Loading ...Secrets, Lies and Cover-Ups Interview, Chat and Contest with Penumbra Authors
A big welcome to our readers today! Be sure to read to the end of the interview to find out how to WIN the fabulous prizes being offered up.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not a fixed time event, the post just goes live at 12:00 pm Central. You can stop by any time during the day or evening and leave your questions and chat.
BBB: Welcome to our visiting Penumbra Publishing authors!
– C. Fern Cook http://www.cferncook.com
– Willa Kaye Danes http://www.willakayedanes.com
– Dana Warryck http://www.danawarryck.com
Today we’re partying to celebrate Penumbra Publishing’s almost-one-year anniversary. To make it more fun, we dare you all to share some of your secrets, lies, or cover-ups. Whether they’re little white lies or naughty secrets doesn’t matter, just dish some dirt or tell us something intriguing about you and your books! What’ll it be – a secret or a lie or a cover-up? Who’s first?
Dana Warryck: Thanks for the warm welcome, Rachel. And, wow, you ladies and gentlemen at BBB play hard-ball! LOL! All right, I’ll take a turn by first telling a secret in one of my books, The Protectorate: Patriarch.
Patriarch is the first installment of The Protectorate erotic romance vampire series and is based on a huge secret – the whole reason for the occupation of the hero. Aiden Marschant, a Protector, is sworn to do whatever is necessary to protect the secret existence of his people (kind of like a secret silencer police force). A rogue vampire on a four-state killing spree hits his next victim and disappears just moments before Aiden can catch up to him and bring him down. The trouble gets worse when Aiden discovers a baby in the victim’s car. Worried about the child’s safety, he makes the ultimate mistake of taking her home with him. Shanna Preston, a sheriff’s deputy investigating the scene, gets a description of Aiden from some witnesses and pursues him as a suspect in the murder/kidnapping. And … they’re off and running!
As for personal secrets … that’s best left to a memoir, after all the people who know me would be too old to care. And now I’m passing the baton to Fern. Fern, tell us a secret or lie or cover-up you have engineered (in your books or your life, or both)…
C. Fern Cook: Thanks for putting me on the hot seat, Dana. Here goes…
In my paranormal werewolf thriller, Wild Evolution, Dan Tucker is forced to cover up a self-defense slaying because he is sure no one will believe his story about a wild dog attack when he has the body of decapitated human man.
Here’s a brief excerpt from Wild Evolution:
Incriminating evidence is staring him in the face. There is no turning back now. Convinced no one would believe his story, he is compelled to move forward. He abruptly drops the head, realizing this would be considered evidence in his murder trial. Now more determined than ever to finish removing all the incriminating evidence from his property, he steps up the pace.
The entire book is about Dan trying to cover up his secret life as a werewolf, and his lies and cover-ups get bigger and bigger until … well, that’s enough secrets for right now.
Since I just finished reading Dana’s book, Crystal Clear: Storm Ryder, and really liked it, I’ll let her tell about some of the secrets being kept by those characters. Dana…?
Dana Warryck: Thanks, Fern, I’m so glad you liked Crystal Clear: Storm Ryder!
To give everyone a quick idea of what that science-fiction romance is about, here’s a short summary: Gayle Randall, a young widow, moves her son far away from the military’s top-secret proving grounds where her test-pilot husband crashed a year ago. When her lecherous brother-in-law comes to visit, he casts suspicion on her husband’s involvement in the disappearance of a critical biotechnical device missing from the project. This sets in motion a chain of events that results in the activation of a programmed killer sent by the ‘original’ owners to retrieve the device.
There are several secrets, lies, and cover-ups in this book, including the real source of the biotechnical device and its true capabilities, as well as the brother-in-law’s role in the crash that killed Gayle’s husband. I had a lot of fun writing this book and letting those secrets ‘slip out’ a little at a time.
So, Fern, care to share any more secrets before we let Willa steal the stage?
C. Fern Cook: Okay… In Wild Evolution, when bodies start showing up, Deputy Ramirez is determined to solve the crime – and finally my law enforcement experience comes in handy! After all those years processing crime scenes, I never thought I would use that information to write a novel.
Here’s another brief excerpt from Wild Evolution:
The muscle mass has begun to separate from the skeleton. When they move the body off the cradle, some of the rotting flesh slips off of the bone and is dragged across the ground as they move the body from the climber’s rescue cradle to the ground. Where the body had been lying in the stagnate water, the decaying flesh is more bloated. Several spiders and a few beetles crawl out from under the shirt, fleeing their host when the body is jostled about too much.
Holtz stands above the body, snapping photos of the insect activity, stopping only to pull out a few small plastic evidence bags from his jacket pocket. He holds them out for Ramirez to take. “Get as many as those bugs as you can before they disappear.” After Ramirez grabs the bags, he continues snapping pictures.
Now I think it’s Willa’s turn, don’t you, Dana?
Willa Kaye Danes: Glad you guys remembered me sitting over here in my little corner all by myself…
Oh well, enough pouting. I’m telling a BIG secret that’s the premise for my book magical romance, Pixie.
Three-inch-tall fairies are real, and they live in a huge New Hampshire state park. But their clan numbers have dwindled because of their rule banning all males. This rule forces them to assume human form to mate with human males of fey ancestry, then return to their clan to ‘lightbright’ their offspring. One daring fairy challenges the no-boys rule and must find and return with a childhood playmate to prove males can live peaceably within the clan. This big fairy cover-up prompted by the ‘no boys’ rule creates terrible hardship for everyone, including the man who’s selected as the trial male to return to the pixie clan.
As for personal secrets and cover-ups … well, there was this incident with a credit card buying spree – but we won’t talk about that right now. Since Dana’s accused me of being a stage-stealer, it’s back to you, Fern!
C. Fern Cook: Okay, guess I’ll wrap things up with one more secret cover-up. In Wild Evolution’s sequel, Wild Justice, Dan has a hard time keeping the secret of his nocturnal werewolf escapades after he marries Angela. Can you imagine keeping a secret like that from your spouse – getting hairy on all-fours and running with a pack of wolves?
Willa Kaye Danes: Woof-woof, Fern! Rachel, thanks from all of us for allowing us to talk about ourselves and our books. We had a great time.
BBB: You’re welcome Fern, Dana, and Willa.
Now for more fun! Our guest authors will be on hand throughout the day to field questions and comments as we give away some contest prizes – 15 to be exact! All you have to do is ask a question or answer a comment, and you’re automatically entered in our giveaways. Winners will be chosen at random.
It’s that easy, so start posting! This contest goes on all day and ends tomorrow night!
