Edie Ramer's Blog, page 19

Resurrection and a giveaway

I'm at book blogger Laurie's Interviews & Guest blogs with an interview and a giveaway. If you get a chance, stop by and say hi.

I like Laurie and her place. Her insightful questions made me realize my books have a resurrection theme. Very fitting for an Easter Sunday post. This started with Cattitude, with the cat and the psychic changing bodies. The theme was more subtle in Dead People. Back in full force in Dragon Blues, with a dragon who's changed into a man. And in the book, he's changing again. In my current wip, Joe the ghost is going through his own resurrection. Since I write paranormal romances, the objects of the heroes/heroines' affections are going through their own resurrections, though not as dramatic. Except perhaps the heroine in Dragon Blues.

I've gone through a resurrection lately, becoming an indie writer. What about you? Are you going through a resurrection? If you're not, what have your witnessed or read lately that impressed you!

3-book Giveaway & Interview

I'm giving away three books at Bookaholic Does Blogging! It runs through April 26th. Below the giveaway post is my interview. It's not necessary to read the interview to win a book.

It's cold and sleeting and snowing by us. The grass was a gorgeous deep green, too. No yellow or brown in sight. Today I changed my cotton sheets to flannel. Tomorrow morning I have a dentist's appointment and shopping. I hope the streets aren't slippery.

Interview, Giveaway & American Idol

I'm at Paranormal Opinion with an interview and a giveaway of one of my books. The winner gets to choose whichever one she or he wants. It's going to be up until next week.

In the interview, Tishia asked me what I like to do when I'm not writing. Tonight I'm watching American Idol. I promised myself I wouldn't watch it this year, but I watched one show that was in Milwaukee (auditions were in our gorgeous art museium ) and got sucked into it. I'm glad I did. I love Steven Tyler! I hadn't realized how sweet he is. And he can sing! Before this, I wasn't a fan, but now I am.

My favorites this year are Casey, Scotty, and Haley, but they're all good. The best year yet.

Are you watching AI or any show like that?

Good book news!

Good news! Dead People is a March best seller at DailyCheapReads. I'm thrilled!

Other good news belongs to my friends. The title of Michelle Diener's historical suspense, which will be out in August, has been changed from Illuminations to In A Treacherous Court. I'd gotten used to Illuminations, but I agree that In A Treacherous Court is more eye catching and gives a better sense of the book. Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, is doing everything to make this a stand out. Great cover, great title, great writing, great book!

Marilyn Brant, another great writer, has a cover for A Summer In Europe. Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't it make you want to pick it up? And read it while on your tour of Europe? Or read it at home while you imagine yourself in Europe? Too bad. You'll have to wait until Nov. 29th.

And a big shout out to Kate Sterling. She got the rights back to a previously published erotic novella, Unmasked, and self-published it. It's not the kind of book I normally read, but I love Kate and love her writing, so I bought it. I'm halfway through, and Wow! It's hot, but in a good, fun and very sexy way. She knows how to write! It's only 99 cents. I recommend it!

What about you? Have you read any good books lately?

Confessions of a Ghost Therapist excerpt & bonus song verse

This is the 3rd excerpt from the book my ghost therapist heroine was writing in Dead People (Haunted Hearts book 1), which I deleted before publishing and put on my Extras page.

Cassie Taylor - she likes ghosts better than men

The worst ghosts are children. They're like puppies, so happy to see me, to have someone to talk to. They cling to me.

A part of me wants to cling back.

The latest was in Northern California, a three-year-old with curls and an angel's smile. Her ghostly body was bruised, an arm bent, eyes blackened. I researched and found out her mother's boyfriend beat her to death.

An old story. If you wince when you hear their stories on the nightly news, imagine seeing the injured children with your own eyes. Seeing their confusion, sadness and grief.

When I finally convince them it's okay to leave, I'm smiling and crying at the same time. They take a piece of my heart with them.

I deleted verses from my songwriter hero, too. They're also on my Extras page.

Luke Rivers

TALKING TO GHOSTS by Luke Rivers

I heard she talks to ghosts

I heard she sends them off to Heaven

I've got a few inside my head

I wish to hell she'd shoot mine dead.

Buy Dead People – only $0.99 :  Amazon, AmazonUK, Barnes & Noble,

Diesel, Smashwords

Giveaways and an ARC!

I'm at Zoe Winters' blog today, talking about heroes who aren't the norm. I'm giving away one of my three books to 3 different commenters in her comment section.

