Life (and Death) Happens

Yeah, I know. I don't blog much anymore. All my communication is done on Facebook nowadays, and I'm sorry about that. I suppose the good news might be that I'm considering putting up another short story before I release Wyvern and Company (Saa Thalarr, Book 2) in August.

The short story I'm considering was once the prologue to the book, but as I'm rewriting it, I may do it this way instead. I'm hoping it'll be a treat for you, because it involves Grey House back in the day.

That's really not what I started this blog about, though.

You all know what they say about best laid plans and all that?

I had a plan: Release thirty books before my 60th birthday (which is tomorrow). Everything seemed to be on track--Cloud Dust would be the 30th book and it was coming right along.

Then, Walter's (my husband's) mother passed away on the 13th. It wasn't a huge shock--her health had declined and she'd recently gone into hospice care. Her funeral was on the 17th. I spent the days between the 13th and 17th alternating between edits and revisions for Cloud Dust, helping my husband as much as I could and writing obituaries and funeral speeches.

The 17th was a date on the family calendar for another reason--it was Walter's oldest brother James' birthday.

James didn't make it to his mother's funeral--he'd had an emergency triple bypass two weeks before his mother passed.

On the 18th, one day after his mother's funeral, James also passed away from complications following his surgery. His funeral is scheduled for tomorrow, which is my birthday.

I think I'll remember turning 60 for as long as I live. The past few days I've spent getting final edits and revisions done on Cloud Dust, while helping my husband and writing obituaries and a funeral speech. I got Cloud Dust uploaded last night.

I want to give huge thanks to Joe Scholes, my editor/proofreader/assistant/best friend, who hauled ass to help me get line edits and every other thing done on Cloud Dust so we could release it.

I also want to thank all of you who've expressed your condolences through this difficult time. You are amazing and I appreciate you more than I can say.

"But death is not the enemy. It takes us when our bodies are no longer prepared to carry on in our current lives. Brings us peace and freedom from pain. It is life that is often the enemy. The siren that convinces us to hold onto it as long as we can, even though we are filled with pain or have lived long past our usefulness. My father always said that we should let our life leave us when it is time and do it gladly, instead of with sorrow and bitterness. Something else awaits us and when we arrive, we will wonder what it was that held us back from it so long."

--Blood Rebellion

Cloud Dust Release

Cloud Dust is available on Amazon and on my website. Happy reading!

Finder Release

Hey, everybody!

Finder, the first book in my First Ordinance series, has been released on Amazon. It is also available for a limited time from my website, subtledemon.com.

If you're a fan of my Blood Destiny series, you'll want to read this book. The connections may be subtle (pun intended) but they're there; just keep reading, you'll figure it out.

Happy Tuesday!
Connie

Hope and Vengeance Release

Hope and Vengeance is now available from Amazon and my website. The book has been uploaded to bn.com as well, but it may take a little longer to get it there.

Also, remember that we are offering new books from all three outlets for a two-week period, after which it will only be available from Amazon. This is an effort on my part to get the book to everyone, no matter what your e-reader choice is.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Connie

Changes

As of January 15, 2014, I'll be enrolling my books in KDP Select. That means they'll only be for sale through Amazon—at least for the next three months. There are definite benefits to being enrolled in the program, so I thought I'd give it a try.

What this means is that the books currently for sale will only be sold from Amazon's website, and the sales on the current titles will be shut down on my website and bn.com.

If you own a Nook or another type of reader, don't despair.

For each new release, there will be a two-week window when the new title will be available from bn.com and my website, so you'll still be able to get it.

After that, I'll pull it off sale and offer it exclusively through Amazon.

Yes, this is an experiment, but one I've thought long and hard about. Here are the results of my ponderings:

   

      Whenever I've had a problem uploading a book, etc., and I've contacted Amazon and bn.com about the problem:

# of times I've been answered by Amazon—every time

# of times I've gotten a response from bn.com—zero

2.       Number of times I've been promoted by Amazon: many

Number of times I've been promoted by bn.com: zero

3.       Number of times I've actually been called by Amazon (I didn't call them, they called me) 

       several, asking me what I thought about the program, etc.

Number of times bn.com has initiated any kind of contact—zero

There are other things, such as the fact that bn.com only accounts for roughly 4% of my sales, but as far an actual interest in me as an author, bn.com pretty much has zero interest.

If things don't work out for me in KDP Select, then I'll back out of the program after the 90-day time period is up, but as of now, I don't anticipate that it will happen. No, I don't want to punish anyone for owning anything except a kindle, or for not reading on the kindle app. (See statement above—you'll have an opportunity to get the book before sales are shut down on other sites).

Too, this doesn't affect print sales at all, only digital sales. You can buy as many of my print books from as many outlets that offer them as you care to own, including my website, where you'll actually get a signed book quite promptly, because Joe has OCD about those things.

I hope this works out to everyone's benefit, as I don't want any of us to be disappointed.

One other set of changes:

There are new covers for Blood Wager, Blood Passage and Blood Sense, which will be available very soon on Amazon. I hope you like them!

All my best—

Connie

Endings--and Beginnings

I almost don't know where to start this post. Yes, Blood Finale wraps up the God Wars series. That doesn't mean those characters are going away.

That's not what I intended.

You'll see quite a few of them in the Saa Thalarr series, beginning with Hope and Vengeance, which will likely be released in February, if not sooner.

You'll see Adam, Kiarra, Merrill, Joey, Grace, Devin, Dragon, Justin, Radomir, Wlodek, Weldon, Mack, Kyler, Cleo, Flavio—the list is enormous.

I also intend to write a series about Lexsi, Reah's youngest daughter. I don't know how many books will be in her series, but there are two on the drawing board right now.

The Finder series is also coming, and the first book, appropriately titled Finder, is more than half finished. Even in that state, I've had some very positive feedback on it, and it is connected (trust me) to the God Wars series, although it might not seem like it at first.

Plus, the door leading into the God Wars is still open a crack. Just this morning, I was thinking about another plot line. Yeah, I know. But it's time you knew a secret—originally, I intended to end the Blood Destiny series at book 5. But then I realized I couldn't leave it like that. I wrote another five books, because I couldn't help myself.

I guess what I'm saying is that you shouldn't mourn the ending of the God Wars. That ending is located at an open door, leading into other series. All I'm asking is that you stay with me. Make this journey—this leap of faith—with me, into the next universe. There is so much more to see and do. You'll see old friends and new ones. Old enemies and new ones.

The stories will continue, as long as I can put fingers to a keyboard. I've been saving them—for you.

Happy New Year.

May all your dreams come true.

--Connie

Blood Finale Release

It's available from Amazon and my website. Haven't checked bn.com this morning. Happy reading!