C.J. Redwine's Blog, page 20

Trailer Tuesday: Forest of Hands & Teeth

This week for Trailer Tuesday, I'm posting a trailer for a book that came out several years ago. I loved this book, and I think the trailer does it justice. What do you think?

Winner: Adam by Jacquelyn Frank

It's time to announce the winner of ADAM by Jacquelyn Frank. As always, I used random.org to choose the winner. And the lucky winner is


Lyssa Anne
Congratulations, Lyssa Anne! You will receive a confirmation email from me shortly. Thanks for entering and happy reading!

ARCs: Why you get them & what to do with them

What is an ARC?

ARCs (short for Advanced Reading Copies) are early copies of an author's book printed for promotional purposes only. ARCs are paperback, even if the real version of the book will be hardback. They may or may not include the final cover art. They are NOT the final version. Oftentimes, ARCs have irregular spacing, missing words, sometimes missing paragraphs. All of those last polishing-up details are taken care of before the final book is printed and shipped.

Why do publishers print ARCs?

An ARC is a like the pre-screening of a book. ARCs are sent to book reviewers, book bloggers, and others who are in a position to influence sales within the industry. The publishers select who will receive ARCs based on that book's marketing plan.

How to use ARCs:

If you receive an ARC, you read! Enjoy! Ignore that weird missing paragraph thing on p. 229. And then you go on your blog, your review site, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else you know other book lovers like to hang, and you tell them what you think of this book. Your job is to create advance buzz by starting a chain of word-of-mouth recommendations. If you love a book, shout that to the rooftops! If you don't love a book, be honest about that too. No one benefits from reviews that don't give a true picture of what you loved and didn't love about a book.

What to do with an ARC when you've finished reading:

Here's the heart of this post, and the reason why I interrupted my carefully crafted blog schedule of mayhem and nonsense to write this. You can keep your ARC. I know many bloggers who love to have bookshelves full of ARCs. You can throw it away. I know that hurts the heart of every book lover here, but honestly? That's the point of an ARC. It ISN'T the final book. If you love the book, buy the final version and keep that. You can do an ARC giveaway on your blog in conjunction with the review you posted.

You can use it as a coaster.

You can send it to your sister in another attempt to get her to start reading the literary banquet that is YA.

You can tear out the pages, start a mini-bonfire, and make s'mores.

But you CANNOT sell the ARC.

I can't stress that enough. The ARC says right on the front that it is a review copy and not for sale. I understand some newer bloggers not really paying attention to that, but what I saw today just made me stabbity. Today, on Ebay, I saw a book store owner selling an ARC. A book store owner knows better. There's simply no excuse.

Why is it so important that an ARC doesn't get sold? Three reasons.

1. This isn't the final copy. There are a few mistakes that need to be corrected before the final version prints. As an author (and a perfectionist), I don't want anything less than my best out there for readers to buy.

2. The author doesn't make a dime from this sale.

3. The author doesn't get credit for the sale. This is perhaps the most disturbing to me. A book store owner essentially selling an ARC "under the table" robs both the author and the publisher of that sale as the person who purchased this book would in all likelihood have purchased a final copy instead. (Especially if you look at how much the book sold for.) Authors need credit for every sale. We need to earn out our contracts with our publishers and prove to them that we're a good business decision. If we can't, we don't get another contract. If you love a book, and you support the idea that authors should get paid for their work, and you want authors to be able to continue to put new stories on the shelves, then you understand that selling an ARC is unethical and just downright wrong.

I don't know what this book seller was thinking. (Other than the profit she just made on a book she never purchased.) Most (if not all) of the book bloggers I know on Twitter would NEVER pull a stunt like this. I don't really think I can extend her the "well maybe she just didn't know" card because a book seller understands how authors get paid, and what happens when an author doesn't get credit for a sale.

But because of this incident, I decided two things. One, I would write a post to make sure everyone who reads my blog understands how the system works. I don't honestly think any of the reviewers and bloggers who frequent my site would ever knowingly hurt an author. And two, I decided to carefully check the list of those requesting ARCs of my book to make sure the woman who did this doesn't receive one.

Awkward FTW!

 Good. This message is going exactly as planned--wait. WAIT. What did I just say? Oh, kill me now.

Instead of my usual Monday morning list, I thought I'd share the transcript of a voice mail message I left a couple of weeks ago. I've altered my phone number with the exception of the last number. Ready? The awkward, I brings it!

