Kate Danley's Blog, page 9

“Moon Rise (Twilight Shifters #2)” Cover Reveal Blitz May 8, 2015

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Moon Rise  (Twilight Shifters #2)  By Kate Danley
Blurb:
Just because the battle was won does not mean the war is over. Aein, Lars, and Finn are sent back to the swamps to protect the one object which may save their pack. But in the recent turmoil, the border has been left unguarded and nightmarish creatures are slipping through. There is a reason why two people must always be there to hold the boundary, a lesson which Aein, Lars, and Finn are about to learn.

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Available for pre-order at 
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Release Date:  May 25, 2015


Teaser:
"Run," she whispered to Lars.  But it was too late.  A guard seized her by the arm and threw her to the ground, pressing his foot painfully into the back of her neck.  She rolled her eyes to the side and saw they had forced Lars to the ground, too, pinning his elbows behind him.  The remaining soldiers held their swords at the ready if they tried to break away.
Lord Arnkell was leaner, his shorn brown hair was longer, but otherwise he had not changed.  His square, chiseled jaw twitched as he looked at them with a mixture of contempt and amusement.  His soft, leather-soled shoes barely made a sound as he walked towards Aein.  He was always quiet before he struck.  He wrapped his massive, calloused hand in her hair, and yanked her to her knees.  He brought his face so close, she could smell the musky scent of his body, a scent she had found intoxicating when she worked as a kitchen wench.  Now it turned her stomach. 
He ran his finger across her cheek possessively.  "And how is my favorite little traitor?"  Aein tried to pull away, but he grabbed her face and brought her around until she was staring into his flat, brown eyes.  "Now, now.  Isn't this what you always wanted?  The undivided attention of your lord and master?"


About The Author

Kate Danley began her writing career as an indie author in 2010. Since then, she spent five weeks on the USA Today bestseller list, has been honored with various awards, including the Garcia Award for Best Fiction Book of the Year, and her Maggie MacKay series has been optioned for film and television development. Her plays have been produced in London, New York, Seattle, Baltimore, and Los Angeles. She has over 300 film, television, and theatre credits to her name, and specializes in sketch, improv, and Shakespeare. She wrote sketch for a weekly show in Hollywood and has performed her original stand-up at various clubs in LA. She learned on-camera puppetry from Mr. Snuffleupagus and played the head of a 20- foot dinosaur on an NBC pilot. She lost on Hollywood Squares.

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You can find Kate at
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Cover Reveal Coming - Moon Rise

Hey Dark of Twilight fans!  Stay tuned!  This Friday marks the official public cover reveal of Moon Rise, book two.  Want to help get word out about this series?  Sign up here!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1riylr4Z9byUGASKugjvK_0_MIRGRWPMhWpeGh8IqhOs/viewform?usp=send_form

Leading up to the event will be giveaways, sales, and assorted awesomeness.  Join the party!  Let me give you things!

Happy (Official) Release Day to Melissa Olson!

Help me welcome fellow 47North author Melissa Olson to my blog!  She's got a brand new book and it looks like it is going to be a humdinger!

Thank you so much to Kate Danley for being part of this multi-webpage blog blast. If you’ve already heard of me and my books, you can click on through to go straight to the contest entry. Otherwise, please let me introduce myself.
My name is Melissa F.Olson , and I mostly write urban fantasy novels, which are stories about the intersection of two worlds: the real one that we live in and a world that involves something supernatural: fairies, vampires, werewolves, mutant killer hedgehogs, or all of the above. My new novel Boundary Crossed is about a young woman, Lex, trying to protect her baby niece from bad guys who have discovered that the baby has serious value on the supernatural black market. Lex is determined to keep her safe, but unfortunately she dies at the end of the first chapter.
No, seriously. She dies. But then she gets better, because it turns out that there’s more to Lex than she ever knew. She needs to figure out why she’s still alive and what the bad guys want with her niece, and she’s going to need a lot of help to do it.

