Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Get a Signed Copy of My Darkest Passion

Friday, June 7th, 2013

The print version of My Darkest Passion is now available

Yay! At last, the print version is ready and available. Click here to get your copy.

What’s that? You’d like a signed copy? I can do that!

There’s a couple of ways to achieve this worthy goal.

1. You could buy the book and then mail it to me with a SASE at this address:
Carolyn Jewel
PO Box 750431
Petaluma CA 94975-0431

2. You can buy the book from my website, and I will send you a signed copy. If you buy it from me, I will, if you’d like, send you a free digital version. The details are at the link below. For now I’m not charging shipping. (This may change.)

To order your signed copy, click here

3. You could wait until you meet me someplace where one of us has the book you’d like signed.

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Bitter Cents

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

According to my Google Alerts, someone appears to have DNF’d My Darkest Passion. Are you kidding me? How could anyone not understand the story Harsh and Addison deserve?

I could have watered down the story, sure. I could written something without thinking about my ART but I would have had to title that story, My Medium Dark Passion. Or even My Pastel Passion. But that would have cheated Harsh and Addison out of their story. I’ve always said that writing is hard. Really hard. God, no one understands how hard I work and how much it means that every reader out there admits my brilliance.

Rather than risk anyone else wanting their passion Medium Rare or, worse, Well Done, (God, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth), I am taking My Darkest Passion off sale on Tuesday, May 21st, 2013. That’s: TUESDAY, May 21, 2013. After TUESDAY, May 21st, 2013, My Darkest Passion will not be available in any format.

Yes, I could stick to my principles and leave the book on sale after TUESDAY MAY 21, 2013, and simply take my lumps, but then I would be making money off a book someone did not finish. Ever bitter penny to hit my bank account after TUESDAY, May 21, 2013 would hurt my soul and betray the loving, twisted passion of Harsh and Addison, who, my GOD, so fucking deserve their happy ending.

I want to thank everyone who’s emailed or left a comment on my Facebook page telling me you couldn’t put the book down. Thank you. Thank you! Although all of you can continue to read the book, after TUESDAY, May 21, 2013 you should probably no longer do so. Anything else would not be fair to Harsh or Addison, or all the people who try to find the story after Tuesday, May 21, 2013.

I’m sorry the money you paid for the book has turned out to be nothing more than bitter cents in my direct deposit. And I’m sorry Harsh and Addison’s dark and twisted path to love didn’t work for that person who DNF’d. This is why we can’t have nice things. Some of you ruin it for the rest of us and now I’m not able to own my words or take any risks in my writing, or even, accept that some readers may not like my work. Because, how could that be, really? I am brilliant. I think about ART when I write.

Last night, I cried bitter tears (just like the money) when I realized that I would be taking the story off sale on TUESDAY May 21, 2013.
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Call me cynical if you want. This is in response to this.

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How About A Quickie?

Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

I have this big long post that I need to work on….

In the meantime, I’m working on stuff.

Lucy and Thrale: Making progress

Print version of My Darkest Passion: About 1/2 way through. There are some issues so I’m having to be more precise and attentive. I will end up having to order a 2nd proof to make sure the glitches are fixed.

Life: Ack!!!!

And, I feel compelled to say this:

Dear person who is trying to market to authors:

We tend to talk to each other and so, your email in which you claim to have read our latest book and been impressed with our talent, well, it seems a bit fishy that anyone could have read that many books…. I know you’re trying to be personable, but a personable lie is still a lie, and authors, alas, are such frequent targets of SEND US MONEY for something that will not actually benefit your career, that we’re now naturally suspicious. You’d have been better off just telling us about your service and what’s in it for us.

In a related note, if you sell advertising space on your book-related website, then I think you should give authors an idea of the kind of traffic you get. Because then I would have an idea about whether it’s worth it to me. Share some metrics, dude.

That is all.

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Free Fall is FREE at most Vendors

Saturday, May 4th, 2013

Woot!

Amazon has price matched my novella, Free Fall, to FREE.

