Lani Lenore's Blog, page 6

Shadow Sun Book Trailer and Preorder Info

First I have to say: Happy Anniversary to Project Nevermor! I missed it (again) but it has been 3 years (wow) and that deserves some recognition.

For those who haven’t seen it yet, the book trailer for Shadow Sun has been released! It’s simple, but it does the job. I’m pleased with it, and I think it sets the mood for the book very well. Feel free to share it if you’d like. That helps get the word around, you know. :)

Instead of simply promoting my book and leaving it at that, I thought I’d give a little info about how I made this trailer, for any who are interested in making trailers for their own books.

First, I’d just like to say that this trailer cost me absolutely nothing to produce. I used Windows Live Movie Maker, which is a program that was already on my computer. The images are my own, the music was free, I added my own voice, and I put it together myself. If you’ve also seen the trailer for Nevermor (I didn’t make one for Forsaken Dreamscape), you may not know this, but I probably spent about $100 on images to put the thing together. This time, I didn’t do that. I had my book cover, and I told myself I was going simple. That’s what I did.

I didn’t really have a plan when I started it.  I had already created a few images in a photo-editing program that I have, and so those images for the end of the trailer were already created. Of course I also had my book cover at the ready, which is all I really used to make this trailer. I like the way it looks like it’s animated, but actually it is only a few still images that I cropped from the book’s back cover image, and ran them together quickly with a slight animation effect. Ta-da! It’s snowing! Then it was just getting my vision together, finding the right music (which I had already downloaded a while ago, and was lucky enough to have on my PC already. Also, if you are using music, be sure to follow the rules of whoever created it. If they are giving it away for free use, they may ask you to mention them or link to their site.) I had to be sure that I placed all the proper information about the book in the trailer, so that it can stand on its own and let people know what it is, and then there it was! Finished!

I had to mess with it for a while to get it right, and it took me several hours, but I’m happy with the end result, so the time was worth it.

This video is linked in directly from my YouTube channel. Did you know I had one of those? Okay, so there isn’t too much there yet, but I’ll be adding a few video interviews and readings in the near future to give it a bit more life. Anyway, you can follow me there to see all the videos that I post. HERE

In addition, Shadow Sun is now available for preorder on Amazon! HERE Why is this a good thing? Because you can get the special preorder price, which is only available through this offer. Plus, all preorder sales are counted as first day sales, so it helps to push the book further up on the bestseller list. As for other online sellers, I haven’t arranged for that yet, but the print book and Kindle versions should be available on the day I announced: 11/3/15. It’s possible also that soon, the ebook will be available for preorder through B&N, Smashwords, and iTunes as well, but for now it can only be found on Amazon.

Once again, be sure to add the book to your reading list on GOODREADS: HERE

Lots of links to follow in this post…I have a lot more planned on the road to Shadow Sun’s release day. I’ve got more videos and ideas to share. Very soon, I’ll begin posting sample chapters of Shadow Sun on Wattpad, and I’ll begin posting those weekly until release day, so that should get you six chapters as a preview before release.

In the meantime, be sure to follow me on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Wattpad, Goodreads and this blog for more info on this and all my other projects.

Thanks again for your support, everyone!! I couldn’t do this without you!

Shadow Sun Cover Reveal!

I never have too much to say when I do these cover reveals. The image is the star of the show. So, here it is! The full cover image and official description for Shadow Sun!

As it began, so shall it end.

Time has passed since the Rifter went into the sun, and while Wren has missed him terribly, she does not doubt that he will come back. She has tried to shadow her grief as she travels across Nevermor with what is left of the Wolf Pack, attempting to heal the land and restore it to its former state. But that task is made more difficult by plummeting temperatures, and the fact that the sun seems to be slipping farther away.

When a different sort of darkness comes over the land, Wren discovers that not only may she be looking to preserve the world for Rifter’s return, but she may have to save it from him as well.

