Kim Iverson Headlee's Blog: Book Musings from the Maze of Twisty Passages, page 19

The Business of Writing: SEO for Author-bloggers demystified! with @kayelleallen of #MFRWOrg

Man reading newspaper
c2015 by GaudiLab,
Depositphotos ID 69202185. "Say-oh sayoh say say-oh sayoh say say-oh sayoh say sayoh say-oh..."

What? You mean those aren't the introductory lyrics to "Pompeii" by Bastille?

Okay, you got me! And I got your attention with the earworm. You're welcome. :D

By "say-oh" I mean SEO, Search Engine Optimization, which may seem like just as much gibberish as "say-oh" does. 

Today I hope to change that for you.

Kayelle Allen of Marketing for Romance Writers (MFRW) has written a brilliant article about SEO and how you can harness its power. Her definitions are especially insightful:

SEO: Search Engine Optimization – the process by which we gear our websites to be searchable by search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others.

Keyword: a significant word used in indexing or cataloging, or in labeling other text. For example, some genre keywords are romance, historical, fantasy, scifi, highlander, etc.

Label: These are similar to keywords, but are brief descriptions given for purposes of identification.

Hashtag: a word embedded in a searchable text on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. These words (or tags) are preceded by the symbol # which is also called a hashmark, hence the term, "hashtag".

Read Kayelle's full article about SEO here.

I have to admit that I don't always follow all the steps that she recommends for upping the SEO ante for my posts, but I usually can check off the having a central theme, the length requirement (at least 300 words), putting a keyword and/or hashtag in the post's title, and using appropriate labels.

The biggest key to optimizing the searchability of your content—whatever type of blog you run—is to generate a strong combination of keywords, labels, and sometimes even hashtags so that search engines stand a better chance of finding your posts.

Another good article about writing SEO-friendly blog posts is this one written 12/15/15 by Julie Petersen on the IFTISEO blog. I'm going to follow its advice and just include the link—why? Because linking to other posts is one way to increase the relevance of both posts in SEO algorithms.

If you've gone to the Geek side, you can play with this keyword density checker tool: http://smallseotools.com/keyword-density-checker/ thanks to a comment in Julie Petersen's post. This tool checks =everything= including strings of numbers, but it makes for an interesting exercise if you're into statistics.

Taylor Manning on Mad Lemmings blog dives into the wild and woolly world of SEO optimization for images here.  

While much of Taylor Manning's advice is geared toward HTML programmers at an advanced level, there are some tricks the average blogger can use easily, such as naming one's images to reflect keywords relevant to the post in which the image is used.

I have taken this advice to rename book covers that I send to other bloggers for upload, such as "Dawnflight-Kim-Headlee-Arthurian-legends.jpg". To avail yourself of this SEO feature, you must use hyphens rather than spaces or underscore characters.

"Where do we begin?The rubble or our sins?"
Begin with creating a clear message that's laden with keywords. I cannot absolve anyone's SEO sins, but I do know the rubble will take care of itself! :D

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... 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 Sweetness in CIRCLES OF FATE by @psthib Pamela Thibodeaux #EggCerptExchange kickoff!

Welcome to the 2016 Eggcerpt Exchange on The Maze! 

This time we decided to switch things up a bit by offering character interviews, and today I am pleased to introduce Shaunna from Circles of Fate by Pamela Thibodeaux.

5 Facts about Shaunna:

Nickname: When I began working as a waitress at the Feed Trough Café at age sixteen, the patrons dubbed me “Shaunna Sweetness.” That name stuck although it’s been shortened to just ‘Sweetness.’

