Monday, December 31, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!



It’s the last day of 2012, so I’m gonna try to keep this brief...


First, make sure you come back on Wednesday for Alex J Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group.  I’m gonna post something positive this time around.  *GASP!*


Second, you have until January 2nd to enter the Innovative Online Book Tours Giveaway for one of 5 free e-book copies of The Mistaken.  Just click here and scroll down for the Rafflecopter entry.


Third, if you enjoy reviewing for book tours, visit the Partners In Crime Book Tours page for The Mistaken and email Gina to participate in my tour in March.  I’d love to have you along and read what you think of my book!


Finally, in the last few days, I’ve received a bit of critical acclaim for The Mistaken, both on Amazon and Goodreads, from friends and strangers alike.  Here’s a refreshing yet somewhat brutal 5-star review from Michael Offutt, plus a few from other Amazon Top Reviewers like Simone Lilly-Egerter, Wendy Hines, Gaele, Vickie A. DoldAnallee, as well as Pam Wyse and Colin Waugh

Ratings and reviews are exceptionally beneficial to authors and the sales of their books, so if you’ve purchased The Mistaken, I’d love to hear your opinion.  You don’t have to be nice, just honest!

For all my author friends who've rated or reviewed for me, I will return the favor.  It's quite the list and I'm a slow reader who's also an author with lots of marketing to do, so please be patient.  But I will get there.  Promise!


That’s it for 2012.  Thank you all for your support during one of the single most exciting years of my life!  May 2013 bring you all happiness, good health, and the answer to all your prayers.  God bless and…      

HAPPY NEW YEAR!





Wednesday, December 26, 2012

A Little Detour




I'm doing a little guest post on how I came up with the first line in my book,

Drop on by and leave me a comment!



Monday, December 24, 2012

SSP Merry Jubilee & the 2012 Blog of the Year Award



Just a couple of things before I break for the holidays.

First, from Christmas through New Year’s Day, Sapphire Star Publishing will be holding its Merry Jubilee.  They'll have 10 books priced at just $0.99.



Plus, they'll be giving away an Apple iPad 2 to one lucky winner!  

Contest will be run through Rafflecopter with entries for: 
  • Tweeting or FB sharing which SSP book they picked up for $0.99, shared from their Amazon page. 10 points
  • Share SSP's Merry Jubilee post on Facebook 5 points
  • Post list of books on blog 5 points 
  • Like SSP on FB 2 points
  • Tweet about the giveaway 2 points
  • Share the funniest gift you've ever received on SSP FB page 1 point
  • Share your New Year's resolution on the SSP FB page 1 point

Official Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway Prize:  One (1) Apple® - iPad® 2 with Wi-Fi – 16 GB – White. No purchase necessary. This contest is void where prohibited by law. Entrants must follow Rafflecopter instructions. One (1) winner will be picked via Rafflecopter and will be notified by email within three days of end of contest. If a winner is unreachable after seven (7) days, or if that winner is unavailable for prize fulfillment, an alternate winner will be selected.  Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received. Contest entrants agree to abide by the terms of these Official Rules and by the decisions of the contest commissioners, which are final on all matters pertaining to the contest. Entrants grant to Sapphire Star Publishing the right to use and publish their name online. All results posted are unofficial until winner responds to e-mail notification. Contest ends on January 2, 2013 at 12:00 a.m. PST.

Second, my pub sister, Nicky Wells, has bestowed upon me the 2012 Blog of the Year Award!


Do you know a blog that deserves an award? Do you have special blogs that you love to read? Which blogs do you bookmark and follow? Would you like to give them an award this year?  Then the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award is for you!

The ‘rules’ for this award are simple:
·        Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award
·        Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.
·        Please include a link back to this page and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)
·        Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them
·        You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience
·        As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

           
Yes – that’s right – there are stars to collect!

