Category Archives: Books
Revising, and a request for help
Just got the editorial notes for Storm Season today, so I need to go through and start working on those. The editor made a very good point about needing to bump up my bad guy (feh — salting in background data so that it doesn’t turn into an infodump is always a challenge), and questioned Ian’s new god ranking. I called him a Titan, since he was given his new powers directly by Gaia, but it may cause confusion. And on second thought, I could see how calling him a Titan would well and truly piss off Zeus, which is never a good idea.
So I have to come up with a completely new god ranking, dammit. Titan, Olympian…what comes after that? Anyone who can suggest a good ranking gets a walk-on in Storm Season. Go.
Busy, busy, busy…
Most of today was spent putting together the general outline for Behind the Iron Cross, then shifting around various chapters and chapter contents to fit said outline. I’ve come up with the Act One and Two climaxes — still working on how to present the Act Two midpoint, when Friedrich has his little come-to-Jesus epiphany about what he’s doing with Sam and Kat, but it’ll all work out. And once again, I am so damn glad I spent out and bought Scrivener — it’s just so much easier to compare/contrast, shift stuff around, and keep detailed notes about each chapter than with Word.
Of course, some of Scrivener’s features can get you in trouble. Frex, the husband walked up behind me last night while I was working on Cross. Scrivener has a split screen feature that allows you to load whatever you like into each screen — different chapters, different sections of a chapter, or reference pictures. In my case, I had a rather nice topless picture of the actor whom I mentally cast as Friedrich. So when the husband came up behind me and went quiet when he saw Tall, Blue-eyed and German/Irish, I thought, “Uh-oh.”
“It’s just for inspiration,” I explained.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” I said.
“I mean, I’m old enough to have babysat him,” I added.
The husband chuckled and kissed me on the head. “He’s pretty. Have fun writing.”
Heh. I have the best damn spouse in the world.
I also got a very nice review for “A Boon by Moonlight” from Love Books! Book Reviews, plus I made the reviewer cry a little at the end. She’s the third person who cried while reading “Boon” — I wanted a little drama and tension, yes, but I swear to God making the readers cry wasn’t my intention when I wrote it!
And we have three winners!
I opened up the random number generator and pulled out three numbers correlating to the comments in my Release Day post, and we have three winners!
Barefootlady – EP Gift Certificate
Brian Jackson – Amazon Gift Certificate
Jillian DeMarco – Willow Tree pendant
Jillian, if you can get me a reliable mailing address, I’ll get the pendant out in the mail to you today. BFL and Brian, your gift certificates will be emailed to you forthwith.
Thanks for playing!
Let’s Make a Deal
It has been brought to my attention that some readers wish “A Boon by Moonlight” was longer. The problem with that is, it was written for Evernight Publishing’s Romance on the Go™ line, which has a specific 12,000 word cut-off. I was pushing the envelope as it was with length, but that’s why the story is only novelette length.
But never let it be said that I don’t listen to my readers. So here’s the deal — if you buy a copy of “A Boon by Moonlight,” I would ask that you leave a review at Evernight Publishing, Amazon, All Romance E-Books, or Bookstrand. If the overall response is positive, I will write a full-length (90K minimum) novel about Zach and Jerrek, and I will make sure it’s published one way or the other.
After all, there’s a reason why Jerrek is avoiding Faerie right now…
Release Day: A Boon by Moonlight (And Win Glittering Prizes!)
Happy Friday, my darlings! Let’s kick off the weekend by celebrating the release of my brand spanking new Romance On the Go™ story “A Boon by Moonlight,” now available from Evernight Publishing, Amazon, and other purveyors of fine erotic romance.
Ex-Marine Zach Mayhew is willing to do anything for his dying grandmother, even find a fairy ring and beg that she be allowed to spend her last days in Faerie. But when a gorgeous Sidhe noble named Jerrek demands a night in his bed in return, Zach learns that a boon asked by moonlight can have unexpected consequences for his heart.
But wait, there’s more! I’m also running a contest with the following prizes:
• A hand-made peridot Willow Tree pendant from Belaurient Arts! Worked in the shape of a willow tree (the symbol of Jerrek’s house) the pendant is made from antique brass wire and polished peridot chips, and is suspended on an 18″ antique brass chain with a 1″ extender.
• A $20 Amazon gift certificate
• A $20 Evernight Publishing gift certificate
To win one of these prizes, simply leave your name and email address in the comments below before midnight CST on March 3, and answer one question — what tree is the symbol of Jerrek’s house? (Hint — look at the pendant.) You MUST answer the question to be entered in the contest.
Thanks for reading, and good luck with the contest!
What Causes Most Problems in Greek Mythology?
Is it horrible that I kinda hope I show up on this pie chart by the time I get finished with the Olympic Cove series?
Who has a cover? I have a cover!
And it’s a thing of grace and beauty, indeed. I literally punched the air when I saw this — once again, Sour Cherry Designs scores big again.
And remember, A Boon by Moonlight is available from Evernight Publishing on March 1, 2013 — mark your calendars and save your pennies!
The trigger has been pulled, the horse is out of the barn, the email is off
It is 4:13 AM, and Storm Season is officially off to the publisher for consideration. Two hours to boil down a synopsis to one page — no wonder my eyes are trying to explode.
Agog with excitement
I just found out last night that the lovely people at Sour Cherry Designs are now working on the cover for A Boon by Moonlight. They do absolutely splendid cover art, so I’m literally bouncing in my seat waiting to see what they come up with for Zach and Jerrek.
In other Boon news, I’m going to run a contest on release day and post it here, on my Facebook page and my Twitter page. Participants will be asked to come here and answer a question about the book (yes, I’m making it very simple to guess the answer). Five winners will be chosen at random, and will receive:
- A $25 Amazon gift certificate
- A $25 Evernight Publishing gift certificate (because hey, I’m all about pimping Evernight)
- A copy of A Boon by Moonlight and Vanilla-Free Christmas: Manlove Edition, PLUS a sneak preview of Storm Season
- A handmade peridot pendant from Belaurient Arts
- A handmade pair of earrings from Belaurient Arts
Can you tell I’m excited by this? I’m excited by this!
Giveaway for release day — any ideas?
On the release day for A Boon by Moonlight, I think I want to run a contest for readers, make it a celebration for everyone. One of the prizes will be a copy of A Boon by Moonlight, natch, and I was thinking of offering a gift card as well, either Amazon or Starbucks. I’d like to have a third prize as well, and since I design jewelry on the side I was thinking of a willow tree pendant, since that’s Jerrek’s house symbol. Would that have any appeal to y’all, or should I rethink the whole thing?
Nicola Cameron Writes 