Job: As I said, I waitressed for many years until my husband and I moved to Louisiana after which a friend and I opened a catering business called “Shaunna’s Sweets.” That business closed when we moved from the city of Thibodaux into the country but I still baked for my son’s class parties and a few private events.
Level of schooling, or self-taught: Other than high school I have no formal education.
Birthplace: I was born and raised in Georgia. My father was in the Army stationed at Ft. Benning, and my mom was very ill. She died the night of my high school graduation.
Currently residing in... Chauvin, Louisiana, a community about thirty miles outside of Thibodaux.
Synopsis
Set at the tail end of the Vietnam War era, Circles of Fate takes the reader from Fort Benning, Georgia to Thibodaux, Louisiana. A romantic saga, this gripping novel covers nearly twenty years in the lives of Shaunna Chatman and Todd Jameson. Constantly thrown together and torn apart by fate, the two are repeatedly forced to choose between love and duty, right and wrong, standing on faith or succumbing to the world’s viewpoint on life, love, marriage and fidelity. With intriguing twists and turns, fate brings together a cast of characters whose lives will forever be entwined. Through it all is the hand of God as He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Excerpt

“Promise me you’re sure or I won’t let you go.”

She would have to convince him or he’d never let her leave. She also knew he’d see through anything less than complete honesty.

“Oh, Todd,” she whispered, her voice urgent. “I wish it were that easy. I’m sure I have to try. But I want you to know something…” She hesitated, unsure how to say what she needed to say. “If things were different, if he weren’t so determined, if nothing was left between us, if I didn’t think there was a chance, I would stay.” Her eyes searched his for some sign he understood.

A ghost of a smile played around his sensuous lips, he nodded. “I know,” he whispered. “And I understand,” he said and gathered her close once more.

She should leave. Shaunna knew Joe waited for her, but was unable, unwilling, to end it, to end them, just yet. She held him firm in her embrace, committed the feel of his body to heart.

“I have to go,” she whispered, then clung, not yet able to turn him loose.

“I know,” he answered and tightened his arms around her. With a sigh of surrender, he stepped away, loosened his hold but rubbed her back and shoulders in a tender gesture.

“Don’t look back,” he whispered then dropped his hands to his side, clenched his fists.

She saw the struggle in his eyes, felt it in her heart, as each fought not to grab hold and cling. They gazed at each other, read the naked truth in each other’s eyes.

Neither wanted to be the first to walk away.

Shaunna touched his face, traced his features…his eyes, his jaw, his mouth. A shiver shook her when he held her hand and pressed his lips to her fingertips.

“I almost wish we had made love the other night.”

Almost?
The word echoed between them like a silent scream. The despair in his eyes slashed her heart another degree. He shook his head, swallowed hard.

“Know this. If we had, you would not leave here today.”

She stroked his cheek, her smile tender, bittersweet. “Take care of yourself. Please,” she whispered then placed her mouth on his.

Lips met on a sigh, breaths mingled on a sob. Each of them committed the kiss to heart, and fought not to cling to the other. With a final touch, a last trembling smile, Shaunna did one of the hardest things she’d ever done in her life.

She left.

Buy Links
Kindle | Amazon Print | Nook | B&N Print | Smashwords |
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February Fandango in The Dawnflier (Feb. 2016) #ASMSG #IARTG #MFRWOrg

Photo c2013 by Kim Headlee.No, the photo caption does not have a typo; I snapped the picture through the windshield of our truck the morning after a storm in January 2013 that left us with more snow (16") than "Snowmageddon 2016" did (a "mere" 10-12"). 

This year it was dismal and gray, with more snow threatening to fall the morning after the big storm, and I wasn't as happy with how those pictures came out. I am thankful that we weathered this year's event without losing power for once; we're on a well, so for us, no power = no water. I hope that either you weren't affected by this storm, or if you were, that things are getting back to a more even keel for you in its aftermath.

BREAKING NEWS: I have agreed to function as publisher for an elderly friend and longtime fan of my books. He’s a retired teacher of high school history and government who once told me that he’d have gladly used my novel Dawnflight in his classroom had it been available then. To date, that remains among the highest compliments anyone has paid any of my books, and I am honored to assist Dr. Fred Eichelman in publishing Faith, Family, Film: A Teacher’s Trek. Please stay tuned for more news about this charming and informative “not a memoir.”