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CONTEST: PLEASE NOTE THE NEW CONTEST EMAIL ADDRESS TO SEND YOUR ENTRIES TO BELOW. There are also revisions to the rules for this contest, please read them all carefully. Also, PLEASE LEAVE YOUR FIRST AND THE INITIAL OF YOUR LAST NAME in your comment/post so we can give you the proper credit for your entries.
Readers, here’s how to enter the contest. You can do just ONE or ALL of these things, and each thing you do will give you additional entries at a chance to WIN. REMEMBER you have Until 11/7/09 at 11:59 pm PDT to do the different things that YOU choose to do.
Penumbra Publishing is giving away FIFTEEN great prizes!
– 10 eBooks (1 each) to 10 winners from any books available direct from our web site, available worldwide
– 5 PRINT BOOKS (1 each) to 5 winners from any books available direct from our web site available to US/Canada mailing addresses
1. In order to be entered into this contest the ONE thing you ALL have to do is ask the authors a question or leave a comment. It can be ANY question you like. No questions/comments = no entries! You can come by through 11/7/09 and ask Diana your questions. Good for 10 entries. (max 2 questions that count towards entries)
2. Spread the word! Use this direct link to the event: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=12622 on twitter, at another blog, website, Myspace, Ning Group, Facebook, Yahoo Group, Goodreads, Shelfari (any group where it is appropriate). You MUST come back here to this interview and post those links in one response here in this thread so we can verify your entries. Good for 100 entries per place you post the event link.
NOTE: if you post multiple links here, your post will not show up right away. If you don’t see it, don’t keep posting it, we WILL approve your entry later on in the day.
While you are here today be SURE to VOTE in the poll for the week here: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=12508 AND enter the Halloween Hangover Contest here: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=12501.
RULES AND LEGAL DISCLAIMERS
The contest ends on 11/7/09 at 11:59 pm PDT and the winners will be contacted via email. You will receive your prize bag directly from the publisher. PLEASE LEAVE YOUR FIRST AND THE INITIAL OF YOUR LAST NAME as well as a valid email where we can contact you. REMEMBER the more things you do, the more entries, the greater the chances of winning.
1. Please note, the prize stated IS the prize you will receive, there will be absolutely no substitutions or changes the prize is non-transferable. If you don’t want the prize being offered, please don’t enter the contest. If you ever win an electronic copy of a book, please note that it is ILLEGAL to forward, give away or copy it in anyway once you receive it. Doing so violates copyright. If we find out that it has been done, you will no longer be eligible to win any of our contests.
2. You have THREE days from the day the we contact you to claim your prize by sending your name/mailing address to me. Failure to contact me will forfeit your prize. BBB can at that time, choose either to re-award the prize to another entrant or not.
3. The prize stated IS the prize you will receive, there will be no substitutions, trades or changes. No exceptions. Please do not ask. If for some reason you do not wish to claim your prize, please let me know as soon as possible. Bitten by Books has the option to re-award it or not.
4. Contest is open to USA readers except where noted. The prizes are shipped directly from the publisher.
5. Bitten by Books is in NO way responsible for the prizes being offered in any of the contests. If for some reason a contributor does not honor their prize, there is nothing we can or will do about it. We are not worried that this will happen, but we want to be very clear that WE are not offering these prizes, the contributor is and it is their responsibility to fulfill their prize obligations.
6. These rules are subject to change or be modified without prior written notice.
7. Contest is void where prohibited.
8. By entering this contest you are agreeing to our terms of entry
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Hey everyone! I have to say Dana’s book cover title Lucifer’s Last Lover is what drew to this post. I love that title and can’t wait to read the book.
And Willa, I love Pixies and think the premise for your story sounds fabulous. Do you have a blog or a website I can check out? I started a “round-robin” type story on my blog called Ember in Wrilogonzia, she is a woman who gets sucked into the blog world and depending on the site she lands on that segment of the story has her interact with what is on the site and I would love to throw her into your Pixie world. I think she and her weird creature who is her guide would have a blast.
RSVP’d and am going to go look for all of you guys on FB and MySpace.
Ursula D.
C. Fern Cook didn’t mean to leave you out of the above comment. What’s the craziest thing you’ve come across in your years in law enforcement?
Ursula D
Hey everyone! Thanks for being here w/ us today! I was wondering when you all started writing?
Boy that’s a good question. I have so many tales to tell about my experience as police office and crime scene investigations. One of things I liked about the job was you never knew what you where going to run into that day. I always said you can’t make up the things that happen on patrol, little did I know I would use it here and there to liven up my stories.
Not everyone is as a good as liar as they would like to be. Whenever asked for identification and they gave some lame story I figured they were wanted for something. This guy I stopped on suspicious activity was one of those people. He gave me a fake name, fake address, but he gave me his real social security number. It turned out that he was an escapee from prison. I thought that was pretty funny, that one little slip up sent him back to prison.
I love the title! “Lucifer’s Last Lover” The title has me sucked in, I don’t need to be convinced- I’m going to read this book! =)
*I RSVP’d
Hi Medievalgrrl! Thanks for your comment. I love pixies/fairies/witches/vampires/werewolves - all kinds of paranormal and unusual! Your round-robin story sounds fantastic. My web site is http://www.willakayedanes.com … and right now most of the authors at Penumbra Publishing do all their blogging at the publisher’s blog site http://www.penumbrapublishing.blogspot.com … go check it out and see a lot of posts on writing and other interesting stuff. A couple authors have myspace sites, and there’s a twitter site for Penumbra Publishing at http://twitter.com/penumbrapublish … Penumbra Publishing also has a myspace site, but truthfully nobody has kept up with much of any of it except for the blogging and some twittering. We’re trying to find some time to WRITE MORE BOOKS too! LOL!
Just curious, did any of you write non-fiction articles/books before switching to fiction, or was it always fiction from the start?
I’m adding all your books to my TBR list. Good thing I’m a fast reader:)
Thanks for cool interview.
Contest Stuff: RSVP’s, subscribe to BBB and on blog roll, voted already.
Well, I started writing how-to articles in the late ‘90. That progressed to short stories and then I tried to do a novel length story. My first attempt at a novel length story was “Learning to Love on Indian Time”.
Since doing “Wild Evolution” I have found my writing style. The book was a sweet romance, that is really not me. I get lost when I write on the dark side. After all those years of pent up anger and resentment it comes easy for me to connect with that world when I am writing. It’s not nice to admit that you enjoy thoughts on the dark side, but I love spinning tales about people who lose control.
On the other side of the coin, that’s when my police experience comes in handy, someone has to solve those crimes.
