Afterlife - SPOILER!!!!!!

I'm writing Afterlife and nearing completion of my first ugly draft and I wanted to give you something whet your appetite.

If you've been reading my blog, you know that all of my books are related. There are strings that travel through them all.


In Sleepers, the reader didn't get any direct connections to Cloud Prophet Trilogy. I wanted my readers to fall for Lianne since she's so different from Reychel. But in Afterlife, the stories start coming back together. Lianne meets a really hot guy (yes, she's still with Bryden at the beginning of Afterlife). Who is he? How is he related to the two trilogies? How does he bring them together?

I'll give you a hint - He was a key player in the plot of Severed, but the reader never actually met him. He was only named in the last chapter....lol....got it yet? (Sleepers & Afterlife take place about twenty years after the end of Severed.)

So if you've read Anathema, Oubliette & Severed - you'll definitely want to pick up The Swarm trilogy, starting with Sleepers. There's time. Afterlife won't be out until summer.

Happy reading!!!!!!!

Here's a discount coupon code for Sleepers, regularly $2.99 on Smashwords, but you can download it for $2.00 with the code good through March 5th - DG27W 

Sleepers on Smashwords

Four of the Big Six Kick Libraries to the Curb

As of this week, many library patrons will no longer be able to check out new ebooks from four of the Big Six traditional publishers.

Penguin

Simon & Schuster

Hachette

Macmillan

All of them will no longer be making their new ebooks available to Overdrive, the system most libraries currently use to provide their patrons with access to ebooks.

I normally don't bitch about publishing on my blog. But today, I am. You play dirty with libraries and I will fight back.

I want everyone who cares about libraries to read this article now. Spread the word. Tell everyone you know what they're doing.

Denying libraries access to materials really makes me angry.

My mom has been a library aide since I was in second grade. I have worked in multiple libraries. My books circulate in libraries and I am VERY PROUD of this.

What the Big Six is doing is driving more consumers toward independent authors. Not only do we charge far less for our ebooks than traditional publishers, but we also make a significantly higher royalty. That will attract more authors to epublish on their own.

If you support libraries, and everyone should, please join in the outcry. In a time of economic uncertainty, publishers are punishing readers - particularly lower-income readers.

Quite frankly, it disgusts me.

An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball: Cherie Colyer

Cherie Colyer is a really fantastic writer. We met online a couple years ago when we were part of the same critique group. Her novel, Embrace, came out recently so read on to learn more about her!!!!

MJ: Tell me a bit about your novel, Embrace, in your own words - not the official synopsis.

CC: Embrace is a story about a girl who discovers there are unseen forces in the world, and she’ll need to embrace these forces to save her friend. When Madison’s spunky best friend becomes panic-stricken, seeing things no one else can and desperately trying to escape them, she’s taken to the hospital. Madison’s search for an explanation for her friend’s sudden hysteria leads her to discover supernatural powers. Madison will need to believe in the impossible and she’ll need the help of others if she hopes to save her friend and stay alive.

MJ: Did you pants or plot while writing your first draft?

CC: I’m a pants it kind of girl. I usually have a general idea about what is going to happen when I start to write a book – the basic beginning, middle and end – but the characters’ choices along the way determine how they get from chapter one to the end of the story. Sometimes they even surprise me.

MJ: What’s your next release going to be?

CC:   I had to consult my crystal ball on this one and it wasn’t in a chatty mood today so I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to this question. I do have a few queries out for my middle grade ghost story and then I’ve finished a new teen paranormal novel about a brother and sister who must outsmart supernatural beings if they hope to remain human and if they are to avoid being pawns in a coming war. I’m very excited about both novels. Fingers crossed, I’ll find homes for them soon.

MJ: Now for the fun stuff!!!

MJ: If you were trapped on a deserted island and you could only bring three books, what would you bring?

 CC: Hmm. This is a hard one because my taste changes depending on my mood, but since I have to choose: Wurthing Heights, Halfway to the Grave (Bones is hot J ), and a how-to book on surviving in the wild.

MJ: Who is your celebrity crush?

CC: Am I only allowed one? That seems so unfair. Top of the list: Ian Somerhalder (aka Damon Salvatore).

MJ: What is your favorite color?

CC: Blue, a bright brilliant shade like you sometimes see in the late afternoon sky just before the sun sets.

MJ: Wolves or vampires or zombies? 

CC: Vampires, the ones that don’t sparkle please.

MJ: What do you wear when you write? 