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once – this award is different!
When you begin, you will receive the ‘1 star’ award – and every time you are given the award by another blog – you can add another star!  There are a total of 6 stars to collect, which means you can check out your favorite blogs – and even if they have already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!


I’d like to pass the torch on to:
 
I pray you all have a very blessed Christmas
and a happy New Year!


Friday, December 21, 2012

It's the End of the World! Okay, Maybe Not...



As I sit here and write this post, I can’t help but wonder what the point is.  I mean, if I believe the apocalypse is actually going to happen today, then why go through all the effort to write something no one is even going to have the chance to read? 

It’s simple really.  Because my friends, Shannon Lawrence, The Warrior Muse and Chuck Farch of Apocalypse Now, are hosting the Choose Your Own Apocalypse Blogfest!  So why not go out with a bang?  Ahem…sorry.


That’s right.  The 5000 year Mayan calendar has come to an end and we are all doomed to die a fiery death.  Er…WHAT?  Who said it has to be fiery?  According to Chuck and Shannon:

While many people think the world really is going to end on Friday, the 21st, most of them can't agree on HOW. Will it be an alien invasion? Zombies? Collision with a mighty meteor? The super flu? Solar flares? Oh my, there are so many ways the world could conceivably end, but what we want to know is how you, yes YOU, think it will happen.

The rules are simple:
 
1. Choose your apocalypse
2. Sign up on the linky (see Chuck or Shannon’s blog)
3. Tell us how you prepared for your survival amongst everyone else's demise
4. Describe your apocalypse and how it's going down
5. Make sure the badge is displayed on your blog
6. Visit your fellow survivors and see how their world ended

Other than that, make it whatever you'd like!

Well, I had all kinds of silly ideas run through my head, the most self-indulgent of which was the earth being sucked into nothingness by the black hole that is my book.  Nyuk, nyuk, just kidding.  


Honestly, I’m not really a pessimistic person, so my gut tends to lead me toward a rosier kind of ending. 

Yep, I’m a person of great faith, and while I know the Book of Revelations talks about earthquakes, plague, pestilence, fire, and all that, I believe, if the world were to come to an end tomorrow, that God, in His infinite kindness and love, would allow the world and all the beings He created, to pass in an instant of blinding light, of pure love and total understanding, a moment where we are not afraid, when we are surrounded by loved ones who have passed before and all those we now hold dear. 


Sure, it might happen in an explosive nanosecond much like Creation, but we will be oblivious, totally unaware of any physical violence as our souls merge together into an army of empathetic consciousness. 

How’s that for optimism?     

How do you believe the world will end?    



Monday, December 17, 2012

You Can't Get There From Here



I’m on the verge of starting my second book.  And by that I mean, literally ready to sit down at my desk and type the whole thing out.  I’m almost done with my outline, which, in reality, is more like a first draft, albeit handwritten and sans setting and most dialogue.  But, even though I prefer to finish my outline before I get started, I’m a bit antsy and raring to go.

I think it’s because the story excites me so much.  But part of it’s because, even though I’m seventy-five percent done—and that doesn’t even include the climax, which I’ve already figured out in my head—I’m just not sure how to get that small remaining percentage down.  It’s only like maybe twenty percent of the story, yet, even though I know how it ends, I can’t quite see how to get there from here. 

I hope that sitting down and pounding it out from the beginning will enable this small fraction of the story to emerge and complete itself.  But I’m worried.  I’ve never been blocked before, and I’m not even certain this is actually what blocked looks like.  I mean, I sat down last night and handwrote another chapter.  And boy was I surprised.  It was so dark, so gritty, so violent and emotionally draining, I had to take a step back, it upset me so much.  That can’t be blocked, right? 

I’ve been worried about this for a while now, yet every time I sit down, I manage to progress, to move forward, to write another chapter.  And I still have plenty of notes.  But still, this veil shrouding my last few miles concerns me.  Hell, it downright disturbs me.  But I guess this is what writing by the seat of your pants feels like.  Right? 