Hi Amanda L! Personally, I started writing a bit later in life, but that was some time ago. Pixie is the first book I got published, and I spent a lot of time on and off working on it. I had it finished for a year or two before I managed to get it published, so I guess you could say I have been at this for about 10 years. I have some other books sitting in various stages of completion, so I am trying to find more time to work on them and get them published. I’ve had a couple readers asking when I will get “Holly of the North” finished - it is first in my “Mystic Tea” series about some multi-dimensional guardians that visit other planets to save the indigenous people from the marauding armies sent by the Dark Force that opposes them. Got a lot of work to do on that one. Thanks for your question!
I feel the same about myspace and facebook. With a family, a real job, and writing I found I don’t have time for facebook or myspace. When I do blog it is on the Penumbra Publishing blog.
Just a little secret info, Willa and I first met in writer’s group. I thought she was best of the whole bunch. Of course, you meet a lot wierd people at writer’s groups.
People probably think that of me.
I know I make a horrible first impression.
Whenever I have to go to a job interview I put on my acting mood and goes as someone else. Someone who is not so abrasive. I pretend to be someone that is sweet and thoughtful and maybe a little bit of a goody-two-shoes.
Otherwise I would never get a job.
Hello C. Fern Cook, Willa Kaye Danes, Dana Warryck,
Do you guys get together for lunch or drinks just to hang have some laughs?
Hey everyone! I’m finally here. Popping in and out all day, so I may take a while to answer everyone’s posts!
Ursula D, Julie S, thanks for the kudos on Lucifer’s Last Lover. I originally wrote that as a standalone story but later decided it would make a cool series, so I’ve added it to my ‘more books to write’ list in addition to the two other series I have going. (I am a glutton for punishment - LOL!)
Moonsanity, thanks for adding our books to your TBR list - glad you’re a fast reader, wish I could write faster! I never did do much non-fiction writing, so it was always fiction from the start.
Amanda L, I started writing when I was a kid many, many moons ago. LOL! I can remember being fascinated by anime cartoons and drawing my own comic books on notepad paper. Before that I was drawing pictures on the wall and getting in trouble for that, so this is a pattern of behavior that has been going on for quite some time. Instead of getting over it, I gravitated toward fiction writing and absolutely love it! The only thing is, I just can’t find enough time to write down all the stories that keep popping into my head.
Hi all!!! I was wondering what drew each of you to want to write paranormal fiction/romance.
Hi all…. thanks for visiting with BBB….
To each of you….
Which authors do you curl up with when you want to loose yourself to a great read?
I Rsvp’d
Talk later I can’t stay right now but I wanted to stop by…
What was your fav childhood book?
I RSVPed
Who is your favorite secondary character of all time?
I rsvped
I tweeted http://twitter.com/alicia0605
Hi Cyd J! Getting together for drinks … mmmm!!! We used to do that, but unfortunately a couple of us have moved away due to job relocations and such, so we don’t all get together nearly as often as we would like.
We do chat through email, so we talk quite a bit that way, and are busy commiserating over our sucky day-jobs and lack of writing time. Wow, listening to myself tell all this, I sound like a writaholic.
Anyway, in the spirit of the blog we had earlier about SECRETS, LIES, AND COVER-UPS, I was wondering if any of you out there in cyber readerland ever have a problem with family or coworkers regarding your reading habits or choice of reading material…?
Hi Everyone,
I’m really into this genre so I’m interested in reading all of your books. I added Willa’s and Fern’s to my TBR on Kindle list. Dana, I was wondering if your books will be available on Kindle in the future?
Thanks!!
1. RSVP’d
2. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=100000083604863&ref=nf
posted on my facebook home page!!
Hey Guys,
Checked out your site last night and have to say, there are several paranormals I’d be interested in reading. Wild Evolution by Fern Cook would be my first choice. Fern your book on werewolves looks like it would be something I could sink my teeth in! What books do YOU have on your bedside tables to read?
RSVPed and voted in the poll and the Halloween Hangover contest.
Hey there Amy T. I was always nutty about horses, even when I was a toddler. (We used to live in a racehorce community, and our house was next to a thoroughbred pasture - where, according to my mother, I once wandered off in just a diaper and was found sitting in the grass among grazing horses.) I remember reading Black Beauty by Anna Sewell as a kid (out of diapers by then - LOL) and was really depressed by the hell that animals are put through by humans. While I can’t say that it was my favorite book as a child, it was one that I remember, and one that has affected me, kind of like Charlotte’s Web.
Hey there Heather C. What prompted me to write paranormal? Well part of it was the stories told by grandparents, great uncles and aunts, and so forth about poltergeist activities - you know, stuff like a kitchen table jumping around at night and waking everyone up, and then four big men trying to force the table back onto the floor when it was floating in the air - and other spooky stuff that fascinated me when I was a small child. And then of course my older sister went through this … I don’t know … gothy kind of phase where she was mean and depressed all the time and in the midst of that became fascinated with the idea of immortality and vampires. Plus we used to watch a lot of really old scary movies on TV - you know, the Wolf Man and Dracula, The Mummy, The Fly, that sort of thing. All of that influence was always there, and when I started writing I found myself continually putting oddities into my stories, before I realized paranormal or sci-fi romance was even a market. I never was into straight horror, though. Always had to put some romance in there. And it is really fun to set parameters for your story so that some power a character has is set back by some consequence. That conflicting give-and-take situation always fascinated me, so paranormal seemed like a natural for me right from the start.
I RSVP’d
-It’s great to learn of another newcomer to the ebook scene…I’m always on the look-out for new reads and authors and I have a feeling you guyz will contributing to my TBB pile as well.
-Posted on facebook - Anna Shah Hoque
-Already voted for the poll
-Already entered the Halloween hangover contest
Happy Reading
Anna
Wow all these books sound great! Definitely adding to my TBR pile
RSVP’d
Hey Kim, thanks for your question. Our publisher says right now it looks like Kindle’s got a wait list of about a week before books that have already been submitted are going up on their site. Our publisher is kind of swamped right now, trying to upload to Smashwords and other sites too, to offer the ebooks in more formats in addition to Kindle.
I am eager to get my books in ebook format and available online. They are available in a variety of formats from the publisher web site, but their shopping cart isn’t working, so you have to email them and pay with Paypal. (Bummer) But they said they should have things upgraded for credcard purchase checkout by Thanksgiving.
Anyway, we’re all hoping the rest of the books not already up on KINDLE will be there by next week. The publisher’s supposed to have them uploaded by this weekend (hint-hint, wink-wink) but of course we also have to wait on Amazon to process the books and make them available for sale on their site. So it is all a wait-and-see thing for me. GOOD NEWS IS, if you win an ebook through BBB today/tomorrow, you can get a mobi file direct from the publisher, and I think that is convertible to Kindle. Could be wrong, but at least I think it is. I’m sure the publisher will be tweeting and blogging as soon as the rest of the books (MINE) are available electronically at retail sites.
