The “myth” of writer’s block…

I never used to believe in “writer’s block.” Part of me still doesn’t want to think it exists, that its something we writers have to power through. There have been times in the past where a story has been difficult for me, where I didn’t know what happened next. I rarely had a deadline or readers waiting, it was just me and the characters trying to figure out what adventure they’d find next. I could take as much time as I wanted to figure it out, and invariably I did.

I’ve always written. My mother still has “books” I made from preschool about dinosaurs and horses and other fun stuff. Being able to make up stories, bring to life interesting characters and situations, was something I loved, something I wanted to do for a living. Several months ago, I was finally able to get that dream, quitting my day job to focus solely on my craft. I thought it would be smooth sailing from here on out, doing something I loved so much.

The last month has shown me otherwise.

Many of you have reached out wondering where I am, what I’m doing, what the status is on various projects. I skipped a Snippet Saturday this week with no explanation, which is unfair to you all. The truth is, whether you want to call it writer’s block or burnout or whatever other name applies, I’ve had a heck of a time writing ANYTHING for the last month.

There. I said it. I can’t write.

It’s a vicious cycle. My brain is shouting at me to write, that I can’t let the readers down or miss my commitments. When I freeze up, the guilt builds into this hard lump in my chest that makes it hard to breathe. Eventually, the very thought of writing ANYTHING, a blog post or tweet or Facebook reply, gives the same result. I mean, if I can write those, then why aren’t I writing something ELSE right? Like that story I have due out, oh, yesterday.

It’s debilitating, and has brought me to a complete standstill over the last month.

My writer friends call it burnout, and apparently it’s common among authors. At times, it almost feels like a panic attack: I think of opening the file on my computer and my chest tightens, breathing gets hard, and my hands shake. No joke, although I wish it was. A lot of folks have noticed the progress bar hasn’t moved much; initially this was because I goofed on a major plot hole and required some time/help to figure it out. The Dude was invaluable here (he gets that James Bond, action-movie kinda thing), but once I got that situated… *sigh*

So here’s me coming clean and apologizing to all of you waiting for the latest AHW installment. This month has been hectic and filled with other things, such as the Romantic Times Readers Convention (which I still need to write up), celebrating the Dude’s birthday (love you, Dorkface), and most recently a camping/riding trip of awesome. I’ve been trying to cram as much life as I can into a short space in order to get past this problem – do a bunch of stuff that is not writing so when I return its not as hard. Several friends have given me exercises to do that helped them punch through this wall and that’s what I’m going to start today.

But I wanted to say I’m so sorry for the delay and hate that I’ve let you guys down. :-/

 

This. Is. AWESOME!!!

So the lovely Kate Laurens, my beta reader for all things Fawkesish, has repeatedly expressed her love for a certain arms-dealer-slash-hero. Well, look at what I received in the mail today, which underscores it all:

It makes me smile SO BIG!!! And yes, I’ll be wearing it to Romantic Times in Kansas City, hopefully I’ll see some Team Jeremiah shirts around too!

 

Real life blues

A real pic I took of the house

Why is it that, whenever you feel like your life is looking up, fate gives you a suckerpunch to the gut?

The last several weeks have had me focusing a lot of time and energy with two things: the “Anything He Wants 6″ release, and getting the CPA of very-not-awesome to get me paperwork. Some of you may have gathered that the Dude and I are trying to buy a house. Beautiful home, a bit of acreage, out in the country – you know. Perfect. One of the things the mortgage guys needed was a tax draft for 2012, since I was mainly a self-employed writer without a reliable income.

Except, the CPA we hired wouldn’t return my calls or emails. Worse yet, he’s four hours away, back in my hometown. Apparently he figured my distance meant I could be shunted to the back of the list, and he kept giving me the runaround or outright ignoring me until finally I sent him a nastygram voicemail message and got my do-NOT-mess-with-this-man father involved.

Sufficed to say, we’ve wasted so much blasted time, and the CPA didn’t do his job last year informing us correctly on what to pre-pay the IRS…there’s a good chance we won’t get the house now.

