Angela Colsin's Blog, page 8

Book Sale – Summer/Winter Catalogue on Smashwords

Just a friendly reminder here that all of my books are currently on sale for 50%-75% off in Smashword’s Summer/Winter Catalogue! Sale lasts until July 31st!

Looking for free stuff? Follow me on facebook for flash giveaways and other fun stuff! :D

Learn More About The Crucible Paranormal Romance Series

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Is Facebook Dying? What’s Killing It?

I was reading this article earlier, and I have to say, I really do agree with it. We’re seeing Pokemon GO just about everywhere now. It’s getting people out of the house and around their neighborhoods in search of Pokemon, which serves for some awesome opportunities at real world social interactions. Still, I wonder if they’ll ever develop some kind of enhancement mode that would blend this type of virtual reality with online interaction, perhaps in the form of allowing players who are taking a break from traveling to visit various websites or blogs that have signed up to offer various upgrades or enhancements for training their Pokemon and whatnot.

I’d be game! :P

From the article: There is a new trend that is piquing my interest and I think it is going to make a revolutionary change in social media that might even have the power to topple the mighty Facebook.

Source: Is Facebook Dying? What’s Killing It?

I’m Actually a Fae…

Authorgraph and Book Boyfriend Badges

So, I’ve been handing out more of my uh … sage advice … but also some well wishes! Still, and in advance, I’d like to apologize to Annette for my shoddy sense of humor. I’m sure no one would benefit from my words of wisdom. But if they did, I’d be one part scared, one part excited, and completely confused. =|

Now, onto other areas, specifically being the badges below. Just a little idea I had to thank everyone for their support. Feel free to gank one if it suits your fancy, and post them on your blog or website or facebook page, whatever.

And yeeeeeeah, I just didn’t think “Came for the Demons/Perosians” was entirely suiting for Isaac. So I made it a little more appropriate

The Liebster Award

So, I was nominated for a Liebster Award! Thanks so much Akaluv! [image error]

Source: The Liebster Award

Sadly, I don’t have the time to follow all the rules of acceptance for this award, so I mostly wanted to use this opportunity to offer Akaluv a little promo for thinking of me

The Crucible Series Book 6: Hunter’s Moon Cover Reveal & Synopsis

The Crucible Paranormal Romance Series Book Six: Hunter’s Moon

Caleb Hodgins is a lupine known to the Arkin City Pack as an easy going wolf with a carefree attitude. But after tragedy strikes because of what he is, he’s left with a painful secret and the weight of grief hanging on his shoulders. Such heartache causes Caleb to swear he’ll never seek companionship with a human woman again, and it’s a plan that works well enough—until Emily Sterling comes to town.

When presented with the opportunity to take a long sought job in Arkin City, Emily quickly accepts, moving halfway across the country to live next door to her childhood friend, Joslyn Santiago-Hodgins. After years of keeping in touch long distance, she finally meets the people in Joslyn’s life, and finds everyone easy to fit in with—that is, everyone except Joslyn’s brother-in-law, Caleb.

Emily has no idea why he’s so put off by her, and his dismissive behaviors become increasingly disappointing as her attraction to him turns into undeniable interest. Yet she also doesn’t realize just how quickly her fun loving attitude and playful wit draws Caleb in, reminding him of his painful secret and his drive to prevent history from repeating itself.

But a case of missing lupines sweeping the southern states may put Emily in danger simply by her unwitting association with the Arkin City Pack, giving Caleb more than one reason to protect her. In the process, the gears of bonding start to turn, and there’s nothing he can do to stop it, forcing him to face his fear of revealing the truth about what he is, and risk losing Emily for good.

Estimated Release: Late Fall 2016

I think I’d already made a few comments on this book in a previous post, but we’re returning to Arkin City Pack of lupines! I’ve been hankering to make this reveal for a few weeks now, and I’ve felt strangely sentimental writing this story so far (probably because Blue Moon is my first book, and it’ll always have a special place for more reasons than anyone knows!). But in any case, I’ll provide some excerpts as soon as they’re available (this book is still early into the writing process, so sadly, it won’t be any time soon) and keep everyone updated on my progress!

New Reveals Incoming

I’m excited, I’ll admit it! But though there’s really not much for me to say right now, I wanted to drop by anyway to mention that I have some new reveals coming up (and yes, this involves Hunter’s Moon) which I’ll be sharing very soon. It also involves a month long sale on smashwords! So keep an eye out, there’s lots of good things incoming!

Romance is Versatile! (& Overlooked!)

Spoiler Warning! This post contains spoilers for Fallen Hearts and The Final Calling!

“Before we go, there’s something you need to know, Ardilon,” Stephan began. “We’d always assumed I’d contracted Ithrim from another human in that vampire lair, but since my turning, I’ve recalled something in my sleep, and it’s … weird.”

“Oh?”

Nodding, Stephan tried to explain as thoroughly as possible. “It’s a vague memory that’s resurfaced more than once, something that took place right after the explosion. I was out of it, and couldn’t see, but I heard a man’s voice, and remember being fed something that tasted coppery.”

Ardilon’s expression became curiously interested. “Do you remember what the voice said?”

“Not clearly, but one thing I do recall is that it was very deep, even ominous.”

