K.M. Shea's Blog, page 81

New Book: The Page Turner

Red Rope of Fate is officially launched, and as I type this Princess Ahira is available for free. (Remember, you can get a free, extra chapter of Red Rope of Fate by reviewing it on Amazon and emailing your review to me. For more information scroll down to the next post or click here!) Released books and free stuff always makes me excited, but I’m dedicating today’s post to the next book I’ll be releasing, The Page Turner. (As usual, the title is pending.)

The Page Turner is a young adult urban fantasy novel, and it will probably be the last YA book I’ll be releasing for 2013. So far I’m planning for an official release date of Friday, May 31, or Saturday, June 1.

The Page Turner stars the dry and sarcastic Raven Wishmore. Raven is a member of a secret society called Kingdom Quest that strives to guard and protect magic. Raven’s role in her society is that of a page turner–essentially a librarian in training. As mundane as her job might seem Raven is anything but because of her rare magic–the ability to read things to life.

This book is going to be different from everything I’ve released so far for several reasons. First of all I will not be posting it in the romance section of the Kindle store. (Adult, teen, juvenile or otherwise.)  While there are hints of love and what-not I don’t think I could ship this book as a romance book when it fits in other genres so much better. Second of all, I will be charging $2.99 for it. No, I’m not planning on charging that much for future books, this is not a pattern I plan to reproduce. The price simply reflects the length of the book. Robyn Hood: A Girl’s Tale is approximately 43,000 words. The Page Turner is about 105,000 words.

Below is a sample blurb of The Page Turner. I hope you guys enjoy it, and thank you in advance for reading!

Raven followed the twins, but she sunk back on her heels when they tried to yank her into the men’s bathroom.

“You have got to be kidding,” Raven said, planting her hands on her hips.

“We’re not,” Aron insisted.

“Come on, Raven,” Asher said. “Don’t you want a Honey Cake? A Chocolate Chimera Tail?”

“This had better not be a joke,” Raven said, giving the twins the evil eye before following them into the vile bathroom.

While Raven marveled over the rusty and corroded sinks Asher strode across the room to the empty paper towel dispenser. He pressed the button to release the door, which swung open. He peeled off the edge of a sticker that illustrated how to replace an empty paper towel, and sprung a little door. The door popped open to reveal a little button, which Asher did not press. Instead he swung the door so it folded out over the sticker and pressed it as hard as he could.

There was a chime, one Raven recognized as the warning chime for a portal painting entrance that was about to open.

“Come on,” Asher gestured, walking into a bathroom stall after closing the paper towel dispenser. Raven followed him with a pinched expression, Aron bringing up the rear.

The three squeezed together to fit in the stall. Raven glared up at Asher as she was smashed into his chest while Aron wrestled the door shut.

“Isn’t this fun?” Aron brightly asked.

Asher said nothing but looked uncomfortable.

After Aron clicked the lock shut, the lid of the toilet smashed shut. The toilet folded up and was plastered to the wall before the back wall swung away. Asher slowly backed up through the open space, Raven and Aron inching after him.

Raven uttered a little cry when she entered the secret room. “It’s, it’s,” she passionately stammered, looking for the right words.

“Muligan’s,” Asher and Aron grinned.

Muligan’s was a sight for sore eyes. The small store was styled in the familiar, extravagant style of Kingdom Quest architecture and magic. The floor was shimmering white tile buried under several inches of glass. The walls were pristine white, and the ceiling was charmed to reflect the outside weather. Immaculate shelves and coolers lined the wall, and there was a checkout counter (also sparkling white) where a human sized pixie was stationed. She wore a perfectly pressed white and sky blue uniform of a skirt, dress shirt, and vest. The pixie nodded at Asher and Aron as she pushed a delicate, wire swing. Perched on the swing, or more correctly clinging to the swing, was a miniature dragon. His scales gleamed sky blue and cloud white, perfectly matching the pixie’s uniform.

“Welcome to Muligan’s,” the dragon said in a surprisingly deep voice, even though he was barely the size of a parrot. After greeting Raven and the boys the dragon snapped at the pixie’s finger as he flailed on his swing.

“Wow, this is a big deal for you isn’t it?” Asher asked, looking down at Raven.

She was almost drooling.