More giveaway heads up! A big SQUEEEEE for Michelle Diener. She received the ARCs for her debut historical suspense, ILLUMINATIONS. She's giving away one to a commenter at Magical Musings. She's my CP, I've read the book. It's brilliant, fascinating, you won't want to stop reading it. Go over there as soon as you can and comment!

That's it for my news. It's turning out to be a busy Tuesday for me. How's your day?

 

Good news and Thursday 13

Good news first! On Tuesday, I sold more than 1000 books on Amazon and Barnes&Noble since March 1st. So I'm in the 1000 books a month club! (I don't know if there is a club like that, but I'm in it anyway.)

I'm very happy. Since November, my numbers have been growing every month. I'm thrilled that readers enjoy my books and want to read more. I'm living my dream. This gives me more incentive to finish my 2nd book in the Haunted Hearts series and get it online.

My Thursday 13 is at The Otherworld Diner. Brenda Nelson-Davis, who's in my local chapter, had written a Thursday 13 there last week, with numbers that were kind of depressing. Some of the figures were about self-publishing and she asked if I'd write a rebuttal 13. If you get a chance, stop off and read it.

To reward myself for my sales, I'm buying a laptop. For the last two days, we had rain, sleet and snow. Today it's sunny, so I can venture out and shop for groceries and a laptop. If I don't find the deal I want today, another place in the opposite direction has a laptop on sale. I checked out the reviews, and it's looking good. I can go there tomorrow.

Which reminds me that tomorrow the Golden Heart and RITA finalists will be announced. My fingers are crossed for all my friends who entered. I hope they all final!