"Hi! This is C.J. Redwine returning your call about the photo shoot on Thursday. I'm sorry I'm calling so late, but this is the first chance I've had. It's been one of THOSE days. I mean ... really. Anyway, you can call me back tomorrow at 555-555-1236. I'll be available ... wait. Did I say 6? No. Not six! Never six! Apparently I don't even know my own phone number. AWESOME. It's seven. Seeeeveeeen. 555-1237. Yes. That's the one. Anyway, I'm available. I mean, I'm not AVAILABLE. I'm married. But you don't care! You just want to take my picture. So great. Ok. Talk to you later."

You'll recall, of course, that this is the same photographer that I then flashed ON PURPOSE during the photo shoot. I'm amazed she still answers my emails.

Interview With Jacquelyn Frank

In the mood for a little sultry paranormal romance? Jacquelyn Frank has you covered! Her Nightwalker series combines sexy supernatural alpha males with feisty human women and delivers danger, intrigue, and hot romance. Haven't tried the Nightwalker series yet? Here's a peek at how it all began:

Since time began, there have been Nightwalkers - the races of the night who live in the shadows of the moonlight. Love with humans is absolutely forbidden, and one man makes certain to uphold this ancient law: Jacob, the Enforcer...For 700 Years, He has resisted temptation. But not tonight...Jacob knows the excuses his people give when the madness overtakes them and they fall prey to their lust for humans. He's heard every one and still brought the trespassers to justice. Immune to forbidden desires, uncontrollable hungers, or the curse of the moon, his control is total...until the moment he sees Isabella on a shadowy New York City street. Saving her life wasn't in his plans. Nor were the overwhelming feelings she arouses in him. But the moment he holds her in his arms, everything changes.

On Tuesday, the sixth book in the Nightwalker series came out. Here's a quick look at ADAM:

Haunted by magic, beset by evil, the Nightwalkers face their darkest hour yet. And when the unthinkable happens, only one legendary male has the power, the will, to save them: Adam.

Jacquelyn chose to take on the Were-llama. I guess spending her days creating supernatural creatures gave her the confidence it takes to face down our resident red-eyed shape shifter. Let's meet today's guests.

[image error] The Were-llama



[image error] Jacquelyn Frank
Now that you know who's who, it's time to reveal the beautiful cupcake my hubby made in honor of Jacquelyn's book. Adam is a water demon. He controls water, and he can even turn into water, which, you have to admit, is a pretty awesome ability to have. My hubby created a cupcake showing Adam in mid-transformation. Without further ado, let's reveal the cupcake and dive into the interview!


Adam Becoming Water


1. So, you're a writer. I'm a super-scary shape-shifter who can command obedience with the awesome power of my glowing red eyes. What do we have in common?

I can create legions of super scary shape-shifters who can command obedience with the awesome power of my mind.



2. Legions, you say? *looks over shoulder* I like to spit at my enemies from whichever end is closest to them. Do any of your characters have cool abilities like that?

Not yet, but thanks for the idea. ;)


3. You're welcome. And don't think I'm above calling in that favor. If I had a nickname, it would be The Awesome. You?

The Creative Cat Lady. Some of my fans, however, have dubbed me The Creator.


4. Cat Lady? The awe you inspired in me with the mention of your legions is begin to slip a bit. I hang around this blog because I love stories. What's your story about? Bonus points if it includes a llama.

This is the sixth book in the NIGHTWALKERS series. ADAM is super secret undercover and under wraps I–could-tell-you-but-I-would-have-to-kill-you story that people have been waiting for for three years. I can definitely say a lot of issues left open will be resolved in this book, and along the way it's a heck of a rollercoaster ride! Oh, and good sex. No llamas…in this installment. I know, I am ashamed.


5. I fail to see how you can write a good sex scene without a llama. You're making me a cake worthy of my awesome Were-llama status and decorating it to represent your story. What does it look like?

It's a picture of all the elements in nature on it. Representing the awesome power of my Demons and their power to manipulate nature.


6. I'd like to see them try to manipulate me. Any Were-llamas in your book?

Not that has been seen. :)


7. We aren't exactly known for our stealth. It's hard to hide this kind of AWESOME. Anyone who might be a Were-llama and you just haven't figured it out yet?

I suspect my girlfriend Susan. She is tough as nails and can handle anything that life throws at her. Plus, she's been known to kick a man and spit on him while he's down.


8. Sounds promising! Llamas or camels and why? Think carefully.

Camels? What are these camels you speak of?


9. Your street cred has now been restored. I give you a baby Were-llama as a companion. What do you name her?

Spittin' Image


10. Nice. My favorite word is "awesome" because, yanno, look at me. What's yours?

Douchebag. My other favorite start with F but wasn't sure I could use it here.


11. Probably wise. Last time I yelled FUNGI! in C.J.'s presence, she refused to give me cake for an entire week. As a young Were-llama, I dreamt of taking over the eastern seaboard one face full of spit at a time. What did you dream of doing when you were young?

