Reena Jacobs's Blog, page 47

A Round of Words in 80 Days #ROW80 – Update 1

A day late or a week early? I've scheduled this post for Thursday though I'm writing it Wednesday evening. Anyway I'm not even pretending to make progress on my goals tonight. Before I get into that, let's look at my goals for the first round of A Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80).

Jan: Finish the rough draft of Trinity's Awakening (New Adult – Suburban Fantasy)
Feb: Finish the first draft of Alley Cat (the third and final book of the Striped Ones series) and complete the first round of editing (NaNoWriMo WIP – Contemporary Fantasy/Romance)
Mar: Finish the rough draft of Stray Cat – 2nd book of the Striped Ones series (Contemporary Fantasy/Romance)

Before January 3 hit, I already knew I'd be changing things around. Really, I was too lazy to renege at the time. For the most part, I just wanted to switch my January and March goals. So that's not too bad.

Then today hit. I've been pretty anxious about releasing Shadow Cat in the world. However, I hadn't applied or received all the critiques back on it. Well, last night I did. So the dilemma hit. Continue Stray Cat or get Shadow Cat into the world.

Today I finally settled on Shadow Cat. So, my new goals are as follows:

January: Work on Shadow Cat which includes:

Apply select suggestions
Develop a marketing plan (Anyone interested in participating in a Shadow Cat's blog tour?)
Set a release date
Get review requests out (Any bloggers interested in reviewing Shadow Cat?)


February: Work on Stray Cat

Basically just finish the draft I started. Currently at 14,720 words.


March: TBD

Might work on Trinity's Awakening
Might edit Alley Cat


Bonus Goal: Work on New Adult novel

A little about this goal. I've been working on this novel of and on. It's really my love child at the moment. However, I feel as if I should finish with I start, namely the Striped Ones Series. So I haven't given this the attention it deserves. Anyway I've been maintaining 100+ words a day over at Word Count Union. This is on top of any other goals I have. I'm really liking it. I figured at 100 words a day, I'll finish this novel this year. I'm currently at 17,870 words. So, that's that.

Though I changed my goals around, I did do pretty well on Stray Cat. I started with 10,328 words and ended with 14,228 as of yesterday. Today I wrote all of 492 words. Like I said, I'm not even trying today. I have a bit too much on my plate which I'm trying to clear. That's part of the reason I'm giving all of January to Shadow Cat, when it's actually an easy goal to accomplish… or so I'm saying without hindsight.

By the way, you can find excerpts of Shadow Cat plus some of my other reads on my Free Reads Page.

For those of you who are interested in keeping track of ROW80 participants, head over to the linky.

Blogoversary: Giveaway 6

I'm not sure when I started following Lindsay Buroker AKA GoblinWriter on twitter. I just know the greenies in her avatar are the cutest little things. If you're interested in knowing how they came to be, check out the guest post she did on cover art.

A few weeks ago, I was having one of those I wonder what she's up to kind of moments and decided to check out her short story collection The Goblin Brothers Adventures. Now I'm not a fan of the Middle Grade (MG) genre. But after reading a bit of the sample I said, yeah… I can work with this. So my preschooler and I went on our own reading adventure. If you curious about the fun we had, check out the review here.

Recently, Ms. Buroker published another work, The Emperor's Edge. I'm looking forward to reading this one. She tells me this is an adult fantasy.

The giveaways continue! Lindsay Buroker is offering one US reader his/her choice of The Goblin Brothers Adventures or The Emperor's Edge plus a $25 Amazon Gift Card. To one International reader Ms. Buroker offers a reader his/her choice of The Goblin Brothers Adventures or The Emperor's Edge.

Okay, here's how it goes. Two prizes, Two winners.

Your choice of one of eBooks (The Goblin Brothers Adventures – MG or The Emperor's Edge – Fantasy) Plus a $25 Gift Card to Amazon. US only
Your choice of one of eBooks (The Goblin Brothers Adventures – MG or The Emperor's Edge – Fantasy). International

So how do you win? Simple. Fill out the Form.