-Shadow Sun is the epic finale to the Nevermor trilogy, a dark fantasy based on Peter Pan.-

This cover was also done by artist Omri Koresh, who created the other artwork for the Nevermor series. He always uses such beautiful colors, and makes the images stand out so well. When I told him my idea for how I wanted the image to look, he was a bit hesitant to do it like I wanted, but I’m glad he finally gave in. I had this image made long before I had written the book, and even before I knew what the bulk of the book would contain, but the image still feels true to capture the essence of Shadow Sun. Some of the elements on this cover certainly give hints to the story, and also gives a glimpse of what Rifter might have looked like in book 2.

This concludes the spread of book covers for the Nevermor trilogy, and I love the way they all go together. They make a lovely set, don’t you think?

In case you missed the announcement before, Shadow Sun will be released on November 3, but the ebook will be up for preorder before that. And soon! The preorder will be at a special lower price, so do consider planning ahead for that.

One more thing: the book is listed on Goodreads, so be sure to add it to your reading list.

I think that covers everything for now. (See what I did there?) I’ll be back with more news soon!

Long-Awaited Update – Shadow Sun!! Need I say more?

Once again, I have not been a very faithful blogger. I could make a lot of excuses, but the truth is that I simply haven’t had much to write a full post about. I have, however, been posting shorter updates on social media, so if you are looking for these snippets of news, please follow my Facebook page and Twitter account. I’ve already been sending out a few random novel lines from the upcoming – you guessed it – Shadow Sun!

Twitter: @misslenore 

Facebook: facebook.com/misslanilenore

Today, I’m going to cram a lot of little information into one post (by which I mean that it will not take long to announce, but is in fact BIG information).

The first order of business is that Shadow Sun is complete! I’m very excited about that, as I know the rest of you are as well. So now begins the formatting process. Editing, you say? I’ve actually already finished that part. :O And guess what else: we have a release date!

I know the book was supposed to be out in February like the others before it, but I had some issues and just couldn’t get the book wrapped up. Anyway, I have now set a date that is not too near and not too far, and that date is November 3, 2015! My current plan is to get the book set up for preorder well before that, so you should be able to get a sneak peek before then. I’ll also be posting the first few chapters on Wattpad as I’ve done with the others, leading up to the release date.

The time for book release is always exciting, and I’m starting to feel a nice rush that I haven’t felt in a while. Very soon (and I actually mean this) I’ll be posting like crazy about the book with info, a playlist, the full book cover (which you see a glimpse of in the banner above), sample chapters, and hopefully some video interviews where I’ll be talking a bit about the trilogy in general, as well as what this book has to offer. I hope you’re all looking forward to this. As you can see, I’m so excited that I couldn’t keep it to myself, even though I was certain that I wasn’t ready to announce it yet. I guess I am after all.

Get ready!

Let’s Talk About Shadow Sun (Nevermor #3) – What to Expect

Not long ago, the official title of Nevermor 3 was released – Shadow Sun – and I think that’s pretty much all I’ve said about it. In my last post, I apologized for a delay in the book’s release, but since then, I’ve found my resolve and have been working diligently on the book. I probably still won’t make the February expectation, but any work I do is going to get us closer to a new date. So while I’m in the proper mindset, I want to give a few teasers for the book as I go along, just to give you a taste of what to expect in this: the final book of the Nevermor trilogy.

I’m going to try to do this without too many spoilers, but if you don’t want to know anything at all about the book before diving in, don’t read this.

You may not want to read this if you haven’t read the first and second books in the Nevermor trilogy. You can find those and all my other novels: HERE.

What to Expect

At the end of Forsaken Dreamscape, we left off on a bit of a rocky slope. Some would call it a cliffhanger. *cough* The demon was removed from Nevermor and the Wolf Pack (what was left of it) is back together again. Life seems to be going a bit better for our heroes, but things are far from resolved. The healing process has begun, they are free to move forward with their lives as young adults, and we almost have a perfectly happy ending – except for one thing: Rifter is not with them. That throws everything off course.

So what does that mean for Shadow Sun? As you can probably imagine, our group is going on another quest across their corrupted world with two aims in mind: one is to bring life back to the dead world. The other is to search for Rifter. All I can say about that is that some parties are more interested in this last bit than others. All they know is that (seemingly) because of his disappearance,  the world is not quite better for it. Nevermor is darker and colder than ever before, the sun seems to be slipping away, and even with Wren’s effort to heal the ground, it insists on remaining dead.

