Catherine Ryan Hyde's Blog, page 15

The Bet: Finally, finally, the story!

My horse Mubtahij, the bum.

So, a funny thing happened on the way to posting our stories for The Bet. We're supposed to have thirty days. You know. After the Kentucky Derby.

Right. I know.

Brian Farrey, Andrew Smith and I were the losers who had to write stories. Kimberly Pauley won. But then Andrew got super busy with his career (yeah, remember those?) and needed more time. Finally he told us to go ahead and post without him and he'd catch up.

So Brian and I made a nice, solid plan to post our stories on Monday. As in, two days ago. And I got all caught up in my nerves and practice and preparation for a dressage clinic (it's a horse thing) yesterday and today. And I completely forgot.

Moral of the story? No idea. Unless it's "Never trust a writer to get it right."

My story is HERE. It's called Good Enough to Play at Stevie's, a title given to me by Andrew Smith. Those of you who follow the bet will recognize the characters. They call me back year after year. And Brian Farrey's story is HERE. He used the title I gave him, Seize the Night. And Andrew will catch up.

Oh, and in case you want to read my previous years stories, they are: The Art of Being Stuck Here, Uncle Mo Holds a Grudge, and Even Pigeons Can Sing.

Happy reading! And next year we're going to get this right, I swear.  

A deal alert for paper lovers: two of my books!

These are two of my favorites, too.

From today through October 20th, my novels When I Found You and Take Me With You will be on sale as part of Amazon's "Up to 50% Off Select Literature and Fiction Books" promotion. These are high quality trade paperback editions, each for only $6.99.

That's a good deal.

So if you still love the feel of a physical book in your hands, this is your moment.

And maybe it's not too early to do a little holiday shopping?

As always, happy reading!

Deal alert for Walk Me Home

Just a quick note to let you know that my novel Walk Me Home is a Kindle Monthly Deal for September! That means all this month the ebook edition can be purchased for only $1.99.

Plenty of time to pass the word around! :)

Happy reading!

I think you'll like this giveaway

I have an awful lot of readers and fans who tell me they're all caught up on reading my books (quite a feat!) and that now the problem is waiting until December. That's why I think you're going to like this giveaway.

Yesterday the UPS guy brought me a big carton of these lovely advance readers' copies of Ask Him Why. Yes, that's right. You can't buy the book until December 8th. But I'm about to give some away. In fact, I think I'm going to give away ten, because I know this is going to be popular. The fewer disappointed entrants we end up with, the better.

Unless you're an old hand at this, PLEASE read the paragraph below. Someone always doesn't, and enters without an email address, and I can't put their name in the hat because I can't contact them if they win. 

Leave a comment below to be entered. Please DO leave your email address in the comment form (even though it will say it's optional). I promise I won't use it for any other purpose but to notify you if you win. Please DON'T leave your email address in the body of your comment unless you want everybody to see it. Those familiar with my old website might be a little confused by the new comment system. It will seem there is no place for your name and email. But when you hit "Post Comment," you'll see those fields come up.

 I'll leave this open for about ten days to two weeks. Good luck!

A deal alert for writers

Starting today, and continuing for a full seven days, the (normally $3.99) Kindle edition of How to be a Writer in the E-Age: A Self-Help Guide is on sale for only $0.99.

It was written as a collaboration with my old and good friend Anne R. Allen, a respected publishing industry blogger and successful author. Together we covered all the angles of a changing industry, filling in any gaps in the other's experience (for example, I've had an agent so long that I wasn't very familiar with the cutting edge modern submission process) and bouncing our often-humorous styles off each other to create what we feel is a pretty complete walk through our industry.

The book has gotten great reviews from both new and experienced writers. It's jam-packed with information, and just about everyone who's read it says they come out with something useful.

And at $0.99, how can you miss? (UK readers, I'm happy to say it's only 0.99 for you, too, you just need a different link. THIS ONE.) If you take me up on the offer and try it, please let me know what you think. And if you're not a writer, you can always pass the news along to someone who is.

Usually I say, "Happy reading!" Maybe in this case I should say, "Happy submitting!" If there is such a thing. Try the book. It might help. 

More about Ask Him Why

For those of you who want to know what's coming next, I present my forthcoming novel Ask Him Why.

This blog post is something of a cover reveal, among other things. And I hope you like it as much as I do.

Yes, the torn fence has an important meaning in the story. You'll see.

I've set up a book page for Ask Him Why so you can read more about it.

And it can be preordered right now in Kindle ebook, paperback, and audio. And here's where it gets interesting. You will have the option to buy a hardcover edition of Ask Him Why if you choose!

It's coming on December 8th. Yes, it seems long to me, too, but it's already August. It'll be here before you know it.

Happy reading! 

Deal Alert for Where We Belong

Just a quick post to let you know that the US Kindle ebook edition of Where We Belong just began a price promotion this morning. It's on sale for only $0.99, and that price will be good until the end of July.

Please tell your friends who like to read (and who don't like to pay a fortune for books).

Happy reading!

Deal alert on paper books

I know there are many of you out there who still enjoy holding a paper book and turning the pages.

A lot of my readers even tell me that they buy books inexpensively in Kindle and then buy the paperback to add to their library if it's a favorite.

So for those of you who like to add books to your library, Walk Me Home and The Language of Hoofbeats are both on sale in the US marketplace for only $7.48 in this special Amazon promotion: Up to 50% Off Select Popular Fiction Books

These prices are good for a full month (until August 12th)!

Happy reading!

Deal alert for UK readers

So often I have to leave my poor UK readers out of the price promotions. Now here's one just for you.

The Language of Hoofbeats is on a special summer sale at Amazon.uk. The Kindle ebook is only 0.99p (sorry, don't know how to do the GB Pound sign on my keyboard) and that price is in place through the 31st of August!

If you're in the UK, please help me spread the word.

Hope you enjoy the read!

Hey readers, how about a sneak peek at what's next?

I still don't have a cover to show you for my next release, Ask Him Why. Soon. I will soon.

But the book description just went up on its Amazon page. So take a look and tell me what you think.

The book is already available for preorder HERE.