I’ve heard being a pantser is freeing, but I don’t like it one bit. 


What about you?  Ever had your vision so cloudy,
you can’t quite determine the path your story should take? 




Wednesday, December 12, 2012

And the Winner Is...



The winner of my Goodreads Giveaway of a signed copy of The Mistaken is...

Alton Dean!



And thanks to all 1,035 of you who entered!








Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Last Day to Enter My Goodreads Giveaway!






Today is the last day to enter my
book giveaway on Goodreads.





Click here if you'd like to join nearly
1000 other people and
enter to win a signed copy of







Or click on the Goodreads button
on my right sidebar.



Monday, December 10, 2012

Interview: FINDING CLAIRE FLETCHER's Lisa Regan

(Scroll down or click here for my entry in the
Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest.)



I’M SO EXCITED!  Thursday was the launch of Finding Claire Fletcher, the poignant tale of a young woman who was kidnapped at the age of fifteen and held captive for ten years.  This incredible novel of love, loss, and hope was written by my very best friend, Lisa Regan.  (Read my review of FCF here.)

I was lucky enough to have read this book as a critique partner a couple of years ago, and since then, I’ve read it an additional three times.  That’s how much I love it!  I know you’ll love it, too.  As a preview, I’d like to give you a bit of insight into Lisa and her novel so you can see just how wonderful and talented she really is.  So here is an interview I conducted.  Enjoy!  

Why the obsession with missing children?

I think it was from being bombarded as an adolescent by missing child stories.  Jacob Wetterling and Jaycee Dugard were both abducted within two years of each other and the news coverage was extensive.  Certainly something I’ve never forgotten.  Right around that time, that TV miniseries I Know My First Name is Steven about Steven Stayner came out and that had a big impact on me.  I was the same age as Wetterling and Dugard and I think it was a that-could-be-me kind of thing that started the obsession.

You’ve been writing since you were a child, so what is it about Finding Claire Fletcher that made you want to seek representation and a publishing contract?

It was the first thing I wrote that had a discernible plot!  As an adult it was the second novel that I finished.  In my first novel I was trying to do too much.  But FCF was pretty simple: girl is abducted.  Here’s what happens.  Man tries to find her.  FCF seemed much better written than everything that came before it.  I just had this feeling that after all those years of trying, I had written something worth reading.

How long was it from the day you started writing Finding Claire Fletcher to the day you finally signed your publishing contract, and was there ever a time you just wanted to give up, tuck Finding Claire Fletcher into a drawer, and move on?  If so, why didn’t you?

I started writing it sometime in early 2004 and I signed my contract on 4/3/12 so it was eight years from first word to contract.  If I had a dollar for every time I wanted to give up, I wouldn’t have to work.  Yes, there were times I wanted to put FCF into a drawer.  There were times I felt like I should put it into a drawer and move on.  But Claire’s voice was so compelling to me that I simply couldn’t.  The whole time I was writing it, I felt like she was standing behind me with her hand on my shoulder, whispering the words into my ear.  She became like a real person to me, and I felt like I owed it to her to see her story through.  Maybe because she represents all the children who have lived through an abduction whose stories most people turn away from.

What is the most important lesson you learned during this time between writing and publication?

Ask for help.  When I was growing up, I approached so many teachers asking for help or direction with my writing, and I was consistently blown off.  So by the time I started writing as an adult I had a bit of a chip on my shoulder.  I didn’t want to ask for help because I was sure no one would give it.  But my college professors were wonderful, and, later, after I started querying unsuccessfully, I found plenty of other writers willing to help me (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).  Unfortunately I didn’t have critique partners or beta readers until after I started querying for FCF.  I really believe if I had gotten the type of feedback I got between 2006 and 2010 from CPs and betas before I sent out my first query, my journey would have been a lot shorter.  Plus this is not a journey you want to take alone.  You need other writers to support and encourage you—only they can understand the unique misery you’ll experience.  Get involved in a writing community—in person or online and accept their help and support.