Where is Rifter? Where did he go, and what awaits Wren and the Wolf Pack as they search for him? Those are some of the mysteries we’ll be solving in book 3, as well as tying up the aim and overall plot of the trilogy.

In case you’re concerned, I’m going to promise you now that the search for Rifter is not the main plotline of this book. The hero himself will certainly make an appearance and take part in the story, so don’t be too concerned about that. This book is going to a much darker place than the last, and I hope that everyone is still looking forward to it.

This book series began with my desire to retell the tale of Peter Pan with a more mature, dark fantasy vibe, and while I started with those base ideas (about an island of dreams in the sky, a boy who can fly, his evil pirate adversary and the girl who loves him) Nevermor has grown into its own story, with it’s own characters and plot. I’m letting the story go along the path that it will, but I haven’t forgotten its roots in the Peter Pan lore, and I will continue to remember that in Shadow Sun. Some might believe that the only thing anchoring Forsaken Dreamscape to Peter Pan was the actual use of the character names, but there is more to the story than what we have seen so far, and I aim to stay true to that.

What I hope for this book is that it will resolve Rifter’s story, and by association, Wren’s. Shadow Sun will focus on the story that they have crafted together: their story. The connection between them, the world, and their family (who have their own stories, by the way).

Also, I have to amend something I said in my last post. I said that I have written 65k of Shadow Sun by now, but I must be dyscalculic, because I’ve actually written 95k (now 95k+), which is much better! So now I know I’ve written quite a bit, but I can’t say how long this book will be. If it turns out to be longer than the others, I welcome it, but if it’s shorter, that’s alright too. If I recall correctly, I’m still a long way from resolving the storyline, so there is probably quite a bit more to do. I’ll just have to work at it, and in the meantime, I’ll be sure to keep you up to date!

I’ll be doing more Shadow Sun talks like this one in the future, so keep watch! Follow the blog or follow Nevermor by Lani Lenore on Facebook to get all the updates! I’ll be doing the cover reveal, the playlist, and hopefully discussing some of the characters individually – looking at how far they’ve come and what you might expect from them in the future.

Thanks for your support, and remember, you’re enthusiasm keeps me going!

Nevermor #3 (Shadow Sun) Release Delay

Hello all! It’s been a great 2014. This year saw the release of my books Forsaken Dreamscape, Jack and Jill, and The Nutcracker Bleeds. Thanks to all of you who have followed my blog – or at least cared enough to check out my posts. If you haven’t officially followed the blog, please do so, so that you never miss any news about my published works. I usually announce them here with links. For those of you who only follow the blog, please follow me on Facebook for more frequent information.

Now, on to the proper subject of this post:

In starting Nevermor, I had meant for the books to each come out a year apart and in February, since that was when I was able to get the first one ready for publishing. I did the same with Forsaken Dreamscape in early 2014, but unfortunately, it looks like having the third book in the trilogy, Shadow Sun, finished in time for a February release is going to be nothing short of a miracle. And I say that in a very strong way, because I honestly can’t see it happening.

I’ve been working on Shadow Sun since late 2013, even before I had Forsaken Dreamscape finished, because I wanted to get started so I’d know where I was going with it. I’ve been working on it off and on since then, but still, it is not finished. Currently, Shadow Sun has 65,000 words, which is around half of what I suspect it will be. I’ve been interrupted by other projects along the way as I’ve tried to get some of my other works edited and released, and Shadow Sun has suffered. In the same way, life events have come up, and I now have much less time to dedicate to writing, but I hope to get myself back on track soon. I need to get this done! As soon as I start going with it again, I’ll probably be doing the cover reveal, showing off some excerpts and book info, So, I’m sorry to everyone for the wait, but hopefully I’ll be able to get things done within a few months of my original intended release date.

Thanks to all of you for understanding! If you’re anxious for something to read, you can check out my ongoing, free-to-read story, Dark Depths, on Wattpad, or check out one of my other published works on Amazon or other online books sellers.