MORE BREAKING NEWS: I am running a giveaway for print copies of The Challenge . Enter online via this link, but hurry – the contest ends one minute before midnight PT on 02/05/2016!

I had a lot of fun at MarsCon 2016 presenting my Business of Writing workshop and being a member of several panels. 

What's that? You wanted to attend my workshop but couldn't make it to Williamsburg? No worries, my friend! I will be presenting it again on Saturday, February 13 as part of Farpoint 23 at the Radisson North Baltimore Hotel in Timonium, MD. Stay tuned for another blog post detailing my full schedule.

Thanks for your faithful support of my work,
and if Snowzilla pounds on your door again, for heaven's sake, don’t answer it! :)
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Her body arched toward his in The Gentle Knight by @AshleyYork1066 #MedievalMonday

This week The Maze offers the first kiss of the hero and heroine for Medieval Monday in The Gentle Knight by Ashley York.
Excerpt:
"What. Will. It. Be?" He leaned in closer, whispering each word.

"Whatever you think best?" She spoke as calmly as she could but the room was getting very hot.

He glanced up as if trying to read an unclear sign but then that assured smile returned.

A tiny quiver rippled through her. Before she could speak again, he was closing in on her, his body up against hers.

"Whatever I think best?"

She wavered for a moment, unsure why he answered her with that tone. She wanted nothing more than to melt against him, envelope herself in his heat. This was just like in her dream. Hot and heady.

Then his firm lips were on hers. His hard length pressing her into the table, as if trying to meld them together. Her body would gladly have done just that if only it could have turned to pure liquid instead of just a growing warmth where his hips grinded into her.

He pulled his head back enough to search her face. He was breathing hard. He looked bewildered. "Is this what you want then?"

Her body arched towards his where the pressure had eased. "I…I'm not sure." She should not be feeling this way. "Please."

The answering sound from deep in his throat surprised her but then she got what she craved. His lips on hers again, then trailing across her cheek and down her jaw. An intense ripple of pleasure shot straight to her core. His hips undulated against hers, the heat, the dampness. She moaned.

He suddenly stopped, his head still dipped into the crook of her neck. She didn't dare breathe.

"I do not believe your protector will be happy with the outcome if we continue." His voice was husky, his breath warm against her skin. He shifted away.

Her body immediately missed his. Her eyes closed, she took a slow, steadying breath.

Synopsis:
A medieval soldier returns home to find his lover died in childbirth just as his own mother had. Believing he is cursed, Peter of Normandy turns from love. When he must give escort to an Irish princess more noble than many knights, he struggles with his decision to live a solitary life. Can he take the chance that his love won't be a death sentence and possibly make them stronger?

Padraig MacNaughton's death bed decree rips his daughter, Brighit, from the shelter of her protective clan in Ireland. Forced to take vows at a Priory in England, she finds herself in the hands of lecherous mercenaries with their own agendas. Dare she trust the Norman knight to see her safely to her new life as a nun? Even when she finds in him the fulfillment of all she's ever wanted?

Or will honor and duty eclipse their one chance for happiness?

Buy links:   Apple | Kobo | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |
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Angusel reacts to Gawain's disgrace in Ch10/Sc1b of RAGING SEA by @KimHeadlee #amwriting

Graphic overlay c2016 by Kim Headlee. Oftentimes, when someone expects high standards of himself, either in terms of performance or behavior, he also exerts similar standards upon those around him.

In the Lerner & Lowe classic Arthurian adaptation Camelot—the stage version as well as its silver-screen counterpart—this phenomenon is demonstrated by Lancelot when he suggests that Arthur initiate a training regimen for all Round Table knights. While Arthur embraces it for the fine idea that it is, the suggestion ensures instant friction between Lancelot and the rest of the court, Guinevere most especially. 