Do you think the subject matter in Finding Claire Fletcher made it a hard sell, and why?

Absolutely.  It’s the element of sexual assault that makes it a hard sell.  I’ve found that murder and dismemberment are easier for people to deal with than rape.  But I purposely did not want to shy away from it.  It happens to women all over the world every day.  It is real, and it is damaging.  We shouldn’t pretend it doesn’t exist.  We shouldn’t minimize it. I think that would be a disservice to women (and men, too) who are recovering from it or have survived it—and their loved ones whose lives are also affected by sexual assault.  You know, Diane Sawyer asked Jaycee Lee Dugard why she went into detail about the sexual assaults she suffered at the hands of her abductor in her memoir and Dugard said, “Why not look at it?  You know, stare it down until it can’t scare you anymore?”  I think that is incredibly brave. 

With real-life cases like Shawn Hornbeck, Elizabeth Smart, and Jaycee Lee Dugard  so well-known, why do think the Big Six turned Finding Claire Fletcher down on grounds they thought it unbelievable that a kidnap victim allowed to leave her prison would not seek help from the authorities?  

Well obviously I can’t speak for the Big 6 but I think the real issue is that most people have a hard time believing the real-life instances.  I think a lot of people look at kids like Hornbeck, Smart, and Dugard and, in the back of their minds, there is a nagging question as to why they didn’t try to escape.  What people don’t realize is that, first of all, these were children.  Do you remember how you felt when you were 11 or 14?  Do you think you would have been equipped to handle being torn away from everything you knew and systematically tortured, both physically and emotionally for a sustained period of time?  Because make no mistake—what happened to these kids was torture.  Second, they were completely terrorized and broken down by their captors.  By the time people see them on the news, they’re grown up.  They look like and they are now adults.  People forget that they were just kids when they were taken.  So I think a lot of people want to say, “Why didn’t they just walk away?”  But no one looks at a Prisoner of War and says, “Why didn’t he just bust out of there like Rambo?”  They are kids and they’ve been tortured.  I think that’s the point people miss.  But to answer your question, some publishers may have reasoned that if people find it hard to swallow that real life kids don’t leave at the first opportunity, then they won’t buy a fictional account.

After all the hard work getting Finding Claire Fletcher a home, what’s been the most difficult part since? 

Managing my time.  I had no idea that this part would be so busy!  Don’t get me wrong, I’m ecstatic and euphoric.  It has just been hard finding time for everything on top of working full-time and raising a child.  But I wouldn’t have it any other way!

What can we look forward to next from you?

More of the same!  LOL.  Well there is Aberration which comes out on 6/6/13.  It’s about an FBI profiler working on a serial killer case where she turns out to be the object of his affection.  The WIP I’m working on now is about a single mom who is a detective in Philadelphia investigating a series of sex crimes.  After that I had planned on working on a new book that would have Connor and Claire in it, but we’ll see how successful FCF is—if people like it, I’ll bring Connor and Claire back.  If not, I’ve got a few other things up my sleeve, but whatever it is you can count on dark and gritty. 


Thanks, Lisa!  As part of the Finding Claire Fletcher Blog Tour (12/6 - 12/21), Lisa Regan will be giving away:

·        $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
·        1 signed copy of the paperback of Finding Claire Fletcher
·        1 e-book version of Finding Claire Fletcher

All you have to do is visit the Finding Claire Fletcher Blog Tour & Giveaway page and comment on that page letting Lisa know whose blog you’ve just come from.  Each commenter will be assigned a number and then the winners will be chosen using random.org.  Winners will be announced on 12/24/12!

And please stop by Lisa’s tour to learn more …

Lisa’s Blog Tour:

12/6:    Emily Unraveled
12/7:    Bards & Prophets 
12/10:  Nancy S. Thompson 
12/11:  Cassie Mae
12/12:  Melissa Maygrove 
12/18:  Julie Flanders



Find Lisa here:





Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest!



