K.M. Shea's Blog, page 69

Free Ahira tomorrow! Er…

I mean, Ahira is free for three days starting tomorrow! For those of you who haven’t read Princess Ahira, check out the link to go to the amazon page. You can get it for free from Thursday, April 24, to Saturday, April 26. I picture this as my “Pre-Wild Swans Bash!” It is a celebration!

Anyway, for those of you who own Ahira, I suggest you either…

Blow your current version of Princess Ahira off your Kindle/ebook viewing item, then go into “Manage my Kindle Account” and delete it from your library.  If you do that you can download it with everyone else while it’s free to get the updated version.
I’m playing with Amazon in hopes of begging/annoying them into offering an update for readers who already own Ahira so you can get the pretty cover and the nicely edited version as well. They said they would review Ahira to make sure the edits are worth making an update. The process takes four weeks and there is no guarantee that they will offer the update, so I would recommend option 1. as it is a sure-fire way to get the new edition.

I still have a few loose ends to tie up with Wild Swans, and I’m especially having a hard time to keep from blurting out various surprises of the book, so I’m going to go before I say something I’ll regret. Until Friday, Champions!

Wild Swans Cover Reveal

I have big news! Big News! Next Monday, April 28, The Wild Swans will be available for purchase! You guys have been wonderfully patient with this release, which I thank you for. I hope you find your patience well rewarded when you get your hands on this book. ;) You’ll see what I mean when you read it.

Anyway, Myrrhlynn did another fantastic job with this cover. It has a ton of imagery that comes directly from the book. First of all there’s the obvious, the swans. In the Wild Swans seven princes are turned into swans, so this is a reference to them. Elise lives at a pond (see the surroundings) with the swans, taking care of them. And finally, every evening at sunset the seven princes are human for one hour. If you look at the cover it is almost sunset…*wink, wink.* From a purely artistic viewpoint I also loved the font she chose. It’s so beautiful and the swirls and curls remind me of swan feathers.

I’m so lucky to work with such a talented cover artist who loves books and understands their beauty! Thank you, Myrrhlynn!

I am in talks with my good ol’ pals down at Amazon to try and arrange for you guys to get the updated version of Princess Ahira. (Remember it will be available for free this week Thursday through Saturday. Spread the word like a good book gossiper, please!) I shall keep you posted on our agreements, efforts, treaties, and enduring friendship. And in my last bit of news my dreadful ear infections are gone. I woke up this morning and could hear normally, it was a fantastic feeling!

Thanks for sticking in there with me, Champions. Have a great week, and I will see you Wednesday. Until then I plan to go drink in the sight of Myrrhlynn’s beautiful cover. There is something very soothing about it…

Breaking news!

Next week Princess Ahira will be available for free from 4/24 to 4/26. (That’s Thursday to Saturday.) Even if you already have Princess Ahira I suggest downloading it again (I’m looking up how to do this, hopefully I have some instructions for next week) because this is a newly corrected copy with a fresh cover. It’s sooooo beautiful!

The even better news of today is that Wild Swans should be ready for release a week or two after Prince Ahira’s promo. Wheeeee! Myrrhlynn finished the cover art for Wild Swans a while ago, so I’m planning to do the cover reveal next week.

Alrighty, I’m still trying to plant my head in the ground due to my ear infections, so I’m going to sign off whilst I still make sense. Keep on rocking on, Champions!

PS: For those who want today, today’s comfort/ear-infection-indulgent book of the day is: Goose Girl

Return of Sad Panda

Do you know what hurts with out-of-this-world-pain? An ear infection. Do you know what hurts even more than an ear infection? Two ear infections. Somehow I have gotten myself saddled with two ear infections, and I have to say it is doing wonders for my pain-cursing vocabulary.

This seems to be a pretty good idea to me right now.

Because of this double whammy I don’t have much to share. Writing is on hold for now, and I haven’t been doing much of anything besides indulging in a few of my favorite “feel good” books (Little Princess, Heir Apparent, Howl‘s Moving Castle ) in an effort to try and forget that my ears are SWOLLEN SHUT. I should be doing better by Friday, so hopefully I will have something more interesting to share then. Otherwise, enjoy National Library Week!

National Library Week

Sunday, April 13 through Saturday, April 19 is the American National Library week. The week is meant to celebrate the contributions of libraries to society, and to promote the use of libraries. Most libraries have book marks or posters up to mark the event, and typically the book displays for the week deal with libraries.

Libraries are a big part of me. I worked as a library page in college, and as a circulation librarian for several years. To top that Life Reader is about a magical library, so it’s pretty safe to say I’m a library geek. As a faithful library geek, I see it as my duty to celebrate National Library Week. To mark the upcoming week, here are a few fun library and book facts for you to sink your teeth into.

The biggest library in the world is the Library of Congress.
There are more public libraries in the USA than there are McDonalds. (Including branch libraries there are over 16,700.)
The book that holds the record for “most often stolen from library shelves” is… The Guinness Book of World Records!
In America, we buy approximately 5 million books per day–or 57 per second.
125 new titles are published every day.

Thanks for reading, Champions. Please enjoy National Library week!

Lookin’ Good

I added two new pages to the site on Monday: Freebies and Coming Soon. Coming Soon is the place to go if you’re wondering what I’m working on and what I plan to write in the next six months. Freebies–which I will stock soon–has my free chapters and extra content posted for your reading pleasure. Right now the only ones that are up there are the extra chapter for Life Reader and the extra short story for B&B.

With The Wild Swans off to my editor, I’m taking the chance to start Cinderella. It’s going quite well, Cinderella is turning out to be quite the plucky heroine. (I’m very fond of plucky heroines.) My soundtrack for Cinderella is ironically music from the Disney movie Brave. I say ironically because Cinderella is French based, and Brave is Scottish. Still, I love me some bagpipes!

