Kim Iverson Headlee's Blog: Book Musings from the Maze of Twisty Passages, page 15

Accolon is hooked in Ch 11/Sc1c of RAGING SEA by @KimHeadlee #amwriting

Graphic overlay c2016 by Kim Headlee. Here in the Appalachians of southwestern Virginia, we might be in for another cold snap or two before winter decides to release its grip for the next six months. 

But for now, the sun is shining, the breeze is balmy and delicious, the daffodils are in full flower, the grass is greening and lengthening, and our goats are frisking about like yearling kids.

Okay, fine. Three of our goats are yearling kids! But even the oldsters are kicking up their heels in celebration of spring.

It's spring in today's excerpt of Raging Sea too—the "lusty month of May," to be precise and to borrow a phrase from Lerner & Lowe's musical Camelot. And Accolon stands far closer to throwing his self-control away for his best friend's wife Morghe than he ever thought he would get.


Previous excerpts of Raging Sea 
Chapters 1–6 in Raging Sea: Reckonings  Chapter 7: Sc 1 | Sc 2 | Sc 3 | Sc 4 | Sc 5a | Sc 5b |
Chapter 8: Sc 1a | Sc 1b | Sc 2 | Sc 3a | Sc 3b |
Chapter 9: Sc 1a | Sc 1b | Sc 1c | Sc 1d | Sc 1e |
Chapter 10: Sc 1a | Sc 1b | Sc 2a | Sc 2b | Sc 3a | Sc 3b | Sc 3c |
Chapter 11: Sc 1a |  Sc 1b |
Raging Sea Chapter 11, Scene 1c©2016 by Kim HeadleeAll rights reserved.
It galled him to retreat, but he needed distance to keep from acting upon either of his suicidal desires—to kill her, or to take her right here and now. He dipped his head and backed toward the door. “You needn’t trouble yourself with this mission. I can arrange everything.” And I can complete my original mission at last.

“Of that I’m sure.” Her tone told him exactly how far she trusted him, and it made him wonder when she had started reading minds. “But everything is already arranged. I am visiting Maun, with my husband’s blessing, to better acquaint myself with our people living there, and he thinks it’s a fine idea for his best warrior and most trusted friend to escort me. The fact that I insisted upon traveling via a merchant’s vessel with some extra passengers, rather than a private one, demonstrates my willingness to be frugal with Clan Moray’s resources.”

“And Urien isn’t traveling with you because too many clan matters pin him here. How convenient.”

“So many, in fact, that he shan’t miss your presence for several days. I suggest you get started.” She pointed a nod toward the door, and he was only too happy to oblige her. “But, Lord Accolon—” A low thrum of warning in her tone made him stop and turn. “The next time you call me mad or use any other disrespectful term or tone, I shall lop off your pleasure pole and feed it to you.”

He couldn’t help but recall the gruesome demonstration of that very act in the Scotti laird’s hall, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Morghe really could read minds.

Sweeping her a deep bow, he couldn’t help but grin.


***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

Contest winners, and Garrin gains the upper hand in KINGS by @KimHeadlee and PD Novak

A funny thing happened on the way to
the battlefield, but no one is laughing.
Kings by Kim Iverson Headlee
and Patricia Duffy Novak. Today on The Maze I am pleased to offer another excerpt from Kings , a novella I cowrote with longtime friend and writing mentor Patricia Duffy Novak.

But first, please join me in congratulating the following winners (already notified) of my latest contests! 


Autographed copy of Dawnflight : Nicole H.Print copy of The Color of Vengeance : Frank K.E-copy of Dawnflight : Kayelle A. E-book of choice by Kim Headlee: Barbara B., Lawri F.
Didn't win this time? No worries; my next contest will be starting soon! To be the first to hear about my giveaways and receive other cool content, sign up for The Dawnflier , my monthly newsletter. :)


As promised, here is another excerpt from Kings —and Garrin gets the upper hand!

EXCERPT

Years of practice in hand-to-hand combat had honed Garrin’s reflexes to a point as sharp as this Arthur map Uther’s sword. The instant the blade’s pressure eased, Garrin dropped and rolled, crashing into the stranger’s legs. As the man fell, Garrin yanked the sword from his grasp and sent it flying, then reached for his adversary’s throat. Garrin watched in satisfaction as the other man’s face turned red.

He’d teach this fool not to invade Helvar, regardless of whatever magical protection he bore.

“One hell, you say. I hope you enjoy it there.”


BOOK INFORMATION
GENRE – Fantasy (Sword & Sorcery)
PUBLICATION DATE – 3/16/2016
LENGTH – 10K words
PUBLISHER – Pendragon Cove Press
COVER ARTIST – Natasha Brown


BOOK SYNOPSIS
A funny thing happened on the way to the battlefield.

Arthur, High King of Brydein, must fight the last of the rebel kings to acknowledge his right to govern them all: his old nemesis, King Urien of Dalriada. Before he can lead his army to where Urien’s forces sit ensconced, however, a fey man appears from the midst of a sudden, eerie storm to block the way. The man claims to be the high king of an altogether unknown land… and he wields uncanny power the likes of which Arthur has never seen.

