It’s Monday. Things are cooking. *looks all mysterious* In the meantime, have another Postcard from the Shadow’s Edge… 😉
How was your weekend? Mine was busy. And this is going to be a crazy week so probably another week of low profile. I’ll catch up soon. Promise!
Writers tend to be solitary creatures. We live in our imaginations, occupy writing caves, and carry on conversations with the voices in our heads. Many of us are shy. A few are socially awkward. Still, if the word goes out that someone needs help, writers are usually the first in line.
By the same token, writers depend on the goodwill of others–the reviews and rankings, the word of mouth spreading of news of releases and sales. Most of us would write even if no one ever picked up one of our books. Why? Because those darn voices in our heads would drive us crazy!
This little “blurb” from the Universe showed up in the ol’ inbox not too long ago. When rooting around for a blog topic for today, I came across it.
Acts of kindness, Silver, however small – a smile, a compliment, a helping hand – plant seeds of hope, love, and beauty in a spectacular garden you’ll one day call home.
Talk about “Miracle Grow,”
~~The UniverseIn the meantime, Silver, I’m enjoying the heck out of ’em.
I look back at acts of kindness others have performed for my benefit and I’m humbled–by the people and the acts both. I’ve tried to follow in those footsteps. I want to offer encouragement and helping hands as I journey through this life. I want to sow seeds along the way so there are wildflowers of love, hope, and yes, even beauty, planted in my words.
Thank you, all of you, who stop and smell the flowers as you journey to other places, too. Happy Wednesday. Happy September. Happy first day of the rest of our lives. And no, don’t ask why I’m all maudlin and serious and shitstuff. I have no clue…well…other than I’m embarking on a chapter of my publishing life and the idea terrifies me just a little. But y’all have my back so it’s all good.
I’m trying something new where the Penumbra Papers are concerned. (Not that I enjoy procrastinating or anything! Shhhhhhh….)
I thought I’d make “postcards” out of some of the memorable lines from the books. People can pin them on Pinterest. Share them on Facebook and Twitter and Google+. And hopefully, just enjoy them. Since THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC is off in the magical hands of the formatter, I thought I’d start with the opening to the story.
There will be more as time goes by. And with any luck, it’ll be back in my hands by the end of the week and I can start figuring out how to upload it places besides Amazon. Anyway, welcome to the Penumbra Papers and the world of Sade Marquis. Her best friend turns furry. Her godfather is a master vampire. And her mother was once the mistress of Oberon, King of the Faerie Court. As Agent In Charge of the FBI’s MAGIC Unit, her life is full of things that go bump in the night.
Who had fun over the long weekend? Besides working, I’m reading Loreth Anne White’s PIECES OF YOU. It’s a taut romantic suspense set in a small Canadian ski resort. OMG! But back to work for me. SEASON OF THE WITCH waits for no writer! 😉
[Photo copyright: iofoto.com, used by permission bigstockphoto.com, design copyright 2013, Silver James]
Don’t forget to pass the word along to anyone who might enjoy a quick mystery read or a longer paranormal thriller read. CAFE MIDNIGHT and BLOOD MOON are free today only on Amazon (midnight to midnight PST, September 2). Here are some tweets/FB posts with links you can cut and paste, or you can simply click on the covers!
A dead body. A burned out cop. Sherlock Holmes?. What can go wrong? CAFE MIDNIGHT http://www.amazon.com/Cafe-Midnight-ebook/dp/B00EHZ4H58/ #freebook #Amazon #Kindle
A burned-out homicide cop. A mysterious diner. A dead body. What could possibly go wrong?
When that cop is Joe McGwire? Everything. Back on duty after a shootout where his partner died, Joe and his best friend, Insomnia, hit the streets. Drawn to a diner called Cafe Midnight, Joe walks into trouble.
Welcome to Cafe Midnight, where the coffee’s hot, you can still smoke, the payphone costs a nickel, and famous detectives hang out looking for a case.
This short story is a fond homage to film noir and the detective novels of the last century. It’s a tongue-in-cheek tale about a hard-driven homicide detective and the denizens of the dark he meets while investigating his latest murder.
Mac & Hannah. Match made in heaven or will all hell break loose? BLOOD MOON http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Moon-Moonstruck-ebook/dp/B0080UST5K #free #Amazon #Kindle #moonstruck
Winner of the International Digital Awards for Paranormal Short Fiction.
Army Major Hannah Jackson knows where the skeletons are hidden at the Pentagon and now she’s been tasked with keeping the secrets of Army Special Sci Ops Unit 69—the Wolves—and their secret is a doozy. That a civilian corporation wants to exploit the Wolves is a matter of pressing concern.
Sergeant Major Ian McIntire doesn’t trust Hannah as far as he can throw her—and that’s quite a ways considering he’s an alpha werewolf. The woman is a pain in his butt and with the Blood Moon coming, the unit needs to complete their mission and get home before tempers flare. While she might know most of their secrets, the one she doesn’t know about the moonstruck Wolf might just get them all killed.
When a covert operation goes wrong, Mac must trust Hannah to save his men—and his heart. Secrets, lies, and betrayals are more personal under the full moon, but when a Wolf loves a woman, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.
I’m laboring today. Edits on SEASON OF THE WITCH because THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC has gone to the formatter! *happy dances* Enjoy your day!
It’s Friday. Monday is a holiday here in the States. Labor Day. That means a long weekend and lots of big sales. I’ve never quite figured out why Labor Day = Sales. Or President’s Day for that matter. Or any other day/weekend that retailers decide to make their associates work crazy hours.
