Anna Adler's Blog, page 3

PRONOUN IS SHUTTING DOWN (+AUTHOR LIFE UPDATE)

In June, I wrote a blog post about publishing a free ebook and what a great site Pronoun is for self-publishing authors. Well, Pronoun was a great site; I loved their services, but now they’re shutting down. I got an email yesterday saying that Pronoun is closing up shop on January 15th 2018.

 

For a self-published author who’s publishing through Pronoun, this situation is a bit like getting the news that the ship is sinking. Everybody into the lifeboats! I need to find a new ship. I’m most likely moving my Pronoun-published book to Draft2Digital, which is another great site for self-publishing authors.

 

It’s not difficult to remove a book from one distributor and publish it through another. I know that indie authors do this all the time when looking for the optimal sales channel for their books. But moving a book from one distributor to another can have casualties—namely the reviews and ratings your book acquired so far.

 

According to Pronoun’s FAQ, my book’s Amazon and B&N reviews will be salvaged from this shipwreck, which is a huge relief. Like, huge. But the reviews on Kobo and Google Play are going to get wiped out.

This really sucks.

A lot of readers on Google Play loved “Hers, Untamed” and some of them left super sweet messages behind. Losing them is going to hurt…a lot.

 

I’m going to lose these and it’s going to suck.

 

Why am I whining about losing some reviews? Because they’re like precious gems and getting them is Really. Frigging. Hard. It’s much easier to sell a book than to land a review. If you’re famous or you have a large, established fanbase, getting book reviews can be easy, but for the rest of us authors, reviews don’t just rain down from the sky. It’s a very slow trickle and often they don’t come at all if you don’t work for it. If I had to lose something, I would much rather lose royalties than reviews because money is easier to make back.

 

Then there’s the problem that a different distributor distributes to different retailers (what an awful sentence I just wrote, please ignore). Pronoun’s shutdown is going to get my book kicked out of Google Play, and right now I don’t even know how to get back to this retailer. I have my hopes fixed on Draft2Digital because they’re currently negotiating with Google Play for a distribution agreement. I hope they pull it off before January 15th. Even if I lose the reviews, I would at least like to keep the book available on Google because it’s popular there and gets almost as many downloads as on Amazon.

 

On the bright side, things could be worse. I keep thinking about AllRomance going down in December 2016, with a three-day notice. I wasn’t affected by that incident, but a lot of readers and authors were, and it was awful. At least Pronoun is giving us an advance warning, so we can try to make the best of the circumstances. And maybe a miracle occurs and I somehow get to keep my reviews. One can always hope, right?

While I’m sitting here, typing, I might as well talk about some other things as well.

 

ANNA, YOUR PROGRESS BARS HAVEN’T MOVED IN A WHILE AND YOU’VE BEEN ABSENT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA. IS EVERYTHING OKAY?

 

Yes. Everything’s okay.

RELEASE BLITZ: AVARICE COLLECTION BY A.C. MELODY

The Avarice Collection by A.C. Melody is out now! For everyone who loves Dark Paranormal Erotica, this is the perfect Halloween read. Check it out on Amazon (link below).

 

 

Available on Amazon!

 

BLURB

 

Devils Only.

It was a permanent note-to-self right above her panties, because anything less was a disappointent. She never meant it as an invitation…

Avarice is what makes the world go round, and Kameo Kross never cared to be an exception to the rule. Her sole ambition is to avoid joining the ranks of New York’s poorest denizens. Between a bastard of a new boss and a Dom who tempts her darkest, depraved needs, Kami reevaluates her goal for sanity’s sake. She doesn’t fear pain, death or  eternal damnation, but the idea of submitting completely has her itching to run.

Unforgiving, destiny’s twisted plot thrusts Kami into a world she’d never feared existed, and the crosshairs of an enemy threatening to expose all of her shameful secrets to the media. As her life is completely altered, good versus evil becomes a matter all too personal. Yet, nothing’s more difficult than facing the truths of her heart, and finding the courage to embrace the kind of submission she’s always longed for.

Unleashed in a hailstorm of fury, Hell will come for those seeking glory from Kami’s missteps and she’ll face off with the Devil, himself, to her what she’s finally accepted as hers to have: Happiness. As the calendar races toward Beltane, sordid plots of single-minded obsession and greed continue to thwart their eternal bliss, but the real challenge awaits in the aftermath of retribution. Can Kami and her Master find some semblance of redemption in one another at last, or will the demon within change everything?

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

A.C. Melody is a hybrid author of Erotic Romance and all its savory sub-genres. Confessed javaholic, introverted geeky girl with a twisted sense of humor and a wretched muse. She has a weakness for hard ass Alphas and the strong women who capture their hearts, without damaging their rough edges.

A lifetime lover of fairytales, myths, legends and ancient pantheons, A.C. spends more time researching than writing. Her biggest goal is to provide new, captivating angles on old, favorite tales with enticing twists and characters that redefine preset expectations.