Today's excerpt from Raging Sea shows Angusel, my Lancelot character in The Dragon's Dove Chronicles, getting into trouble with Gyan (Guinevere) in a similar fashion.

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 |
Raging Sea Chapter 10, Scene 1b©2016 by Kim HeadleeAll rights reserved.
“I thought he was in that unit too,” Drustanus murmured.

Angusel, who had been watching her, turned to follow the line of Drustanus’s gaze toward the procession’s tail to discover the he to whom his student had referred. What he saw made his heart lurch.

Gawain map Loth, clad in a plain cloak and traveling clothes, was riding between two uniformed guardsmen—if in fact “riding” could describe someone whose wrists were bound and whose mount was being led. Angusel shook his head and blinked, but the puzzling scene didn’t change.

As Gawain passed the enclosure, a gust of wind flung aside his cloak, revealing his back. The undyed linen of his tunic displayed several bloody stripes.

Only one explanation could fit these facts.

Angusel dropped his sword, sprinted to the rail, and vaulted it. The guardsmen tried to block his approach, but he dodged between their horses and dragged Gawain from the saddle.

“You! You disgraced yourself, and all of them!” Angusel vented his fury with his fists, drawing only token resistance from his target. “You bastard, you disgraced her!”

Though Gawain tried to protect his face, he did not disagree. It goaded Angusel to strike harder.

“Optio Ainchis Sàl a Dubh Loch, desist at once!”

She had ordered it.

He obeyed.

While the Pendragon and all the Comites Praetorii save the two men guarding Gawain continued toward the barracks, she had wheeled Macmuir about and was thundering toward them, her eyes blazing and her lime-spiked hair quivering as if readying barbs for an attack. She reined her stallion to a halt and maneuvered him in a tight circle to bleed off his unspent energy.

“You,” she said to Drustanus, who had run to the ring holding Angusel’s practice sword as well as his own. “Back to barracks.”

“Aye, Comitissa Gyan.” With his right fist still clutching a sword, he thumped his chest, nodded, and quit the ring at a dead run.

“You and you,” she addressed the guards, “escort your charge to the infirmary to have his wounds dressed, then bring him to my workroom. You”—her glare pinned Angusel in place, and his heart squirmed its response—“get yourself presentable for an audience with me. Immediately.”

***
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The Business of Writing: The Author Brand with @LoreaSample #MFRWOrg #RLFBlog

Meme (c)2016 by Kim Headlee.
Photo of young woman in Ukraine (c)2014 by natamc
Depositphotos ID 79621474.
There's all kinds of advice online regarding how any entrepreneur can establish a clear branding message, but the best comment about the topic I've read recently was posted by She Owns It blog contributor Lorea Sample:

"Push past the fears of rejection, acceptance, and being misunderstood and flow in your being. Embrace and become resolute in all of your you-ness and your branding and messaging will flow. Like they say, “Your Vibe Attracts Your Tribe”. Have a clear and consistent vibe and your tribe will understand and consistently be attracted to you." (emphasis mine; read the full article here)

This struck a chord with me because fears of rejection, acceptance, and being misunderstood certainly do haunt me as an author, and I have to imagine that I'm not alone in this feeling.

It seems I've been doing a lot of mentoring lately of various author-friends, and an email exchange with one of them inspired today's post about branding. In a nutshell:

Once you have have established your branding,
you need to do all you can to expand it.
The conversation started when I was preparing a book spotlight post to feature one of her books on The Maze. I usually try to check all the author's links, and when I got to the link she'd provided for Google+ (G+), I noticed that she had garnered enough followers to customize her G+ link but hadn't yet done so.

I suggested that she check into it as yet another way to expand her author brand.

Her response (after setting up her new G+ link) was: "How do you use that to expand your brand?"

I'm so glad she asked, because this is a topic that is becoming more and more crucial to authors wanting to claw their way to the surface of the ocean of available books in order for their work to be noticed.

