BayCon 2023 and Book Sale

Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you are all doing well today and having a great Summer. This week I have a short up date and reminder for you. Let’s not waste time and get right into it.

This weekend (July 1–4, 2023) I’ll be at BayCon 2023, at the Santa Clara Marriott (learn more here). Not only will I be at the Lim Fic booth for the four days, but I’m going to be on multiple panels (click here for the full list and times). On Saturday, July 1st, I’ll be on the following panels:

  • First Do No Harm: Queer Science Fiction Storytelling

  • It Took Me Years to Get My Novel Published. What I wish I’d Known.

  • A Dash of Science (how much Science to put in your Sci Fi stories)

On Monday, July 3rd, I’ll be on the following panel:

  • Creating Solid Queer Characters in Sci-Fi Stories.

I’m thrilled to be on these panels, and I hope you’ll be able to come out and say hello. As I mentioned, I’ll also be at the Liminal Fiction booth in the Dealers Room for the four-day event (check out all the dealers here). So even if you don’t get a chance to come to any of my panels, you can still swing by and say hello in the Dealers Room and support all the wonderful creative and talented vendors.

Also, there is still time to get 50% off hundreds of eBooks. NineStar Press is having it’s annual Pride Sale, so hop over to their website (click here) and browse a terrific selection of queer books. This is the perfect time to refill your ‘to be read’ list. Remember to use code ‘PRIDE23’ at check out.

Well, there you go, a quick update today. I hope to see you all at BayCon 2023. Until next time, have a great week.

50 Amazon Reviews

Happy Wednesday Scribblers. Today I wanted to ask for your help. I’m trying to increase the number of reviews my books have on Amazon. Believe it or not, 50 reviews is a magic number for Amazon. But before I jump into that let me share a little something about book reviews and why they are so important.

Why are reviews so important to authors?

Many people believe that reviews for books (and reviews in general are not important or that no one actually cares about what you think of a product). That isn’t the case.

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When you write a review, you are helping others to decide if a product, or in my case my books, are something they will be interested in. They get to hear from someone other than the author or the publisher. They may not know you, but because you took the time to sit down and take a few minutes to talk about a product, they might buy they will trust you, because you are a non-interested party. You have nothing to gain or lose by leaving the review.

Leaving reviews provides honest feedback. For good or for ill, your voice matters. Research shows that people are more likely to write a review when they’ve had an ‘extreme’ experience (negative or positive). In these moments you can take the time to provide suggestions or feedback you get to say what you loved or didn’t like and ways to improve it. That said, we shouldn’t only write reviews when we feel strongly. We should take this time to share our thoughts no matter what, because if the feedback is constructive they will appreciate the review.

Think of a review as giving the product or author some love (sometimes tough love). We all want to know if our art is enjoyed, respected and appreciated. Sometimes what we’ve created hits the mark. So, let us know. Sometimes our works are way off base. Letting us know that too is important and shows you care. The only way for us to learn what works and what doesn’t is by our reviews. The more reviews we have, the better understanding we have as to what our fans and readers want from us.

Last, when you leave a review for a product (even a lukewarm review) you help get the products noticed given the work a chance to be seen by more people, and hopefully enjoyed by more people.

Now, why 50 reviews on Amazon? Here’s the thing with Amazon they are huge and they use logarithms to promote items, in order for these logarithms to kick in books need at least 50 reviews (click here for the article from HuffPost). What I’m asking is that, if you have read any of my books, please leave a review on Amazon even if you don’t want to give my books 5-stars. The process is straightforward and makes an enormous difference. Book reviews on Amazon are essential to building my brand as an author. The more reviews my books get on Amazon, the more people potential readers will see them.

I can’t stress who important leaving a review is, so I hope you will take a minute and help me out.

To assist you in leaving a review, here is a link to each of my books. First you will need to be signed into your Amazon account. Then all you have to do is scroll down and click on ‘write a customer review’ (the button will be under the ‘Customer Reviews’ in gray). Once there, simple leave a review, save the review and you are finished. Here are the links:

A More Perfect Union click here.

Contact (A New World Book 1) click here.

Conviction (A New World Book 2) click here.

The Calling click here.

The Called (The Calling Book 2) click here.

T.A.D. (The Angel of Death) click here.

A Dragon for Christmas click here.

The Reunion click here.

I can’t offer any incentives to you for providing a review, but perhaps I will come up with a special offer in my winder newsletter if all my books each have 50 or more reviews. Also, you don’t have to write an actual review you can rate the book (give the novel stars 1–5) so that makes the reviewing process even easier. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking a moment to help me reach at least 50 reviews for each of my books. One more nugget about your reviews, they help me market my books, I will often pull customer reviews and use them as part of my marketing. I often create graphics along with the reviews, so by leaving a review you are a major part of my marketing effort, which is kind of cool.