It’s put a damper on a lot of things, including the AHW6 release. I generally don’t like sharing personal information online, and try to keep an upbeat energy on my blog, but dangit this is SUCH a huge disappointment. First off, we put a lot of trust into this tax guy to guide us newbies (neither the Dude nor I have been self-employed before), and apparently that trust was misplaced. Now we have a big tax bill that’s eaten way into our down payment…. *sigh*

So if I haven’t replied to your post or comment or other communication, I sincerely apologize. I’ve been a bit preoccupied with Real Life, and the various disappointments that lie along that road. I’m not looking for pity and I’m not trying to excuse myself for ignoring you but, arg, it’s so depressing. Not to say there haven’t been good points: AHW6 broke through the Amazon Top 100 Kindle ebooks yesterday, but fell back under today. It also peaked at #11 in the Barnes and Noble Nook store. So it isn’t like my life sucks monkey nuggets all the time, just in certain disappointing ways.

**

However, that said, I need to say once again a BIG THANK YOU to all my readers. I love you guys, there’s no doubt about that. I appreciate every bit of support I get, and even though I’ve been too overwhelmed of late to say it, THANK YOU. You, unlike my CPA, are FULL OF AWESOME.

 

Former indie author Jamie McGuire penalized for self-publishing?

Earlier this evening, during a break between edits for AHW6, I saw something on a Facebook page “What To Read After Fifty(50) Shades Of Grey” regarding Jamie McGuire, author of the indie (and now traditional) bestseller Beautiful Disaster:

** SPECIAL NOTE: Please Read This!! **

From Author Jamie McGuire:

I have looked into this as best I can, but being a Saturday, Amazon isn’t responding.

It appears that Amazon has sent a mass email to everyone who’s ever purchased the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster. They are encouraging readers to request a refund. When asked why they are offering this refund, Amazon customer service has given several different reasons, the most common is problems with content. THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE CONTENT OF BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, and it makes no sense for them to encourage a refund for a book that has already been read and enjoyed 6+ months later, but that is the only information I have for now.

Customer service admits that if you do NOT get the refund, your copy of BD will NOT be affected. If you get a refund, they are offering to reimburse the $4+ difference it costs to purchase the $7.99 version, but what they aren’t telling you is that **I** am paying for every refund.

Last week, I sent an email to Amazon asking why the self-published version of my book is still experiencing returns. Returns are only allowed for up to 7 days after purchase. 6 months after the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster went off-sale my account was still seeing negative amounts for returns. I’m not going to assume the reasons behind this mass email, but it appears that Amazon customer service is now encouraging these returns.

I was not notified of this. This email has nothing to do with my publisher Atria books. If you do not get a refund, your copy of BD will not be affected. If you do, the refund will show as a negative amount in my Amazon KDP author account. Because BD is no longer available, this money will be taken out of my Providence sales.

In other words, this is very bad, and I have no idea why this is happening. Please do not return your copy of BD, and please help me spread the word to not return your copy of BD.

I will let you know what else I find out from Amazon. In the meantime, your support has brought me to tears. I love you all. ♥

Well, you can imagine my shock at reading this. While I have yet to meet Ms. McGuire, she and I were fortunate enough to share similar career choices around the same time when our bestsellers were picked up by (separate) publishing companies. I won’t lie, I found this story difficult to believe; Amazon surely wouldn’t be this stupid, would it? I purchased BD as an indie book in 2011, long before the author signed a contract allowing the novel to receive a wider, worldwide distribution.

Yet, an hour ago, this is the email I received in my inbox:

Hello from Amazon.com,

We want to let you know that the edition of Beautiful Disaster that you purchased is no longer available. You can order a new version that is now available here:

Beautiful Disaster: A Novel

You can also request a refund on your original purchase by responding to this email. After the refund is issued, you will no longer be able to access this item.

