Aimee Easterling's Blog, page 20
July 14, 2016
Do you like to read on paper?
If so, you’re in luck! The grand finale of my Lone Wolf Dawn launch is a Goodreads giveaway:
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Lone Wolf Dawn
by Aimee Easterling
Giveaway ends July 18, 2016.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
Feel free to enter if you’d like a chance at one of these pretty paperbacks. (You can also buy a copy on Amazon if you’d prefer.)
July 5, 2016
Giveaway for clean (and cleanish) fantasy lovers
Do you enjoy your fantasy without all the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll? (Ahem, I mean with little to no swearing and with only closed-door sex scenes.) If so, this giveaway is for you!
One lucky winner will nab a new Kindle preloaded with 30 hand-selected fantasy books…one of which is my Pack Princess (the second book in the Wolf Rampant series after the permafree Shiftless).
In the interest of full disclosure, you’ll also be added to those authors’ mailing lists…which you can immediately unsubscribe from if you want. Enjoy!
July 2, 2016
A conversation with Hunter
Aimee: I polled my super-readers and 55% of them said they’d like to hear about your background. Do you think you have a short story in you?
Hunter: Sure.
Aimee to herself: Hmm, he sure is terse. But I’ll bet I can drag at least one anecdote of him.
One week of dictation later….
Aimee: I’m starting to get worried here. I’ve already pounded out 6,000 words…and we’re not quite to the one-quarter mark yet. I thought you said you’d give me a short story.
Hunter: I am.
Aimee: A short story is under 7,500 words. A novelette would be okay — that’s 7,500 words to 17,500 words. More than that and we’re in novella territory and pushing into my fall deadline for Wolf Landing.
Hunter: Do you want to hear this story or not?
Aimee [sighing]: Okay. What happened next?
***
In other words, your bonus short story is turning into a bonus novella and Wolf Landing might arrive in late fall rather than in mid fall. I swear it’s not my fault. Here, how about you take a poll to help me decide on a title so Hunter can make me ignore that request just like he did your previous one?
June 28, 2016
An urban fantasy cross promotion
Looking for a few great books to read? I’m taking part in this group sale of 30 FREE or 99 cent books. I hope you’ll check it out!
June 25, 2016
Lone Wolf Dawn is live!
I’m excited to announce that book two in the Alpha Underground series is live on Amazon! And as a thank you for my loyal fans, you can now catch up on Fen’s two-book adventure for a grand total of 99 cents. That’s right, Lone Wolf Dawn is 99 cents and Half Wolf is free for the next few days. So grab them both while they’re hot!
In case you’re wavering, I thought I’d regale you with a few highlights from the early reviews:
“Romance, passion, suspense, and intrigue all in one book” — happyreader10
“Fun, exciting, thoughtful, suspenseful” — L. Dalzell
“An awesome power packed modern story” — Diana P
“I have never read a book that makes me feel so much a part of their world.” — Celeste C. Crotts
“Rarely does a second book surpass the first, but this does.” — Amazon Customer
Not yet sold? Perhaps it will help to mention that both books are free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.
I hope you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it! And now to dive into Hunter’s background as a Navy EOD (pun intended). His bonus story should go live sometime in August.
June 23, 2016
June SFF Recommendations
A couple of days ago, I shared my favorite recent urban-fantasy reads. If you’re not set on a single genre, though, this trio is just as enticing…and also free with kindle unlimited.
The Mermaid’s Sister by Carrie Anne Noble is just one of those books that makes you feel *good* the whole time you’re reading it. I really enjoyed the hook, the characters, the simplicity and at the same time complexity of this fairy-tale world.
Timebound by Rysa Walker includes some of the best parts of The Time Traveler’s Wife (but the girl gets to be the time traveler!) combined with some of the best parts of Connie Willis’s Blackout (but without the excess of characters). Overall, a great young-adult read.
Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker is a Star-Wars-esque book with just a little more depth. It’s fast, it’s fun, and the heroine is perfect. I read all three books in the current series over the course of a long weekend so clear your schedule before you pick up book one!