The book has been available all month as a Kindle First deal on Amazon, but it comes out in paperback and audiobook for the first time today. To celebrate this release, I’m giving away signed books, a $20 Amazon gift card, and some killer swag. (That’s a metaphor; the swag will not hurt you.) To enter, just click on this link.  Enter up to four times for the four prizes. Thanks for reading!
http://melissafolson.com/happy-official-release-day/
Melissa Olson was born and raised in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and studied film and literature at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. After graduation, and a brief stint bouncing around the Hollywood studio system, Melissa landed in Madison, WI, where she eventually acquired a master's degree from UW-Milwaukee, a husband, a mortgage, a teaching gig, two kids, and two comically oversized dogs, not at all in that order. She loves Madison, but still dreams of the food in LA. Literally. There are dreams. Learn more about Melissa, her work, and her dog at www.MelissaFOlson.com.

London - March 11, 2015

I really and truly had not meant to go back to London this spring.  But the thing is, I was sitting on Expedia on Black Friday 2014 and they had this deal come up.  It was a vacation to London... three weeks for the price of one... and suddenly... how could you not?  

I bought the insurance, though, telling myself I would cancel.  

But then suddenly all of my favorite actors were doing shows during the time I was scheduled to be there:  
I started off with a trip from the west coast to the east coast and got myself a lovely little hotel room in Jamaica (NYC) next to the sewage plant to crash until my flight the next day.  I told myself it was a "writing sabbatical."  Nothing like being forced to work when your really can't leave your room.  But the next day dawned and made my way to the airport for my transatlantic flight. 

My dad has this theory that one direction of your flight is always just going to suck. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be this one. I got upgraded to business class. 

(they even had a menu!)
I got to go into the fancy lounge where they served free cookies. I had a lie-down bed for my flight and attendants who brought me almond encrusted chicken and Black Forest cake. For the first time in my life, I got to Heathrow not looking like death-on-an-international-picnic. 

Aaaand then my shuttle was two hours late. 

And while I was waiting, I realized I left my phone in that schwanky business class lounge next to the complimentary chocolate covered pretzels in NYC. 

And suddenly you're in a foreign country with no phone and you kind of go, "Do I spend a couple hundred dollars to get another one for a couple weeks?"  And then you go... "No."

This trip turned into a 21st Century version of a spiritual retreat.  Twenty-one days without tweets or emails or burying my nose into a screen instead of looking around.  The only people I could talk to were actual people who were actually in the room with me.  I hear humanity used to live like this all the time.  And I gotta say, it was good.

I got to the hotel eventually after being picked up by this wacky shuttle driver who made the Night Bus in Harry Potter seem like Driving Miss Daisy and, oh... the hotel was so lovely.   I was right in Trafalgar Square steps from the Thames.  The lobby was caramel colored marble columns and three-story drapes.  London turned its face, suddenly realizing I had arrived, and smiled upon me like it always has to welcome me back. The polished and primped gal at the reception desk saw how long I was going to be there and said, "We can't put you in this room!" and on the spot upgraded me to digs on the top floor with a microwave and refrigerator, and a view of Saint Paul's and Big Ben out my window.  I was going to be living for three weeks on a rooftop in London!  Oh!  What a sight! 



I had a few minutes to wait while the room was getting ready, and stumbled across a John Singer Sargent exhibition, which was phenomenal. I've always loved his work and I've never seen so many of his paintings in one place. 

I returned to my hotel room and it was just a charming.  They thought of all these little luxuries.  Like, putting the temperature control next to the bed so you only have to roll over to adjust the heat.  And empty bottles and a chilled water station in the hall so you weren't constantly buying Dasani to carry around.  And a whole closet filled with toiletries and an invitation to help yourself.  Do you know how lovely it is to know you don't have to beg for an extra packet of coffee? 




I caught a little nap and then I ran over to the Donmar Warehouse for this sweet little acting workshop they were teaching in conjunction with Closer (which was sold out and I, literally as I sat in Jamaica the night before, was able to get a return ticket for the the following night.  Another way London is so fantastic - if life happens, you can return your theater tickets.  If they sell them, you get your money back.  No harm, no foul.  And what THAT means is that people actually return their tickets, so there is an actual chance of seeing a sold out show instead of theaters sitting empty because someone couldn't get a babysitter.) 

