Showing posts with label indie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indie. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

S.J. Wright, Tracey Alley, and Barbara Silkstone

S.J. Wright is a stay-at-home married Mom with two boys, an overworked husband and a very devoted Jack Russell terrier named Shelby.

Product description:  
I was the Warden. He was one of the damned. We were destined to be at odds. Enemies. Sarah Brightman, having just lost her father to cancer, is stunned to discover that the mother she thought was dead is actually still alive and now she has a frightening new responsibility. This is part one of a three-part series. 

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

 
I think they will really love Sarah and her spirit and courage.  Not to mention the super hot vampires!

Q: Why did you go indie?
 
It was a natural step, I think.  I wanted everybody to be able to read it as soon as possible.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?
 
Stephenie Meyer, Anne Rice
 

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Tracey Alley: I learned to read and write at a very early age and my earliest memories are of my mother telling me stories about fairies and elves and flowers that could talk; all living in our back garden.  I began writing my own stories by the time I was six or seven.  So I never felt a sense of ‘I want to be a writer’ I always felt I was a writer, I just wanted to be a published writer.  It took me many years to learn to write well and even more years before I came up with a story that I felt would stand the test of publication – The Witchcraft Wars.

I tend to be critical of my own work so there are quite a few manuscripts lying around that other writers might have felt inclined to publish – work that I actually received very favourable feedback from editors and publishers alike but not work that I was totally happy with so I waited till I felt sure.  For the most part my books have sold reasonably well and most people have liked them.  I’ve had a few scathing reviews but that just tells me I’m truly a writer – no writer alive ever escapes a bad review. 

The Witchcraft Wars is about the idea of a group of adventurers having to work together even though they came from different backgrounds and ideologies but that they would all be working for love of some kind – love of a friend, love of country or god, romantic love, love of parent – all different kinds of love but that love was the motivating force to weld this group together.  I also wanted to show the other outcomes of the baser human emotions like greed, envy, lust for power and hidden agendas.  All in all I’d say I did a pretty good job of transferring my idea into a believable fantasy environment.

The Kingdoms of Kaynos have been at peace for nearly a thousand years. Now the ambitions of a dark sorceress armed with a new, deadly type of magic called witchcraft threaten to tear the Kingdoms to pieces.

Locked deep in the bowels of Zeaburg's infamous, horror-filled subterranean prison the young druid Slade is haunted by a strange, recurring dream. A dream in which his beloved father, High King Erich of Vestland, pleads for Slade's help.  Convinced of the dreams truth Slade must somehow attempt the impossible and escape the inescapable Zeaburg prison in order to find and save his father. 

Gathering an unlikely assortment of allies along the way Slade must not only find a way out of Zeaburg prison but must also find a way to prevent what threatens to be the bloodiest, most brutal war in the history of all the Kingdoms of Kaynos.  Will an unimaginable alliance, an unlikely friendship and a forbidden love be enough to save the Kingdoms of Kaynos?

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?
I’ve worked very hard to make the world of Kaynos a very believable real world environment and I’ve also used characters in unusual but believable ways.  I think readers will enjoy the differences between the characters and how they’ve come together to fight a greater evil.  It’s interesting to see the lines between good and evil blurred a little.

Q: Why did you go indie?
I actually came very close to signing with a traditional publisher but to be honest being Indie gives you more control creatively and also more money per book.  It felt like the right decision to make for me but I wouldn’t rule out a traditional publishing contract in the future either.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?
I love Terry Pratchett’s imagination and effortless style, also very fond of the works of Anne McCaffrey and Katharine Kerr.  All the authors in fantasy that I tend to really admire have created truly believable alternate worlds.  Another up and coming Indie author I admire tremendously is M. R. Mathias, his work is exceptional.

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Barbara Silkstone: When you’re a freelance writer with a quirky sense of humor, being in the right place at the right time helps a lot. If I just stand still for five minutes… wham! Something funny and worth writing about will happen to me. I’ve accidentally sky dived, been stalked by crazies, and ran off with a real life White Rabbit.

