Announcement: General News

I've been really lax about my blog this week, which makes me feel badly but the truth is, though I enjoy the blogging, it always falls by the wayside when I'm really busy with other things. So what am I so busy with? Well, how about the following:

1. Creators is now available from other retailers! You can purchase it at Amazon, Kobo, or Barnes & Noble! For now, my other titles are still exclusive to Amazon, but that exclusivity expires on all three of them in March, so throughout that month I'll be adding the books one at a time to Kobo and B&N.

2. I'm working on a romantic dramedy serial called Committed, which will be released under my Anne Wentworth pen name. It'll be 8 episodes long, and it centers around Ella, who is a week away from her wedding day and busy dealing with a disaster each day leading up to her wedding. I'm working with the awesome Carrie at Cheeky Covers on the cover, so some of my time has been spent looking at designs and stock art for the perfect cover. I have a couple of advanced readers lined up, but I could use more eyes. If you're interested, let me know on my Facebook page.

3. I'm planning on releasing paperback copies of The Eye of the Beholder, and I've been tinkering with Createspace, trying to get a feel for it. I'm extremely happy to say that I'll be able to keep the original cover, but I'll need to give the designer some additional information about the size of the book, number of pages, etc. so that a print version of the cover can be created. Before I can do that, I have to nail down the formatting, so I'm planning on doing some tinkering with that over the next week or so. I'd like to have the paperback out by February.

4. Lot and lots of promotions. I was a part of Elle Casey's anniversary giveaway, and am in the process of contacting the winners of copies of Contributor and Creators. I have another promo coming up at the end of the month, this time for The Eye of the Beholder (be sure to check my giveaway page--more details will be coming soon). I've also been scheduling some promotions for Phoning It In.

5. Setting up my mailing list. It's ready to go at last! Subscribing to the mailing list will give you access to the following:

• Members-only giveaways
• Extended excerpts
• A quarterly newsletter
• Notification of new releases

There will be no spamming with my mailing list, just pure, awesome goodness. You'll receive less than 10 e-mails a year from it. I'll set up a separate mailing list for my serial so that I can let readers know as the episodes become available.

So, as you can see, my plate is pretty full of lots of good stuff.

One last note: I now have 11 reviews for The Eye of the Beholder on Amazon, and some of them have made me so happy. Last night, I saw this new one, and I am flying high. Disclaimer: I don't expect everyone to love my book, but every review I receive helps me to become a better writer. Plus, I can't say how much it means to me to see readers taking time out of their busy days to not only read one of my books, but write a review of it. You, dear readers, are awesome!

Monday Musings: Back in the saddle

While spending the last week on the couch did wonders to make me feel better, it really did nothing for my email inbox or any of my other online obligations. So I apologize for the disappearing act and will try hard to catch up.

Despite my sinus infection's attempts to beat me into a pulp, I did manage to remain productive last week, doing some more edits on my Kindle, so my schedule for Phoning It In is still a go. I'll be hitting "publish" by December 22, for sure. The closer it gets, the more excited I am, because I'm really looking forward to seeing what readers think of the novel. Depending on how it does, I'm even thinking about doing a sequel of sorts, though I'd focus on one of the secondary characters.

I've got some big things coming up over the next couple of months. First up, I'll be featuring an interview exchange with T.S. Welti. Early in 2013, I'll be participating in a group speculative fiction promo. During that promo, The Eye of the Beholder will be one of 18 books available for $0.99. I'm also looking at expanding my use of Google+, and setting up a mailing list so that I can keep fans up to date on new releases, as well as offer some extra goodies such as members-only giveaways, character naming contests, exclusive excerpts, etc. Stay tuned for more details on that.

So there's a brief post to bring you up to speed on what's coming up. Once Phoning It In has been published and I take a break from working on novels, the blog will return to regularly scheduled programming and will feature some book reviews, etc. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things!

Why Sci-Fi?: Introducing J.A. Huss and T.J. Hudson

Welcome to the last day of Sci-Fi Spotlight week!  I've teamed up with a great group of indie authors of science fiction to run a promo that ends today.  You can snag 15 books for free and another 15 books for a mere 99 cents.

Last but not least, I'd like to introduce you to today's authors:

Why Sci-Fi for J.A. Huss?

"I write science fiction because I am a 100% science nerd. I enjoy everything about science, I have two science degrees, I write science textbooks for my main business, and I’m just an all-around nerd.  When I first started thinking about Junco as a character in my series she scared me.  She’s not anything like the girls I see in books today.  She’s bad, she’s got a filthy mouth, and she enjoys her job.  (Which happens to be killing.) I wrote this series because I like this kind of complex, slightly insane character. So basically, I write SF for me."

