romance authors

Lessons Learned and Big Announcement

First, let’s get the BIG announcement out of the way because quite frankly I’m too tickled pink to put this off.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…

Book of the Month

After some fantastic reviews from The Naked Reviewers last week, they chose my paranormal fantasy romance book, Rekindled Prophecy – Book 1 of the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series, as their Book of the Month for March 2020!!!!!

The book was also named as the Book of the Week from 2/26/2020 to 3/4/2020!

Somebody pinch me! Okay, not THAT hard! Geez, now I’ll bruise.

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Now for the original posting for this week ~ Lessons Learned from my first book signing event at Penned Charleston this past weekend.

See the source imageTo sum it up  – it was a series of unfortunate events which ended happily ever after.

  1.  Should travel the night before the event. I was stuck in a traffic jam on I-26 EAST towards Charleston with all lanes blocked due to a horrific accident. Nowhere to turn around, just had to sit there and continue sitting for a long time. Ended up 1 1/2 hours late!
  2.  Bring an assistant! Can be anyone, friend, foe, hubby, kids! Just bring someone to help out so the author can make trips to the ladies’ room and get food/beverages. Initially the hubby was supposed to attend with me, but he was easily persuaded to ditch me to take our youngest son to a wrestling tournament in Fayetteville, NC. Figured I’d be okay on my own, but easily see now how having a helper with me would have made the whole experience run more smoothly and enjoyable. Also assistants were working the venue by walking around and visiting all the tables and mingling with the guests/readers to direct traffic to their author’s tables. Assistants also freed up their authors to walk around and meet new authors and just mingle.
  3.  Double-check swag before the event. I found a typo on the bookmarks as I was sitting at the table Saturday. To say I was horrified is an understatement!
  4. Bring more swag! Some authors had some serious swag at their tables. Some had raffles going for their super swag. I had bookmarks with typos, postcards with book info (which I ran out of), candy (mints and chocolate), and mini hand sanitizers.
  5.  Personalized labels for swag (such as the hand sanitizers) can be easily purchased I learned from one incredibly helpful author assistant. One lady had personalized packaging for candies and chocolates!
  6.  When the venue doesn’t provide linen table cloths for the tables, bring your own nice linen table cloth, not a flimsy plastic tie-dye one.
  7.  Check into vinyl posters and heavy duty easels. Most authors had 8-10 foot posters set up behind and beside their tables. I had a foam board 12×18 book poster propped up a stack of books on a chair beside me.
  8.  Purchase easels for posters and something to connect the banner to the table.
  9.  Purchase book stands so the books aren’t just laying down on the table.
  10.  Sneak in snacks. The venue said no beverages or food to be brought in – they provided water stations and some appetizers were handed out in the beginning during setup (which I missed due to #1). I ended up eating more of my own candy which was supposed to be just for visitors to my table.

Sounds a bit like a disaster, right? Actually, it wasn’t at all! I met a lot of amazing authors, author assistants, bloggers, reviewers, cover artists, and most especially readers! I learned a lot! I made some contacts including a lovely author in my local area (Hi, Haven Cage!) who also organizes local author get-togethers, and I now have a Reiki healer to call locally when my chakras are imbalanced. So, HUGE WIN!

Sadly, I ended up leaving right after the event rather than staying for the 60s-themed party that evening (another Lesson Learned – STAY FOR THE PARTY!).

Hopefully this Lessons Learned segment will benefit other newbie authors as you go to your own book signing events.

Well, I’m off to celebrate my Book of the Month award with some of my leftover chocolate from Penned Charleston!

I hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Epic Fail but Will Always Try, Try Again

Last Friday (2/7/2020) evening I held an Author Reading from my debut fantasy/paranormal novel, Rekindled Prophecy – Book 1 of the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series.

book cover FB promo

Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/bzoaBE

Well, that was an outright disaster!

Several lovely friends showed up to listen to me read, and asked questions, made comments and generally it was an overall good time.

So what went wrong?

I coughed throughout the entire reading!

No, I don’t have the flu, or the corona virus.

What I had was allergies to all the drywall and general construction dust from my office. The room has been under renovations for some time now, and completely unusable, but I insisted (to myself) that I should do the reading from my office (mostly to avoid any of the other people living in my house from intruding – most of the time they respect the sanctity of my office).

You’ve been warned, but if you’re interested in listening to the reading and the Q&A session, here’s a link to the video on Facebook.

Now I am a self-proclaimed non-techie so I haven’t figured out how to edit the footage yet, and I’m rather certain there wouldn’t be a lot left if I took out all the coughing. My next best alternative is to record the whole thing, but then you’d miss the discussion and Q&A.