The rules!

Become a blog follower. See Google Friends Connect to the left.
You'll earn 1 point for completing the form and additional point if you tweet and leave the link.
You may tweet once per day after your initial entry for an extra 2 points. Use the same form.
Comments are appreciated, but only entries from the form count.
Giveaway ends Wednesday, January 12, 2011.
Please read the giveaway policy for the nitty gritty.

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If you find yourself a bit impatient for one of Ms. Buroker's works, stop by Smashwords and download a free copy of her short story Ice Cracker II

Flash Fiction: One Wish

I honestly have no idea where I came up with this story. I can say this was one of my earlier attempts at flash fiction, but that's all. If you're looking for more examples of my work, check out my freebie page.

One Wish

Behind Jan, the nightclub was hopping. Hot, sweat dancers ground their bodies together in twisted mating rituals. Couples huddled close, drinking, smoking, and filling the air with fake laughter. The typical substandard fair—short, fat, ugly, and just plain unsavory people frequented the club yet again.

Weekend after weekend she returned, wishing that just once someone worthy of her attention would catch her eye. Something had to change. She'd done this scene too many times.

"I'll be your genie." A nasal voice filtered through the steady drone in the nightclub.

Jan laughed under her breath and took a sip of her margarita. She dared not look at the guy taking the seat next to her; it'd only encourage him. No way. The chance of waking to his voice grating in her ear on a regular basis was nil.

"If you had one wish, what would it be?" he asked.

Surely he could come up with a better pickup line than that. She peeked at the mirror behind the bar—pot-bellied, balding at the crown with a puff of hair in the center, shabby suit. Why me?

His eyes, the color of fresh cow manure, met hers and winked.

Was he for real? She swiveled in her stool and faced him. "May I help you?"

"Actually, I think I can help you." The corners of his mouth lifted into a smirk as his gaze traveled down the length of her body, only to return and linger on her breasts.

She sighed and returned to her drink. Ignore it and it'll go away.

"Well?" he asked.

She glanced at his image, wishing there were more liquor bottles to block the view. "Well what?"

"Your wish. What'll it be?"

She scoffed. "I'd wish for a good looking man to take your place."

He laughed—more of a cackle than a friendly chuckle—and creepy enough for her to leave her cocktail behind and seek an escape.

"As you wish," he called after her.

A dancer barreled into her, sending her stumbling as a white glow illuminated the club. Blinded momentarily, Jan cringed as her back hit the bar rail but kept her from falling. The light faded as quickly as it had arrived, and her vision cleared.

She eased into a stool and stared at the club replicated in the mirror in front of her. Only this time, the fat bald man was gone, and in his chair sat one fine stud—dark brown hair with soft curls, Caribbean blue eyes, and a body that made her disregard the ache in her back and bite her lip…

The hunk's bottom lip slid from his teeth, and his mouth dropped open. His expression an exact duplicate of what she felt. What in the world? She rubbed her hand along her jaw, taking in the slight stubble. Her every movement mimicked in his reflection. No… her reflection.

Blogoversary: Giveaway 5

I met Elizabeth Kolodziej about a month ago on Goodreads after she mentioned one of the top brick & mortar stores agreed to put her indie published book on the shelves. That totally blew me out of the water! They're giving you real estate? Until then, I figured bookstores only ordered indie books for customers. Ms. Kolodziej is definitely a go-getter.

So, I haven't read Vampyre Kisses, but I have read some great things about Ms. Kolodziej's novel.

Bitten by Books ~ The storyline was full of action and excitement, clearly described, and I would be interested in reading more about Faith and Trent's continuing journey.

Vampires.com ~ So if you're sick of the same old boring vampire stories full of brooding vegetarian vamps and helpless pathetic human girls, then I highly recommend picking up Elizabeth J. Kolodziej's Vampyre Kisses for a real magical vampire story.

