C.R. Hiatt's Blog, page 10
May 3, 2012
Third day of heroic sleuth and spy duos...
Reblogged from McSwain & Beck:
What do you get when you mix Katherine Heigl, lingerie and bounty hunting? A chick flick that guys are sure to enjoy. Those were the words from the NY Daily News when it was announced that Katherine Heigl was selected for the role of Stephanie Plum in the movie version of Janet Evanovich’s first book in the series, One For The Money.
April 30, 2012
NEW RELEASE PROMOTION
I have been busy behind the scenes trying to schedule appearances and blog tours, and I will post the confirmed dates here when they have been finalized.
In the meantime, I would like to announce the NEW RELEASE promotion through the WoMen’s Literary Cafe which will run from Tuesday May 1st through Monday May 7th, featuring my book, GONE AT ZERO HUNDRED 00:00 http://bit.ly/Kohboz
I would be honored if everyone would stop by and check it out.
Hope to see you there! 
CR HIATT
April 29, 2012
Third day of heroic sleuth and spy duos…
What do you get when you mix Katherine Heigl, lingerie and bounty hunting? A chick flick that guys are sure to enjoy. Those were the words from the NY Daily News when it was announced that Katherine Heigl was selected for the role of Stephanie Plum in the movie version of Janet Evanovich’s first book in the series, One For The Money.
Stephanie Plum is today’s selection for heroic sleuth and spy duo. Stephanie Plum has been entertaining millions of readers since 1994 in the best selling series, Stephanie Plum by Janet Evanovich. 
Stephanie is not technically a sleuth or spy, but a bounty hunter, though the tasks are quite similar. And, she’s not technically part of a duo, but she does wind up at the center of a trio…
Joe Morelli is Stephanie’s on-and-off-boyfriend, a former bad boy turned vice cop. And, he just so happens to be one of Stephanie’s first cases, when he is suspected of murder, and she has no choice but to follow him around.
Ranger is Stephanie’s fellow bounty hunter, and tutor, and sometimes partner in some major flirting (even when Morelli is on again).
Needless to say, Stephanie is attracted to both.
I haven’t seen the movie, so I don’t know if what the Ny Daily News said, was true. But, Lulu, Grandma Mazur, and two hot men vying for your affections….
Chase scenes, and guns and explosions…what more could you ask for from a Stephanie Plum novel?
CR HIATT
McSwain & Beck branding…
The third blog post in my ‘heroic sleuth and spy duos’ fun will be posted later this evening, and I can’t wait for you to see who today’s selection(s) are.
In the meantime, I wanted to give you an update, and talk a little business for a moment. Oh, I know, business on a Sunday – and a perfectly sunny one at that – boring.
But, I think you’ll be okay with the outcome.
Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00, the first book in the McSwain & Beck YA action-mystery series, was recently published on March 30, 2012. While I was busy putting together the website(s), Facebook pages and gathered momentum in social media fun, a book cover artist http://probookcovers.com/ was busy behind the scenes designing a cover for the second installment, Fireworks on the 4th.
What he came up with was well received by a select group of viewers. The cover depicts the action, fun and adventure McSwain & Beck encounter in the story through the visual images on the page. It was a keeper.
And I love it!
Since then, it was advised that I change the cover for Gone at Zero Hundred so that it, too, reflects the action, fun and adventure, as well as, keep the same theme and appearance as the other covers in the series for the branding of McSwain & Beck. I agreed. So here’s the new cover:
I will also be changing my Facebook page(s), website(s) and Twitter background to reflect the new theme – action, fun and adventure. The desire is to keep things uniform, and build the platform for McSwain & Beck, so readers can immediately identify the brand, and make sure they can be distinguished from the other series I have in the works. The third book in the McSwain & Beck series, Lethal Hostages, will have the same theme – action, fun and adventure.
I love the new covers, and I hope you will too.
CR HIATT
April 26, 2012
Second day of heroic sleuth and spy duos…
BOND…JAMES BOND
I am not ashamed to admit that I have seen every James Bond flick. Most of them a dozen times. What can I say, I’m an action junkie. Everyone knows they’re not literature. They are two hours of guaranteed, mindless entertainment. Hot men. Gorgeous women. Cool gadgets and fast cars. And, non-stop explosions and chase scenes that take us through exotic locations, and keep us riveted to the screen.
Not only do I see the film in the theater when it is first released; I also purchase the title when it comes out on DVD (truthfully, I do that with all action flicks). It goes without saying; I am so looking forward to ‘Skyfall’ with the current 007, Daniel Craig. I’m interested to see how he switches over from the infamous “Vodka Martini, shaken, not stirred” to a tall, cold glass of Heineken.
Just as the ‘shaken, not stirred’ quote became a calling card for James Bond; so too, was the fact that he always had a gorgeous woman hanging on his arm – sometimes, more than one. If I had one complaint about the Bond flicks, it was the way the female was so easily swayed by the charms of 007. Sometimes I would spout off at the female character, to at least play a little hard to get. Obviously, they didn’t take my advice.
But, that brings McSwain & Beck to today’s pick of heroic sleuth and spy duo. Finally, they came up with a ‘Bond Girl’ who was just as confident and bold as 007…
“My friends call me Jinx…”
Jinx was gorgeous. Hot in a bikini (stop salivating, guys), and she could kick butt too!
JAMES BOND and JINX in action…
I think McSwain & Beck could give them both a run for their money.