THE NUTCRACKER BLEEDS Hardback Edition is here!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a post, and I apologize for that. I’ve been busy, and unfortunately only part of that has been with writing, but I’m hoping that I can do a little better in 2015. I know there are a few things I really need to address – mostly about the Nevermor trilogy – but I’m going to save that for another post and stick to the matter at hand.

I have not yet shown any pictures on the blog of The Nutcracker Bleeds hardback copy, so I’m going to do that now!

As you can see, the book looks great! It’s 6×9 black linen casewrap with gold foil lettering on the spine, with matte dust jacket on the outside.

The binding is sturdy, the printing looks nice, and I’m very happy with it overall. In fact, if I can find the time, I plan to sit down with it myself and have a read to get the full experience on Christmas.

This edition of the book is only available through Lulu.com, and can only be purchased by US buyers. but the ebook and paperback have both been set up for extended release, so those should be widely available by now. If you want to find it, (or my other works) just try doing a search for ‘Lani Lenore’ at your favorite online bookstore and see if I show up. (If you need links for different countries, let me know and I’ll see what I can come up with.)

A reminder: there is a coupon code for Lulu right now that will save you 25% now through Christmas! Enter KTP4 at checkout to get this deal (also may have to set up an account with Lulu).

Each time one of books is printed and sitting on the shelf in front of me, I feel so excited, and I just hope that others have that feeling as well. I know that some of you do. :)

–

Another year is winding down, and it has been another great one for me and my books. Thanks to all of you for your continued support, and I hope I can make next year just as great! I’ll be back with more Nevermor news as soon as I can get my affairs in order. (I’m moving soon, so my life is in a bit of disarray, but I hope to be back to normal after the holidays.)

If I don’t manage to post again before the end of the year, I hope you all have a great one, and you’ll hear for me again soon!

Lani Lenore’s The Nutcracker Bleeds and the history of the famous tale

The History of the Nutcracker

To celebrate the release of The Nutcracker Bleeds, I thought I’d give a bit of history about the original work (and some nice info about my own), along with some of the elements I considered when recreating this tale.

When we think of The Nutcracker, certainly we think of the famous ballet by Tchaikovsky, but what seems to have been forgotten is that the ballet was inspired by a book. The original story of the Nutcracker is actually called The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. (or Nussknacker und Mausek��nig)�� and was written by a man named E. T. A. Hoffmann, who Wikipedia describes as ���a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror���. (Sounds like my kind of guy.)

Since The Nutcracker has not been done by Disney (to my knowledge), the story is perhaps only a distant thought in the mind, but most people likely know the premise: On Christmas, a young girl receives a nutcracker which she falls for over all the other toys. After being broken by rough handling from her brother, the nutcracker is cared for by the girl until she discovers very soon afterward that he is alive – and the other toys as well! A battle between toys and mice commences, with the girl watching on from her full-size as the nutcracker battles the seven-headed mouse king. In the end, of course, the Nutcracker is revealed to be human.

You can read the original story online, for free, right here.

The Nutcracker Bleeds

When I first began writing this book in early March 2003, the main character I started with was much like young Marie from the original story. The character still exists, in fact, and her name is Olivia. She is a girl enchanted by Christmas, with a particular believe in fantasy worlds, ready to accept a new reality. I wrote the first six chapters(which I later combined to be the first two chapters). That was where I had stopped.

I looked ahead into the story a bit to see what I could see ��� looking for some point I could write up to, like connecting the dots. There were no dots. Do you know what I saw?

Dead-end after dead-end.

For my version, this sort of character simply did not play into my images of horror. I needed a female character that was stronger of mind – someone not so willing to be thrust into an unnatural world of magic and horror. That was when I decided that everything I had written was boring and not worth continuing.

In October of 2006, I decided that I was boring. I���d been writing (I never really stop) but I had the urge to twist another fairytale. Instead of making a new one, I decided to go back through my files and see what was there ��� stories that I had laid out ages ago but never took very far. That led me back to reading what I had written of The Nutcracker Bleeds.

I read through a bit, and that was when I saw Anne.