 
Product Description:
A criminally funny fable. The first in a series.
A murder by beheading sends Alice Harte, reluctant real estate broker for thugs, running into the arms of Nigel Channing, a charming British con man.
 33 Five Star Reviews
Readers will enjoy the similarities to My Cousin Vinny and A Fish Called Wanda.
My protagonists are reminiscent of Stephanie Plum.
I went Indie because my novels do not fit into a cut and dry genre. They're comedy mysteries tied to fables. I wanted to be able to control their destinies. Plus my books have found a global market as Indies. I love it!
My favorite authors in similar genres would be Janet Evanovich, Nora Ephron, and of course Raymond Chandler.
Amazon Kindle page:
Barb's Wire - eBooks & More

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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dee DeTarsio, Brendan Carroll, & Jennifer Hudock


After growing up in Ennui, Ohio, and graduating from Ohio State University,  Dee DeTarsio vowed ‘never to be cold again’ (in a tantrum more worthy of Suellen than Scarlett) and ended up in Tucson, Arizona, producing the news for the CBS affiliate, oddly enough called KOLD-TV.  She moved to San Diego where she worked in the SeaWorld entertainment department as a Producer/Writer. (Penguins are mean!) She then became a Producer/Writer with NBC for a live, comedy/variety show. Her husband is a Director of Photography and travels around the world while she stays behind as the indentured servant of their two children.

The Scent of Jade is a hybrid Chick-Lit/Action Adventure: An ancient jade relic that holds secrets to global warming ends up in the hands of a not-so-perfect heroine, who is thrust in a fish-out-of-water adventure, lost in the Costa Rican rainforest: “Romancing the Stone” meets “Survivor.”

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

Original characters keep the pages turning. The Scent of Jade spins its story with wit and wisdom, drawing those who love mystery, suspense, romance and adventure. The Scent of Jade is creative and unique with surprising twists--in turn suspenseful and heartbreaking, combining humor and romance to reach the payoff ending. While there are no vampires, readers are invited to enjoy the intrigue.

“The novel simply reels off in your mind with its quirky characters, exotic location, a legendary idol, and more.” The Divining Wand http://bit.ly/emq0jT

Q: Why did you go indie?

I am a television writer living in southern California and when my agent became a victim of the economy, I pushed to get my women’s fiction novel, The Scent of Jade, on Amazon.  Armed with nothing more than fierce love for my kindle, the journey has been amazing!

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

Goddess authors Marian Keyes, Jennifer Weiner, Lisa Lutz...


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Brendan Carroll is a native Texan and lives in Livingston in the east Texas Lake Country as a retired State of Texas public servant.  He has been a student of the occult, Rosicrucianism, Knights Templar and Conspiracy Theories for about 30 years.  His Red Cross of Gold ~ Assassin Chronicles series is published with Amazon and Smashwords in eBook form and most are available from Createspace and Amazon in paperback form.  His one passion is writing and entertaining and making other people think and laugh. 

The Red Cross of Gold ~ Assassin Chronicles follows the adventures of an 800 year old, grumpy Scottish Knight who is one of twelve ruling members of the last remnants of the Knights Templar.  His Order, the Red Cross of Gold, operates in the background of global politics while waiting to join the Battle of Armageddon on Jesus' side.  The protagonist, Mark Ramsay, is the Knight of Death, Alchemist and Assassin for the Order.  He can release the souls of his immortal Brothers if need be, make gold to support the Order and if anyone needs to be killed, he has no problem doing it… except when he loses his memory.

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?
The novels are fast paced, full adventure, misadventure, history, speculation, humor and romance.  Whatever the reader may be looking for in a fantasy book series, he/she will find including fairies, dragons, magick, wizards, vampires, Goths, swordplay, Genies, castles, time-travel, witchcraft, voodoo, immortality, alchemy,  the philosopher's stone, secret societies, sex, war, love, hate, necromancy. 

