Tag Archives: free ebooks

Reviving the Backlist: 13 Novels are waiting for you!

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Yesterday while pondering whether or not I could be considered a “Southern” writer and not just a writer from the South, I started thinking about my backlist. I realized three of them were still only available on Amazon because I created book covers for them using KDP. But creating simple ebook covers is easier than ever now, so I looked up an online book cover creator and got to work.

I’m happy to say I now have book covers for all three and one of them—Weeds and Flowers—is now available (along with most of my backlist) for free on Smashwords with the coupon code SS100. Ducks in a Row is in process today and I’ll work on Saturday Love as soon as Ducks is ready. I’m excited about getting Ducks out there to a wider audience. It was what I call “critically acclaimed” having earned the following comments from reviewers on Amazon:

  • “I highly recommend this unsettling book.”
  • “A beautiful story about love, choice, redemption, and family.”
  • “One of the best books I have read this year, very thought provoking.”
  • “…a very beautiful but painful story…”

Saturday Love is actually the sequel to Ducks because I felt I left too much untold at the end of Ducks. At any rate, I’m thrilled more people will soon see these and maybe add them to their to-be-read pile. For now, here are the covers of all three:

Weeds and Flowers

Ducks in a Row

Saturday Love

So where did Lady Lydia come from, anyway? Escape Magic Free Today!

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Escape MagicEbookWhen I started out to write Escape Magic, I knew I wanted my hero to be Tony, brother of Andre in Close Up Magic. Tony’s a much more serious character than his talented magician brother. He’s managed Andre’s career and helped him achieve stardom, but he’s always in the background. Tony struggles with substance abuse issues, which figured heavily into the plot of Close Up Magic, but by the beginning of Escape Magic, he’s got those issues under control and is a much stronger man because of it.

Of course, though Tony has been associated with the magic world for a large portion of his life, he’s not a magician. And my Sleight of Hand books need a magician. So I created Lady Lydia, escape artist. She’s got a past with Tony and Andre. She’s performed with them, and—not being the most honest heroine I’ve ever written—she’s “borrowed” tricks from them. She’s fiery, talented, strong and stubborn. And when she meets the new improved Tony, sparks fly!

I often call this my anti-50 Shades of Grey bondage romance. I mean, hey, my heroine is an escape magician. She’s about as far away from Anastasia as you can get. And Tony, though he is a strong male hero, has a major weakness when it comes to addiction. It frightens him that he could fall back into that same trap again. He needs a strong heroine like Lady Lydia to show him that not all addictions are bad for him.

The one complaint I’ve gotten about this book is that it is too short. It was my first attempt at the novella format. And I truly did feel that I told Lydia and Tony’s story completely in it. Anyway, it’s free today and tomorrow and if you don’t get enough of Lydia and Tony, rest assured, they (and Andre and Stacey!) make an appearance in Island Magic, too!

Close Up Magic and my crush on David Copperfield

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Okay, so now you know. That’s the real reason I wrote Close Up Magic. I had a crush on David Copperfield.CloseUpMagicEbookRev

I shouldn’t be ashamed to admit it now. I mean, I’m 44 years old. And my crush started when I was about seven. And who could blame a little seven-year-old girl for crushing hard on a suave, cute twenty-something magician? I’m quite certain I wasn’t the only one, either. (I might be the only one of those seven-year-olds who then went on to write a romance series based on that crush, though…)

I did get over that crush. Mostly. (Though seeing him live was one of my bucket list items I marked off with a great deal of satisfaction.) But I can without doubt say that David Copperfield began my lifelong love affair and fascination with magic. And though I’m all grown up and happily married with three kids and nowhere near the figure I used to have, I continue to live out my magical fantasies through my Sleight of Hand series.

In case you haven’t heard, Close Up Magic is free for the Kindle today. Tomorrow, Escape Magic, the second in the Sleight of Hand series, is free for two days and then on Friday, join me here for a special preview and a chance to win a free Advance Release Copy (ARC) of Island Magic, Book 3 of the series. Join me in my magical obsession. And know it was born on a quiet evening in my childhood home while I watched on a little black-and-white tv set while David Copperfield pull a rabbit (or was it a duck?) out of a hat.

I need to be writing. Even if I sometimes ask what’s the point?

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Here’s a little peek at how I as an indie contemporary romance author often feel: Hello? Is this thing on?

I recently read a very good blog article about why indie writers need to avoid underpricing their books. The author made several very good points, but one in particular stood out to me. Unless we write as a hobby, we’re hoping our writing will eventually support us. It’s hard to do that when you’re selling your work for 99 cents.

I’ve spoken up several times on this subject in support of writers selling their work for whatever the hell they want to sell it for—provided they can find buyers. It’s survival of the fittest out there in the publishing world, and anything you can do to give yourself an edge is fair game.

The problem is, pricing your ebook at 99 cents is no longer going to give you that much of an edge. In fact, giving it away is no longer going to give you an edge. The only real way to get an edge in today’s market is to study your craft and write and promote and study and write and promote…and pray. Yup, that’s right. Pray. Pray to God or Buddha or your muse. Pray for that magic moment when, for some unknown reason, the words you wrote catch on. Something snags the attention of the reading masses and it’s your book that’s being tweeted and talked and posted about.

I’m still waiting for that. Reviewers (for the most part) like my writing. But hey, most of them get my books for free. (Want a review copy? Email me. I’ll send it out. Kindle or paperback. Your choice.) So I’m still trying everything I can, including different price points, to catch that wave.

Just the other day, I dropped the price of Ducks in a Row from $2.99 to $1.99 in the hopes that it would spur some sales. The sequel, Saturday Love, is with an editor now and I hope to publish it in January. I think there are literally dozens of people waiting for that sequel, and I have no intentions of disappointing them. If I could grow those dozens to hundreds by January, that’d be pretty awesome, though.

And, can you keep a secret? Next week on July 1, Close Up Magic will be free for one day only. I’m not telling everyone yet, just you guys. I’d hate to discourage anyone from paying for the book now.

But as I wait for that moment when it all comes together with pricing and readers and promotions and magic, be assured I’m writing. And I’m striving to write each book a little better than the last one so that eventually my readers won’t even look at the price of my novels. Eventually, they’ll see another book by me and buy it without worrying about how much it costs because they know it’s worth it.