ANYWAYS!  I was expecting a more informational workshop on how they run rehearsals and Donmar projects. Instead, they gave us all scripts and told us just to play around. What?!  Play around?  In the Donmar's actual rehearsal hall?!



This was hallowed ground, my friends!  Tom Hiddleston tread these boards putting together Coriolanus.  Not to mention Rufus Sewell and Oliver Chris and Nancy Carroll in Closer (FYI - tickets to every single performance of Closer sold out seven hours after they were released.  Seriously, people.  I was trying to buy tickets.  Seven hours!  When does that ever happen in America except for a rock concert?!)  Donmar is the actor's version of Sun Studios.  Or at least my version of Sun Studios.  And the workshop was a hoot and I actually made people cry with my performance.  Do you know how long it has been since I have said words that made people cry?!  It had been three years.  I just looked at my acting resume.  Three years.  Ye gods it felt good...  Like a soul massage.  By the time the evening was done, I already made friends, as one always does in London.  Because London is magic.  

I couldn't go back to my hotel room.  Not on a night as gorgeous as that night in a city where a single gal can wander around all by herself at 10 o'clock at night and it is safe.  It is filled with smiling people and happy hearts.  So I just wandered around getting lost. Because wandering around a city alone surrounded by a sea of strangers is my favorite.  My favorite ever.

April 3 at 7:30PM - Building Madness in NYC

Are you going to be in New York April 3?  Head on over to the Dramatists Guild that evening at 7:30 for a reading of my play Building Madness as part of the Friday Night Footlights program.  Admission is free!  And want to know more about the cast and creative team?  Check out BuildingMadness.com!

London - 3/11/15

Well, after a lovely day shut in Jamaica (NYC) I left my hotel by the sewage plant and made my way to the airport.  My dad has this theory that one direction of your flight is always just going to suck.  I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be this one.  I got upgraded to business class.  I got to go into the fancy lounge where they served free cookies.  I had a lie-down bed for my flight and attendants who brought me almond encrusted chicken and Black Forest cake.  Got to Heathrow not looking like death-on-an-international-picnic.  Aaaand then my shuttle was two hours late.  And while I was waiting, I realized I left my phone in that schwanky lounge next to the complimentary chocolate covered pretzels back in NYC.  I got to the hotel eventually, though, and I'm right in Trafalgar Square.  They upgraded me to a lovely little room with a microwave and refrigerator, and a view of Saint Paul's and Big Ben.  I had a few minutes to wait while the room was getting ready, and stumbled across a John Singer Sargent exhibition, which was phenomenal.  I've always loved his work and I've never seen so many of his paintings in one place.  And then I took a nap.  And then I ran over to the Donmar Warehouse for this sweet little acting workshop they were teaching in conjunction with Closer (which I'm seeing tomorrow.)  I was expecting a more informational workshop on how they run rehearsals and Donmar projects.  Instead, they gave us all scripts and told us to play around.  Felt good.  Plus, that rehearsal hall is hallowed ground (home to Tom Hiddleston's Coriolanus and Rufus Sewell's Closer.)  Donmar is kind of my Sun Studio.  And in just one night, already I made a couple friends.  And then I just wandered around the city getting lost.  Because wandering around a city surrounded by a sea of strangers is my favorite.

London 8/18/14 - Buckingham Palace

One of the best times I ever had was getting an after hours tour of Buckingham Palace.  They took down the velvet ropes for us, let us get close and personal with the furniture (that sounds dirty), and at the end of the night, I got to walk across the crunchy gravel of the courtyard and exit via the front door.  How cool is that?  So, when I saw there was an opportunity for a private tour of the Buckingham Palace gardens, I was On. It.

The day started with an early arrival at the palace.  This time, I was among the unwashed masses and my tour guide was nothing but an audio receiver held to my ear, but man... it was wonderful.  There is a painting in the front hallway by Feliks Topolski and it is one of the most incredible pieces of art I have ever laid eyes on.  I spent probably twenty minutes on this tour just sitting there staring at it.  The moment I thought I had seen all the wonders it had to reveal, something else would pop up and blow my mind.