Elizabeth Kolodziej has offered a copy of her eBook, Vampyre Kisses, to one international reader as well as a Prize Pack (Paperback copy of Vampyre Kisses plus a Vampyre Kisses t-shirt) to a US/Canaday reader.

Okay, here's how it goes. Two prizes, Two winners. (Monster not included)

eBook of Vampyre Kisses (International)
Paperback copy of Vampyre Kisses plus Vampyre Kisses t-shirt (US/Canada only)

So how do you win? Simple. Fill out the form.

The rules!

Become a blog follower. See Google Friends Connect to the left.
You'll earn 1 point for completing the form and additional point if you tweet and leave the link.
You may tweet once per day after your initial entry for an extra 2 points. Use the same form.
Comments are appreciated, but only entries from the form count.
Giveaway ends Tuesday, January 11, 2011.
Please read the giveaway policy for the nitty gritty.

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You can learn more about Elizabeth Kolodziej's publishing journey on her website.

What kinds of interesting tidbits have you found about indie publishing?

Novel Review: The Goblin Brothers Adventures Vol 1 by Lindsay Buroker

It just occurred me that I've been neglecting to feature the eBooks I acquire. I really gotta start doing that. For some reason, my mind hasn't quite wrapped around eBooks being real books. I think it's because I don't have anything to pet… other than an eReader. Or my computer, which is rather gay. The thing is the eReader looks the same on the outside no matter what's in the inside. Well, too late to do an "in my mailbox" post of this since I've already read it. Anyway, I picked Goblin Brothers Adventures Vol. 1 by Lindsay Buroker December 22. If you don't mind pretending this is the mailbox post also, I'd be so appreciative. Thank you very much. Ramble ramble. Someone stop me. Okay, the blurb from Ms. Buroker's website:

They're short, they're scrawny, they're green, and they want to be heroes. The problem? Goblins are supposed fish, forage, and stay out of the world's way, not challenge odious villains.

But Malagach and Gortok aren't going to let a few rules keep them from their dreams.

Armed with their wits, their stolen (er, borrowed) books, and their scavenged tools, they're ready to eradicate the evils around their mountain home. Or get in a lot of trouble trying….

Included: seven short stories — 29,000 words

Middle grade books typically aren't my thing, but I found this read quite amusing. Goblin Brothers was also a joy to read to my preschooler. I admit some of the words were out of his league, especially with his communication delay. However, it would have provided wonderful learning opportunities for my daughters at his age. They had a vast vocabulary by the time they reached kindergarten because they was exposed to a variety of words.

Now, my hyperactive child didn't make it through every story, but he sat through some significant chunks. Then again, this book wasn't written for preschoolers; it was written for MG, right?

Ms. Buroker really stressed brains over brawn with these short stories with kind of an underdog feel to it… like with Harry Potter

Malagach was the main character while his brother Gortok played the supporting role. Good choice, I have to say. Why? Because Gortok often had the answers which saved them from a slow and painful death. If you remember my Touched by an Alien review (see here), I'm totally not into the perfect heroes/heroines. Malagach added the air of imperfection which made the stories believable. Now I'm not saying Malagach was dumb or anything… far from it. The guy was loaded with book smarts. His problem was he had a difficult time applying those book smarts to real world fantasy situations.

Gortok on the other hand was the genius. He didn't come up with the initial ideas like Malagach. Rather he took those ideas and twisted them into something viable. Truly, I doubt the two goblins would have been so successful without one another. A match made in heaven or wherever GoblinLand.

The only issue I really found odd for this book was Malagach (11 years old) seemed a bit mature for his age. But he's a goblin, so age might equate differently. Dog years anyone? By the way, Gortok was 10 in these short stories. Of course, I often underestimate children, so I'll have to pass this on to my young teen and see how she likes this.

Now I'm not a MG fan, but the parent in me loved this book. The science and mathematical tidbits makes me wonder if Lindsay Buroker is a school teacher.

