K.A. Tucker's Blog, page 21
November 8, 2011
Announcing my 500 Follower Giveaway!
[image error] I'm creeping up to the 500 follower mark on both Twitter and
Facebook and I thought I'd do something special to hit that mark :-) So... I'm going to hold an itty bitty giveaway! When I hit 500 on each of Twitter and Facebook, I'll do a random draw of my followers using Random Org. The winners (there will be four - two for each of facebook and Twitter followers) will win an advanced ecopy of Asylum, due out by mid-December. You'll get those ecopies at the same time as my fabulous book bloggers partaking in the January tour!
So, spread the word! If you know of people who would enjoy the Causal Enchantment series, send them my way! :-)
Facebook and I thought I'd do something special to hit that mark :-) So... I'm going to hold an itty bitty giveaway! When I hit 500 on each of Twitter and Facebook, I'll do a random draw of my followers using Random Org. The winners (there will be four - two for each of facebook and Twitter followers) will win an advanced ecopy of Asylum, due out by mid-December. You'll get those ecopies at the same time as my fabulous book bloggers partaking in the January tour!
So, spread the word! If you know of people who would enjoy the Causal Enchantment series, send them my way! :-)
November 4, 2011
A Thank You to Readers
[image error] Over the past several months, I have received numerous messages about Anathema from readers and I just wanted to say 'thank you' to all of you for reaching out to me. I can't describe how rewarding it is to hear that I was able to take you all to a wonderful, magical place for a few hours.
Writing a book is very hard work. I knew that before I wrote Anathema. After I wrote it, I actually understood what that 'hard work' meant. There were many nights where I struggled with ideas and words. It was so very tempting to just hit 'power off' on my computer. I still have many of those nights. But, what keeps me going and believing that I can do this are the emails and facebook messages from every single one of you, whether you are a thirteen-year-old who I met at the library or sixty-year-old who picked up Anathema on a whim and was pleasantly surprised by it.
When you take the time to write a line to an author about how much you enjoyed their work, when you advocate for that writer, when you tell your family and friends that they 'must read that book'... you are keeping someone's dreams alive. Again, thank you.
Writing a book is very hard work. I knew that before I wrote Anathema. After I wrote it, I actually understood what that 'hard work' meant. There were many nights where I struggled with ideas and words. It was so very tempting to just hit 'power off' on my computer. I still have many of those nights. But, what keeps me going and believing that I can do this are the emails and facebook messages from every single one of you, whether you are a thirteen-year-old who I met at the library or sixty-year-old who picked up Anathema on a whim and was pleasantly surprised by it.
When you take the time to write a line to an author about how much you enjoyed their work, when you advocate for that writer, when you tell your family and friends that they 'must read that book'... you are keeping someone's dreams alive. Again, thank you.
October 30, 2011
Announcing the Asylum Blog Tour Details!
[image error] Sooooo excited to be announcing the Asylum blog tour!! In only two months, book 2 of the Causal Enchantment series will release and I have tons of fun stuff planned to celebrate. Check out the tour page
here
! If you haven't read Anathema yet, now's the time!
October 23, 2011
A sneak peek of what is to come in Asylum: Causal Enchantment #2!
Now that the Asylum manuscript is safely in my editor's hands, I am ready to talk about it... a little bit. I don't want to spoil any of the surprise but I'm REALLY excited about this book :-)
So what can you expect?
For starters, Asylum is told from two POVs - Evangeline's and Sofie's. Unlike Anathema, readers will get to see what's going on in Sofie's scheming vampire/sorceress mind and, believe me, it's a lot different from what goes on in Evangeline's sweet, naive brain.
There is less about romance and more about the dire situation for the simple fact that Evangeline and Caden are kept apart for the majority of the book. But don't worry, for those of you who love Evangeline and Caden... you'll get your dose.
Max is his typical loveable, overprotective canine self, except he's slightly more ornery given he can't stand being up in the frigid mountains of... oh wait, I'm not telling you where. But he's stuck there with Valentina, who's gone a little bit wacko, and Julian, who will surprise you.
And remember Mage? Evil Council leader from Ratheus? Well... she turns out to be a bit different from what Caden, etc painted her out to be in Anathema. Plus, she knows the truth about Ratheus and Earth. That's all I'll say about that. :-)
Also expect a few new characters, some new BIG threats, and some new creepy creatures of my own concoction. They make my skin crawl just thinking about them. Of course, the baddies from Anathema are still kicking around - Viggo, who takes desperate measures to find Evangeline; Sofie's nemesis, Ursula; and the super-evil, psychopathic Rachel. To quote one of my beta readers, "Why won't that b$@%# just die already?"