Amazon

Kobo

iTunes

I couldn’t get it free at B&N, though I did lower the price to $.99. If you have a Nook and would like a free copy, let me know and I’ll get you one.

Attorney Lys Fensic has spent her life controlling a psychic power that kills. Her ability to lock herself down falls apart when her ex, a mage, sends enslaved demons to kill her. In a psychic free fall, she turns to tough guy Telos Khunbish for help. But is he a mage as she’s always suspected or is he something far more dangerous?

Free Fall is set in the My Immortals series world where demons and magic-using humans called the magekind are not quite getting along. Most people have no idea they’re living in what amounts to a magical war-zone. Free Fall is based on the short story Future Tense but is considerably expanded and includes scenes that were censored from the short story. This novella is about 35,000 words (130 pages).

Excerpt

11:40 AM. Lobby of 101 California Street, San Francisco, California

He was here. Telos Khūnbish had come. Relief nearly demolished her, it hit so powerfully. He was here, and now, improbably, she believed everything was going to be all right. Her life was irrevocably screwed, but she believed. She ignored the noise of the lobby and the man standing beside her. He was irrelevant. What a damn sad commentary it was that after nearly ten years in the city, Khūnbish was the closest thing she had to a friend. Maybe even a real friend, because he was here, and she believed she’d get through this.

Her heart kicked up a notch when she got a clear view of his black BMW turning onto Front Street. Now, of course, she wondered if she’d made a mistake involving him. She didn’t make a habit of asking for help. She wasn’t good with people. She wasn’t even sure she’d asked right. Seems she had.

The BMW was definitely looking to park. Good thing. In less than ten minutes the lunchtime rush would start, and she’d be in real trouble. Even now, there were too many people around.

“My ride’s here,” she said to Jack, the man standing beside her. She didn’t make eye contact because that would be dangerous. Instead she stared at his tie, but that turned out to be a mistake. The dark red silk looked like blood streaming down his chest. She focused on the shiny marble floor and the tips of his Oxfords. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Let me carry your things.” Jack reached for the moving box that contained the personal contents from her office. He knew Michael, and that meant she couldn’t trust him. Simple fact. She couldn’t trust anyone who knew Michael Ford.

“No.” She gripped the box tighter and looked at the street again, as if Khūnbish could help her from afar. The BMW was waiting for a van to pull away from the curb. Khūnbish had never met Michael. That was part of the reason she’d called him. That, and she didn’t know anyone else.

“Lys.” Jack was thirty-ish, good looking, and in line to make partner in the next two years. He did good suit. He was a competent lawyer and a decent litigator.

She faked a smile and looked at Jack without directly meeting his eyes. Over the years, she’d gotten good at faking contact normal people never thought twice about. She lifted the box an inch. “Hardly weighs a thing.”

Jack smoothed a hand down the river of blood that was his tie. She held her breath, half expecting his palm to come away smeared red. He reached for her moving box, and she jumped back, heart slamming against her chest. Either Jack didn’t get it, or he was in league with Michael and meant her harm. He kept moving toward her.

“Don’t.” The word came out sharp and loud. The security guard at the lobby reception area looked over. She was close to losing it. Way too close. Blocking shouldn’t be this hard for her, but the last several days had been. . .difficult. Not enough sleep. Not enough to eat. Too much caffeine. Far too much stress.

“Lys. Come on.” His tie vibrated at the edges of her vision. Blood red. A river of red. He reached for the box again. “I’m only trying to help out.”

She risked a look at his face. His smile was hesitant, a little irritated, but that would be normal if he really just wanted to help.  Just a regular person trying to be nice. Part of her didn’t believe it. He knew Michael, and Michael had tried to kill her. “Don’t touch me.”

Reviews

The Romanceaholic

4.5 stars
The dynamic between Lys’ very staid, tightly controlled character and Telos’ much more laid back and even aggressive personality was wonderful, and the chemistry between the two was absolutely sizzling.

Overall, I couldn’t put it down. With plenty of action, steam, and powerful romance, this is a wonderful introduction to the series, and a great story in its own right.

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My Darkest Passion: Buy Links!