Be sure to get your copy of Clutch for 99 cents today!

For more on J.A., check out her trailer on YouTube, become a fan on Goodreads, like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, read her blog, and visit her website.

Why Sci-Fi for T.J. Hudson?

"I write science fiction (and fantasy) because my mind won't let me do anything else. You can blame my geeky background for that.

There are millions of fantastic stories out there. It does not matter what format; prose, film, theatre or any other, a good story is a good story. I do, however, find myself drawn to those that step out of the bounds of our world. This can be a step into the past, future or even a side step into an alternate reality. What these stories do is let characters address conventional problems from unconventional angles. Sometimes these will be pure flights of fancy, other times they fly very close to this world; and it is this speculative fiction where things get really interesting."

For more on T.J., like him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, become a fan on Goodreads, and check out his website.

Why Sci-Fi?: Introducing T.S. Welti and Cate Dean

Welcome to day three of Sci-Fi Spotlight week!  I've teamed up with a great group of indie authors of science fiction, and we're running a promo from now until November 30.  You can snag 15 books for free and another 15 books for a mere 99 cents.

So, without further ado, here are today's authors:

Why Sci-Fi for T.S. Welti?

"Since I was very young, I've always loved sci-fi films and dystopian novels. Some of my favorites include Minority Report, The Matrix, The Giver, Brave New World, and 1984. More recently, some of my favorites have become Inception, Wool, and Delirium. However, I was never a big fan of high-tech science fiction. I often felt myself overwhelmed or bored with the technology. When I set out to write Darklandia, I set out to bridge the gap between a futuristic sci-fi film and dystopian fiction. I can't tell you how weird it feels, seven months later, to read the reviews and see my book being compared to so many of my favorite films and books."

You can pick up a copy of Darklandia for only 99 cents!

For more on T.S., like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, or check out her website.

Why Sci-Fi for Cate Dean?

"I grew up reading what is now called speculative fiction: fantasy, epic fantasy, sci-fi, the paranormal and the supernatural. So it was no surprise that I ended up writing that type of book. Though I head more in the direction of the paranormal and fantasy, I LOVE time travel stories. I consider those sci-fi, because they involve some kind of science, however farfetched. Choices is my first foray into time travel, originally written for a contest. It is a story of redemption, forgiveness, and making choices that change . . . well, you’ll have to read the story to find out. ;)  Thanks for hanging out with me, and until next time – read on."

You can pick up a copy of Choices for free!

For more on Cate, like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, become a fan on Goodreads, and check out her website.

Why Sci-Fi?: Introducing Saul Tanpepper and Anna Kyss

Welcome to day two of Sci-Fi Spotlight week!  I've teamed up with a great group of indie authors of science fiction, and we're running a promo from now until November 30.  You can snag 15 books for free and another 15 books for a mere 99 cents.

Today, it's my pleasure to introduce you to two other authors.

Why Sci-Fi for Saul Tanpepper?

"I love Stephen King’s works. So when a fan of mine asked why I write sci-fi, my natural response was to say I write horror.

“Computer codes, viruses, hacking,” she countered. “Hi-tech, biotech. Nope, GAMELAND is definitely sci-fi. Cyberpunk. Even biopunk.”

She was right. My past life in tech informs my writing. It’s therefore unsurprising that dystopias and the Undead populate my stories. Zombies are highly metaphoric of human overreaching. I guess I prove the old adage, “Write what you know.”

Which is horror science fiction."

You can get a copy of Failsafe for only 99 cents this week, and you can also pick up a copy of the first episode of the Gameland series, Deep Into the Game for free!

For more on Saul and his books, like him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, become a fan on Goodreads, and check out his blog.

Why Sci-Fi for Anna Kyss?

"I never imagined myself a science fiction writer until I stumbled upon near-future novels. Dystopian literature fascinates me: the myriad of ways that we could destroy our world, the frightening extremes that governments could go to, the questions raised about existence itself. The vast majority of dystopic worlds depict stark, destroyed urbanscapes, which led me to wonder… What if the setting of the dystopian occurred in nature—a false utopia of sorts, in which the beauty of the location hid the secrets of the society? From that single question, Cerulean was developed. And another science fiction writer was born."

Cerulean is only 99 cents this week!

For more on Anna and her books,like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, and check out her website.