It is just such an amazing experience (and maybe it is just because I'm an American and we don't have these sorts of things) to walk into a living palace, where the art you're used to seeing as ancient history is fresh and new.  It's not some two-hundred year old cast off with worn gold-gilt and dusty crevasses.  As our guide mentioned on the earlier tour, "The queen lives here and we have to make sure it doesn't look shabby."  It is some of the most exquisite art I've seen and it is being taken care of.  The feeling I left with was less about a "royal family" and more about a familial custodianship of important cultural artifacts.  As I wandered through other "museum" palaces where people trampled the gardens right next to the "stay out of the planters" signs and used flash cameras to get pictures of 500-year-old oil paintings, it struck me how, as much as art and culture does and should belong to everyone, that sometimes having custodians who take a personal interest in preservation are the only reason why things survive.  It was one German general who stood up to Hitler and stopped the bombing of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.  As I watch ISIS destroy the ancient artifacts of Iraq, I wonder if there will be one person who has the bravery to stand against it.
ANYWAYS.  This is getting way too deep.
I finished my glorious tour of the palace and had a little time before my garden tour, so I stopped off at the palace cafe for some lunch on the Queen's back patio.

They had all sorts of delicious options to choose from.  I finally settled on a caprese sandwich, some cream puffs, and a cup of coffee.

When it was finally time to take our turn around the gardens, we met in the far corner.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures, so bear with me.  Figure you've probably seen a rosebush, so you can probably imagine it fairly well.  We met up over by that white guardhouse.

The first thing they mentioned were all the trees planted around the private gardens.  Queen Victoria started off the tradition, planting trees when her beloved Albert died, and the tradition was continued with each family member planting a tree.  But they serve a greater purpose now.  A bunch of high-rise apartments are being built in the area, touting views of Buckingham Palace's backyard.  Paparazzi were purchasing rooms to set up their telephoto cameras.  So, some trees were planted to give the family a little retreat from prying eyes.  Though traffic and buildings were just beyond the walls, this garden was an oasis.  There was a tennis court.  There was a rose garden (which featured this marble urn Napoleon had carved in preparation for his victory at Waterloo.  Oops.  It was too heavy to put indoors, so it sits amongst the roses.)  And in the middle of the gardens is a little island and this little island is a wildlife sanctuary.  It is home to several endangered bird species and gives the feathered fowl a little respite from city life.  

The family is devoted to green living and conservation and Prince Charles has introduced composting and recycling systems on property.
Here are just some random pictures I grabbed towards the end of the tour when we could pull our cameras out.



I made a quick little trip in to the gift shop and loaded myself up with waaaaay too many souvenirs.  But how can you say no to this little face?

Now, most people put the exit through the gift shop, but not the fine folks at Buckingham Palace.  They put the exit through the ice cream shop.  I was powerless.

I grabbed a little ice cream, made from royal cows owned by the Queen.

And I sat down on a bench to enjoy the view.

Now, I had a little time to kill before my show that night, so I wandered over to Hyde Park.



Stumbled across the Tardis (disguised as a transport info center)...

And then made my way over to Harrods.  I needed to pick up a mug for my mom, but it is one of my favorite places.  I strolled through the displays of Baccarat crystal and all of the shopkeepers  played along and pretended like I legitimately belonged there.







  That night, I caught the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring

Gotta say, though, my whole day had that whole "it".

Moon Rise - The Dark of Twilight Sequel

Have you been anxiously awaiting the sequel to The Dark of Twilight?  Presenting... Moon Rise!  It is not quite ready yet, but you CAN pre-order it so the moment it goes live, it downloads directly to your Kindle.


Just because the battle was won does not mean the war is over. Aein, Lars, and Finn are sent back to the swamps to protect the one object which may save their pack. But in the recent turmoil, the border has been left unguarded and nightmarish creatures are slipping through. There is a reason why two people must always be there to hold the boundary, a lesson which Aein, Lars, and Finn are about to learn.