Thank you,

The Kindle Team

*~*~*~*

Alright, be prepared for a long post, because I’m going to deconstruct this email for you, then educate you a little on how self-publishing works. If I go off on a tangent I apologize in advance; I’m a little worked up about this, not only on Ms. McGuire’s account but also on account that many people, myself included, have moved from the self-publishing world into traditional publishing. The two worlds, in many ways, don’t mix perfectly, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a confusing and underhanded attack on an indie author.

First off, let’s start with this line:
“We want to let you know that the edition of Beautiful Disaster that you purchased is no longer available.”
No longer available where? On my Kindle, or in the Kindle store? Because if Amazon decided to erase a story I’d already BOUGHT AND PAID FOR almost two years ago, I’m gonna get a little pissy. Nobody steals books from me – that’s a grave sin where I come from!!

“You can order a new version that is now available here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008JMKN4Y “
Let me tell you something kids: the new version is no different than the old version. Oh, I’m sure a few lines have been cleaned up, maybe some new front matter detailing which publisher is offering the “new” version, etc. But, let’s be honest, THE STORY IS THE SAME. Even the cover is the same one the book was graced with when Ms. McGuire signed the traditional contract. So, why do we need a new version Amazon? Please, enlighten me.

“You can also request a refund on your original purchase by responding to this email.”

Oh no they didn’t! Oh no, no no no. Amazon, didn’t you read your own rules and TOS? Don’t you understand how this stuff WORKS? Let me pull from the above statement by Ms. McGuire herself:

Customer service admits that if you do NOT get the refund, your copy of BD will NOT be affected. If you get a refund, they are offering to reimburse the $4+ difference it costs to purchase the $7.99 version, but what they aren’t telling you is that **I** am paying for every refund. Last week, I sent an email to Amazon asking why the self-published version of my book is still experiencing returns. Returns are only allowed for up to 7 days after purchase. 6 months after the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster went off-sale my account was still seeing negative amounts for returns. I’m not going to assume the reasons behind this mass email, but it appears that Amazon customer service is now encouraging these returns.

Alright, education time!! Sit around my chair kiddies and let Ms. Fawkes give you a little lesson on how self-publishing works. When an author and a book love each other very much, they… oh wait, wrong speech. *sheepish look around* Alright, other formats and ereaders not withstanding, when you purchase an ebook from Amazon, the sales is automatically (barring some lag from servers) calculated to the author’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) account. This, let me tell you, is an AWESOME service – a self publishing author gets to see in real time (!!!) how many sales they have.

There is a catch to this however, and while it’s in the reader/buyer’s best interest it has the potential to be abused by some people: when you purchase the ebook, you also have a 7-day window in which you are able to refund the book. If, say, there’s a formatting problem, or some other type of error with the file (or, in most cases, if the buyer just really dislikes the book), you have the option to return it for a refund. Most self-published authors learn to accept that they will have a certain number of returns. Such returns are par for the course, and normally not something we authors go around discussing because, as I guess you can imagine, wider knowledge can lead to wider abuse of this option. However, in this case, to understand why this is a problem, you need to know the root cause.

Like I said, this is a 7-day window, and once that window is closed the sale is final. Except, um, not in the case with Ms. McGuire. According to records, I purchased the original novel in spring of 2011, yet now, two years later, I’m being urged by Amazon to ask for a return so I can get the new version.

So, essentially, what’s going to happen is that Amazon will be logging returns via KDP in Ms. McGuire’s self-publishing account, giving her a negative number of sales. Negative sales numbers work against an author just like they would in any other business: instead of being paid for the sale, YOU ARE PAYING FOR THEM NOW. If Ms. McGuire has any other books for sale via KDP, whether under another pen name or this one, the negative sales from the unpublished, older copy of her book (WHICH IS NO LONGER FOR SALE!) will penalize positive sales for other stories. If not, and all the books she has available are no longer through KDP… That’s going to be one heck of a bill. Because the email I received went out to literally THOUSANDS of people who, in the last 2+ years, have purchased BD from Amazon. Before it was a bestseller through Atria Publishing, BD was a bestseller through Ms. McGuire’s own hard work.

