Quick Update!

Hi Everyone!

This is a quick, drive-by post. I'm sorry things have been so silent--there's just a lot going on. None of it is writing-related, I'm sorry to say. I'm trying. I really am. For some reason, though, pregnancy has shut off the creative part of my brain. I've tried to write--I even got a few paragraphs down on paper last week--but it's *so* bad. There is a project, it's just not getting worked on. I'm really looking forward to finding my voice again, but I'm okay with waiting until baby is here to get it back.

In the meantime, if it's not related to preparing for baby, or staying on top of things w/ the day job, or related to my other kid--it's just not happening. I'm okay with that, too. Good news is, I'm in the final stretch. :)

If you haven't seen the tweets, THE GUARDIAN is actually free right now. My gift to YOU for being so awesome and hanging with me during this craziest of years. I'm not sure how long it will be free, but it's up on Kobo, iTunes, and Amazon. Go forth and download.

I also can't believe how many messages I've gotten related to COLLATERAL DAMAGE, and how people didn't realize there was an alternate telling of CROSS MY HEART, so if you stumbled here looking for the "sequel to CROSS MY HEART," there's not a sequel, but you can hear Parker's side of things in COLLATERAL DAMAGE. Maybe I can do a better job of promoting once baby arrives. :)

And speaking of COLLATERAL DAMAGE, check out this awesome fan piece from @BenderDreamerG:

I love this on so many levels--it's not even funny. *Everything* is here. Makes me giddy to see it. :D

So . . . Thank you for creating, @BenderDreamerG!

If there's anything else, I'll drop in to let you know. Otherwise, expect a "maternity leave" notice within the next month. :)

Enjoy your weekend!

~K~

P.S. Forgive any typos. I lost the "proofreading" part of my brain when the creativity side jumped ship. :)

Indie Life: Being Flexible

Things change. They change at the speed of *light* in the Indie world. What sells one day, might not sell the next. The advertising approaches that worked last month might not work this month. The algorithms that worked their butts off for you for the last release might not show up for the latest release. It's important to keep a clear head, remember why you signed up for this roller coaster of an Indie ride, and continue to hang in there (as long as it's something you love to do).

 

Anything worth having is worth working for. 

Indie = Being Flexible

Because being Indie doesn't have to mean going it alone.

JOIN US FOR INDIE LIFE!

Hot New Releases!

Hot New Releases! 

 

UNDERTOW

by Leigh Talbert Moore

 

Falling in love will pull you under...

 

-Bill Kyser has a plan to take the sandy farms of his hometown and turn them into a world-class tourist destination--and become a billionaire in the process. 

-Alexandra "Lexy" LaSalle has a plan to change her life by becoming a world-famous artist. 

-Meg Weaver has a plan to hold onto Bill no matter what she has to do.

 

Three friends, three dreams.

One fatal decision will change all their lives forever.

 

In Dragonfly, Bill Kyser gave Anna the three journals that held the story behind the powerful developer's seclusion and the damaged lives of his family members. 

 

Anna hopes to find a way for Julian to know the truth, but as she digs deeper into the tragic events of the past, she realizes silence could be the only option. 

 

Now she's in an alliance with the man she formerly feared. And if Julian finds out what she knows, she could lose for good the boy she's starting to love.

 

PURCHASE LINKS:

 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/15IW1ep

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/15fYMBP

Kobo: http://bit.ly/15fJcWM

iTunes: http://bit.ly/17fVcZK

Paperbacks on CreateSpace: http://bit.ly/18yKqTb

Amazon PB: http://amzn.to/137pBpE

Design and Upload Your ePub: The Steps to Your Success

 

This guide will cover several types of e-book design software and help you navigate the upload process for all the major vendor sites: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks.

In addition, learn basic and more advanced coding and design techniques to make your novel unique, interactive, and beautiful. We'll cover e-book format conversion, epub validation, coding for interactive elements, and much more.

Episodes 8 & 9 plus the full season.

What’s your life worth on the open market? A debt collector can tell you precisely.
This dark and gritty future-noir is told in nine episodes across the first season. Now, the final two episodes of the Debt Collector serial by Susan Kaye Quinn have been released, along with the full Season One!

Available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, iTunes

First Kiss

VL. Virgin Lips. You may not have heard of it, but where I live, it's a thing with a card, even if it is a figurative card. I was Brooklyn Hamlin, certified virgin lips, and I planned on clinging to that figurative card with all I had--while dating as many of the hottest guys at school as I could.
Maybe that's a bit strange. I mean, what teenage girl isn't interested in kissing? Locking lips definitely interested me, but the drama that came with it didn't. No kissing, no drama. Simple.
But on my sixteenth birthday, on my first real date even, the drama found me. His name was Luke Graham--cute, funny, and bad news for the whole female race.

Only .99 cents

Amazon
 

Stolen Kiss
Episode #2 of Confessions of a 16-Year-Old Virgin Lips

With my VL card gone, my flickering light of hope lay with Ryker, someone else who'd caught my eye. Only he could erase the memory of Luke, the boy who lip-raped me. Unfortunately, Luke was determined to keep me, or at the very least, ruin me.

Stolen Kiss link- only .99 cents

 

Amazon

Guest Post

I'm over at the Indelibles blog today talking SUMMER, so be sure to stop by and tell me your fav. summer read!

~K~

Indie Life: You Are Not Alone

I normally try to post quick advice on these "Indie Life" days.