“My hometown doesn’t have a KQ Convenience store,” Raven said, gazing at the goods on the white shelves with adoring eyes before hustling into the one room store.

Asher and Aron swapped glances. “What kind of Podunk town did you live in that you didn’t have a Kingdom Quest convenience store?” Aron drawled.

Raven ignored him, she was already going through the candy bars with the eye of a connoisseur. “Marshmallow-Mellow Star Blast, Arctic Dragonite Breezes, Fairy Dust Sugar Pops, Glazed Cashew Crunch, come on, where are they?” Raven grumbled.

“Looking for something special?” Asher asked, crouching beside Raven.

“Firebird Toffee Tail Feathers,” Raven replied, still searching the rows of candy.

“Hey Tamar, is this melon bread fresh?” Aron called from across the store.

“Got it in from a festival in Kyoto today,” the pixie replied in a bored voice.

“Here they are,” Asher said, tapping a box filled with shiny wrapped candy bars.

Raven’s eyes glowed as she stared at the conquest. She uttered a quick “Thanks,” before swiping the entire box and calmly strolling to the counter.

“Asher, should we buy some Pixie sparklers for tomorrow?” Aron asked, surveying the Kingdom Quest goods.

“Wouldn’t be a bad idea. Farfa, do you have anything new that might interest us?” Asher asked, walking to one of the built in fridges to remove three cans of coconut juice.

The dragon clung to his perch, both his back legs and front legs clenching his bar. “No, I don’t believe so. You guys were here when I got that sneezing chili powder. I do recommend the dragon rockets, though. The hobgoblin that made this batch is a pyro.”

Red Rope is Here!

Red Rope of Fate is available! Click here to see it on Amazon, or click here to see its Goodread’s profile.

Now remember, Red Rope of Fate will be available for free on Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April  27.  After that Princess Ahira will be available for free from Sunday, April 28, to Thursday, April 2.

Additionally, I’m offering an extra chapter of Red Rope of Fate to anyone who posts a review of Red Rope of Fate. NO the book does not end in a cliffhanger, NO the chapter does not contain information that is vitally important to the book. The chapter came about because I could not deny myself writing  it, but timeline wise it didn’t fit with Red Rope of Fate because it takes place several months after the last chapter.

To get this extra chapter all you need to do is post an honest review of Red Rope of Fate on it’s Amazon page, and then email me with a copy of your review in the body of the email. You can do this by filling out the form on my Contact Me page, or by filling out the form on the bottom of this post.

IMPORTANT:

The extra chapter will be emailed to you in a PDF file and a Word Document file  for your viewing convenience.
I will email the extra chapter to you within 24 hours of your initial email. If I do not respond it means I didn’t get it, so please send it again!
This chapter giveaway will start Sunday, April 28. You can send me your review before then if you wish, but this weekend is crazy for me so I probably won’t have time to email the chapter to you.
This chapter giveaway will end Friday, May 31.

Whew, that’s all for today. Remember, post a review on Amazon and then email the review to me using the form below. Thanks for reading, Champions!

[contact-form]

Red Rope of Fate: Uploading

I’m slightly behind my idealized schedule for Red Rope of Fate. In the ideal world I had hopes that it would be available for purchase today. Sadly that’s not going to happen, but if Amazon reviews it fast enough it will easily be available for purchase tomorrow. The freebie schedule hasn’t changed at all, I’m just uploading it a day later than I planned.

I cannot wait to go into a coma of stupidity after I am assured that Red Rope is indeed uploaded and ready for purchase. Come Friday I’ll be making some fun announcements about the next book I’ll be releasing, and I’ll go through the official information for obtaining the extra chapter of Red Rope. In a sentence it’s this: Review Red Rope on Amazon, email the review to me, and I’ll email you the chapter. However, I have to go over what to do if I don’t send you the chapter, how quickly you can expect the chapter, etc.

I could go on, but my IQ is dropping at an alarming rate. Rather than make you  suffer through a post that involves me gushing over Perfect Dog, I’ll simply end it here. Thank you for reading, Champions!

Cover Preview: Red Rope of Fate

Ta da! This is the official cover art for Red Rope of Fate. I think I’m more than a little bit in love with it. My cover artist tells me I can’t make such a suggestive title  again as it makes font selection rather difficult. I didn’t know what she was talking about until I checked out the romance section of Amazon. The title was inspired by a Japanese legend/folktale which states that there is a red string of fate wrapped around our little finger that attaches us to destined lover. I adopted the legend to for the story as elvish lore, and the rest is history.