She’s 100% guilty of placing all her money on the underdogs, anti-heroes and shameless whores. When A.C. isn’t writing or doing the day-job gig, you can catch her gaming, binge-watching Netflix or anxiously awaiting the new superhero movie (specifically, Deadpool 2). A.C. loves to hear from her readers and can be found at any of the following sites:

 

BLOG – FACEBOOK – TWITTER – INSTAGRAM – GOODREADS – AMAZON

 

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COVER REVEAL: AVARICE COLLECTION BY A.C. MELODY

 

A.C. Melody’s intense dark paranormal romance trilogy Avarice is coming soon in a box set AND in paperback! The launch date for these goodies is October 31st, and this is no coincidence because Halloween plays an important part in the story.

If you’re looking for a darkly erotic BDSM and Halloween-themed read for Halloween, definitely keep an eye out for this baby. I can’t wait to grab my copy!

 

 

 

BLURB

 

Devils Only.

It was a permanent note-to-self right above her panties, because anything less was a disappointment. She never meant it as an invitation…

Avarice is what makes the world go round, and Kameo Kross never cared to be an exception to the rule. Her sole ambition is to avoid joining the ranks of New York’s poorest denizens. Between a bastard of a new boss and a Dom who tempts her darkest, depraved needs, Kami reevaluates her goal for sanity’s sake. She doesn’t fear pain, death or eternal damnation, but the idea of submitting completely has her itching to run.

Unforgiving, destiny’s twisted plot thrusts Kami into a world she’d never feared existed, and the crosshairs of an enemy threatening to expose all of her shameful secrets to the media. As her life is completely altered, good versus evil becomes a matter all too personal. Yet, nothing’s more difficult than facing the truths of her heart, and finding the courage to embrace the kind of submission she’s always longed for.

Unleashed in a hailstorm of fury, Hell will come for those seeking glory from Kami’s missteps and she’ll face off with the Devil, himself, to get what she’s finally accepted as hers to have: Happiness. As the calendar races toward Beltane, sordid plots of single-minded obsession and greed continue to thwart their eternal bliss, but the real challenge awaits in the aftermath of retribution. Can Kami and her Master find some semblance of redemption in one another at last, or will the demon within change everything?

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

A.C. Melody is a hybrid author of Erotic Romance and all its savory sub-genres. Confessed javaholic, introverted geeky girl with a twisted sense of humor and a wretched muse. She has a weakness for hard ass Alphas and the strong women who capture their hearts, without damaging their rough edges.

A lifetime lover of fairytales, myths, legends and ancient pantheons, A.C. spends more time researching than writing. Her biggest goal is to provide new, captivating angles on old, favorite tales with enticing twists and characters that redefine preset expectations.

She’s 100% guilty of placing all her money on the underdogs, anti-heroes and shameless whores. When A.C. isn’t writing or doing the day-job gig, you can catch her gaming, binge-watching Netflix or anxiously awaiting the next superhero movie (specifically, Deadpool 2). A.C. loves to hear from her readers and can be found at any of the following sites:

 

A.C. MELODY’S BLOG – FACEBOOK – TWITTER – INSTAGRAM – GOODREADS – AMAZON

 

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WHICH GENRE & TROPE DO YOU WRITE?

I had an epiphany the other day. I think I finally figured out what kind of writer I am.

 

 

Do you ever have difficulty describing what kind of books you write? I find it extremely hard to put a finger on, but “what I write” is a pretty important piece of information to put in the author bio. It’s funny because I would have thought I’m the one who knows best what I’m writing.

I wish!

Writing His Hostage and Hers, Untamed I had little idea what I was doing. The stories just happened and I tried to find them appropriate labels afterward. At first I couldn’t even tell if they had anything in common, one being contemporary and the other being science fiction. But now, working on my next pieces, I finally see a pattern emerging.

 

Okay, roughly speaking my books are super easy to classify: erotic romance.

But there are a gazillion different types of erotic romance and the romance readers don’t read just anything. They have individual preferences and they want to know what they’re getting. As a reader, I definitely want to know what I’m getting whenever I pick up a new book because certain romance tropes simply don’t work for me.

So what’s it about, is it a billionaire romance? A May-December romance? A romantic comedy? MC? Cowboy? Sports? Paranormal? Mars needs women? Fated mates? Alpha male? Beta male? FemDom? BBW? BDSM? Second chance? Stepbrother? Single dad? Dark Romance?

Is it M/F, M/M, F/F or some kind of combination? There’s an endless amount of different romance heroes and different types of romance. I haven’t seen any romance author write all imaginable variations (they’d have to be effing crazy). Most authors are known for certain types of stories. What’s my type? Knowing my type defines my brand, so this is important.

 

Earlier, I thought I was writing action romance, but I’m not sure if this is the best way to describe it. Sure, I have the occasional car chase and firefight in my books, but they’re not necessarily center-stage.

The central trope that keeps popping up in my stories is enemies to lovers (as opposed to friends to lovers or fated mates). I love giving two characters opposite interests and putting them in a room together. I suspect a lot of my books are going to feature kidnappings because of it—sometimes it’s the guy who gets kidnapped. My characters spend a lot of time wearing cuffs or locked in cages. I love exploring different power dynamics through captivity, but it kind of means dancing on the edge of Dark Romance territory. My books are not for everyone, which is all the more reason to describe them correctly.

