S.K. Falls's Blog
January 22, 2018
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!
January 7, 2016
Big Book News!
November 5, 2015
Leah Rhyne and her new (old) book…HEARTLESS!
I am absolutely delighted to have Leah Rhyne on the blog today, talking about her new YA book, Heartless. The really super-cool thing about Heartless is that, like One Last Song, it was originally indie published and THEN picked up by a publisher! Heartless now has a brand new gorgeous cover…but here’s Leah to tell you the story herself! (See what I did there? To tell you the story? Because she’s an auth–okay, I’ll leave.)
Congrats on the incredible news of getting a novel picked up by Polis Books, Leah!
1. Tell us how you began writing Heartless (which was originally called JO). How did the idea come to you? Why did you feel you had to write it?
So you know how it’s sometimes hard to tell where an idea comes from? Because sometimes ideas just happen? Not so with my Jo.
The main character, Jolene Hall, appeared in a dream one night. I was sitting in my original college dorm room, on a bed that was pushed against a wall, across the room from the door. There was a knock on the door, and when I opened it, two girls stood there. One was giggling helplessly, sort of leaning against the doorframe in hysterics, and the other pushed her way inside. “I’m dead,” she said (and I remember this as vividly now as I did when I dreamed it three or four years ago!). “Well, sort of. Can you tell? Can you smell me?”
I woke up shortly thereafter, but man, it BOTHERED me! Why was this girl dead? How was she dead? I mean, she was walking around, right? Not eating people, so she wasn’t one of my zombies. It became this weird thing I’d think about, usually during long runs on weekends. Why? How? What?
When I was still wondering about her three months later, I decided it was time to write a book. I had no idea what would happen until I started writing. This was really a “figure it out, write by the seat of your pants” kind of a story.
2. I love that! A dead girl who haunted you from beyond…er, sort of. Why did you decide to indie publish it as JO?
Well, I was knee-deep in zombies, at the time, working through my Undead America series with the small indie press, MuseItUp Publishing. And that was all well and good and fantastic, but I knew from the start I wanted something different with JO.
But she was sort of weird. Sort of strange. Feedback from the few agents I queried at the time was that she was spanning genres and age ranges. Not quite horror, because a lot of it is rather snarky-funny, and not quite YA, because Jo is 18-ish, not 16-ish. So I sort of felt like I’d maybe done something wrong? I don’t know. I just didn’t pursue the traditional route with her for very long.
I was going to let her go, just let her sit in a drawer and die quietly, but there were two people who wouldn’t let me. My brother and my husband LOVE Jo. They love her story, her quirks, everything. And every so often, one or both of them would ask about her. “When are you going to publish her? What are you going to do with her? When do we get to see her again?”
So one day I took a peek at some pre-made cover art, and I saw this girl on a cover. Her face was slightly rotten. Her eyes were grey and blank. And I thought, “Oh! That’s my Jo!” And I decided in that moment to self-publish her. I worked with a fantastic editor friend, Meredith Short, and the book really came together.
As for the title, well, I suck at titles. JO was the best I came up with. Hahahaa
3. Titles are ridiculously hard! So when did you learn Polis Books wanted to publish JO aka Heartless? What was your reaction??
I connected with Polis Books via a friend, the incredible author Rob Heart, whose NEW YORKED came out with Polis early this year. When Rob and I met up in Minneapolis for a conference last April, he couldn’t say enough wonderful things about Jason Pinter, the publisher at Polis, and I was sold. When Rob’s agent, Bree Ogden, said similarly beautiful things, I knew for sure: I wanted to work with Jason. Done deal.
I submitted a sci-fi novel to him pretty much the day after I got home. A couple weeks later, Jason asked if he could also take a look at JO, since he really dug the concept. That was pretty much a no-brainer – of course he could look at her! I sent him the latest version of JO, and he loved her! Within a few weeks, we had a contract and everything!