I had forgotten about her ��� the nurse – a character overshadowed by Olivia, who is the complete focus, not only of the story at that point, but of some aspect of every other character���s life that had been mentioned. I thought to myself: ���How much creepier would it be to not throw the girl into a world she already accepts, but instead to throw a completely sane woman into something she can���t accept and refuses to?��� It was perfect. Anne was my character.

As mentioned in the book description, Anne is a nanny, looking after a disturbed teenage girl, Olivia, who is fixated on dolls. Anne is, perhaps, not a loveable character, but one thing is certain: she has her agenda, and she sticks to it. That is, until she finds herself immersed in a world of madness where toys and mice battle for power, a cold-hearted nutcracker seeks revenge for the past, and there is danger around every corner for a young woman made of flesh.

–

���A dream?��� the nutcracker questioned, now seeming disgusted with her. ���Would you like to hear a nightmare?���

He advanced toward her, footsteps steady and measured. This time, she backed away, but he did not stop.

���I know you can hardly imagine, but do try as I paint the picture for you,��� he menaced, then continued with his tale.

���Having always been something, I understand it must be difficult to imagine what it���s like to be nothing, so instead, just imagine that you are in the most deep and peaceful kind of sleep. There are no dreams. Everything is darkness and you feel nothing but comfortable in it.���

Anne listened as she moved along the edge of the shaft, following the wall so she wouldn���t trip as she traveled backward. Still, he gained ground on her.

���Suddenly, you open your eyes, and around you is a world you���ve never seen before. You realize that you���re alive and all at once, everything that it means to be alive hits you with the weight of a thousand bricks. You���re hungry. You���re thirsty. You have desires of the flesh. It���s only then that you realize that you don���t have flesh with which to devour or to satisfy your lusts. Any food that you manage to stuff inside your body, rots. Drink soaks through to your outer skin if you���re cloth���if not, it doesn���t run through you at all. There is no release. Some are better off than others. Like that ballerina. Clothing can be removed and she has a desirable shape. She gets attention from the others. But still, the general rules are the same.

���There is only one certainty, and that is that there are other larger living things around you, and you can���t let them see you move or hear you speak, or they will be on to you. Your world is still a part of theirs and they can���t know. You have absolutely no morals or understanding thereof, and the only one there to teach you is a disturbed little girl who doesn���t even know the answers herself���one who thinks that this is all a wonderful game and doesn���t understand that it���s very real. What do you think would happen to you?���

Anne had stopped, for somehow he had managed to back her into the wall as she���d listened to him in horror. Her face was pale and her breathing was unsteady, but she forced herself to look at him. He was completely terrifying to her, but she believed everything he���d said.

���I���d be completely mad,��� she couldn���t help but answer.

–

You can take a peek inside The Nutcracker Bleeds on Amazon: here

The Nutcracker Bleeds is currently available in all formats (ebook, paperback, and hardcover) and you can order your edition today!

Amazon, Smashwords, CreateSpace (paperback), and Lulu (hardback). Coming to other online booksellers soon!

Put a little horror in your holiday and check it out! ;)

The Nutcracker Bleeds Hardback Edition – Details

As I’ve announced, The Nutcracker Bleeds will be released on December 3rd as an ebook and in print. In this post, I’m giving more info about ordering the hardback version of the book, as promised.

I’ve considered several options for printing, and while CreateSpace remains to be the best I’ve come across for paperbacks, I finally decided on Lulu for my hardback print-on-demand needs.�� (For those of you who are curious about the pros and cons of printing with Lulu, I’ve included some info at the bottom of this post.)

I’ll break the bad news to you first: this edition of the book is currently only available to US buyers. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be right now. I don’t have the time to sell them myself, so I can’t order copies and ship them out – yet. For now, I decided it was in my best interest to let Lulu handle it for me, and they’ll only allow US buyers. Another thing: I decided not to do extended distribution, so Lulu is the only place you can get this edition.

��Details

I don’t have a copy of the book to show off yet (but I will as soon as I do), but what I can say for now is that I’ve had a few hardback books printed from Lulu before, and they do a nice job. The printing of the cover art is good and the paper is nice, so I knew I was turning to a service I trust.

