Edward J. Branley's Blog: Eloquent Profanity, page 12

Urban Fantasy set in New Orleans!

Urban Fantasy set in New Orleans!

Today’s the day! My novel, Hidden Talents is officially released today. When I was having issues with getting the cover to IngramSpark in October, I made the decision to push the roll-out of the book back a month. It was a good move, because now everything is in place. Once the cover art was resolved, it was a matter of verifying the proof copies and release the book into the wild. Ingram’s documentation on their Print On Demand (POD) service said it would take several weeks for that to happen, once you release a book on their site. I don’t know if this book is an exception, but that time lag, from print to distributor, was a matter of days, not weeks. That’s why the book’s been out on Amazon earlier than the release date.

What is Hidden Talents about?

Here’s the back cover blurb:

New Orleans is hot, humid, spiritual…and magical!

Anita Delatorre is a junior executive for a publishing company specializing in Christian books and homeschooling materials. One of her “responsibilities” is to be her company’s liaison with a New Orleans-based radio preacher, whose books her company publishes. A group seeking to discredit her client is all too successful, and Anita must take steps to stop them, using any means at her disposal. And Anita’s means are formidible: She is a sorceress, whose psychic Talents extend well beyond those of most mortals.

Renard Alciatore is a photographer who enjoys using his computer skills to mock Anita’s client, the Reverend Jay Hadley. As Ren begins to receive information of financial and sexual improprieties from inside Jay Hadley Ministries, his life is threatened, and, in the process, his own Talents are revealed. He is placed under the Protection of a shadowy organization known as The Assembly as he learns to use his Talents, to improve his photography, help others when he can, and defend his own life, when Challenged.

What were once Hidden Talents emerge in the hot New Orleans summer. Only one will walk away when the Duel is joined!

What is Urban Fantasy?

The genre, “Urban Fantasy” describes a novel that features supernatural elements, such as sword and sorcery, but in an urban/city setting. This is contrasted to “High Fantasy”, like Tolkien, where the author creates an entire world/universe.

Buy Hidden Talents!

Thanks to everyone for your support in making this project a reality. Now, go buy the book – Kindle/Hardcover/Paperback! If you’re on Facebook, join the Bayou Talents Book Group to talk about it when you’re finished.

 

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YatBooks Podcast #2

Thanks for coming on our second date! This installment of YatBooks is the same format as #1. Process for the first half of the show, this week, talking about the rollout of Hidden Talents, StoryCartel, and NetGalley.

Part Two of this podcast is a review of The Tudor Tutor, by Barb Alexander, illustrated by Lisa Graves, the History Witch. Love this book! Listen and I’ll tell you why.

 

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YatBooks Podcast #1

The podcasts are back! Starting off with books, since I have books to promote. The idea behind YatBooks is a 30 minute show, where the first half is about process, writing, publishing, and we’ll talk about a specific book in the second half. To start it off, we’ll talk about the universe of Hidden Talents. BE GENTLE about quality, please! I wanted to get an installment up tonight, and I’m in the hotel in Silly Valley. I’m working with sorting out how to get this distributed via WordPress.

The book is available for Kindle now, and the paperback and hardcover editions will drop on December 4th. Listen, please, to my ramblings on where the Talents come from.

 

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Buy Hidden Talents!

Full hardcover dust cover for Hidden Talents.

The hardcover and paperback editions of Hidden Talents will be available for sale on December 4, 2015. In the meantime, you Kindle users (via an actual Kindle, or the Kindle app for iOS, Android, or computer) can get the book now! Here’s the link to Amazon.com:

Hidden Talents on Amazon.com

There will be events in December and January, as I work them into my teaching schedule.

Go buy my novel!

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Hidden Talents Update

As y’all know, today was supposed to be the day that my novel, Hidden Talents, would hit the stores. Alas, that hasn’t happened.