Q: Why did you go indie?
I went Indie because I was tired of rejection slips and agents who took much and returned little.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?
JRR Tolkien, Stephen King, Ann Rice (not exactly my genre but close)

Links to web site or blog or Amazon/Smashwords
Blog at Blogspot
 Blog at Word Press
 Twitter
 Author page at Amazon
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BrendanCarroll
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Jennifer Hudock is a writer, editor and podcaster from Nothern Central Pennsylvania. Her first full-length, dark fantasy novel, The Goblin Market, was originally released as an episodic podcast and made available for free on her personal website and iTunes. The Goblin Market is now available in a variety of electronic formats on Amazon and Smashwords, When she's not writing, editing and podcasting, Jenny is probably sneaking off into the corner with her Kindle to escape into amazing worlds untraveled.

Beyond the Goblin Market lies the remains of a lost and broken kingdom divided by war. The war has been over for centuries, but the kingdoms still stand apart, overrun by a creeping goblin darkness known as the Darknjan Wald. It has been written that only one holds the power to destroy that darkness and reunite the kingdoms, but she has no memory of her former life.

Meredith Drexler must save her sister, Christina, from the wicked goblin king, Kothar, who has kidnapped the girl in order to convince Meredith to uphold an ancient commitment Meredith doesn't remember making. Sent Upland disguised as a human child, she has no recollection of her former faerie life, or her uncle's promised marriage betrothal to Kothar.

When she ventures back Underground in search of Christina, every step Meredith takes brings memories of her forgotten past back to the surface. As the pressures of her former life entangle with her quest to save her kidnapped sister, Meredith's predetermined fate is revealed. Will she embrace it, or walk away forever from a life she barely remembers as her own?

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

The Goblin Market features elements of fantasy, horror, romance and darkness like those once tied to traditional faerie tales--you know, the faerie tales not meant for little children.

Q: Why did you go indie?

I love to tell stories, and sometimes in the traditional publishing business, even if you are accepted for publication the process can do a number on your creativity. I chose to publish independently because I retain creative control and responsibility for the success of my work.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

Neil Gaiman, Charles De Lint, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Holly Black

The Goblin Market on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Goblin-Market-ebook/dp/B004L2LL1A
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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Brian Fatah Steele and Y.K. Greene dark fantasy novels

BRIAN FATAH STEELE is an author of Horror & Urban Fantasy fiction, much of it often written with a "Post-Mythic" genre element. Along with self-publishing his own work, his articles and stories have appeared in myriad magazines and online journals. Steele lives in Ohio with two cats that are probably plotting his doom. Surviving on a diet primarily of coffee and cigarettes, he occasionally dabbles in Visual Arts and Music Production. He still hopes to one day become a Super Villain.

What is The Bleed Country? The space between words in a prayer and the last number in Pi. It is where faith & dreams are held safe, where unborn terrors lurk and all the answers are painted in colors that don't exist. There have always been Agents who protect Bleed Country, individuals granted powers who walk the under-roads known as The Scar and seek to keep the balance. But now cards have been thrown, and while the only true constant in this reality is change, it is coming faster and more surely than anyone could have predicted. Sides will be drawn for the battle of Bleed Country, and not everyone will survive. . .

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?: I attempted to combine what I found to be the best concepts in modern horror and urban fantasy.  Without straying into the realms of vampires or noir, I wanted to create a story that drew on my childhood loves of comic books and horror stories.  It's a more ensemble cast of characters, some with very defined roles and others in more grey areas.  I tried to make a fantastic situation as humorous, terrifying, romantic, and ultimately realistic as possible.