Hi,
I like the title Lucifer’s Last Lover, if I passed that in a bookstore I would definetly pick it up and read the back. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading your work, but now that I am aware of it I will be checking it out. I saw alot of interesting titles on the website, and I look forward to reading them.
I RSVP’d
I spread the word on my fb page. http://www.facebook.com/tawania
How hard its it for any of you to get started on writing a book?
Tami C.
1. Wow, all these stories sound intriguing! Do you ladies have any suggestions/hints/secrets for us beginning writers out here? Oh, yeah I RSVped. =)
2. I shared on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1275523910&ref=profile
Thanks for stopping by your guys. Your stories sound very interesting.
My question is if you had to live one day in the life of a character you’ve written who would it be and what would you be doing? (remember they get to live your life for that day)
I sent tweets about this contest!!
RSVP’d
Thanks for the TBB votes Raelena and Anna and Kim…
Hi Heather C, I started out writing paranormal, I guess because of all the paranormal books I’d read and enjoyed. Like I said earlier, I am really fascinated by books, movies, whatever. I am a sci-fi-aholic and paranormal is right in there with the rest of it.
As for losing myself in a good read, Shell, I have to admit I enjoy longish books the best because of my on-and-off reading habits. I will carry a book around with me and read on my lunch break, so it takes a good while to finish one, as I can only usually fit a chapter in a day (or more if the chapters are short). I like books that are emotionally engaging, and I find that the longer books usually satisfy that need better than shorter books, because there’s more room to explore the emotional depth necessary to hold my attention from day to day when I have to put the book aside and go do other things (like work).
I just finished Eclipse, the third installment of S. Meyer’s Twilight series, and found myself boohooing at the end because of the love triangle situation. I just started Eve of Destruction by SJ Day, and admit the only reason I bought the series was because I loved the covers! I haven’t got too far into the first book, but already realize it is quite a different story from the last book I finished, so I’m having trouble shifting gears. There’s more eroticism in Day’s story, but seems like less romance. I am a romantic at heart, so the gears are grinding as I shift. Anyway, the story premise seemed interesting (up your alley, Dana) and so I will stick with it to see it through.
Now I’m off for an errand, will return a bit later. Thanks to all who’ve commented so far!
Marnie, interesting question. I would say that I am a lot like Dan Tucker, I love the great outdoors and all animals. I had a traumatic childhood and found that I relate better to animals than people.
I dreamed of being a rancher as a child. I have a hobby farm, that is as close as I am getting.
When we did live in the Colorado mountains I could just spend hours sitting in the middle of the forest and listening to the sounds of life all around. I miss that most of all.
I would say that I would be the main character in Wild Evolution, Dan Tucker.
Hey there Tawania, I went to school with a girl named Tawana. Never heard that name again or anything close to it, till you signed in! Thanks for your vote of confidence on my books.
And Tammy, I don’t know about anyone else, but the hardest thing for me to do was finish the first book I ever wrote. Every book is different I think, but the first one is usually the hardest because for me I didn’t know IF I would/could finish it. So when I did, I felt like I’d won a marathon. Of course then I had to go back and revise it because it was needed to have some later-learned writing techniques incorporated. But just getting through it was the big hurdle.
I can’t tell you where the quote came from (maybe Nora Roberts) but to paraphrase, it’s always easier to edit something that’s already written than to start with a blank page. So the first thing I do AFTER I have thought out the particulars of the book I’m going to write (main characters, major conflict, story setup) is to write a little summary or outline of how I think the book should go. Then I tweak that outline and expand on it. Once I feel like the plot underpinnings are working, I’ll piddle around with a first chapter. Sometimes it takes me a while to get the opening right, to have a good hook and seem interesting. And sometimes I skip that part and just write down snatches of scenes that pop into my head. I have been known to get up out of bed at 3:00 in the morning to do that kind of thing. But, like I said, every book is different, and some are easier to start than others.
Heather, what drew me to the paranormal genre was a round about way. When I lived and worked in the Colorado Rockies as a deputy I came in contact with many ranchers that just killed anything they didn’t like on their property. I wanted to tell the story of a rancher that shared his land with all creatures even the coyotes and wolves. Eventually the story grew into a werewolf story. The hardest part of writing the story was coming up with something new. I have drawn from the Native American and South American werewolf folklore. This is not your normal paranormal romance, there is romance but that is not the focus of the story.
Once I came up with the opening scene everything else just flowed on its own. I love this story line and plan on doing more.
The ending was also hard. I hope you like it.
Cyd J. I have since moved away, but I still keep in contact with Willa
Shell, my favorite author is not just one.
One of my favorite authors is Willa, I loved Pixie. You can’t help but sucked into the story.
I just finished Crystal Clear Storm Ryder, if you like real sci-fi stories, ones that will be classics someday, then you will love Crystal Clear Storm Ryder.
Right now I am reading Shadow Killer by Mathew Hensen.
Amy, my first fiction story as a teenager was “My side of the Mountain”.
It was all about living in the wilderness. I have been in love with the wilderness ever since.
In Wild Evolution I put a lot scenes in the wilderness setting. First of all it is set in the Colorado Rockies where I was a deputy for Grand County Colorado.
The main character is a rancher, so a lot what I fell in love with the first novel I read comes through in my book.
Mindy, yours is a loaded question! LOL! Our publisher’s blog has lots of writing tips, which we have all contributed to here and there. You can find literally thousands of places for tips on writing. When I started out trying to figure out how it was done, I bought a ton of how-to books from Writer’s Digest and sucked up everything I could from articles in Writer’s Digest. That was (and still is) somewhat helpful to me. But assimilating all that information means nothing if you don’t write.
First and foremost, you must WANT to write. Your reason for wanting to be a writer can be a boon or bust for your career dreams, but whatever your motivation for wanting to write, you must really want it badly. Because there will be all kinds of distractions, deterrents, and even family members who may insist that you stop writing because they are threatened by this new invisible best friend you’ve discovered.
Once you determine that you are going to write no matter what, you have to get comfortable with the writing PROCESS before you can expect to turn out anything even resembling a story. Only if you are very talented innately or very lucky will your first attempts be decent. So first you must ALLOW yourself to write. By that I mean you have to get over the fear that you can’t write anything decent, and get into the groove and habit of writing so that doing it feels natural to you rather than like something foreign or forbidden or frightening. That means you have to give yourself permission to allocate a necessary amount of time each day or each week to the writing process, even if what you churn out seems like crap at first. Tell that little editor on your shoulder to take a hike while you play around and get comfortable writing. It doesn’t matter what you write while you go through this process. And once you feel comfortable CALLING yourself a writer, then you can get down to the business of actually LEARNING how to write.
