Christine Rains's Blog, page 115

Out from under the bed a little early

The official release date for FEARLESS is August 7th, but I couldn't wait any longer. The book is available already! If you've popped by today, please go get yourself a copy and enjoy.

Smashwords (free in all formats)Createspace ($3.99 for a print copy)
I was lucky enough to have a fantastic critique partner who is also an editor. She formatted the manuscript for me for each site. I went over everything again a couple of times before I finally started to upload the novella to each place.
Smashwords: Easy to upload. They were fast to get it up too. I had 3 downloads before I was even finished and satisfied with the profile. I like that I can put my work up for free here, and it will send it out to various other ebook sellers too. It was even more exciting when I started getting my reviews! I already have five 5 star reviews by random people. I want to hug them all! One kind reviewer dubbed my book "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Monsters Inc." What a perfect description!
Amazon and B&N: Tedious. Lots of pages to fill out. They didn't have the book up for days. I didn't get the option of selling for free. At least on Amazon I can get it price-matched, but I've heard that's not permanent either. They are two major forces in the book business. It's important to have my book up there.
Kobo: Not as much to fill out as the previous two, but I didn't like the way it was set up. They also did not have paranormal or paranormal romance listed as a genre. I had to call it contemporary romance. That's not a proper description of it, but they didn't give any other options that were close to my genre.
Createspace: It took the longest to work with, but it was easy enough to do. They have an easy to navigate system set up for reviewing your interior and creating a cover. It'll be very cool to have a print copy of the story. I know what I'm getting everyone for Christmas this year! I'm having a few problems with them that I don't understand about ISBNs, and I hope is just an error on their part. The keep replying to me with the same email over and over. I need to call them, but the book is up and for sale.
A reminder about the "What was your childhood monster?" blogfest. Still lots of time to sign up and share with us what scared you as a kid!

Wicked Wednesday + IWSG

Wicked Wednesday is my day of the week to talk about my favorite genre, paranormal romance.

The Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) is Alex J. Cavanaugh's brilliant idea for writers to share their insecurities and encourage one another. The IWSG posts the first Wednesday every month. Please visit the other participants and offer up your support.

I'm combining both posts this month because of my fears about paranormal romance being a trend and that it's losing popularity. I'm sure you've heard this from several sources. Vampires and werewolves have been done one too many times. Publishers and agents are less likely to pick up your manuscript if they see it's paranormal romance, especially if it's about vampires.

Right now, the popular trends are dystopias and steampunk. There's been a rise in interest of fantasy and science-fiction too. While I do enjoy those genres, my passion is paranormal romance, and I feel like I'm coming in on the end of the trend. Should I even bother still writing in this genre? Am I hindering my career as a writer by writing a genre that is losing popularity? Am I over-thinking this?!

I know people say write what you love. If it's a brilliant story, no one will care what genre it is. I know these things. I tell say them over and over again in my head. But there's always that little snooty voice in the background talking about trends, what's best for me and my writing, etc. I try to smother that little voice, but it always creeps back.

I'd like to think that with the love readers have for paranormal romance, especially young people, that there is an audience there for life. I still love my first favorite genre as a child which was horror.

Do you think paranormal romance is losing its popularity? Do you think I'm wasting too much time thinking about trends?

Teaser Tuesday with Rampant

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
Grab your current read Open to a random page Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that pageBE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!Killer unicorns. Yes, I laughed too, but Rampant by Diana Peterfreund is really good. I'll say it again: killer unicorns. Pick this one up!
Here's your teaser:
A growl curled the corner of its jaw, revealing tiny, sharp fangs. Blood was drying in its slightly matted hair, but I saw no injuries at all. It turned to me and, just like the one in the woods, swept into a quick bow. (page 48)

REMINDER: I'm over at Kathleen Doyle's Thirsty Thursday blog with a post on writing action scenes. Come over and say hi!

Colonization Cover Reveal & Giveaway

Finding a new home has never been so dangerous.
Andromeda has spent all seventeen years of her life aboard a deep space transport vessel destined for a paradise planet. Her safe cocoon is about to break open as Paradise 21 looms only one month away, and she must take the aptitude tests to determine her role on the new world and her computer assigned lifemate. As a great-granddaughter of the Commander of the ship, she wants to live up to her family name. But, her forbidden love for her childhood friend, Sirius, distracts her and she fails the tests. The results place her in a menial role in the new colony and pair her with Corvus, “the oaf”.