Q: Why did you go indie?: I've released multiple books now, and I enjoy having full creator control - especially over my cover art.  As a former Fine Arts major years ago at Kent State University, I not only want to have a say in my cover art, but I have the ability to create it as I feel it best represents my story.  Too many wonderful authors get their tales ignored thanks to poor cover design and artwork, and that's a shame.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?: My greatest influence has easily been Clive Barker.  The concepts of Brian Lumley, and the prose of Anne RiceH.P. Lovecraft dictates my imagination, but it comes out in the style of Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis.

http://brianfatahsteele.posterous.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Bleed-Country-wonders-walking-nightmares/dp/1451584385/

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/39883 
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Y.K. Greene is a former volunteer worker, teacher’s assistant, tutor, VOD editor, celebrity blogger, porn and sex toy reviewer. Current daughter, sister, wearer of really kick ass boots and novelist. She has weird ideas but she’ll try to keep them on the SFW side this time. Maybe. Probably. For a while anyway.

Death.
The scariest unknown in any one person’s entire lifetime. For centuries people have personified and anticipated the horror and the majesty of this unavoidable fate, even going so far as to invent legends of how to avoid it.
No one expects a harried, overworked and socially awkward business woman who loves her employees like the family she’ll never have. This Death has never been very good at games of skill or chance and is keenly self-conscious, always going the extra mile to make others comfortable around her.
Two mortals, Leo Kaylor and Jules Harper are about to meet a very different Death than they’ve ever dreamed of, and embark on a chaotic journey that will test the very meaning of friendship.

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?
So far I’ve gotten a lot of comments from readers loving this fresh take on Death, though everyone has a different favorite character they’re rooting for.
Q: Why did you go indie?
I enjoy unusual ideas and stories. Finding a home for those ideas and stories isn’t easy and rather than stress over finding them just the right home, I like to give them to the public quickly. Doing so allows me to keep working on new stories without one of the biggest stressor to creation.
Q: Who are your favorite authors?
I really love the works of Jaqueline Carey, Stephen King and Michelle West.

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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Cathryn Grant & Kaitlin Queen crime novels

THE DEMISE OF THE SOCCER MOMS

 Cathryn Grant’s short fiction has appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Her short story, “I Was Young Once” received an honorable mention from Joyce Carol Oates in the 2007 Zoetrope All-story Short Fiction contest. Cathryn’s flash fiction has been published at Every Day Fiction and at her website under Flash Fiction for the cocktail hour. One reader commented that she “makes the mundane menacing”. When she’s not writing, Cathryn works in high tech, reads, and plays very high-handicap golf. During the winter she hibernates with books, a fire, popcorn, and a glass of wine or scotch.

In The Demise Of The Soccer Moms, a seemingly quiet suburban neighborhood is upended when a provocative single mother saunters onto the school playground for the first time. Her Doc Marten boots, tight T-shirts, and in-your-face attitude stir up buried fears and sexual anxiety. In the dark corners of her home, a woman battles crippling memories that threaten to destroy the family she wants so desperately to protect. A suspicious death forces her best friend to make a hard choice between marriage and friendship. Paranoia, jealousy, and maternal instinct collide, leading to the demise of the soccer moms.

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?
Readers will find something familiar in each of these flawed suburban women who so desperately want to keep their children safe. They’ll be thrilled with a bit of morbid fascination as they see how violence can escalate when paranoia takes hold, and will be anxious to find out what choices these women and men make when faced with the darker side of suburban life.

Q: Why did you go indie?
As the doors opened for ePublishing, I no longer saw the value provided by traditional publishers. As I considered pursuing the indie route for business reasons, it suddenly hit me how great it would be to have direct interaction with readers. I also love having creative control over my title and cover, as well as the pricing and marketing of my work.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?
Ruth Rendell and Patricia Highsmith. I also like literary authors who have strong crime themes in their fiction – Joyce Carol Oates and Laura Kasischke
Read a free sample at http://suburbannoir.com
Buy The Demise Of The Soccer Moms at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Smashwords

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One More Unfortunate by Kaitlin Queen (99 cents during March)

Born in Essex, I moved to Northumberland in the north-east of England when I was a child and have lived there ever since. My children's fiction (mostly for the 9-15 age range) has been published by Puffin, Hodder, Orion and others and has, in some weeks, out-sold the Harry Potter books. "Kaitlin Queen" is the name I use for my adult fiction.