Garrin, High King of Helvar, steps into a patch of mist. A breath later, he’s standing toe to toe with a man claiming to be the high king of an altogether unknown land… and this warrior-king is leading an army into Helvar, wielding a sword that resists Garrin’s magic. Only, the man insists that his sword isn’t enchanted and that Garrin isn’t in Helvar anymore.

What the bloody hell—or five hells, in Garrin’s case—is a high king to do?

Their encounter reeks of an enemy mage’s dark arts, and no one is laughing.


***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

The Business of Writing: Free Email Marketing for Authors #MFRWOrg #ASMSG

Smiling girl with dandelions
c2015 by AndrOleksiienko
Depositphotos ID 74345911. Welcome to Part 5 of my Business of Writing series, Marketing for Authors 101!

In previous installments I covered:
Dos and don'ts of Twitter marketing,Giveaways, "99c is the new Free", andThe BookBub "Roller Coaster."

For an excellent overview about book marketing, I commend to your attention this article posted on the BTSEMag blog by DP Denman. My favorite bit: 

"Marketing isn’t about sales. Weird, eh? Think about it. When you see a commercial on television, how often are you in a position to buy what they’re selling at the same time? Unless they’re talking about pizza and wings, not very often.

Marketing is about building name recognition that eventually leads to sales." (emphasis mine)

Email is yet another form of getting the word out about your books, and there are many ways to go about it, free as well as paid. In Part 6 of Marketing 101 for Authors, currently planned for next week, I will share my experiences with paid email book marketing venues other than BookBub. Today I'm here to discuss:


Free Email Marketing
A publicist I had hired a decade ago to help promote my second NY-published novel, Liberty , had a saying that went something like this:

Marketing requires three elements:
skill, money, and time.

What you lack in one element,
you must make up for by exercising the other two.

Jo-Ann is no longer in the PR business, but her words continue to guide me, and I hope they resonate with you too.

If you lack the money hire folks to market your book, you cannot just ignore the promoting and hope for the best. That's how I found myself having to rebuild my audience from scratch in 2013 when I decided to dive into the shark tank that is Independent Publishing.

Trust me on this point: you need to pour your own time into self-promotion, and become adept at using the requisite software tools, if necessary.

The most obvious form of free email marketing is for you to distribute your own newsletter. Rather than reinventing that particular wheel, I direct your attention to my earlier blog post about The Author Newsletter.

I still email my monthly newsletter, The Dawnflier , via Mail Chimp (the free version) as well as to a list of several hundred contacts who have not yet elected to switch over. In it I usually share exclusive content with my subscribers, as well as giving them updates about my books, upcoming tours, giveaways, and personal appearances. If you would like to join them, I would be delighted, thanks! The signup link is HERE.

As mentioned in that post about newsletters, I experienced a bit of a learning curve to develop my HTML-based newsletter design. That curve flattened once I discovered the "save as template" option, however. Now I call up my newsletter's template, replace the text and photo(s) as necessary, and then overwrite the previous month's template. This trick is particularly useful for reporting information about upcoming appearances, and blog tours whose signup periods can span several months.

BookBub offers 98 Book Marketing Tips, of all types and stripes. Tip #10 applies to the topic of the author newsletter:

10. Welcome new subscribers with an email autoresponse. When people subscribe to updates from you via your website, send them a welcome email including either a link to a permafree ebook, sample chapters, or some sort of freebie as a “thank you” for signing up.

This is something I confess I need to get set up, since I do have a permafree title, The Color of Vengeance , that I can offer to new subscribers!




Free Email Marketing Other Than Your Own Newsletter
I am disappointed to report that the list of sites offering free email book marketing is dwindling rapidly.

Many sites have either excruciatingly long (on the order of 6 months) queues for their free email promo opportunities, have converted to paid advertising only, or have disappeared altogether.

One that falls into the latter category deserves special mention here.

HarperCollins did a stellar job of shafting thousands of indie authors by buying the huge mailing list that had been built by The Midlist, which the publishing giant now uses exclusively for promoting their own authors. I was fortunate enough to have discovered—and had several of my books selected for free promotion by—The Midlist last year prior to the buyout. Those free promos netted me dozens of paid downloads and pushed my books to Amazon "bestseller" status for a day or two after their promotion each time. I mourn its loss.

Since the list for "free email book promotions" is an ever-changing one, I invite you to run an Internet search of that phrase. I will list two that don't seem to be going anywhere any time soon, both of which are geared toward romance readers and authors:
Romance Lives Forever blog run by Kayelle AllenRomance Readers Club (if you can schedule your free promo 6 months in advance)
Another option—not technically free, but it entails a one-time cost so it should pay for itself sooner rather than later—is to purchase the "KDROI" (Kindle Direct Return on Investment) browser plugin offered by 5MinutePublishing.com. The direct link to the software is HERE, though the site may require you to sign up for their newsletter (and I do apologize for that annoyance) before you can establish an account with them.

