Sunday, January 12, 2020

How to Read Ebooks without an E-Reader

I don't know who needs to hear this, but you don't need to own a Kindle, Kobo, or Nook device to read ebooks. Chances are, whatever you are using to read this blog post—has a FREE Amazon Kindle app that will allow you to shop in the massive Amazon ebook library. Some other retailers offer similar apps, but I'm really only familiar with the Kindle app because I own more Kindles than I can shake a stick at and still have that app on my phone, Macbook, PC, and Tablet.


Why am I telling you this? Because the dear lady behind me in line for coffee today, said she'd love to support me, but doesn't own an e-reader. First of all, some of my books like The Dark Unicorn can be purchased in paperback (she had been admiring the cover of the said book on my phone screen), but the ability to read ebooks even when you prefer physical books is practically a necessity for the extreme book lover. That's because authors have so many more options when creating content for the ebook market. Say an author wants to write some bonus short stories, in a world you love with characters you can't get out of your head! How do they deliver those little slices of heaven? They might not be long enough to turn into a book by themselves, and waiting until you have enough to bind up a paperback volume of them can take years in some cases.  I for one, am all for instant gratification when it comes to my OTPs, and as. an author I like the flexibility ebooks offer for publication.

Of course, I just smiled and said thanks. Mostly because that was in the real world and this is this internet, I am way smoother on the internet, but maybe that woman from Starbucks will see this blog and I know it was for her. ;)

Monday, October 21, 2019

Eight Hollow Years...


Excuse me. I'm a bit of a mess.

Nostalgia is nagging at me worse than a new knife wound, and I am not sure when I started crying, but it was probably eight years ago.

Eight years. Guys when I say that I can't even, believe that I can't even. I can't even, even, even!

And while you are sorting that out, permit me to wander a little.

When Skeleton Lake was first published, by Red Iris Books, I was scared of publishing. I'd been writing stories my whole life but I couldn't handle pressing the big red button by myself. I was young, I was terrified of failing, and even as I write this eight years later, having sold tens of thousands of books, I still am. I'd been an indie author a solid year before I signed on to publish my first full-length novel. Skeleton Lake, was that book.

One of my co-authors (Angela Sanders) loves Skeleton Lake, probably more than I do because it didn't make her bleed, or maybe it did and that's the whole problem. She always brings it up and talks about it like it's a breathing thing, even though I wrote the book eight years before I even met her. She speaks of the characters, the music, the world, and then she gets mad that I haven't published the end of the series. Then she throws me some serious shade because she knows how it ends.

Only three people on the planet know how it ends beside myself, one of them is married to me, one is my very first editor and co-author Larry Kollar, the other is other-Angela. Though, now I suppose when Brian (third and final coauthor) reads this he's going to expect me to tell him.

Maybe, I'll even do it.

The thing is, the ending gets to me. Truth be told, I have spent about nine years, being utterly afraid of what would happen at the end of that series. So much so, that it's still written in a notebook and stashed under my bed. The paper is yellowed with age, but I recognize the scrawl. The smell.

I wrote all my books by hand then. Sometimes I will go and read those pages, and remember how it felt to write them. How awful, and how alive, and how wicked I was between the lines.

And I tell myself I'll do it.  I am going to publish the end of the series. The last two books.

Only to remember I am afraid of it and find a new project to devote myself to instead.

But I am done putting it off. I came up with the concept of Skeleton Lake over ten years ago. In some ways, I am not the same author I was then; and in some ways I very obviously am. In the next few months, the Hollows series is being expanded to beautiful and macabre splendor I always wanted for it. Stay tuned in-crowd. This one's for you.

Thanks for 8 Hollow Years.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Here be darkness! Dark Unicorn has arrived.


I wanted to wait until both the ebook edition, as well as the paperback edition, were available before making this announcement, and the time is finally here!

The first book in my Horn Sworn Series (co-written with Taylor Haiden) is now available! The series features a very unique unicorn mythos I know my fans will love!

Here's the blurb:

Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Aveyard, Dark Unicorn is the first of the new and mysterious adult fantasy series Horn Sworn.

Princess Wrenyve knows her oath to return her Kingdom’s missing artifact, the Heart of Spellshallow, means one of the King’s children will die. Even if Wren is cunning, fast, and strong enough, there’s a good chance it will still be her.

Without the Heart, magic will flee the land faster than the night flees the day. Without the Heart, Spellshallow, and everything in it will cease to exist. As her brother’s shameful thievery is uncovered, Wren must swallow her pride and accept help from allies whom she knows she can’t trust: 
- Thackery is the ambitious son of the richest and most powerful councilman—her very ex, scorned lover—and the wounds Wren caused him are still raw.
- Calen isn’t a boy at all. Trapped in human form after a hideous defeat, Calen may have lost his horn, but is still a unicorn—a self-serving, treacherous scoundrel, as dangerous to any man who crosses him as he is to the innocence of every fair maiden.
- Luckily for Wren, she was already doomed.

To find the Heart and restore the magic, to retrieve the lost horn, Wren and her unfortunate travel companions must survive three separate realms—each more deadly than the last. Unknown enemies and strange magic hinder their way, and yet the most perilous thing is what lies within their own hearts.



Monday, April 1, 2019

New Release Announcement!

Coming soon! My new project, Carrots! 

Connor O' Conner is anything but cute, and this year he's not hiding a single freaking Easter egg! Look out Los Angeles, someone is murdering innocent mammals, and one Rabbit isn't taking it basket down. 

Friday, February 1, 2019

I ❤️ YA Scavenger Hunt Stop #10


Welcome to my tour stop on the I ️ YA Scavenger Hunt, sponsored by the authors of Cursed Lands!


All the hunt rules are on the main website: http://cursedlandsboxedset.com/scavengerhunt/. But a quick reminder: Find the secret word in BOLD in my blog post below and string it together with the words from all the other hunt stops to win the grand prize $100 Amazon Gift card!   BTW We're also hosting another giveaway, so make sure you read all the way to the bottom of my post for your chance to win!

Salem 2317 is the first book in a brand new Dystopian Series by myself and Taylor Haiden; here's the blurb:

Nineteen-year-old Arwyn Blake has two jobs: kill the last non-magical nomads who dare call Salem home, and continue her bloodline by marrying a man she hates. 

It's said that those without power are a poison upon the land,  but the beliefs of her centuries-old coven are based on a lie. 

It should have been an easy hunt, but when Arwyn spares the life of a pale-eyed rebel, she unearths a secret that changes everything.

Salem in 2317 is an interesting place. One of my favorite things in the series, is the location. I actually built the entire city around one house, and when I pitched the idea to my co-author here's how I described it:

"The architecture is unique. Imagine if someone tried to put together old style (17th Century) Salem Witch Houses with more modern angles and a dash of Tim Burton. Everything is gray and black. The streets of made of tar, with cobblestone around city buildings-which are made in the same style as the houses."


The house I modeled the city after:
Salem 2317 is different than every other witch story you've read, and you can only get it in Cursed Lands this summer. Preorder Your Copy today, and continue the scavenger hunt with code-phrase:

 A GIRL


And here's a really awesome giveaway to put you in a witchy mode:






  

Saturday, January 5, 2019