As to the “what was my reaction” question, I can’t lie. I ugly cried. In the middle of the night. Jason tends to catch up on emails in the late evenings (or so my inbox would tell me), and I tend to fall asleep early. Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and checked emails one night, and there was the offer. It was so kind, and so exciting, and so amazing, that I ugly cried right then and there. My poor husband heard me wailing – he thought someone had died!
4. Oh my gosh, I can totally see his fear turning to exhilaration (and relief!)! Why the title rename? Which title do you like better?
I looooooove HEARTLESS! Jason wanted something that told a little more about the story, and we tossed around some ideas. My husband suggested HEARTLESS (as Jo doesn’t actually have a heart – only a little motor), and apparently Jason had been thinking about it as well. So it wound up being another no-brainer. I’ve loved the simplicity of this process so far!
5. What do you think of the new cover? How much input did you have in the design process?
ERMAGAD! I am SO in love with this new cover art I can’t even tell you! It was created by a tattoo artist in Staten Island – Magie Serpica (coolest name ever). I never dreamed of having custom art for one of my book covers, you now? And it came out gorgeous!
The idea was – again – Jason’s. Have I mentioned how brilliant he is? He wanted something a little anatomical, a little steampunk, and Magie delivered. I was SO on board with the initial idea, and then when the sketches came in, I wanted to ugly cry all over again! It’s so amazing.
I still love the girl that was JO on the first cover. But this? This is something unreal, something I really never could have dreamed!
6. I love it, too! It’s a gorgeous concept! So tell us what’s next for you.
What’s next? I wish I knew. Hahahaaha
I’m sitting on a bunch of books right now, books I have no idea what to do with. I’m not sure how it happened, but it did. I’ve got a sci-fi novel about a bunch of incredible women who have to take care of each other to survive this crazy interstellar war. That’s the book of my heart. My whole heart went into it.
Then I have an actual historical story. Set during the Holocaust, it follows an old woman who is desperate to survive the Nazi death factories, and she goes about it in supernatural ways. This? This is the book of my soul. A whole adult life spent researching the Holocaust, and this is the book that came out of me. I’m super-immensely proud of it, and I have not submitted it ANYWHERE because I just…don’t know? I’m crazy.
I also have this swampy, church-y ghost story that I need to finish editing, and I’m currently writing a middle grade horror story for my daughter because, well…because I wanted to, that’s why.
So yeah. I’m a little nuts, I think, but I’m always busy and life is full of endless ideas now, isn’t it?
Thanks for having me, darling girl!! smooches!!!
And now, without further ado, is the cover! Isn’t it swoonable?? (Click on it to read, in Leah’s words, about her experience getting a book deal!)
Heartless is due out in the summer of 2016. In the meantime, visit Leah in all these places:
October 28, 2015
Pretty New Italian Cover: La Nostra Ultima Canzone
Buy it on Amazon Italy! (Or if you live in Italy, just go to the bookstore!)
This is one of those uber-cool writer moments–seeing your book in a brand new language, with a brand new cover! 
My first foreign edition…woo hoo!
Sorry about the radio silence. I’ve decided to go back to graduate school at the ripe old age of 32, which means I have hardly any free time. BUT I promise I’m making the time to write, and hopefully soon I’ll have more to say in the way of writing and all things bookish!
Sandhya
March 5, 2015
Age of Blood by Shauna Granger: Cover Reveal
Age of Blood (Ash and Ruin #3) by Shauna Granger
Hope is a dangerous thing, but powerful. Hope keeps you going. Hope can keep you alive.
But hope can shatter your world.
Kat and Dylan have found a home, but the monsters are still out there. The pox and plague still ravage the world. They have hope of finding a vaccine, but their encampment isn’t equipped to develop it.
Dylan is still too weak from the pox to leave the encampment, so Kat must decide between staying by his side and protecting her last remaining family member as he leaves to find supplies. Separated for the first time since they came together, Kat and Dylan will have to fight their own battles to save what is left of their bloody world.