Product description:
It's the mid-1990s and Nick Redpath has some issues to resolve. Like why he is relentlessly drawn back to a circle of old friends and enemies -- and an old love -- in his seaside birthplace in north Essex. And why he won't let himself fall in love again. But first he must prove that he didn't murder his old flame, Geraldine Wyse...

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?
I've wanted to move into adult fiction for some time, but I wanted to keep it distinct from my earlier work, hence all the cloak-and-dagger business with the pen-name. Taking on a new persona for this was surprisingly fun, freeing me up to write a very different kind of story: a love story, a crime puzzle, and a novel deeply embedded in the history of a place I love dearly. Perhaps readers will pick up just how much I enjoyed writing this, and will share some of that feeling with me.

Q: Why did you go indie?
Adopting a pen-name made me start thinking about approaching the publishing of the novel in new and different ways: why not publish it as an ebook original, through a writers' collective just like the new infinity plus imprint my old friend Keith Brooke kept telling me about? His persistence paid off, and the book is now available. It's strange to be starting a new writing career in such a radically different manner, and I'll watch with interest to see how my novel is received.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?
Peter James, Cathi Unsworth, Ruth Rendell, Simon Brett and many, many more!


http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/books/omu.htm

Friday, March 4, 2011

Timothy Frost & Helen Hanson thrillers

Timothy Frost- The Abigail Affair

After twenty-five years running an advertising agency in central London, Tim Frost went a bit crazy, sold up, bought a yacht and sailed away to the Caribbean with his wife. Now he writes full time, and divides his working year between Norfolk, England and Grenada, West Indies. 

 The Abigail Affair: Toby Robinson is twenty-two and broke. He lands a job as junior deckhand and steward on a Russian billionaire's motor yacht in the Caribbean, and feels his luck is about to change.

It is, but not in the way Toby hoped. On his first night aboard he is framed for the murder of a guest. And that's just the start of his problems.

His attractive crewmate Julia seems to be the only one on his side. But can he trust her?

With his mobile phone confiscated, armed only with a winning smile and a flair for mixing cocktails, can Toby clear his name, stay alive - and foil the sinister international conspiracy that threatens to entangle him?

It's New Year's Eve and something terrible will take place at midnight. Time is running out, and so are Toby's options ...

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

I hope they will enjoy the non-stop action and adventure, which takes place on two small islands in the Caribbean and on the ocean. The book seems to appeal to readers of all ages from teens to seniors, particularly those who have a sense of humor.

Q: Why did you go indie?

My first novel Final Passage, written in 2003, received multiple rejections from UK publishers and agents – some of them very rude. When Smashwords appeared on the scene I thought, ‘Why not?’ and uploaded it as a freebie. I got 13,000 downloads, mostly on Barnes and Noble, and thirty or forty reviews, which both encouraged me to write again, and gave me valuable clues as to how to improve my offering for the e-book reader the second time around.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

Indies: Vicki Tyley, Stephen Davison, Eric Christopherson. Conventionally published: Lee Child, Andy McNab, Chris Ryan

Link to web site or blog or Amazon/Smashwords


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Helen Hanson- 3 Lies

I’m a former corporate droness that writes thrillers.  And I cut off a 737 mid-air, once.  Only once.

Product description:

At CIA headquarters, a young officer discovers that terrorists may have commandeered their computer systems to launch an unauthorized mission. Elsewhere, conspirators abduct nine people to manipulate the rules of their game. Two disparate ambitions -- Clint Masters becomes the reluctant link in the chain of danger.

Ever since Clint’s almost ex-wife dumped him, he bobs along the Massachusetts coast in a sailboat with his black lab for company. He avoids all forms of technology, which is no mean feat for the burned-out founder of CatSat Laboratories. Tired of clutching the brass ring, he needed to untether, step off the corporate treadmill, and smell a flower. Fortunately, he met one -- Beth, a beautiful, unspoiled woman who doesn’t treat him like a commodity. His relationship with her offers more promise than his marriage ever did, even if she is on dialysis for her recovering kidneys.