Today, however, I'm thankful for posts and "blog hops" like these that prove I AM NOT ALONE. I'm thankful for groups that band together and help each other through the thicks and thins of independent publishing. I'm thankful that, on the whole, the writers in this business are 100% willing to share their advice and experiences.

They keep us informed and ensure we don't make some of the same mistakes.

Indie Friends make Indie Life a whole heck of a lot easier.

Hot New Releases!

June releases by Indelible Authors
 

CROSSING
by Stacey Wallace Benefiel
 

 

Due to heavy subject matter, Crossing is recommended for readers 17+.

He stole her lipstick…and her heart.

Twenty-year-old Dani Walker can’t believe her luck when she’s paired up with the gorgeous Liam Garrett as her Acting I scene partner – or when he ends up in her bed. Being a Plain Jane with a mouth on her hasn’t exactly served Dani well in the guy department. In fact, she’s had nothing but one night stands. Still, she lets go of her insecurities and falls for Liam, despite feeling like he’s holding something back.

When Dani finally discovers Liam’s secret, she must learn the true meaning of accepting the ones we love for who they are, or risk losing the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

Amazon Kobo B&N itunes smashwords ( *75% off for the month of July!)

 

 

CHOKE
by S.R. Johannes
(book 2 in the Breathless novella series)

When Eria escapes her home in the Biome, she uncovers more about her
features and specifications as a HumaNot. Following her father's
instructions, Eria embarks on a journey into a dangerous and unpredictable world.

Along the way, she encounters a young rebel, Dirk, who explains he's from the Anarchy, an underground human resistance rising up against the BOTs--advanced man-made robots gone wild. Together, Dirk and Eria battle underground serpents, desert dingos, sand storms, and advanced Bots that are always hot on their trail. As they become closer, Dirk reveals his hatred of machines, forcing Eria to hide the secret of what and who she really is.

When the truth of her identity comes out, Eria is forced to become the very thing she hates the most.

 

Amazon

LOVE, TINK
(the complete series)
by Elle Strauss

 

Enchanted meets Peter Pan in Love, Tink.

Tink is hopelessly smitten with Peter, the leader of the lost boys who'd mysteriously arrived at Neverland two years ago. Unfortunately, Peter is tired of the adventure and especially tired of dodging Captain Hook who is after his head. He just wants to go back to New York City and live his life as a normal fifteen-year-old.

Tink is the only one who can help Peter return, but it breaks her heart to do it. She just wants to make him happy, so she does the unthinkable and betrays the fairy king. Now her heart is filled with remorse. Should she go after Peter? Should she follow him to his New York?

Originally published as six separate novella episodes, Love, Tink the complete series is all six stories together in one volume.

Amazon Kobo itunes smashwords (coming soon to Barnes and Noble)

DRAGONFLY

by Leigh Talbert Moore

 

“Gossip Girl meets VC Andrews in this contemporary family saga. Love, lies, and betrayal become the new normal when Anna enters the world of Jack and Lucy Kyser.” –Magan Vernon, international bestselling author of The Only Exception

 

Three bad things I learned this year:

-People you trust lie, even parents. 

-That hot guy, the one who’s totally into you, he might not be the one. 

-Things are not always how they appear.

 

Three good things I learned this year:

-Best friends are always there for you, even when they’re far away. 

-That other hot guy, the one who remembers your birthday, he just might be the one. 

-Oh, and things are not always how they appear.

 

Anna Sanders expected an anonymous (and uneventful) senior year until she crossed paths with rich-and-sexy Jack Kyser and his twin sister Lucy.

 

Pulling Anna into their extravagant lifestyle on the Gulf Coast, Lucy pushed Anna outside her comfort zone, and Jack showed her feelings she’d never experienced... Until he mysteriously withdrew.

 

Anna turned to her internship at the city paper and to her old attraction for Julian, a handsome local artist and rising star, for distraction. But both led to her discovery of a decades-old secret closely guarded by the twins’ distant, single father. 

 

A secret that could permanently change all their lives.

 

Amazon B&N iTunes

Tuesday Links

Hi Everyone!

I haven't posted many new self-publishing-related links lately. Most seem to repeat the same thing over and over again, and others, well, come from people who are *sadly* misinformed.

But here's one of the "good ones," from Libbie Hawker and The Seattle Vine.

She references a video posted by John Green, which you may want to check out. I didn't mention anything here about it, because I love John Green and, well, I was kind of disappointed in his whole "you didn't write that" attitude.

If you make it all the way to the end (it's long!), I appreciated this little reminder:

"Remember what you forgot decades ago: that in spite of what you’ve conditioned authors like John Green to believe, there are only two figures without whom Bookworld cannot survive: readers and writers. Everybody else is, in the end, expendable. Get out of the way of ebooks. Readers want them. Offer more variety. Readers want it. Listen to reader feedback. They are your consumers."

Also, from Michael J. Sullivan: "Let's Stop Comparing Apples and Oranges."

Warning: there are numbers, and, if you're anything like me, they will make absolutely no sense to you. Scroll down to the bottom, though, because there is a "Bottom Line"  and this final thought:

"So, self or traditional has equal chances of success or failure. Which one an author should choose will come down to their goals and abilities. There is no universal “right” choice…just one that will best fit a particular author at a particular time, and as the hybrid movement continues to grow, I think we’ll find that what may have been the “right choice” at one point in time may mean “going the other way” later on. A savvy author keeps their eyes and options open and flexibility will be the thing that works the most in their favor."

Enjoy!

~K~