Red Rope of Fate has been correctly formatted and edited. I still want to do another read-through edit, and I have to finalize the table of contents. (I’m determined to make this one pop up for you guys in the book menu.)  I’ll be uploading it on Wednesday, so you can expect it will be available for purchase on Thursday. Remember, though, it’s going to be free starting Friday!

Thanks for reading, Champions. I’ll see you all on Wednesday’s post!

 

 

9 Days….

Not including today, I have exactly 9 days until the release of Red Rope of Fate. Because I enjoy making everything into a celebration (Let’s face it, celebration = cake, which instantly makes it worth it.) once again I’m going to have some freebies in the days following the release.

The first freebie is: Red Rope of Fate. Red Rope will officially be available Friday, April 26. It is going to be uploaded and technically available for purchase most likely by Wednesday (April 24) BUT I am going to offer it for free for Friday and Saturday. (So April 26 and 27.)

The second freebie will require a little legwork, and it is: Extra chapter of Red Rope of Fate. Before anyone gets upset, NO, I did not end the story in a cliffhanger. The extra chapter does not change the plot/storyline/anything. It’s just an extra chapter that I had fun plotting out, and it doesn’t quite match the timeline of Red Rope of Fate, hence why I am making it an extra and a freebie. To obtain this extra chapter of Red Rope leave a review of Red Rope on it’s amazon page and drop me an email. I will send you a PDF and word document version of the extra chapter. When Red Rope is available I’ll have more details on this, and no this is not blackmail to get 5 star reviews. Please be honest in your reviews, thank you!

And a drum roll for the third and final freebie: Princess Ahira. That’s right, Princess Ahira will be free from Sunday April 28 to Thursday May 2. If you already have it this is your chance to spread the fun and tell your friends and family.

That’s all for today. I’m excessively excited about Red Rope of Fate‘s release, I do hope you all enjoy it! Thank you for reading, Champions!

Sneak Peak

Hello there Champions. Today it is Monday and thus an update day, but I really have nothing new to report besides the fact that I am editing up a storm. However I am determined that I shall not let you down, so I’m posting a sneak peak of Red Rope Of Fate. (Which if we’re being honest is probably more interesting then anything I was going to write about anyway.) Without further ado…Your sneak peak!

Red Rope of Fate

Tari sank into the cushions of the couch as Arion stood behind her in a stance of attention. They had been pulled from the Celebration Hall before order was restored, and were placed in this small, stuffy office. Then, after hours of talking to translators, both elf and human,  being pinched and prodded by enchanters and wizards, talked to, read to, questioned, and—oddly enough—sung to, Tari was left alone with her partner.

She exhaled and shut her eyes, reveling in the moment of leisure. “I can’t imagine they have any additional tests to throw at us, unless they mean to test our physical abilities.”

“It is not likely,” Arion acknowledged.

Tari opened her eyes. “They’re probably trying to decide what to do with us. Maybe they have sent for more members of the Royal Families?”

“They already have,” Arion said, still standing behind Tari’s couch.

“What?” Tari asked, twisting to face the captain. “How do you know?”

Arion gestured to the open window behind them. “The flag of King Petyrr and the banner of the elvish King Celrin fly above the Celebration Hall.”

Tari leaned back to get a glance of at the top of the vaulted Celebration Hall. She only caught a glimpse of the elvish banner, a rising sun, before the door to the small office was thrown open

First through the door was King Petyrr, three assistants, two guards, and a translator trailing him. King Celrin glided through the door after this small procession. He studied the already crowded room and spoke softly to his assistant who stood directly behind him, dismissing him before he stepped inside the room with a lone translator.

There was some fumbling before King Petyrr barked, and two of his assistants and guards fled the room.

Tari stood and dipped into an elegant curtsey. Arion was a moment behind her, offering a stiff bow to his monarch. Tari froze momentarily in surprise when she realized she knew Arion’s bow was stiff, not because of his posture, but because of some inner feeling that told her so.

