K.A. Tucker's Blog, page 23

What 'Anathema' looks like in my head

I love looking through stock photography in search of images that would match the world and the scenes of Anathema, as they exist in my head. I find it brings the story to life even more. So, I'll probably share some images with you, here and there, to show you what I see. Here are a couple (from Shutterstock.com, as you can see by the watermarks - a fabulous site for finding great artwork. )
[image error]


Hiking through the deep forest on Ratheus [image error]


Evangeline's
reconnaissance
mission to Central Park [image error]


The Oasis

Show Me Your Teeth Blog Hop

[image error] Win 1 of 3 ecopies of Anathema! I'm giving away 3 ecopies of Anathema as part of this blog hop.  All you need to do is comment on this post with your name and email address and you're entered (one entry per person please!). Do you want to earn additional entries? Here's how:
1. "Like" my facebook page here - 1 additional entry
2. Follow me on twitter here  - 1 additional entry
3. Follow my reviews on Goodreads here - 1 additional entry 

Winners will be selected using random.org. Open for international entries. Winners will receive a Smashwords coupon to download Anathema in their choice of ereader format. Contest runs from 12:00am Aug 15th until 11:59pm Aug 23rd EST. Any entries before or after will be disqualified.

Thanks and enjoy the hop!
Kathleen

What does $0.99 get you?

[image error]     A burnt cup of coffee, an unsatisfying, bite-sized chocolate bar, an average donut; or, occasionally, a bottle of Vim lemon-scented cleaner, if you're lucky.
Wouldn't you rather spend your hard-earned $0.99 on something better? Like.. an escape to another world where exciting heroines struggle against evil for the love of a hot fictional guy? Well, lucky for you there is a sea of $0.99 worlds out there waiting for you to dive in.
And, Anathema has just joined the ranks. 
    After running a successful month-long $0.99 promo for Anathema with the book tour, I recently brought the price of my ebook back to $2.99 to be true to the 'limited time' offer.  But, I've decided to move to the $0.99 series introduction strategy as a standard price, going forward.  I should have started there. Oh, blessed hindsight.
So go, escape to the world of Anathema where many have already visited and fallen in love.
The price has already dropped on Amazon and Smashwords, with other locations following suit shortly. And make sure you check many other fabulous indie books priced.
Enjoy! 

One of my favourite scenes in Anathema... here\'s an excerpt

[image error] I thought I'd post a sample of one of my favourite scenes in Anathema. No, it's not the climax in the atrium which IS my favourite scene. That would be a tad spoilery. :-)

Enjoy!

Kathleen Image by Exsodus, from freedigitalphotos.net We walked to the other side of the cave and stopped by the ferocious waterfall, the
sound of its rushing water reminding me of Viggo and Mortimer's jet engine.  Caden
turned and said something.
 "Pardon?" I yelled.
 He leaned in close, his mouth next to my ear. "You need to hold on tight." I
nodded, squeezing his hand. Chuckling with amusement, he yanked me toward him
until our chests were touching. My heart started pounding. I heard myself suck
in air as he again moved his mouth next to my ear. "Close your eyes and put your
face against my chest." The vibrations from his words tickled my skin, making my
heart pound harder. "You feeling okay?" His voice was innocent
enough.
"Yup," I said, annoyed with the telltale thumping in my chest. How can he not
know? Could this vampire be that oblivious? Maybe he could be, thanks to my necklace.
 "Are you sure?"
More vibrations causing more tickling causing more pounding. My breathing became
raspy. Unable to speak, I instead nodded and buried my face in his chest,
expecting to pass out.
His body shook. Was he laughing? He leaned in to speak to me again. "Wrap your arms
around me."
I locked my arms around his back, feeling his smooth skin and rigid muscles. His
strong arms lifted my body, squeezing tightly. The ground suddenly disappeared
from beneath us. And at that moment I realized Caden's intention. We were
jumping through that giant, ferocious waterfall.
The torrent of water hit us, beating down on every muscle in my shoulders and back
and effortlessly driving my hands apart. Thankfully my bare feet were touching
hard ground before I had a chance to panic.
 "You can come out now," Caden whispered.
I pulled my face away from the comfortable nook I had located in his
chest.
 "I figured it was best not to tell you what we were doing," he explained, looking
sheepish.
"Good call," I muttered, allowing only a fleeting scowl. I can't be mad at
you.
He smiled—such a sweet, genuine smile—then nodded to something behind us. I
turned. And squinted at a sea of silver; thousands of metallic, ropelike vertical strands
glowing brilliantly in the darkness of a wide tunnel. They swayed gracefully back and
forth as if being coerced by a gentle breeze that never touched my skin. They had
to be at least three feet high, growing in round clumps right out of the bedrock.
Stepping forward, awe slowing my feet, I reached out to touch one of the strands. 
 It was soft and pliable, like yarn. My eyes widened. I knew what it was.

One of my favourite scenes in Anathema... here's an excerpt

[image error] I thought I'd post a sample of one of my favourite scenes in Anathema. No, it's not the climax in the atrium which IS my favourite scene. That would be a tad spoilery. :-)

Enjoy!