Until the day Beth goes missing.

In spite of the evidence, her family refuses to admit she’s in danger. Without routine dialysis, she won’t survive. As Clint realizes that he loves Beth, damn-near ex-wife Paige sashays back into his life with disturbing news.

While the CIA young gun tracks his quarry, Clint enlists the help of two men to find Beth, a blithe Brit named Merlin, and Todd, his playboy partner-in-tech. But Clint has to find Beth before her kidneys fail. And before someone puts a bullet in his head.

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

My characters aren’t impervious uber-ultimates but use the available tools to change their situations.  They seek truth, pleasure, a bit of humanity, and routinely make me laugh. 

Q: Why did you go indie?

I was betrothed to an agent, but in 2010, he left me at the altar clutching a wilting manuscript.  By then, the paradigm had shifted to favor indie authors.  I’m located somewhere on the control-freak spectrum, anyway.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

John le Carré, Len Deighton, Craig Thomas, Stephen Coonts, and the author of the last book I read.


At Amazon

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

Twit Press/ R.J. Silver

Twit Publishing is a micro publisher based out of Dallas, Texas that's run by two brothers. We like fiction, so we publish fiction.

Original fiction that takes you through the air-pirate filled skies of Over the Sahara, to the brink of madness with A Remarkable Picture, and into the atompunk stars with The Hotel Ceres. Journey into the heart of temptation in Devil Does Dallas, to the wildly weird west in A Knight Templar in Lincoln County, and to the edge of man's tenuous grasp of reality in Intruders on Geer Bluff.

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?


PULP! Summer/Fall 2010 has twelve enjoyable stories from a variety of genres. My brother and I love the original pulp (stuff like
Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler), but I always get a little upset when people think that "pulp" was just hardboiled detective stuff. It was westerns, superhero fiction, science fiction, horror like H. P. Lovecraft, and sword and sorcery stuff like Conan the Barbarian too. I mean, Twilight Zone had plenty of writers that got their start writing for the pulp mags.

And it's grown into so much more. Genres like cyberpunk, fantasy, horror, slasher films, supernatural detectives. If it's considered popular fiction now, then it had its roots in disposable pulp mags and dime-store novels.


So, we've tried to show that spread with our anthology. There's a western in there, a 1930s style pulp with air pirates and zeppelins, horror, a
science fiction revenge story, and a buck rogers style atompunk kind of story to name a few.

Q: Why did you go indie?


Well, we wanted to control what we put out. I hate being told what I can and can't do. And, as a reader, I hate being told what I can and can't read. And, unfortunately, the major publishing houses only put out what they think will sell to the vast majority of customers. Pfft to that.


Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?


Robert E. Howard
, Louis L'Amour, H. P. Lovecraft, Dashiell Hammett and Elmore Leonard to name a few. But, if we're talking just short story stuff, I'll throw in Jorge Luis Borges, Tim O'Brien and Lorrie Moore. Now they can write.

http://www.amazon.com/Twit-Publishing-Presents-Summer-ebook/dp/B003S3S5W6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1294865590&sr=8-2

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RJ Silver- The Princess & The Penis
 
I love to laugh, especially since I went off my medication. 


Q: What will e-readers like about your book?
 
It’s zany humor combined with its underlying humanity.  The story has only been out a little over a month, yet it’s already downloaded 20,000 times on Smashwords (making it the # 1 humor book there all-time), 20,000 times on Feedbooks, and 10,000 times on ManyBooks.Net, and I have hundreds of glowing testimonials from these and other sites.  It’s touched people in a way that’s truly surprised me.

Q: Why did you go indie?
I got disgusted with the way marketers were corrupting the editorial process.  I actually walked away from a couple of big-league agents and a very large publisher to start this new line of humor stories, to “write for joy to give joy”, as I like to say, and the Indie platforms were ideal for me to achieve that goal.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?
Mark Twain, of course.  Shakespeare (Comedy of Errors), Aristophanes.
 