Tragedy will strike. It is inevitable, given what the gang is up against but it is sad all the same.
Did I say I was excited about this one? :-)
Expect details about the Asylum blog tour soon!
Kathleen
So what can you expect?
For starters, Asylum is told from two POVs - Evangeline's and Sofie's. Unlike Anathema, readers will get to see what's going on in Sofie's scheming vampire/sorceress mind and, believe me, it's a lot different from what goes on in Evangeline's sweet, naive brain.
There is less about romance and more about the dire situation for the simple fact that Evangeline and Caden are kept apart for the majority of the book. But don't worry, for those of you who love Evangeline and Caden... you'll get your dose.
Max is his typical loveable, overprotective canine self, except he's slightly more ornery given he can't stand being up in the frigid mountains of... oh wait, I'm not telling you where. But he's stuck there with Valentina, who's gone a little bit wacko, and Julian, who will surprise you.
And remember Mage? Evil Council leader from Ratheus? Well... she turns out to be a bit different from what Caden, etc painted her out to be in Anathema. Plus, she knows the truth about Ratheus and Earth. That's all I'll say about that. :-)
Also expect a few new characters, some new BIG threats, and some new creepy creatures of my own concoction. They make my skin crawl just thinking about them. Of course, the baddies from Anathema are still kicking around - Viggo, who takes desperate measures to find Evangeline; Sofie's nemesis, Ursula; and the super-evil, psychopathic Rachel. To quote one of my beta readers, "Why won't that b$@%# just die already?"
Tragedy will strike. It is inevitable, given what the gang is up against but it is sad all the same.
Did I say I was excited about this one? :-)
Expect details about the Asylum blog tour soon!
Kathleen
October 18, 2011
Tomorrow is the Lie Or Die Story Reveal!!!!
Today is Oct 18th. That means tomorrow is Oct 19th. So what? Do you know what happens on Oct 19th? It's the Lie Or Die Flash Fiction reveal!!! Nine fabulous ladies have worked with me for several months to plan and execute what I think is a VERY COOL event. Tomorrow, you get to read what four other authors and I have created.
Speaking for myself, this was darn tough to write. Bringing an idea to life in 800 words sounds impossible when you've just finished struggling to get under 75 000 words for your novel. I'm dying to see what my fellow authors have come up with.
Get ready to read five different takes and five different styles on one idea!
Speaking for myself, this was darn tough to write. Bringing an idea to life in 800 words sounds impossible when you've just finished struggling to get under 75 000 words for your novel. I'm dying to see what my fellow authors have come up with.
Get ready to read five different takes and five different styles on one idea!
October 7, 2011
Vote for your favorite ASYLUM bookmark!
I started playing around with the Asylum cover art, thinking I could create bookmarks. Eventually, when I realized that I don't have time, talent, or the software to do this effectively, I put out a 'going to poke my eyes out' distress call on Twitter. Several lovely tweeps responded with great designer contact info. Given my budget and timeline, I went with a recommendation from an awesome new author-friend of mine, Megan Duncan. She connected me with Naj from Najla Quamber Designs who I have to say, is supremely talented, professional, quick, and reasonably priced - a fabulous person to work with! The only problem is, she created two beautiful bookmarks and I can't decide which one to print!
So I need YOUR help.
Here are the choices....
Drum roll..... [image error] [image error] How beautiful are those?!!! I'm only printing one. But which one?
Enter your vote in the comment section below to vote! I'm going to decide on Sunday/Monday (and Happy Thanksgiving weekend to the Canadians out there!). Thanks for your help :-)
So I need YOUR help.
Here are the choices....
Drum roll..... [image error] [image error] How beautiful are those?!!! I'm only printing one. But which one?
Enter your vote in the comment section below to vote! I'm going to decide on Sunday/Monday (and Happy Thanksgiving weekend to the Canadians out there!). Thanks for your help :-)
October 1, 2011
October... it's a big month
Wow! I woke up to a "BRRRR, it's cold out there!" October 1st and I realized that winter is coming. But before it does, I have a CRAZY month ahead and I thought I'd give an overall update as to what's going on.
First things first. Anathema left September and entered October with a big bang! I have been trying to get Amazon to price match to 'free' for a few weeks now (it's a fun little game we indies have to play if we want to offer our books up for free on Amazon). I have been checking my book page on Amazon religiously and then yesterday, BAM! $0.00! Anathema sky-rocketed up to #13 last night on the "Top 100 Free" List and made #1 on a couple great lists. VERY happy about this :-) It's great for awareness. Spread the word! It's a limited time offer. How limited? I haven't decided yet...