Common wisdom states that it takes at least seven mentions of an advertisement before a customer decides to purchase the product—emphasis mine, because books have become a commodity (thanks so very much for that, Amazon :P) while not being, strictly speaking, a necessity for basic living. So customers require a whole heap more convincing before they'll part with their hard-earned cash.

Anywhere in Social Media Land that you can claim your name (Tumblr, Reddit, etc.) will expand your brand, provided that you are active—and interactive—on those sites. Top notch social media promotion is literally a full-time job, so you have to pick and choose the platforms where you want to be most active if you want to stand a prayer of getting any actual writing done too.

I have chosen the following, in this order:–Twitter–Facebook–Google+–Pinterest–YouTube–Goodreads
That said—and thank you for choosing to follow me!—Facebook, G+ and Pinterest are pretty much tied for how much involvement I do on those platforms. I use Facebook far more for keeping up with my kids and face-to-face friends than promotion. My YouTube channel is for my book trailers and the occasional video I create myself, so there's not a lot of regular action there. I do have a Tumblr account, but only because I needed to have one in order to read a review of one of my books that someone had posted there.

Google+ has been handy—and simple—for sharing my blog posts, as well as review posts of my books on other folks' blogs. I do wish that Google/Blogger had an auto-post option to Facebook & Twitter, though. Much of the time I forget. (Or maybe it does have a cross-post setting that you know about and I don't?? Please leave a comment if that's the case!) I love that I can choose to cross-post (or not) Pinterest pins to Twitter and/or Facebook on a pin-by-pin basis; I also have found Pinterest to be invaluable for graphic collaboration with the artists I have hired for one reason or another (development of the graphic novel edition of The Challenge is the Project du Jour for me :).

Thanks to a reminder by author Alethea Kontis at MarsCon where we were both panelists earlier this month, I have now claimed my username at Instagram, Tsu, and other places.

Basically, "expanding your brand" means getting your name out there in as diverse a way possible, because you never know who's going to see what when!

***

All this month, you are invited to...
— Follow Kim on Twitter
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... 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!

Kendra asks a boon in SNOW IN JULY #paranormal medieval romance #MFRWOrg

Kendra vows that she shall find
neither comfort nor love
in the arms of a Norman…
unless it snows in July. Appearing vulnerable requires a great deal of courage. 

In today's excerpt from Snow in July , which is running on other blogs as part of the Medieval Monday exchange, Kendra musters the courage to become vulnerable enough to ask Alain to grant her a simple yet profound wish.


EXCERPT

“Would my lord knight grant me a boon that would enable me to fulfill an altogether different vow?” Kendra slid her hands up his chest, reveling in the feel of his taut muscles beneath the tunic’s thin linen.

“Name it, my lady,” Alain said in a husky whisper.

“Please…” She stood on tiptoe to reach around his neck and pull his face to hers, drawing a deep breath. “Please kiss me.”

He lost no time in honoring her request. Their mouths met, tentatively at first, then harder and more ravenously as their mutual hunger found freedom. Their tongues entwined, locked in a dance far more sublime than any pale dream. She felt the void left by her brother’s death beginning, at last, to fill.

So this was why Del had been so insistent that she seek happiness. He knew it would help her heal, God rest his dear soul. She increased the pressure on Alain’s lips, and he answered in kind.

Faint shouts forced them to step apart. Alain looked out the nearest window and hurried to each of the others in turn, muttering in French.

“Is it the outlaws? What do you see?”

“Nothing.” He spat the word as if blaming it for the interruption. “The surviving outlaws must have returned. Does this tower have someplace to hide where they might not think to look?”

SYNOPSIS:
Sir Robert Alain de Bellencombre has been granted what every man wants: a rich English estate in exchange for his valiant service at the Battle of Hastings. To claim this reward, the Norman knight must wed the estate's Saxon heiress. Most men would leap at such an opportunity, but for Alain, who broke his vow to his dying mother by failing to protect his youngest brother in battle, it means facing more easily broken vows. But when rumors of rampant thievery, dangerous beasts, and sorcery plaguing a neighboring estate reach his ears, nothing will make him shirk duty to king and country when people's lives stand at risk. He assumes the guise of a squire to scout the land, its problems, and its lady.

