Friday, September 28, 2012

Freaking out

Today I went with a friend for moral support in her obtaining a new tattoo. I love tattoos. She was sitting at the desk, getting her finger inked and introducing me to the people at the shop. She introduces me to the apprentice tattoo-er as, "Hey, this is my friend, Jean. She writes erotica."
We all laugh and I blush furiously. I hate being the center of attention and I'm intensely shy. I love sharing my books, so this shyness does pose a slight problem for me. (insert sarcasm. It poses a HUGE problem for me!)
She and I talk about books and she proceeds to go to Amazon.com and download the complete set to read later. She's super excited to be able to not only read porn but to also read up on her zombies and vampires/supernaturals.
At this point, the owner, who's doing the tattoo on my friend, mentions that he'd love to have a set as well as some copies to sell on consignment. I'm giddy with excitement! I'll actually be IN a store!!! Sure, it's a tattoo place, but how friggin AWESOME!!!! I tell him that I have to order a few more copies of the books as I'm running low on paperbacks and we start talking about how cool it'd be to have an author book signing or a meet the author day in his shop.
My stomach churns with excitement and nerves.
He tells me I should create some flyers and post them up around the university (It's literally a block away) and set up a date with him to do the meet and greet. He also mentions that he would like to put up a shelf in his shop where my books can be displayed and he can help me sell them.
Thankfully, my friend's tattoo is finished and someone else comes into the shop asking about tattoos. I can sit in her car and have my panic attack. I knew this day would come. I just thought I'd be ready for it when it came. Book signings. Meet and greets. My books in stores. Hyperventilating now. How does an extremely shy, introverted, albeit, a bit wacky, girl come out of her shell to meet and chat with people she doesn't know? Will you come hold my hand for moral support? :)
I'm ordering more books now in preparation for a signing/meet and greet. I have to figure out flyer ideas as well as something to sign for those who downloaded the books onto an eReader. I'm super excited and terrified at the same time. There's no hiding behind a computer screen or pages in a book. This is me, open, exposed and trying not to look like a complete dork.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Bundle of nerves

I don't think I've ever been this apprehensive or nervous for a book release before. I send Created to some author friends to be beta read and have been trying to wait patiently for them to respond. It's KILLING me!!! I'm so nervous I don't think I ever want to do this again. Hopefully they love it and it'll all be worth it. :) Crap! I have to go to work now. Have a great day!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Thanks

Thanks to all of you who helped make Katie Jennings' birthday a blast yesterday by downloading her Free book! Y'all are awesome!
My folks are all nestled in the guest room, Bry's snuggling away with some kitties and Princess just decided that my forearm is her most favorite pillow. As stressed out as I've been this week, it all just doesn't seem to matter right now. Kitty purrs and hugs from my mom and dad are just what the doctor ordered. :)
I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend filled with the little things in life that we all take for granted.

Friday, September 21, 2012

WHEN EMPIRES FALL


WHEN EMPIRES FALL
FREE eBook Promotion and Birthday Bash Blog Tour!

In celebration of her quarter-life crisis, Katie Jennings is running a one-day only FREE eBook Promo for her latest release, When Empires Fall! Click the cover image below to download the FREE eBook from Amazon, or click HERE!


What people are saying about When Empires Fall

“A modern day epic in the tradition of Gone With The Wind… Infused with deception, lust, murder and romance, Jennings creates a magnificent family saga not to be missed.” -J.L. Firestone, author

“Exhilarating and fresh… Jennings masterfully weaves an intricate web of deception and lies…When Empires Fall is not as much a story about the rich as it is a story about human character.” -Cristian Mihai, author/blogger

“Wow! This word doesn’t even capture the writing ability of Jennings…gifted with character development to rival the New York Times best-sellers…Jennings tantalizes her readers at every chapter and scene break. Her characters are addictive.” -Bestselling Author Carolyn Arnold

Synopsis…

Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall…

In America, kings are not born, they are made.  Men with ambition build their own empires and it is their heirs who carry the torch of tradition, generation by generation. 

The Vasser Hotel Empire rose out of the ashes of an Industrial era, cementing itself in the very heart of America’s greatest city, New York.  Through the drive and courage of one man, a legacy was born that would last more than a hundred years.

That is, until word got out that one of their own was murdered. 

Sixty years of lies will come crashing down in flames of treachery and blood, and the truth will send shockwaves through an entire nation.  Now the newest generation of Vasser heirs will have to deal with the consequences, or else allow their legacy to burn to the ground.

But dark secrets are buried deep within the family itself, and everyone has an agenda.  Love of family and forbidden passion will set off sparks in a powder keg ready to annihilate the empire, but it may also be the only thing keeping them whole.

When reputation is everything, it will take all they’ve got to save themselves from their own undoing.

Book Trailer…


But Wait…There’s More!

Also in celebration of both her birthday and the FREE promotion, Katie is unveiling the book cover and teaser trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to When Empires Fall

Here is
Rise of the Notorious
Coming Spring 2013


Synopsis:

Finish, good lady; the bright day is done, and we are for the dark.

When their empire fell, darkness descended upon the Vasser Hotel family and shrouded them in chaos.  It was a darkness layered in violent sins and staggering deception, made only more potent by a haunting truth.  Murder, it seemed, was a burden they couldn’t escape.

With a scandal plaguing the family’s reputation, the Vasser heirs must rise to the occasion and utilize a killer’s advice to turn bad publicity into good, and tradition into innovation.

If only it was that easy.