Welcome to the Cheers, Cavanaugh Blogfest.

Here’s the lowdown:


Have you ever attended a holiday party where you bump into the one person who's always been there for you throughout the last year? You’d want to thank them for being incredibly stellar, right? If there’s one person in the Blogosphere who you would want to say cheers to, who would it be?

For us, it was a no-brainer - Alex “no hyperlink needed” Cavanaugh!

Without being asked, Alex has become a blogging enigma, always helping hundreds of his fellow authors by announcing book releases, hosting guest posts, guest interviews and always leaving positive comments. We can’t have a live party for the Ninja Captain, but we can host a yuletide BlogFest!

Hosted by Mark KoopmansMorgan ShamyDavid Powers King and Stephen Tremp, this blogfest will run from December 10 - 12!

On those days, answer these four questions as creatively as you'd like:

·        In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like?
·        In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary (living or dead)?
·        In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of?
·        In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:  Cavanaugh, Ninja, IWGS, Cosbolt, guitar

Here are the rules:

·        Be a Follower
·        Join the Linky List
·        Post your 200 word contribution       
·        Have fun?

I chose to write my entire tribute below as a piece of flash fiction, clocking in at 199 words.
Interpret it as you will.  I just hope you enjoy it, Alex.  Thanks for all you do!  XOXO
~ Nancy

Your Pain is Self-Chosen

A single light shone down onto the darkened seven-inch high platform The Cosbolt referred to as a stage.  A narrow triangle of smoke-filled air glowed above a lone performer’s head.  He sat on a wooden stool, one foot propped up, a guitar slung across his knee.  His chin lowered, his short, dark hair glistened like a halo.  As he raised his hazel eyes to the black space before him, his broad shoulders lifted, and he drew in a measured breath. 

Silence surrendered to gentle strums of the metal strings and soft vibrato of Cavanaugh’s recorded voice, a perfect rendition of Layne Staley’s Nutshell.  His gaze held firm to the dark form of the actress playing his wife, sitting four feet away at a small round table.  A knowing smile split her ruby-red lips and a flash of white dazzled the music ninja as the lyrics trailed away and the music ebbed. 

He mouthed I love you before the light above faded.  The hushed crowd, still cocooned in darkness, erupted into untamed applause and howls of admiration.  Spotlights flickered on, illuminating the red IWSG banner behind the stage.

The director yelled, “Cut!  Thanks, Mr. Jackman.  You’ve done Alex proud!”  


       

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Writers4Writers Debut Campaign & More!




The big day is finally here!  Well, actually, I'm a few hours early, but I have friends on the other side of the world, so I thought I'd get started.  And really, it's a two-fer, at least for me, so before I get started on the Writers4Writers campaign, I wanted to remind you that Thursday December 6th is launch day for Lisa Regan’s debut novel, Finding Claire Fletcher I’ll be conducting an interview with Lisa on Monday 12/10, but head on over to her place for details on her tour, giveaway, and prizes!  Don’t miss it!

Now, for my big news…

Today marks the debut campaign of Writers4Writers.

Hosted by Stephen Tremp, Mary PaxC.M. Brown, and Christine Rains, this group’s mission is to:

  • Help writers bring awareness of their book(s) to tens of thousands of new people
  • Help writers reach Amazon Top 100 in at least one category (i.e., suspense, free, whatever)
  • Increase sales of their book(s) after the promo is over
  • Drive new traffic to their blog and increase following
  • Create verbal and viral buzz

In a nut shell, the spotlighted author—this week it’s me and my book, The Mistaken—will be promoted via Twitter and Facebook.  I’ve posted pre-written Tweets below. At your convenience, simply copy and paste whichever Tweets you prefer into Twitter.

Or go to #W4WS and Retweet other Tweets.

Imagine, a hundred bloggers over a few days, Tweeting and sharing links for the featured books, reaching potentially tens of thousands of new people!  I know I’m excited, and goodness knows, I can use the help. 