When I was young I wanted to be either Wonder Woman or the Bionic Woman. They both kicked ass and were still very sweet women all at the same time.


12. Little known secret: the Bionic Woman was actually a were-llama. Not Wonder Woman, though. A were-llama has too much dignity to ever be caught running around in primary-colored spandex. Cake or cookies?

Cookies…especially my homemade luscious ultra delicious oatmeal raisin craisin cookies.


13. I shall expect a shipment of those to arrive shortly. Do you share chocolate?

Only with those most deserving of it.


14. Which would, of course, be ME. The Zombie Goat invasion is upon us. How will you fight them off?

 I will throw sheaves of dead paper before me and they will fall upon it mercilessly. While they are distracted I will pen them up for the Zombie Children's Petting Zoo. A fate worse than death.


Thank you, Jacquelyn, for such an entertaining interview! I think you had the Were-llama worried about your legions. :) To learn more about Jacquelyn, visit her site. To purchase any books in the Nightwalker series, go here.

Of course, the fun isn't over yet! Jacquelyn is giving away a signed copy of ADAM to one lucky commenter! Please fill out the form below to enter and be sure to leave Jacquelyn a comment after you submit the form. The contest runs until 8 p.m. Central time, Monday October 31st.

Good luck to all and happy reading!

Interview Coming!

Author interview coming today! Blogger and I had an argument, it ate my cupcake picture, and I have an appointment for the next few hours. BUT, when I return, I will teach Blogger who's boss and you will have your interview!

Trailer Tuesday - Spooky!

My hubby read and loved this book. It's on my list of books I'll be reading in the near future. Especially after watching this trailer. What do you think?

Imma Bouta Bring It

[image error]

1. Okay, I'm going to arm-wrestle Blogger into submission this week and there will be POSTS.

2. Whether you feel like reading them is on you. I'm just saying there will be POSTS if I have to do things to Blogger that are probably illegal in 39 states.

3. Last week as I was driving Starshine somewhere, he started telling me about a song he and a friend are going to sing for the school's talent show. Then he said "And maybe we'll dance too. But I don't know what kind of dance to do."

4. Because I am never short of (probably awful) ideas, I said, "How about the robot?"

5. I demonstrated.

6. While driving.

7. Not the easiest thing to do, but in my defense, I was at a stop light. The only danger to other drivers was an unwanted glimpse of a truly uncoordinated woman trying to do a dance that died two decades ago with a steering wheel in her way.

8. Starshine didn't appreciate my efforts. He said, "We don't want to be robots."

9. I said, "Fine. Then how about the chicken dance?"

10. And I proceeded to try to demonstrate. The seat belt and the steering wheel conspired to make my demonstration slightly difficult to accomplish.

11. Starshine looked at me and said, "Mom, you look like a chicken giving birth. No WAY am I doing that in front of the entire school."

12. Kids. So ungrateful.

13. Last time I waste my awesome Chicken Giving Birth dance skillz on him.

14. Over the weekend, I had to stop at the store with all four kids and no hubby to help me. This isn't always a problem, but the teenager was grumpy, the baby had a coughing fit and spit up on her shirt, and the two younger boys were trying to see how fast they could incur my patented Death Glare.

15. We got through the store, made our purchases, and started walking through the parking lot. Starshine and Daredevil challenged each other to RACE through the FULL parking lot and yelled back at me, "See you at the car!"

16. Not on my watch, kiddos.

17. I yelled "Stop! Running through a full parking lot is a good way to get killed!"

18. They stopped, remained silent for a moment, and then Daredevil looked at Starshine and said, "Well, at least now we know a GOOD way to get killed. And here I thought all ways to die were bad. Who knew?"

19. Smarty pants.

20. Takes after me.

21. In other news, I had my photo shoot this past week for my official author publicity shots.

22. I do not mind telling you I was really nervous about this.

23. Mostly because I don't consider myself photogenic. And because if my license and my Costco card are any indication, I had an excellent chance of looking like an escaped convict hopped up on Red Bull.

24. Turns out how I was going to look on film was the least of my worries.

25. The true danger lay in my inability to remain proper and demur, even in a room full of strangers.

26. Before we started taking pics, the photographer asked me to wear the white blouse I'd brought with me.

27. At this point, I suddenly realized that in my frantic attempts to get out of the house on time, I'd neglected one very important detail.

28. I'd worn my orange bra.

29. And brought a white shirt.

30. Yes, I own an orange bra. And pink, red, blue ... my underwear drawer looks like a bag of Skittles.

31. I digress.

32. At this point, I should tell you the photographer and her assistants were all women. Not that it makes my actions much better, but ... still.