Kat will have to hold on to hope that she has anything left to save and someone to come home to.
If she can survive.
Available 5/5/2015
Add on Goodreads
Preorder on Amazon
Preorder on Barnes and Noble
Preorder on Kobo
About the series:
There are two inherent truths in the world: life as we know it is over, and monsters are real.
The Pestas came in the night, spreading their pox, a deadly plague that decimated the population. Kat, one of the unlucky few who survived, is determined to get to her last living relative and find shelter from the pox that continues to devastate the world. When it mutates and becomes airborne, Kat is desperate to avoid people because staying alone might be her only chance to stay alive.
That is, until she meets Dylan. Dylan, with his easy smile and dark, curly hair, has nowhere to go and no one to live for. He convinces Kat there can be safety in numbers, that they can watch out for each other. So the unlikely couple set off together through the barren wasteland to find a new life – if they can survive the roaming Pestas, bands of wild, gun-toting children, and piles of burning, pox-ridden bodies.
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
The world has ended, and hope is the most dangerous thing left.
Battered and bruised after barely escaping San Francisco with their lives, Kat, Dylan, and Blue press north – desperate to reach the possibility of a new home.
But strange, monstrous ravens are tracking the remaining survivors, food is becoming scarce, gasoline is running short, and people are becoming suicidal, making survival almost impossible.
And the Pestas are growing bolder. Somehow, their numbers are growing.
The further north they go, the harder it becomes to ignore the signs that they’ve made a fatal mistake. Kat must face the impossible truth that there is no escape, there is no safe haven, and their worst nightmares don’t come close to their new reality.
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Smashwords
About the author:
Like so many other writers, Shauna grew up as an avid reader, but it was in high school that she realized she wanted to be a writer. She released the first installment of her Paranormal YA Series, The Elemental Series, Earth, on May 1, 2011 and has since released four sequels, with the series coming to an end with Spirit. In December of 2013 she released the first in her Paranormal Post-Apocalyptic trilogy (Ash And Ruin Trilogy), World of Ash. Be sure to also check out her newest series: The Matilda Kavanagh Novels about a spunky witch just trying to pay her rent in West Hollywood. Shauna is currently hard at work on one too many projects, trying to organize the many voices in her head. It’s a writer thing.
Stalkables:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
About the Cover Artist Stephanie Mooney:
I am a 25-year-old graphic designer, artist, and aspiring author currently living in Cincinnati, Ohio. I’m a renaissance girl — a lover of all things creative and artistic. From the moment I learned to use my hands, I was writing stories about princesses and sketching ballerinas. I guess I never really stopped.
Most of my training has been informal, and many of my skills are self taught. In 2006-07, I spent a year interning at a church in Louisiana where I worked in their art and design department. In July 2007, they hired me as one of their designers. I worked there for three years, gaining experience in graphic design, advertising, set building, event planning, and product design. From there, I began my career in freelance design.
Many of my clients are indie authors looking for affordable cover designs. I love working with authors and getting excited about their stories with them. I’m still building my web portfolio, but I really enjoy designing and developing websites as well.
Stalkables:
February 12, 2015
One Last Song Will Be Published in Italian!
Guys! I’m so excited to tell you today that it’s official! Italian publisher Piemme (the YA imprint of Mondadori) has purchased foreign rights to One Last Song!
Can you tell by all the exclamation points that I’m cosi eccitato?! The book will come out in Italy (Italy!) in ebook and trade paperback format. A concrete publication date is yet to be announced, but it’ll likely be late 2016 or early 2017 because translations take a long time.
So, tell me, is this good enough reason to finally book that flight for an Italian vacay like I’ve wanted to do for ages?? 
February 9, 2015
Hot for the Holiday Valentine’s Day Sale!
Are you guys ready for another big sale? From February 9th through February 13th, a group of romance authors and I are banding together to promote our books at steep sale prices!