When you are in the mode of learning, you will probably make a lot of false starts. It is best to have a story in mind, a goal in mind, at the point you decide you are ready and willing to be a writer. DO NOT at this point join a writer’s critique group or anything of that nature, unless you are very thick-skinned and are a pollyanna optimist who will not be dissuaded by negativism regarding your writing. If you are not that pollyanna person, spend some time by yourself perusing how-to references about writing, and practice writing techniques like point-of-view, characterization, scene setting, and plotting. Once you feel comfortable with things like that, and you have a story in mind and characters to populate it, THEN you can actually start writing.
If this all sounds like a load of hard work, rest assured, it is. To the person who gets a personal reward from this work by being pleased with the results of the labor, this will seem like a worthwhile endeavor even when no fame or money comes of it. But eventually those around you will pressure you to produce something they can hold in their hands (a published book), so be prepared for that eventuality. Writing can be fun, or it can be hell. If you’re in for a penny, you’re in for a pound, and there’s nothing you can do but ride the storm. Good luck to you and all the other would-be writers out there!
Tami, my problem isn’t starting a book I have two outlines stacked up to begin on, my problem is finding time to finish what I have started.
Wild Justice is due out in the spring of 2010, I have a murder/suspence outlined waiting for time to begin and then third of the wild series is waiting to be started.
I will notice something, like something I see someone do that is a little odd and that blossoms into a whole story.
When I am deep into a story I will dream it and have to get up and jot it down before I lose it.
So starting a story is the easy part. Coming up with a opening hook is not always so easy.
I had most of Wild Evolution plotted out before I came up with of an interesting opening, then the rest of the story flowed very easy.
Alicia - I meant to answer your question when I was talking about reading Twilight/Eclipse. I don’t know about all-time favorite secondary character, and I don’t even know that Jacob would be a secondary character, but he seems to be, so I’d have to say warts, fur, and all, right now he’s a contender for a great conflicted secondary character! Thanks for the question, a good one.
Since we are talking about lies, how many of you have told a lie just to see if anyone would believe it.
When I was a kid we moved all the time, we would live somewhere for a couple of months and move again.
I loved it, everytime I went to a new school I could become anything I wanted, no one knew better. I was really good at making up stories about my family. The only time I got busted is when I made my story too grand for the neighborhood we were living in. It was when I made my stepdad too important is when I got busted. so the moral of my story was to keep my lies believable. That was a very good lesson for me.
1. Hi everyone, thanks for being here with us. All these books sound good. Are all these books ebooks or can you get them in print books? Also, do you like publishing in ebooks or print books? I’m finishing a story and I’m not sure how to go here. Should I try ebook or go straight to print. thanks for being here. Heidi
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Thanks
HeidiS.
Marnie, your question is a hard one to answer. I have written a lot of characters (some not published yet mind you). You know, it seems to make sense to choose live as a hero who seemingly can do no wrong, but I’ll tell you a little secret, the character I feel the most sympathy and kindship for is one of the most unlikeable characters I ever wrote - in Crystal Clear: Storm Ryder, Jack, the brother-in-law. And I guess that explains why I spent a good part of the book trying to tell his side of the story. All he wants in life is the one thing he knows he can’t have - his brother’s wife. He wanted her even before they were married, and despite the fact that he was already married. Everything bad that he does in the book is spurred by his desire to have this woman love him. I would not want to spend one minute as this character, but as a writer I felt bad for having him do all the selfish things he did, and as a person I wanted to FIX him, to try and make him a better person so that he could be happy.
So I guess I didn’t really answer your question, but that’s my response!
How does a three-inch fairy transform to human size?
RSVP’d
Marnie - great question. And Dana, your answer puts me right back to my previous comment in response to Alicia. I think sometimes the characters who are most conflicted, or are not all good, are the most interesting. And back to Jacob the secondary character in Twilight. He spares nothing to get what he wants, and comes off like a jackass. But he has good qualities as well, and so the reader is back and forth, back and forth, really and truly rooting for him to be the male lead in the book. And perhaps that is due in great part to the author’s handling of the characters. Well of course it is.
In Fern’s Wild Evolution, Dan Tucker is similarly conflicted. Like any real human being, he has good qualities and some that are perhaps not so good. He wants to do the right thing, but what he considers right doesn’t exactly jibe with the general consensus of his peers. One of the great underlying conflicts of this story is man’s materialistm/commercialism versus nature. And Dan is caught right in the middle, already opposed to progress for the sake of money at the expense of the good earth. And then when he takes on the soul of the werewolf, he dives even further into the role of nature’s keeper, seemingly pitting himself against everyone else in the community.
I really enjoyed the cat-and-mouse conflict between Dan and his former best friend, Deputy Ramirez, and the crime scene descriptions were a real eye-opener, adding realism to the story that some authors may be too squeamish to deal with. The book is such a unique addition to the horror/thriller genre, I think it is worthy of attention. It’s like nothing else I have ever read, and Fern, if you don’t get busy and finish the sequel soon, I’m going to be very disappointed!
THANK YOU Dana:))
I know just what you mean in comment 36. I have all the books on how to, I get Writer’s Digest and use it as a bible for my writing. But really I only have to remember right now is to just write. I’m a lot better now then I was at first about sitting down and writing. I started doing a lot of writing games with my blog friends, ( someone gives you a number of words you must wirte each day) and this has helped me set time aside each day to write. That has been my savior. I now at least don’t even think about I just sit down in my time slot to wirte and I do it no matter what is going on around me. My husband says the house could be burning around me and I would not move until I was done.
thanks again,
HeidiS
Heide, up until recently I would have said go with print not ebook. For a long time ebooks were mostly for erotica.
But this year I have known several people who have purchased a kindle for reading all kinds of books, mainly because of the cost of the book is so much more affordable.
As far as my opinion I will tell you what I think is best for me, I went for both. Many publishers are doing both now. I do believe the future is the ebook.
The main drawback with ebook is you can’t get the exposure like a brick and mortor store can give you. You can’t get that impluse buyer like somone who walks through the store and your book catches their eye.
Hello Heidi,
I’m going to try to answer your question based on my own experience, but of course my experience may not begin to match that of other authors who’ve seen great success with ebook sales. One author I know who started out in ebook and ‘graduated’ to print, Angela Knight, did so by writing prolifically and expanding her published market to include several publishers. This seemed to work to her advantage to make her a well-known name so that traditional large publishers took notice of her work.
I can tell you all the books from Penumbra Publishing are currently available in print at Amazon, and most are also available at Barnes & Noble and other online retailers. I seriously doubt any of them will be routinely stocked in physical bookstores, simply because Penumbra Publishing is a new start-up publisher with a very small but growing catalog of books. However, with an ISBN, you can special order any book you want through your favorite bookstore.
