On June 10th I’ll be heading down to Canada’s picturesque capital Ottawa to sign books and meet readers at the third annual Prose in the Park literary festival. If you’re in the vicinity of the capital region, come listen to the speakers and say hi to me in the YA literature tent.
Here’s a link to the festival’s Facebook page. With over 150 fellow authors speaking and a number of interesting panels, it looks like it’ll be a great day for all lovers of lit. Hope to see you there!
I’m thoroughly enjoying my blog book tour (watch out for my mythical creatures Top 10 list next week!) and today’s stop is at Urban Fantasy Investigations, where I have an interview and book giveaway contest.
In the interview, you’ll discover things like what I do in my down time, which character in the Embodied trilogy was my favourite to write, and where I keep my piece of the Berlin Wall.
First off, I had no idea when I moved to North America 29 years ago this month that there would be so many finicky differences to negotiate in the English language. Sure, I understood that trousers were pants and the pavement was a sidewalk, because everyone in England knows that. I also understood that after going through labor, American moms put their babies in diapers, while British mums go through labour and put their babies in nappies. But once I became a writer, I discovered all kinds of nuances and subtleties I hadn’t anticipated. Apart from every single part of a car (auto… hood/bonnet, turn signals/indicators, trunk/boot, gun compartment/glove compartment, gas/petrol, windshield/windscreen, wreck/crash… hmmm… that’s a story in itself!), there are adverbs like toward, backward, forward and such like, which I always thought could only be towards, backwards, and forwards. That meant I had to go backward(s) through the first draft of Silent Symmetry fixing them all.
So… while I’m on the subject of backward, I should really have announced my book launch on the day it was actually published (yesterday) instead of writing about my book tour and new website. I guess that’s why I’m a writer and not a publicist (although many of them are great writers, so I’ll just hang my head in shame and feel inadequate).
Therefore… reverse drum roll, please… out yesterday!… the Embodied trilogy special edition ebook collection. Preview it by clicking right here or on the link on the right. Not only does it contain all three books in the series, but a new author foreword, deleted scenes from the end of Diamond Splinters, and a treasure hunt/quiz to see how much readers know about the Embodied and their world.
And while we’re on the theme of yesterday, here’s one of my favourite songs. And it’s a song about favourite songs!
Rather like one of my favourite literary characters, Don Quixote, I shall put on my suit of armour tomorrow morning and embark on a chivalrous quest, riding my trusty steed.
Okay, fine, just like the man from La Mancha, I’m letting my imagination get the better of me. But tomorrow morning I will drive my daughter to camp in my trusty Subaru and THEN… I shall be visiting the first of many stops on a month-long virtual tour of fantasy and science fiction book blogs.
Blog tours are a great way for a Young Adult author like me to get in touch with new readers and share some information about my books, my life and my writing. A tour is the online equivalent of travelling to a bunch of book stores across North America doing interviews and signing sessions.
During the tour, I’ll be promoting the new Embodied trilogy special edition ebook collection, which is out tomorrow. As the name suggests, it’s a 3-in-1 version of the entire series. But that’s not all! The reason it’s a special edition is that it also includes deleted scenes (basically an alternate ending) from Diamond Splinters, as well as a brand new foreword with author insights and a fun quiz/treasure hunt. As a bonus deal, for the duration of the tour, the trilogy ebook’s retail price is 20% off ($7.99 instead of $9.99).