In lieu of a teaser for this week, you may have to work for it to listen through the reading of the Prologue from Rekindled Prophecy. Now there’s a lot of controversy these days in the literary community about prologues and epilogues, but I LOVE them and use them frequently. Every book in the series will start with a prologue giving the reader a glimpse from Greylyn’s past that has significant impact on her present and future. It’s a peek behind the curtain.

But if you don’t want to wade through my coughing fits to listen to the prologue, please direct message me here or on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/KCFreemanAuthor/ and I’ll send you a word document copy of the text.

Next month, I’ll make another attempt at a live reading from my book and hold another Q&A session. Because…why not? It was fun, despite the coughing.

 

 

 

 

A Belated “Teaser Tuesday”

Teaser+Tuesday+2

Folks, the holidays have me so scatter-brained, I didn’t realize the day, thus “Teaser Tuesday” will have to be a bit late. We need a good name for Wednesday teasers… any suggestions?

How about:

Wowza Wednesday!

We’ll table that discussion and get down to business since I still have holiday shopping and wrapping…and don’t even mention holiday baking to me yet because I just can’t even right now!

So, a teaser? A teaser? What shall I tease this week from the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series? Should I stick with Book 1, Rekindled Prophecy, which by the way would make a perfect gift for the fantasy/paranormal fiction fan in your life?

 

Or should I leap forward and give you lovelies a taste of Book 2, Revelations? Maybe skip way ahead to Book 3, working title, Remembrance? Or way, way ahead to Book 4 (yes, I finally decided that Book 4 is definitely in order, there is no way I can fit all this story into just 3 books), working title, Redemption?

For the sake of not wanting to spill the beans too soon on future books, we’ll stick with Rekindled Prophecy for today. Although, with the working titles of the other books, I am considering renaming the first book to just Rekindled. Any opinions on the subject, please shoot me a comment here or direct message me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KCFreemanAuthor/

Today, I’d like to introduce you to one of my all-time favorite villains — Olivier.

Olivier is a fallen archangel. It’s rumored he whispered evil tidings into Lucifer’s ear which led to his Fall. Quite honestly, it’s anyone’s guess who is the worst of the worst — Lucifer or Olivier.

Olivier wants the prophecy fulfilled, even though he’s not completely sure of what it entails. He knows enough to be dangerous. Apparently, he’s the ONLY ONE who wants this. Heaven is against it. Hell will do anything to stop it. So what will our heroine do with angels and demons fighting to keep this prophecy from reaching fruition?

How did I come up with Olivier? Well, the name is from one of my favorite actors of all time. Laurence Olivier. Actually…Sir Laurence Olivier. He was knighted by the Queen of England. Cool, huh?

But this Olivier, while debonair looking and always stylishly dressed in designer suits and power ties, is nothing like the actor who played Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice nor Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights.

No, this Olivier is more Thor-looking with Loki’s sharp wit and designs for destruction.

So let me peel back the curtain a tad, and let you discover Olivier for yourselves.

***

“Well, my boy,” said the larger man in a Dolce & Gabbana suit while he slapped the other man on the shoulder. They had watched the petite guardian pick herself up and sprint away from the bloody carnage behind the bar. They had the best vantage point for the battle, hidden in the shadows atop a crumbling service station a couple blocks away. “You’ve done a fine job of keeping track of our girl over the years. I’ll admit that I’m thrilled you defied my brother so long ago and chose not to kill her. Not many can get away with such disobedience. But this gamble has really paid off.”

Smiling, Kael replied, “Always glad to be of service to you, sir.” Teaming up with one of the most notorious tyrants of Hell had been dangerous, but he wouldn’t change a thing.

“Not much longer now until we can set things in motion with our little angel. I’ve waited long enough.” Without so much as a farewell, the large, hulking man vanished into whirling tunnel of air with only the sound of his laughter continuing to resonate in stifling humidity.

***

Happy Holidays! I’ll be back next week for a Christmas Eve Tuesday Teaser!

 

 

 

Teaser Tuesday

paper bags near wall

Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

It’s the day after Cyber-Monday, a four days after Black Friday (hope everyone finished their holiday shopping and everyone is giving and receiving books this year), and two weeks since the release of my debut fantasy/paranormal novel, Rekindled Prophecy (Book 1 of the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series).

Rekindled Prophecy Hardcover 3d

If by chance you haven’t finished your shopping, and the person(s) on your list enjoy reading fantasy/paranormal fiction, check out this little teaser from the above story. Regardless of the completion of your gift-giving list, check out this excerpt from the book.

