Jezebel Sequel Excitement

I'm so excited! Beta readers are already looking at "Sirius Academy", the sequel to "Jezebel's Ladder". Here's the awesome new cover from Renee. The book goes to edit 5/6.

Lots of exciting news all around.

• "Dreams" has broken the 10K ranking level and is climbing to match
• "Doors", which currently hovers around 6K. I am floored to see the excellent books on the same page as mine, epic fantasy books I rated 5 stars on Goodreads!
• My local library just shelved a copy of every paperback I wrote.
• The local paper just interviewed me today for an hour and a half. The story should come out this Wednesday or next.
• I also started polishing another epic fantasy, "Contagion of the Gods." It's much better than I remember. Renee has an opening for that cover 5/17. 

• That will give me something to keep me busy while the planning of "Queen of the Pirates" percolates. I have the first ten chapters and last two firm; between those pillar, anything could happen.

A Life of Death -- a belated plug

http://www.amazon.com/A-Life-of-Death-ebook/dp/B00558UVOW
I'm sorry that I was so excited by my own one year anniversary in epub, that I didn't notice the rising success of my friend Weston Kincade (not to be confused with the recently and mysteriously deceased "Painter of Light"). I was one of the first people to read the moving "A Life of Death". Since then, it's had ten five star reviews. Wow! Check it out on Amazon and see why people who read it love it.

"Good horror isn't rubber monsters or eating brains...we like the idea that everyone has secrets they try to bury. Our hero is armed with a flashlight and a shovel. "

~ Scott Rhine ~ Author of Scarab and Foundation for the Lost

Alex Drummond is a troubled high school senior with a checkered past, a broken home, and a surprising ability. When he touches items that murder victims held in their final moments, Alex relives the events in gruesome detail, seeing what they saw, thinking their thoughts, and even feeling what they felt. But who will believe a troubled teen, especially when the murders are so close to home and might reveal skeletons hidden for hundreds of years?

Join Alex as he struggles to find his destiny, understand love, solve the mysterious murders within his small home town, and speak for victims who can no longer speak for themselves.

first year -- looking back and forward

The rest of 2012, I'm planning to release the sequel to Jezebel (Mira's Journey, draft completed), the sequel to Foundation (Hero of Fire, first chapter written), and Queen of the Pirates (Temple of the Traveler 3).

The previous year of writing books, I've gone from selling nothing the first month to almost 500 in the last month. Wow. The number has been going up by a factor of 1.5 every two weeks. KDP has made a big difference in accessibility, and I've grateful to all the people who've helped to plug my free offers (Indies Unlimited, Weston Kincade, and Facebook friends). I'm also thankful for the people who have responded to Doors to Eternity. Thanks again to my line editor, Katy, for encouraging me to finish the last 130 pages. Splitting the huge 880+ page book after 14 years was rather like cutting apart Siamese twins. Taken together, the two make a complete arc that I'm happy with.

The cool thing is that the characters are still alive to me. In Queen of the Pirates, Jotham will need to fight against the College of Wizards and Sandarac to keep the title of Emperor. We'll see details of the Inner Islands. He gets a little help from his friends, rewarding the loyal and punishing the treacherous. Pinetto will duel the head wizard of the College as the founder of a new branch of magical arts. Sarajah comes into her own as well, gathering followers and acolytes when all she really wants is a boyfriend who isn't half troll. But as always, she does what needs to be done, with humor and the occasional use of thunderous power when men don't listen to reason.

One Year Anniversary

My first book, Scarab, is one year old today!
I'm celebrating with a two day free give-away on Amazon. At 8:00 a.m., it was already at #21 on the hi-tech free list and #9 on the UK hi-tech. Gotta love the British Isles!

By 5:00 pm, #2 hi-tech, #9 adventure, #5 UK hi-tech.

At 7:30 the next morning, I can't sleep (guests for Easter) so I get up to check. Number 1 in hi-tech. Thanks to everyone who helped with the edits, the promotion, and the encouragement. We did it. "Scarab" is one.

We Have Sequel!

As soon as I got the last edits from DJ, I took three hours off work to merge, neaten, copyright, and publish Dreams of the Fallen. I was live by the time I stopped for lunch. Wow, I love technology. Of course, I can't edit the files yet to fix the minor problems I found tonight while formatting the paperback. It feels great to have it done. Everyone who likes Renee's great cover, give the book a like on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Fallen-Temple-Traveler-ebook/dp/B007QVULQ4

Scarab is on KDP Select as of Friday and selling better than Foundation. I have a giveaway scheduled for this weekend (Easter); however, I want to give away Dreams too. I'll probably save the sequel for the 13th/14th.

I'm only three chapters away from finishing the first draft of "Mira's Journey." Yes, it's taking about three months to write followed by three months to edit each book in the pipeline. My next two book ideas are "Hero of Fire" (sequel to Foundation) and "Queen of the Pirates" (Traveler book three). The epic fantasy is selling over ten times better than everything else, but I think Aaron leading an army of Djinn through the Cinnamon Desert is a better idea. We'll see; I still have to polish Mira and make up time with my patient wife. I see fabric stores and restaurants in my immediate future.

5 star review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/305994966. Thanks Melinda!

Map of the Northern Empire

This week looks like another 100+ units sold. Now my local librarian is expressing interest.
This is the map of the Northern Empire with all the important sites visited in the "Dreams". Tammy has 18 chapters to edit, and I have one map left. I can't get the cliffs right, but the new calligraphy tips in Paint are cool. I've learned to create my own map symbols by snipping hand-drawn/scanned images. Campaign Cartographer is great for lots of stuff, but it doesn't write in the hi-resolution I need for paperbacks. I might end up frankensteining the next map.

I have about 6 chapters left to write in the sequel to Jezebel. The title candidates are: Mira's Journey, Jezebel's Redemption, Red, Sirius Problems, and The Index Page. It's really shaping up well! I laugh every time I visit with the characters. After I finish taxes, I get to pick out symbols for the cover. I'm seeing space construction, the South Pacific, whales, and a girl in a flight suit.

first hundred seventy-five week

I had my first week with over a hundred sales! 66 Jez, 33 Doors, 4 or 5 everything else, plus 58 Jez and 6 other in the UK -- new market! Feels strange but good. Go KDP Select!

We're six chapters through the final edit of the Doors sequel, "Dreams of the Fallen". The cover looks great! Though the first two books do tell a complete story, I can easily make it a series. The Sarajah character took over the second half of Dreams and would be one of the two main stars of "Queen of the Pirates" along with the new Emperor.

My biggest obsession right now has been "Mira's Journey," where Jezebel's daughter goes to paranormal astronaut school. I'm at 66.5K words and it's still coming out like a fire hose. The best part is that the characters still surprise me. Her advisor, Zeiss, has a random drug test, not a problem for a straight-arrow like him. But he sees that they're now screening for caffeine; Mountain Dew is really bad for astronauts. He asks her to fill the cup for him, and she does it, giggling, just to see him break the rules. It takes him two years to see her as a woman(not a girl prodigy or a student), but then he vows not to reveal or act on it. Everyone who reads an alien page has a unique experience. His has been the most bizarre yet. After Zeiss becomes active, he sleepwalks so he can sleep on her roof--just to be closer. Worse, he emits a song on whale frequencies, and they don't want him to feel lonely. Young whales in a 50 mile radius cluster around their ship. Try to hide that.