The rest of the month is going to be hairy. I just finished ASYLUM and will be sending it to my editor ~Oct 21st. Until then, I'll do a bit of editing and cleaning up. The great news is that my two beta readers LOVED it and they're avid YA paranormal readers so I'm feeling good about this second book :-).
I'm also a part of several events this month: The Indie Authors Bash at All Things Books, Haunted Halloween at A Life Bound By Books (where I share my not-so-paranormal-but-still-scarier-than-sh$t true tale), and the Lie Or Die Flash Fiction event (click on the fab artwork plastered all over this page to get more details).
But, that's not all! I have 2 author events at local libraries as part of the October Library weeks! My first ever. Really looking forward to those. Check out my 'events' page for more details.
And all of the above is happening while I start planning the January release of ASYLUM (stay tuned for tour details!) and create a hopefully-not-cheesy trailer for a November launch.
Oh, and then there's the rest of my life! I'm proud to say I just got a promotion and a new job at my company - TONS of work and pressure but a great team and exciting opportunity so I'm happy. We've also just booked my older daughter's autism spectrum testing for the end of the month. Why do I mention it here? Well, because 1) we've been on the wait list for over a year... a long wait 2) It's a BIG part of my life - my kids are more important than any book I write or any job I have and 3) people need to hear about Autism. The more everyone knows about Autism Spectrum Disorder, the better off children of today and tomorrow will be. You can make a real impact in peoples' lives just by understanding what it means.
So... it's a busy October. If my tweets are random and my blog posts rushed, I apologize in advance :-)
Kathleen
First things first. Anathema left September and entered October with a big bang! I have been trying to get Amazon to price match to 'free' for a few weeks now (it's a fun little game we indies have to play if we want to offer our books up for free on Amazon). I have been checking my book page on Amazon religiously and then yesterday, BAM! $0.00! Anathema sky-rocketed up to #13 last night on the "Top 100 Free" List and made #1 on a couple great lists. VERY happy about this :-) It's great for awareness. Spread the word! It's a limited time offer. How limited? I haven't decided yet...
The rest of the month is going to be hairy. I just finished ASYLUM and will be sending it to my editor ~Oct 21st. Until then, I'll do a bit of editing and cleaning up. The great news is that my two beta readers LOVED it and they're avid YA paranormal readers so I'm feeling good about this second book :-).
I'm also a part of several events this month: The Indie Authors Bash at All Things Books, Haunted Halloween at A Life Bound By Books (where I share my not-so-paranormal-but-still-scarier-than-sh$t true tale), and the Lie Or Die Flash Fiction event (click on the fab artwork plastered all over this page to get more details).
But, that's not all! I have 2 author events at local libraries as part of the October Library weeks! My first ever. Really looking forward to those. Check out my 'events' page for more details.
And all of the above is happening while I start planning the January release of ASYLUM (stay tuned for tour details!) and create a hopefully-not-cheesy trailer for a November launch.
Oh, and then there's the rest of my life! I'm proud to say I just got a promotion and a new job at my company - TONS of work and pressure but a great team and exciting opportunity so I'm happy. We've also just booked my older daughter's autism spectrum testing for the end of the month. Why do I mention it here? Well, because 1) we've been on the wait list for over a year... a long wait 2) It's a BIG part of my life - my kids are more important than any book I write or any job I have and 3) people need to hear about Autism. The more everyone knows about Autism Spectrum Disorder, the better off children of today and tomorrow will be. You can make a real impact in peoples' lives just by understanding what it means.
So... it's a busy October. If my tweets are random and my blog posts rushed, I apologize in advance :-)
Kathleen
September 29, 2011
Lie or Die Flash Fiction Showdown: Step 1: Submit Your Idea Now!
I am proud to be 1 of the 5 authors in the Lie Or Die Flash Fiction event! Take a read of the below, check out the main page for more details, get to know the awesome authors and bloggers who are participating, and get your idea in!!! [image error] Here is your chance to come up with a story idea and have not 1 but 5 authors spin it into an 800 word flash fiction tale! That's 5 different YA paranormal authors with their own style and their own creativity taking your idea in 5 directions! Where will they go? You'll have to wait until Oct 19th to find out.
But, for now, get your story idea in! You have from Sept 29, 2011 12:00am to Oct 8th, 2011 11:59pm EST to submit your ideas by choosing characters, conflict and abilities. Details are in the form, which is linked at the bottom of the post. Only entries into the form will be considered.