The Fevered Souls series will be on sale, which means you can get the entire series–four books–for under $3! Buy them on Amazon | Kobo | B&N [Please note: B&N is always a little slow with the process of changing prices. If you’re a Nook reader, check back again later if you don’t see the sale price yet!]
Want to see what other suck-you-in-for-days books are on sale? Just click on the graphic below or visit http://romancebookdeals.com/hot-for-holiday/
January 31, 2015
7 Things I Do When I’m Procrastinating Writing
The very lovely Katherine Harbour (who is also my agency sister with an amazing dark fantasy book out! Seriously, check out Thorn Jack here. You won’t be sorry.) nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.
How this works is I get to tell you seven things I do when I’m procrastinating writing my book and then nominate other bloggers from around the web to do a top 7 list of their own.
Fun! Let’s get to it!
7 Things I Do When I’m Procrastinating Writing
1. Check my email with a rabid, OCD-like focus. Never mind that I might’ve just checked it eight seconds ago. Who knows what treasures might have landed there precisely in those eight seconds?
2. Tweet about my procrastination skills. For example, “Staring at a cloud shaped like Zach Braff’s nose and fantasizing about how to write it into the book counts as writing, right? #amwriting” There are always others out there who can empathize. I
3. Facebook, of course. See social media comment above. This is the moment I have to find out what my long lost family member in India is up to. And if she just so happens to send me a personal message, well, I have to respond, don’t I? Otherwise it’d just be rude.
4. Rediscover the lost art of hand-writing letters on pretty stationery. And since I don’t have any pretty stationery, I need to run out to the store really quick to buy some. It’ll be totally worth it.
5. Trawl Pinterest for new home decor projects. Never mind that the last one I successfully completed was in 2012. You never know when inspiration might strike! And while I’m at it…
6. I might as well hang out on Craigslist and see if anyone’s selling a cheap teak coffee table I could refinish for funsies.
7. And last but certainly not least…snack time! If I raid the pantry now, I’ll just be saving myself the agony of having to stop mid-scene later when my stomach sounds drown out the voices of my characters.
Ta da! That’s a typical procrastination-filled writing session for me. Thankfully I don’t have too many of those or I’d never get anything finished. 
And now I’d like to tag the following talented author bloggers to participate if they so choose–just write out a top seven list of anything!
January 13, 2015
One Last Song Release Day Party!
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | Google Play
It’s here! It’s finally here! One Last Song has been (re)released into the wild. I am so, so excited for this book. I really poured my heart and soul into it, and I’m truly proud of the end result.
To celebrate, I’m having a virtual book release party today, and you’re invited! If you have a Facebook account, it’s incredibly easy to join. All you have to do is go here, click on the button that says “Join,” and show up between the hours of 3 PM and 7 PM Pacific Time (6 PM – 10 PM Eastern)! I’ll be there, interacting with guests and answering questions. And you could win prizes!
I made a handy dandy infographic for those of you who’ve never been to an FB party. Hope you’ll check it out! I’d love to see you there!
Click to see a bigger version.
{The One Last Song book release party is hosted by the talented, lovely Release Day Diva.}
December 7, 2014
Katie French on How To Apologize For Your Series Not Being A Trilogy
Please welcome Katie French to the blog! She’s the mega-talented sci-fi author of The Breeders series. She’s releasing The Benders, the third (and emphatically not last!) book in the series, on December 8th. I’ve had the honor of reading it already, and MAN, you guys are in for some major twists and turns!
Click the image to add it on Goodreads!
About The Benders
The third book in the award-winning, best-selling dystopian series, The Breeders.
They’ve escaped the Breeders.
They’ve broken out of the Citadel.
Now, after all they’ve been through, Riley, Clay, and Ethan know one thing for sure: nothing tastes sweeter than freedom. And no one can rest easy with Auntie Bell in bondage. The group journeys home to rescue her and liberate Clay’s town from the cruel Warden. But when an ally betrays them, they must face the very enemy they’ve been trying to avoid.