How about you? Read any good books lately?
June SFF Recommendatioins
A couple of days ago, I shared my favorite recent urban-fantasy reads. If you’re not set on a single genre, though, this trio is just as enticing…and also free with kindle unlimited.
The Mermaid’s Sister by Carrie Anne Noble is just one of those books that makes you feel *good* the whole time you’re reading it. I really enjoyed the hook, the characters, the simplicity and at the same time complexity of this fairy-tale world.
Timebound by Rysa Walker includes some of the best parts of The Time Traveler’s Wife (but the girl gets to be the time traveler!) combined with some of the best parts of Connie Willis’s Blackout (but without the excess of characters). Overall, a great young-adult read.
Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker is a Star-Wars-esque book with just a little more depth. It’s fast, it’s fun, and the heroine is perfect. I read all three books in the current series over the course of a long weekend so clear your schedule before you pick up book one!
How about you? Read any good books lately?
June 20, 2016
June urban fantasy on Kindle Unlimited
I’ve read so many delightful books since my last recommendation post that I’m going to have to break my reviews into two installments. This one is the most relevant to most of you — strictly in the realm of urban fantasy. So, without further ado, let’s stuff your kindle!
Moon Born by Marina Finlayson is different, deep, and thought-provoking. This shifter novella has intense character development and top-notch worldbuilding…just like all of the author’s other books. (Yes, I’m a fan.)
Grim Haven by Jen Rasmussen is beautifully written and also entirely gripping. This urban-fantasy novel includes a great hook (a heroine who makes magic by writing story spells in her own blood), an intriguing evil to battle against (which I want to tell you about, but won’t for fear of spoiling the plot), and a light love story with an enticing romantic lead. Sold yet? Like all of the titles in this post, Grim Haven is free to borrow with Kindle Unlimited!
Descended from Dragons by Tricia Owens is everything urban fantasy should be…plus dragon shifters! I particularly loved the Las-Vegas-turned-magical world, complete with gargoyle shifter, cursed pawn shop, underage master magician, and werewolf who’s reluctant to shift to two legs. Try it, you won’t regret it.
Want up-to-the-minute information on books you really have to read? I’ve been posting my recommendations as I finish them on this facebook group. I hope you’ll drop by and share your own favorite reads!
June 18, 2016
Two tips for aspiring writers
Now that I’ve entered the digital age and joined facebook, I’m fielding a lot of questions from new and aspiring writers. Actually, some days seems like every one of my readers has a manuscript stashed away in their closet…which I shouldn’t find entirely surprising given the fact that my voracious reading habit is what made me want to write in the first place. If that sounds like you as well, here are a couple of answers to frequently asked questions to help steer you in the right direction.
Question #1: Will you read my unpublished book and give me advice?
First of all, I’m thrilled to hear you’re writing! That is definitely the best way to make your literary dreams come true. However, I’m afraid the sheer quantity of these requests has made me unable to check out anyone’s unpublished manuscripts. Instead, I recommend seeking out a writer’s group in your area or joining an online group like Critters.org.
That said, if you comment below with the link to your book once it’s live on Amazon, I’ll take a quick look if it’s enrolled in the Kindle Unlimited program. I’m a tough reader, but if your book floats my boat I’ll review it and share it just like I would any other title I truly enjoy. (If I don’t like it, I’ll probably quit on page two and will tell no one.)
Question #2: I’ve recently published my first book and am shocked by how hard it is to get visibility. Can you give me any advice on helping my labor of love see the light of day?
When you self-publish, you become a publisher as well as an author. The best resource I’ve found for learning that new skill set is Kboards Writer’s Cafe forum. Read the posts there for about a month and you’ll know most of what I know…then try it all out and see what works for you and your books. Good luck! It’s a slow uphill slog at first, but the payoff is worth it if you stick to your guns.
Do you have other questions about writing and publishing in the modern age? Comment below and I’ll do my best to answer. Thanks for reading!