But when Andromeda steps foot on Paradise 21, her predestined future is the least of her worries. Alien ghosts from a failed colonization warn her of a deadly threat to her colony. And when Sirius's ship crashes on the far ridge in an attempt to investigate, she journeys to rescue him with Corvus.

Andromeda now must convince the authorities of the imminent danger to keep her protect her new home. What she didn't expect was a battle of her own feelings for Sirius and Corvus.

Can she save the colony and discover her true love?

Release date: November 7th, 2012 



Author Bio: Aubrie Dionne writes science fiction fantasy with romantic elements. Her writings have appeared in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Hazard Cat, Moon Drenched Fables, A Fly in Amber, and Aurora Wolf. Her books are published by Inkspell Publishing, Entangled Publishing, Lyrical Press, and Gypsy Shadow Publishing. She’s also a professional flutist in New England.

Please visit her website: www.authoraubrie.com

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2964057.Aubrie_Dionne

Twitter: @authoraubrie

Blog: http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com

Giveaway! – Open for US and UK only.

We have a very cool keyring as a giveaway.

Below is the rafflecopter link: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday Six for July 28th

1. I'm slowly loading FEARLESS up to the various ebook sellers. I'm so glad Cherie formatted them for me. Some of the stuff is confusing. I have to carefully read it through again and again to make sure I know what I'm doing and nothing is going to go wrong. I found Smashwords the easiest to work with. Amazon and B&N were equally as tedious, and I didn't like Kobo at all. It didn't have paranormal or paranormal romance listed as a genre. And what's with the sites calling urban fantasy "urban life?" I picture something completely different when I think urban life; more non-fiction than fiction.

2. I'm working my way slowly through CreateSpace. None of my documents were correct at first, but I worked through it with their system. It was helpful even if it took a while. I have to work on the cover-spine-backcover. It has to be one file. I might try to go through their do-it-yourself program and see what I can make. I'd very much like to have FEARLESS available in paperback. I'll eventually get there.

3. I've had a great response to my "What was your childhood monster?" blogfest. 36 people are signed up so far. I get ten times as many hits a day on that post than any other too. I think that's excellent for my first blogfest. Thank you, folks!

4. I haven't written my short story for this month yet. I started a steampunk story, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get back to it. I'm telling myself I need to write a sci-fi flash piece this weekend and try Daily Science Fiction again. Third time's a charm, right?

5. Nope. No air-conditioning yet.

6. I don't have any plans for the weekend other than to write that flash piece. Maybe we'll go to the library and/or have a picnic by the lake again. Any way to stay cool. I'll be happy to see July in my rearview mirror. It was a brutal month. August will bring an air-conditioning unit, FEARLESS, Gen Con, and preschool. Onward to August!

Have a wonderful weekend!

The winner of the Gravity series cover reveal & Fearless news

The winner of the Gravity trilogy is

Arlee Bird

Congratulations!
Cherie will be in contact with you shortly.

 In FEARLESS news, the Super Awesome Cherie has finished proofreading and formatting for me. I'll be looking over the documents a few more times and then I'll begin the adventure of learning how to load them up onto various sites. So exciting! It's looking very good that everything will be ready to go before the release date.
I have another stop to add to my blog tour. Tara Tyler has invited me to her blog on August 10th for a little chat. A magnificent way to end off my release week.

New blogfest badge and schedule

I LOVE this new badge! The artwork is amazing. It has the perfect atmosphere. I was happy to get permission from the artist, an extremely talented woman named Nina. I discovered Nina on deviantART. Please check out her site. Her artwork is beautiful. Some pictures are lively, some are dark, and others are simply breathtaking. Every piece inspires a dozen stories in my head.

Don't forget to sign up for the "What was your childhood monster?" blogfest to help promote the release of my novella, FEARLESS.

I added FEARLESS on Goodreads. It took a little bit to figure out. I also can't find where you can add tags for your book to list it under certain genres. Does anyone know if you can do that?

I'm excited to be doing a guest post on writing action scenes at Kathleen Doyle's Thirsty Thursday blog on July 31st. Pop by for a visit! Don't worry, I'll remind you again on Tuesday.

I have a big week lined up for my release. Of course, there's the blogfest happening August 7th - 9th.

On August 6th, I have an interview with Shelley Sly, a fellow writer and geek. I also have a guest post on writing fear at my hard-working critique partner, Cherie Reich's blog. You still have one more day to enter to win the entire Gravity trilogy by Cherie!

August 7th is the official release of FEARLESS. That day I'll be over at Tania Walsh's site with a post about monsters. Tania is awesome, and we share a love of mythological creatures. Every Monday, she has a fascinating post about a mythological monster.