*takes a deep breath*

I don’t know what Amazon’s goal is for this move. I don’t know how many returns Ms. McGuire has accumulated so far. I don’t know how Amazon will bill her for these negative sales. And I don’t know what this says about my own experience: I too sold my rights to another publisher, have left my previous stories unpublished, but had hundreds of thousands of sales before St. Martin’s Press took over my serials. What’s going to happen to people like me, or Amanda Hocking, or any of the other indie bestsellers who turned to traditional publishers so they could get wider audiences? The whole thing is pure and utter bullshit – Amazon should NOT have sent out that email, Amazon should NOT be putting their hands in our cookie jars previously purchased Kindle library. We indie authors had the rights to our stories at the time these sales took place; the fact that another entity holds those rights NOW doesn’t change THEN.

So if you receive any emails like this for a book you loved, from an author you care about, please disregard them. Do NOT return an indie book because you think the traditional publishing book might be “better”. I love my SMP editor, but even though she went over my previously-released serials we didn’t change much, if anything, about them except the copyright and legal script. Jamie McGuire deserves the same – don’t take money from her pocket, ESPECIALLY if you loved the book!! I couldn’t believe it when I saw the initial Facebook post about this, and REALLY couldn’t believe when I saw the above email in my inbox. Shame on you Amazon, this is totally beyond the pale!

ETA: Indie hangout Kindleboards’ Writer’s Cafe has a post already started about this with more logical information than my emotional response. Included is one person’s confusing response from Amazon when they DID return the book, as well as TOS guidelines quoted for posterity’s sake. It gets more and more confusing…

ETA2: Early this morning, I received another email from Amazon regarding Beautiful Disaster:

You may have received an e-mail from us yesterday stating that the edition of “A Beautiful Disaster” you purchased is no longer available. This e-mail was incorrect, and there is no action required to continue enjoying the book.

If you are having any problems with the book, please feel free to contact us by replying to this message, and we will be happy to help you.

We apologize for any misunderstanding our e-mail caused.

Sincerely,
The Kindle Team

From Ms. McGuire’s Facebook and blog posts, it seems all she’s interested in is moving past this and focusing on the release of her next novel. Amazon has a history of silence over controversial decisions, so we may never know what prompted the mass emails. Given the magnitude and how many people were emailed the original memo, this doesn’t seem like an over zealous employee but a combined, higher-level tactic, and it sucks that we may never know why or how this mystery started…

 

Freebie alert of AWESOME!!!!!

HEE!!! I got the happiest surprise yesterday when a friend pointed it out to me that the first serial of “Anything He Wants” was FREE on Amazon! So imagine my surprise when I get an email from the publisher that the story is free on several of the ebook sites!!

Can we say Best Wake-up EVAR?!

I’ve always been proud of part 1, it starts the story off with a bang (hah, literally!) and FREE is a fantastic way to get more eyes on the series!! *bounces all about* Yes, I’m really excited by this – I’ve been pushing St. Martins Press to get that first part free and they TOTALLY came through, and with so many different online retailers. According to the publisher, the sale should run until April 5. GLEE!! So if you know anyone you’ve been itching to tell but didn’t want to seem pushy, now would be a cool time to mention a free short story you happened to come across that might lead into this nifty book you read…

FREE RETAILERS
Amazon US | Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Apple iBooks

(Looks like the first story is also free in Amazon-Brazil, but as the individual serials were never translated the story is in English, not Portuguese. Sorry!)

If you find any other sites that list it free, let me know and I’ll add the links. *geeks out* I’m so stoked, and with part 6 coming out this month the timing couldn’t be more perfect! More details coming soon on THAT, I promise!!!

 

Snippet Saturday #1

Inaugural test spin of a (hopefully weekly) new blog feature! For those of you who are keeping up with me on Facebook, most of these small snippets, cookies, excerpts etc are probably familiar to you. Even there however some of these bits were added in comments and may have been overlooked, so here they all are, in one place for easy reference!