Pre-Order it Here

O'Hare House Mysteries Omnibus

A $10 value for only $5.99!Wish you could read the entire O'Hare House Mystery series back-to-back?  Well, it is your lucky day, my friends!  Grab the O'Hare House Mysteries Omnibus and read books I-IV one right after the other!  You get: A Spirited Manor, Spirit of Denial, Distilled Spirits, and In High Spirits all in one easy to read ebook!KindleNookKoboScribdinkteraiBooks (coming soon!)Paperback (coming soon!)

Anniversary Come and Gone

It is funny how life can sometimes get so normal, an anniversary can pass and out of the blue you suddenly remember that just a few years ago, life was very different.

I have been a full-time writer now for two years.  January 4, 2013 was the magical anniversary day, to be exact.  I emptied out my desk in my windowless cubicle and walked out the door of an institution I had called "job" for close to ten years.  That night, there was a party going on, so as I rolled my cart full of old pay stubs and random desk chum, there were literally bands playing and lasers going off.  That day, my publishers had also secured a special promotion for my book, so as I bid my co-workers goodbye, explaining I was off to become a fancy-pants writer, I also found myself saying, "And today there is this sale on my book and it looks like I'm also #4 on all of the books on all of the Amazon."

But much like a wedding, being an author is actually about the life before and the life after.  They say that success is being prepared when opportunity knocks, and I have to say that my journey has been a reflection of that truth - a mixture of dumb luck backed up by the work I put in when nothing is happening.

So, to mark this anniversary, I thought I would share some of the things that worked for me.

I self-published.  I went through five years worth of rejection letters before I made the decision to self-publish, but none of my success would have happened if I had not to taken that chance.  In fact, the moment I made The Decision, I was still waiting for a response from Simon & Schuster for a book they requested nine months earlier.  It's been four years now, and they still haven't gotten back to me.  In that time, that book which never got past their slush pile has sold close to 80,000 copies.

The sites I use to self publish are:

kdp.amazon.comdraft2digital.comcreatespace.com
These are all free.  Self-publishing is not like it used to be where you had to buy 1,000 copies of your book and sell them out of the back of your car.  CreateSpace is print on demand, so when someone buys a book, they print a book.  They take a cut for the cost of printing and you get the rest.  Draft2Digital is an aggregator.  You upload your Word document, they convert it into a beautiful ebook, and they list it on all the sites for you, collect the  money, and deposit into your bank account each month.  They charge a small percentage, but it is about the same you would be paying out if you had an agent.  And KDP is Amazon's Kindle publishing site.  You take the beautifully formatted book from Draft2Digital, upload it on KDP, and you're published on Amazon.

It is important to make sure your book is something people will enjoy.  And that means you HAVE to get some other eyes on your project.  I start off with beta readers - they are trusted friends and readers who read through my book and point out plot holes and confusing parts.  In exchange for their time and talents, I beta read for them anytime they ask.  I also recommend grabbing a copy of The Complete Indie Editor.  It is worth EVERY penny.  It has a list of simple search-and-replace suggestions for common errors (its/it's, their/there/they're, that/which, lightening/lightning, etc.)  I then hire proofreaders and editors to go through my books and look for any boo-boos.  Here are some of the people I have used:

Raighne ProofreadingAye Spy Proofreading (Melissa is a history nerd and can catch all sorts of armor, weaponry, and ancient social faux pas issues)Victory Editing (the Oops Detection service is invaluable)Tony Held Proofreading (fantastic when you need a quick turnaround)  
The other HUGE part of having a successful book is having an eye catching cover.  Unfortunately in our digital age, your audience will make its decision based upon a thumbnail sized picture, so the artwork you pick will need to be attractive at 3/4" tall.  If you invest any money in your book's success, THIS is where to do it.  Everything hinges on a lovely cover.  Here are the cover artists I have used that are still in business:Damonza Lou HarperBook Art MediaeBook Indie CoversHoward David JohnsonYocla DesignsBut there are are a ton of beautiful cover designers out there.  Here's a list of designers, many who do "pre-made" designs.  
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,150045.0.html
That means the cover is all done, they just insert your title and author name, but it costs shockingly less than a custom design (so if your budget is stretched, take a look at a premade.  Many of them are only $25-$100, as opposed to $100 - $700.)
Cover design has been a place where I have gotten into trouble in the past, so as a word of caution, pay 1/2 up front and 1/2 upon completion, and establish a specific date for delivery ( and make that date several weeks before you actually need it because, with nothing but love in my heart, I have had more than one cover artist flake.) 
Write and release often.  The visibility search engines favor those who release a book every thirty days, but you can streeeeetch it to ninety days before crisis hits.  Now, I know that many are concerned writing at such a pace might have an impact on quality.  I only share this information as a reflection of a cold, hard truth we have no control over.  It is just the way the world works and expectations should be adjusted accordingly.  As a fellow author once remarked, "If you expect to make a full-time wage as a writer, you have to put in full-time hours."
SO how do you write that much?  When I get out of the habit, my attention is usually waning after about twenty minutes. Much like running a marathon, ya gotta train up to it.  What I recommend is using a timer.  This was taught to me by my mom who started using it through a site called The Fly Lady.  The premise is that you can endure almost ANYTHING for fifteen minutes.  So, set a timer for fifteen minutes and then write.  No distractions.  No getting up to do laundry.  No checking your email.  Just write for fifteen minutes.  And then once the timer goes off?  If you're mentally done, get up guilt free.  But if you're having a good time, keep going.  Repeat throughout the day.

Gather together a group of people to keep accountable to.  Over the years, for me, this has taken the form of meeting up with other writers in a place to write, checking in with other writers via email every week, taking part in NaNo.  Let's face it.  If left to my own devices, I will binge watch old episodes of Top Gear all day.  The reality of having to 'fess up to someone that I slacked all week keeps me honest.  Let peer pressure work for you!
The other thing I have started to do is to get more organized so that I'm using my writing time more effectively.  I recommend a book called 2k to 10k.  It teaches you how to go from writing two thousand words a day to ten thousand words a day.  And it works.  You spend a couple of lousy, mind melting days figuring out characters and an outline, but from there on out?  It is a piece of cake!  You just write from point to point and your fingers fly!  I have found if I don't use the 2k to 10k method, I spend months breaking my brain.  So, three lousy days or three lousy months.  It's a choice.
  I stay on top of marketing trends.  I recommend The Writers Cafe on kboards.com.  This is a forum of indie authors very generously sharing their experiences.  The atmosphere here shifts, so sometimes it is super helpful, sometimes people are being jerks (much like any forum), so I would say lurk around, take what you can use, leave the rest.  But when something new hits the indie marketing scene, this has been the most reliable resource for information I have found, especially if you are new.  Other helpful blogs you might check out are:  Hugh Howey, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing, The Passive Voice, Dean Wesley Smith, Steel Magnolia Press, Courtney Milan... the list goes on and on.  
But speaking of blogs and awesome people, get to know your peers.  Don't be a jerk.  This is not a zero-sum game.  Shared success breeds success.  So much of the good stuff which has happened to me is because of a gal named SM Reine.  A billion years ago, we came onto each other's radar on kboards.  She then invited me to participate in a group book promotion, which led to massive success for my Maggie book.  Then, she invited me to be a part of a boxed set with darlings Deanna Chase, Dannika Dark, and Jovee Winters which hit the USA Today bestseller list.  The pattern repeated itself with other boxed sets and other wonderful publishers and writers.  But what's great is that I look at the people I do business with now  and I genuinely like them.  They are generous of spirit, they look out for others, and they are not afraid to lend their shoulders for others to stand upon, because they know that person will turn around and lift them up and over, too.  Surround yourself with people like that.  Help them.  They will help you.

And most importantly, write what you love.  Keep in mind that if you are successful, that means you are going to have to write MORE in that world, not that suddenly buckets of money will rain from above and suddenly you'll have the opportunity to write what you really want to write.  No, your time will be gobbled up with demands to stay in that world you never really wanted to be in the first place.  So don't write for exposure, don't write for opportunity, write because it is something you love.  As an author, you get to play pretend all day.  You get to decide what game of make believe you want to be real.  So make it something which brings you joy.
Now get in that sandbox and start building castles!