Why Sci-Fi?: Introducing Christine Pope and Tony Bertauski

Welcome to Sci-Fi Spotlight week!  I've teamed up with a great group of indie authors of science fiction, and we're running a promo from November 26-November 30.  You can snag 15 books for free and another 15 books for a mere 99 cents.

Each day this week, I'll feature some of the authors whose books are a part of the Sci-Fi Spotlight.  I hope this will help you, my readers, discover great new authors and books you'll love.

I'd like to kick this week's blog feature off with my own answer to the question:

Why Sci-Fi?

  

All good literature has the power to make us think, to shake the foundation of the things we believe, but I think good science fiction has a particular power to make us look ahead.  It forces us to consider the future impact of current events, and to think deeply about how those events will shape our future.  It makes us question how we want our world to look, and it makes us think about what we can do to ensure our world will look that way.

Contributor is only 99 cents this week!  You can also pick up a copy of Creators, the prequel novella, for free on Tuesday, 11/27, and Wednesday, 11/28!

Why Sci-Fi for Christine Pope?

"I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy. I adored those books, but even back then, when I probably wasn't the most analytical reader in the world, I noted a serious lack of strong female characters or interesting romantic relationships. So Blood Will Tell was inspired by the space opera I loved so much, but with a romance at the heart of the story. I guess I just wanted something with spaceships and explosions and kissing!"

You can grab a copy of Blood Will Tell for only 99 cents this week!

For more on Christine and her books, like her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter, or check out her website.

Why Sci-Fi for Tony Bertauski?

"Santa is not just about the presents. I wanted to get past that and see something deeper about this mythological figure. A story that’s more meaningful. For me, science fiction has always made me see life a little different. Perhaps a bit more clearly.

Claus: Legend of the Fat Man finds a cast of gritty, compassionate and courageous characters that make the journey to mythological fame despite their shortcomings and frailties. It pulls away the veil of magic, reveals the difficulties of love and loss and our struggle with life.

It’s not about the presents. It’s much more than that."

Get your copy of  Claus for only 99 cents this week, and you can also grab a copy of Tony's The Discovery of Socket Greeny for free!

For more on Tony and his books, like him on Facebook or check out his website.

Monday Musings: My head is cluttered

This month, I feel like I have this nonstop shot of adrenaline coursing through my veins.  There's just so much going on, and it's tough to keep up with it.

My biggest source of anxiety is the fact that I'm juggling two novels right now.  While I'm very anxious to get Phoning It In out, it was also important to me to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, so Phoning has been shelved for the time being.  I will get it out by the end of the year, though, and I have a cover all ready to go.  I'm itching to do a cover reveal, so it's now just a question of deciding when, exactly to do that.  Feedback and suggestions on that front are very welcome!

As for NaNoWriMo, the manuscript is coming along nicely.  I made it over the 10k mark today, so I'm very pleased with my progress.  I set a goal of 3,500 words per day, five days a week.  Trying to write every day really stressed me out last year, and I've noticed that, lately, I get a bit twitchy when I don't write.  The problem with trying to make a career of being an author is I find it hard to just relax and unplug at times.  I always feel like I should be doing more work, so I'm making a conscious effort to treat this like a regular job, with certain hours being "work" hours while other hours are exclusively for family time, including weekends.  This does ease things for me.

That aside, I'm having a lot of fun with Asleep, though it is hard to drown out my inner editor at times.  I usually have a lot of anxiety when I write my first drafts, and I tend to think a lot of what I've written is bad.  This is why NaNoWriMo has been so invaluable to me.  It's taught me to push past those moments, get the words down, and then go back and polish things up later, and I think my writing is the better for it.  It's not always an easy thing to do, but it has definitely made me a much more productive writer. 

What's been really great about NaNo so far is feeling these characters come alive.  I had a pretty vague idea of what they would be like, and did a bit of planning the last few days of October, but I admit I'm mostly pantsing this one, and I'm really happy with the way things are working out.  I'm also developing a bit of a crush on my male lead, so hopefully I won't be the only one who finds him loveable!

I'm very excited to announce that, this Thursday, I'll have my very first post on YA Indie.  If you haven't taken a look at the blog yet, be sure to stop by.  A great variety of authors participates, and the blog features lots of great posts. 

That's it for me for now.  Stay tuned for details on the Phoning It In cover reveal, as well as details about a late November promo that's in the works.  I'm really excited about it as it'll not only help me reach out to a broader audience, it'll help introduce my readers to some other amazing authors.  Happy Monday!