The book has 393 pages, 11 pt. Garmond printed on cream paper, with a page layout that I’m rather proud of.The book will have a black linen casing and gold foil lettering down the spine, covered with a full color, matte dust jacket.

Pricing

I know that the question you all have is: How much does it cost? I’ll answer that as best I can.

The list price of the book is $24.99, however, from the release of the book until December 25th, you can use a special code to get 25% off all print books at Lulu, my book included. So, instead of paying $24.99, you can get the book for $18.74!�� But you can only use the code if you are a registered user of Lulu. Creating an account is easy, and you can get the discount!. Piece of cake.

That code is: KTP4

Here’s another something special for those who are reading this blog page. Not only can you get this great deal, I’m going to give you a head-start. You can order your copy of The Nutcracker Bleeds TODAY! I have it posted as a private listing, but you can go right ahead and order it by clicking HERE. This is not a pre-ordering, you are actually getting to order it 2 days early. :)

 

The Nutcracker Bleeds by Lani Lenore, available December 3rd on Amazon, Smashwords, and Lulu.com in ebook and print formats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pros and Cons of Lulu:

I promised a bit of info about dealing with Lulu, so here it is: When I started looking around for methods to print and distribute a book in hardback format, there were a few options that crossed me. The option at the forefront was originally to let Amazon (CreateSpace) do the work. They would take the same file I’d created for CreateSpace, and for a one time setup fee of $100, they would turn my book into a hardback, which I could then buy copies of to sell. They would not list or distribute the copies themselves. After a while of thinking about it, I decided that was not as good as it seemed. I also considered Lightning Source, but once again, I felt that the setup and cost was not worth the effort. Finally, I decided to go with Lulu because of simplicity of setup, and because of the print on demand service.

I did not choose Lulu because it was the cheapest option per unit, but I did choose it because in the long run, it was still the cheapest option for me. Having someone else to sell and ship the book for me saves a lot of trouble, and the royalty is still decent if buyer’s purchase from Lulu. There is also an option to sell on Amazon, but that production cost is so high that the royalty is stretched thin, and there is hardly any profit left.

As far as the printing, there are a couple of things that annoy me about Lulu. One of those things is that sometimes the spine doesn’t line up perfectly, but that is more noticeable on their paperback books. Another thing is that the printing and shipping service takes quite a bit longer than CreateSpace. The first copy from CreateSpace usually gets to me within days, whereas Lulu tends not to rush, and winds up taking a week or more.

Those are a few of my insights. So, those of you seeking to self-publish might keep these things in mind.

The Nutcracker Bleeds release date set for December 3rd

Hello all! Back with the exciting news that my lovely, horrific and wild spin on a classic, The Nutcracker Bleeds, is going to be released on December 3rd!

Yes, I do mean this year. And yes, I do mean in 4 days!

Some of you have read it, some have not, but it is – I think – one of my most intricate stories. If the amazing and dark world of rodents and toys is not enough, the characters are some of the best I’ve created, each one having his/her place in the plot, their lives woven together so well that this novel was not a burden to write in any respect. This is one of the longest, but possibly the easiest books I have written, at 165K. One thing I love most about this story is how surprising it is, and since that is the case, I won’t spoil it for you by giving more details. You’ll just have to see for yourself.

** I’d just like to say officially that while some of my work might borderline on YA, this story is definitely for mature readers. There are many adult themes, not to even mention the violence and gore, but actually, much less bad language than Nevermor. **

Here’s the lowdown on the different formats that will be available: (And I’m afraid I can only speak for US)

EBOOK: Currently, the ebook version is available for preorder on Kindle and Smashwords, which will branch out to other channels (Barnes and Noble, Kobo, so on) by the release date (hopefully). The price of the ebook version is $5.99.

PAPERBACK: The CreateSpace paperback is still in the works. but I hope to have it ready to be ordered by December 3rd, and will probably be listed for $14.99. The paperback will be listed on Amazon and will be enrolled in Kindle Matchbook, which means that if you purchase this paperback version from Amazon, you can get the Kindle version as well for only $.99.