Anyone can enter their idea (open to international) and the winning idea will win a print book of their choice from one of the participating authors. What should you enter? Well, seeing as all of the authors are YA Paranormal writers,chances are anything to do with a hot, young heroine/hero of the non-human type will spark their interest. But, so could a grotesque villain…Should it be regular old Earth or a dystopian world? Should unicorns frolic and mermaids flap about? Should there be a love triangle? YOU DECIDE!
Example:
Characters -
"Bill" - a male vampire, tall, dark and boring, prefers computers to good times, over 150 years old.
"Sookie" - a female human, blond, barmaid, perky, Southern, sweet and hospitable but will resort to extreme violence when provoked.
Conflict -
Someone wants Sookie dead. People she knows are being killed and it looks like Sookie is next. AND, there's a new vampire in town. He's
tall, blond, sexy and powerful. While Bill may be old reliable, there's just
something about Eric that she can't resist.
Abilities - "Bill" - speed, strength, can heal with his blood.
"Sookie" - telepathic, good with a shotgun.
On Oct 9th, our 5 expert judges a.k.a fabulous bloggers Fiktshun, Two Chicks on Books, Magical Urban Fantasy Reads, A Life Bound by Books, and Taking it One Book at a Time, will choose THE IDEA, based purely on what sounds like the most fun to read about and announce it at Sunday, 6pm EST.
From there, the authors will have 10 days to take the idea and run with it.
For more details about the Lie or Die event, CLICK HERE to visit the official event page.
To enter your idea into the entry form, click on the badge!
[image error]
Want to know a little bit more about the authors participating? [image error] SM Reine:
SM Reine is a writer and graphic designer obsessed with werewolves, the occult, and collecting swords. Her YA
fantasy books, "Six Moon Summer" and "All Hallows' Moon," have been praised as "fresh and fast-paced" and "captivating." Sara spins tales of dark fantasy to escape the drudgery of the desert, where she lives with her husband and the Helpful Baby.
[image error] G.P.Ching:
Author of The Soulkeepers (DarkSide Publishing, 2011) and rebel suburbanite who makes wicked cookies, kicks patootie at Guitar Hero, and thinks guinea pigs are the perfect pet. Visit her at www.gpching.com.
[image error] Tiffany King:
Hi, my name is Tiffany King the author of the Paranormal/Romance YA novel "Meant to Be" and I'm practically a native Floridian. My family and I have been here for the last fourteen years and have gotten quite used to the mild winters and scorching summers. I went back to school when I turned 31 and will finish up this spring. I wrote my book "Meant to Be" two years into my degree program and put it on hold while I finished school. Of course my degree has nothing to do with writing *drat* but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep writing.
[image error] Megan Duncan:
Megan Duncan is a lover of all things paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi and anything just out of the ordinary. She is continually fighting her addiction to chocolate and living in her overactive imagination.
[image error] K.A.Tucker:
Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures. Asylum, the sequel to Anathema, will be released January, 2012.
But, for now, get your story idea in! You have from Sept 29, 2011 12:00am to Oct 8th, 2011 11:59pm EST to submit your ideas by choosing characters, conflict and abilities. Details are in the form, which is linked at the bottom of the post. Only entries into the form will be considered.
Anyone can enter their idea (open to international) and the winning idea will win a print book of their choice from one of the participating authors. What should you enter? Well, seeing as all of the authors are YA Paranormal writers,chances are anything to do with a hot, young heroine/hero of the non-human type will spark their interest. But, so could a grotesque villain…Should it be regular old Earth or a dystopian world? Should unicorns frolic and mermaids flap about? Should there be a love triangle? YOU DECIDE!
Example:
Characters -
"Bill" - a male vampire, tall, dark and boring, prefers computers to good times, over 150 years old.
"Sookie" - a female human, blond, barmaid, perky, Southern, sweet and hospitable but will resort to extreme violence when provoked.
Conflict -
Someone wants Sookie dead. People she knows are being killed and it looks like Sookie is next. AND, there's a new vampire in town. He's
tall, blond, sexy and powerful. While Bill may be old reliable, there's just
something about Eric that she can't resist.
Abilities - "Bill" - speed, strength, can heal with his blood.
"Sookie" - telepathic, good with a shotgun.
On Oct 9th, our 5 expert judges a.k.a fabulous bloggers Fiktshun, Two Chicks on Books, Magical Urban Fantasy Reads, A Life Bound by Books, and Taking it One Book at a Time, will choose THE IDEA, based purely on what sounds like the most fun to read about and announce it at Sunday, 6pm EST.
From there, the authors will have 10 days to take the idea and run with it.
For more details about the Lie or Die event, CLICK HERE to visit the official event page.
To enter your idea into the entry form, click on the badge!