(Funny fact: this was supposed to be Snippet Sunday but, hah, I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. )

*~*~*

I cringed back as he reached for me, prepared to fight tooth and nail, but Lucas stepped forward between us. He moved so quickly I didn’t even see him pull the gun until it was already under Niall’s chin. The big Australian jerked to a stop, rage and sudden fear bursting from his face as he glared at Lucas.

“Ms. Delacourt stays with me.” There was nothing jovial about Lucas’ voice now as he leaned in close to the other man’s face. “My ship, my rules. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Jackson?”

Niall looked like he was sucking on a lemon. Behind him, his men had their guns trained on Lucas and I, and I prayed the gunrunner knew what he was doing.

“They’ll kill you and the girl,” Niall hissed, then grunted as Lucas pushed the gun harder against the tender flesh of his chin.

“Perhaps.” Lucas smiled, a hint of amusement in his tone. “But you’ll still be dead.”

*~*~*

“I’m curious,” Lucas said as if I hadn’t spoken, “what my brother saw in you.”

My smile vanished, as did any patience for dealing with the man in front of me. “You can leave now,” I said, marching across the room and opening the door. “I’d like…”

I broke off in surprise as I turned to see him standing only inches behind me; I hadn’t even heard him move. Startled, I moved back a step and came up flush against the wall between the bathroom and bedroom doors. Lucas stepped forward, far too close for my comfort, and I put a hand against his chest to keep him back.

It was a curious thing, having a man this beautiful standing so close. The smell of alcohol coming from his direction was more like a faint cologne, not at all the cloying odor I would have expected. Beneath my hand, I felt the play of muscles beneath warm skin and silk, and I swallowed.

Fingers pushed a strand of hair out of my face, running along my brow, and I shivered. I pressed back against the wall and he followed, my hand the only thing keeping him at bay. “You’re beautiful,” he murmured, dipping his face down near my temple. Warm breath flowed against my cheek. “And smart. And fearless. Is that what my brother saw?”

*~*~*

A high pitch shrieking woke me from a fitful slumber.

Jolted awake, I scrabbled at my sheets, groping for the edge of the bed. The ground was further away than I thought and I almost tripped as I leaped to my feet, but managed to stay upright as I stumbled to the doorway. Ripping it open, I immediately smelled smoke, and raced toward the stairs, not knowing what to expect.

Lucas looked up at me from the kitchen. Sunglasses covered his eyes, but he gave me a bright smile. “Good morning, sunshine. I’m making some breakfast, care to join?” He had a fork in one hand and an unplugged toaster, the reason for the fire alarm, under his other arm. He set the chrome appliance back onto the counter at my incredulous stare. “How about eggs?” he said, moving over to the refrigerator.

*~*~*

It amazed me how different the two men were. Jeremiah had the broody, tortured thing going for him, while Lucas… I wasn’t sure. He held a different type of mask in place, one that I found hard to pierce. There wasn’t much brooding here, at least not on the surface; his lips seemed locked in a Joker-like smile, as if sarcasm and pleasantries could keep people away.

As much as I enjoyed puzzles, the Hamilton men were a bit out of my league.

*~*~*

“Did you love her?” I asked bluntly, aware of the awkward direction our conversation was taking.

He started to say something, then paused. “Maybe once,” he murmured, not appearing to think this was an odd discussion topic given our current situation. “When I first met her, she was young and naïve. I was angry and selfish; stealing her away from my brother was a way to get back at him for taking over my life.” He sighed, staring blankly beside me. “Times change. People change. I didn’t do enough to keep Anya sheltered from this lifestyle, and now she’s dead.” He met my eyes again. “What about Jeremiah? Do you love him?”

“I…” My heart clenched painfully. “I thought I did.” Right now, my opinions about Jeremiah were all jumbled, due in no small part to the man lying atop me. “He saved my life.”

“I saved your life too. Twice.”

I winced at the reminder, hand going to the bandage at my throat. “Yeah.” A lump formed in my throat and I screwed my face up against tears. “That was the first time I’d said those words to anyone since my parents died,” I mumbled, “and he called them “platitudes”.” The memory was powerful enough to pierce my heart again.