About half of Penumbra Publishing’s books are available in ebook format right now, and the rest will be in a week or so (I hope). The Kindle situation results in a lead-time of an extra week or more. Smashwords, which offers all popular formats other than Kindle, is supposed to be feeding their catalog of ebooks to Barnes & Noble and other retailers like Fictionwise. But apparently there is a glitch with that, so the books will only be on Smashwords for a while. Haven’t heard when that glitch might be fixed.
As for getting published either in ebook or print or both, I can tell you this from experience: most publishers who are primarily ebook publishers offer print books only as a compromise to attract readers who want both, and certainly don’t offer their whole catalog in print because of the up-front cost of putting books into print as opposed to ebook. Penumbra Publishing’s policy is to offer ALL their books in print and ebook. A lot of small independent publishers also do this, but the big ebook publishers who started out offering only ebooks have made a profit model based on ebook sales, and I doubt they will change their business model to meet every author’s whim of wanting to be published in both ebook and print.
As a new author, you might find it easier to get your book accepted for ebook-only publishing, but I can tell you also from experience that unless all your friends and family are avid ebook readers, they won’t take you seriously as a published author unless and until you get your books in print. And eventually you might too tend to take yourself less seriously as an author, just because of that outside perception. So you have to be careful how you look at things and try to anticipate how the perception of others will affect your satisfaction with one publishing choice over another.
In my observational experience, most ebook publishers option the print rights as a matter of course and don’t give you a choice, even if they have no intention of exercising that option. If your book is actually put into print, your income from sales of print books will probably be low, simply due to the fact that print books have a lower profit margin and are not competitive price-wise with ebooks. Most unknown authors will have a very slim likelihood of making stupendous sales in print. Some publishing industry gurus predict that only diehard readers who demand print books will be likely to buy in print in the not-too-distant future. I’ve heard buzz about instant printing at physical bookstores with the Esspresso Book Machine, but I can’t see that catching on at all retail bookstores simply for the cost of the machine, plus operation, maintenance, and supplies costs.
Really, the answer to your question boils down to this. Can you, as a new author, even get published in print? If you are looking at the big traditional publishers, that could be a long, hard road that could take you years, starting with hardcore networking to get an agent or editor even willing to look at your work. If you want to go for the quick and easy publishing route, your best bet is to submit to ebook publishers. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck!
Fern to answer your question about lies, I did kind of what you did. My family moved around a lot when I was little, so I just got in the habit of making up little lies to make things interesting or easier. Sadly, I got used to doing it and continued to lie so much it became a really bad habit. One that I’m still trying hard to break.
-oh,, I RSVP’d
Willa, to answer your question about reading:
I haven’t had to many problems with people regarding my reading. Mostly my friends and family tell me I need to get out more rather than sit home and read so much, but it’s what I like to do. They also think the only books I read are about vampires and love to tease me about that, and while I do read a lot of them, I will read books from all different genres.
Hi Sandy,
Three-inch fairies take on human form VERY CAREFULLY - especially when changing back! LOL!
No seriously, I went into some detail about that in the book, by having one of the characters ask that very question. So it was a bit involved. But like all magic, it’s hard to explain in lay terms. LOL!
Thank you so much for coming, everyone.
My question is what was the best advice you have received, that has helped you on your journey?
Steps 1,2 & 3 are done.
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Thanks,
Fallon H.
Forgot to mention I RSVP’d.
Fallon H.
Lies, secrets, and cover-ups. Dan’s first lie was:
First lie
Dan closes his eyes and clenches his teeth to keep from screaming. Dr. Jackson dabs the remaining antiseptic with a sterile piece of gauze. “Did you catch the dog that did this?” Jessie holds the wastebasket out for the doc to drop the spent gauze into.
“I killed it.” Dan yelps from the sting of the antiseptic.
“Good.” Dr. Jackson waits for the antiseptic to dry a little before he lays a clean piece of gauze over the wound.
Opening a sterile packet of sutures, he continues, “Bring in the head of the animal so we can check it for rabies.”
“Can’t, I cremated the animal.” Lying to cover his tracks, Dan knows he couldn’t bring in the head of a human without being arrested for murder. No one would believe his story.
Hi Amanda. The reason I asked is because I have to go off somewhere to read, like one of the cafeterias, and even there sometimes people will stop and ask what I’m reading. When I was reading Twilight a coworker happened by and was like, “Oh, you’re reading THAT stuff again.” PHOOEY! He prides himself on reading ’serious literature’ and I think while it’s good to get a wide range of input from different sources, I still like my escapist fiction. Anyway, when he left, a stranger sitting nearby whispered to me that she loved that book and I’d really enjoy it. LOL!
Oh, that does remind me once of when a few coworkers were talking about books. They were suggesting books to eachother, so I asked what kind of stuff they read, but they all read nonfiction and that was all. When they asked what I read and I told them, they said that they couldn’t understand reading stuff like that. They wanted to read to learn about real events and I read to escape. But even when reading urban fantasy or other similar books, there are still things to learn from them, I don’t know why people can’t see that.
How did all the writers get involved with Penumbra?
Hi darchole,
Mostly by word-of-mouth. Friend of a friend. That kind of thing. I was told the acquisition editor’s working on some new queries, so there may be some brand new people we oldsters get to initiate! Oh, no making anyone walk over hot coals, or anything like that. LOL!
Oops, the man of the house just got home, and I’m supposed to be making supper. Gotta go, will return later this evening. You all just keep popping in when you can, we’re up for more chat - and then there’s tomorrow too! TTYL
Thank you so much Fern and Dana…
you gave me lots more to think about
I have not been able to get a staight answer from anyone else I asked.
Heidi S
Hi, I was wondering if the authors have an idea of the cover when they come up with their stories. Also, what’s your favorite thing to do together ladies?
I rsvp’d and voted
Welcome to BBB, glad you could be here!
Do you name your characters after people you know? Or do you give them personalities of people you know?
RSVP for today.
RSVP’d for both events next week.
HI there!
Dana - I love the story idea - will have to check it out!!!
RSVP’d
Voted & Entered Hangover contest
Amanda, I love it. I can picture you as one of the kids I would have been friends with.
I’m sorry to hear it became a bad habit, it could probably be a little embarrassing to get busted when you are no longer a kid.
wow! so many books, so little time!! Sorry, I got here late, but I was working. Great interview!!!
Welcome all. Every book sounds fantastic. Wild Evolution struck me especially. Covering up werewolf lies? Super interesting.
I have Wild Evolution by C. Fern Cook in my TBR pile; I believe that I had won it during an author chat on Author Island. My TBR pile seems to grow and grow and grow but never lowers! Hehe. I got all excited when I recognized the book and went “I have that one”. I may have it signed too. Lemme check, yup! I got it signed
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Posted about the chat-contest on myspace’s blog and bullentin (www.myspace.com/visionarydruid)
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Amanda, I really like it when people aren’t afraid to be themselves. It really burns me up when people get that holier than thou attitude.
