R.J. Blain's Blog, page 20

Why do I series hop? A tale of an author’s chaotic brain…

Photo: some flower found somewhere in Australia. (I want to say Cairns, but I’m not 100% sure.)

Fans of $x series (insert whatever your favorite series is) tend to get upset when they do not get the next book in their series right away. It doesn’t matter if the series is long or short, if it’s 2 of 3 books finished, 16 or 32 finished, or anything else like that.

Readers get upset when they are not given the thing they specifically want.

I’ve seen this trend time and time again. “Why...

I thought about just giving up this weekend.

Since Friday, I have been called a liar over how some people say foal like fowl/foul. To open up, thank you to those of you who say it this way who stepped up to confirm it’s a real accent. You’re appreciated.

I first heard it in Tennessee, where I lived for six or so months out of every year during my childhood after my parents divorced. I didn’t think much of it when the first person messaged me asking. I just confirmed that it was the accent used, confirmed the region it originated in, wit...

The Financials of Audiobooks (and why how I’m producing them will be changing.)

Yesterday, I was flooded with private messages on my personal profile because people did not appreciate that my narrator opted to use foal in a Texan accent. My proofers (both of them) are originally from Texas, so this sounded normal to them. I have booked to have the corrections/changes made to Vampire of Montana, but this spurred me to do some math.

People have called me a liar, because obviously, nobody could possibly ever have this accent.

Being called a liar after discussing with Tex...

Re: Audiobooks (Corrections for Vampire of Montana, future of Audiobooks)

This is not a happy post. I’m not even sorry about that. Not everything can be positive, and this is a problem. This is how I’m addressing the problem:

I will be having my audiobook proofer going through (paid, of course), to identify the time stamps for all instances of foals and correcting them, since clearly, it’s a problem. I’ve received plenty of messages in my FAMILY account all day about this, and to say I’m upset that I cannot have any basic privacy today is an understatement.

As a...

Doggone Mess is available in audiobook edition!

Single, female lycanthrope: check.

Bills to pay: check.

A bounty for the hottest single lycanthrope on the block: check.

As the sole holdout of the corporate buyout of her apartment building, Joyce Gray is determined to transform her stubborn pride into a masterpiece in order to stay off the streets. Dipping her hands into the dark world of bounty hunting would give her the funds needed to find a new home, somewhere safe from the wolf who’d infected her with the lycanthropy virus.

...

In Case You Missed It: Upcoming Books!

What is coming up next, you may be asking? You’ve seen all of these… except for one. That’s right, there’s a new book up for preorder! Right now, the preorder links are chaos, but you can scavenger hunt if you would like in the meantime.

As a reminder, Life-Debt is a cleaned up version of what was in Pets in Space 7, and all vendors excepting Amazon will receive a bonus short story about Viva and Delta!

And no, I will not be compiling the short stories from the back of the books into a col...

A Note Re: Vampire of Montana Audiobook Accent/Dialect

Greetings, folks!

Someone wrote in with a question regarding the Vampire of Montana audiobook, which I wanted to address. Foals (as in the baby horse) has an odd accenting to some; it’s a Texan thing (for certain regions of Texas.) The narrator opted to use the Texan flare for Daphne when regards to foals, so it’s going to sound strange for those who aren’t from that section of Texas (or other places that use this linguistic twist.)

The audiobook proofer happens to be from Texas, so she di...

Featured Series: Vigilante Magical Librarians

This will be a five book series with no current plans to expand the world. The next book will be entitled Booked for Theft, and because it’s fun, I’m keeping the titles of the last two titles to myself for the moment.

You’re either going to love or hate this one. (Please don’t tell me if you hate it. Thank you.)

Vigilante Magical LibrariansBooked for Murderebooks: Smashwords | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Amazon audiobooks: Chirp | Spotify | Kobo | Audible | Apple | ...

Featured Series: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count)

Per request, I am working on a single webpage that has links to all of my books from all of my pen names. This is, frankly spoken, a massive endeavor. However, as I (mostly) finish things, I wanted to take the time to showcase the first series I have completed!

P.S.: Doggone Mess is now out in audiobook edition everywhere except Audible, and Audible should be coming in the next few days.

This is the official reading order for this series. This is it. This is the definitive reading order. ...

The Vampire of Montana (Audiobook Edition)

You can listen to the Vampire of Montana at Kobo, Chirp Books, Spotify, and Audible! (Plus other vendors, as well. I’m just severely lazy right now.)

About the Vampire of Montana by Susan Copperfield

As a member of the RPS, Daphne Niell, also known as the Vampire of Montana, lives to serve.

On a good day, she hunts terrorists and eliminates them before they can strike.

On a bad one, His Royal Majesty of Montana, also known as her twerp of a cousin, sends her overseas to play nice...