Kathleen We walked to the other side of the cave and stopped by the ferocious waterfall, the
sound of its rushing water reminding me of Viggo and Mortimer's jet engine.  Caden
turned and said something.
 "Pardon?" I yelled.
 He leaned in close, his mouth next to my ear. "You need to hold on tight." I
nodded, squeezing his hand. Chuckling with amusement, he yanked me toward him
until our chests were touching. My heart started pounding. I heard myself suck
in air as he again moved his mouth next to my ear. "Close your eyes and put your
face against my chest." The vibrations from his words tickled my skin, making my
heart pound harder. "You feeling okay?" His voice was innocent
enough.
"Yup," I said, annoyed with the telltale thumping in my chest. How can he not
know? Could this vampire be that oblivious? Maybe he could be, thanks to my necklace.
 "Are you sure?"
More vibrations causing more tickling causing more pounding. My breathing became
raspy. Unable to speak, I instead nodded and buried my face in his chest,
expecting to pass out.
His body shook. Was he laughing? He leaned in to speak to me again. "Wrap your arms
around me."
I locked my arms around his back, feeling his smooth skin and rigid muscles. His
strong arms lifted my body, squeezing tightly. The ground suddenly disappeared
from beneath us. And at that moment I realized Caden's intention. We were
jumping through that giant, ferocious waterfall.
The torrent of water hit us, beating down on every muscle in my shoulders and back
and effortlessly driving my hands apart. Thankfully my bare feet were touching
hard ground before I had a chance to panic.
 "You can come out now," Caden whispered.
I pulled my face away from the comfortable nook I had located in his
chest.
 "I figured it was best not to tell you what we were doing," he explained, looking
sheepish.
"Good call," I muttered, allowing only a fleeting scowl. I can't be mad at
you.
He smiled—such a sweet, genuine smile—then nodded to something behind us. I
turned. And squinted at a sea of silver; thousands of metallic, ropelike vertical strands
glowing brilliantly in the darkness of a wide tunnel. They swayed gracefully back and
forth as if being coerced by a gentle breeze that never touched my skin. They had
to be at least three feet high, growing in round clumps right out of the bedrock.
Stepping forward, awe slowing my feet, I reached out to touch one of the strands.
It was soft and pliable, like yarn. My eyes widened. I knew what it was.

How much do you love Anathema? Really? Great! Then, please, go vote for it! ;-)

 So many people have told me how much they love the cover of Anathema so.... I thought it would be awesome if they went and voted on Goodreads list of Best Book Cover for 2011! Would greatly appreciate your vote. I would love you long time.

here's the link to the list:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/7253.Best_Book_Covers_2011

While you're at it, there are some other great lists that I would love Anathema to hang out on, if you feel it is worthy:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/10886.Best_Break_Out_Author_Novels_
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3812.YA_Novels_of_2011
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/11035.Must_Read_YA_Books_of_2011

Remember, long time love. Not short time. Looooong time :-)
And... if you've read Anathema and haven't yet rated it on Goodreads, you would be doing an author (me!) the biggest favour ever (besides reading my book, of course) by going on there and including your rating. People really do look at these ratings when they decide what they're going to read next. Thanks to many of you awesome peeps, Anathema has 47 ratings, 33 reviews, and a 4.72 average (out of 5)! :-) It's a fabulous start.

Thanks, my awesome fans!

Someone in Asylum will die...

I've been flopping back and forth with a character's fate like a beached fish for some time now while planning out and writing Asylum.  At first, I couldn't bear the thought of losing this character. I'm sure I could find more work for him/her. No need to drop the axe yet, right? 
Well, in fact,  the show must be over for this character, as much as I love him/her. He/she has done what he/she needed to do for Evangeline and dragging him/her on for the rest of the series won't do anyone any good. In fact, his/her death will give Evangeline the anger and strength to finally begin taking fate by the horns and fight back. It will also give her a sense of just how much she is loved. 
There are a lot of he/she, his/her, in that post.  That will drive a few of you crazy... but I can't spoil it for you.

Any guesses?
 :-)

Author Interviews - To Ireland and Florida in the same day!

Today marks a day of 2 interviews at 2 great blogger sites - 1 in Ireland and 1 in Florida! I only wish I could be there in body but an interview is the next best thing :D

The first interview can be found at Woven Strands here.  Check it out! There's a few 'bits' of info re: Asylum, the 2nd book in the series.  There's also a link to the glowing review of Anathema and a ebook giveaway contest.

The second interview can be found at Reading Away the Days here. It's actually a 'New YA Author Feature' interview that blogger Megan runs every Friday.  It's got some random, fun questions in there that I had a lot of fun answering. Megan's from Ireland. I'd love to talk to her in person, just so I can hear her awesome accent, which I assume she has. I wonder if she and Leo would get along...  (an Anathema 'insider' thing).

Thanks to these fabulous bloggers for having me! Now go, check out the interviews!

Author Tips & Tricks: Creative Brief for Cover Design - Template

Two posts in one day! Okay, so I had this one sitting in the wings, ready to hit 'post' but still!
I have begun developing the creative brief for the cover design of ASYLUM (Causal Enchantment, #2) and so I've dusted off my creative brief for ANATHEMA.  So many people have complemented me on the cover of ANATHEMA. Truthfully, I can only take credit for hiring a brilliant cover designer and giving him the information he needed.
Anyways, I thought my fellow indie authors out there may find the below template helpful.  Please, feel free to reapply for the design of your next great cover! Note - the below is intentionally blank... I need to keep some magic a secret :-)
Cheers!

Now available for purchase! Signed print copies of Anathema!

Based on numerous requests, I am making signed, print copies of Anathema available for purchase. They are coming from the box of books in my closet, straight to you! I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner...  I think I assumed people wouldn't want to pay the shipping costs from small-town Ontario to big-wide world.  But, my readers have spoken and I am listening. I will gladly sign the book, personalize for you or someone else, do a happy dance around it, etc.

The link to the order form is on the "Store" page from the top menu but I've included it here as well :-)