Biki, that last thing I think about is a cover, I would be happy if I never had to worry if a cover was good enough or was right for the book, etc. To me it is the story, but you know what they say, ‘People really do judge a book by the cover’.
Yeah Fern, I just bought three books because I liked the cover. I can remember one time I kept this book that I never even finished reading, just because I liked something about the cover.
To me the whole book is a package, cover and all. I enjoy savoring the whole package. That’s one reason I have resisted getting seriously into ebooks myself as a reader, because I enjoy the look and feel of a book in my hands. Of course when you spend thousands of dollars a year on books and then box them up and don’t know what to do with them, it can become a problem.
I know some people may look beyond the cover, but many do not, and if the cover sucks, they assume the book does too. That is one complaint I had about older ebooks. It seemed like all the covers were terrible. Now that some of those first ebook publishers are starting to make more money, they can afford to hire models for cover shoots, or at least buy packages of cover shoots to use for a variety of covers. Also most of their web sites are more sophisticated and visually geared toward the genre they deal with.
I think some publishers ask the author if they have any ideas about the cover. That way they get some springboard ideas for the cover. They figure the author knows the book better than anybody else, so they see what the author has to offer as far as ideas.
I checked the site out yesterday and saw a lot of great books. I’m always glad to find new authors.
I RSVPed
Wow! I go away for a little while and look how behind I am!
Well, let me jump in by saying, Fallon, I missed your comment earlier in the fracas but would like to comment and say THE BEST WRITING ADVICE I have ever received is “NEVER GIVE UP.”
I know I am not the only person out there that can say things have looked pretty grim in the publishing world for my stories, and I have received my fair share of rejections. But I figured what’s maybe not right for one publisher WILL be fore another. You just have to persevere - and all the while you are sticking with it and hanging in there, make sure your writing, your stories, are the best they can be in every way imaginable.
I always shot myself in the foot by writing things that didn’t fit the market, but were stories I wanted to write. Now it turns out there’s a whole magnificently overloaded market of paranormal romance. And now I’m playing catch-up. But I never gave up, and the world sort of came around to my way of thinking. (Or at least that’s how I like to look at it - LOL)
Biki - favorite thing to do together? Sit around and drink and talk and play ‘Things I’d change if I ran the world.’ Oh … wait a minute. That’s what we do when we write too. Maybe that’s why it’s our favorite get-together game. LOL!
Michelle, thanks for the kudos on story idea!
Lisa G, I enjoy naming characters after people I know, if the name fits the character. Usually I’ll change the spelling so it’s not real obvious, and most of the time the character bears little if any resemblance to the actual person, but it’s just the idea in the back of my mind that I picked a name of someone I knew. It’s kind of like a private tribute to that person. And you know, sometimes if I don’t care for the person too much, I’ll name a villainous or cranky character after that person. LOL!
As for patterning personality traits of people you know, sometimes that can be dangerous, if the person reads your book and recognizes him/herself and feels you didn’t portray them fairly. Secret, secret, I’ve got a secret! LOL! Another Penumbra Publishing author whom I won’t name for fear of getting flayed did exactly that - loosely based a couple characters on family members, used some behavior patterns that kind of thing - but figured they’d never read her book so it wouldn’t matter. Still you have to be careful doing things like that so they don’t backfire on you.
Hi! I RSVP’d. I admit - I have never read any of the authors mentioned. I love being introduced to new authors to ms, though!
I hope y’all have had a great day! (sorry this post is so late!)
A question - basically a question I like to ask people. Where is your favorite spot on earth?? Mine: my local bookstore - where I could peruse the aisles for hours & not realze how much time has passed. or mu back porch next to a small pond w\a waterfall where I love reading. (unfortunately, it’s too hot to do this in summer where I live. Spring is fantastic, though!
) I’m off rambling, though.
Another questions to those reading this: (if it’s not too late to ask a question!) Since you are new authors to me - please recommend to me your book I should start reading first.
Wow that title has got me curious lol who was it that said don’t judge a book by it’s cover? The title of a book is one of the ways I get drawn to read a book personally, and that method has led me to many of my now favorite authors.
This question is for all of y’all, what would you say are your top three favorite paranormal authors?
(For the contest)
I RSVP’d for this yesterday
This is my second post here
and I posted the link in my status on:
myspace.com/tinkerbellmn84
facebook.com/cassandra.warner
twitter.com/bluestarc218
Hi
1.This is the First that I herd of this Publishing.I say That Dana Warryck book looks good.
2.I have Spread the word on my myspace and facebook and here is the links
http://www.myspace.com/sasluvbooks & facebook.com/sasluvbooks
From Stacey S
sasluvbooks@yahoo.com
Hi its me again I forgot to tell you that I RSVPed
From Stacey S
sasluvbooks@yahoo.com
Wow, I definitely need to look in to this books. =)
Hi everyone and welcome to BBB
I Love the works you all have written so far i was courious to know whats next will any of you be going in a different direction with your work and such ?
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i voted on the poll
and i entered the hang over contest
I rsvped and now here I am. Okay unfornately I’d never heard of your company before this post what can each of your guys tell me or use to entice me to your website. shouldn’t be too hard I am ususally pretty easy when it comes to books.
Libby, Cassandra, Stacey, Dani, Beverly…
OK, apparently I am the only one bleary-eyed enough to be staying up this late to answer some questions, so here goes - then I’m off to bed and will be back tomorrow with the rest of the gang! Sorry for the super-long reply.
Stacey, thanks for the kudos on my books. Also Penumbra Publishing is very new and we are just now starting to get the word out about the publishing company.
Libby, like you I love sitting out in the back yard, spring or fall are best, a lot of times summers get too hot. But still when it’s sunny and I have some shade and a cool drink to sip, I’ll brave the heat. Winter I like sitting all snuggly and warm, looking outside the window.
As for recommending which books to read, kind of depends on your preferences (see some descriptions that follow).
Beverley, what direction we’re going with our writing is kind of dictated right now by the series we are trying to nurture.
Fern Cook has her Wild series, first installment out now and second on the way. This storyline celebrates the wilds of nature and features a man who’s ‘evolved’ after becoming a werewolf by contamination. It’s got a lot of gritty detail and is not a romance, but is more a psychological suspense. It’s a great read, and I expect the second to be even more involved.