CC: Nothing……. wait for it……. special. If it’s a Saturday or Sunday morning, I usually have my pj’s on, but other than that I wear whatever (shorts, t-shirts, jeans, sweaters, you know, the usual stuff).

MJ: What’s your favorite vacation spot? 

CC: Maui, but I would love to visit Europe.

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my 9-year-old’s all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

CC:  Will spring come early this year?

M8B: It is certain. Well, now we know whose butt to kick when we get a snowstorm in late March. Do Magic 8 Balls have butts? lol

Thank you SO MUCH to Cherie for participating in my interview series!!!!

Find Cherie on the web:

Website

Amazon.com

Barnes&Noble.com

Happy Birthday Anathema!!!!

I can hardly believe Anathema has been out for one year. I can't let my baby's first birthday go by without a party, can I?

You're lucky, too, because I have goodie bags filled with some pretty fantastic ebooks from my fellow Indelibles!!!!

I was going to write this long, meaningful post about how fantastic the last year has been (freakin' awesome!), how many ebooks I've sold (almost 10,000), etc, yadda, blah, but....

Screw that - let's just go straight to the goodies!!!!!

GRAND PRIZE (1 winner): All 3 books in the Cloud Prophet Trilogy - Anathema, Oubliette, and Severed in paperback and ebook (and some random swag I toss in the package too)!!!

eBook Goodie Bag #1 (1 winner):

The Secret of Spruce Knoll by Heather McCorkle
Zellie Wells Trilogy by Stacey Wallace Benefiel
How to Date an Alien by Magan Vernon
Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn
Bloody Little Secrets by Karly Kirkpatrick
The Green by Karly Kirkpatrick
The Veil by Cory Putman Oakes

eBook Goodie Bag #2 (1 winner):

Untraceable by SR Johannes
On the Bright Side by SR Johannes
Running Wide Open by Lisa Nowak
Destined by Jessie Harrell
Beautiful Demons by Sarra Cannon
Clockwise by Elle Strauss
Watched by Cindy Hogan

eBook Goodie Bag #3 (1 winner):

Exiled by RaShelle Workman
The Book of Lost Souls by Michelle Muto
Bound by C.k. Bryant
The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching
Become by Ali Cross
Loramendi's Story by Angela Carlie


* please note that some of the ebooks are Amazon exclusive titles and can only be given through an Amazon egift. Kindle apps are available for most smart phones as well as a free download on your computer.

Want to enter? Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below! No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open internationally for paperback shipping - not all ebooks are available internationally. Contest begins Wednesday, February 1st and runs through midnight CST Saturday, February 4th. Must be fifteen to enter or have parent's permission.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's All Connected...

I touched on this topic on a post on another blog, but I wanted to lay out my thoughts in a bit more detail.

For those of you who've read the Cloud Prophet Trilogy - CPT (Anathema, Oubliette, and Severed) and Sleepers (Book One in The Swarm Trilogy), you might have thought hmmm....these books seem similar, but I just can't put my finger on exactly how...

Well, they are connected. Quite intimately, in fact. The reason I didn't mention it up front was because I wanted to give my readers a chance to meet Lianne (in Sleepers) and fall in love with her - without worrying about when their favorite characters from CPT were going to show up.

In Afterlife (Book Two in The Swarm Trilogy), characters from CPT will start popping up. No, I'm not going to say who. That's something I want you to discover on your own.

The beauty of these two trilogies is that while they are connected, they do NOT have to be read together. In many ways, The Swarm Trilogy (TST) is a companion to CPT.

If you've read my short story The Initiate, you'll get a glimpse of how these two trilogies are connected. You'll see imagery evocative of all six novels.

By the end of 2012, TST will be complete. I don't know if I'll write another companion trilogy in that world. At this moment, I'd say 'no,' but I certainly won't say 'absolutely not.' I have plans for a middle grade fantasy that I am dying to get out in the world. I also have a contemporary novel that I think my readers would love.

So, for those of you who were wondering ... but weren't quite sure ... the definitive answer is 'YES!' :D

An Interview, An Author, and a Magic 8 Ball - Angela Carlie Edition

Angela Carlie is, quite possibly, one of the awesomest people on the planet. Seriously. I wish she lived closer to me instead of on the other side of the country. I've known her online for a few years now and last year I begged her to join DarkSide Publishing. She agreed, making me one happy chickie!

Read on to learn more about her!!!!


MJ: Tell me a bit about your novel, Loramendi's Story, in your own words - not the official synopsis.