HARDBACK: With this release, I’ve done something a bit special, and I mentioned it earlier, but I’ll say it again: I’m releasing a hardback version of The Nutcracker Bleeds. This is my first time for this, so I’m pretty excited. It’s ready, and will be for sale on the release date. I hope to have a special deal for this version, and I’m going to show it off as soon as I get my own copy, but for now, I can only speak of it and let you know that it’s going to happen. Due to limitations in my production of the hardback version, this version will only be available to purchase through Lulu.com, and also as of right now, it is for US only sales. I’ll let you know the price soon. I made mention of ordering copies and selling them myself, but I think that will be too much of a hassle for me right now.

You can read a sample of the newly revised beginning on Smashwords, and should be able to view it on Amazon at least by the 3rd. I’ll also be listing the book on Goodreads, so please look for it there and add it to your lists!

I’ll get back here soon with more info on the print versions. And by soon, I certainly mean in less than 4 days. :p

A Dash of Horror for Your Holiday Tradition: Lani Lenore’s ‘The Nutcracker Bleeds’

Time to rewrite your wishlists: Lani Lenore has a new book release announcement!

The holiday season is rushing upon us. Yes, I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but already I can’t turn my head without seeing Christmas decorations. So whether you’re already in the spirit or not – or even if you didn’t quite get enough of Halloween – I’ve got just the thing for you.

I’m celebrating this Christmas season by releasing my holiday/horror/fairytale concoction, The Nutcracker Bleeds.

A horrific retelling of the classic Nutcracker story. On Christmas Eve in 1905, a household in London finds itself under a centuries-old curse when a strange new toy is brought into the house.

A young nanny named Anne is immersed in the horrific world of her unstable charge, Olivia, when a bite from a mouse makes her the size of a doll. She must brave a world of mangled and demented toys that have come to life. Each has his own vendetta – the most unrelenting of which is the mysterious and handsomely-carved nutcracker, who becomes Anne���s only sane ally.

There is war in the lower levels of the house between the rodents and the toys, yet Anne’s only concern is getting Olivia and herself back to the way they once were – before it is too late for either of them.

I’ve been perfecting it for a bit, trying to get it print-ready, and I was actually supposed to have it finished already, but I’m getting close now. I’ll try to have it finalized by the beginning of December, at least. Plenty of time to read by Christmas.

Plan:

Unlike my other publishing projects, I’ve considered doing this a bit differently. Instead of making the ebook format my greatest effort, I wanted to see what would happen if I released a nice hardback copy of the book around the same time – just the right format for getting cozy by a warm fire or near a glittering tree, to get lost in the horror and mayhem which is The Nutcracker Bleeds. I want to make this happen, and if I can get the print going, I may try to do a preorder for the hardcover that I can ship out myself by Christmas (and hopefully to arrive by then. (I know I’m running low on time to pull this off, but I have plans to make this happen.) It’ll be cheaper that way, and I can even sign each copy.

Content:

For those who have read it before, and are expecting the story to be the wild ride it was when you first read it, rest at ease knowing that I didn’t change much of the content. The story still plays out like you might expect.

One thing I am trying to do is alter the beginning just a bit to make it more from Anne’s perspective. She is the main character, after all, and I think the story flows better that way. When I originally wrote it, it was my decision to be lazy and start with Olivia’s perspective and then swap to Anne’s after a certain point, but now that I’ve grown as a writer, I realize that’s not what’s best for the story (only what was best for me at the time, and I didn’t feel like changing it). So, I’m rewriting the first few chapters just a bit for that purpose. I also want to explore Anne’s character a bit more than I originally did, and even touch on a bit of her past to explain why the demented toy world is a particular counter to her personality.

One other detail that I changed was one of the character names. After thinking of it, I decided that a man named William might not have a brother named Liam (since Liam is short for William), so, ‘Liam’ is now ‘Euan’. All else remains the same.

Many of you may know that The Nutcracker Bleeds is one of my personal favorite works, and I want it to be the best that I can make it while staying true to what I created before.

I plan to have more news about this soon, as I’m winding down in my edits and getting ready to produce a proof copy of the hardback, and I’ll be able to let you know about the costs of that soon as well.