I've found KDROI to be well worth any momentary annoyance, however, since it allows me to schedule free, permafree, and 99-cent promos with around two dozen sites at a clip.

If you have experienced memorable results via free email promotions, please leave a comment; we would all love to hear about them!


***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

Meet Angelica, narrator of IN THE CONTEXT OF LOVE by @LindaKSienkwicz for #EggcerptExchange

For today's Eggcerpt Exchange entry on The Maze, I am pleased to introduce author Linda K. Sienkiewicz, who writes women’s fiction/contemporary romance. Her debut novel is titled  In the Context of Love . 


Synopsis:
Angelica Schirrick wonders how her life could have gone so far off-track. She remembers her forbidden high school romance with Joe Vadas, the son of Hungarian immigrants. Scandal tore them apart, Joe disappeared, and she’s spent years trying to recover from the split. Shortly after, a devastating family secret shattered her sense of self, leading to a multitude of bad choices that include marrying a man with a missing finger and secrets of his own. She leaves her husband and, with two children in tow, begins a journey of self-discovery that leads her back home to Ohio. She must find a way to put the past to rest before she can be open to life and a second chance at love.

And what if Joe returns? Will he help her or tear her family further apart?

Praise for In the Context of Love:
Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of #1 NY Times Bestseller DEEP END OF THE OCEAN: “With humor and tenderness, but without blinking, Linda K. Sienkiewicz turns her eye on the predator-prey savannah of the young and still somehow hopeful.”

Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of Michigan Notable Book MOTHERS TELL YOUR DAUGHTERS: “Sienkiewicz’s powerful and richly detailed debut novel is at once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey. It should be required reading for all wayward daughters, and their mothers, too.”

Eggcerpt from In the Context of Love:
The word prey rose from my stomach and lodged in my throat. My mother’s face flashed in front of me as I turned to look at him. Everything inside urged me to keep walking. He could easily outrun me and pull me down from behind, like a yellow-eyed cat on a gazelle. I read in a magazine that meeting your attacker’s eyes is the key to survival, so I pulled my jacket around myself and stayed focused, ready to push all my energy into hitting back or knocking him off balance, even though I could hardly stand straight. Headlights illuminated the street, throwing shadows; three teenage boys inside a car looked menacingly at me as it passed, exhaust spewing a noxious smell.

“I say something wrong?” Gavin asked. Teeth clenched; I held steady, giving him nothing. He tipped his head to the side. “Hey, I’m not the bad guy. The bad guy’s the one hiding between the buildings, circling you in a low-rider. You shouldn’t be alone on the streets this late.”

I straightened up, trying to look taller as he closed the space between us. My nipples pulled tight. “You can’t hurt me.”

“Hurt you? Why would I do that?” He put his hand under my chin and asked me my name. I wondered if he could tell I was shaking when I told him. He said, “Pleased to meet you, Angelica. I’m Gavin Schirrick, protector of lost women and stray cats. Or is it lost cats and stray woman? You make me forget. You make me forget everything.”

I saw the flash of his teeth as his lips caught mine before I could turn my head. Maybe I didn’t want to turn away. He was 80 proof—smooth, clean, and potent with a peppery bite. His hand went to the back of my neck as he teased his tongue inside my mouth.

I didn’t think to ask what he wanted to forget.

Buy Links:
In the Context of Love
may be purchased in paperback or e-book editions via: 
Amazon paperback | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | 

Here’s an interview with Angelica Schirrick, the narrator of  In the Context of Love :

The Maze (TM): What is your birthdate?
Angelica Schirrick (AS): I came screaming into this world on June 30, 1958, weighing a mere 6 pounds and 5 ounces.

TM: Where were you born?
AS: I was delivered by midwife Rose Rumble at my great aunt’s farm in Wisconsin. My mother, since she wasn’t married, was supposed to give me up for adoption. I’m glad she didn’t.

TM: What’s your favorite type of pet?
AS: I grew up with a gorgeous fluffy collie named Cookie, so I’m awfully fond of dogs, but at this point in my life, I’d rather have something low maintenance. I’m thinking goldfish, canary, or a rock. Yes, a pet rock would be swell.

TM: Who is your significant other?
AS: The “Gypsy King” or Hungarian heartthrob Joe (Jozsef) Vadas will always be my first and only love.

TM: What is your secret desire?
AS: I would love to surprise Joe with a trip to France to visit Jim Morrison’s gravesite in Pere Lachaise. He’s such a Doors fan. I’m not (please don’t tell) but a whole week in Paris with Joe would be heavenly.

About the Author:
Author Linda K. Sienkiewicz attributes her creative drive to her artistic mother, who taught her to sew, and her father, who let her monkey around with the gadgets in his workshop. Her poetry, short stories and art have been published in more than fifty literary journals. She has a poetry chapbook award from Bottom Dog Press and an MFA from The University of Southern Maine.