So I write M/F erotic romance with alpha male heroes from the enemies to lovers-angle. Often this means abduction/bondage fantasies. This took me, what, two years and two and a half books to figure out. Woot! Better late than never, right?

 

What genre do you write? What type of stories do you write within your genre? How long did it take you to come up with a description for your style? Let me know in the comments!

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MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH AMAZON MARKETING SERVICES

So my debut novel His Hostage has been out for a year and keeping it selling is an ongoing challenge. I’m constantly on the lookout for new book promotion opportunities. A few months ago, I attended a webinar by Nick Stephenson and Mark Dawson about the Amazon Marketing Services, and I’ve been eager to try it out ever since.

 

Click on the image to visit the website!

 

You can use AMS if your book is published through KDP or KDP Select, and as it happens, His Hostage fits the bill. I ran a two-week campaign just now and I was really happy with the results.

 

HOW TO SET UP AN AD CAMPAIGN ON AMS

 

AMS can be a bit tough to figure out from scratch. I found this FREE guidebook by Mark Dawson and Joseph Alexander immensely helpful:

 

Click on the cover to check it out on Amazon!

 

This book is super short and to the point. It takes maybe ten minutes to read and it gives step-by-step instructions on how to set up an effective ad campaign. Highly recommended!

Here’s how I created my ad:

1. Select Campaign Type

Amazon offers two kinds of campaign alternatives: Sponsored Products and Product Display ads. I went with Sponsored Products.

2. Select Duration

You can set up a predefined time period for your ad, or you can simply have it running until further notice. I let my ad run without an end date. It gave better leeway for experimenting, and this way you can pause or kill the ad anytime you want.

3. Name Your Budget

Amazon wants to know how much you’re prepared to spend per day (I chose the minimum amount: 1 USD per day), and how much you’re willing to pay per click. The ad runs on cost-per-click basis, which is great. If no one clicks on your ad, Amazon essentially showcases your book for free.

I chose 0.25 USD as my initial CPC (Cost Per Click), but two days later I lowered it to 0.15 because this seemed to work well enough. You can go as low as 0.02 for your CPC, but this reduces the chance of your ad getting displayed.

If you get too many clicks—my maximum daily budget was 1 USD—Amazon pauses the ad once the daily budget has been reached, and restarts it the next day. My ad actually ran out of budget every day and Amazon kept sending me suggestions to increase it, but I happily ignored it.

 

Thanks, but I don’t care. XD

 

4. Enter Keywords and Your Ad Text

In order to show the ad to the right audience, you can enter up to 1,000 keywords. You can either let Amazon choose keywords for you (Automatic Targeting) or you can enter your own keywords manually (Manual Targeting). I chose to enter my own keywords.

I have to say, coming up with 1,000 keywords is a pretty tall order. Even with help from a friend I only managed to scrape together about 400. But you can keep adding keywords to your campaign anytime, so you don’t have to get it right on the first try. You can change your keywords, their CPC, and your daily budget whenever you want. I love how flexible this system is. The only thing you can’t change after the ad goes live is the 150-character advertisement text you need to enter. So think of a good slogan because this is the one thing that sticks after you publish the ad.

As for what to use as keywords…I had a couple of genre-related keywords such as “erotic thriller” and “romance”, but what worked the best for me were the names of popular authors who write the same genre. So I ended up digging through Amazon, trying to find every author who writes steamy contemporary bad boy romance, and I used their names as keywords. Some of their book titles also made great keywords.

 

MY RESULTS

 

My sales figures improved significantly during the campaign, as evidenced by His Hostage‘s bestseller ranking:

 

 

This two-week experiment cost me only about 15 USD and the ad definitely made profit. My ad received over 46,000 impressions, meaning it was shown this many times to Amazon customes. That’s pretty impressive, I think. Only a tiny fraction of these people actually clicked on the ad and even fewer bought the book, but that doesn’t matter because I also value visibility. Even if people don’t buy my book, at least they now know it exists.

If my ad had kept working like a charm, I would have kept it running, but the sales died down after two weeks. So I terminated my ad, but I will definitely try this again. I found AMS affordable, effective, and easy to use once you get the hang of it.

 

THE ONE BIG DOWNSIDE OF AMS

 

I have this dreadful habit of checking my sales dashboard a million times a day. I know this is what senior authors say you shouldn’t do because it’s just a waste of time. Well, I haven’t grown out of it yet…

AMS ads require monitoring and optimizing in order to make them profitable. It’s not a good idea to just set up something and leave it running for months without supervision. But I found tweaking my AMS ad and following how well my keywords are doing even more addictive than the sales dashboard checking. I could play with this damn thing all day, looking for new keywords and adding them and seeing how many hits, clicks and sales they generate.

So AMS is bad for my attention span and time management. They have made book promotion fun and addictive to a micromanaging nutcase like me, but I have other things to do!

Such as writing books.

 

 

Have you tried AMS or are you planning to? What book promotion services have you used? Is there something you would recommend to your fellow indies? Let me know in the comments!

 

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PUBLISHING A FREE EBOOK—MY EXPERIENCE AFTER THREE WEEKS

I’m a relatively fresh self-published author; my debut novel has been out for less than a year. Not many people know who I am or what I write. I’m looking for ways to increase my visibility, so when I published my second novel at the end of May, I made the ebook free on all its retailers.

 

It’s free and there’s sex in it! Kind of a lot.

 

This is the first time I’ve made an ebook free. My other published book, His Hostage, has always had a price tag on it, so I had no idea what would happen.

 

FIRST OFF, HOW TO MAKE AN EBOOK FREE

 

Amazon is by far my most important marketplace. Making an ebook permafree on Amazon is a pain in the butt, however, because Amazon doesn’t allow it by default. The traditional way to go about it is to make the book permafree on another retailer and asking Amazon to price match. Amazon does this only grudgingly (or so I’ve heard), and it can take a while. Hours or even days.

I was able to avoid the Amazon price matching hassle because I published Hers, Untamed through Pronoun:

 

Click on the image to check out Pronoun!

 

This is a very cool site that every self-publishing author should take a look at. It’s a solid alternative to Smashwords, Draft2Digital and Kindle Direct Publishing. I learned about Pronoun through the romance author Nicole R. Locker‘s very informative blog post on the Navigating Indieworld website. A recommended read!

When you publish through Pronoun, you can distribute to Amazon, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, Google Play, Bibliotheca and Overdrive. You can set the price to whatever you want, and you can also make the book free (with the exception of the library portals Bibliotheca and Overdrive—the lowest possible price for these two is 0.99 USD).

 

I love this!

 

I was able to set the price to 0.00 directly from the beginning of the preorder period.

 

PROS OF A FREE BOOK

 

The most prominent thing I discovered is that a free book can move completely different kinds of numbers than a paid book. My first book, His Hostage (published through KDP Select), has done pretty well despite the fact that I made the typical self-publishing newbie error and published it into a void. It was a miracle the book didn’t sink like a rock on day one.

But Hers, Untamed has done a lot better. In fact, Hers, Untamed had more “sales” in a week than His Hostage in eleven months. I haven’t even done any paid promotions yet. I think it’s safe to say that if you want to reach a lot of new readers quickly, a free book is a good way to go about it.

 

CONS OF A FREE BOOK

 

1. The obvious downside is that you’re not making any money. Your only hope is getting the readers interested in reading your other works, but it’s too early to say whether I’ve succeeded in this. I can tell you that financially Hers, Untamed has only made a big minus so far.

2. It took Hers, Untamed less than a week to land a one-star review.

 

My first ever one-star review! This almost feels like a cause for celebration.

 

His Hostage—the book with a price tag—hasn’t scored anything lower than two stars to date, and it’s been out for almost a year at the time of writing this.

My theory is that when you make an ebook free, all kinds of readers pick it up. When the book costs money, the readers are more careful. They make sure the book is something they’re interested in before spending money on it. At least this is what I do as a reader. For a free book, the threshold is lower, and the reader might realize only afterward that this wasn’t their kind of book.

So if you make your book free, don’t be surprised if it gets lower ratings than your other works, even when it’s better written.

Also, the sheer numbers count. Hers, Untamed has had over 1,400 downloads that I know of (B&N doesn’t report free downloads, so I have no idea what’s happening there, it’s like publishing in a black hole). It’s understandable that there are a few people among those 1,400 who don’t like it. I personally don’t mind. I’m actually freaking thrilled about every single person who has read my book and formed an opinion! (still waiting for the day when 1,400 people have read His Hostage…)

 

OVERALL

 

So far I’m immensely pleased with my free ebook experiment. I wanted more visibility, and so far it seems to be working. A whole bunch of new readers have picked up Hers, Untamed and I’m blown away by the feedback because majority of it has been so positive. In July, I plan to make Hers, Untamed available on InstaFreebie. I have no idea yet if it pays off to keep the book free in the long run, or if I should after all give it a price tag. We’ll see. I’ll definitely write another blog post on this topic later.

 

Have you published a free ebook? Or are you planning to? What do you think about authors giving books for free? Let me know in the comments!

 

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MY NEW BOOK HERS, UNTAMED IS OUT NOW!

Jax is done with waiting.

COVER REVEAL & AUTHOR INTERVIEW: HEARTHSTONE ALPHA BY A.C. MELODY

 

Title: Hearthstone Alpha (The Úlfrinn Series #1)

Author: A.C. Melody

Publisher: Red Sage Publishing

Pages: approximately 300

Genre: Contemporary Paranormal Romance – Wolf Shifters

Release Date: June 1, 2017

 

 

Blurb:

“All Reyna Daniels wants is to secure her return home to Minneapolis to be with her family. The last thing she needs is to find her world completely inundated by the magnetizing, hostile Corbyn Bruschard and his group of male-model friends.

Corbyn’s not ashamed at being everywhere, since it’s his territory, and he’s certainly not going to apologize for trying to keep Reyna safe. Especially, when she’s his mate.

With all signs pointing to an old enemy’s return, Reyna’s going to have to suck it up and face her ancient Norse heritage fast, whether she’s ready to or not. That doesn’t mean she has to accept being mated to an Alpha who threatens all of her hard-earned independence.”

 

Add Hearthstone Alpha to your Goodreads TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35003050-hearthstone-alpha

 

 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH A.C. MELODY

 

And now on to a special treat! I am super pumped because I got A.C. Melody to answer some questions for me. Here’s my interview with her.

 

Hi A.C., I’m so excited to have you here! Please tell us a little about yourself.

Hi! Thank you for having me, Anna, this is a lot of fun. A little about myself: Well, it should come as no surprise that I am the Overlord of the Darkside. No? Too much? Okay… I’m really a humble Army brat, who spent the first decade of her life moving around a bit, a self-professed gamer, which really means I have an occasional fling with my PS4, never as often as I’d like! I’m also my family’s genealogist, the daughter of a musician and a mom – all outside of my day job – which sadly, doesn’t come with any minions. Oh, and sometimes I write books.

 

The final installment of your Avarice trilogy just launched on April 30th. Congratulations again! I love Avarice. Now you have the first book in a new series coming out already. Tell us how this happened.

Thank you, I’m so thrilled to have the whole trilogy out there now. I know, it seems like I have writing superpowers, right? I wish! Actually, I wrote Hearthstone Alpha and its second novel long before writing Avarice, but they’ve been with my publisher for a few years. With so many other authors, it takes them about 24-48 months to get a book out on the market. Since I self-published the Avarice trilogy, I was able to get it out there much faster.

 

You’re a hybrid author. You self-publish some of your books, but you also have a traditional publisher. What do you think are the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing?

The biggest Pro for self-publishing is having complete control over every aspect of your creation from start to finish, being able to fine tune it all the way up to release day, and having that happen sooner, as I mentioned above.

The largest Pro for traditional publishing (which in turn is the largest Con for going Indie) is the lack of expense. My publisher covers the costs of all my editing, cover art, book formatting, etc. So, I can publish without any upfront cost to me, but, I do have to pay for my own marketing either way.

 

You write a variety of romance sub-genres including contemporary BDSM erotica (The Dark Day Isle-series), dark paranormal erotica (Avarice), and futuristic romance thrillers (The Zen Lounge). Hearthstone Alpha is a paranormal romance featuring wolf shifters. Which of your genres do you find the easiest to write? And which one the hardest?

What a good question! I think each genre comes with its own unique difficulties and advantages. The paranormal and futuristic allow more creative freedom, I’m able to make things up that I don’t have to research as much, or that I can get accurate enough before putting a creative spin on it. I think the contemporary is the hardest, because I have to keep everything realistic and limited to human abilities, behaviors and scenarios. I’ve found it takes more effort to create that tension between characters or in the plot, itself, when there’s no supernatural or scifi element to act as a kind of catalyst.

 

Avarice is packed with mythology, and in Hearthstone Alpha the hot male protagonist Corbyn peppers his lines with Icelandic. How much research goes into your writing? I suspect you spend a lot of time reading about all kinds of things.

Yes, I spend way more time researching than writing, and only about a quarter of that ever makes it into the stories, because I still want them to be entertaining, not read like text books in school. Mythology is difficult to research, because everyone has an opinion and there are so many variations of the same subject. I search my hardest for the origins, if it’s to be found, back to the oldest known source of the story, myth, scripture, what have you.

With other cultures, you run the risk of coming across disrespectful or offensive, so I try to be as precise as I can and will cross reference until I’m satisfied I have the most accurate information possible. Icelandic is known as one of the hardest languages to learn, but out of all the Scandinavian dialects, it’s the least evolved from Old Norse, so I knew that I wanted to use it. I got lucky and found videos on Icelandic phrases by a native who still lives there, so I feel fairly confident those are accurate and I just love how exasperated Corbyn gets with Reyna’s ignorance – but I’m right there with her! Here’s an example of an Icelandic word that sounds nothing like it’s spelled:

 

“Do you really think distance keeps you safe, falleg?”

Fawk…what? “Did you just call me fugly?” she snapped.

“Not even close…”

 

What’s your favorite aspect of Hearthstone Alpha? What was the most fun to write?

I didn’t know much about real wolf packs or Norse Mythology before I started this series, so getting the opportunity to learn more about both and being able to use that in such a creative way has been a very exciting journey for me. Mostly, I wanted to sate my own curiosity. Of all the wolf-shifter books I’ve ever read, I always felt disappointed on two main points: One, that the pack was used as antagonists against the main wolf – or – two, that I never got to see ‘inside’ the pack. I wanted to explore the pack dynamic, rather than them just being a flat backdrop behind the main characters. In Hearthstone Alpha we have all these wolves living, working, eating together, and we get to see their bonds, along with the inevitable tensions – they’re a family and family doesn’t always get along, but they always have each others backs when it matters most.

I also dislike the overused cliche of wolves fighting for the Alpha position, so I took that right out of the equation. It’s not even a possibility. Corbyn’s the Alpha and that can’t be taken away from him, but in turn – how does a good leader take on that kind of responsibility with so many lives depending on him, enemies breathing down his neck, a stubborn mate, family drama and absolutely no way out of it? (I told you I was the Overlord, but you didn’t want to believe me…) LOL

 

Hearthstone Alpha is the first part of a duology. When can we expect the second part?

Little Queen is the second book and will be released on July 1st, just 1 month after Hearthstone Alpha!

 

You live in the Northwestern US. I’ve never been there, but I hear it’s beautiful. How does the area where you live influence your writing?

All of my earliest writings took place in this exact setting, because it was the only one I was familiar with. Evergreen forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, it’s beautiful scenery and works for many genres. But, I’m an explorer at heart and have always dreamed of traveling the world. Over the years I’ve visited a few different places and each time, I was happy to return home to the Pacific NW. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, so I think the greatest influence it has on my writing now, is that I can use Google Earth to plot scenes in places I’ve never been, like Manhattan, Nevada or Fiji, but every time I look out my window, I feel completely happy and content with where I’m at. It still has the ability to take my breath away, and anything that does that, has some kind of impact on your creativity.

 

Let’s go crazy. What’s the biggest imaginable thing you’d want to see happen to Hearthstone Alpha? Selling the movie rights to a big studio? Having a TV-series made out of it? The Nobel price in literature? Millions of rabid fans and doing a book tour around the world?

Oh man, I have to pick just one? I would love to tour the world and meet with fans (preferably not rabid), but I would equally love to see it turned into a TV series. For this story line, I could see that over a movie deal, and what an amazing adventure that would be! Can I do both?

 

Thank you so much for this talk, A.C.! This was great fun.

Thank you again for having me on your blog today, Anna. This has been a wonderful experience and you ask really great questions!

 

Here’s where you can find A.C. Melody:

Blog: https://acmelodyblog.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorACMelody

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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B011PTY1PO

 

Author bio:

A.C. Melody is a hybrid Author of Erotic Romance and its many sub-genres. Confessed javaholic, introverted geeky girl with a twisted sense of humor and a wretched muse.

She has a weakness for hard ass Alphas and the strong women who capture their hearts, without damaging their rough edges. No matter how submissive or demure, her female leads have a core strength and a willingness to admit their own flaws and evolve, not just demand that of their men.

When it comes to gambling, A.C. admits she’s 100% guilty of placing all her money on the underdogs, anti-heroes, and shameless whores.

 

Sign up for A.C. Melody’s Author Newsletter today & get exclusive Cover Reveals, Excerpts, Character Interviews/Bios and join in giveaways (She promises not to spam!): http://eepurl.com/cb9D7H

 

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CHAPTER 1 REVEAL: HERS, UNTAMED BY ANNA ADLER (+ARCS!)

About two weeks to go until Hers, Untamed is released! I’m super excited. Today, I’m going to share the first chapter with you.

In case you just tuned in, Hers, Untamed is an erotic science fiction romance about a woman who buys herself a sexy hunk from a pet shop—but the sexy hunk has no intention of becoming someone’s pet.

 

 

Chapter 1

 

“Please take a seat, Ms. Cressfield. Your guide will be with you shortly.”

Alyssa plopped into the armchair and accepted the courtesy cup of organically farmed coffee, which on this planet cost more than a month’s salary.

Happy birthday to me!

Excitement sparkled in her veins like champagne. Today, for her thirty-fifth birthday, she would realize her lifelong dream and buy herself a pet. Her gaze scanned the pristine expanse of the lobby, a hologram logo of the Interstellar Pet Training Inc. floating above the shiny white reception desk. The hot cup she nursed bore the same marking: a smiling human petting a kneeling alien. Soft music mingled with the gentle splash of the fountain located at the center of the room. Alyssa sipped her coffee, but its rich flavor barely registered.

Pet-keeping entailed responsibility. She wouldn’t be able to spend so much time running around shopping and partying with her friends anymore; she would have to be at home to feed and care for her new friend. But then again, building a relationship with her pet would be so rewarding. A pet was also a status symbol. She looked forward to flaunting her companion in public and receiving the admiring or envious looks associated with owning a pet.

Alyssa shifted her weight. She put her hand on the armrest, her fingers tapped the white leather. Finally, she heard footsteps on the marble floor, and a man approached.

“Ms. Cressfield? I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Welcome to Interstellar.”

Alyssa put her coffee down and rose. The IPT Inc. employee in his tailored suit shook her hand. “Thank you for considering us for your needs. I’m sure you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for. My name’s William and I’ll be your guide today.”

Alyssa resisted the urge to jump up and down and squeal. “Great. Let’s get on with it.”

William gestured her to walk with him.

“Male or female?” he asked.

“Male,” Alyssa replied. Females tended to be easier to handle, but a male would look more impressive by her side. A big, sexy male with muscular arms…

“Is this your first pet, Ms. Cressfield?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of training are you looking for? Do you mean to engage in pet shows or sports events?”

“No, I just want a house pet. If it turns out he’s interested in competition, I’ll train him further myself.”

“You want one with only the basic training, then. I’m happy to say that we have a large selection for you.” William gave her a broad smile. “You may have difficulty choosing.”

Alyssa grinned. “That’s exactly what I want. Impress me.”

The room they entered was lined with comfortably furnished glass exhibits, each occupied by a pet. In the first enclosure, a pale-skinned Lurexian sat reading a book. When Alyssa approached, he set it aside, moved up to the glass, and posed to accentuate his toned pectorals. His face and body were human-like, but his golden hair resembled a lion’s mane and he had a long, furry tail as well. William entered a command on his wristband, and the lights above the Lurexian’s glass cage dimmed. His skin began to glow with natural bioluminescence. He wore only a black loincloth. Alyssa licked her lips.

William seemed to notice where Alyssa’s gaze had drifted.

“Would you like him to remove the cloth?”

“Maybe later,” she said, eagerly turning her head toward the next exhibit.

They viewed several Lurexians, after which came Lizardians, fur-coated, quadrupedal Wolfmen, and tall Crasnians, with their gorgeous red eyes. The pets were all fit, handsome and healthy, and each bowed respectfully as she passed. No wonder IPT was said to be the best pet training center on Silenia.

Alyssa was in heaven, having so many good-looking males to choose from. She scarcely focused on any of them for more than five seconds before running to the next. Her heart skipped with delight as her gaze scanned the enclosures around her.

“I could spend the whole day here!”

“I fully encourage you to do so,” William said. “You want to choose the right companion.”

A glowing sign pointing to the adjoining room caught her eye. It said “hybrids”. Heat rose in her cheeks. Human-alien hybrids were the most popular sex pets. Being wealthy and attractive, Alyssa had no difficulty finding partners whenever she wanted someone in her bed, but owning a sexy creature and having him at her disposal at all times promised a new kind of excitement.

“I think I’d like a hybrid,” Alyssa said.

“Alien-alien or human-alien?”

“Human-alien.”

William proceeded to direct her to the right side of the hybrid room.

“This one is very tame and amiable,” he said, pausing in front of a tall half-Lizardian. The pet looked like a man, but he had beautiful, bronze-colored scales. “Would you like to pet him?”

Alyssa nodded. William tapped his wristband. A section of the glass wall slid aside, creating an opening large enough to fit a hand through. The pet crawled on all fours to the opening and presented his shoulder. Alyssa ran her fingers over his skin. It felt warm, and more ridged than human skin. How delightful it would be to touch him every day. She cooed at him and tried to establish eye contact, but he kept his gaze averted. He didn’t even seem to realize she was there.

Alyssa wanted a pet she could interact with. She pulled her hand away. “Do you have any that are—”

A crash split the air, making her jump.

“Damn that thing!” someone in the next room shouted.

Alyssa looked at William with a raised eyebrow. William’s jaw had tightened, but he tried to give her a pleasant look.

“I’m sorry about the noise, Ms. Cressfield.”

“What was that?”

“It’s merely the new acquisition. His cage is in the training area.”

“Oh? Can I see him?”

“You wouldn’t be interested in him. He’s not ready yet. Still completely wild and untrained.”

Alyssa came alive with curiosity.

Wild! Untrained! What are they like when freshly caught?

She straightened. “I’d like to see him.”

William opened his mouth to speak, but then seemed to think better of it. He nodded politely and walked her through a door to a different area of the facility. Whereas the pet display areas were predominantly white, decorative, and spotlessly clean, the walls here were drab gray, everything with a strictly utilitarian look. Several empty cages lined the hallway. The new acquisition occupied the cage at the end. Four men stood in front of it, wearing dark uniforms with an armband identifying them as pet trainers. One of them collected scattered pieces of equipment off the floor.

“A client wants to see the new merchandise,” William announced.

The men looked warily at Alyssa but stepped aside. Alyssa faced the cage and gasped. A human-alien hybrid; a mouth-watering hunk of hard muscle. He looked mostly human, except for the brown-and-blue scales that covered both arms and part of his left leg. His posture radiated strength and defiance. He glared at all of them, his face twisted with barely contained rage. His eyes were pale blue with narrow pupils, typical of the humanoid-reptilian S’laurians.

He was also completely naked. Shreds of black cloth littered the floor of the cage.

He stalked toward them and threw himself against the glass wall, trying to break it. Alyssa started back, although she knew the glass would hold. The hybrid pounded his fist against it until his knuckles turned bloody. He threw Alyssa a snarl, sauntered to the back of the cage, and appeared to fume silently.

Alyssa’s heart pounded. She had never seen anything so ferocious and strangely attractive. Her gaze shifted to the red smudge on the glass.

“He hurt himself.”

“We’re going to have to sedate him for a while,” one of the trainers said. “Calm him down and start all over again. He’s not responding to the training like he should.”

“How long has he been here?”

“Three weeks.”

“If you have seen enough, Ms. Cressfield, may I suggest we resume our tour?” William said.

Alyssa thought about going back to the other pets, but the idea left her cold. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the beast hunkering in the corner. She stepped closer and tapped at the glass. He glanced over his shoulder. Their gazes met and the power behind his dark scowl made her breath catch.

I could tame him. Make him mine.

He was different from all the other pets. A flame licked her belly at the thought of owning this raging male, having this beast on a leash…

“No need. I want this one.”

William’s eyes widened. “But he hasn’t been tamed. Ms. Cressfield, this pet is extremely dangerous.”

“I know. I’ll be careful.”

“We usually don’t sell unbroken pets.”

Alyssa fixed a stern gaze on William. “I’m the client, and I want to buy this one. Do we have a deal or not?”

“Of course,” he replied, paused, and cleared his throat. “Perhaps…you would like to learn more about your new possession before we handle the transaction?”

Alyssa smiled and turned to the nearest trainer. “Does he speak English?”

The trainer scratched his head. “We haven’t exactly managed to have a conversation with him, but judging from the curses he throws at us…yes, I’d say he speaks English.”

“His estimated age is thirty-eight standard years,” a younger trainer said, handing Alyssa a data pad. “Here’s his file. Half human, half S’laurian, strong and healthy, should be suitable for almost anything if you can tame him. You can feed him regular human food, just make sure it’s low in carbohydrates and high in protein. And regular exercise is important. It should help curb the violent outbursts.”

Alyssa skimmed over the file. She couldn’t wait to have him transported to her apartment, to have him all to herself.

“I have the cage and everything else ready at my apartment. How soon can you bring him over?”

“We’ll need to chip him and run a few tests,” William said. “Would tomorrow morning be suitable?”

“Tomorrow morning would be perfect. Now, the price…”

“Yes. Please excuse me for a second. I need to talk to my superior—this specimen is untrained and doesn’t yet have a price.”

Alyssa nodded. She dreamily gazed at her new pet while William stepped aside to make a phone call. The wild creature kept his back turned to them. His muscular shoulders rose and fell with his breathing, betraying his anger, even though he remained silent. He examined his injured hand.

“You’ll take care of his hand, won’t you?” Alyssa asked the trainers.

“We’ll patch him up for you.”

“And make sure he can’t injure himself anymore. I don’t want him hurt.”

“We’ll see to it, Ms. Cressfield.”

William ended his call and returned to Alyssa. “Ms. Cressfield? I’ve been instructed to offer this specimen for 500,000 credits.”

“Half a million?” Alyssa laughed. “You can’t be serious. That’s as much as your fully trained pets.”

“He’s a very rare hybrid,” William said. “This is the first time we’ve acquired someone like him. Fully trained, he would fetch twice as much. And please remember we’ll handle the transportation and all the necessary insurances for you; it’s included in the price. We also provide a training collar and a basic pet care kit.”

A rare hybrid…now the price sounded like a bargain. And the idea of possessing a one-of-a-kind pet appealed to Alyssa. Besides, she had the money. This was what she had been saving for. She didn’t really care what he cost anyway, she simply wanted to have him.

“All right, 500,000 credits.”

—

 

I hope you enjoyed the read. Hers, Untamed is available for preorder and it’s free! You can find it on

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072L6SMBR

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hers-untamed-anna-adler/1126315653

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/hers-untamed

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Anna_Adler_Hers_Untamed?id=hAPFDgAAQBAJ

 

 

ARCs available!

Would you like to read the whole book now, instead of waiting until May 31st? Contact me! I’m handing out ARCs at the moment.

What’s an ARC? ARC is short for Advanced Reader Copy. Authors often give advanced copies of the book to reviewers and promotion sites. This is how they can get reviews before the book’s released or directly on the release date.

So what do I want in exchange if I send you an ARC of Hers, Untamed? I would like you to read the book and post your honest opinion of it somewhere on the internet on May 31st. For example, you can leave a review on Amazon or on Goodreads (a review doesn’t have to be long or thorough; as long as it contains your opinion of the book, you’re good). If you prefer, you can post your thoughts in your blog or on social media. I’m interested in all forms of visibility. Send me a link to your review/post and I’ll tweet about it.

If you’re interested, drop me a note through the Contact form, saying that you’d like to have an ARC of Hers, Untamed, and give me your email address. I’ll email you a link to my BookFunnel account where you can download the book to your ebook reader.

 

 

Newsletter news!

In the future, I’ll be offering ARCs first and foremost to my newsletter subscribers. My newsletter will be up on May 31st! Want to read all my books for free? Check out my Newsletter page on May 31st for more information.

 

 

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I GOT THE SUNSHINE BLOGGER AWARD!

I got an award!

I’m super excited and honored because this proves that my blog reads like a real blog. I post so seldom and I’m so bad at making my blog accessible it’s a wonder it’s visited by anyone except spambots. Thank you! This definitely inspires me to blog more!

 

Sunshiny!

 

The Sunshine Blogger Award is a fun chain letter award given to bloggers by other bloggers. The rules are approximately as follows:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.

2. Answer the 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.

3. Nominate 11 other blogs and give them 11 questions to answer.

The wonderful Kim M. Watt nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award in April (and I’m over a month late to react because I’m in the process of getting a book out). Thank you, Kim!