And, as usual...

Thank you for indulging... (me).