Here’s the full tour schedule with details of what you can expect at each stop along the way. Thank you to the awesome Roxanne Rhoads at Bewitching Book Tours for organizing the whole thing. More dates may be added along the way. Now to grab my sword and shield…
July 11 Spotlight Share My Destiny http://sharemydestiny.blogspot.com July 12 Interview Deal Sharing Aunt http://dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com/ July 13 Interview Roxanne’s Realm http://www.roxannerhoads.com/ July 14 Interview and review Happy Tails and Tales Blog http://happytailsandtales.blogspot.com July 15 Spotlight 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, and Sissy, Too! http://3partnersinshopping.blogspot.com/ July 18 Interview Fang-tastic Books http://fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com/ July 19 Spotlight Lisa’s World of Books http://www.lisasworldofbooks.net/ July 20 Spotlight Zenny's Awesome Book Reviews https://zennysawesomebookreviews.wordpress.com/ July 22 Interview Urban Fantasy Investigations http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/ July 25 Guest Blog/Top Ten List The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom http://creativelygreen.blogspot.com/ July 27 Interview Sharon Buchibinder http://sharonbuchbinder.blogspot.com/ July 28 Spotlight JeanzBookReadNReview http://jeanzbookreadnreview.blogspot.co.uk/ July 29 Review Romance Authors That Rock https://pratr.wordpress.com/ August 1 Spotlight and review The Silver Dagger Scriptorium http://silver-dagger-scriptorium.weebly.com/ August 2 Interview The Violent Vixen theviolentvixen.blogspot.com August 3Interview Diane’s Book Blog http://dianes-book.blogspot.com August 4 Interview House of Books http://www.house-of-books.com August 5 Spotlight Ramblings of a book nerd www.booknerdramblings.com August 8 Spotlight T's Stuff http://teresanoel.blogspot.com/
For most indie authors, all the focus is on Amazon. Kindle sales account for somewhere around 85% of all ebooks. Of course by no stretch of the imagination can Apple possibly be considered “the little guy”, but people don’t only buy apps and songs from iTunes, they buy books too. In Canada, where I live, the Kobo ereader is a surprisingly popular device for the consumption of digital literature, and it’s pretty much the equivalent of Barnes & Noble’s Nook in the US.
So… with only three days to go until the release of Diamond Splinters, it’s time to give a shout-out to the other platforms.
Here’s a link to the book for iOS devices:
Fancy a Nook book full of Diamond Splinters? Here you go:
And last but by no means least, here’s where you can find the final book in the Embodied trilogy for Kobo:
If you like science fiction with a big dash of urban fantasy, or are a fan of Doctor Who’s blend of soft sci-fi, extra-terrestrial feels and savvy female characters, then I think there’s a good chance you’ll love all the books in the Embodied trilogy.
Diamond Splinters, book 3 of the Embodied trilogy, will be published in ebook format on May 5. To mark the occasion, I’ve organized a virtual launch on Facebook.
I’ve also rejuvenated the Embodied trilogy Pinterest page with a bunch of cool images that relate to the trilogy’s storyline, monsters and aliens.
The new book is already available for pre-order on Amazon and will also be on the Kobo site and in the Apple iTunes store any day now. Stay tuned!
Only 10 days left until all is revealed! Diamond Splinters, book 3 of the Embodied trilogy, is out May 5. Pre-order the ebook today on Amazon.
The publication date of the final installment in the Embodied trilogy has been set for May 5, and today I’m revealing both the cover and the title. Drum roll, please…
In Diamond Splinters, prep school senior Kari Marriner has a heart-wrenching choice to make: rescue her mother or prevent aliens destroying the Earth. The cover by designer extraordinaire Alex Nereuta shows the two men in Kari’s life who are inextricably wrapped up in her adventure: her boyfriend and fellow student Cruz, and the other-worldly Noon, leader of the Temple of Truth.
In my last post I put out a public call for input on which title to choose from the following options: The Diamond Sphere, Diamond Splinters, and Diamond Scars. In the end it was a close call between the latter two but Splinters won out. You’ll have to read the book to discover what the spheres, scars, and splinters are all about!
An early reader of Diamond Splinters has already given me a huge compliment by saying, “Kari is a total feminist badass. Diamond Splinters is YA for a fun, independent brainy chick into saving the universe.”
If you’re into smart urban fantasy/science fiction, then Diamond Splinters is for you, whether you’re a young adult, man or woman. Or alien.
Author Elliott Katz details how he went about selling the foreign language rights to his book and then leveraged those agreements to produce promotional fuel like this back home: “Translated into 24 languages by publishers in Europe, Asia and Latin America.”
The series of dreadpunk novellas I’m currently working on is set in nineteenth century Montreal, so it would make perfect sense for me to sell the rights for a French translation (at minimum) when the time comes. I’ll definitely refer back to Elliott’s success story.
Any followers of this blog had experience with foreign-language rights sales? Let me know down below!
Sitting at your desk isn't work 