Showing posts with label Squeeee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Squeeee. Show all posts

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Serial Killers are So 1978; Killer SERIALS Are HERE!!!


Do you know who's a lucky girl? ME!
You know why?

Because I have four FABULOUS partners in crime today, ready to SLAY YOU with SERIALS!!! I gave a teaser on Tuesday at Mel's blog about WHY Killer Serials are superior to serial killers (say THAT 10 times fast), but TODAY I want to tell you a LOVE STORY.


Sexy Serials Suck you IN!

Here's a secret... my first book was over 200,000 words. Books typically can have complex characters or a twisty plot. But not both. (and while that first was admittedly not ready for prime time, it hurt SO BAD trying to cut it down)

I WANT IT ALL!

So last year when Susan Kaye Quinn said she was releasing a book SERIALLY, this GIANT lightbulb went off in my head. I didn't HAVE to choose anymore! I could have a fabulous twisty plot AND character development!

And let me tell you what... the OTHER fabulous feature of these feisty fables is ADRENALINE! HOLY COW can they grip you!? Of course for some people that's problematic, but I absolutely ADORE ADRENALINE!


So YOU WANT SOME!?


Here are FIVE FABULOUS SERIALS, a couple have free first episodes (including yours truly) and ALL of us are giving away something in the Rafflecopter giveaway below!!! You should go see ALL of us at our blogs, too!!!

Some Killer Serials you should consider sampling

Andrew Leon: The Shadow Spinner Series (34 parts, 40ish pages each)

Tiberius has always thought of himself as a normal 10-year-old boy, at least until the day his mother finally decides to tell him about his father, and she tells him things that convince him that one of them is crazy, and he's pretty sure it's not him. That is until the Man with No Eyes shows up and his father falls out of the sky.






Susan Kaye Quinn: The Debt Collector Series (9 Volumes, 50ish pages each, all complete, (for you risk-averse readers) first one free)

What's your life worth on the open market?
A debt collector can tell you precisely.







EJ Wesley: Moonsong Series (5th coming in December (no end point necessarily planned, but they are coming in 3-book clusters (6th in January) for satisfying individual story arcs; link to the first one FREE)

Jenny Moonsong recently inherited the title of "monster hunter" and an ancient tribal journal/how-to manual passed down by her Apache ancestors. The Moonsongs books follow her adventures as she battles the dark supernatural denizens of the world in a series of action-packed, urban fantasy novelettes. 


 


RaShelle Workman: The Cindy Chronicles (4 published of 6 volumes)

From a seemingly insignificant word comes the greatest of fairytales... Cinderella is a witch and she's been asked to save a world she never knew existed. 






Hart Johnson: A Shot in the Light Series (10 episodes, 100 pages each, 4th available today and the first is free)

Deadliest virus in a century, or a social experiment gone awry? Sidney Knight begins to notice inconsistencies in what people are being told and what's going on as half the population dies of the flu... or is it the vaccine?



So what should you do NOW?  Enter to WIN some of this loot!!!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, June 29, 2012

Visiting Lady Gwen and Funnies



So it is my last blog of the month and it somehow seems like in this month where I launched my first book, I ought to be able to be all profound, but you know what? I am EXHAUSTED!

I guest blogged three days a week (a week ahead initially, but fell down on that somewhere along the line—poor Gwen just got it last night), I had a launch party, and I tried to keep track of where I stood in rankings...

I EDITED a book that is due to my editor tomorrow (though thankfully have gotten another week from my editor... my FABULOUS editor is sadly leaving, and has handed me off to a colleague who happens to be on VACATION next week, so was perfectly happy to give me another week... which is needed because I only gave my agent a week with it... bad me. I need a spanking. It just seems like I always underestimate the time it will take to edit, so it always comes down to the wire. Anyway, Ellen is THRILLED to not have to speed read it before we turn it in.

And I wrote the first half of a book... Or close enough to say I suspect I will win BuNoWriMo (though this will be my first WriMo to come down to the last day or two to win—usually I have 3 or 4 days leeway... not so this time. And the BOOK isn't done... I didn't think it would be. Thrillers run 80-100K and this is on track to be no exception.

So Whew! *wipes brow *

So TODAY, I would love you to come over and see me at Lady Gwen's blog. I got my first negative review this week and am pondering how it fits into my world view...

In the meantime... some things that made me laugh or Squee...





Cutest little things EVER: Platypi


Do you KNOW how bad I wish I could afford this?
I call this one "Aberforth goes to the beach"



So there we have it... have a great weekend, friends! With the holiday next week, I may be slightly scarcish, though I have guest spots Monday and Friday, and THEN I will make a better effort to get back to normal. I've been BAD getting around to friends' blogs this month, as the promo seems to be all I can do... But I will be back to it! I promise!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Azalea Assault: Disrobed

There are a couple REALLY BIG moments for an author...  The book contract (especially the first). A dream agent (I gotz two!). Actual publication (still waiting).

But I had one yesterday that is DEFINITELY one of those that makes the heart pitter pat... I mean the others are theoretically bigger news, but THIS ONE is VISUAL!!!





Now I've had some great book covers made for me. My friend Joris is AMAZING (and one of his covers is actually going on my friend Marian's book). But this is my first 'in line to be published, WILL be on book shelves' cover.

They used tons of REAL details from the book, which rocks--the azaleas, the trellis with the wisteria, the guilty gardening shears... and I ADORE that tag line in the corner:  Murder is bad for publicity... talk about an understatement, but that is INDEED one of the problems of my MC, Cam Harris, who is charged with the publicity for a Roanoke Garden Society event gone VERY wrong.

For any of you new around here, the contract required a pen name, so I used a name from each of my grandmothers--I was the worlds luckiest child, as grandmothers went. I love that I can honor them with my first books. And Cozy Mystery is the genre I write that is least like the others, so even if it hadn't been required, in terms of branding, it was a good idea. Cozy mystery is exciting and twisty, but it isn't particularly dark. My other stuff is much more so.

And this series, I draw on the journalism/promotion phase of my life--the characters include a public relations manager and a reporter--this was my early training (advertising, actually, but my first degree was journalism)--so I know this world.  My other stuff draws much more on my psychology--mental health, addiction, abuse...

I think anyone reading both, would tell you the Cozy mystery is much more like my blog voice. The other stuff is me all dark and mysterious, like I keep telling you I am, even if nobody will believe me when I am bare naked and leading a flock of llamas.  WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR MY PRESS!?

anyway... If you are on FACEBOOK, I would totally LOVE YOU, if you might LIKE ME.:  Alyse Carlson

So I'm floating... I think that's all I got... except a hot male feeding me grapes...
compliments of my buddy Rissa