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One last note, for you this week. If you haven’t seen the news, this month Smashwords is offering 50% off on all my e-books. This is a great deal that you don’t want to miss out on, especially if you are short on cash and still need some summer reading and are missing a couple of my books. Find all my novels here.

Until next time, have a great week.

Updates from Shelter-in-Place Land

Hello Scribblers. Wow! My last blog post was on March 25th that seems like a lifetime ago. My family and I are now on day 30 of our shelter-in-place order. I’m an essential worker (technically) as I work for a nonprofit that has been working the front lines of the pandemic; delivering food, preparing meals, providing mental wellness, helping the homeless, etc. Physically I’m not on the front lines, however, I’ve been working the back end and supporting our agency efforts, which is a lot of phone calls and emails with other nonprofits to track down necessary items so our work can continue. Unlike several of my coworkers, I’m working from home and only going into the office on rare occasions.

As for my husband, he works from home about 50% of the time, but because of his job he is also an essential worker (keeping his companies lights on, paying of staff, etc.) When he goes into the office he works alone, so he doesn’t come into contact with others.

When it comes to my 80-year-old father he stays at home 95% of the time, every day he takes his car for a short drive and about once a week he will go to the grocery store and pick up food. He wears a mask and does what he needs to do to not come in contact with others.

Now, before you yell at me about him going out. We tried to keep him home, but short of handcuffing him to his chair, there is no way to do it, so we mitigate the risk, for him, as best we can. He wears a mask and he goes to the store during the early morning senior hours. He washes his hands and uses non reusable bags (i.e. paper)

I’m happy to report we are all healthy, which at this point is the most important thing.

On to something lighter.

I have two announcements today. First, I’ve been working on two new writing projects. One is about a lost continent off the Pacific Coast, and the second is about a future where vampires, lycan, humans and witches all live together. Both ideas have been fun to work on. I’m not 100% sure where either story will land, but it’s been nice to jump back into writing.

Lastly, for today, my publisher is continuing its 40% off sale on all eBooks, including mine. If you need something to read, please click here and check out all the amazing books available. Read more about them below.

That is all for now, my lovely Scribblers. Do you have any ideas for keeping busy while we are all at home? Share them below. Please remember to drop me a heart/like letting me know you stopped by. If you want to help support me and my writing efforts please consider sharing this post with folks to help me get the word out, especially about the book sale, it’s a great deal for eBooks and you are supporting a local business and local artists. Until next time I hope you stay safe and have a great week.

Book Announcement March 2020

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Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I know everything is crazy right now. Most of us are under a ‘Shelter in Place’ order. All we see and hear on the news and social media is how bad things are getting and how much worse the might get. Who would have thought a few weeks ago there would be runs on toilet paper… toilet paper… I mean food and water, okay, but toilet paper… really?  These are scary times we live in, but we will get through this. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel and we will see a rainbow after this storm passes.

In my effort to promote a moment of normalcy I want to share that this week I signed a new book contract with my publisher Ninestar Press. They have picked up the sequel and conclusion to my duology series The Calling.  The novel is titled The Called. Here is the blurb:

The world is changing quickly for Chris now that he’s part of the Immortal Community. With the events of his past finally behind him, he’s still having visions and true magic is gradually taking hold in our world. There are new challenges that the Immortals must face, but Chris is still new and has no real standing in the immortal community. Learning that nothing in the Immortal community is what Chris thought and now having to face new threats, how will his new world unfold? Old enemies must work together and longtime friends may not be trustworthy. Who is lurking in the shadows? Why are they here? What does this mean for witches, immortals and humans?

Can Chris’ visions even be trusted given recent events, and how easily his mind is manipulated? With Juliet, Amanda, and Kirtus by his side they have to prevent the immortal and witch community from being exposed. Can they trust the local witches that are there to assist them? Can they trust their fellow Immortals? New friendships are made, and longtime alliances are called into question. How will The Called defeat these latest threats, and what does it mean for our world?

Me signing the contract… of course I forgot to include The Calling in the photo. Doh!

Me signing the contract… of course I forgot to include The Calling in the photo. Doh!

There you have it, my newest book creation has been approved and will be joining my other novels out in the real world. As I get more news I’ll be sharing it so keep an eye posted.

Lastly, if you are looking for some great deals on books, Ninestar Press has an amazing sale going on right now 40% off all books and I’m offering Contact-A New World (Book 1) for free. Click here to take advantage of the offer. Sales ends March 31, 2020.

Well, my lovely Scribblers try to focus on all that is positive and good. Please be kind to one another and when all else fails take a deep breath; in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Until next time have a great week.