***

Just as a small ray of early morning sun peeked between the slate-gray clouds, the shadowy outline of Gaelic Haven came into view. There were no lights on in the main house or the Carriage House. Breathing a sigh of relief, she tiptoed from the car to the Carriage House and opened the foyer door without so much as a creak.

“Didn’t realize you were such a partier, Greylyn. If I had known you wanted to party all night, I could’ve joined you.”

She froze in place. Despite the sarcasm, there was an underlying tension behind his words. The words were more clipped than usual. Greylyn didn’t know what to make of it and was too tired to care. Ignoring him, she reached for the door to her room.

The shadow at the top of the stairs pounced like a preying tiger to stand between her and the door. The little light that was available in the foyer from a small tabletop lantern reflected the gold in his eyes as they stood almost nose to nose, staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity. No matter how she tried, there was no looking away.

How could she be this tired and still be so affected by his closeness?

Without warning, his hand came up to her face, causing her to flinch. Instead of striking as she expected, his hand caressed the place just below her eye where she had been sliced earlier. His fingers softly moved over the now dried and crusted blood. Her skin warmed, as if she’d stepped too close to a bonfire.

His eyes strayed back to her own. The pupils enlarged, registering alarm and something else she couldn’t place. In a strained, gruff voice, he whispered through clenched teeth, “Who or what did this to you?”

It was difficult to think, much less speak or move, with Kael this close to her. His hand, still cupping her face, paralyzed her. She repeated to herself, “This is the enemy. This is the enemy,” in an effort to free herself from his hypnotic gaze.

The best she could manage was to say, “What’s the big deal? Worried that someone else might kill me before you’ve had your chance?”

She had wanted to sound sarcastic. Instead, her words came out more like a breathy whisper that ended with a pitiful squeak.

He leaned in closer, a mere inch or two from her face, his eyes locked on her own. “I don’t want to kill you, Greylyn. I would never allow anyone else to hurt you either. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”

***

If you are enticed by the above teaser, please check out the entire story. Rekindled Prophecy is available on numerous book retail sites, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Audible, Walmart eBooks, Google Play, Abebooks, Book Depository, Alibris, Better World Books, and Indie Bound.

Here’s a link to the ebook at Amazon, but the hard cover is also available.

Also, I’m trying to build up my newsletter. If you believe you’d enjoy regular updates about the book, the series, general discussion of all things related to guardian angels, my silly rants and ravings on a myriad of topics, please check out my newsletter signup at http://www.eepurl.com/gDp4Jr

As an added enticement, I’ve joined with 9 other authors in a December Reader Appreciation/Newsletter Buildup campaign. Leann Ryans, L.P. Dillon, Becca Dawn, Nora Nolan, L.V. Lane, Krya Fox, Rowan Thalia, KC Freeman. V.T. Bonds, and Mandi Konesni have joined together to offer 24 days worth of prizes in December.

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From December 1st through the 23rd, one person on our newsletter subscriber list will be chosen each day to win a prize leading up to the grand prize drawing on the 24th. The grand prize winner will receive 15 ebooks, an audiobook, 3 paperbacks, and Amazon gift cards totaling $50.

You must sign up for all 10 newsletters to qualify to win a prize. The winner each day will be notified and announced on Facebook once their subscriptions are verified. Each author is responsible for delivery of their book and prizes to the winner.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LCoDbQsFeACRukRT_t0ZjyTQLDs7oKdXezS9HsCADgY/viewform?fbclid=IwAR25TxaSx_2wYzQgdX4-JfGXz-SgFHnb31SqsNlxJqav6Tay4_O7YVgb5BU&edit_requested=true

Happiest of holidays to everyone! Ciao for now! Come back next week for another teaser.

 

 

 

 

 

RELEASE DATE in T-6

It’s been a long road, and the journey has been fraught with ups and downs, highs and lows, bouts of bliss and troublesome turmoil but my dream is just steps (okay, days) away from fruition.

REKINDLED PROPHECY, the first book in the Gryelyn the Guardian Angel series, is set to be released TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019!

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Here’s a few links to pre-order if you’re so inclined:

https://www.amazon.com/Rekindled-Prophecy-Greylyn-Guardian-Angel/dp/1643900919/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rekindled+prophecy&qid=1572382925&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Rekindled-Prophecy-Greylyn-Guardian-Angel-ebook/dp/B07ZHMNMGZ/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=rekindled+prophecy&qid=1572382942&sr=8-2

So what is REKINDLED PROPHECY about, you may ask.
***

Guardian angel, Greylyn saves innocent humans from their own inner demons or the more nefarious real ones. She’s overdue for some rest and relaxation, but upon finding her archenemy already entrenched at an authentic Irish bed and breakfast, she knows her vacation is over before it ever starts.