In an elaborate game of hidden motives and sinister agendas, more dirty truths from the past will resurface, truths that could bring about victory or bloodshed.  But how will the Vasser siblings react when the real threat to their family not only has power and control on the mind, but assassination as well?  What will they do when it becomes clear that someone out there wants them destroyed, no matter the price?

The Vassers may have fallen from grace, but now they will rise as notorious.



About Katie Jennings…


Nothing can compare to the exhilaration of discovering, at last, a mode of release for the imagination. Mine came, after years of struggling to visualize my creativity, in the form of written word. I found myself with my nose constantly in a book, absorbing the life of the characters and the beauty of the setting. It was intoxicating, to say the least, and the only thing I knew was that I wanted to give writing a shot, and take the thousands of characters and storylines in my head and put them down on paper, and form them into something real and compelling.

In truth, I'm just a girl from a small town north of Los Angeles, with an imagination for days and thank goodness a keyboard at my fingertips. And even though my husband thinks I'm a nerd and my mom is undoubtedly my biggest fan, at the end of the day I'm loving life and enjoying giving breath to the characters living in my heart, and sharing with others all the creativity I can harness.

I believe in true love, and I've always believed in happy endings. And that is just the beginning of the story.

Connect with Katie…





Thursday, September 20, 2012

exhausted

I've been working and writing my butt off lately and I'm exhausted. I'm still trying to get Consumed finished for publication by October 31, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to hit that self-imposed deadline. I will definitely have Created out for you before then. I'm just finishing up a few things and hope to have it up soon. I'll keep you posted as soon as I know what's going on. lol
My dad's coming to visit this weekend to add to the fun that is my life, so I've spent the last two weeks trying to figure out where my desk actually is. ;) It's been buried under notes, papers, scribbles and cat hair for longer than I care to admit.
The house looks nice, allergy shots are itching, Created is in the edit/publication stage and Consumed is about half-way to completion. All is going well in my busy busy life. I wish y'all a wonderful weekend and happy reading!
Don't miss my post tomorrow! My friend Katie Jennings is having a birthday eBook giveaway for her awesome new novel When Empires Fall. It's an amazing book and she's an excellent storyteller. :)

Friday, September 14, 2012

Finally.... Finished!

I don't know what it is about the last chapter of my books that makes me panic. I almost always write the last chapter sometime in the middle of the books, so it's not the actual last chapter of the book, but the last chapter I need to write for the book to be done that freaks me out. I sit and think about every negative aspect I can think about, wonder if I should scrap the whole thing as garbage, or just give up on writing all together.
To those of you who get to deal with my insanity on a daily basis, man, I feel for you! lol. For those of you who get the updates when my mind hasn't been fried from working and writing so much, count yourselves lucky. For the past two weeks, I've been trying to get through the last two and a half chapters of Created. I've been panicking and writing and hanging my head as I read through everything I've already written. I've gone from loving my work to feeling like it's all bullshit and should be burned. I've wept and screamed and laughed and cried some more. I've argued with people over the dumbest things and felt bad while I was doing so. I don't know what it is about the end of the books that make me feel like this.
The good news is, it's finished. Finally! My parent's are visiting next week for the weekend and my house is trashed. I've done absolutely nothing this past week besides work, sleep and write. I needed to get this done, to get past the stress of the end. I know once I start the edits, I'll be back to my normal psychotic self, but until then, ick.
I'm doing something a little different with this one, something I haven't really done with the others. I'm having beta readers. "What's that?" You ask. Good question. It took me forever to figure that out.
Apparently beta readers are people who read your work before it's published and give you feedback on it. They're kinda like editors, but not really. That is at least what I've figured out. I did my first beta reading last month, and am hoping to gain some good feedback this month for my book. This will be the first time I ever really have a delay between finishing a book and publishing it. It's very strange to me to be doing this, but I'd like to see if it helps the books sound any better.
I know what I want them to be, what they sound like in my head. I'm so close to the characters though, that it's hard to know if I put everything that's in my head down on paper. I don't always type as fast as I think and I don't always have access to a computer, paper or recorder when I come up with things that  help develop the characters. Here's to hoping beta readers help me find any gaps. :)
Sorry I've been off here for so long, I've been working my butt off trying to get this book done so I can work on Consumed to get them both out in October. Not sure if that's going to happen, but I'll at least have Created out then!
<3 y'all!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

9-11-12

Eleven years ago we were struck with a tragedy no one really believed was happening. It was like something out of a bad B-movie. This stuff didn't happen in real life, not to us. When the second plane hit on live television, I still remember the gasps, the look of horror on people's faces. I still remember coming home after my appointment and wanting to stay home all day, hugging my then boyfriend (now husband) and calling all my family back east.
It's strange what you remember about certain days, how horrific acts can freeze an entire day in your memory, never to be forgotten. I remember every little detail of that day like it was yesterday, yet my actual yesterday is a blur.
I'm thankful to have not lost anyone that day. I'm thankful to have friends and family in the military who defend our great country in times of crisis. I'm thankful to live in a country where I'm free to express myself in any way I feel necessary as long as I'm not harming someone. I'm thankful today for so many things, things that I take for granted on other days.
It's my wish, my prayer, that we thank those that protect us, that defend our rights, and remain thankful not only for today, but every day of our lives.
To those who lost someone dear to them eleven years ago, my heart goes out to you. To the men and women in service (military, police, fire, emt) I thank you for everything you do every day. We truly would not be the country we are today if it weren't for people like you fighting for our rights and freedoms.
I will never forget.