Storm Chase's Blog, page 32

Cookie Cutter Release Tour by Jo Richardson

Title: Cookie CutterAuthor: Jo RichardsonPublication Date: July 20, 2017Publisher: Enchanted Publications#cookiecutterreveal Iris Alden & Carter Blackwood couldn’t be more different. Recently divorced, newly-employed, cookie-baking, PTA super mom Iris likes her life neat & organized, while house-flipping Carter’s itchy feet means he never stays in the same place for very long. When Carter purchases the home across from Iris to renovate it for a quick sell, he has no intention of putting down roots. He certainly doesn’t plan on getting involved with the local community, let alone the town committee mom. But life doesn’t always coincide with what we think we want. When an unexpected family crisis pulling Carter back to the city, & Iris’ ex-husband doing his best to sabotage anything resembling a new life for her & their teenaged daughter, Iris & Carter soon find, love isn’t always sweet.
AMAZON US - http://amzn.to/2sktTguAMAZON UK - https://goo.gl/xyqLPPAMAZON CA - https://goo.gl/WKMouw A movie fanatic, a writer of stories, a lover of life. I grew up in Maryland with four siblings, three parents and an endless number of cousins within the vicinity – but it was too cold up North for this thin blooded girl. Today, I live in Florida with my two girls and a husband who shares my same sense of humor and basic take on life as we know it. Life is too short to put dreams on the back burner. I write both contemporary and paranormal stories that include mystery, suspense, humor, action, romance, and anything else I can think up.
Author LinksGoodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/JoRichardson Website - http://www.jowrites.weebly.com Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/jowritesfics Twitter - @JoFictionFreak

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Win this pretty fashion necklace and an Amazon gift card worth US$20!

Win this pretty fashion necklace and US$20 Amazon gift card!

The heart is made from Zamak, Hypoallergenic Jewellery made from an alloy of zinc aluminium magnesium and copper that is dipped in silver.  It also doesn't tarnish!

What do you have to do? 
Help get word out about His Laughing Girl and His Competent Woman by reviewing and posting. 

You also gain an entry by joining the newsletter.

Where Can You Find The Books?
His Laughing Girl is available only on Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited.
His Laughing Girl on Amazon US 
His Laughing Girl on Amazon UK 
His Laughing Girl on Goodreads


His Competent Woman is available internationally, click here to find your favourite shop.
His Competent Woman on Goodreads

Good Luck! The winner will be notified on Friday 4th August 2017


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Making Covers for AJ Adams Zeta Cartel Romances - an indie perspective

I'm writing a new book, Hunter and I'm making a cover for it because I'm finding that buying them is more miss than hit.

As Hunter is part of the Zeta Cartel series, I want it to fit in with the other covers.


The cover for The Bonus was made originally by a pro but I modified it with the quote and the series title.. The fonts are Tangerine, Garamond and Times Roman.

The covers for Songbird and Dirty Dealings are entirely my own.  As you can see, I have tried to connect the covers by using the series title (duh!) and also by keeping the fonts and  layouts roughly the same.

So for Hunter, I want to keep the series image going. The thing is, I can't really find a photo I really like. I want something dark, menacing but sexy - like Rip, my hero.

The thing about selling my kind of book is that ripped abs do it. So I found two images, one black and white and one in colour.

The plain black and white with white text is okay but not compelling.



Also, Tangerine and Dancing fonts, used to hint at  romance, don't work with the word Hunter.

Then  I messed about and came up with these...


I need the bold HUNTER to stand out, so I have to break away from my title font. I want a colour image as the black and white is too cold.

The advantage of the red is that it hints at blood and danger but it doesn't fit in with the white text used for the rest of the series.  Also, red tends to bleed easily when posted on small screens.

I think I'd best stick with my author name at the bottom and in the same font, too.

At the moment, this is the best effort so far. However, I think the quote is too high, and I'm not totally happy with the title:


I'll mess around with it some more, but in the meantime, if you have any bright ideas, please do let me know. Comment or find me on FB!

And please buy my books!  If you're a Kindle person, find Ellen Whyte romance here and AJ Adams cartel and other romance here.   If you're not, then I'm also on Kobo, Smashwords, iTunes etc etc. Click on the tab above for links to individual books.

