Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 84
March 11, 2013
Authors on a rampage!
Well… sorta…
Shiloh Walker’s latest and greatest latest and weirdest way to spread the word about new books. This time, she enlisted fellow authors Helenkay Dimon , Thea Harrison and Alyssa Day and there is absolutely NO THEFT taking place…she didn’t go on a rampage and steal things. She’s not trying to reunite lost lovers…nope.
These four authors are going to descend upon each other’s blogs and cause a tiny little bit of chaos. I really wanted to WRECK things, but I didn’t think I could talk them into letting me crash our websites and that kind of defeats the purpose of promoting our new releases if you can’t access the website to read about them, right?
Starts next week!
March 10, 2013
Qs on Night Blade
Some stuff…
If you haven’t read book 2, please don’t look. I tried to avoid spoilers, but…
Had somebody ask…
Is this a trilogy?
Nope. Never said I’d stop at three books. I always saw more than three…have several more books in mind, although there’s a definite end in mind. If things go well, I’d like to write books about Justin, and once he grows up more…Doyle, though. After I finish Kit’s story. I think. Maybe.
Are you doing a love triangle thing?
I hate doing spoilers, but people want to know about Justin. Your answer is in book 3. But I have an odd and annoying habit of doing things that people don’t expect. Or the opposite. Cuz it’s fun. Or maybe because that’s the direction the story goes. Sometimes both.
Did you have to do that???
Well, yeah. I’m just the narrator. The story unfolded in my head and that’s the way it unfolded. I can’t force the story to go any way other than the direction it’s meant to go.
What the hell happened with the problems with the ebook?
I honestly can’t explain that. There was obviously a delivery error on part of the distributor. I know that. They are taking steps to prevent such a problem in the future. It sucks. It’s done. Thank God.
2014 on BROKEN BLADE…WHY????
Well… I just finished it. Really. Like about three weeks ago. Now it has to be edited. Then it has to come back to me. Then go back to the editor. Then go to a line editor. Then I plan to have a few more people read it. I need cover stuff done. I need the blurb. Promo. All of that stuff takes a lot of time and I have to work it all in around deadlines. Plus, there is upfront cost involved. Need to have that factored into my schedule as well.
I found errors–
I’m sorry. But…well, there errors are probably there to stay unless it’s something glaring and huge, like pages missing or something hugely horrendous (like oh, say the wrong file–that would never happen, right?). Why are the errors there? Don’t authors always want their best? Yes, we do.
But…here’s the thing.
A self published book just isn’t likely to get the treatment that a traditionally published book gets. My content editor read NIGHT BLADE (and BLADE SONG) several times. I read each book probably ten times over, not including the times they came back to me from the editor…these are the extra times looking for typos, etc. Both had line editors. There were still typos. Traditionally pubbed books have probably five times as many people looking over them…but feasibly, I can’t afford that. If I spent that money, I wouldn’t be able to afford to publish the books at all. So I do the best I can and then I have to accept that there are going to be things I miss. I plan to look for beta editors for future books and already have a few lines out on that.
Why can’t I fix the problems if they are pointed out? Several reasons–one, I don’t ever want to touch the files on NIGHT BLADE again. I think if I do, the space time continuum will explode. I know that sounds extreme, but I was in contact, hourly, with my contact at the distributor for almost three days during business hours, trying to figure out the problem with NIGHT BLADE. I’m all but terrified to touch it again.
Aside from my paranoias… there is again, cost and time involved. Fixing the errors isn’t as easy as opening a word doc. I have to edit it. Send it off to the formatter. Pay the formatter. Send files back to the distributor. Re-upload to the places where I handle the distribution myself. It’s a considerable amount of time invested. It’s either do that…and keep doing because if I do it for one error, I know myself, I’ll keep doing it for all of them. I’m sort of spastic that way. Or I let it go and know I did the best I could while it was ‘my’ hands. It’s not longer in ‘my’ hands alone… it’s out there, in the wild, so to speak.
If I’m constantly fixing/searching for problems on the self pubbed books, I’m not spending the time on future books. I don’t think that’s the smartest investment of my time.
In the end, the errors are mine, I accept them and I hope they don’t detract from the story too much. And I’ll try to find more ways to improve in the future… that’s the best I can do.
March 9, 2013
City as setting…
Well… this little town took on a life of it’s own… I guess that counts.
Dwight plucked the report from the folder, studying it. “Go back out there. Talk to her again. Get the story one more time and do another walk through the woods. See if anything changes.”