Come back again to see who makes the heroic sleuth and spy duo in the next blog post…
CR HIATT
April 25, 2012
Heroic sleuth and spy duos…
Reviews are slowly starting to trickle in at Amazon.com and Goodreads on my YA action-mystery novel, Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 featuring the duo, McSwain & Beck. In one, the reviewer said:
The characters of Syd and Cody were a perfect pair…funny, smart, snarky…they totally need their own TV series!
Woo hoo!!! I thought to myself when I first read it, but then I immediately came back down from the clouds. Trust me, I didn’t take the statement literally. It was just one reviewer, after all, and we all know opinions can be as different as night and day, but it still made me smile. And it got me to thinking I could have a little fun with it on my blog and fan page.
McSwain & Beck were childhood pals before they teamed up to become full-time sleuths and heroes. In Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 they struggle through a complex plot, and come up against a ruthless gang of criminals, and several lives are on the line. In the second action-mystery, Fireworks on the 4th, their skills and talents will be put to the test time and time again, only this time, an entire city will be at risk.
Over the next few days, or weeks (depending on how many I can come up with), I am going to showcase and highlight other heroic fictional female sleuths and spies, and their dynamic male sidekicks that have kept us entertained through the years.
And the first duo is…
Might as well pick the gal with the same name…
Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow
Michael Vartan as Michael Vaughn
ALIAS
Catch Sydney in this kick-butt action montage!
And who can forget their love for each other as it played out through each season of the series?
The next heroic duo highlighted…you’ll have to stay tuned to find out.
April 24, 2012
Cross promotion at its finest…
Bloody brilliant marketing idea!
Brilliant, I say!!!
Full Disclosure:
I don’t know Jillian Dodd or CJ West. I happened to stumble across Jillian’s blog when she sent a post out to her friends through Goodreads. I normally click on the link just so I can keep up on what other fellow writers are doing, even if it’s not my genre, etc. We are all in this together, so why not show my support, right?
But, when you see an email with the headling “I’ve challenged Author CJ West to appear shirtless”, I would think every female with blood running through her veins would click on the link out of curiosity, alone. I’m guessing the males would too, just to see what their competition is.
I think Jillian’s contest is one of the most creative, and brilliant marketing ideas of the spring season. I am awed when Claude Bouchard and Luke Romyn team up, and I roar with excitement (in the privacy of my home, of course) as they excel to the top in one of their “free promotions”, but this new contest was just so cool, I can’t wait to see the outcome.
But, think about it. Jillian and CJ have come up with a contest, using the idea of “cross promotion”, but added a little sizzle to it (check out those abs) with hopes of bringing traffic to their sites, and ultimately to their books (product). It is only April now, so CJ has until June to get his abs ready to compete with some of the hottest guys in the universe, and for Jillian to steer traffic to his blog and get 5,000 peeps to comments. (I’m heading there right now!)
I believe Jillian had Channing Tatum as one her hot picks. Channing Tatum, ladies. And, while skipping on over to CJ’s site, I caught a glimpse of David Beckham. You can top the abs on those two greats, right, CJ?
Personally, I think it is cross-promotion at its finest…
I only wish I thought of it, first.
CR HIATT
McSwain & Beck zip line across the Pacific Ocean...
The YouTube video displayed above introduces and demonstrates the Catalina Island Zip Line tours. Looks exciting, doesn't it?
In the YA action-mystery, Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00, Cody Beck (as a wannabe filmmaker) often has Sydney McSwain and Jaden White building a homemade zip line off the firehouse where Sydney lives; then films them flying off the roof in his make believe action scenes.
After they become embroiled in their very first suspenseful and dangerous investigation; they realize building a zip line and flying across the Pacific Ocean is the only way to crash a Mardi Gras bash on a private cruise ship.
"If it wasn't for the danger we were heading into, this would have been a friggin' blast!"
CR HIATT
McSwain & Beck zip line across the Pacific Ocean…
The YouTube video displayed above introduces and demonstrates the Catalina Island Zip Line tours. Looks exciting, doesn’t it?
In the YA action-mystery, Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00, Cody Beck (as a wannabe filmmaker) often has Sydney McSwain and Jaden White building a homemade zip line off the firehouse where Sydney lives; then films them flying off the roof in his make believe action scenes.
After they become embroiled in their very first suspenseful and dangerous investigation; they realize building a zip line and flying across the Pacific Ocean is the only way to crash a Mardi Gras bash on a private cruise ship.
“If it wasn’t for the danger we were heading into, this would have been a friggin’ blast!”
CR HIATT
April 11, 2012
Lucky 7′s
I’ve been tagged by Beth Lynne from http://www.bzhercules.com/index.html. So when an author is tagged for Lucky 7′s, they go to page 77 of their latest release or work-in-progress and count 7 lines down. Then they post the next 7 sentences from that point.
From the current release Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00 by CR HIATT:
You need connections to get info on unlisted numbers, or someone like Cody who relishes in invading people’s privacy, but it’s too early to get involved in computer hacking.
The last number was listed to a place called The Devil’s Door with no address listed. It sounded like the name of a nightclub, but what do I know? I picked up my cell phone and punched in the number. After two rings, a female picked up the phone, “The Devil’s Door”.
I said, “Who am I speaking with?”
There was an exasperated sigh on the other end. “My name is Tracy,” the female replied.
Tagging the following authors