Captured and separated, Riley is sold to a slave-owner who uses human beings for sport, while Clay and Ethan become the latest in a series of lab rats to be poked and prodded. As a slave, Riley conceals her identity to survive among the other benders, but it’s only a matter of time before a dangerous job takes her life. Clay and Ethan find themselves a war zone between a madwoman and marauders. And the odd don’t look good.
“Thrilling, chilling, and creepy in all the right ways, The Benders will more than satiate French’s fans!” –S.K. Falls, bestselling dystopian author of World of Shell and Bone
“A full throttle race to the finish, The Benders is electrifying. The third book in The Breeders Series only made me hungrier for the next.” –Kimberly Shursen, author of thrillers HUSH, Lottery and Itsy Bitsy Spider
“Once again, the characters you know and love are in peril. Don’t pick up The Benders if you have an appointment to make or a train to catch.” –Amy R. Biddle, author of The Atheist’s Prayer
—
HOW TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR SERIES NOT BEING A TRILOGY
by Katie French
I’ll admit it here before God and everybody: I broke a cardinal rule of the dystopian series. I did not write a trilogy. Now, once the audible gasp of horror settles down, I want to take a moment to defend myself.
My series, The Breeders, will not be ending after my latest installment releases. The reasons for this are legion, but I will give you my favorite. I love a long series. The two best series in my book are The Dark Tower by Stephen King and Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. If you haven’t read them, crawl out of your nuclear bomb shelter and head to your local library. If you have read them, you know what a long series can do to a person. Reading these books changed me, for good or ill, only my husband can be the judge. But a long series give the reader time to form some serious bonds with the characters. I wanted that for my readers.
However, I know that some readers will be disappointed when they get to the end of book three and see there is no neat, red-ribbon ending. So, I’ve compiled a list of things I will say to them to excuse my egregious disdain for modern dystopianism.
Tactic 1 – Denial: “What do you mean the series didn’t end with book three? I can’t believe they’d mess up like that. Well, that’s what you get when you rely on Amazon. You know those money-hungry fools are always trying to gouge the little man.”
Tactic 2 – Distraction: “What? Oh, my series? It didn’t end? Speaking of series, did you hear that on the next season of Orange is the New Black that Crazy Eyes and Piper get married? No, really it’s true. I heard it on Access Hollywood.”
Tactic 3 – The “Justin Beiber”: “Yeah, so my series isn’t a trilogy. Who cares? I’ve got good hair and chicks dig me. If I call you baby with my eyes half-lidded, you’ll forget your last name.”
Tactic 4 – Saying Sorry: “I’m sorry that you’ll have to read more heart-pounding, page-turning books. Imagine all the levels of Candy Crush you’ll miss reading more of my stuff.”
Tactic 5 – Honesty: “I want to give you more in Riley’s world. Stick around. It’s going to be a hell of a ride.”
All jokes aside, I hope you like book three enough to read book four. And really, if we love books and the characters that inhabit them, don’t we wish for more? What I wouldn’t give for another Harry Potter book or another ride with Roland toward the Dark Tower. I hope that someday someone feels the same way about my books. I hope I don’t let them down.
I think Katie’s got a point there! And if you couldn’t tell from the blog post, this is one entertaining, funny-as-hell writer. You should totally check her out on the internet.
About Katie French
Katie French imagined herself an author when her poem caught the eye of her second grade teacher. It was about birds and frankly, it wasn’t very good, but it sparked a love of literature. In middle school she spent her free time locked in her room, writing her first young adult novel. This thoroughly solidifying her status as a class-A nerd. She currently works as a high school English teacher, a job that she loves even when it exhausts her. In her free time she writes, reads great books, and takes care of her two beautiful and crazy children. She is represented by Amanda Luedeke of MacGregor Literary. Her young adult best selling series, The Breeders, is available now on Amazon.
Check out her Blog / Find her on Facebook / Holla at her on Twitter / Find her books on Amazon / Find her on Goodreads