Social Media Links:
Website | Twitter (@LindaKSienkwicz) | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook |


***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

Have a sparkly #EggcerptExchange with The Marquesa's Necklace by @PJMacLayne

Add sparkle to your Monday with
The Marquesa's Necklace by P.J. MacLayne!

Synopsis:
Harmony Duprie enjoyed her well-ordered life in the quiet little town of Oak Grove—until her arrest for drug trafficking. Cleared of all charges, she wants nothing more than to return to the uneventful lifestyle of a historical researcher she once savored.

But when her beloved old car “George” is stolen and explodes into a ball of flames, it sets off a series of events that throws her plans into turmoil. Toss in a police detective that may or may not be interested in her, an attractive but mysterious stranger on her trail, and an ex-boyfriend doing time, and Harmony’s life freefalls into a downward spiral of chaos.

Now she has to use her research skills to figure out who is behind the sinister incidents plaguing her, and why. And she better take it seriously, like her life depends upon finding the right answers.

Because it might.

Excerpt
“Have a seat, please,” he said, indicating an armless office chair—at least its seat was padded. He sat on the other side of a desk covered with an assortment of files and paperwork, and picked up a file from the top of the stack.

“Harmony,” he said tentatively.

“Detective Thomason,” He might be trying to be friendly, but I still hadn’t forgiven him for arresting me.

He cleared his throat, and set the file back on his desk. “Did you let anyone borrow your car today?” he asked.

“No, my keys are right here.” I started digging through the contents of my purse.

“I’ll take your word for it,” he said, after I pulled out my checkbook, a packet of pink tissues, and a paperback with an almost-naked man on the front cover and piled them on the corner of his desk. His mouth twitched. “Have you made any new enemies recently, Miss Duprie?” I guess he got my message about the terms of our relationship.

“Besides a certain insufferable cop?” Even in the artificial fluorescent light, I saw the red rising in his cheeks. I could almost hear him counting to ten as I pretended to consider the question. “I think Larry, the florist, is ticked off that I’m not receiving flowers anymore. And Bart at the grocery store yelled at me last week when I went through the ten items or less line with fourteen items. But what does that have to do with someone stealing and wrecking my car?”

Interview with Harmony Duprie from The Marquesa’s Necklace and Her Ladyship’s Ring.

What’s your job?
I’m currently working as a researcher for a group of authors. Most of my research is on the English Victorian era, but I’ve also explored the life of the scientists at the McMurdo station on Antarctica and the Rockefeller family. Before that I was a librarian for the City of Oak Grove. Circumstances forced me out of that job.

What’s your favorite place to visit?
I love the Washington D.C. area. The museums, the stores, the large number of activities. No matter     how often I make the trip, I’m never bored. But I don’t want to live there, it’s too busy and too crowded for me to stay for more than a week or so before I want to go home.

What’s your most important goal?
I want to be the chief librarian in a small-town library. I’ve got a Master’s Degree in Library Science, and until I was arrested from drug trafficking, I thought I had a change. I wasn’t, of course. Selling drugs, that is. But that’s still my dream. I may have to move to make it happen, and that’s what’s holding me back. I really like living in Oak Grove.

What’s your favorite food?
Anything Italian, really. Spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parmesan. I don’t go as far as making my own pasta but I do make my own sauce. I usually make too much of whatever I’m preparing so that I have leftovers to either share with my landlords or have to eat later on.

Are you wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between?
I don’t share this information very often, but I’m relatively wealthy, thanks to an inheritance from my parents. I just choose not to live that way. I’d rather live only on what I earn. I rent an apartment, buy my furniture second-hand, cook for myself. It’s simpler that way.

Buy links for The Marquesa’s Necklace:
Barnes & Noble | Kindle | iTunes | Kobo |

Author Bio:
Born and raised among the rolling hills of western Pennsylvania, P.J. MacLayne still finds inspiration for her books in that landscape. She is a computer geek by day and a writer by night who currently lives in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. When she's not in front of a computer screen, she might be found exploring the back roads of the nearby national forests and parks. In addition to the Oak Grove Mysteries, she is also the author of the Free Wolves paranormal romance series.

P.J. MacLayne can be reached on: Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Amazon |
***
Kings by Kim Iverson Headlee and Patricia Duffy Novak
is a FREE Kindle download today; hurry and snag your copy!

***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

New Fantasy KINGS by @KimHeadlee and PD Novak is FREE on Kindle 3/21/16! #ASMG #IARTG

Their encounter reeks of an enemy mage’s dark arts,
and no one is laughing.
Kings by Kim Iverson Headlee
and Patricia Duffy Novak. Today on The Maze I am thrilled to introduce Kings , a novella I cowrote with longtime friend and writing mentor Patricia Duffy Novak!

BOOK INFORMATION
GENRE – Fantasy (Sword & Sorcery)
PUBLICATION DATE – 3/16/2016
LENGTH – 10K words
PUBLISHER – Pendragon Cove Press
COVER ARTIST – Natasha Brown


BOOK SYNOPSIS
A funny thing happened on the way to the battlefield.