Lady Kendra of Edgarburh has been granted what no woman wants: a forced marriage to an enemy who may be kith or kin to the man who murdered her beloved brother. Compounding her anguish is her failure to awaken the miraculous healing gift bequeathed by their late mother in time to save his life. Although with his dying breath, he made her promise to seek happiness above all, Kendra vows that she shall find neither comfort nor love in the arms of a Norman…unless it snows in July.

Alain is smitten by Lady Kendra from the first moment of their meeting; Kendra feels the forbidden allure of the handsome and courtly Norman "squire." But a growing evil overshadows everyone, invoking dark forces and ensnaring Kendra in a plot to overthrow the king Alain is oath-bound to serve. Kendra and Alain face a battle unlike any other as their honor, their love, their lives, and even their very souls lie in the balance.

BOOK TRAILER: http://youtu.be/vFsaD1jCLLU

BUY & TBR LINKSWorldwide Amazon Kindle link – Worldwide Amazon Paperback link – BARNES & NOBLE NOOK – B&N PAPERBACK – KOBO – SMASHWORDS – ITUNES – GOODREADS –
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... 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!

What was she thinking? CAMERON by @LaneMcFarland for #MedievalMonday

For this installment of Medieval Monday on The Maze, I would like to introduce you to Lane McFarland and her novel Cameron ! 

Excerpt

Robert gently set Cameron on the ground, and she turned to face him. A bit dazed, she ran trembling fingers down the front of her gown. His hands lingered at her waist, and when he didn’t step back, she looked up to find him smiling.

“I believe ye owe me yer thanks, Mistress Cameron.”

At his mention of her name, she searched his face. “How do ye know me?”

He chuckled, his deep voice rumbling throughout his thick chest. “I make it my business to know all the bonnie lasses in the area.”

The men behind him laughed.

Her stomach tightened. She was no beauty. He obviously mocked her—in front of his men. Prickly heat tingled across her cheeks.

“I’ll catch up to ye,” Robert called over his shoulder.

“Oh, aye. Once ye’ve taken care of business,” one man asserted.

“Important business to be sure,” the other bantered.

The men chuckled as they nudged their mounts, then trotted down the path and out of sight.

Robert’s gaze lingered on her mouth before he raised it to her eyes. “I believe it’s customary to thank someone when they’ve helped ye.”

Cameron cleared her throat. “Aye, I do thank ye.”

He studied her lips again. “I had something more in mind. Ye know ye’d still be stuck in that tree if I hadn’t come along, so ye owe me.”

His warm breath caressed her face. He bent and placed his mouth on hers. His arms pulled her close, his muscular frame molding her body against his. Stubble scratched her skin, and she inhaled his male scent of leather, and aye, of horse.

She should be horrified at his advances. What was she thinking, allowing a Graham to kiss her so… so wickedly and deliciously? She should push him away and demand he step back, but somehow, she loathed the idea. Indeed, she reveled in the feel of his hard body pressed against hers.

Synopsis

Determined to band Scots together against English tyranny, Laird Robert Graham seals a truce with his feuding neighbor, the MacDougalls. But after his brother is nearly killed in a treacherous attack, Graham kidnaps the laird’s daughter in an act of revenge.

Cameron MacDougall has devoted her life to the healing arts. She’s long rebelled against her father’s feuding ways, but when Robert Graham abducts her, she’s finds herself at the center of the dispute between their families. She expects the anger she feels, not the simmering attraction to the powerful warrior, or the love she develops for his clan.

Can she stop further violence between the clans with her escape? Or will she find her surrender leads to a lasting peace and her own heart’s desire?

