On Writing

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    Second printings …

    12 Comments

    I have some more cool news to announce — both Spider’s Bite and Web of Lies have gone into small second printings. Huzzah!

    So what does this mean? Well, basically that sales of both titles have been steady enough for my publisher to print more copies of the book beyond the initial print runs. In other words, there have been enough sales/interest that my publisher printed additional books in hopes of selling even more of them.

    Admittedly, my initial print runs weren’t very large — certainly nowhere near the hundreds of thousands or even millions of books that are printed for the big-name authors like Nora Roberts or J.K. Rowling. Still, this is the first time that any of my books have gone into second printings, which is really cool.

    I just want to say thanks to all the readers out there for making this possible. I write the books, but you guys buy them, and I appreciate everyone’s interest in the Elemental Assassin series and all the positive e-mails and comments that I’ve gotten from readers. I hope you guys enjoy Venom when it comes out on Sept. 28 even more than the first two books.

    For those of who you didn’t like the books, I appreciate you giving them a chance in the first place. I know my books aren’t for everyone, and that’s cool too. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

    Anyway, I’m doing the happy dance. šŸ˜‰

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    Venom short stories and more online …

    8 Comments

    For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been doing a series of free short stories to go along with my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy books. I love playing in my own little sandbox, so to speak, and I thought the stories were something fun that I could do for readers — for free. šŸ˜‰

    Anyway, here is the info on the two stories that I’ve posted to go along with Venom:

    PoiĀ­son: This short story takes place when Gin is a teenager and is told from the point of view of Finnegan Lane, Ginā€™s fosĀ­ter brother. After a party one night, Finn finds himself in a sticky situation.Ā Click here to read it.

    Wasted: This short story takes place in between the events of Web of Lies and Venom. One day, a beauĀ­tiĀ­ful woman walks into the bank where Finn works, and trouĀ­ble soon folĀ­lows. Click here to read it.

    You guys wanted more Finn, and you’re getting him with these stories.

    Also, please note that Wasted takes place before Venom. Since I didn’t want to give away or spoil a particular plot point in Venom, I don’t exactly explain what someone needs Finn’s help with in the short story. But once you read Venom, you’ll understand what I was trying to get at. At least, I hope you do.

    Also, I’ve gone ahead and posted the first chapter for Tangled Threads. Yeah, I know it’s kind of early to post it, since Venom hasn’t even come out yet, but I hadĀ some free time, soĀ I went ahead andĀ posted itĀ And for those of you who get Venom, the first chapter of Tangled Threads will be in the back of the book anyway.

    There are a few mild spoilers in theĀ chapter for stuff that takes place in Venom, but really, I don’t think it’s anything that you guys couldn’t see coming. So read now if you want, or wait until after you’re read Venom.Ā Click here to read it.

    Anyway, I hope you guys have as much fun reading these as I did writing them. Happy reading! šŸ˜‰

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    Oh, what a tangled web Gin weaves …

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    Look what my editor sent me — the preliminary cover art for Tangled Threads, the fourth Elemental Assassin book. So pretty! So shiny! šŸ˜‰

    Seriously, I think this is another kick-ass cover. There are so many little details that I love about it — the use of the spider rune in the title, the rune showing on Gin’s hand again, how tough and cool bad-ass she looks. And the background is just perfect, since a lot of the action in the book takes place at a train yard.

    For those of you who missed it, here’s the back cover copy for Tangled Threads:

    Iā€™d rather face a dozen lethal assasĀ­sins any night than deal with someĀ­thing as tricky, conĀ­voĀ­luted, and fragĀ­ile as my feelings. But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assasĀ­sin known as the SpiĀ­der. HovĀ­erĀ­ing outĀ­side sexy busiĀ­nessĀ­man Owen Graysonā€™s front door like a nerĀ­vous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesnā€™t shy away from my pastā€”or my present. And right now I have a bullā€™s-eye on my foreĀ­head. Cold-blooded Fire eleĀ­menĀ­tal Mab MonĀ­roe has hired one of the smartest assasĀ­sins in the busiĀ­ness to trap me. ElekĀ­tra LaFleur is skilled and effiĀ­cient, with deadly elecĀ­triĀ­cal eleĀ­menĀ­tal magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powĀ­ers. Which means thereā€™s a fifty-fifty chance one of us wonā€™t surĀ­vive this batĀ­tle. I intend to kill LaFleurā€”or die tryingā€”because Mab wants the assasĀ­sin to take out my baby sisĀ­ter, DetecĀ­tive Bria Coolidge, too. The only probĀ­lem is, Bria has no idea Iā€™m her long-lost sibĀ­ling ā€¦ or that Iā€™m the murĀ­derer sheā€™s been chasĀ­ing through AshĀ­land for weeks. And what Bria doesnā€™t know just might get us bothĀ dead ā€¦

    In other news, Scott on my Facebook fan page alerted me to the fact that Tangled Threads is now up for pre-order at Amazon. So go forth and buy, if you wish. It looks like the book will be out in May 2011 (April 26 to be exact), unless something drastic changes. I’m pretty sure that book #5 will be out on October 2011, but I’m still waiting on confirmation on that one too.