That’s all the news I have to share today. I’m a little disappointed because it doesn’t look like much, especially considering the large amounts of time I’ve been pouring into these projects. At any rate, I’ll have a non-self-centered post to share with you all on Friday. Until then, Champions!

The Champions Have Spoken

And the Winner of CHAMPIONS’ CHOICE is….MY LIFE AT THE MBRC!! This summer I will, as promised, write the sequel to My Life at the MBRC. Although I won’t start writing it for a few months, I do have a bit of plot teaser for you to read…

Morgan thought the most difficult decision of her life was deciding to become an official employee of the Magical Beings’ Rehabilitation Center. But now, a senior in high school, she’s realizing it only gets worse. With a certain Goblin mob boss urging her to stay within commuting distance of Chicago, and a flirtatious Pooka pushing her to study overseas, Morgan has a hard enough time trying to sort through her college choices the way it is. Planning out her future is made even more difficult, though, when she’s given the choice between a normal college experience and making a career within the magical community.

The final vote count was…

Life Reader: 29 votes
My Life at the MBRC: 35 votes
Red Rope of Fate: 14 votes

I was surprised by the number of Champions who wanted to vote for all three. Most people seemed to struggle in deciding between Life Reader and My Life at the MBRC.

Congratulations to everyone who voted for My Life at the MBRC! And I offer my assurances to the Champions who voted for Life Reader and Red Rope of Fate that both of those books will eventually have sequels as well. Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic Friday!

Vote, vote, vote, vote! Please!

This is the FINAL CALL for CHAMPIONS’ CHOICE. If you want to vote for the book (Life Reader, My Life at the MBRC, or Red Rope of Fate) you would most like  to see a sequel to, please use the contact form in the above post and tell me pronto! Voting closes tomorrow, Thursday, April 3.

The vote count is…

Life Reader: 26
My Life at the MBRC: 34
Red Rope of Fate: 13

It appears that My Life at the MBRC may win, but don’t hold your breath. There’s been two instances since I opened voting in which Life Reader gets a huge downpour of votes and pulls ahead for a few days. One never knows, so vote now!

As for my “exciting” news of the day, I’ve been reading a lot of health articles that have been preaching how great taking 10,000 steps per day is for a person. Being that I am a sedentary person, the idea of walking instead of doing something insane, like running (BLECK), interests me. However, I have no idea what kind of distance that is, so I looked to the great and mighty internet for help. It recommended a few mobile apps that work as pedometers. I installed one on my ipod and intend to test it out this afternoon. Stay tuned for more pedometer/lazy person news, and, more importantly, for the outcome of CHAMPIONS’ CHOICE! Thanks for reading.

What’s New?

With The Wild Swans off to be edited, I have a bit of free time on my hands. I’ve mostly been using this time (this time being the past 24 hours) to finish up some of the business aspects of writing, but I’ve also been looking for inspiration for the next book I plan to release. (No details on that one yet as my plans for the book are barely penciled in.) So, I decided today is a good day to play another round of “Getting to Know Me.”

Favorite movies?

I will admit it. I’m a big fan of kids movies. Mulan, Sword in the Stone, Up (pretty much all the Disney animated movies and Pixar films if I’m being honest), Princess Diaries, and Chronicles of Narnia are among my favorites. My most beloved movie is How to Train Your Dragon. Yes, it’s weird that I love a kids’ movie with as much passion as I do. I also like adult movies, though! Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, National Treasure, The Lake House, The Blind Side, and RED are among my favorite “adult” movies. It seems narrow, but I do have a pretty wide taste. Show anything funny, filled with adventure, and a dash of romance and I’m there.

Are you a coffee or tea person?

Both. Ish. I love pretty much any kind of black tea or green tea. I enjoy a good cup of white tea as well, but sometimes those taste more like  seeped weeds than tea. I love iced coffee drinks. (Think McCafe Java Chip) I love the scent of brewed coffee, but I don’t fancy drinking it straight. If I’m having a hard time staying awake a cup of tea and a cookie will usually do the trick.

Any new authors out there who have grasped your attention?

Well… they’re new to me. I just read two books by Merrie Haskell, The Princess Curse and The Handbook for Dragonslayers. Loved them! I also recently read Wonder by R. J. Palacino. It was another great read.

Have any authors influenced your writing? If so, who?

That’s a tough question. My short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is that certain authors have influenced aspects of my writing. For instance, when it comes to the romance department Jane Austen was the greatest influence. While my characters have more physical contact than Austen’s, I really appreciate her idea of an emotional/mental connection rather than a physical connection. J. K. Rowling and Gail Levine (Ella Enchanted) taught me that books can be clever and humorous. And… they aren’t really writers… but as much as I am at loathe to admit it, the cartoon version of The Justice League was a major help when it came to figuring out action scenes. Yeah. I am a nerd.

Remember to vote for CHAMPIONS’ CHOICE by April 3! Time is running out!! Thanks for reading, Champions, and have a lovely day.

Ahira is getting a Makeover!

So The Wild Swans has been zipped off to my editor, and I’m too mentally challenged to dive straight into my next book. As a result, Princess Ahira is getting a makeover! My fabulous editor went through and fixed the embarrassing typos and errors, and to celebrate the occasion Myrrhlynn made a new cover.

The new cover has already been posted to Amazon, and I will upload the corrected manuscript this  coming week. Woohoo! Finally, I will leave you with an update on the CHAMPIONS’ CHOICE poll. Remember to vote by April 3!

Life Reader: 24
My Life at the MBRC: 27
Red Rope of Fate: 11