Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest 2014: I Made it to the Quarter-Finals!

 

A month ago, I received an email from Amazon with a link to the names of all the authors/books who had made it through the first round of cuts for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. I was floored to see my name on the short list AGAIN, yesterday, as I learned I advanced to the Quarter-Finals.

For those who don’t know, the ABNA contest starts with 10,000 entrants and works its way down to a final winner, for a $50,000 check and a big book contract. In the quarter-finals, it has been narrowed down to 100 entrants per category (total of 500). During the semi-finals. If you want to learn more about the contest, click here.

Upcoming Contest Dates:

June 13 – Semi-Finalists are announced (top 5 in each category).

July 8 – Finalists are announced (top entry in each category).

July 8–18 – Customers vote on Amazon.com.

July 21 – Grand Prize winner is announced.

The novel I entered into the contest was St. Charles at Dusk. The book is currently available on all major online retailers. Below the image, I’ve included the formal pitch I crafted for the contest submission.

There exists a delicate dance between romance and reason. Between love and loss.

A father’s threats. A tragic accident. Unanswered questions. Oz Sullivan has finally moved past the tangled web surrounding his brief, but intense, relationship with the young, impetuous Adrienne Deschanel. Through his family, and successful career as an attorney, he has forged a tranquil predictability, sheltering him from the effect of the turbulent memories that once threatened to destroy him.

Everyone believed Adrienne Deschanel died in the bayou three years ago, with the rest of her family. Scattered dreams have given her a name, but no memory of the life she once led. Seeking answers, Adrienne and Oz re-converge under a dark shadow of lies and deception. Truth can be a cruel mistress, and understanding does not always follow. Oz’s carefully crafted world is turned upside down, as he must decide how to help her without losing himself entirely.

Oz struggles over what is right, and what seems right; caught between what the world around him will accept, and what it will, perhaps rightfully, aim to protect him from. Adrienne, brilliantly smart, thinks she knows best how to protect those she cares about. Both are misguided, resulting in consequences ranging from messy, to catastrophic.

Revealed through an artfully done tandem timeline, and supported by a rich cast of vibrant characters, the painful truth is exposed, one layer at a time. Journey through love and regret, sharing in the discovery that a careful and orderly illusion is not the same as true happiness.

Set amidst the lush and vibrant backdrop of New Orleans, St. Charles at Dusk tells the sumptuous story of Oz and Adrienne; of forbidden love, and startling heartbreak.

 

 

House of Crimson and Clover Cover Redesign

The House of Crimson and Clover series is going through a redesign of covers. The new covers for St. Charles at Dusk and The Storm and the Darkness are both available wherever the books are sold, and I’ll be revealing the cover for my upcoming novel, The Illusions of Eventide, on November 16th (book releases December 14).

Why the redesign? Several reasons, really.

Cost– While I loved my designer, and his work was both polished and professional, it was not fiscally reasonable for me to continue paying that much for covers at the rate I am trying to publish. I won’t give exacts, but it is sufficient to say I was spending the equivalent of a small car payment each time. For an indie who is not yet making significant income from my books, I eventually came to terms with the fact that this was not sustainable.

Theme– Though my existing covers were beautiful, the more I worked through the themes of the series, the more I realized the covers did not reflect the tone. This is a Paranormal Southern Fiction series. It is often dark. I want covers the evoke a sense of mystery, and foreboding.

Creative Flexibility– I’m still learning a lot about what it means to visualize your intent. But it remains true that I am the only one who can realize the design swimming around in my head. I’m able to create exactly the cover I want, when I want, and use it however I want. I can build my marketing around it. And I can do so in a way that is highly agile.

So, without further ado, I introduce you to the new covers for St. Charles at Dusk and The Storm and the Darkness!

 

Come back on the 16th to see the cover for my upcoming release, The Illusions of Eventide.

 

Beyond Dusk: Anne, a Crimson and Clover Novelette, Now Available!

My new Crimson and Clover novelette, Beyond Dusk: Anne, is now available on Amazon, for $.99. This will be the first of a series of companion novelettes, each giving glimpses into some of the secondary (but equally important) characters in the series.

So far the short is getting fantastic reviews, to my surprise and delight. One reviewer says it has “rich visual detail, naughty humor, agonizingly realistic characters, unexpected twists, and a generous dash of paranormal.”

Beyond Dusk is a fairly quick read, at just 10.5k words. Although it is a companion novelette to the larger novel, St. Charles at Dusk, it is not required that you have read anything else in the series to enjoy this. Several of the readers enjoying it now are coming into the series with this story as their entry point.

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00EUI53IC

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18337930-beyond-dusk

More Info on “Beyond Dusk: Anne”

Following the death of her dominating mother, Anne Fontaine decides to leave the bayou to reconnect with her estranged half-sister, Adrienne Deschanel. Her hope is to forge a relationship with Adrienne that was not possible when her mother was alive. Secretly, she also hopes to find out if her extraordinary supernatural talents are shared by anyone else.

When Nicolas Deschanel gets wind of Anne’s presence, he suspects that she is one of many con artists after his sister’s money. Not knowing that her story is true, he engages in a game of cat-and-mouse with her, deciding to have a little fun.

Eventually, circumstances find both of them back at the Deschanel family seat, Ophélie, where secrets and stories come to life.

 

Reviewers Wanted for “Beyond Dusk: Anne,” a Crimson and Clover Novelette

My new Crimson and Clover novelette, Beyond Dusk: Anne, is coming out over the Labor Day weekend. I’m looking for people who are interested in reviewing the book within the first few days of launch.

Beyond Dusk is a fairly quick read, at just 10.5k words. It will be categorized as paranormal.

