Title Reveal and Sale

Posted by on Jan 16, 2015 in My Books | 10 comments

The wait is nearly over.  FF3 will be released soon.  I don’t have a date yet, but the book is currently with my editor, Shelley Holloway, and cover artist, Streetlight Graphics.  So it won’t be long now! The title of this new story is…  The Alchemist’s Flame. I’ll post again when I have a date and/or a cover to reveal.  Meanwhile, I have a sale going on. If you’ve fallen behind on The Final Formula story, now is your chance to catch up.  For a limited time, the last title in the series, The Necromancer’s Betrayal, is on sale for just $0.99–a savings of $2.  I should mention that in story time, The Alchemist’s Flame starts just a few hours after The Necromancer’s Betrayal ends. I’ve taken a different approach to The Final Formula series by alternating between novels in Addie’s POV and novellas in James’s POV.  James has a story to tell, and it will have a big impact on the overall series.  I know some folks aren’t fans of shorter works, so I try to bring readers up to speed in the beginning of each novel.  But I think it’s much more fun to watch the story unfold, then to be told what happened.  Just saying.  😉 Look for the novellas to get longer as the series progresses (The Necromancer’s Betrayal is twice as long as The Element of Death).  I hope you enjoy this slightly different approach to publishing a series.  Another perk of alternating shorter works with longer works is that I can release something new more frequently.  At least, that’s the plan. The Necromancer’s Betrayal is available at: Amazon | Smashwords |Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple Note – I have dropped the price on all retailers, but some are slower than others to update.  If your favorite retailer hasn’t changed the price, please check back later.  Some sites can take as long as 72 hours to make changes. Thanks for...

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The End – Finally

Posted by on Dec 27, 2014 in My Books, Writing | 8 comments

The end. I love writing those two words.  Finishing that first draft is one of the best feelings in the world, in my opinion.  It doesn’t matter how crappy it is, or how much editing it will take to make it readable.  I made it to the end—an accomplishment that frequently seems impossible from mid book. Last week, I got to write those two words again.  Yes, I finally finished FF3.  It’s off with beta readers now.  I’m afraid I won’t make a December release date as I was hoping, but it goes for editing in early January, and cover art mid-month, so it shouldn’t be too much longer. It frustrates me to no end that I can’t write faster.  Yes, I do have a day job and a family to take care of, but four months seems like a long time to write a first draft.  My writer friends assure me that the process gets, if not easier, at least more reliable the more you do it.  And though I’ve been writing for decades, I’ve only been taking it seriously for the last year. Back in September, I wrote a blog post about improving my method.  I decided to give outlining on honest try.  It certainly helped, but I’m a long way from mastering that technique.  Even if I don’t turn out to be the sort of writer who plots every scene ahead of time, I do think it’s incredibly helpful to have some kind of roadmap before I begin.  So, I’ll keep trying to find the method that works for me. Thanks for your patience as I find my way.  Hopefully, the next book will come together...

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Speaking English – Kinda

Posted by on Oct 24, 2014 in Random Ramblings | 6 comments

I sometimes joke that I don’t speak English; I speak Appalachian. Most folks don’t think Appalachia when they think Ohio, but the rolling hills in the southern part of the state are actually the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. I tend to use words like y’all and reckon (as in, I reckon I’ll go write a blog post now), though I try to keep a handle on it when I write. Last weekend, I hosted a writing retreat. My beta buddies Kendra and Lindsay joined me for three glories days of writing, but at one point, we did laugh about my accent. (Although Kendra’s Oklahoma accent wasn’t all that different.) The first time I noticed that I had an accent was in high school. My Girl Scout troop had gone to Columbus, Ohio to spend the weekend volunteering at the Ohio Special Olympics. We met other groups from all over the state, and people kept asking us if we were from Georgia. Nope, Southern Ohio (pronounced o-hi-a). We found the notion funny because we knew what a southern accent sounded like. All you had to do was cross the Ohio River into Kentucky (we lived right on the border). For some reason, the accent is much stronger there. Curious the way a physical boundary can make such a difference, even in our world of cars and bridges where a river in no longer a true boundary. When I decided to write a blog post on this topic, I did a little research. I wanted to see exactly where the boundaries of Appalachia were. I ended up on Wikipedia and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_English. I read through the article, and was shocked to discover that I really do speak Appalachian. Okay, not to the extent shown in the article, but I frequently hear a lot of people who do—especially the older generation. Words like wash pronounced worsh, or droppin’ the g in words that end in –ing. I’ve seen street signs with holler instead of hollow, or crick instead of creek. It’s not just how the words are pronounced, but sometimes the word itself. One of my favorites is substituting the word mango for bell pepper....

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The Series So Far Giveaway

Posted by on Oct 13, 2014 in Fun Stuff | Comments Off on The Series So Far Giveaway

Since it’s going to be a few more months before the next book releases (I’m still shooting for December), I wanted to do something to keep my name out there.  So I’m giving away an autographed set of the first four titles in the series.  This is a Goodreads Giveaway so you’ll need to enter over there.  You can find the entry page here. This giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where you live.  (Yep, I’ll even spring for international postage.)  Unfortunately, I only have one set to give away.  Don’t wait to enter.  Giveaway ends on Halloween (10/31/14). Good...

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Making My First Book Trailer

Posted by on Oct 2, 2014 in Fun Stuff, My Books | 3 comments

I’ve wanted to make a book trailer for a while now, so for The Final Formula’s first birthday (publication birthday), I decided to give it a go. I ended up having a lot of fun with this project, but there was a learning curve. When I started, I knew nothing about trailer making–or any kind of video editing. After studying some of the other trailers out there, I wrote a short script, then went in search of the imagery.  I dug through loads of stock photos and footage–what a time sink that was–and finally found some things I could work with. I wasn’t familiar with any movie making software, so I decided to use what came free with my computer. I highly recommend iMovie to anyone just starting out.  It was easy to use and gave the final product a, dare I say, professional appearance. I love visual media and wish I was more handy with such things. One of these days, I need to learn to use Photoshop. I’ve been into digital scrapbooking for years, but the software I use for that is a bit limiting. I think it would be a blast to make book covers, but that’s a project for another day. Meanwhile, I have a novel to write.  😉 So without further ado, here’s my trailer.  Hope you like it!  ...

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