R.J. Blain's Blog, page 8

Release Day for A Light in the Dark and Partner in Crime! (Important notice for Kobo users inside!)

I wish I could say I was having a happy book birthday today, but unfortunately, I’m not. Kobo deployed the book with the placeholder file (which is something they require thus resulting in an unmitigated disaster for those who purchased the book at this vendor.

I have delisted the book to prevent other readers from purchasing it, and I have uploaded a new version.

If you use Kobo and you purchased the book, please DO write to customer service asking for them to either a: refund you or b: g...

Kobo Problems with Partner in Crime. (Because why not?)

This will be a story in pictures. Because why not at this stage. (This launch is an exercise of what can go wrong will go wrong.)

Here is what Kobo’s product page shows:

[image error]

This is what deployed to my Kobo:

[image error]

The best part is, I had uploaded four different final versions of the book to Kobo to prevent just this from happening.

In good news, A Light in the Dark seemed to deploy correctly, so that’s something.

This was completely outside of my control (as the placeholder file (wh...

Editorial Perils: Partner in Crime

The preorder version of Partner in Crime will very probably have a character name mishap. It has been fixed and will be uploaded on release morning as soon as the book unlocks. In the meantime, be aware that the error exists, and that it will be corrected. I am going to attempt to correct the print edition as soon as it unlocks, but you might end up with a misprint if you buy it early. If you do, just use my contact form and plop your mailing address in it along with the typoed character name an...

Fun & Games with Books!

This post is going to talk, a little, about Partner in Crime and a few things that readers are inevitably going to go “HAHAHAH caught the author!”

(That game is stupid, by the way. Writing a book is VERY hard. Unless you can write the perfect book, perhaps do not participate in that game. All you do is make authors you claim you like leave the industry. Nobody wins.)

So, this toes, a tiny amount, into spoiler territory. I will not tell you the significance of the clue I am about to suggest...

Print Editions (Amazon, 6×9) of Partner in Crime and A Light in the Dark

A Light in the Dark’s print edition (on Amazon) will release on November 19, 2024. Partner in Crime’s print edition (on Amazon) will release on November 22, 2024. Due to complexity, headache, I’m out of spoons, need some breather time, the mass market edition (B&N, etc) will release sometime in December. Yes, the mass market version WILL be coming.

Expect 6-12 months for audiobook editions. If they happen earlier, HOORAY! If not… don’t be surprised because I’m not going to be at all surprised. (H...

A Light in the Dark (Greene) and Partner in Crime (Robbins) Release on Tuesday!

A Light in the Dark increases in price on Tuesday morning. If you want it for $6.99, you need to make sure you preorder from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, or Kobo. Patreon will be priced at $7.99. All other vendors will likewise be moved immediately to $7.99. (You might be able to catch them in the early morning hours for $6.99, but don’t count on it.)

The book was significantly longer than planned.

I will be back on Tuesday with first chapters of each book, links to all the live vendors,...

Reminder: A Light in the Dark’s price increases to $7.99 on release day.

The book ended up just under 150,000 words, which is 30,000 words over my cap for $6.99 priced books. As such, I’ll be increasing the price to $7.99 the morning of its release.

If you want to lock in the $6.99 pricing, you need to preorder it at one of the following retailers: Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo | Barnes & Noble

A Light in the Dark releases on November 19, 2024.

~About the Book~

The yearly floods in Stonecreek inevitably claim lives, but when Valerie pulls a refugee from...

State of the Blain: Plans for This Year, Next Year, and Beyond!

I love the final stretch of the year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, the Winter Holidays… they’re all my favorite. I love giving gifts for no reason other than I can. I love when the weather cools and the leaves change. I want to say I love winter, but while I love snow, I have SAD, so winter doesn’t love me back.

So, to open this show, I’m going to drop links and commentary about everything guaranteed to be on the docket in the next 1-2 years. We’ll start with the preorders, which are the super de...

Why Haven’t I Written a Bernadette Franklin Novel Recently?

I’m getting asked this often in various venues, so I’m just going to take a moment to address this. I’m working on Murder Floof. The problem is, I need to be in a specific mood to work on warm cuddlefests. They’re light. They’re fantasy fulfillment. They’re a whole lot of joy smashed into one package.

I have anxiety. I have depression. I have chronic pain. There is only so much “faking it until I make it” I can do when writing a book.

It takes me being in a very specific mindset to work on...

Let’s discuss cliffhangers, shall we?

I successfully riled a bunch of people up with a few statements on facebook. (Insert mood: highly amused here.)

Statement 1: People tell me I have cliffhangers in my books all the time. (Manner of Riling: these people aren’t fans? Author Statement: They can be fans and hold this opinion. Doesn’t mean I AGREE with them, but they can have their opinions on this matter.)

Statement 2: Tongue-in-Cheek “Well if people are going to tell me I leave cliffhangers, maybe I should do an ACTUAL cliffhanger...