Although it is a companion novelette to the larger novel, St. Charles at Dusk, it is not required that you have read anything else in the series to enjoy this.

Interested in reviewing? Sign up below:

>>>>>Sign Up Here to Review<<<<<<

 

More Info on “Beyond Dusk: Anne”

Following the death of her dominating mother, Anne Fontaine decides to leave the bayou to reconnect with her estranged half-sister, Adrienne Deschanel. Her hope is to forge a relationship with Adrienne that was not possible when her mother was alive. Secretly, she also hopes to find out if her extraordinary supernatural talents are shared by anyone else.

When Nicolas Deschanel gets wind of Anne’s presence, he suspects that she is one of many con artists after his sister’s money. Not knowing that her story is true, he engages in a game of cat-and-mouse with her, deciding to have a little fun.

Eventually, circumstances find both of them back at the Deschanel family seat, Ophélie, where secrets and stories come to life.

 

Beyond Dusk: Anne will be live on Amazon September 3rd, for $.99. You can add it to your Goodreads TBR here.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GAc8nWl5GXiIzA0QUklBDjMvZU4XzD6mo5nhgsEo_T8/viewform

Beyond Dusk: Anne…A Crimson and Clover Novelette

One of the things I hear from time to time is that readers are interested in learning more about some of the secondary characters in the series. As none of these characters are people I planned to do much with, it caused a bit of a quandary for me.

How could I give loyal readers some additional color, while still being true to the series? I started watching some of my fellow authors playing around in the short story/novelette space, and that’s when the idea came to me: why not create companion novelettes for the series? And thus, the “Beyond Crimson and Clover” series has been born.

Becket (Assistant to Anne Rice) Reviews St. Charles at Dusk

So, something incredibly cool happened to me this week. And its just Monday!

See below for the full size version.

It started a few weeks ago when Becket, who is the endlessly interesting and endearing assistant of Anne Rice, posted on his page that he was interested in knowing what other indie authors were working on. He is getting ready to publish his own stories, and has been very supportive of the indie community as a whole. I responded with some info about my novels, and a link to my Amazon Author Central profile. He replied that he had read the sample offered by Amazon (you can’t adequately imagine my surprise at that), so I offered to send him a copy, and he accepted. He was incredibly kind and gracious about the whole thing, and of course I was completely useless to the world for the rest of the day.

This morning, he posted on his page his final thoughts, and review of the book. I supposed I should say that, as kind as nice as he is, I never expected him to finish it. Or love it. Who am I, really, but just some random indie author in a sea of them?

Is this that small self-conscious jerk that still lives in my thoughts, coming out to play, telling me I am not good enough? Probably. Because Becket did enjoy it. Enough to tell his page about it. Enough that he compared me to a young Anne Rice, and that my characterizations where Dickensian. Enough that I have been just floating on cloud 9 all day, and not even the fact that I chose the wrong day to wear heels can bring me down from it.

You see, Anne Rice is my favorite author of all time. My favorite wordsmith, world-builder, and the queen of the visceral reading experience. Becket is not just her assistant, but is also her biggest fan. Like me, he credits Rice for gifting him with a lifelong love, and discovery, of New Orleans. Like me, he walked down the streets of the Garden District, dreaming of her characters and novels. So if this is the experience he took from my book, then I can think of no greater compliment, and no more meaningful endorsement. Humbled is the word I will use, for lack of a bigger, crazier, more descriptive alternative. This is the best writing gift anyone has ever given me.

Here’s the direct link to the post as well: Becket’s Review of St. Charles at Dusk

By the way- review excitement aside-if you are not following Becket, you should be. He is charming, real, insightful, and has put his heart on the line to share his experience as a monk in New Orleans. He is also a Whovian, and and all-around geek lover. Oh, and he gets to hang out with Anne Rice.

He’s pretty okay in my book.

Birthday Sale!

In honor of my birthday (which is tomorrow), I am running a 5 day sale from July 30-Aug 5. BOTH of my books will be just .99 cents for those 5 days. While Dusk is permanently set at .99, this price on Darkness will not last long at all.

Please help me spread the word by reblogging, posting, pasting, tweeting, etc. The best birthday weekend ever would be to wake up next week and welcome new fans into the fold. If they’re as great as all of you, then I will be blessed indeed 🙂

Price adjustments are good only on Amazon and Barnes and Nobe.

BN: http://bit.ly/12ClvWx
Amazon: http://amzn.to/16cNVrc

St. Charles at Dusk: Now .99 Forever and Always!

In honor of the release of my second book in The House of Crimson and Clover Series, The Storm and the Darkness, I have moved book one (ebook), St. Charles at Dusk, to .99 forever. The price will stay this way until the end of time. Enjoy 🙂

Amazon

BN

Goodreads

Look Ma! I’m a Real Writer Now!

My proof copy of The Storm and the Darkness came in the mail yesterday. I vaguely recalled the thrill I experienced the moment I held St. Charles at Dusk in my hands, but it must have faded with time because it didn’t prepare me for the excitement of experiencing it again, with my second book.

Or the feeling of seeing them, side by side, on my shelf. Two beautiful books, both my me. Sigh. I’m a real author. More, I am officially the writer of a series. *Slips on big girl author panties.*

Thoughtful Reviews of St. Charles at Dusk

There’s nothing that puts a smile on your face, in the middle of a long week, like seeing three very thoughtful reviews of your first book. Thank you so much, Brandy, Lara and Kristy!

Brandy L Rivers Blog
Ncreadergirl’s Blissful Blog
Kristy’s Keep Calm and Write On Blog