So let's end with a few of my favorite lines:

Finally the group had passed, and walking toward the beach laughing and muttering such classic goblin insults as "snot suckers," "troll dung eaters," and the ever witty, "orc lips."
"He was nastier than a troll's left cheek."
"That wakes you up like a troll kick between the cheeks."
"Freedom isn't something other people give you. It's something you make for yourself."

I can definitely see myself revisiting the Goblin Brothers Adventures when my little one is a little older.

The Goblin Brothers Adventures Vol 1 is available at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.

By the way, check back later this week. Ms. Buroker will be joining us in our Blogoversary Celebration.

Blogoversary: Giveaway 4

And the giveaways continue! First, let me introduce you to Stephannie Beman (that's two N's, mind you).

I've only known Ms. Beman for about a month now. In that short time, I've found her to be quite generous with sharing information about the self-publishing business and her experiences along the way.

Okay. I get a little bit excited about books, so I'm going to skip to Ms. Beman's most recent venture, which is her novel Persephone (released just a few days ago). Have I read it? No, but I have read My Lord Hades which I was quite fond of (see review here). So what? Glad you asked. Persephone is the sex-free version of My Lord Hades. As a writer of erotic fiction, this totally fascinates me. I cannot tell you how many times I think, it'd be nice to share my work with my mother/daughters. But oh my gosh! I just can't imagine my mother knowing what runs through my imagination nor putting those thoughts in my kids heads (like they don't have their own imaginations, right?). Well, having a sex-free version on my works would be a total boon.

Stephannie Beman has offered 2 copies of each of her eBooks My Lord Hades and Persephone.

Okay, here's how it goes. Four prizes, four winners.

So how do you win? Simple. Fill out the Form.

The rules!

Become a blog follower. See Google Friends Connect to the left.
You'll earn 1 point for completing the form and additional point if you tweet and leave the link.
You may tweet once per day after your initial entry for an extra 2 points. Use the same form.
Comments are appreciated, but only entries from the form count.
Giveaway ends Friday, January 10, 2011.
Please read the giveaway policy for the nitty gritty.

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Stop by Stephannie Beman's blog sometime and check out her business plan.

What kind of reads do you hide from others? Don't be shy you dungeon masters out there.

Blogoversary: Giveaway 3

People are probably tired of me trying to force this next book down their throats. But I can't help myself. I absolutely love it. You folks don't even know what I'm talking about, do you? Hush Money by Susan Bischoff, of course! If you want to know what the rave is, check out my review here.

If I could get about 6.9 billion comments on this post letting me know everyone has tried Hush Money, I'd be able to let this thing go. Until then, how about a giveaway?

Susan Bischoff has offered a copy of her novel Hush Money to one lucky reader.

Okay, here's how it goes.

One winner will receive his/her choice of an eBook or paperback copy of Hush Money by Susan Bischoff. (International)

So how do you win? Simple. Fill out the Form.

The rules!

Become a blog follower. See Google Friends Connect to the left.
You'll earn 1 point for completing the form and additional point if you tweet and leave the link.
You may tweet once per day after your initial entry for an extra 2 points. Use the same form.
Comments are appreciated, but only entries from the form count.
Giveaway ends Friday, January 9, 2011.
Please read the giveaway policy for the nitty gritty.

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As an added bonus, Susan is known to share marketing tips to increase sales on her blog.

So what book have you been trying to force all your friends to read this year?

Blogoversary: Giveaway 2

Happy New Years! It's probably the day after New Years for a lot of you since you probably spent yesterday hung over. But hey! Better late than never, right.

As promised, we have another giveaway for you. Awesome way to bring in the New Years, right? But first, let's talk about how I got into this Indie nonsense. You see… there's this gal called Zoe Winters (see all related posts here). She started talking about how self-publishing is no big deal. It's not going to ruin your writing career and all that.

All this talk was quite contrary to what I'd heart before. In fact, I avoided anything to do with self-publishing like the plague. No way was my writing career going down the drain before I started. Screw that! Publishers check those ISBN numbers.