I'll be visiting the lovely Aubrie Dionne on August 8th. We'll have a fun chat. In other Aubrie news: on July 30th, Aubrie will be revealing the cover to her newest sci-fi romance novel, Colonization. There will be a giveaway!

Finally, on August 9th, I'll be interviewed by M. Pepper Langlinais. Be prepared for something out of the ordinary. I can't wait to find out what she'll ask me!

Wicked Wednesday - snappy comebacks

(This post was inspired by an article by Maya Rodale in the June 2012 issue of RWR.)

A lot of people have a certain idea what romance novels are like. Sometimes that idea isn't a very good one. I've heard a lot of bad things about romance. So many bad things that for years, I refused to say I was writing romance. I'd call it strict fantasy or sci-fi, but really, I was writing romance.

It's only been in recent years that I've been proud to be a romance writer. I hold my chin up and smile as I say it. I'm an educated, strong woman. I'm married and a mother, and I love romance.

Do I still get laughed at or looked down upon for it? Yes. But it doesn't matter what those people think. Romance is a hard genre to write. There are quality stories out there. No woman or man should be ashamed for writing romance.

Sometimes I hear the same things over and over. I never really know what to say in the moment. I'm shy. But here are some snappy comebacks to ignorant and snarky comments made about the romance genre.

Ignorant comment: Romance is just porn for women.
Response: Nothing is wrong with women enjoying pleasure. Sometimes romance novels have no more than a kiss in them. It's about emotions.

Ignorant comment: Romances have no plot.
Response: They most certainly do! Again, it's not porn. There are several quality romance stories out there if you look.

Ignorant comment: Romances destroy the independent heroine.
Response: Wow. You couldn't be further from the truth. My favorite novels have extremely independent heroines. You might argue that the independent woman gives up everything to be with the man she loves in the story, but she chooses it and you have to respect her right to do so. A truly good romance makes sure to have the hero and heroine rescuing each other.

Ignorant comment: Some women might think the way men act in romances is real.
Response: Reading romance (or any genre) better equips people for reality. It prepares them to better understand and interact with the world, and romance particularly helps readers to empathize with people. Romance can inspire people to strive for happier lives.

A lot of people mock the romance genre and say the readers and writers are idiotic and/or delusional. I know several intelligent readers and writers, many who are feminists, and a few the least likely folks you'd think that would love romance. You find strong women, hope, and inspiration in romance novels. Perhaps the ignorant people are just trying to hold us back.

If you're a romance reader and/or writer, has anyone ever said something ignorant or snarky to you? What did they say and what did you say in return?

The Gravity Trilogy Cover Reveal

Three alien couples in three space fantasy novelettes fall in love in the Gravity trilogy.
A Persean and a Medusan crash land on a post-apocalyptic Earth and must escape their prison cells in Defying Gravity. An Earthling and an Aresian flee their attacking people and fight for the right to live and love in Fighting Gravity. A Cupidian and an Earthling can’t ignore the pull of love while they battle to save their home in Pull of Gravity.
For more information about these three novelettes and the author who wrote them, please visit Surrounded by Books Publishing .
The covers have been redesigned, and you have a chance to win the complete trilogy.
Now I will tell you more details on how to win the trilogy. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell us what you think of the new covers. The winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced this Friday.
I LOVE the new covers for the series! I'm so happy for Cherie. I'm even more excited that her final book in the series, Pull of Gravity, will be available at the end of July or early August.

Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge now available

The Backworlds Book 2 is Out!

The sequel to The Backworlds is now available. Craze and his friends continue their adventures in Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge. See what role chocolate plays in the galaxy this time.

The interstellar portal opens, bringing in a ship that should no longer exist. A battleship spoiling for a fight, yet the war with Earth ended two generations ago. The vessel drops off a Water-breather, a type of Backworlder thought to be extinct. She claims one of Craze’s friends is a traitor who summoned the enemy to Pardeep Station. A betrayal worse than his father’s, if Craze lives to worry about it.

Available for all ereaders from:

Amazon / Amazon UK / B&N / Smashwords
iTunes and Kobo will be available shortly.

If you haven’t read The Backworlds yet, it’s available as a free read from many outlets. See HERE for links. [http://mpaxauthor.com/the-backworlds-series/backworlds-the/]

Inspiring the words M. Pax writes, Mary spends her summers as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory in stunning Central Oregon where she lives with the husband unit and two loving cats. She write science fiction mostly and has a slight obsession with Jane Austen. Mary blogs at http://www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/