33. I looked at the photographer and said, "Um, can you make sure with lighting or photo shop or something that no one can see my orange bra shining through this white shirt?"

34. She said, "You have an orange bra?"

35. And I said, "Yes."

36. And then, dear reader, I grabbed the neckline of my shirt and PULLED IT DOWN to show her.

37. As my hands were tugging at my shirt, my brain was screaming "NOOOOOO! You're about to be inappropriate! STOP!"

38. But it was too late.

39. The C.J. Without Her Filter ship had already set sail.

40. Fortunately, the photographer thought my bra was pretty, and when I apologized for flashing her ON PURPOSE, she laughed and didn't care.

41. We got along for the rest of the photo shoot, and I'll have pics to share soon.

42. One of the poses I picked is my Imma Bouta Bring It face. That one goes on the blog. ;D

This Week (unless Blogger wants to die):

Tuesday: Spooky book trailer!
Wednesday: Author interview with Jacki Frank
Friday: Help Wanted Ad

Kill Order: Blogger

C.J.'s Minions know how to get the job done.

I had mighty plans for the blog this past week. A spooky book trailer! A help wanted ad! The Were-llama's first blurb! And none of it happened. Why? Because Blogger thinks it's funny to mess with my mind. Losing scheduled posts. Signing me out without so much as a by-your-leave. And refusing to allow me to leave comments on my own blog.

That last one really makes me mad. I have some FABULOUS commenters on this blog. I'd like to be able to reply! But noooo. Not only is Blogger refusing to let me comment under my own id, it won't even publish my comments if I do so under open ID or anonymous.

Really, Blogger?

Someone told me to delete my cookies and it would work again. I tried that. No dice.

Now I'm going to try something different. I'm going to offer a bounty on Blogger's head.

You read that right.

First person to bring me Blogger, dead or alive, wins a prize.

If you can't actually bring me Blogger, but you know how to fix this situation (The comments are the most concerning. The rest seems to be working properly again), you win a prize!

Want to be my minion? Help me take Blogger out at the knees.

*dangles mysterious prize in front of the comment box*

Melted Butter

Frankenkitty sadly overestimates the current condition of my brain.
1. It's hard for me to blog when I'm in the middle of drafting. Mostly because all of my creative brain cells are engaged in the novel, and there's not much left over for anything else.

2. Combine drafting brain with three nearly sleepless nights in a row courtesy of a teething toddler and my brain now resembles this:

[image error]
3. Therefore, you should read at your own risk.

4. I took my teenager to see Abduction last night. The story is YA through and through. I really liked it. So did he.

5. But the real story is what happened before we got to the movie theater.

6. We stopped by a Walgreens next to the theater to pick up some candy. The woman at the cash register looked at our purchase and said "What movie are you going to see?"

7. I said "Abduction."

8. She said "What's that about?"

9. I said "It's about a teenager who discovers his parents really aren't his parents, and then they are killed because someone is after him. Maybe spies or the CIA or something like that. And he has to use all the skills they trained into him to escape."

10. She curled her lip and said "Huh. Sounds ... kind of weird."

11. And here I was thinking it sounded pretty interesting. So I said "Well, it stars Taylor Lautner, so there's always that."

12. She said "Who's Taylor Lautner?"

13. I mean ... really? I'm not a huge Twilight fan, and I know who Taylor is. My hubby knows who Taylor is, too. In fact, the first time we saw a preview for Abduction, my hubby turned to me after the preview ended and said, "Wow! He kept his shirt on for the entire preview!"

14. Because you kind of have to be living in a cave not to be at least a tiny bit familiar with Taylor.

15. But, whatever.

16. As we were walking into the theater, I said something ... I honestly can't remember what ... to my teenager and the ensuing conversation went like this:

Teen: Mom, you know you're weird, right?

Me: No, I'm not. I just see things a little bit differently than most people.

Teen: No one thinks like you do, Mom. No one.

Me: Allow me to introduce you to the INTERNET. I've met a lot of people online who think just like I do.

Teen: That doesn't actually make it better.

17. I hold out hope that one day he'll look back and realize it was kind of cool having a mom who was into zombies and post-apocalyptic stuff, and understood steampunk, and dressed up for Harry Potter movies, and took him to every comic book movie ever made.

18. One day.

19. Until then, I'm going to take my melted butter stick of a brain and go draft DEFIANCE's sequel.

THIS WEEK:

*I post a job listing for a personal assistant. Warning! Must love llamas!
*The Were-llama offers to blurb a book!
*I share a creepy-cool book trailer for one of my hubby's favorite books (It's on my TRB too!).