Tag Archives: paranormal romance

4.5 Star Review

9 Oct

Time has swished by as quickly as the blustery Northwest winds outside have scattered falling leaves. Too fast. I’m nearing the end of my  first virtual book tour with much gratitude to Bewitching Book Tours for making it doable and quite an experience.  This month-long adventure still has an exciting week to go.

I received a fabulous review from Lexi at Book Bliss last week that I wanted to share. She nailed quite a few components of the book and made my day. HGWK is more romantic comedy than typical paranormal and I cheered reading Lexi’s remarks about the hilarious side characters.

A very quirky book with something for everyone to love really from drag queens to romance to sentient ghosts! I thought it was great having a non conventional hero, it upped the book a lot adding different plot obstacles that aren’t always present. The world building for the rules of the afterlife was well thought out and I hope to see some more from it because it was laid out so well. The overall concept was strong.

However there were two elements that threw me out for the perfect 5 star review. The first was I almost felt it was too amusing for the category it is listed in. I loved the comedy but wasn’t expecting it to be such a central focus on the book and to an extent, felt it took away from the rest of the novel in some experience. The other was my strong love of the supporting characters of the main. Now anyone that’s been reading these reviews knows that my number 1 book love formed for a supporting character in book 1 and his book wasn’t until book 10 so it can happen. However I felt these supporting character and their hilarity stole the show and I would’ve liked to feel more invested in the romantic leads, Baillie and Kai, who were both fantastic separately but together I wanted a bit more.

My next virtual book tour will include more chick-lit or light heart, contemporary romance blogs. Focus more on the frolic instead of the super-natural. Any suggestions or blogs you’ve run across that might be a good fit, please let me know. I’d love to see sales soar this autumn for “Her Ghost Wears Kilts.”

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Virtual Book Tour Schedule is Here

6 Sep
Get ready for a whirlwind, exciting virtual book tour set up by Bewitching Book Tours.

Get ready for a whirlwind, exciting virtual book tour set up by Bewitching Book Tours.

On a wet, wild day in the Pacific Northwest with lightning and thunder as background music, I received my tour schedule from Roxanne Rhoades at Bewitching Book Tours. And with the horrific and beautiful weather outside came the cancellation of football practice for my grandson. Perfect. Gave me time to set up the tour schedule page here and share the good news.

However, the lights are starting to blink, so it would be frustratingly ironic if the power goes out.

I love interviews – radio, television and blogs. Yes, I am a media diva – spreading good cheer, fun stories and information wherever I go. Though the last time I had national exposure and drive-time interviews on radio stations back east, I was about forty pounds lighter. The best thing about virtual tours is I’m behind a computer screen. Ruh-roh, what about Skype? Hmm, well, so far none of the interviews are live or taped.

According to the count down on my blog, it’s ten days before the start of the tour. I’ve been given instructions for my first few events and can’t wait to plunge in with anecdotes and fun facts of being a writer and publishing a paranormal romantic comedy.

Let me post this while the power is still on.

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Launch Day a Family-Fractured Fairy Tale

28 Aug

Sunday night at five hours until my latest title would go on sale an ominous feeling weighed heavy on my shoulders. The phone rang shortly thereafter and set in motion the wheels of another family crisis in an ongoing saga. Anyone who understands about putting the “fun” in dysfunctional family, you know you can almost guarantee that someone is going to break something, hurt someone or otherwise upset a perfectly decent day at any time.

If you’ve read my book “The Crowded Nest Syndrome,” a humorous look at the return of adult children, you’ll know the cast of characters, one of which deflated my launch day. I ended up on the highways, blood pressure soaring from 5 am until after 8:30 pm on my August 26th. Did I get a chance to send out tweets of joy? No. Did I get to relish in the congratulations of friends and family? No. I know the rule “Family before fame,” (I just made that up) but (ready to stomp my foot in a pout) I was really looking forward to this day with all of you. Isn’t that what social media is all about? Getting to shout and tweet and post the wonders of a new book?

I missed the birth of “Her Ghost Wears Kilts.” By the time I returned home to wi-fi and a computer in the dark of night, I was thoroughly drained of energy and personality. There are powerful people out there who can wring the life out of you if locked in a position of listening to them for hours at a time with no escape.

Launch Day-plus-one celebration.

Launch Day-plus-one celebration.

This morning I crawled to my day job knowing I’d face an inbox of customers needing help and a stack of finished books from calling in absent on a Monday. Not overwhelming, because I knew we all cover what we can for each other when someone’s out. But (get the Kleenex ready) Kate, from production, came in with a gorgeous bouquet she’d created herself and a delicious cookie pizza with “Best Author” across it. Oh, how the tears fell. And, yes, I Photoshopped some of the puffiness from under my eyes. Jeez, I’d been crying and she wants to take a picture!

Okay, so I missed the official Launch Day – doesn’t mean the party’s over, I’m just getting warmed up. My virtual blog tour doesn’t start until Sept. 16 and there is much to do and people to encourage to enjoy the perils of HGWK. And those who pre-ordered and are now able to jump into the story of Baillie will soon be telling their friends.  Right? Doesn’t mean HGWK can’t make the best-selling list of paranormal romances about ghosts.

Right??? You betcha.

 

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Book Trailer by Ami Blackwelder

22 Aug

Four days until “Her Ghost Wears Kilts” published by Crimson Romance is launched, Ami Blackwelder, Book Trailer Creations, sent me the finished product of the book trailer. A mini commercial of my latest novel – and it’s just fun. I uploaded it to YouTube.com and went about sprinkling the link throughout my social media.

Ami took an image of the cover and a short summary of the book to put together my commercial. Her talent of picking out short lines about the story, mixed with images and adding a soundtrack happened in a short blink of time. That which would have taken me weeks to even attempt with no assurance of a tangible product, she whipped together and only charges $50.00 – that’s right, fifty dollars. Fab-u-lous.

What a great way to reach more possible readers, something easily shared, that brings a “feel” to the story. What would your book trailer look like?

Her Ghost Wears Kilts Book Trailer

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Goodreads Ad

16 Aug

I’ve submitted an ad about pre-ordering “Her Ghost Wears Kilts” on Goodreads. Are you a goodreads_logo_140-5b3e47356388131c1699f0baca28a234member? It’s a great site of tens of thousands of readers and authors sharing books they’ve read, currently reading or want to read in the future. I know it was recently purchased by Amazon, but I don’t see any changes yet.

In setting up the ad, I could choose a daily budget and specifically target certain genres which is very important. Someone in love with literary fiction would probably not like HGWK. It would be as if the reader were expecting roast beef and got cotton candy instead. I know my audience is women, who’d love to have a subscription to People or already does, loves a happy ending and tends to shop at Target, Kohls, or JC Pennys.

It needs to be approved and they note this could take a day or two.

Advertising on Goodreads? Check!

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Available for Pre-Order Now

12 Aug

Magic Monday came at six this morning seeing “Her Ghost Wears Kilts” listed on Amazon.com. This starts the two-week pre-order window by Crimson Romance for the eBook edition. It is also available at iTunes and will soon be listed with Barnes & Noble for Nook readers.

How intense should marketing be for pre-orders versus waiting until the book releases for sales? This is an interesting question and one I’m finding with a variety of responses.

What are your feelings on the topic? I look forward to hearing your comments.

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