As Jennings left the office, Dwight turned away and stared out the window. Her story wasn’t going to change. He knew it.
A nice, quiet little town. He wanted it to stay that way.
Yet he had that itch in his gut.
Something very, very bad was going on.
from If You Hear Her…in the Ash Trilogy
March 8, 2013
Soldiers needing mail…
Wanna help a soldier out?
Kyle Lowry
Robert Giles
Darius Hardrick
Timothy Ruffner
Wayne Benge
Jeremy Ingo
Israel Parra
John Fournier
Andrey Williams
Josh Obertance
B-BTRY 4-42 FA IBCT 4ID
Camp Buehring
APO,AE 09330
pick a name, any name, more than one is fine!
So, these folks need some mail. Want to help them out? Aren’t sure what this is about? Go here! FYI, do not repost to FB, etc. These names are current and posted with permission and these soldiers are ONLY looking for support and friendship. This isn’t a dating service (yes, I have to point that out…)
March 7, 2013
Night Blade release day do-over… party style. With Prizes.
I’ll bring the party favors…books! Lots of them!
You bring yourself… and …whatever you want. Now that Night Blade is available online at all the retailers now and I can actually celebrate having a book out, let’s do that.
Today. Here. Right now.
Kit Colbana is always biting off more than she can chew. She has a knack for finding trouble. This time, though, trouble finds her. Someone from her past drops a case into her lap that she just can’t refuse…literally.
People on the Council are dying left and right and she’s been requested to investigate the deaths. The number one suspect? Her lover, Damon. If she doesn’t clear his name, he gets a death sentence. Even if she succeeds? They still might try to execute him. Oh, and she’s not allowed to tell him about the case, either.
The stakes are high this time around, higher than they’ve ever been. Kit may be forced to pay the ultimate price to save her lover’s life…a price that could destroy her and everything she loves.
Snippet!
I was finishing my second cup of coffee and a donut so smothered in chocolate there might as well not be any donut when I felt the warm prickle on my skin.
A powerful male, that much I could tell without opening the door.
It also wasn’t Damon.
And I knew my early morning visitor, too.
Sighing, I glanced down at my clothes and made a bypass by my laundry basket to grab a tank top. I tugged it on over the sport bra I usually practiced in and then I made another stop.
The Desert Eagle was sitting right top of the duffle bag, all matte black and pretty. I loaded it with two bullets, though I figured I’d only need one to make my point.
I was at the door before Justin had managed to bang on it even the first time.
He had his fist raised.
Shoving the door open, I stepped back out of his reach and took aim over his shoulder. “Now it’s my turn,” I said flatly, narrowing my eyes as I aimed at the back tire.
“If you pull that trigger, I’m going to paddle your ass.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve seen what a Desert Eagle will do, right, Justin? I can put a bullet-hole in a man the size of a soft ball…or bigger.”
“I’ve got wards around my bike,” he snapped.
“And I’ve got magically charged ammo.”
I shifted my gaze to him and smiled. “Iron. Hollow point. Charged by a warrior out of Green House. Wanna see who wins?”
“You’re a bitch. Don’t you have a fucking job to do?”
“Yes.” I went back to staring at his bike.
“That gun is too heavy to hold for long,” he said.
“Wanna bet?”
The Desert Eagle did feel heavy in my hand, but I could hold it. The beauty of not being entirely human…I could do things no human could, no matter how strong they were.
Seconds ticked away. Finally, he spun away with a snarl. “What the fuck, Kit?”
I lowered the gun and smiled. “You ready to come in and talk?”
~*~
So… what are you bringing to my party? Appetizers? Drinks? Holy water to keep the vampires away? Cuz Kit’s vampires aren’t much fun….what else ya got?
I’m going to give away copies of Night Blade to those who maybe were holding off buying it. How many? That’s up to you. I’ll give away one copy for every twenty-five comments I get and all I ask is that if you win, you leave a review somewhere… honest opinions only! If you hate it, that’s fine…if you love it, awesome! Just post an honest opinion of the book at a site like Amazon, Goodreads or BN.com. If you blog and want to leave a review on your blog, that’s awesome, too.
All winners are going to be chosen randomly and all winners will get the ebook. FYI, this is a series and if you haven’t read the first, you’re now warned. You can’t get the book, read it and say you didn’t know… 
I just told you.