Arthur, High King of Brydein, must fight the last of the rebel kings to acknowledge his right to govern them all: his old nemesis, King Urien of Dalriada. Before he can lead his army to where Urien’s forces sit ensconced, however, a fey man appears from the midst of a sudden, eerie storm to block the way. The man claims to be the high king of an altogether unknown land… and he wields uncanny power the likes of which Arthur has never seen.

Garrin, High King of Helvar, steps into a patch of mist. A breath later, he’s standing toe to toe with a man claiming to be the high king of an altogether unknown land… and this warrior-king is leading an army into Helvar, wielding a sword that resists Garrin’s magic. Only, the man insists that his sword isn’t enchanted and that Garrin isn’t in Helvar anymore.

What the bloody hell—or five hells, in Garrin’s case—is a high king to do?

Their encounter reeks of an enemy mage’s dark arts, and no one is laughing.

Excerpt

Something prickled in Arthur’s awareness, and he felt the hair of his arms lift. He glanced up to see a massive thunderhead boiling across the sky. Heat lightning flared within the cloud, blue tinted and alien.

Can this be Morghe’s doing?

It was no secret that his sister practiced the forbidden arts, and she seemed to take perverse delight in directing her petty spells at Arthur. She had never forgiven him for forcing her to marry Urien, even though the match had made her a queen, but Arthur had never perceived her magic as a serious threat.

Had she learned how to control the weather? Was this why Urien had chosen to leave his citadel and go on the offensive rather than digging in and letting Arthur come to him as the other rebel kings had done?

The knot in Arthur’s stomach gave its answer.


CHARACTER BIOS
Arthur is a warrior-king, military strategist, diplomat, and great in the sack with his wife, Gyan. They have three children. He loves a good friendly bout with swords, blunted or otherwise, and can hold his own in a verbal duel too.

Garrin is a mage-king and warrior, not so great with diplomacy but is willing to learn, and you’ll have to ask him how good he is in the sack with his significant other, Kaitlyn. If you dare. He is well versed in herbal lore and makes a terrific camp stew.

***

Kings by Kim Iverson Headlee and Patricia Duffy Novak
is a FREE Kindle download today; hurry and snag your copy!

***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

Accolon IS tempted in Ch 11/Sc 1b of RAGING SEA by @KimHeadlee #amwriting

Graphic overlay c2016 by Kim Headlee. As far as I know, I'm the only author of Arthurian fiction who has given any thought to the viewpoint of  Morgan le Fay's favorite lover, Sir Accolon.

To give Accolon some depth, and in keeping with fine Arthurian tradition, I made him be the best friend of Morghe's husband Urien. Unlike with Lancelot, Guinevere, and Arthur, however, in The Dragon's Dove Chronicles the friendship shared between Urien and Accolon was in place long before either of them had met Morghe.

All of that to say, there is much more at stake here than just two random (if powerful) men butting heads over the same woman.

In today's excerpt of Raging Sea , Accolon begins to get an inkling of just how hot burns the fire that he secretly yearns to play with.


Previous excerpts of Raging Sea 
Chapters 1–6 in Raging Sea: Reckonings  Chapter 7: Sc 1 | Sc 2 | Sc 3 | Sc 4 | Sc 5a | Sc 5b |
Chapter 8: Sc 1a | Sc 1b | Sc 2 | Sc 3a | Sc 3b |
Chapter 9: Sc 1a | Sc 1b | Sc 1c | Sc 1d | Sc 1e |
Chapter 10: Sc 1a | Sc 1b | Sc 2a | Sc 2b | Sc 3a | Sc 3b | Sc 3c |
Chapter 11: Sc 1a |
Raging Sea Chapter 11, Scene 1b©2016 by Kim HeadleeAll rights reserved.
“Practicing your diplomacy, I see.”

Accolon turned. Morghe was wiping her hands on a cloth and grinning. She dropped the cloth onto the table and stepped around it to within arm’s length of him. Dressed in the plain-spun garb she favored while working inside this chamber, she looked more like a nun than the chieftainess of the most powerful clan of Brydein—and yet that only heightened her allure.

To rein in his emotions, he tried to picture her in the former environment, on her knees with hands folded and head bowed. It didn’t help much.

He cleared his throat. “As are you, my lady.” To her raised eyebrow he added, “Excusing a servant from duty because of a mere cut.”

“Not so ‘mere’ as you might think. You didn’t see how long it took me to stanch the blood. Any deeper and she’d have lost the tip.” Not one trace of defensiveness marred her tone.

She undulated closer; he bridled the instinct to retreat. Nothing was happening between them, and nothing ever would.

“You summoned me, Chieftainess?”

“Indeed. How is your shoulder?” She laid a gentle hand upon the exact spot she had field-dressed last year despite the fact that he would have killed her if he hadn’t been hit by that damned spear. “I’ve noticed how you rub it sometimes.” Her pressure increased as she began small circling motions that did feel good once the sting abated.