June 15, 2016
24 Amazing Facts About Wolves
How much do you know about wolves? Here’s a quick summary of the most fascinating points from Barry Holstun Lopez’s Of Wolves and Men to get your imagination soaring.
Daily life
Wolves can live for a week without food and can travel for twenty miles without resting. In the winter, they average 30 miles traveled per day and one pack was reported traveling 125 miles in one day.
The lupine digestive system is made for feast and famine cycles. Wolves won’t eat for three or four days straight, then they’ll gorge on up to 18 pounds of meat, will nap for a few hours, then will gorge again.
A wolf’s diet consists of deer, moose, elk, musk ox, wild sheep, caribou, reindeer, beaver, buffalo, hares, marmots, mice, squirrels, grouse, geese, rabbits, fish, carrion, and insects.
What you see is what you get
Wolves aren’t nearly as big as you’d think from their massive paw prints (twice the size of a similar weight dog). Instead, they average 45 to 100 pounds in size, with smaller wolves living in warmer climates and bigger wolves living in colder climates.
An expert can tell a female wolf from a male wolf even from a distance. Females average five to ten pounds lighter, their hair is often redder, and their leg hairs are smoother.
Females are also faster than males. They grow up faster (two years versus three years) and run faster than males of a similar age.
Not every wolf is created equal
The Iranian wolf is small, doesn’t howl, and travels alone or in very small packs. Worldwide, there are 37 subspecies included in Canis lupus.
The canine lineage split away from the feline lineage when the former moved onto plains and lost their retractable claws. Yes, that does mean your cat has a reason to feel superior to your dog.
A wolf pack
The average wolf pack contains five to eight members, but packs ranging from two to thirty-six wolves have been sighted.
The pack often breaks up after breeding season, but they drift back together to raise the pups as a unit.
Alpha dominance
There are three hierarchies within a wolf pack — the male hierarchy, the female hierarchy, and a both-sex hierarchy. A wolf’s ranking is often age-based (the older you are, the more dominant you are).
The pack’s social structure can be entirely reversed in play. But the dominance hierarchy is important for determining breeding, feeding, travelling, and territorial maintenance.
In the wild, an alpha wolf scent marks or inspects previous scent marks every two minutes, hitting every point in the territory at least once every three weeks. Markings are concentrated at trail junctions and may be primarily used to help younger wolves map their range and to communicate with absent members.
The omega wolf is often the previous alpha or beta (second in command), and his treatment seems to coincide with how he treated his underlings in the past. If he was a good leader, he’s treated well; if a bad leader, he’s treated badly. The omega follows the pack at a distance and is sometimes allowed to help drive off trespassers or even to rejoin the pack.
Pups
Only one female in each pack has pups each year. This alpha female is in charge of choosing the denning site, which determines the entire pack’s territory for four to five weeks.
Wolves first howl at four weeks old…if they live that long. The species has a 60% mortality rate between birth and adulthood.
The average life span of a wolf in the wild is 8 to 9 years.
Wolf behavior
Howling is used to assemble the pack for a hunt, to call the alarm, to locate distant members, and even to synchronize moods from a distance.
A wolf’s howl can carry up to six miles.
Wolves don’t bark much. But when they do, a bark is a warning.
In hot weather, wolves lie in bodies of water to cool off and they also become nocturnal in the heat.
Some scientists believe that wolves hunt more by sound than by smell, although they can sometimes scent prey from a couple of miles distant. In fact, wolves aren’t that great at detecting faint odors, although they are quite adept at discerning subtleties within odors (your pee vs. my pee).
Bloodthirsty beasts
Wolves kill trespassers of their species, especially if the latter threaten their pups. They also kill pups who act strangely and they may kill injured pack mates. Despite the apparent bloodthirstiness of those observations, wolves usually work out issues ritualistically within the pack.
The Eskimo believe that certain wolves in a pack never kill while others specialize in small game.
Yes, almost every item on this list gave me an idea for a story! How about you?