Willa K. Danes’ book Pixie is not a series as far as I know - at least she hasn’t said it is. So it is a standalone and very sweet kind of story (as in not erotic) about fairies, although there are some not-so-sweet characters in it like a conniving witch. And there’s some humor especially with the cantankerous father who goes to extreme lengths to prevent his son from making the mistake of a lifetime (and there’s where the cover-up issue comes in). However I do know Willa is working on the Mystic Tea series she mentioned earlier, about the dimensional guardians trying to protect people on different planets. She explained it a bit better than I have right here. (sorry Willa)
Then there’s my stories. I have three series going on. Crystal Clear is a sci-fi romance, with the first installment set mainly on Earth in present time, and two others planned to come later. I have the Protectorate erotic vampire romance series, with the second installment not yet completed. And then I have the Lucifer story, which is a supernatural romance that I am developing into a series. I have another book, an erotic romance about a succubus and a homicide detective that I’m trying to finish and get ready for publishing, but that is a side distraction from the three series I am committed to finishing.
If you’re looking for non-paranormal, there are three contemporary romances available right now, two by Lucille Naroian and one by Fern Cook, which is a kind of sweet romance, plus an erotic romance (contemporary setting) - very dry humor - by Dallas White.
Cassandra, my reading tastes may run a bit strange at times, as I read a lot of different genres, but in the paranormal I usually stick with romantic. I read the ENTIRE series of Laurell K. Hamilton ‘Anita Blake Vampire Hunter’ and enjoyed it a lot … except toward the last it just turned into one great big orgy and I kind of lost interest because there seemed to be no plot supporting the sexual intrigues. I did however get a kick out of the earlier books, and it was almost an addiction for me. I would have withdrawals until the next one came out in paperback. (I don’t buy hardback anything.)
I also liked the UNdead series by MaryJanice Davidson but haven’t kept up with the latest ones (it’s like eating too much candy).
Sorry to say I could not fully appreciate the Christine Feehan Carpathian offerings. I read a couple but didn’t finish the others in my TBR stack and gave them away.
I read a couple of the Crimson City series written by different authors, (Liz Maverick and Marjorie Lui) and liked those too, but didn’t keep up with the whole series, so I just got a sampling of those.
I have to say it really depends on the mood I am in as to what is my fav at the moment. Plus sometimes when I OD on paranormal I’ll read something completely different. I have to say I do have a weakness for Dean Koontz and am amazed by the variety of different kinds of stories he writes.
I also like law procedurals and get a taste for them every once in a while. Sorry, I am such an eclectic reader that I jump from one thing to another.
-And that’s it for me tonight! See ya tomorrow…
I RSVPed for this event.
1. Fern, did your law enforcement experience in any way inspire you to write about werewolves?
2. Tweeted: http://twitter.com/truebookaddict/status/5500547044
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Dana, I think sometimes I prefer the erotica over regular romance. I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons we’d be able to read LKH, but yes, I like a plot, too.
Fern: I could never keep a secret like being a werewolf from my spouse. That’s just unfair. Your partner should like who you are.
Besides which, depending on how it works for yours, they could accidently hurt or turn them.
Willa: I loved the Twilight Saga covers before I ever read them (then B&N had a book club for the series, and I read them all).
Sandy G.: Haha, ask Kim Harrison about her pixie’s size.
Right, all, keep being yourselves and thank you for doing the interview and answering all these questions. It helps readers like me (who haven’t devoured every book out there) to get a feel for what you write.
RSVPd for this. Did the poll, did the Halloween Hangover contest.
Hi Raonaid, nice to hear from you again.
Libby,
My favorite spot right now is my home, it has everything I want. I have a few acres so it is also my retreat. I have 3 dogs and 2 cats, I call them the grandkids. I make wine in the basement and have a big garden so I pretty much set up here. I have my own personal library filled with all the books I have collected through the years, it lines the walls of my library. I have a tv to watch baseball with the sound off and enjoy my time off.
Beverly,
The direction I am going with Wild Evolution is a trilogy. I have the second book almost finished, Wild Justice, and I will be starting Wild Legacy next. Just so you know, the Wild Evolution series is not your normal paranormal romance, it is not an erotica story, there is some sex but is plays a minor part of the story. In Wild Justice the main character gets married, so keeping his secret life secret is a little harder.
PIXIE sounds like a really good book. Its a different take on the fae world. I would love to read it.
Mornin’ everyone!
PamK, looks like Dana covered pretty much everything so I won’t rehash that. Will say however that there are more books coming soon, and more new authors, so we are busy bees. Just takes a little time to get everything up and running.
Caitlin, thanks for your comment on Pixie, I tried to write it from a traditional (won’t say Disney LOL) perspective, but with a realistic view, like what if fairies really did exist, and how would they interact with the human world. That’s how the story evolved.
REB, I hope I get time to finish the last Twilight soon. It’s like going on a really long vacation when I read a book and get absorbed in the characters and their lives.
I’ll be in and out today, need supplies to install a new dishwasher and hopefully no more deafening RUM-RUM-RUM. (Well, rum and Coke is nice, but not when you can’t hear yourself think! LOL)
Michelle
My law enforcement career didn’t influence my writing, but it was given me a lot to draw from.
REB
I have kept things from my spouse, there are things he did while in the special forces I will never know about. Though do believe there is a fine line between being married and having a life of your own. Most of things I keep to myself is things that I don’t think he would understand or need to know. Mostly from my past that doesn’t affect are life today. Besides I don’t think Dan is going to be completely successful in keep his nocturnal life secret.
Wow.. these all look so great. I will definatly pick them up to read!
I shared here..
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=1463087417&ref=profile
Hi Amber, thanks for dropping by.
FYI for all you readers out there…
All Penumbra Publishing books are up now or going up today and tomorrow on smashwords.com which offers multiple ebook formats including mobi which should download to Kindle.
A few are already available on Kindle at Amazon now, and the rest are going up today and tomorrow, but there’s a week or more delay before the books show up on Amazon for sale. A couple are there now, but the majority are ‘in process.’
All the books are available at Amazon, and all but two are available on Barnes & Noble and other online retail outlets.
All the books, print and multiple ebook formats are available from our publisher’s web site http://www.penumbrapublishing.com where the print books are $2.00 off with free econo-shipping to US addresses, and the ebooks are $1.00 off. Email penumbrapublishing@gmail.com to order titles in desired formats, and pay with Paypal.
Looks like everybody’s busy on Saturday, so the traffic’s thinned a bit, but those stopping in later are still eligible for the book giveaways, winners to be announced by BBB later on. We’ll be checking in occasionally to greet later visitors. Thanks again to all of you who have stopped by to support us, and happy reading!
-Dana Warryck
RSVPed and Hi everyone!
Hi Kayla, glad you could stop by. Please feel free to peruse previous comments to get an idea of the fun chat time we’ve had so far…
Who is your fav secondary character of all time?
I rsvped
These books sound great here are more to add to my TBR list. How do you guys come up with some of your ideas?
These books sound like great reads. Will have to add to my TBR list.
Thanks
Julie S