Excerpt & Giveaway: FOXY'S TALE by Karen Cantwell & LB Gschwandtner

One lucky commenter will receive a free copy of Foxy's Tale by Karen Cantwell and LB Gschwandtner. Both writers are authors of Kindle bestselling books. I'll announce the winner on Thursday. Enjoy the blurb and the excerpt! About the authors and their book: Karen Cantwell (Take the Monkeys and Run) and LB Gschwandtner (The Naked Gardener) decided to collaborate on a  book for and about women, but it had to be fun and they really wanted to throw a vampire into the mix. But their vampire would be . . . different. The result, now available for readers on Amazon's Kindle, is Foxy's Tale: Foxy Anders has a list of problems as long as a shopping spree receipt from Neiman Marcus. She's a retail spender with no money to spare and a former beauty queen with no man in her life. After a nightmare divorce she's left with one asset, a building off Washington, D.C.'s classy DuPont Circle. By turning the ground floor into an antique shop, Foxy figures she has an excuse to spend money … that she doesn't have. Foxy also has a teenaged daughter, Amanda, who likes to blog secretly about her biggest problem – Foxy. At least, she thinks Foxy is her biggest problem. But that's all about to change when she hooks up with Nick, a cute guy at school who evidently has a gift for attracting older women. Amanda just doesn't know HOW much older they really are. When Foxy rents the garden apartment to stylish, shoe-fettishista Knot, who turns out to have a knack for talking wealthy Washington A-listers into Foxy's antiques, it looks as if Foxy will make it on her own after all. Except that Knot is also a genius at creating problems … in his love life. They're a quirky threesome to be sure, but when mysterious, bumbling, Myron Standlish arrives on the scene with a suitcase full of Yiddish-isms, he brings along his own set of problems, larger and stranger than all of theirs put together. Oy vey. How will Myron's personal journey affect their lives? Well … that's Foxy's Tale. A comic, chick lit, coming-of-age, vampire tale (sort of) where family triumphs over adversity and mother and daughter learn how to face the world as grownups – together. It is dark when Foxy returns, a large shopping bag clutched in each hand at her sides as if she were a milkmaid with buckets on a yoke. She can't decide which one to put on the ground so she can feel around in her purse for the house key and then, as if he appeared from thin air, Myron Standlish is standing next to her. "Vell," he says. "I can open the door for you maybe?" Foxy looks up, or rather down, and he is smiling that little crooked smile. In the dark she can't see much of his face. "Oh thank you, Mr. Standlish," Foxy says in her most gracious, charming, southern-girl voice. "I've been out all day." Myron reaches forward and sticks the key in the slot. He swings the door open and beckons for her to precede him inside. They stand awkwardly in the small foyer for a few seconds and, in the light, Foxy notices that Myron's color has returned to his cheeks and he looks a bit boyish. He carries a small black satchel, like an old fashioned doctor's bag. She also notes a small red stain on his collar. "Oh did you eat Italian tonight?" she asks, just for small talk, as she follows him up the stairs to her apartment. "Me?" He seems stunned that she would ask such a thing. "I never." "You never eat Italian?" "Never." His head shakes emphatically and scowls as if eating Italian would kill him. Foxy tries to hide her smile. He's such a funny little man. They reach the second floor and Foxy veers off to her door and places her bags on the floor. "I never heard of anyone not liking Italian," she says, just conversational, her head down, searching for her keys again. Myron continues to the next landing and his room on the third floor. When he's almost to the top of the staircase he leans over to look back down at Foxy who has finally located her keys. As she's sliding the key into its slot, she hears him say, softly, as if they are conspirators, "With me it's simple. Italian, Greek, Chinese, eh, who needs?"

~~~

What people are saying about Foxy's Tale:

"Full of snappy characters, laughs, and mystery, peppered with lively details of Washington, DC., and brimming with enough shoe shopping to satisfy any fashionista. This new joint effort from Karen Cantwell and L B Gschwandtner is guaranteed to please! Can't wait for the next installment in this lively new series!" – Misha Crews, Author of Her Secret Bodyguard

"Foxy's Tale is irresistible fun – full of lively characters with a knack for trouble, laugh-out-loud dialogue, and story twists that will keep you reading deep into the night." – Kim Wright Wiley, Author of Love in Mid Air

From now until April 25th, Foxy's Tale is available for just .99 cents, so if you're looking for a light, fun read, give it a try today!

Excerpt from Confessions of a Ghost Therapist

When I wrote Dead People, the first book of my Haunted Hearts series (still on sale for only 99 cents!), I started each chapter with alternating excerpts from a book my heroine was writing, Confessions of a Ghost Therapist, and selected verses from the songwriter hero's songs. In one my last revisions, I decided they slowed down the action. I deleted them but didn't throw them away. You can find in my Extras page. I'm working on my second Haunted Hearts book, and thought it would be fun to put up the excerpts. This was the first.

Cassie Taylor - she likes ghosts better than men

I was chatting with the ghost of a former politician, and a woman popped up and started screaming at him. It was apparent she was his mistress before his unfortunate encounter with an armed and disgruntled constituent. He gave me a frantic look, then he disappeared.

"Come back here, you coward," she yelled, but he was gone to the other side, the one some call Heaven and others call "the next life." I personally don't know, as no ghost has returned to share this with me.

Though I didn't deserve the credit, I got paid for getting rid of the politician.

Probably a lot of people would like to pay me for getting rid of politicians.

Sorry, folks, I only do it if they're ghosts.

Another sale!

I feel like my grocery store, sending emails of my sale items. In my post last week, I announced I'd lowered the price of Dead People from $2.99 to 99 cents. It's been selling very well, so now I've lowered the price of Dragon Blues to 99 cents, too. Cattitude is selling steadily for $2.99, so I'm leaving it at that price. (I'm thankful for the cat lovers out there, but I'm had some people tell me they love it "even though they don't like cats." lol)

So that's my bargain news for the day!

Yesterday, I went on my first protest in Madison, Wisconsin. I don't want to turn this blog into politics, so I'll just say that I had a fun time. Everyone was very polite. The police inside Madison's beautiful capital building were great. When we entered, we had to put anything metal in a bin and then we were "wanded." I didn't think the police woman was going to wand me at first, and I asked "Is it because I'm short?" She laughed and wanded me, after all. Another cop directed us to the ladies room (also beautiful).

My husband stayed home and dog sat with my friend's two dogs, a terrier and an Irish wolfhound, along with our two dogs. The wolfhound came up to my shoulder. My husband said the wolfhound peed on our driveway, and it was like a pond. But that's probably another subject I should stay away from.

I'm blogging at Magical Musings tomorrow (Monday) and I'll be giving away Lori Brighton's newest Kensington historical, Wild Desire, to a commenter in either print or digital. If the winner prefers digital, she can take her pick of any one of Lori's digital books. Lori is a wonderful writer, so be sure to comment at Magical tomorrow.

Tonight I'm going to judge contest entries. It almost seems a letdown compared to the rest of my weekend, but maybe I'll read some fabulous entries.

How was your weekend?