I’m not big on shopping. Hate it, in fact. Black Friday? I’m sleeping late and catching up on my reading. Cyber Monday? That might catch my attention so long as I can connect with a site but the minute my computer runs slow or the website won’t load because of traffic? Nope. I’m outta there.
So, if I hate shopping, why am I talking about sales? Because I decided to put CAFE MIDNIGHT and BLOOD MOON “on sale” come Monday. For 24 hours, both will be free. Spread the word. Let your friends know.
I plan to watch baseball and work on revisions and edits of SEASON OF THE WITCH this weekend. What about y’all? Any big plans? Small ones? Good times ahead?
THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC is working its spell on me, and evidently on the Universe, too. In the past week, I’ve had two messages pertaining to magic show up in the ol’ inbox. MAGIC is off to the editor and I have hopes of getting it out to the formatter over the weekend after final copy and line edits. I’ll also be back at work on SEASON OF THE WITCH. I need to get it to the formatter ASAP so I can get it to CreateSpace for printed ARCs. I’m going to make my deadline, because…magic! It’s all around me. And so are the magicks of the world of the Penumbra Papers.
In the meantime, here’s what the Universe has to say about things!
Remember, Silver, you’re always granted lots of leeway, wiggle room, and tolerance when engaging life’s magic.
You pretty much just need to have a dream and show up, then wands start waving all over the place.
Abara-shazaam!
The UniverseAw-w-h… I love magic, Silver.
and then, this:
Some claim not to know, not to see… but, Silver…
That there are birds who sing at every hour of the day for no other reason than to be heard…
Creatures of the deep who flip and twirl just for the fun of it…
“Furry friends” who love just as dearly as they are loved, and…
Flowers so exquisite, pleasing human eyes could be their only explanation… must surely prove that you’re living in the most magical fairytale ever imagined. N’est-ce pas?
Tallyho,
The UniverseAnd those are just a few of the miracles you know of, Silver, swirling about you in the unseen, at this very moment…
See? This could all pertain not only to my life but to the Penumbra Papers. 😀 I’ve got to get back to work but, I want to know. What’s something magical that’s happened to you lately?
Perfect timing. Serendipity. Kismet. Good luck. Being in the right place at the right time.
Call it what you will, sometimes we have it. Sometimes we don’t. This seems especially true when it comes to publishing. When a manuscript arrives and the stars are aligned, all of the above happen. Usually, though, we have to change the batteries in our watches and make our own luck.
I’m working on that with this new series. I let too many others dictate the path of this project and now I’m in charge. It’s scary. In a bad way. But that’s okay. I’m working through revisions. THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC is turning into a stronger story–stronger plot, stronger characterizations, stronger writing. S’all good! And since I’m head’s down in the revision process, here. Have a link I forgot to put on the to-do list from Monday. I love pictures like these Perfectly timed photos.
Which one is your favorite?
I left the two polls I posted last week up as promised. Eighteen people voted. Thank you! Here’s the tally.
On the subject of newsletters: 10 people (56%) might sign up, 6 (33%) love them, and 2 (11%) hate them. The jury is still out on this one. At some point, I’ll probably revisit the subject and consider doing periodic newsletters and perhaps offer special content or something in them. Not sure yet.
When it comes to “Special Facebook Pages” dedicated to series and/or characters, 13 voters (72%) would rather get info from my author page, 4 (22%) would click to “like” a dedicated FB page, and 1 person (6%) isn’t interesting at all. So, that’s pretty darn definitive. I’ll continue with character pics and trivia on my regular author page. This works for me! (Because…LESS WORK for me! :lol:)
Again, thanks to everyone who voted. Now, to the stuff. The reports on THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC have been beyond favorable. I think I may be onto something with Sade’s shenanigans and the hunky magicks she has to put up with. This makes me go all SQUEEEE and happy dance. I have loved these characters and this series for so very long and I have to admit, it feels really good to be “vindicated” by my readers.
Warning, my interaction on social media may be limited for the next week or so as I really knuckle down to work. I’ll be around and I’ll drop in to check on folks even if I may not comment on my blog visits. And I’ll try to drop hints on FB and Twitter, but bottom line? I’m excited and I WANT to throw myself into these two project. I can play once they launch. Right? Right! And play I’m going to! I have so many plans, like a bio page for the characters, and a “wiki” of the characters, settings, races, and realms. I am soooo looking forward to the fun of that. Can you say procrastination? Sure you can. And since you can, I want to know what’s your favorite way to procrastinate?
Well…dang. My to-do list of last week didn’t quite get finished. 😦 I would have marked off everything but for a couple of wrestling sessions with HTML code on the OKRWA site–and by a “couple”, I mean two days’ worth! *sigh* Oh well. Today, the rest get done. The good news is, THAT OL’ BLACK MAGIC is out with the beta readers. My CP has returned her edits. I hope to be working on them this afternoon. Tomorrow, I have every intention of opening the files for SEASON OF THE WITCH while waiting on beta reader reports.
In the meantime, here’s a to-do list for y’all! I haven’t done a Linky-Link List in awhile so here! These are awesome. You’ll want to take the few minutes involved to check them out. Seriously! Have I ever steered you wrong? 😉
In the meantime, how was your weekend? (I’m not talking about mine. My lips have to be sealed for awhile. 
1. NINE LOST CITIES THAT HAVE BEEN FOUND
2. 9 COMMON MOVIE MISTAKES that drive the author (and ME!) nuts.
3. GAME OF THRONE CHARACTERS AS CATS. If you love this series, you must click through on this. I laughed hard enough to scare Adidas! 😉
Now go forth and be productive this week! *wanders off in search of more coffee*
NEW RELEASE
NEW RELEASE
NOW AVAILABLE