    Anyway, I’m doing the happy dance about how cool the cover is. I hope you guys like it too! šŸ˜‰

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    $50 million reasons to smile …

    There was an interesting news item at Dear Author last week about Janet Evanovich, author of the hugely popular Stephanie Plum series, asking her publisher for $50 million for her next four books.

    Yes, you read that right — $50 million for four books. Assuming that the four books are each around 100,000 words that is $125 per word. Yep,Ā all those thes and buts and ands would beĀ worth $125 a piece. If the books are only around 90,000 words (which seems more likely to me), that figure goes up to about $139 per word.

    This boggles my mind.

    Most writers, including yours truly,Ā are lucky — lucky — to get 20 cents a word for whatever they write, whether it’s books, magazine articles, or something else. Some publications literally only pay pennies per word — if that.

    Sure, the powers that be in Hollywood are making a movie out of Evanovich’s books, which will only increase her sales. But $50 million? For only four books? At $139 per word? C’mon.Ā Is anybody reallyĀ worth that kind of money, especiallyĀ in today’s economy? I don’t know how many books Evanovich sells, but she would have to sell a whole heck of a lot of them to justify that kind of advance and for her publisher to make a profit.

    Now, I’ve read several of the Plum books. I found the first four or five to be great, fun, breezyĀ reads, so much so that I bought copies for friends for birthdays and whatnot. But somewhere around book seven or eight, the series starting feeling a little repetitive to me. It seemed like Stephanie was making the same mistakes and telling the same jokes over and over again. And don’t even get me started on the love triangle between her, Joe, and Ranger. I quit reading the series because I just wanted her to pick one of them already (!), and it didn’t look like it was ever going to happen.

    Am I jealous? Yeah, a little bit. It would be nice to be as successful as Evanovich. I’m sure I would be quite happy to swap all of my book advances for just one of hers. Heck, forget the advance. I’d be happy with just her sales numbers.

    It’ll be interested to see if Evanovich’s current publisher agrees to her price, if she’ll move to another publishing house, or if anyone will shell out that kind of money to her.

    Perhaps if Evanovich’s Plum series ever gets up to the number 50, she can title the book Fifty Million Reasons to Smile …

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    Tangled Threads …

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    So my editor sent me the final version of the back cover copy for Tangled Threads, the fourth Elemental Assassin book that will be out in May 2011. Here is it.

    Note: There are a few mild spoilers below.

    Iā€™d rather face a dozen lethal assassins any night than deal with something as tricky, convoluted, and fragile as my feelings.

    But here I am. Gin Blanco, the semi-retired assassin known as the Spider. Hovering outside sexy businessman Owen Graysonā€™s front door like a nervous teenage girl. One thing I like about Owen: he doesnā€™t shy away from my pastā€”or my present. And right now I have a bullā€™s-eye on my forehead. Cold-blooded Fire elemental Mab Monroe has hired one of the smartest assassins in the business to trap me. Elektra LaFleur is skilled and efficient, with deadly electrical elemental magic as potent as my own Ice and Stone powers. Which means thereā€™s a fifty-fifty chance one of us wonā€™t survive this battle. I intend to kill LaFleurā€”or die tryingā€”because Mab wants the assassin to take out my baby sister, Detective Bria Coolidge, too. The only problem is, Bria has no idea Iā€™m her long-lost sibling … or that Iā€™m the murderer sheā€™s been chasing through Ashland for weeks. And what Bria doesnā€™t know just might get us both dead …

    Pretty cool, huh? I hope it makes you want to read the book because I think that LaFleur is one of the best villains that I’ve ever written — mainly because she’s just like Gin. šŸ˜‰

    In other news, I am slowly going through and updating the website in anticipation of the release of Venom on Sept. 28. The book is up for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, if you are so inclined.

    One of the things that I’ll be doing is posting the first chapter for Tangled Threads along with a few new recipes of things that Gin makes in the various books. I’ve also written two more free short stories that tie in with Venom. Right now, I’m calling them Wasted and Poison — and both are told from Finnegan Lane’s point of view. Y’all wanted more Finn — you’re getting him.

    The storiesĀ need a bit of light editing, but I’m hoping to get them up on the site by Aug. 1. I’ll keep you posted and let you know when everything is up and formatted properly. Until then, hope you are staying cool this summer!