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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Sarah Ettritch- The Salbine Sisters/ Laura Lond- The Journey

Sarah Ettritch is the author of The Salbine Sisters and the Rymellan science fiction series. She lives in Toronto, Ontario with her partner and four cats.
The Salbine Sisters: She gave up everything to become a Salbine Sister, member of a religious order of powerful female mages. But when Maddy nearly dies while trying to draw forth elemental fire, she learns that Salbine has withdrawn from her the gifts every sister works to master. Maddy's faith in both herself and Salbine are tested to their limits.

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?
The Salbine Sisters has great characters and a story that will keep you turning the page. As Amazon reviewer Sally Sapphire said, "The words flow so easily and so sweetly on the page that you're halfway through it before you realise the house is quiet, the news is muted on TV, and everybody else has long since gone to bed."
Q: Why did you go indie?
Publishing is undergoing a revolution. Digital publishing has leveled the distribution playing field and made indie publishing a viable path for authors.
Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?
George R.R. Martin (bring on A Dance with Dragons!), Robert Jordan, and Jennifer Roberson.

Link to web site or blog or Amazon/Smashwords:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Salbine-Sisters-ebook/dp/B0047GMF3I

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Laura Lond is an internationally published author of several novels and a collection of short stories. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. Having worked for 2 years at a literary museum, Laura entered the world of business, working for large international corporations like Xerox Ltd. and Fluor Daniel. After moving from Europe to the United States, she has been self-employed as a freelancer.


The Journey, book 1 of The Adventures of Jecosan Tarres fantasy trilogy, begins the story of a young blacksmith’s apprentice visited by a supernatural messenger and sent on a special mission to prevent a war between two powerful kingdoms. Books 2 and 3 are available as well.


Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

A: Many readers have commented on how much they liked Gart, Jecosan’s dog, who often steals the show in Book 1. The star of the second book, again from readers’ comments, is Lord Farizel, a fine nobleman demoted to a jester “for inappropriate presentation of history,” as he puts it. Then there’s also the mysterious Telm, a supernatural being who must always wear a mask.
Q: Why did you go indie?


A: I have done several books with small press publishers. There are good and bad points about that. Things I don’t like are incredible slowness and lack of control in some rather important areas. They are the reasons I’ve joined the Kindle revolution. As soon as the book is ready, I can make it instantly available to the readers, without waiting for 2+ years. I can have the book cover I want, I can set affordable prices. If a typo or formatting mistake creeps in, I can correct it easily and quickly, without having to wrestle with the publisher.
Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

I enjoy many fantasy writers, but C.S.Lewis will probably always be my favorite.

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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Nick Spalding, Z. Constance Frost


“…a hilarious warts-and-all story of his colourful life.” Neil Marr, BeWrite Books.

Nick Spalding tried to write a book in 24 hours. Turns out that’s impossible... it took 30.

He had a dull, drizzly weekend to kill, so decided to make a start on the book he’d been promising all his life to write... and had it finished by bedtime!

You’ll laugh out loud reading his odyssey of non-stop writing, in a selection of anecdotes, asides and stories... all dredged up from an over-stimulated brain functioning on caffeine, nicotine and the occasional chocolate biscuit.

The book is a conversation with YOU and with Nick you'll venture into the thorny topics of love, life, sex, horribly timed bowel movements and a deathly fear of sponges (among many other things).

After you've read Life... With No Breaks, there's a very good chance you may never look at the world the same way again!

- Also features the comedy horror short story Spine Slaughter -
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Neil Marr, Editor in Chief BeWrite Books: “I heard this chap had written a book in a single sitting, so I had to read it… and couldn’t put it down until I’d finished every word. It was quite brilliant and had me in stitches at times, in tears at others.”

Smashwords founder and CEO Mark Coker: “I thought it was a scream of a book... and that was before I knew its history – that Nick had written the whole thing in a single sitting.”

Amazon Reader: "This is the funniest book I have read in years. There. I said it. Sorry, Mr Pratchett, I love you dearly, but Nick Spalding has raised the bar when it comes to making-me-laugh-out-loud books."


Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

Hopefully that it's a bit of fun to cheer them up in these troubled economic times. Oh, I mention sex quite a bit as well, if that helps.

Q: Why did you go indie?

I like the hats.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

Um... I think I'm the only one writing in my genre, if my genre is writing an autobiography in less than two days.
 

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Z. Constance Frost is a writer and single mother of two. She lives just outside of Washington, D. C. and is currently working on the second book in the Holly Lin series. Visit her online at www.zconstancefrost.wordpress.com.

Product description:

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

No Shelter is a really fast-paced thriller, with chapters that aren't too long and aren't too short. Also, I took a lot of time trying to get the formatting just right, so hopefully e-readers will appreciate that too :-)

Q: Why did you go indie?

I actually managed to get an agent for this novel who sent it out and while it was ultimately rejected, a few publishers seemed to really like it. Their main concern: they would have trouble trying to market it. So I knew No Shelter would be worth publishing myself. Plus, I own a Kindle and absolutely love the thing.

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

Lee ChildKathy Reichs, Jeffery Deaver, Joyce Carol Oates, and Elmore Leonard

Link to web site or blog or Amazon/Smashwords 

 
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Saturday, February 26, 2011

Donna Burgess- Darklands

Donna Burgess is an author of dark fiction and poetry who enjoys surfing, painting and has a deep affection for all things Monty Python and low-budget horror flicks.  Over the past fifteen years, her fiction and poetry has appeared in genre publications such as Weird Tales, Dark Wisdom, Sybil’s Garage and others.  She has been married for twenty years and has two children.  Her newest releases include Darklands: a vampire’s tale (the first book in the Darklands Vampires series) and Breaths in Winter, a short story collection.  Both are available in print and e-book. When she is not conjuring, she can be found surfing.

Product description:

Halloween night, twenty years ago, college student Susan Archer watched as her beloved twin brother was brutally murdered at the hands of a man she invited into their home.  Still haunted by the guilt of that night, Susan is now a tough but bitter cop in a nowhere town, trying as best she can to lead a normal life.  When she is nearly killed during a wild shoot-out, she realizes she is not as strong as she first thought.  Fearing a breakdown, she flees the confines of her safe boyfriend and familiar surroundings to find salvation in the arms of “Deathwalker” Devin McCree—the very man who killed her brother.

But things aren’t always what they seem and she quickly realizes Devin was not the monster she originally thought, but a kind of guardian angel instead.

On the run from a crazed Nazi vampire-hunter named Kasper, she and Devin must find a way to endure the dreary urban landscape of a dying metropolis and escape Kasper’s wrath.  
 
Darklands is a sexy and violent tale of survival, bloodlust and two people grasping to the edge of immortality while trying to hang on the last shreds of their humanity. Darklands: a vampire’s tale is the first book in the Darklands Vampire series.

Q: What will e-readers like about your book?

It's fast-paced, descriptive and features adults in adult situations (yes, they are vampires, but there's more going on than just blood drinking and sex). Hopefully, I have added a new twist to the vampire genre.

Q: Why did you go indie?

Because of you, Scott!  Well, you, Joe Konrath, Amanda Hocking and a couple others. 

I went the traditional route with this book.  A couple of agents really seemed interested.  In the end, one tied it up for months, submitted it to one publisher, where (after about 6 months) it was rejected,  then decided the book was not a good fit for her, after all.  The other agent wanted me to rewrite the entire novel and turn it into a straight romance.  I'm not sure I've ever even read a romance novel, so I knew that would not work out. Looking back, it seemed like an incredible waste of time--I could have been published long ago, and under my own terms. These great indie authors have lifted the stigma self-publishing used to carry and that rocks!

Q: Who are your favorite authors in your genre?

I'll always be a Stephen King nut.  I also enjoy Caitlin Kiernan, Cat Valente, Kathe Koja--there's really too many to name.

http://www.amazon.com/Darklands-vampires-tale-Vampires-ebook/dp/B004GNFTQC/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2
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