He shrugged her hand away. “It is well enough, my lady. How may I serve you this day?”

She searched his face for God alone knew what, for God alone knew for how long. At last, she withdrew a small object from the pouch attached to her belt.

It was a loop of gold wire, curved and strung with three pearls of different colors: white, silver, and black.

She reached behind his head to pull his ear close to her lips. “I need you, Lord Accolon, to retrieve this bauble’s mate.”

Straightening, he resisted the urge to bristle. “Please permit me to remind you, Chieftainess, that groveling about on hands and knees is what slaves are for.”

Her laugh tinkled like a delicate bell as she smoothed her hair where it had been pulled back into its braid. “It isn’t lost.” She laid that warm, fragrant hand against his cheek… and of a sudden, groveling in the dirt at her feet was the only thing he could think about doing. Sheer force of will kept him upright, gazing into her alluring violet eyes. “Find the crofter who lives near the spot where you and I… danced last year, and bring him and everyone in his household to me.” She lowered her hand, and with the other one rolled the pearls between thumb and forefinger. “This will prove that I sent you.”

He felt a tingle as her fingertips brushed his palm in the act of giving him the earring. Another, lower part of him stirred awake too. To distract her from noticing it, he let his ire flare. “You must be mad if you think they can stay here. My lady.”

“Of course they shan’t.” She sidled closer, brushing the bulge with her hip. Damn her, he couldn’t prevent it from twitching. A slow, sultry smile parted her lips. It took his last shred of self-discipline to resist the temptation of sampling them. “That is why you shall be escorting all of us to Maun.”

It galled him to retreat, but he needed distance to keep from acting upon either of his suicidal desires—to kill her, or to take her right here and now. He dipped his head and backed toward the door. “You needn’t trouble yourself with this mission. I can arrange everything.” And I can complete my original mission at last.

***
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— Follow Kim on Twitter
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— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

Don't let in the STRANGER AT MY DOOR by @mari_manning today's #EggcerptExchange

I hope for your sake that it's daylight while you're reading this post about Mari Manning's romantic suspense novel Stranger at My Door . Just its cover makes me want to turn on all the lights! :)


Today for the Eggcerpt Exchange I present character interviews of both the heroine Dinah Pittman, and the hero Rafe Morales of Stranger at My Door .

The Maze (TM): Dinah, where did you grow up?
Dinah: I grew up in a small town in Texas. I’ll tell you the name, but it doesn’t matter since no one’s ever heard of it. It’s El Royo. For the first 17 years of my life, I loved it, then a crime destroyed my family, and I couldn’t get away fast enough.

TM: When is your birthday?
Dinah: I’m 25, so you do the math. I was born on November 1, and my mother, who believed in the stars, painted the night sky at it appeared the day I was born on the ceiling of my bedroom.

TM: Ah, a fellow Scorpio! That answers a lot. :D What would you do if you won the lottery?
Dinah: Pay back the money my father stole.

TM: Very commendable, Dinah, thank you. Rafe, where did you grow up?
Rafe: I grew up on Hacienda Osito, which means Little Bear Ranch in Spanish.

TM: Care to share your worst fear or nightmare?
Rafe: I’ve lived through my worst fear – I watched someone I love die before my eyes. Something broke in me that night. Most people call it my nerve. My mother swears it’s my alma, which means soul. Whatever it is, I hope it mends, but I don’t believe I will ever be whole again.

TM: Oh my. I hope your alma does heal soon, Rafe. Thank you both for stopping by The Maze today.

About Stranger at My Door by Mari Manning

The only thing standing between Dinah Pittman and a murderer is a man she’s afraid to trust…

As far as Dinah Pittman is concerned, men can’t be trusted. Especially cops. Her own father was a cop and a convicted felon who stole a small fortune before dying in prison. The best part? No one knows where the money is…and someone is willing to kill off everyone who knows anything about it.

And Dinah is next.

Rafe Morales left the Dallas police force to settle down to a simpler life in the small Texas town of El Royo. Instead, he finds himself protecting an infuriating, tough-as-nails, oh-so-sexy victim—and driving himself crazy with a thoroughly unprofessional desire.

But as the body count rises, Rafe and Dinah must find a way to trust each other… before they both end up dead.

Excerpt

The front door rebounded and clipped Rafe’s shoulder. He kicked it closed with his boot before raking his flashlight beam across the unlit entryway. The hall was clear. His heart thumping against ribs, he burst into the living room. His light hit the figure of a woman, and his feet froze. He tilted the beam up and framed Dinah Pittman’s expressionless face.

Most girls would have screamed or hid when he kicked in the door. Not this one. She had balls, he’d give her that. 

Her forearm lifted to shield her eyes from the light. “Who are you? What do you want?” She sounded tired. “I already told Teke, I don’t know where the money is.” 

Rafe lowered the flashlight and rolled his shoulder to loosen a tight muscle. There were about two dozen abandoned bungalows in this part of town. When he saw a candle flickering in the window, he’d expected a confrontation with teenagers or maybe a squatter.