“I see,” he acknowledged plainly, making it hard to tell what he may have been thinking. “Then someone purposefully infected you?”

“Looks that way, unless I was hallucinating.”

–from Fallen Hearts, Chapter 39

One of the reasons I love writing romance is because of the genre’s versatility. I mean sure, it’s romance, so the story will always revolve around two people (or more!) getting together and finding that sense of connection in companionship that so many of us seek but rarely have the fortune of finding. But the stories are all different, from the settings to the mood, and of course, the heat levels.

I mean damn, how many subgenres of romance are there? Contemporary, historical, paranormal, fantasy, mystery, suspense, thriller, comedy, horror, YA, inspirational, and the list goes on. So basically, if you love romance, there’s something out there somewhere that’s specifically attuned to your tastes and desires.

I personally enjoy books with a level of adventure and even some fantasy elements added to it, books that offer some mystery and intrigue that keeps me curious about a place, person, or event–particularly regarding series. This is one of the reasons I’ve cited an excerpt from Fallen Hearts here. As much as I love reading such elements in stories, I have even more fun introducing them into my own books, and the excerpt cited above is an unresolved issue from Fallen Hearts left open at the end of the story.

Throughout the entire book, Stephan thought he’d contracted his illness from some human in the vampire lair where he’d been held captive. But none of the vampires or other humans survived the attack/subsequent explosion of the lair. So there was no way to trace the origins–and that wasn’t even an issue he’d really concerned himself with. Yet, vampires don’t actually dream, they reminisce, and after becoming a vampire, this very peculiar, and vague memory resurfaces in his sleep that gives him a little more insight into the origins of his illness.

But it’s not until The Final Calling that we find out who did it, i.e., this conversation between Ardilon and Arias:

“Ah, yes, because you know so much after having a hand in nearly every problem I’ve encountered recently.”

Arias planted a dramatic palm against his chest. “Moi? You truly believe I could fly so low under your radar? Perish the thought.”

As if annoyed, Ardilon’s jaw twitched. “Stop playing coy. There are a number of events I could cite, such as my former votary’s health. Did you infect him?”

Isaac had no fucking idea what Ardilon was talking about now. But Arias sighed, waving a dismissive hand with the admission, “Alright, yes, that was me. But I had very sound reasons for infecting a mortal with a deadly, contagious, mystical disease—and by the by, I heard a cure was obtained, so you know, you’re welcome.”

–from The Final Calling, Chapter 18

So now we know who did it, but not why. Could Arias have simply been setting events into motion so that a cure would be obtained? Or did he have some personal motivation? Perhaps he was testing the illness to see what it would do, or hoped to sell it to some maniac aspiring to commit vampiric genocide? And, if his intention was merely to have a cure developed, how did he even know to infect Stephan with the illness to begin with?

I love these types of mysteries (and I know how strange it probably seems that I’m citing my own work so everyone knows I already have the answers lol! But it was the best example I could think of on short notice[image error] ), and I love adding them to my own books as much as I enjoy reading them. The only other example I can really think of at the moment (and this is somewhat spoilery for Game of Thrones, so skip if you haven’t seen the latest episode (and yes, I’m talking about the show, not the books here)) is the most recent reveal about Jon Snow. I won’t say what was revealed exactly, but we’ve gone for the entire series believing one thing was true, perhaps with a few hints thrown in suggesting something entirely different, and then we finally learn that something else was the case all along.

That has very little to do with romance, I know, but it does a good job of exemplifying my point, being that these elements can all be woven into romance just as easily as another genre, making these stories so much more than, “Boy meets girl and they fall in love.”

In fact, and to be frank about it, I think the entire genre is largely overlooked in terms of its potential to deliver memorable stories that have as much of an impact as an epic sci-fi trilogy, or whatever other genre you can think of. Instead, people hear romance, and usually say, ” Oh, you want an afternoon read you’ll completely forget about by tomorrow.”

This type of dismissive attitude, I think, has caused several great stories and authors alike to fall under the radar, never managing to garner the acclaim they should have. Certainly, we have well known, critically acclaimed authors of romance who are praised for their ability to weave a memorable story, and that number has definitely increased in recent years. But I’m not entirely sure it can compete with the number of successful authors and books we have in other genres.

Or maybe I’m wrong? Feel free to comment if you have any thoughts on the matter, and mention what youre favorite genre is! And don’t forget to enjoy your holiday weekend!

Cheers!

Summer Book Sale!

Hey guys! Here’s a sale to kick off the summer! Use the following codes at checkout on smashwords and get each book in The Crucible Series for .99¢! This sale lasts until July 5th, 2016!

☼ Blue Moon ☼

VH69V

☼ Light of Dawn ☼

QP36J

☼ Strange Brew ☼

HY59J

☼ Fallen Hearts ☼

SW22T

☼ The Final Calling ☼

CA99X

Check Me Out!

The Final Calling is Now Available!

Books • The Final Calling • Box Set • About the Author

The Final Calling Authorgraph

I feel a little durpy because I didn’t add the name of the person who made the request to the beginning of this (no more trying to brain before breakfast for me again!) and I apologize. BUT I MEANT EVERY WORD! LoL[image error]

Thanks Annette! [image error]

Request an authorgraph?