“My brother is an idiot.” Lucas said it in a matter of fact way, like he was talking about the weather. Then he sighed. “Love is a fickle and cruel mistress. Confusing as hell too.”

*~*~*

Jeremiah grunted, and when he shifted I became aware of his proximity. As much as I wanted desperately to touch him, there might as well have been a wall between us. He was less than five feet away from me, but neither one of us would take that first step. Finally, Jeremiah spoke. “When I heard they’d found one of my drivers tied up in the bunkhouse, I knew something had happened. When I was told you weren’t in the house, then Jared was found unconscious, I couldn’t…”

Jeremiah cut himself off, and I saw a myriad of emotions race across his face. The stoic mask was gone, and he seemed to struggle with his next words. “By the time we started tracking the car, it had already stopped moving, and when we got there everyone inside was gone. You were gone.”

“So what did you do?” I whispered, scarcely able to breathe.

He stared down at me, green eyes bright in the dim light. “Moved heaven and earth.”

*~*~*

Stay tuned for more next week!!

 

Audiobooks and AHW2 totals

I was surfing through the Heroes and Heartbreakers website today and came across a feature about the narrator for the AHW audiobook, Clarissa Knightly. I thought it was a great article, and totally loved how she described her secret for getting past the naughty bits:

Finally I figured out the secret. The key was to stop worrying about my blushing and concentrate instead on making the engineer blush. So that became my goal—to engage the engineer, make him or her (these days there are many more female engineers) blush, and by extension you: my listener.

Pretty ingenious I think; even I would have a tough time speaking the dirtier parts of my own story aloud!!

Managed 3,559 words on AHW2 today, rounding off the first chapter. A big part of me had been reluctant to start because I wasn’t quite sure what would happen in the story, but I’m happy to say I’ve gotten over that pesky little hurdle. Now to keep going and finish this baby, keep an eye on that status bar on the top right!

The Dude is down in SoCal this week, attending King Of The Hammers (a desert race for boys and their toys). He doesn’t have much in the way of cell reception but still managed to call me a couple times to let me know he was okay; said it was all sand and dirt and nothing. Yeah, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it much, but I still miss the pesky bugger. Oh well, just a few more days!

Now it’s off to the grocery store to try and restock the house with food. The Dude, in all his wisdom, cleaned us out of any and all decent spices and snack foods, and managed to take all the lunchmeats but not the bread. I survived today on boxed pasta in the pantry and a jar of marinara, but it’s time to try and pack in some REAL food. Silly boys and their toys (and eating habits)…

 

AHW future plans

I’ve been receiving a lot of questions about the future, particularly regarding the AHW series, and I think it’s past time I did a blog post talking about what the plans are for the series.

First off, a promise: the story DOES continue!! I expect that’s implied by the doozy-of-a-cliffhanger ending, but I wanted to go on the record about that anyway. The story does/will continue, but in what format I’m still not 100% sure. A lot of it has to do with what format the series is released as (serial or novel), and whether I will self-publish the continuation or if I publish through St. Martin’s Press. I can’t say much right now because that whole part is still in talks, but SMP is definitely interested in acquiring a sequel, and I still very much want to work with them. It all comes down to me now to get them something to publish.

Yes folks, I still need to write the story.

Right now I’m on a deadline for an Avon anthology story, so I’m focusing my writing efforts on that and hope to have it done this month. After that however, it’s all about an AHW sequel.

I really don’t mean to ignore anybody, especially since its all thanks to you that I’m even where I am. Many of the questions I’ve received are the same thing, and it gets hard to keep repeating the same answer: that, yes, the series will continue, and no, I don’t yet have a publication date. But as soon as I know anything, I’ll definitely let you all know!!

I really do appreciate every person that’s ever bought, read, or recommended the first AHW and its individual serials. It’s not my intention to ignore you, and I’m definitely online much more with Twitter and Facebook. But I’m thankful for EVERYBODY who’s allowed me this opportunity to do the one thing I love (and love making a living with), and would never want you to think I am not grateful for your support.