So choose your Tweet below and have at it.
I’ve arranged them by categories:

Stephen’s Tweets:

  • The Mistaken is a first-rate thriller ~Kevin O’Brien, New York Times Bestselling Author http://ow.ly/fMJ12 #W4WS #Download #read Please RT
  • The Mistaken is a fast-paced and emotionally gripping thriller http://ow.ly/fMJdD #W4WS #book #ebook #story #amreading Please RT!
  • The Mistaken is a deliciously slow burn that builds to a ferocious crescendo http://ow.ly/fMJsX #W4WS #fiction #thriller Please RT!
  • Nancy S. Thompson’s The Mistaken: the hell of revenge, the hope of redemption http://ow.ly/fMJDQ #W4WS #novel #Kindle #ebook Please RT!

Tweets from reviews:

  • Amazon review for @NancySThompson's The Mistaken: “Fast-paced & wildly entertaining” http://ow.ly/fKeC3 #W4WS #ebook #amreading Please RT!

  • Amazon review 4 @NancySThompson's The Mistaken:“Wow! I was completely hooked from page one!” http://ow.ly/fKfcw #W4W  #amreading Please RT

  • Amazon review 4 @NancySThompson's The Mistaken: “Total excitement from start to finish.” http://ow.ly/fKeMO #W4WS #Kindle #ebook Please RT

  • Amazon review 4 @NancySThompson's The Mistaken:“Wow! I was completely hooked from page 1!” http://ow.ly/fKfcw #W4WS  #amreading Please RT!
  • Amazon review 4 The Mistaken: “A dark & twisty plot. Great first book by this new author. More please!" http://ow.ly/fRDEz #W4WS Please RT

Tweets with quotes:

  • "I was no longer a man simply broken. I was destroyed."The Mistaken http://ow.ly/fKeg6 #W4WS #thriller #Kindle #ebook #amreading Please RT
  • “It was the saddest look I’d ever seen in a man’s eyes & I knew I was the cause.” The Mistaken http://ow.ly/fKeuL #W4WS #ebook Please RT!
  • “At the sight of her, months of rage & bitter loneliness blazed to fiery life.” The Mistaken http://ow.ly/fKfX8 #W4WS #Kindle Please RT!

  • “I faced down every facet of the monster I’d become & vanquished him forever.” The Mistaken http://ow.ly/fKeAN #W4WS #Kindle Please RT!

Bonus Tweets:

  • He doesn’t know her, but he’ll find her & when he does, he will make her pay ~The Mistaken http://ow.ly/fKe8X #W4WS  #Kindle Please RT!

  • The Mistaken by @NancySThompson A psych-thriller w/ great reviews, fast-paced page-turning action http://ow.ly/fKe2D #W4WS #ebook Pls. RT


Thank you all so very, very much for your support!
I absolutely could not do this without you! 




If you're viewing this in its web version, click on the Goodreads Book Giveaway on the right sidebar to enter to win a signed copy of The Mistaken or click here if you're on a mobile device

And don't forget to head on over to Lisa Regan’s place for details on her tour, giveaway, and prizes!


Finding Claire Fletcher:



IWSG: Reflections, Frustrations, Gratitude, & Advice



It’s the first Wednesday of the month.


Today is my birthday, the last before I hit the cringe-worthy half-century mark, and here I sit, six weeks passed  The Mistaken’s debut, and I’m feeling a little…oh, I don’t know… deflated, perhaps.  I know, this is a marathon, but still, the momentum has eased and I’m working hard to regain it.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect following the launch of my book, either from me, or from the book itself.  What I’ve learned is something I’ve heard many times but never truly took to heart: 

An author needs to connect with readers.