Also… I’ll draw one name to get another prize…we’ll just have to see what I can pull out of my bag of tricks… er…off the shelves…um, yeah. It’s a surprise prize!
Disclaimer…you have to check beck to see if you win. I’ll post the winners by Monday. If you won’t remember, you can always sign up to grab my feed…it’s that little follow box on the corner. Contest is only via my blog, not goodreads or anywhere else the feed gets imported.
All files are fixed. If you’re having problems, go here and read the fixes…
**There’s another snafu at Amazon. I’m aware. They are aware. They are trying to fix it. I’m just going to sit here and laugh hysterically because it’s that or break things.
March 6, 2013
The state of things…finally, all fixed. Night Blade
The correct files are up on B&N.
I’m reposting some stuff that’s been posted.
Again, thanks for being so patient. I can’t undo this or make up for this mess, but I’ve marked the book down $3.99 for the next month… hopefully it helps a little.
The pricing is already in effect on B&N, Amazon & iBooks.
Overdrive: file up, price up
Sony: file up, price in process
Kobo: file up, price in process
Baker & Taylor: file being checked, price in process
Amazon: file and price both showing in the back end, still under pursuit
Price up just means they are in the process of getting the price adjusted. It’s never as easy as pushing a button, right?
For the various fixes on devices, see below…
Okay, so as of now, if you haven’t bought NIGHT BLADE, it’s available on Kindle and the file is fine.
As of this posting, as far as I know, every retailer now has the correct files.
iBookstore | Amazon | BN | Kobo | Smashwords | ARe
If the file is still showing wrong, please see the fix for your device/app.
Nook: archive, go to archived items, and redownload
Kindle: Remove from device, then redownload
Kobo: archive the book, and then redownload
Apple: delete this copy, go to purchased books bookshelf, redownload
On various readers other than Nook, this should be the process…
all they have to do is delete the book and redownload when the update is live. They don’t need to ask for a refund, or do anything other than redownload the book.
With the Nook:
For B&N, you have to archive, then go into your archive, and redownload.
This process worked fine for my phone/ipad nook apps, not so well on my PC app. I’ve asked about that and once I get an answer, I’ll post.
If THESE THINGS don’t help…it’s probably time to contact customer service. Most are able to push the right file to your device.
To contact Amazon… go here… (You’ll have to be signed in or this will lead you to a sign-in screen)
To contact BN… go here (offers live chat, email, etc)
Kobo… this page, down on the very bottom right, look for the contact customer care, will offer you three options, pick your poison. 
I know this is frustrating. I can’t fix it, but I’ll try to make it up to you all.
I’ve already been asked about doing something from Damon’s POV and although I don’t hear his voice the way I hear Kit’s, maybe in a few weeks, I’ll see what I can do about a short POV piece, but I need to give people a chance to read Night Blade first, because I’m talking spoiler city. I also think there’s one area in particular where people want to hear his voice and…um…no. I’m not doing that until more people read the book.
Thanks to all you who have been so patient. I appreciate it.
Less than two left too enter the contest for Kit’s Very Bad Job. Also… there’s a chance to win a ‘date’ with me…drinks on me! At either RT2013 or Lori Foster’s … and ten minutes with my laptop. You can maybe find secrets about what’s in store for Kit if I am able to continue with the series. Info here…
The Unwanted…
Coming July 2013…. ebook only!
This is a novella. Novellas are short, so… yeah, unless I write another to pair it with or there’s another decent type story at Samhain that it will work well with, it will stay ebook only.
She doesn’t want him. He doesn’t need her. Like hell…
A Novella of the FBI Psychics
Destin Mortin’s psychic gift comes with an ugly twist—she excels at tracking down violent rapists. But it’s rough on relationships. Once, her partner Caleb was her everything: filter, shield, rescuer, lover. The only man who didn’t think her a freak. Then he walked away.
Destin turned her back on the FBI to work for a private agency, but now a particularly horrendous case has come up, and her boss wants her paired with only the best.
For Caleb Durand, leaving Destin was an act of self-preservation. Every time she flung herself headlong into dangerous situations, every time he nursed her through soul-crushing visions, he’d died a little more inside.
Now they are forced to work together one last time. Tragedy has changed them both, but Caleb knows if he lowers his shields for an instant, he won’t have an icicle’s chance in hell of resisting the temptation to lose himself in her wild power.
But to catch the rapist, it’s exactly what he’ll have to do.