You guys continue to be the greatest!!!

 

Release day

Today was officially the release day for Anything He Wants the novel. After months of writing and editing and waiting, November 27 has come (and almost gone as I write this). Yet now, as the day ends and I reflect a bit, I’m still stunned by that fact. I’m in actual stores, next to other books by authors I read and enjoy.

My mind, she is blown, but right now I feel weirdly zen. I spent all day squeeing and bouncing and boggling at the Amazon and B&N rankings. OMG. Today was an emotional rollercoaster, it like I didn’t know what to think!

A few of you have already been gracious enough to lend the novel some reviews on Amazon, B&N and other online sites, for which I am thankful. Today also ends the free novel contest; it will run until midnight Pacific time tonight, and I’ll compile and choose the winners tomorrow. But… Wow. Wow.

I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOO BIG!!!!!!! Thank you for coming with me on this journey, there’s no way I could have done this without your help and support!! Please know the story will DEFINITELY continue and I appreciate everyone who’s blogged, tweeted, emailed, or otherwise spread the word about AHW’s release immensely. Today feels like a kitten and unicorn all wrapped in one – immensely awesome but more than a little unbelievable.

…okay, I may be a tiny bit less zen now. But thank you, I’m amazed about everything that’s gone on over the last few months and it’s all thanks to you. ***HUGZ***

And because I’m trying to make every post have a picture, here are three of the most adorable pups I met today!

 

AHW novel contest!

Contest time!

It’s been a long time since I checked in here – too caught up in vacationland apparently – so I think I owe my faithful readers something special. I finally heard back from my publishers who weathered (and continue to recover from) Sandy’s might; everyone is alright, although some have a bigger mess to clean up than others. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the storm, hope you also came through okay! So it was a bit delayed but, holy cow, they sent me something FULL of win.

ARC’s and final copies of “Anything He Wants” the novel!! ****SQUEE****

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/ladyeclectic/D202069A-7890-4D0D-9727-4C47A298159D-702-00000107E11FA41B.mp4

(The video that made my parents cry)

Time is ticking down to the “official” release date of November 27, and with the book due out in stores soon (and with the rushed schedule the book’s had in comparison to most other publications) there’s not much time to do promotions or other kinds of marketing.

That’s where my readers come in.

It’s been you wonderful people who’ve made this book so big, and I’m asking you to help me one more time. This contest will run for almost two weeks, ending on the official release date of November 27 (see below). I have two book copies and two ARCs (Advance Reading Copy), but want to keep one ARC so there will be three (3) winners, randomly selected from all the entries. The winners, in the order they were picked, will have the option to receive a signed ARC or signed final copy of “Anything He Wants” novel.

The (simple) rules for this contest:

Bloggers: Blog about the release. Whether its a review of the series or simply a note on your blog that the book is coming out, along with the Amazon/B&N/etc link to the novel page. Send me the link to your blog post, and your name will be put into the pot. The more times the release is mentioned (in individual blog posts), the more times you’ll be in the drawing.

Tweeters (Twitter): Same thing (albeit with less words). Tweet the link to your followers, putting “@sarafawkes” and “#ahw” inside so I can keep track. Again, the more tweets the more times your name is in, but try not to spam – once or twice per day is enough.

Facebook: This one is tough. I’ve never delved into FB deep enough to know how to tag a person in a post, but if you can let me know on this blog comments area when you posted something to your Friends, I’ll add you to the list. If any of you wonderful folks can explain an easier way to track, I’ll love you for life!!

Despite the fact that the AHW novel is only slated so far for a US release, I will accept global entries. Before SMP took over, the story had an international audience (and hopefully soon it will again) and it would be super silly to bar you from receiving a copy. So as long as you have an address accessible by post, you’re in!!

The various URLs for the books:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00940L0II

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/anything-he-wants-sara-fawkes/1110205464

Let the games begin!!

EDIT: Because I’m stuck here in the Great White North until early December, I’ve decided to extend the contest until December 7 when I return. More time to get your entries in (and the word of this release out!).