Cursing, Book 1 of the Angie Faust series is now available!
I went with cream-colored paper, which is easier on the eyes but thicker. At 1.3 pounds the book could also serve as a paperweight.
Still a free read for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, but then you have to use your ebook reader as a paperweight.
I can't help but think of this song: Paperback Writer
Oh, yeah, so what about readers who might want to read these stories and laugh at these jokes? Who are they and how can they find my books? It turns out it's possible to answer these questions, at least I hope so!
Here are the new covers on the ebooks for the Josephine Fuller mysteries. thanks to Sharon Lipman at Fantasia Book Covers for designing them and Peggy Elam at Pearlsong Press for putting them up on the net. (You may notice that the paperback books have different covers. Long story short: paperbacks change more slowly.)
A slain designer of plus-sized clothing, a killer now stalks Josephine,
A Top Secret safe cleared out and an admiral kidnapped in San Diego. The family doesn't want him back and someone's targeting Josephine to keep her from getting answers.
Mrs. Battle’s Vampire Survival 101 class comes to a screaming halt when they encounter a werewolf in the midst of a field trip to San Francisco Airport. The moon is full and the hot-blooded werewolf begs to meet Sir John Falstaff. The werewolf is on a desperate rescue mission and the vampires old and new agree to help him.
I love the cover by Julie Nicholls.
This short story was originally published in the Awethology Light
Valkyrie on Planet Fury, coming soon...
What a long, strange trip it’s been. While we were discussing possible images, typefaces, etc., Julie reminded me that a cover has only a few seconds to tell the browsing reader what the book is about and lure them to look closer.
Book covers can even change the book for the author. Halfway through writing the first book about Sybil--Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone, I encountered a pre-made cover from James at GoOnWrite.com. It was so evocative that it even changed the character while I was writing. Once I fell in love with that cover, Sybil had to have red hair.
Fast forward a year. When I came to Julie to do the cover for Valkyrie on Planet Fury, I explained that Sybil would be going to the House of Darkness, where the rulers are the Furies, professional hit women who wear snakes in their hair.
Julie nailed it with lightning speed—also with actual lightning, as you can see from the cover. She’s a genius!
I'll let you know more soon.
Why?
Math has never been my strong point, but those who keep track of the publishing business report that hundreds of thousands of books are now being published every month. Or maybe that was billions every hour, the numbers are so cosmic that I don't dare take my focus off of writing fiction to count 'em and weep. How is any given book to get noticed? Particularly a self-published book with no budget for advertising. This is an obsession with me and I'm constantly seeking ways to do that.
Writing a short story in the same "world" as the novel is supposed to help. Check. See my free short story Valkyrie in the Demon Realm below. All experts agree that compelling covers are essential (more on that next week)! The Demon Realm story has a new cover. Checked that box.
The story of Sybil's adventure just after leaving The Forbidden Zone is told in Valkyrie in the Demon Realm. Still free in all formats.
Some experts say writing more books helps. I'm doing that, well, basically it's done. A new book Valkyrie on Planet Fury is on its way. Featuring Sybil from Planet Valkyrie, it's in the editing stages--watch this space to see the stunning cover next Monday.
I've decided to go all-Kindle on both books so that Kindle Unlimited readers can sample it free. I'm checking off tactics as fast as I can. Still not at checkmate, but it's not for want of trying.
I am honored to announce that I contributed The Falstaff Vampire Werewolves which takes the reader on a hunting trip to the San Francisco Airport with a Vampire 101 survival course on a collision course with a werewolf on a desperate mission. My story found a place in the Awethology Light, now available and suitable for readers of all ages.
The other flavor is Awethology Dark, for adults and also available Free!
Rule 1. You must write. Got it. I could do that.
I got hung up on Rule 2. You must finish what you write.
I could not finish writing a short story to save my life. I was pretty messed up in my personal life in those days--trying to get out of a religious cult without losing my religion, drinking too much, alternating dieting and bingeing, doing temp work and walking around talking to the wall a lot. My best friend told me, "You say you want to write, why don't you write down what you say when you talk to the walls."
I did. Three years later I finished my first novel, a sensitive story of disillusioned youth. Totally unreadable. I would blush to even tell you the title--even that was beyond bad. But I finished writing a novel and I liked writing novels. I had found what I was meant to do for better or worse. I've since written nearly a dozen novels, many of which have been published.
I've also written lots of short nonfiction. (Even ghost wrote a nonfiction book, although I signed a contract not to talk about it.)
But I would have sworn that it was beyond me to finish a short story. It seemed like in the time I wrestled with a short story I could have gone ahead and finished a novel.
Until last week.
Somehow I wrote and finished, and published a short story Valkyrie in the Demon Realm! It's free on Amazon and in other formats. Check it out if you feel like it. What the heck, the price is right! It's based on the short novel Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone.
I'm writing another short story (vampires this time) very close to finished.
It took a few decades, but I feel pretty good about that.
I to prove that sometimes less really is more.
Writing is a lonely business and most of us handle that well. You have to be comfortable talking to imaginary people in your head in order to do it at all. But we’re human, we want other people to read and enjoy our work. Engaging with actual humans can be hard because we aren't sure they'll be nice to us. We're supposed to be "competing" for readers. Actually readers are addicted to fiction, so they can probably consume more than all of us combined could create. It takes way longer to write a book than to read it! But that doesn't stop the anxiety and self-doubt.
So you ask yourself: How to prepare? What if they are so much better than I am? FYI, some of them probably are, but if they’re snooty about it, screw them. Actually nobody proved to be snooty at this event. Au contraire, everyone was warm and welcoming with no necessity to retort or retreat.
A couple of people who participated on April 12th were surprised and touched at the supportive nature of authors to each other. Michael J. Elliott’s posted about his experience.
The kindness of strange authors was less surprising to me because I have seen so much support, knowledge-sharing and mutual aid among authors in the past, particularly in mystery circles such as Sisters in Crime and the DorothyL list. I've also been to marvelously supportive events through Pearlsong Press. But last Sunday the interaction was both real time and extended, through fast-moving discussions on Facebook and Twitter that stayed up for responses to contribute hours later.
The giveaways and contests were managed by the amazing DM Cain and Rocky Rochford.
I put together a semblance of a competition to give away a copy of Gravitas: Valkyrie in the Forbidden Zone. There were no takers. If nothing else, this amused me (ya know, "can't give it away and all that").
Those who want free stuff from me will have another chance if they sign up for my new mailing list--another thing I was inspired to try. Sign up here for new book and free story info.
The verdict: A good time was had by all, friendships forged and future projects launched. Also, I was totally trashed for a couple of days but that goes with the territory!
Larger Than Death
Large Target
At Large
A Ton of Trouble