The two Kings stood side by side—a translator standing behind each man—and made a striking picture of differences. King Celrin was tall and slim, clothed in flowing robes. He had long hair that was plaited into a braid, and he studied Arion and Tari with the scrutiny scholars afford to ancient texts. King Petyrr, on the other hand, had a large smile with deep smile lines. He was short, portly, and red faced, but while King Celrin wore dignity like a cloak, King Petyrr’s brisk manner commanded respect.

King Petyrr spoke, his voice booming and distinctly joyful.

Tari looked to Arion, as there was no translator present who seemed intent on helping them. The captain bowed again and did not translated, as Tari hoped he would. “It was certainly a surprise, Your Majesty,” he said.

King Petyrr spoke again, this time with a large gesture and a peal of laughter.

Arion bowed his head. “If you say so, Your Majesty.”

Tari longed to ask Arion what the King said, but it seemed improper when royalty was addressing them.

The translator at King Celrin’s elbow translated for the ruling elf in whispers. The elf king nodded before turning to Tari. “You are Elvaren’s youngest child, Tarinthali?”

“I am, My King,” Tari said, inclining her head before whispering to Arion. “My King Celrin asked if I was the youngest child of my father, Elvaren.”

Arion shifted, and a frown twisted his lips for a moment before he nodded.

“Your sister was bound today as well, was she not? She did not experience this phenomena.” King Celrin said, reflecting on his words more than informing Tari of the day’s events. “Your bonding, Tarinthali, has ignited a light of hope in our people. The enchanters and wizards are discussing your bond among themselves with the aid of the translators. It is to be hoped that they will be able to recreate such a bond, but we are not convinced it is something that can be repeated,” King Celrin said, looking to King Petyrr, who nodded after his being told the translation.

“My King Celrin has expressed the opinion that the wizards and enchanters hope to reproduce our…unusual bond, but My King Celrin and His Majesty King Petyrr doubt they will be successful,” Tari rushed to tell Arion before King Petyrr spoke again in his loud voice.

Arion listened for a moment, his lips tightening, and translated when the human King paused to laugh and let King Celrin’s translator catch up.

“His Majesty King Petyrr has expressed the desire that he and King Celrin wish for us to remain in Haven, although we have other commitments in our home cities,” Arion said, his voice flat.

Tari whirled to face King Celrin. “My King,” she started, hesitating. “If you will pardon my impertinence, I am a Dancer of the Evening Star. I am aware that because of my unusual bond with the honorable Captain Arion and I should stay in Haven for a time, but as an Evening Star is my duty to remain in Gloria,” she said, pleading to the king with her eyes.

Seer Ringali would be furious with her if she stayed at Haven for an extended period of time, and it was very likely this ‘stay’ was going to last at least a season. He would very likely burst a blood vessel when she sent news of this.

Arion nodded at Tari’s words. “If I may, Your Majesty, my squad cannot survive without my leadership for an extended period of time,” Arion said to his king.

King Celrin waited until King Petyrr addressed Arion before he spoke as well. “I do not argue against your point, for I am aware of the responsibility you bear as an Evening Star. However, right now our country has great need of you. You, Tarinthali, and Captain Arion are the only bond we have historical record of, or even dreamed of, that upon bonding are immediately able to understand each other. I know your position is of great importance, but at this moment the change you and the captain symbolize is of a much greater magnitude.”

Tari inclined her head, both happy and torn. The responsibilities of her position as a dancer had been drilled into her as a child. Even though she was happy she could further the friendship between Lessa and Calnor, a part of her felt it was her duty to return her home city, the port of Gloria.

“He told you too that we have to stay?” Arion said, his words so quiet Tari doubted the kings and their translators heard.

Tari nodded at the captain, who exhaled. “I thought as much. I have been reassigned to a squad in Haven. I suspect they mean for us to stay here for quite some time.”

Tari waited until the kings spoke to each other in a combination of sign language and translators before she said to Arion, “It seems we will have to sacrifice our personal lives for a time.”

Arion added, barely above a whisper, “We can only hope it is indeed for a time.”