I suppose that didn't matter. Cause by the time I ran into Zoe Winters and her corrupting ways, I'd stopped writing… pretty much given up on the idea of seeing my work published. Then I saw my first Zoe Who? video. You know what I realized… self-publishing really isn't a big deal in the big scheme of things. That is, in terms of the publishing world. Agents don't even want to hear about your self-publishing work. But it's a big deal to a writer. And I'm totally looking forward to my chance to test the waters (again) with my works.

So now that you've heard me ramble… how about that giveaway.

Zoe Winters has offered two copies of her book, Blood Lust. If you're interested in my 3 part review of Blood Lust, check it!

Okay, here's how it goes. Two winners, two prizes.

One winner will receive a paperback copy of Blood Lust by Zoe Winters (US only)
One winner will receive an eBook of Blood Lust by Zoe Winters (International)

So how do you win? Simple. Fill out the Form.

The rules!

Become a blog follower. See Google Friends Connect to the left.
You'll earn 1 point for completing the form and additional point if you tweet and leave the link.
You may tweet once per day after your initial entry for an extra 2 points. Use the same form.
Comments are appreciated, but only entries from the form count.
Giveaway ends Friday, January 8, 2011.
Please read the giveaway policy for the nitty gritty.

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I'm not saying self-publishing is for everyone. And it takes a lot of work. But if you've been considering that route, definitely head over to Zoe's blog or check out the Zoe Who? videos.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for another giveaway.

So who's been inspirational in accomplishing your dreams?

Guest Post: Ben Jones on Online Presence + Blogoversary Giveaway 1

A Writer's Website and
Why You Need an Online Store
by
Benjamin Jones

For an independent/self publishing, author having a website is akin to having a drivers license – everybody should have one. Believe it or not, there are some of us who haven't taken that necessary step and setup their own website so, if you're one of those, stop reading this post and head over to www.weebly.com, www.webs.com or any of the other sites where you can setup your own site for free. We'll give you a minute to do that before proceeding…..

Alright, now that that's taken care of (and all joking aside), one of the first things I did when I seriously started pursuing this writing career of mine was to start my website and begin building my "brand" as your website becomes the main way that people really begin to notice you and your work and becomes a "one stop shop", serving as nucleus of your writing world on the web. Something I have found useful (which I didn't think of when I first got my website) was the ability to cross promote with other authors. I have linked up with fellow authors on Twitter and have put either a banner ad or a link to their book on my page in exchange for them doing the same thing for me on their site. It's not only a good way to build publicity for your site but also a good way to link up/network with other authors.

There are many things that people put on their websites but I find these to be the core pages that every writer should have:

Contact page – it's imperative that people be able to contact you, be it via email, Twitter, Facebook, etc… It allows you a chance to interact and build a fan base, especially via social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
Reviews page – if you have gotten any reviews on your work then you need to show them off (even put a few on the front/home page of your site to entice potential readers/customers to keep reading). I don't know about you but, if I read/see that someone likes something, then I'm going to be more inclined to check it out for myself. Be sure to provide a link to the original source of the review so that people don't think you made it up.   Also, you can use this page to provide little snippets/excerpts of your work to entice people to buy (or create a whole new page for this purpose). Give the reader a little bit to get them interested so they'll want to buy the rest.
A page for updates – as you continue to build your fan base you will want to let your fans/readers know what's going on with you and your work so update your site often to keep them coming back.

Besides the above things the other necessity is an online store which I feel is important enough to warrant it's own separate paragraph. When I first decided on setting up an online store for my site I thought that it was going to be hard but it is/was surprisingly easy. After setting up my site I then headed over to Paypal where I already had an account due to my eBay usage and clicked on their "Merchant Services" link and from there it was setting up descriptions and prices for my items, copying the HTML code for the checkout button onto my site and then voila – my store was up and running! As a note: I'm sure there are other sites that will let you setup an online store through them but Paypal is the one I use and the only one I'm really familiar with.