AC: Loramendi’s Story is the first novel in the Lords of Shifters series. It’s about a teenage girl named Lora whose mother has been missing from her life since she was one year old. She falls for a hot windsurfer and she discovers that her life has been a façade. When she begins to go through a physical change, the truth about her life is finally revealed and she’s forced to accept her destiny.

This novel is full of adventure, romance, and sexy shapeshifters.

MJ: Did you pants or plot while writing your first draft?

AC: 100% pantsed this one.

MJ: What’s your next release going to be?

AC:   I’m currently working on the second novel of the Lords of Shifters series. It’s not yet titled, but I hope it will be available to the public sometime early 2012.

(note from MJ: since this interview, Angela titled her book Spider Wars and it has this amazing cover!!!)

MJ: Now for the fun stuff!!!

MJ: Wolves or vampires or zombies?


AC: Zomvamplows

MJ: When you were a teen were you a cheerleader, a sporty girl, the smart one, the band geek, or something else?

AC: Something else. I was a loner with literally only one friend who I never saw because she always hung out in the art room while I hung out in the auditorium or … somewhere else. ;) I had daisies painted all over my car, wore bell bottoms and leg warmers, but not at the same time, and worked at a veterinary hospital.

MJ: Do you have any pets? 

AC: Yes! Four cats and two dogs live with us at the moment.

MJ: Now, I need YOU to ask ME a question about absolutely anything under the sun. It has to be a yes or no question and will be answered by my 9-year-old’s all-knowing Magic 8 Ball! The question can be serious or silly - it’s up to you.

AC: I recently read on your FB page how fearful you are of scary movies. I used to be a paranormal investigator once upon a time. We investigated hundreds of locations. At one location in particular, we investigated a building that had been reporting activity for years. It’s now a famous haunted location. But, at that time, at around 1 am, a fellow investigator (a psychic) and I were on the third floor that once housed a brothel, in a room where abortions were performed and women often died. We were alone and setting up equipment in the dark. The air was thick and we felt like we weren’t really alone at all. In the room next to us, one of our motion alarms went off, screaming at us through the wall. We both shot up and made a run for it (very unprofessional, I know). In the process, my larger psychic friend pushed me out of her way to make her escape. My right leg fell through a hole in the floor and I was stuck, laughing and crying at the same time, all by myself.

My question: If you and your best friend were in the same situation, and you were the psychic friend, would you have gone back for your friend stuck in the hole near the scary room with possible activity or would you have kept running all the way down the stairs to safety?

(Do you have any idea how long it took me to read all of that to my Magic 8 Ball?!?!?!)

M8B: Outlook Good

MJ: Well, of course that's the answer! I would never leave a friend stuck in a hole in a possibly-haunted house. I grew up in a possibly-haunted house. Not afraid! :D




Thank you SO MUCH to Angela Carlie for participating in my interview series. You have to read Angela's books. Why? (1) Her books rock and (2) She's made of all things fabulous

Find Angela on the web:

Website

Amazon.com

Barnes&Noble.com

Contest Winners & Future Plans

My three winners for ecopies of Sleepers have been contacted. If you haven't heard from me, then you didn't win ... this time. As anyone who follows me through Facebook or my newsletter knows, I like to give things away a lot, so if you like free things, then follow me. ;)

It's the beginning of the year (well, kind of, since we're nearly a couple weeks in) and I feel like I should let you know what will be happening on my blog.

First, I'll probably be blogging less this year than I did last year. At least here. I've joined three other blogs, Indelibles, Author 2 Author, and The Writer's Voice. Since I'll be blogging in those places, I'll have less to say here. However, that will make what I do say here more important. There'll be less random posts to wade through when what you really want is to know the details about releases, etc. If you want to keep up on my other posts, please follow me on Facebook, which is where I notify my peeps when I have a new post up.

As for writing, I'm working hard on Afterlife and will have it out by summer unless something drastic happens, like I fall off a boat and a shark eats both of my arms. I doubt this will happen since I live in Illinois. You can all relax now.

I plan to release the sequel to Afterlife later in the year. In addition to those, I hope to get at least one more book out, but until I know for sure, I don't want to jinx anything.

I have loved every moment of the past year. I chose to epublish in December of 2010 and Anathema came out in February of 2011. It's been the most fascinating time in my life. Who knew I could make a career out of the one thing I love most in life - creating new worlds. Thank you to each of you who've been on this journey with me (OMG, I sound like a chick from The Bachelor, don't I?).

Love you all!!!!!

~Megg