He stepped into the candlelight. “Officer Morales, ma’am. Got something against electricity?” As soon as the words were out, he regretted them. The pink flyers. She’d needed money to turn on the lights.

Her mouth tightened. “Get out.” Turning to a small table by the window, she gathered up scattered cards, probably her tarot cards. Had she found customers already?

He studied her as he summoned up an appropriate apology. She wore cut-offs and a white T-shirt. His eyes swept down her slim legs to her bare feet and red toenails before he could stop himself. Why were pain-in-the-ass women always hot?

“I didn’t mean to upset you—”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“That’s tough to do with you around.”

Her hand stilled for a moment, then returned to its task. “You could have knocked.”

“Sometimes we get squatters in these abandoned houses. They’re more likely to be discouraged by a show of force.”

“I could have been a mass murderer. Aren’t you supposed to call for backup?” She glanced down at his flashlight. “If I was a bad guy with a gun, you’d be dead, Officer Morales.”

“Rafe.”

She’d read him right. He’d tried to pull out his service revolver when he broke down the door, but—predictably—his hand had turned to Jell-O. After two years, he still couldn’t get past the night in Dallas when his beautiful, daring Sam’s luck ran out, and he’d avenged her but failed to live up to his own lofty ideals. So he relied on the element of surprise and big fists.

Gathering up the cards, she set them in a neat stack. “As you can see, I am not a squatter.” Her gaze flickered to his flashlight, then back up to his face. “There’s an empty house about two blocks down if you’re determined to rescue one.”

The corner of his mouth inched up. She’d be a handful… for the right man, which sure as hell wasn’t him. Not anymore. “Thanks for the tip.”

About Mari Manning

Let’s start with the fun stuff. I love small towns, mysteries, quiet men, laughter, old-fashioned spaghetti dinners. I love boots and shopping and jokes and Hershey’s dark chocolate and white wine. I love lots of things. But my first love is reading.

I love to read. Just about anything, but it has to be well-written. I go through periods where I am into historical novels or romance or mystery or history or biography. I never know when my desires will suddenly change.

Now for the writer-ish, official stuff: Mari Manning is the author of several contemporary romances and three romantic suspense novels set in the Texas Hill Country. Stranger at My Door is the first in her A Murder in Texas series. The second, Stranger in My House will be published by Entangled later this year. The third book in the series is Stranger in My Bed. Currently Mari is working on a series of cozy mysteries.

She and her husband live in Chicago.

Buy links to all the major electronic sites are here: http://www.entangledpublishing.com/stranger-at-my-door/

Contact Mari: manningillinois "at" Gmail.

Visit Mari's website and follow her @mari_manning on Twitter.

***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

The Business of Writing: BookBub Roller Coaster Marketing Ride #MFRWOrg #ASMSG

The Giant Dipper ride, 6/23/2015,
Belmont Park, San Diego, CA (c)2015 by neilld,
Bigstock ID 96268628, editorial license only. Welcome to part 2 of my BookBub marketing adventure, or…
Squealing My Vocal Cords Raw. :)

I may be benched from riding real roller coasters these days, but the BookBub promo of Dawnflight was quite the thrilling ride indeed!

You may recall from last week's description, I ended with the metaphysical peering over the pinnacle of the ride, otherwise known as the stage of:

"Oh, crap, what have I gotten myself into?!?"

You are welcome to read the details in that post, but the bottom line is that I had shelled out close to $500.00 for all the promos I had bought ($380 for the US-only BookBub feature of Dawnflight , and another $102 for several other marketing slots), and because I could host my fan base in my living room, I harbored serious concerns as to whether I would recoup the investment.

Not "when", mind you, but "whether."

Cue the gut churning.


The burst of speed.

In the notes that I had made when I learned of Dawnflight's selection—tips I'll be blogging about in a "lessons learned" post next month—I reminded myself to start checking for sales after 3 p.m. ET on the day of the feature.

This estimate was based upon a statement in the BookBub Deal Checklist: "Your deal will go live on our website between 6-9 a.m. PST, and the email will generally be delivered by 10 a.m.-noon PST."

Still, I couldn't resist taking an early peek. I fired up my KDP dashboard at around 11:15 a.m. that morning and noticed that I had already logged well over a hundred downloads of Dawnflight alone, and its sequels and my standalone books were attracting the attention of buyers too! The needle had already moved into the respectable range on Nook as well.

In an hour those numbers had doubled, and the counters kept spinning at a dizzying rate throughout the afternoon and evening, and well on into the night.


Squealing my vocal cords raw.

I broke even on the BookBub promo investment by 11:00 p.m., around 12 hours into the feature period. By the beginning of the next day, when most of the other paid promos were scheduled to begin, I had already broken even on those too.

At last I could let go of the rail and truly enjoy the feel of the wind whipping my hair and slipping past my face and fingers.


The best coasters have lesser, tighter loops and dips to rekindle your squeals as the ride thunders toward its conclusion, and the coaster that is a BookBub promotion for an indie-published novel is no different.