Why would I need an online store you maybe asking? The real question is why wouldn't you want an online store?  Yes you can have your books on Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, etc… w/out having them listed on your site but let's take a look at the benefits of having your own online store:

If people are already on your site then they are more willing to buy if the link/page is right there as opposed to having to go to a different page and find it. You can always post links to the other places where your book is located on your online store page but have the focus be on your site first because….
You keep more of the money! Amazon and Barnes & Noble (and the rest) can get your book in front of more eyes but they're going to keep more of YOUR money for that service. Using Paypal I get to keep about 95% of the sale price where some places the royalty rate is anywhere from 35 to 70%.
You can sell stuff other than books. You can have posters, magnets, calendars, t-shirts or any other number of things to go along with your book and any extra income is good income.

These are just a few of the reasons why you should have an online store on your site.

In conclusion, if you don't have a website, GET ONE! If you have a website make sure that you have an online store where you can sell your books (and merchandise). Remember that your website is an extension of you and should be looked at as a part of your "brand". Make it accessible to the readers, keep it updated regularly and let the reader know about the author as well as the books you're writing.

Good luck and happy writing!

Ben Jones.

Ben is the author of the H.U.B. series of horror books. Find more on him and his series at www.whatishub.net or send him an email at ben@whatishub.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks, Ben. I definitely appreciate the time you've taken to share with us about the value of having an online presence.

To blog readers If you haven't done so, take some time to tinker around on the H.U.B. site.

Now I'm hijacking this guest post.

So last week I checked the calendar and realized my one year blogoversary was on the horizon. January 6, 2010 to be exact. What to do? What to do? A giveaway is always nice. However, I wanted the giveaways to represent the directly this blog has been going lately–a slant toward indie. So, in honor of one year blogging and Indie authors, we're going with an Indie theme.

To kick it off, Ben Jones has offered 5 copies of H.U.B. Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Okay, here's how it goes. Five winners, five prizes.

One winner will receive a copy of H.U.B. Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Ben Jones plus their choice of a book up to $10 from the Book Depository. *This prize is international to anywhere the Book Depository ships.
Four winners will receive a copy of H.U.B. Volume 1 and Volume 2. *International.

So how do you win? Simple. Fill out the Form.

The rules!

Become a blog follower. See Google Friends Connect to the left.
You'll earn 1 point for completing the form and additional point if you tweet and leave the link.
You may tweet once per day after your initial entry for an extra 2 points. Use the same form.
Comments are appreciated, but only entries from the form count.
Giveaway ends Friday, January 7, 2011.
Please read the giveaway policy for the nitty gritty.

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Remember to check back tomorrow for the next giveaway.

So share some of your favorite Indie Authors.

Drabble

So I was looking at my calendar of posts and realized I've been upping my days of activity. Then there's today… a big blank spot. So I asked myself… what can I offer to fill the hole. Well, Tuesdays I've been doing free reads. However, I don't see why I can't offer a little one today also. A little background about this.

According to Wikipedia, a drabble is an extremely short work of fiction exactly one hundred words in length. So once in a while, Janet Reid will do these contests. For this particular one she gave contestants this challenge: In 100 words or less tell me a story. Include the following words: honeywagon, flaws, stake, pivotal, fairbank.

So I gave it a try. And here's the drabble I came up with. Behold ~ Honeywagon.

Sarah Fairbank raced down the dirt path, tripping over the flaws in the terrain. Her stomach cramped, forcing her to double over. She barely managed to stay upright, but the evil cackle behind her urged her forward.

Her brow beaded with sweat even as a chilled coursed through her. She pressed on; there was too much at stake to do otherwise. The gurgle which came next told her she'd reach a pivotal moment. She glanced back at the smirking girl holding the box of laxatives. Sarah would have her revenge. But first she had to make it to the honeywagon.

Needless to say, I didn't win. But it was fun anyway.