Becoming His, Learning to Breathe, Part 2

❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿
NEW RELEASE ❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿
Becoming His - The Collective-Season one Episode Eightby Ellie Masters AMAZON US ❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿BECOMING HISDeliciously Dark and Daring…County Coroner, Sally Levenson, hasn’t dated since the death of her husband five years ago. Intelligent but shy, she’s hidden herself from the world. Her days are a never-ending cycle of eat, work, sleep, and repeat, and she’s suffocating in the monotony of her life. That is, until she met Derek Lemark, a man whose money makes money, and who controls every aspect of his life.Derek finds Sally captivating, intelligent, but shy. He opens doors to new possibilities and forbidden desires, but what he offers comes with a price. He’s given Sally a choice. Green opens doors to hidden desires, while Red ends everything.Red or Green?Continue Derek and Sally's journey into the world of BDSM and powerplay! Where delicious and dark becomes sinful and sensuous.
Season 1:We’ve set the stage, created the characters, and fashioned a world full of twists and turns. Now it’s your turn to sit back and immerse yourself in this incredible series. Each episode weaves the characters and storylines of ten standalone novels together to give you an epic crossover series. We’ve left you breadcrumbs, tidbits of information intertwined throughout our stories. Can you find them? Can you collect the clues we’ve left and become part of The Collective and solve the case?No one is safe as a killer goes on a killing spree. Will The Collective stop him in time? Will you? Featured authors in order of appearance- Riley Edwards, Erin Trejo, Ellie Masters, Elias Raven, Chris Genovese, and Carver Pike
❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿What are readers saying?"The chemistry between Sally and Derek is electrifying!!" ~ Goodreads Reviewer"This book is great. It kept me captivated from the beginning to the end, leaving me breathless. The story was a complete emotional rollercoaster with all the feels. Oh, and there was some hot sex scenes that will have your heart beating faster too. Believe me, this is one book you do not want to miss. Read it and find out what happens. " ~ Goodreads Reviewer

❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿↬↫❀❦✿Author BioELLIE MASTERS is a multi-genre author, writing the stories she loves to read. These are dark erotic tales. Or maybe sweet contemporary stories. How about a romantic thriller to whet your appetite? Ellie writes it all. Want to read passionate poems and sensual secrets? She does that too. Dip into the eclectic mind of Ellie Masters, spend time exploring the sensual realm where she breathes life into her characters and brings them from her mind to the page and into the heart of her readers every day.When not writing, Ellie can be found outside, where her passion for all things outdoor reigns supreme: ATV-ing, scuba diving, hiking, and breathing fresh air are top on her list. Ellie’s favorite way to spend an evening is curled up on a couch, laptop in place, watching a fire, drinking a good wine, and bringing forth all the characters from her Mind-to-the-Page and eventually into the hearts of her readers.Website☆Amazon☆Facebook☆Twitter☆Goodreads☆Instagram☆Email☆Google+☆Pinterest
☆¸.•*¨*★☆Welcome to The Collective ☆¸.•*¨*★☆Riley Edwards, Erin Trejo, Ellie Masters, Elias Raven, Chris Genovese, Carver Pike“This crossover series is a huge win for all the authors involved. Don’t miss any of the releases. Each book will pull you in, leave you wanting more while you teeter on the edge of your seat with suspense.” AmazonReviewer *Release Schedule and Series orderPre orders available now
Riley Edwards – Unbroken (part one) – Erin Trejo – Iron Claw MC  – Ellie Masters – Learning to Breathe – Elias Raven – Shadow & Flame  – Chris Genovese – Quills and Daggers – Riley Edwards –  Unbroken (part two) – Erin Trejo –Iron Claw MC (part two) – Ellie Masters –Becoming His – Elias Raven -TBA- 7.25.17 – Pre order coming soonCarver Pike – TBA – 8.1.17 – Pre order coming soon
http://wtmowordsturnmeon.blogspot.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TurnedOnByWords/

Greener Escape From Reality Series by Erin Lee

Win A copy of The Bonus, the dark romance by AJ Adams!