The first such secondary squeal occurred when I learned that BookBub had placed Dawnflight in its top slot for the Fantasy category that day. The curators also verified my USA Today review blurb, and even mined a few more words from it than I usually use. :)

BookBub Fantasy page, Thursday, 3/3/2016.
And although I've had novels hit the top 20 in an Amazon category— Snow in July stayed among the top 20 Teen Medieval Romance novels for about 10 weeks after it was released (late July–early October, 2014), and BookBub and those other paid promo sites weren't so much as a gleam in my eye in those days—I never thought I'd see the day when I could take a screenshot like this:

Top 3 Amazon Greco-Roman myths & legends, 3/4/2016.
Dawnflight , Raging Sea: Reckonings , and Morning's Journey
in top 3 slots, respectively. Or this:

Dawnflight Amazon page, 10:17 a.m. ET 3/4/2016,
#291 paid in Kindle Store; #1 in Arthurian Fantasy + 2 others,
Kim Headlee's Amazon author rank #39 in Kindle Fantasy.And you could have pushed me over with a feather, four days after the BookBub promo, when I saw this:

King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court Amazon page 09:00 3/7/16
Dawnflight still at #1 in Greco-Roman myths & legends category.
Another mini-squeal occurred when I learned about my iTunes sales, since I distribute to that platform via Draft2Digital (D2D), where royalty reporting is delayed by as much as two days.

You may have even heard the whoop I let out when I checked my ACX dashboard and learned that approximately 10% of the Dawnflight e-book customers had purchased its audiobook edition! That in itself was as great a thrill as the mountain of e-book downloads.


All good things…

In the vacuum of space, a body in motion will stay in motion. Here on earth, alas, all bodies are subject to outside forces such as gravity and friction, and hence coasters must roll to a stop. After all, it's time for the next batch of passengers to have their turn.

As of this writing, Dawnflight has been reset to its pre-BookBub pricing but my books are still logging more downloads per day than they experienced prior to the BookBub feature. This is every bit as valuable as the initial rush, for it means that I'm gaining fans who wish to seek out more of my work.

My promo train may be in the process of coasting to a stop, but I'm already planning my next trip on the ride. BookBub will feature the same book no more frequently than once every six months, but an author may be featured as often as every 30 days. And I do have several other books that qualify.

Follow me on BookBub to find out what the next great deal will be!

***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

#EggcerptExchange spotlight on R.O.S.E Riders of Sins Eternal by @lisaawrites Lisa Ann

Today on The Maze I am pleased to introduce you to Lisa Ann, author of R.O.S.E Riders of Sins Eternal .

Title: R.O.S.E Riders of Sins Eternal
Release Date: March 11 (re-release)
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance (18+ due to language, sexual content)
Author: Lisa Ann

Synopsis:
Riders of Sins Eternal have only one law: Always pay your debts.

Alexandra Scott was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Striving to become a reporter in the fast paced world of journalism, she can’t believe it when she becomes the ‘breaking news’ after a night out with her best friend.

Garrick Donovan had come to terms with the deal he had made over a century ago, he had been able to get his revenge and nothing would make him regret that.

Alexandra finds herself immersed in a world of dark secrets that could destroy both her and Garrick. It is now up to her to decide if what she and Garrick may have is worth the consequences or to get out while she still has time.

Read the first chapter on Lisa’s blog.
Buy the book on Amazon | Add it to your Goodreads TBR .

About the Author:
Lisa Ann works as an Information Security Associate by day and Writer by night. Lisa attended a local technical college and received an associate degree in Computer Networking which she put right to use. Lisa lives in Southern Arizona with her two sons and when not writing she can be found curled up on her favorite chair with Kindle in hand, reviewing books for her blog. Or chauffeuring the boys around town for basketball games or playing candy crush soda on her phone. She loves the color blue, can’t get enough cherry cheesecake ice cream or junior mints and will forever be in a power-struggle over the big screen TV with her youngest child.

Contact Lisa via:
Web site | lisaawrites "at" Gmail | Twitter @lisaawrites | Facebook |

Learn more about Garrick Donovan (GD) of R.O.S.E. Riders of Sins Eternal:

The Maze (TM): I take it you have a nickname that the guys of your motorcycle club like to call you?
GD: {Grumbles} I got one, but they know better than to use it.

TM: Fair enough. What do you do for a living?
GD: I’m a soul collector

TM: Not a man of many words, are you?
GD: {just stares}

TM: Right, then. What’s your birthday?
GD: {Shrugs} Not exactly sure, they didn’t keep great records back then. If I had to guess, September 1849.

TM: {shuffles question cards} Do you have a fear or nightmare that plagues you?
GD: {Sits up straight} As a matter of fact, I do. Recycling scares me.
TM: Indeed! Why does recycling scare you? It’s good for the planet.
GD: {shaking his head} No, this recycling is when I die.

TM: Hm. So I presume that not getting recycled is your most important goal?
GD: Not anymore. Protecting the woman I love is.

***
All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!