Enemies for over four centuries, Greylyn has fought the dark guardian, Kael; and fought her desire for him. This time, however, she must work with the dashing dark guardian to protect innocent lives. It’s a deadly gamble. One she has no choice but to take.

But the situation is far more treacherous than she realizes as a notorious fallen archangel holds the lives of a mother and her unborn child over Greylyn’s head to force her to consummate a dormant, but deadly prophecy. One so deadly that Heaven didn’t even write it down.

The Rekindled Prophecy: Greylyn the Guardian Angel is an urban fantasy/paranormal novel with strong undertones of romance and sex appeal between two enemies – one working for Heaven, the other working for Hell.

***
Why classify as urban fantasy AND paranormal? Well, I tossed around those too genre descriptions in my head that finally had to admit defeat on choosing one because the story is BOTH!
The Wikipedia definition of URBAN FANTASY is: Urban fantasy is a fantastic genre, though many consider it to be a subgenre of fantasy, in which the narrative has magical rules or elements operating in an urban setting. Works of urban fantasy may be set in the real world and introduce aspects of fantasy, or in a fantasy world with operating rules recognizably similar to ours.
The story takes place in modern times (mostly) in the real world. In the first book, Greylyn hops between the rural Shenandoah Valley to the dilapidated run-down neighborhoods of the Washington, DC. She’s a guardian angel with more power than even she realizes after 450 years of roaming the Earth saving humans from their own inner demons and the more nefarious real ones. In later books, she’s travel all around the world, sometimes in a fallen archangel tornado of sorts, sometimes in a commercial plane from Tibet, and sometimes in her pride and joy — 1968 British racing green Camaro.
Wikipedia’s definition of the PARANORMAL genre could use some elaboration, but in short it is: Paranormal fiction is a genre of fiction whose storylines revolve around the paranormal.
Another defintion for paranormal genre is: Paranormal (Fantasy): Books with a paranormal setting or characters with paranormal abilities such as clairvoyance or telekinesis. Technically a sub-genre of fantasy, but you’ll often see it called ‘Paranormal fiction’ or ‘Supernatural fiction’.
This story has guardian angels, dark guardians (more on that later), shifters, ghosts, oracles, angels, demons, exorcisms, ESP, psychics, demonic monsters you’ve never even heard of (but I’ve researched), so we can tick mark paranormal as well.
Now I researched multiple sources, multiple definitions until my the red in my bloodshot eyes blurred away my vision (improved by Lasik) so I compromised – or not. Actually, maybe it’s a case of wanting the best of BOTH worlds.
Greylyn the Guardian Angel has ALL of it!
She’s a guardian angel.
She battles supernatural bad guys all the time, including dark guardians (Hell’s version of the guardian angel).
There’s an ancient prophecy. One so dangerous that Heaven wouldn’t even allow it to be written!
Neither Heaven nor Hell wants to see the prophecy comes to fruition so now Greylyn has to contend with resistance on all sides. Only one notorious fallen archangel (and not Lucifer) wants this prophecy to happen, and he will stop at nothing to make Greylyn fulfill it.
Now you may ask why isn’t REKINDLED PROPHECY classified as paranormal romance since there’s a hot, sexy dark guardian too and the back cover blurb does mention “strong undertones of romance and sex appeal between two enemies – one working for Heaven, the other working for Hell.”
I love Paranormal Romance and read it constantly, when I’m not writing – of course. But the romance part wasn’t the focus of my story. At least it wasn’t the intent of my focus on the story. Don’t worry – there’s plenty of romance, but it’s a slow burn over multiple books in the series. (I say “multiple” here because as of now, we are at 3 books, but my evil author brain kicked into gear while I was editing Book 3, so…. ). The focus of the series is the prophecy and what Greylyn must endure and rediscover about herself, her history (which she conveniently doesn’t recall before waking up in a grave in the outskirts of Ireland over 450 years ago), about Heaven and Hell, and about the power of the spirit….yes, even the power of love.
It took me years to write this story. Okay, maybe not years. But definitely years to polish it to where I was comfortable enough letting go to release it into the world. As most authors, confidence in one’s own product is a small stream. Depending on the writer’s high, there may be a drought and the water barely trickles. Also, I suffer from what I’m sure many other authors suffer from…there is always a rewrite burgeoning under the surface so I could edit this story until my fingers fall off and then I’d finally invest in that voice-dictation technology everyone keeps telling me to invest in.
The moral of this story…my story, not the book…is to not give up and sometimes just go with it. Hit the SEND button on your email to countless literary agents and publishers or hit the PUBLISH icon on Amazon or another book publishing site. To quote Nike, JUST DO IT! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
In reality, I could probably still edit, revise, rework Greylyn’s story until I die. But then you, the reader would never get a chance to read it. Maybe you love it (hopefully you LOVE it). Maybe you don’t. Maybe guardian angels just aren’t your thing. Maybe you prefer shifters (oh, by the way there is a spunky shifter in this story, but she won’t be truly seen until Book 2…but, I do have a short story in the After Dark: 9 Modern Takes on Classic Fairy Tales anthology which details her own story in much greater detail. Be warned though – that story is targeted for an Adult audience).
REKINDLED PROPHECY and the rest of the series is for New Adult and could by also be considered Young Adult – a little cussing, some fight violence, and one kiss.
But guardian angels are definitely my thing and I want to share them with you, with the world!