EskieMama & Dragon Lady Reads are running a Saturday Spotlight w/Giveaway: Zeta Cartel Series!!!


Go to https://eskiemamareads.blogspot.my/2017/07/eskiemama-dragon-lady-reads-saturday_15.html

HURRY! HURRY! HURRY!

oni Kenyon Author Spotlight Tour Featuring The Billionaire Boss

Spotlight onAuthor Toni Kenyon

Can a fake engagement lead a skeptical billionaire to honest love?Hannah Scott’s bucking the southern small town mindset. She’s not going to settle down and marry a man who spends his days working in the local milk factory and then have a couple of children. She’s come to the big city to stake her claim on freedom and independence.Robert Redfern is the equivalent of Auckland royalty. He’s been groomed to be the CEO of the family empire all of his life. But when he discovers that part of the requirement to maintain his position is that he take a wife, Robert’s not too happy.When the curvy and attractive, Hannah Scott crosses his path, Robert seizes the opportunity to strike a bargain with the attractive redhead that will bring them both what they want.But, what neither of them anticipates is their magnetic attraction to one another. Can the boss and his executive assistant keep their dealings purely professional?
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2sXrVYLAmazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0733CMCRLAmazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0733CMCRLAmazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0733CMCRL

Amazon US:          Proposal 1                   Proposal 2                       Proposal 3

The Private Love, Rockstar Romance series from Toni Kenyon.Follow Julian MacAvoy and his beloved Mags as they navigate their way from the heights of European stadium tours to the lows of obscurity in the Far North of New Zealand.An erotic and candid look at life on the road.
PRIVATE LOVE (ROCKSTAR ROMANCE) READING ORDER:1. PRIVATE LOVE IN A PUBLIC PLACE 2. THE FAN3. PUBLIC LOVE IN A PRIVATE PLACE4. PERFECT LOVE IN A PUBLIC PLACE5. HIDING IN PUBLIC
Amazon US:                 Private Love                The Fan               Public Love                Perfect Love       Hiding In Public
Find all of Toni’s books:Amazon #  iBooks # Kobo # Nook
Video Trailers:Private Love # Hiding in Public

Toni Kenyon lives in Auckland (New Zealand) with her husband (and their dog and cat) the goldfish is just squatting! She writes romance by day, sings in a band by night and in her spare (yeah, right) time she wrangles difficult heroes into line, so they can star in her next novel. Toni also loves the garden and has a special place in her heart for her fruit trees and her veggie patch. A keen amateur photographer, Toni posts “Mood of the Suburbs” shots across most of her social media profiles. She loves to hear from like-minded people, so pop on over and say 'Hi' any time.
Visit her website and sign up for her newsletter so you can     stay informed about her new releases. Toni can also be found at:WebsiteNewsletter sign-upFacebookRomance from the Red CouchTwitter/@Toni_KenyonGoodreadsInstagram
http://wtmowordsturnmeon.blogspot.com/https://www.facebook.com/TurnedOnByWords/

Making Covers for BBW Billionaire romances - an Indie author perspective

I have a new cover for His Competent Woman

The old cover was designed by a pro but I didn't really like it very much. So I thought I'd have a go myself. 

A friend asked me why I don't just commission a cover and keep doing so till I get something I like, so I thought I'd blog about it.

A publishing house has an inhouse team of photographers and designers who create something unique. It takes months and costs thousands.

Indie authors usually don't have that kind of budget. 

For people like me who earn Ringgit Malaysia and pay 30% tax in the USA on every book sold, our margins are even thinner. 

Cheap book covers cost anywhere from $100 to $20. I've spent a fortune over the years, and had some nice ones but more that were, "OMG really???? Noooooooooooooooooo!" What's weird is that the more expensive ones have been totally unusable whereas the cheap ones have been okay.

It was driving me bonkers so I took some lessons and started making my own. They're not great but they aren't any worse than some of the ones I paid for and can't use. 

Here are covers I've made myself in the last few months.






I'm reading articles on design and leaning on friends like Emanar and Beng Beng who are design people for advice and criticism. It's an evolving skill and I hope I'm getting better.