March 5, 2013
Updates on Night Blade and other stuff
First… a few people have offered to help out with the negative reviews that are popping up over the incorrect file. Please don’t. The best thing you can do is just post your honest thoughts on the book. That’s all. :) I don’t need anybody speaking up or attacking or insulting anybody, especially not over this. There was a problem and people are upset and/or irritated.
Hell, I am upset and I’m surprised I have any hair left. There are only a couple of negative reviews at this point and hopefully all this will be resolved and then people can review the book and not the fiasco. 
Second…something happy!
Italy likes me!
That’s the Italian translation of FRAGILE.
It’s ranked 85 overall in the Kindle store in Italy… thank you!
Now… onto Night Blade. Again, thanks for being so patient. I can’t undo this or make up for this mess, but I’ve marked the book down $3.99 for the next month… hopefully it helps a little.
After people have had a chance to read Night Blade, I plan to post a nice long except of Broken Blade, but not yet. It’s got too much that will be spoiler territory, so in a while, I’ll post it and I’ll post more than I normally would to thank you all for being so patient.
Here’s where we stand so far…
These are the messages I’ve been given and hopefully, everything is correct and all the timeframes will be met.
B&N update…file will be live tonight.
B&N is looking into an email to notify the readers who purchased it about the update, but I don’t know if this will happen.
The amazon listing keeps going up and down, but they do have the correct file. I was told:
It was due to a database refresh, and they were expecting it to complete in 4 hours
That time is pretty much lapsed so hopefully everything will be finished on that end soon. I have no idea what that means, but I know it’s computer/tech related.
Other misc info:
Apple: file up yesterday, price up immediately
Overdrive: file up, price up
Sony: file up, price in process
Kobo: file up, price in process
Baker & Taylor: file being checked, price in process
Amazon: file and price both showing in the back end, still under pursuit
Price up just means they are in the process of getting the price adjusted. It’s never as easy as pushing a button, right?
There are two days left too enter the contest for Kit’s Very Bad Job.
Another NIGHT BLADE status update…Kindle & Kobo!
We have it on iBooks, Kindle & Kobo.
Okay, so as of now, if you haven’t bought NIGHT BLADE, it’s available on Kindle and the file is fine.
ETA: okay, the file comes up and goes down. I’m told this is related to database issues. Whatever that means… ??? It should be resolved soon.
The problem is those who’ve preordered… I had it preordered and it looks like the ‘updated’ file isn’t available yet. I’ve tried doing the archive thing, removing it from my device, etc, etc…and it’s not doing any good.
If you want to request a refund and buy again, that might be your best bet.
So far, here is where you can get the book with the CORRECT files…
iBookstore | Amazon | Kobo | Smashwords | ARe
I was told the process for getting the corrected file is as follows…but I’m still checking for the correct file myself. If anybody has any luck, let me know.
From what I was told, if you have the book and read via one of the apps (iPad/iPhone)…
Nook: archive, go to archived items, and redownload
Kindle: Remove from device, then redownload
Kobo: archive the book, and then redownload
Apple: delete this copy, go to purchased books bookshelf, redownload
On various readers other than Nook, this should be the process…
all they have to do is delete the book and redownload when the update is live. They don’t need to ask for a refund, or do anything other than redownload the book.
With the Nook:
For B&N, you have to archive, then go into your archive, and redownload.
I’m staying in contact with the distributor and I’ve let them know how frustrating this has been for everybody.
I wish I could fix it but at this point, but even if I attempted to take over and upload the file myself, it would cause problems in the system–the platforms would detect two ‘identical’ files and they’d be flagged and it would slow things down even more as they clarified copyright, etc.
Thanks to all you who have been so patient. I appreciate it.
March 4, 2013
The current status is… we have it at iBooks!
Well, that’s progress… I guess. :(
I’d hoped we’d have this resolved tonight, but no such luck.
I still haven’t heard anything new about other retailers, though… the distributor was contacting Amazon, BN, etc again… we haven’t heard back, so I can’t get you an update.
The new files HAVE been sent out, so it’s a matter of the retailers getting them into the system and out to you all at this point.
Currently, you can get NIGHT BLADE from Smashwords, iBookstore & All Romance Ebooks.
iBookstore | Smashwords | ARe
Also, the print file has been finalized. You can buy it from createspace now and it will be at other channels once it gets through the system. That’s such a vague term… the system. In this day and age, it seems like we should be able to push a button and BAM! It’s done. But it’s not that easy. That’s annoying.
Thanks to everybody who has been so understanding. I do appreciate it.