Author Shout-Out to Serenity Rayne on the Pre-Order of Her New Book: Hunt Little Wolf

Hunt Little Wolf: The Aurora Marelup Series by [Rayne, Serenity]

🔥 Pre-order Now!🔥🔥

🐾˚ •。🐉 ˚ ˚☠️˚ ˛🌙* 。🐺🐾 ˛° 。🐺* ° ˚ 🐉 🌙 🐉˚ .🐾 。
*˛˚ HUNT LITTLE WOLF
˚. ★🐉🌙 *˛ ˚☠* ✰。🐺˚ ˚🐾。* ˚ ☠ 。✰🐉˚🐺* ˚ 🌙

🐺 TWIN Sammich!
🐺 Paranormal Reverse harem romance.
🐺 Betrayal, lies, broken hearts
🐺 Strong ass female main character.
🐺 True mates / Fated mates
🐺 Wolves, dragon, and bear shifters
🐺 a 💩ton of plot twists
🐺 Why choose romance! 🐾

us:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZPLRP56
uk:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07ZPLRP56
au:
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07ZPLRP56
can:
https://www.amazon.com.ca/dp/B07ZPLRP56

BLURB

My name is Aurora. I am the first of my kind. After I ascended, it became clear to my Guardian’s that I wasn’t your average Lycan. My father’s noble bloodline has gifted me with powers unheard of for a Lycan. Half Lycan. Half dragon. I am a lethal hybrid of the two. With the help of my mates, I am hunting down the traitors to my kingdom, one by one.
The Strigoi may be an ever present pain in my ass, but even they can’t compare to what I feel waiting for us. I feel that something lurks in the background, a puppeteer pulling the strings of the usurpers.
With only two mates left to gather, my harem is almost complete. With their added strength, I will finally be able to avenge my family and take back my Mother’s thrown.

On my blood, I will triumph over my enemies… let my bloody coronation begin.

True mates,
blood and gore.
Why choose romance
Cliffhanger

***

Congrats, Serenity!

 

Author Shout-out to the lovely Charlene Namdhari on her latest release: Reigns to Her Heart (Fire & Ice Book 2)

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HAPPY RELEASE DAY to my dear friend and an amazing author, Charlene Namdhari!

❤️ Release Day ❤️ Reigns To Her Heart (Fire & Ice Book 2) is Live ❤️
Trigger warning: Domestic Violence

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2orqsbA

Smashwords: bit.ly/2pviCOY

Reviews on Goodreads: bit.ly/2mw5sQu

Blurb: She’s afraid to love. He’ll teach her how.

Reece Bentley is a self confessed playboy. He dictates the rules of how when and why. That is, until a one night stand with a sexy, sassy stranger leaves him mystified, breaking his own rules and craving more.

Three years ago, Aria Singh finally walked out on an abusive husband. Her retribution ended in a one night stand with a fiery stranger. Now, with her past safely behind her, she’s built a new life solely for her and her daughter. Fate, however, has other plans in store for her when a blast from her past, rocks up at her door with the wrong set of cabin keys.

Firmly of the opinion he’s in cahoots with her husband, she isn’t prepared to accept his explanations, no matter how sincere he appears.
Baffled by the stirrings of his own heart, Reece isn’t prepared to lose his mystery woman a second time.

Will Aria give in to the sexual storm brewing amid the Wyoming icy blizzard? Can Reece make Aria believe that this playboy can love deeply and be the one to reign as king of her heart?

***