If you like what you're seeing, and you want to make a book cover, these are the most useful things I've learned so far. Hopefully it will help you avoid some of my mistakes.

Get a subscription to Deposit Photos or other stock image service. These have quality images.


Go look at covers in your genre that sell. It will give you an idea about the kinds of images people use as well as where to put your author name etc.

You will need some editing software. I'm using an ancient programme that's no longer sold. I suggest Paint, which is free.

Then you need fonts!  I have picked up a bunch of free ones from www.1001fonts.com.


When you pick a photo, start by reducing it to kindle size, 1600 by 2400 pixels and saving it. Then start messing with the text. I'm saying this because otherwise you can end up with blurry text.


When you have sorted out what fonts you want to use, WRITE THEM DOWN. Because you won't remember if you used Garamond or Californian FB in three months time.

When you have something you like, make three versions: a 1600 by 2400 for Kindle and a 800 by 1200 for blog posts and a 600 by 800 for FB. Check your file sizes to make sure they are reasonably sized. Amazon and other companies charge for sending big files, and it slows downloading on blogs, so your cover should be 600kb or so for your novel, and as small as 80kb for fb and your blog.

That's all I've time for today. If you find this interesting, and have questions, feel free to comment or email me. You can find me on FB!

And please buy my books!  If you're a kindle person, find Ellen Whyte romance here and AJ Adams cartel and other romance here.   If you're not, then I'm also on Kobo, Smashwords, iTunes etc etc. Click on the tab above for links to individual books. I'm in a rush now but will come back and put all the links in one go later. See you!

Strays By Mara McBain

  Title: Strays By: Mara McBainPublication Date: July 7, 2017Genre: RomanceCover Designer: Q Design Cover & Brand#straysblitz They were just strays … lost souls no one wanted. It can always get worse. Ripped away from her addict mother at eight only to be thrust into a new hell, those words have become etched on Cali’s soul. Life in the system has only reinforced them. Now, getting ready to step out on her own, she’s making plans and hoping against hope to break the cycle. Running for her life in a thunderstorm isn’t the way she’d expected to start. Keep your head down and work hard. It was the grown-up version of, out of sight, out of mind. It was how he had survived the hell of foster care. That, and running, but Jarek is done running. Finally, he has a place to call his own. Working construction, he builds things for strangers all day. At night, he renovates his dream home one piece at a time. He never expected to find the most important piece hiding under a wet tarp. Can Jarek show Cali that it can get better? Can two damaged souls learn to love and trust enough to build a life together?
AMAZON US - http://amzn.to/2sJoeFXAMAZON UK - https://goo.gl/WuHJLgAMAZON CA - https://goo.gl/np6cEG Mara McBain grew up in rural Indiana where she still lives with her husband of twenty-five years. Even in a population of under three thousand, she is an introvert that prefers quiet over crowds, and often only leaves the house under protest. Reading and writing are her escape and passion. Last year, her other passion graduated from High School and joined the Army. ♥ Being an empty nester and an Army Mom has been a new experience, but one she is slowly settling into. If you take a peek, you will find a range of genres in Mara's bibliography. One book is not always like the next. She writes the story the characters whisper. So, she encourages you to look at the pretty covers, read the blurbs and find the tales that speak to you. ♥

Social Media Links
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mara.mcbainGoodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5786678.Mara_McBainWebsite - www.MaraMcBain.comTwitter - @MaraMcBain 2 GIVEAWAYS Mara's Facebook Giveaway!1) A signed paperback copy of STRAYS 2) A signed set of The Trinity Falls Series 3) A Lords of Mayhem t-shirt 4) A $20 Amazon Gift Card 5) Your choice of a signed Paperback copy of any of Mara McBain or Anneliese Brand’s current Bibliography!Enter Here - https://www.facebook.com/mara.mcbain a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bloggers! Will you sign up for His Laughing Girl blog tour and giveaway?

I'm going to run a giveaway for His Laughing Girl at the end of this month. If you're a blogger, would you please sign up?

And if you review, check out this blog or sign up for the newsletter to enter. Information about the prizes at the end of the week!