[image error]
Want to know a little bit more about the authors participating? [image error] SM Reine:
SM Reine is a writer and graphic designer obsessed with werewolves, the occult, and collecting swords. Her YA
fantasy books, "Six Moon Summer" and "All Hallows' Moon," have been praised as "fresh and fast-paced" and "captivating." Sara spins tales of dark fantasy to escape the drudgery of the desert, where she lives with her husband and the Helpful Baby.
[image error] G.P.Ching:
Author of The Soulkeepers (DarkSide Publishing, 2011) and rebel suburbanite who makes wicked cookies, kicks patootie at Guitar Hero, and thinks guinea pigs are the perfect pet. Visit her at www.gpching.com.
[image error] Tiffany King:
Hi, my name is Tiffany King the author of the Paranormal/Romance YA novel "Meant to Be" and I'm practically a native Floridian. My family and I have been here for the last fourteen years and have gotten quite used to the mild winters and scorching summers. I went back to school when I turned 31 and will finish up this spring. I wrote my book "Meant to Be" two years into my degree program and put it on hold while I finished school. Of course my degree has nothing to do with writing *drat* but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep writing.
[image error] Megan Duncan:
Megan Duncan is a lover of all things paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi and anything just out of the ordinary. She is continually fighting her addiction to chocolate and living in her overactive imagination.
[image error] K.A.Tucker:
Born in small-town Ontario, Kathleen published her first book at the age of six with the help of her elementary school librarian and a box of crayons. She is a voracious reader and the farthest thing from a genre-snob, loving everything from High Fantasy to Chick Lit. Kathleen currently resides in a quaint small town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and an exhausting brood of four-legged creatures. Asylum, the sequel to Anathema, will be released January, 2012.
September 23, 2011
Lie or Die Flash Fiction event is coming... get your creativity on!
Five authors taking one idea and spinning in their own direction... where will they end up? [image error] I don't know about you but I'm dying to find out, especially since I'm one of the authors! A group of 5 authors and 5 bloggers have put their thinking caps on to pull together this exciting event, complete with really cool graphics (thanks to SM Reine's tech-savvy design skills), a catchy name (G.P. Ching's brilliance) and an awesome grand prize pack.
The challenge? an 800 word flash fiction short story, taking one lucky winner's idea that the 5 blogger 'judges' agree on. You might not realize how hard this challenge is but... it's hard. One of the authors (G.P. Ching) is a true flash fiction veteran. Then, there are a few of us who live in the world of 50 - 90K word stories. 800 words is daunting compared to that.
I had my taste of a short story spin-off when I killed off blogger Mindy from Magican Urban Fantasy Reads. I loved it but I remember how hard it was to make the story come to life and that wasn't 800 words... But I'm up for the challenge, as are the other authors. They are fantastic ladies and we'll all be cheering each other on (don't worry. None of us are really going to die... that's just smack talk).
Here is a link to the web page with all the info, links to authors and bloggers, etc. It will be updated as we progress :-)
Kathleen
The challenge? an 800 word flash fiction short story, taking one lucky winner's idea that the 5 blogger 'judges' agree on. You might not realize how hard this challenge is but... it's hard. One of the authors (G.P. Ching) is a true flash fiction veteran. Then, there are a few of us who live in the world of 50 - 90K word stories. 800 words is daunting compared to that.
I had my taste of a short story spin-off when I killed off blogger Mindy from Magican Urban Fantasy Reads. I loved it but I remember how hard it was to make the story come to life and that wasn't 800 words... But I'm up for the challenge, as are the other authors. They are fantastic ladies and we'll all be cheering each other on (don't worry. None of us are really going to die... that's just smack talk).
Here is a link to the web page with all the info, links to authors and bloggers, etc. It will be updated as we progress :-)
Kathleen
September 18, 2011
ASYLUM Cover Reveal Celebration Giveaway winners!
[image error] On Wednesday, Sept 7th, I revealed the cover for ASYLUM, Book 2 in the Causal Enchantment series. To celebrate, I held a giveaway for 1 signed print copy of Anathema and 2 ecopies of Anathema from Smashwords. There were 131 entries and the contest closed at 12:00pm EST today.
Wondering who won? :-)
1 signed print copy of ANATHEMA
DARLENE
2 ecopies of ANATHEMA
STEPHANIE
GENESSIS
Thanks to everyone for signing up! Winners will be contacted shortly via email.
Winners chosen using Random.Org.
Wondering who won? :-)
1 signed print copy of ANATHEMA
DARLENE
2 ecopies of ANATHEMA
STEPHANIE
GENESSIS
Thanks to everyone for signing up! Winners will be contacted shortly via email.
Winners chosen using Random.Org.