I’ve experienced a ton of problems working with IngramSpark. A lot of it was my fault, not formatting the cover art for the paperback and hardcover editions properly for their automated submission process. It’s not just me, however. They are one of the most unresponsive companies I’ve ever tried to work with, in terms of customer service. I upload files, and they take days to even move them from their upload server to the preliminary work area.

A typical phone call involves a hold time of 15-20 minutes.

IngramSpark lists an email to contact them, but they just don’t respond.

I’m heading out of town tomorrow to teach, and hopefully I can get things sorted out. I’m pushing back the drop date to December 4, 2015.

 

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NaNoWriMo is approaching…

I’ve started on the second novel of Blood Bound! The outline is pretty much set in my head (and my moleskine), and I’ve got drafts of the first two chapters. Since National Novel Writer’s Month (NaNoWriMo) is all about 50K-word projects, it’s perfect for the second novel.

The second novel in the Blood Bound series is tentatively titled Dragon’s Discovery. It continues the adventures of Anne Marie Denechaud, Joey Newfeld, and David Williams, “The Trio” from Dragon’s Danger. Along with their dragon, Eleni, The Trio enter their junior year of high school, which promises to be even more exciting the previous one.

The plan is to release Dragon’s Discovery on Mardi Gras, 2016, which is Tuesday, February 9, 2016, to those you outside New Orleans. If I stick to the NaNoWriMo target of writing 50K words in a month, I can work with Lady Editor in December, get production settled in January, and release on Fat Tuesday.

I’ll cross-post NaNoWriMo updates here, there, and on GoodReads.

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Hidden Talents – Update!

Waiting on the final proofs! Everything is on track for the 31-October release. I haven’t finalized any release events/signings/readings yet, mainly because of my crazy schedule. LT Firstborn is changing duty station from Groton, CT, to San Diego, as the USS Alexandria transitions from being an Atlantic Fleet submarine to joining the Pacific Fleet. This is Kiddo’s last undergraduate semester at LSU, and mom wants to get in all the Tiger Band stuff she can possibly get in, for his last football season. I’ve been fortunate to be able to teach from home (via WebEx) for most of October, but I’m likely going to end up on the road again in November. We’ll definitely have local events, though.

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Verse: The White Sundress

The White Sundress

The White Sundress

Acts in counterpoint to the

Little Black Dress.

While the LBD is touted as

Fashion that goes from

“Boardroom to Ballroom”,

The White Sundress is less

Versatile, because of

Its color

Its fabric

Its light weight

Its distraction factor.

The White Sundress

Still does things

The LBD will never do,

Such as go to the beach,

To the park,

To the outdoor nighttime event,

In the crisp air of late spring,

Or the oppressing heat

And humidity

Of midsummer.

The White Sundress

Often gives way to the

Little Black Dress,

As the symphony

Changes direction after

Sunset.

The music moves indoors,

Where the a/c is fierce

And a dress of more sterner stuff

Is in order.

The White Sundress

Is at its best,

At the bar,

With a glass of white wine,

Perpetuating the mystery

Of just how it hits the floor.

©2015 Edward J Branley

 

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BOSH POTW: Ursuline Academy Ad, 1889

Neat ad from the 1889 edition of the Crescent Steam Printing House.

Ursuline Academy "below New Orleans?"

That's right. Ursuline Academy started as a French Quarter school, at the Old Ursuline Convent on Rue Chartres and Rue Ursuline. That's the "Established in 1727" you see in the ad. The convent building got too big for the school, however, and the Ursulines acquired a mansion on the corner of Esplanade and North Rampart. Three years after this ad ran, in 1892, the sisters determined that their education mission would be better served by a location in Uptown New Orleans. They sold their building in the Marigny to the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, who moved St. Aloysius College from Barracks and Chartres to Esplanade and North Rampart.

Wrestling State Champs and All-Metro Coach of the Year!

Congrats to Crusader Wrestling Coach Robbie Dautrieve, on being named the Times-Picayune's metro Coach of the Year! Coach Dautrieve and his team won State last month.