That probably seems fairly obvious, but I’ve spent most of my time connecting with other writers.  This was done out of necessity, you see, to learn all I needed to someday get published.  But that journey went a bit faster than I anticipated, and I didn’t take the proper time to make more connections, the kind I should’ve made in order to help sell my book.  Writers make great friends and give wonderful support and advice, but, for the most part, they're not really buyers.  Readers are buyers.

I could blame it on my genre, talk about how hard it is to break into anything that’s not romance or YA, but that’s only partly true and, frankly, comes off as whiny.  And I’m tired of whining.  It doesn't help a dream come true.  So now it’s time to buckle down and make those reader connections. 


I’m not quite sure how to do that, but tomorrow, Writers4Writers, the group led by Stephen Tremp, Mary PaxC.M. Brown, and Christine Raines, will be lending me a hand and featuring me and The Mistaken on its debut campaign.  Participants will join in and help bring awareness to my novel and hopefully increase sales, as well as drive new traffic to my blog, increase my following, and create a verbal and viral buzz.  

Besides that, and in addition to those my publisher has arranged, I’m lining up my own regiment of book reviewers to read, rate, and review The Mistaken on their blogs, GoodreadsAmazon, and the myriad of other reader resources, because...

Reviews and ratings are the fuel that drives sales, so authors, like me, crave them.  

I’ve been learning all about Amazon algorithms and what it takes for a book to make an Amazon list and how beneficial that is to future sales. It’s quite a science, it seems, but what it comes down to is…I need readers, those willing to shell out $3.99 for the ebook, who will rate and hopefully review on it Amazon. 

So let my naïveté be a lesson to all you pre-published writers out there.  While difficult, the hardest part is not writing the book, or landing an agent, or signing a book deal.  It’s finding those readers who will hopefully be interested in your book.  So while connecting with other writers is beneficial and extremely gratifying, connecting with your potential reader before you even launch is downright critical.

    
Do any of you have words of advice or wisdom for this anxious author?
I sure could use it!

If you’re interested in the Writere4Writers promotion tomorrow,
please feel fee to sign up using the Linky Tool.
I could use that, too!!



Tuesday, December 4, 2012

FROM HEL, WITH LOVE Book Trailer



Hel hath no fury like her Raven scorned...

All hell is breaking loose. The first ever true born Fallen Valkyrie, Raven Aquilus, and her motley crew find out that the guardians of the Nine Gates of Yggdrasil are being murdered one by one, landing them in the middle of an ancient war between the Valkyries and the Fae.

FBI Paranormal Agent Duncan O'Brien is brought in to investigate the brutal murders, but he is completely blind to the fact that he has landed in a Eldr Dygo's domain. Time is running out and Raven must enlist Duncan and his team to help discover the killer before she loses another one of her precious Guardians.

Duncan is the epitome of control, but even he is not immune to Raven's beauty and magnetism. Raven is an enigma wrapped up in the body of lust, and attracted to a human. Both must fight their emotions to work together.

Raven faces losing everything from her life to a new found love in order to save the Underworld from being ruled by a jealous half-breed.

Welcome the XIII Hour™ series. Betrayal, Lust, Love, Murder, Jealousy and Revenge. The faery-tales that your mother never told you about just came true.




Native of Santa Maria, CA, Blue Remy is the author of The XIII Hour™Series, and the raw, gritty series Twisted In Love. When she’s not writing, Blue lives to ghost hunt whenever she can, which tends to help her imagination and outrageous character ideas.

She was first introduced to the paranormal world through her Grandmother and her haunting bedtime stories. Blue then found the Grimm’s Faery Tales, and fell in love with spinning wild stories about the evil characters that everyone hated, giving them their own past and history to be told. Blue is a total fan girl when it comes to anything Wonder Woman. She collects Living Dead Dolls, rubber duckies, Sugar Skulls, stuffed animals and tarot cards which she is an adept reader of.

Blue currently resides in the paranormal hub of the South with her husband, who feeds her gourmet coffee and cupcake addiction.

Blue Remy is a member of The Paranormal Romance Guild.


Find Blue here: