Kalayna Price's Blog, page 7

Answering your Questions: Alex Craft Series

I'm getting a lot of emails asking how many books will be in the Alex Craft series. The truth is that the answer hasn't been determined yet. Currently, Roc has me contracted for the first three books, but it is my hope that they will want more books in the series because I have a lot more story to tell. I do have an idea how the series will end, but I don't actually know how many books it will take for me to reach it.

Does that make everything as clear as mud? LOL

Have a great Tuesday, everyone. -Kalayna Price

Dragon*Con Schedule

I can't believe Dragon*Con is only 10 days away! This year has gone by fast. At the same time, a lot has happened since last Dragon (and yes, this event is big enough for me that I mark my year by it, lol). Can you believe Grave Witch wasn't yet released last Dragon*con? Now the second book is out too. Unreal.

Anyway, for those of you unfamiliar with Dragon*Con, it is the largest sci-fi/fantasy con on the East Coast. It is held over labor day weekend in downtown Atlanta every year and is a huge, four day affair involving just about every type of geekdom out there as well as an amazing music scene, tons guests and about 50k attendees. It is, in a word, amazing. I love it. And this year I'm a guest with an official schedule and everything. In previous years I didn't know what panels I'd be on until I arrived and I missed several of you who were looking for me. This year, look for me here:

Title: Spotlight: Witches
Description: Explores the role of witches in fantasy literature.
Time: Fri 05:30 pm Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Reading: Kalayna Price
Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: Roswell - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Spotlight: Dark Faeries
Description: A writer's roundtable about the sinister side of the "Fair Folk."
Time: Sat 07:00 pm Location: Montreal / Vancouver - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Spotlight on BelleBooks & Bell Bridge Books
Description: Whether you're writing about demons, vampires, teens, tweens, ghosts or grandmas, come and see what this dynamic niche publisher is looking for.
Time: Sun 02:30 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Knowing your Audience
Description: So, you sold a book. Who's your audience? Do you write for your audience or for yourself? How do you discover who your audience really is?
Time: Sun 07:00 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
I will also be sharing a booth in the dealers room which I'll try to hang out at whenever possible, but it's going to be a really busy weekend. I know for sure I'll be there most of Monday afternoon. Speaking of the booth, I'll of course have signed books for sale, as well as free buttons and bookmarks, but just to change things up, I'm also looking into having T-shirts about the books. This is not a definite yet, as I have to check out the quality before I commit to anything, but if you're looking for a Willing to Have a Near Death Experience or Fae Investigation Bureau shirt, I might just have them at the table. ^_^

So, who is going to Dragon this year? I hope to see you there!-Kalayna Price

Free Alex Craft Short and Kita now in audio!

A couple quick announcements today. First up is that I have a free short story featuring Alex Craft (main character of GRAVE WITCH and GRAVE DANCE) up over at Dark Fearie Tales as part of the Fantastic Fables event.  I was asked to involve my characters in a well known fairy tale for the event, so this story is slightly outside the cannon of the series, but it was a fun sketch of a scene to write. The story is called Alex Craft and the Gingerbread House.  I hope you enjoy it.

In other news, those of you who listen to your books can now enjoy the first two Haven Novels in audio book form! Here are quick links to the audible editions of ONCE BITTEN and TWICE DEAD.

Happy Hump day everyone!-Kalayna Price

Tonight is the Fantastical Mystery Tour event!

Just a quick reminder that tonight is the FANTASTICAL MYSTERY TOUR event at the B&N on Forest Drive in Columbia. This huge, five author event will have two panels, a question and answer session, goodies, a signing, and door prizes--including a FREE NOOK (or equivalent gift card)!  This event also doubles as the official release party for Grave Dance!

Event Schedule:
5-6pm: Short panel and an open-forum question and answer with the attendees.
6-7:30pm: Book Signing followed by the drawing for door prizes.
7:30-8pm: short panel geared toward writers and those interested in the writing process.

Attending Authors:
Rachel Aaron
John Hartness
Faith Hunter
Misty Massey
Kalayna Price




Sound fun? I hope so! I also hope you'll be able to make it to the event. (Time and location again:  Saturday, July 9th from 5:00-8:00pm at the Barnes and Noble on Forest Drive in Columbia, SC.--3400 Forest Drive, Columbia, SC 29204 phone number: 803-787-5600)

Also, I've been nominated to moderate the first panel, so I need to think up some good questions. Any suggestions?

I hope to see you tonight!-Kalayna Price

Life as an exercise for writing

Earlier this week, the head minion had a birthday and to celebrate, we ran off for a day at the beach. While walking down the beach, enjoying the sand squishing under foot and the ebbing waves washing over my ankles, I started to think about what that same beach might be like in Alex's world. In her world, more than likely marrow or mermaids would be out amongst the waves or sunning themselves on the rocks. Depending on which folklore you read, that could be a rather delightful sight, or a very dangerous one as the presence mermaids were often thought to foretell storms. Or, other stories tell of them luring mortals into the ocean where they would then drown them and either eat them or trap their souls in pots far beneath the waves. Very deadly indeed.

I then looked toward the land and thought about how in Alex's world the sand dunes would probably be covered in enchantments. Some would be enchantments to prevent erosion of the shoreline, but others would be strong spells meant to help calm storms and protect the surrounding property. Oh, such charms wouldn't be able to stop a hurricane, but it might help lessen the worse of the damage.

Later that evening I went on a ghost tour and heard stories about how pirates were often buried in shallow graves at the tide line. This improper burial was thought to trap their souls, so there are many stories of ghosts wandering the shore--how much fun (as in trouble) could Alex have there?

It was a fun little exercise (especially since I'm currently working on an Alex Craft novel). Nekros is a landlocked state, but maybe Alex will have to venture to the ocean in some book. ^_^

Happy Thursday everyone! And thank you everyone who has picked up a copy of GRAVE DANCE and/or told your friends about the book! (And don't forget, if you are in the Columbia area, the Fantastical Mystery Tour is this Saturday at 5pm. I hope you can stop by. I'd love to see you!)-Kalayna Price

GRAVE DANACE Now on Shelves

    Release day is finally here! GRAVE DANCE should now be available at all major bookstores and about anywhere books are sold online. Here are some convenient links to online sellers, or check your local brick and mortar store.
Amazon
Barnes and NobleBook Depository   Books A Million
Borders

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy Alex's continuing story! -Kalayna Price

Happy Fourth of July and Winners!

To those in the US, Happy 4th of July. I hope you have a fun (and SAFE--please practice fire safety if you are firing fireworks tonight) fourth of July.

And speaking of causes for celebration, GRAVE DANCE hits shelves tomorrow! I can't believe the day is finally almost here. Some of you have let me know that you have already spotted the book on shelves. Thanks for letting me know. I hope you enjoy the Alex's story!

Thank you also everyone who helped me spread the word about the release in the "Get the Word Out" contest. It was a big success. Now I think it's time to crank up the random number generator and pull some winners, what do you think? Yeah? Okay.

WINNERS (and the randomly drawn entry):
-Gabbie (who tweeted about the release)
-SJ DRUM (who added the book to her sidebar)
-Ezzie (who tweeted about the release)
-Stephanie (who posted on Goodreads)
-Ruacach (who reviewed GW on Goodreads)

Congratulations winners!  Please email me at CONTESTS (AT) KALAYNA (DOT) COM with the subject "WINNER" and let me know which book from the prize pack you'd like to claim and where you'd like me to ship the book (full list of available prizes can be found here). Those of you who entered but whose name was not drawn, I have a consolation prize to thank you for helping me spread the word. Please send an email to the above address with the subject of "Get the word out bookplate" and I will send you a signed bookplate and a bookmark.

Thank you again everyone who helped me spread the word, and I hope you'll continue to help get the word out there about tomorrow's release!-Kalayna Price

Last day to enter and a tour of Nekros

Hey everyone.  Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter the Get the Word Out contest. Thank you everyone who has already helped me spread the word about next week's release of GRAVE DANCE! Winners will be announced next Monday.

In other news, today Alex is acting as a tour guide of Nekros City over at All Things Urban Fantasy for the Deadly Destinations tour. I hope that you'll stop by and check it out this insiders tour of the city.

-Kalayna Price

Get the Word Out Contest: Grave Dance edition

Ten days until Grave Dance hits shelves--It's almost here! I think now is a good time to give things away, what do you think?

For my last release, I posted a "get the word out" contest, and you guys were absolutely wonderful about letting people know about the book, so I think I will beg for your help once again--and of course, there will be a chance to win free books! So what am I giving away? Let's have a look:



What do you think? Quite a score? I have books from all the authors participating in the Fantastical Mystery Tour, a signed copy from one of my favorite YA authors, and of course, my books. In detail, we have:
Wicked Lovely by Melissa MarrMad Kestrel by Misty MasseySkinwalker by Faith Hunter*Hard Day's Knight by John Hartness*Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron*Once Bitten Twice Dead Grave Witch (Audio release)Grave Dance (my very last ARC)
and finallyGrave Dance (mass market)What do you think? See anything you like?

Okay, good. Here is how to enter to win:


WHAT: The Get the Word out Contest: Grave Dance edition
WHEN: Contest opens today and runs until Friday, July 1st at 11:59 pm
HOW TO ENTER: Help me get the word out about Grave Dance. Blog/tweet/post to facebook about the release. And/Or, write a review of Grave Witch and post it on your blog/amazon/B&N/Goodreads/etc. (review must be posted during the contest dates to count toward entry [edited: extended to reviews posted during June of this year]) THEN post a link in the comments letting me know where you helped spread the word. You will get one (1) entry for each unique location you help spread the word.
HOW WINNERS WILL BE DRAWN: I will use a random generator to draw FIVE (5) winners.  These winners will each get to pick one prize. I only have one signed copy of Wicked Lovely and one Grave Dance Arc, so those will go to the first winner who claims them, but I have access to multiples of the other prizes so they can be claimed by multiple winners.
Open Internationally.

Easy enough? Okay, I hope you'll help me get the word out! Good luck everyone.

(*Books from my fellow Fantastical Mystery Tour authors can be personalized to the winner at the event on the 9th. [Shipping of these books will obviously have to be after the event] Also, the first books in these series are listed, but if you would like a later book in the series, let me know and I can swap it. ^_^)-Kalayna Price

Final part of the GRAVE DANCE excerpt and news on the release party

  I can't believe we are at 11 days and counting until the release of GRAVE DANCE. Which means it's time to share the final excerpt from the book. The first section of chapter two is now live on the excerpt page. I hope you enjoy!

In the next couple days I'll be announcing my blog tour. Things have been so busy that I'm a bit behind on my scheduling, but be on the look out for dates and locations.




And speaking of tours, have you heard about the FANTASTICAL MYSTERY TOUR? This huge, five author event that will have two panels, a question and answer session, goodies, a signing, and door prizes--including a FREE NOOK (or equivalent gift card)! It will be Saturday, July 9th from 5:00-8:00pm at the Barnes and Noble on Forest Drive in Columbia, SC. This event will also double as the official release party for Grave Dance, so as you can guess, I'm super excited. Here is some more information:

Event Schedule:
5-6pm: Short panel and an open-forum question and answer with the attendees.
6-7:30pm: Book Signing followed by the drawing for door prizes.
7:30-8pm: short panel geared toward writers and those interested in the writing process.

Attending Authors:
Rachel Aaron
John Hartness
Faith Hunter
Misty Massey
Kalayna Price (Hey, that's me!)

As you can see, we have a lot of exciting stuff planned for the event, so I hope you'll stop by. I'd love to see you.

Okay, that's all for today but please stop back by tomorrow--I'll have a huge contest/giveaway announcement!-Kalayna Price