Author Spotlight: John Green (& Hank Green)

Instead of blabbing about me (Read: My life is as interesting as watching paint dry)  I’m using today’s post to spotlight an awesome author, John Green. John Green has written quite a few well known books (Looking For Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, The Fault in our Stars) and he has a very unique and comical voice/style of writing. However, this post isn’t about his books at all, but about his YouTube channel: Vlogbrothers

The channel started as an experiment of sorts in 2007. John and his brother, Hank, decided to cease all text-based communication for one year and instead communicate by vlogs. (Video blogging) At the start of their channel each vlog had a certain time limit. (I believe it was three minutes. If a vlog went even a second over the vlogger would be forced to play a punishment game.) The brothers have vlogged about everything from politics, to nuclear energy, to scientific discoveries.

The main reason I’m bringing up the Vlogbrothers is because heir channel has spawned a fandom known as NerdFighteria–an online community that follows, comments on, etc the Green brothers’ vlogs. I think Vlogbrothers is a perfect example of an author effectively using social media in a nontraditional way. John doesn’t promote his books in the videos, but the channel works as an incredible networking tool. Hank is the more musically inclined brother, and he also uses the channel to promote his music by performing in it. Publishing houses, eat your hearts out! Authors can build their own following without you.

The brothers are true nerds, and their opinions might not match up with yours, but I find the channel to be refreshing and (le gasp) even educational in the usual muddle of Youtube.

IT IS FINISHED!

Oh hello there Champions, pardon me but this post is rather short (and a little late) because I’ve been celebrating! Why am I celebrating? Because the first draft of Red Rope of Fate is FINISHED!

There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. I need to edit it a few times, there’s one scene that needs to be further fleshed out and two scenes that I need to add pieces to, and I need to format it for the Kindle. But… the majority of the work is done so HOORAH!

*Insert embarrassing author dance here*

WOW does my head hurt though. I’ve been binge writing for the past few days to finish Red Rope, so I have very few brain cells to spare. Sorry for the short update, but hey, IT’S FINISHED!!

Book News & Library Laugh

I have a quick book(s) update: Red Rope of Fate is zipping along, I’m planning for a release date of Friday, April 26. I may be able to release it sooner but I’m not certain at this point. It will be offered for free for two or three days, please mark your calenders so you can snag a free copy. I’m juggling projects at this point so I’m not certain what book will be released after Red Rope. It’s either going to be a young adult urban fantasy, or an adult paranormal romance.

Good news for you historical readers! I’ve started researching King Arthur for the winning poll book you guys voted for a month or two ago. (King Arthur, a modern girl rules Camelot) While I love reading about King Arthur what has really been fascinating to me is the information I’ve dug up on the writers of the stories/ballads. For instance, the man who first wrote about Lancelot and Guinevere being in love did not want to write it! He disliked the story, never finished it, and actually inserted a great deal of irony and sarcasm into the tale.  He only wrote it because his patroness asked him to, in reality he supported fidelity in marriage.

Methinks I’ve gushed long enough about nerdy things, but I have a few humorous lines I would like to share. I work in a library. In my years as a librarian I have seen several amusing pairings of people checking out certain books. For instance…

A Miss Cullen put the entire Twilight series on hold
A young man with the last name of Potter checked out the Harry Potter series
Miss Holmes borrowed several volumes of Sherlock Holmes
Miss Bingley placed on hold several Jane Austen books, one of them being Pride and Prejudice
Mr Wayne checked out an assortment of John Wayne movies

It’s the simple things in life that makes you chuckle. Have a fantastic day, Champions!

WARNING: Bad Poetry Day Ahead!

A fox chased my cat around a green bush

For my cat is fat and runs like a goose

I am surprised it did not bite her tush

But cat won the race since the dog was loose

The dog chased the fox across a brown field

Barking like a hound of hellish designs

The fox was smart and used brush like a shield

And dog lost interest and plotted resign

If you are still reading please learn this well

Foxes who chase cats will face the fierce dog

Fox chasing to dogs is an easy sell

and never sit still and stand quite agog

For in this day I did not win at all

for the dog came up and puked on my shawl

 

I know, I know, WORST SONNET EVER! (Even if it is loosely true.) I don’t call these Bad Poetry Days for nothing’ folks. I WILL post a disclaimer if I must. Writer I like to pretend to be, but poet I am most assuredly not. Anyway, Red Rope of Fate is coming along. I need to invest some time in learning more about Kindle formatting as I want Red Rope to look nice and pretty for you all. Beyond working my tail off in writing, I actually don’t have anything else to share today. (Bad poetry not withstanding.)

Enjoy your Wednesday, Champions!