Buy link: Amazon
***

All this month, you are invited to...
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Angusel begins training Drustanus in Ch10/Sc1a of RAGING SEA by @KimHeadlee #amwriting

Graphic overlay c2016 by Kim Headlee. The Lancelot-Gawain friendship is an epic one in the truest sense of the word, according to traditional Arthurian legends. Another such epic friendship is that of Lancelot and Tristan—or Tristram, as some medieval stories name him.

My Tristan character in The Dragon's Dove Chronicles goes by an even earlier form of his name: Drustanus. A glimpse of the deepening friendship between him and Angusel is the focal point of today's Raging Sea excerpt.

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 |
Raging Sea Chapter 10, Scene 1a©2016 by Kim HeadleeAll rights reserved.
SWORD AT THE ready, Angusel circled his opponent, inviting attack. Drustanus answered with thrusts and slashes that were indeed improving, if predictable, and his footwork was atrocious. One quick lunge or twist, and he’d go down every time. But he kept getting up, ready to try again, and that was all that mattered.

Their wooden practice weapons collided with a fearsome clatter. Angusel’s sword almost slipped from his grip. He grinned.

“That’s the way! Now follow it with a body block.” He demonstrated with full force, and Drustanus went sprawling with a yelp, kicking up a cloud of dust in the fall that made them both cough.

Waving to part the cloud, Angusel bent to offer his hand, which Drustanus grasped to haul himself up. “I think I have the right of it now, Ainchis Sàl.” Sword cocked, he adopted a fair attack stance. “Let me have another go.”

He never got the chance.

Angusel had moved their training sessions to the main ring near the fort’s north gate upon receiving Centurion Marcus’s approval—though they were still constrained to practicing in the waning light after supper to prevent this activity from interfering with their regular legion duties. This evening, the double gates had swung open to admit a large mounted unit.

All the alae had returned from maneuvers hours ago.

He lifted a finger to signal Drustanus to pause, and together they turned to watch the Comites Praetorii parade by on their way to the barracks.

Nay, “parade” was not the word for it. Every horseman—and woman—looked dust-covered, bone-weary, and dispirited.

What in the name of all the gods had happened?

Drustanus was whispering the same question.

The Pendragon and… she rode past them. Drustanus and Angusel rendered the expected legion salutes. No one paid either of them any heed; every member of the company kept his forlorn gaze trained upon the road before his horse’s hooves as if to do otherwise would invite derision and scorn.

***

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: A Marketing Opportunity with @AuthorTinaGayle's #EggcerptExchange!

Sign up here for the 2016 Eggcerpt Exchange! Marketing your book is not about sales.

Wait. What??

Yes, you read that right.

Marketing is the act of making the best of opportunities to get your name and your book's information in front of readers at least seven times before they're willing to take a chance on your work.

Once that relationship is established, the sales will come.

A fantastic opportunity to cross-pollinate your work across the blogisphere is the annual Eggcerpt Exchange organized by my author-friend Tina Gayle. The exchange is open to all authors with blogs who are willing to spotlight other authors in a reciprocal arrangement.

The procedure is pretty simple.

Visit the Eggcerpt Exchange signup page on Tina's blog to leave a comment with your name, your blog and availability for hosting other authors, the genre(s) in which you write, and how an interested party may contact you for setting up an exchange (if leaving an email address, I recommend writing it in such a way that spam bots will have a harder time mining it from the post).

Eggcerpt Exchange spotlights may be posted at any time between February 1st and March 31st—roughly, the Lent and Easter season with a few days added to both ends to round out the months. Each post consists of information about the book to be featured (cover, synopsis, PG-13 or milder excerpt, buy links), a brief author bio, and an interview centered upon one of the characters in the featured book.

If you are a multi-published author, different books may be spotlighted on different blogs throughout the duration of the Eggcerpt Exchange as long as the character interview matches a character in the given book.

Basically, the only no-no is not to reciprocate, and in the three or so years that I've participated, that has never been an issue.

I hope to be featuring your books on The Maze soon!

***

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!