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Here’s the links I have so far:

I hope to have ARE soon. Sony and some other formats I can only get to through Smashwords. I’ve submitted there so it’s a matter of waiting.

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Review Copies of My Darkest Passion

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

Review Copies

If you have a review blog or are active on Goodreads and the like, and you’d like a review copy of My Darkest Passion, please contact me either through my website or via email at carolyn AT carolynjewel DOT com.

You would be agreeing to review the book. That means you’d have to read the book, and then write a blog post or review where you give your honest opinion of the book.

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Woot!! My Darkest Passion has been Uploaded

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

Serious face of a Southeast Asian (Indian) man looking to the left. He is extremely handsome.

Cover! Hot!

OK, folks. It’s REAL.

I’ve uploaded My Darkest Passion to:

Amazon
B&N
Kobo
Apple

Smashwords and ARE are next, then the print version.

It’ll be a couple of days before the files are actually on sale, and, naturally, I am now wracked with nerves that I uploaded the wrong file or missed some major formatting problems, or that the book just isn’t any good.

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Another Update on My Darkest Passion

Friday, April 12th, 2013

The copyedited MS came back exactly on time. I am getting those changes into the MS now.

Next step is to build my first-pass file and proofread.

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Amazon and Goodreads: Marriage Made In Heaven?

Friday, March 29th, 2013

Yesterday Goodreads announced it’s been acquired by Amazon. This is big news in the publishing world.  Here’s a few of my thoughts.

Publishing insiders are predictably on the doom and gloom side, and, predictably, missing what I think is the key point, and in a dangerous way, too.

I’ve been hearing that Amazon really bought GR to solve its “discoverability problem” or, even, assertions that Amazon’s algorithms are lacking. That’s looking at the problem from a dangerously narrow perspective.

Discoverability is a universal problem. EVERYONE trying to sell a book to someone has this problem. Amazon’s algorithms, I’m willing to bet, are better than Barnes&Noble’s, and I know they’re WAY better than Kobo’s, and Apple’s. Kobo’s discoverability problem is so massive it’s not even funny.

Think for a second about what you know about Amazon’s site compared to other book vendors. You know it’s better than B&N, Apple, and Kobo for finding books. Authors know if you get on the “people who bought this book” list that you’ll sell more books– you make sales to people who may not have heard of you. This effect exists at Apple in a MUCH narrower set of circumstances (so narrow as to not matter to most of us); it’s more diffuse at B&N because B&N deliberately privileges print over eBooks and the traditionally published over all others, and their site is flawed. They bury Nook books to the point where it can look like there’s no eBook when there is. I still get the shudders from trying to find a book to buy at Kobo. Google remains irrelevant.

What Amazon at least partially addressed with this acquisition wasn’t an attempt to fix a shortcoming only it has. It just positioned itself to make its discoverability/algorithms (possibly) exponentially better than everyone else’s. And I say that while recognizing that “better than everyone else” still may not be as effective as it should be.

Meanwhile, B&N continues to work for publishers, forgetting that they need readers, too, and Kobo, I pray, is working on fixing its issues. Microsoft could have bought GR and brought that into its Nook acquisition. Kobo, with its deep pockets, could have done the same. But that didn’t happen. Because Amazon is looking forward and playing the long game, with plenty of money to do so.

It’s not that Amazon was attempting to address a shortcoming only it has, and for publishers and vendors to forget for a second that discoverability isn’t their problem too means they’re not looking at their future with a wide enough lens.

What do you think?

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Book Giveaway – My Dangerous Pleasure

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

All the books are spoken for! Next stop: my local mailing shop where they will do the work for me.

As of 9:21 AM Pacific Mar-24-2013 there are:

0

copies left.

In honor of the upcoming release of My Darkest Passion,View Post

I have

100

 

paper copies of My Dangerous Pleasure to give away. (Book 4 in the series.)

 

What are you waiting for?

Who can have a copy? Anyone who either doesn’t have a paper copy already or who’s willing to give the book(s) to someone(s) they think will enjoy it. So, if you have friends you think would like the book, awesome! If you want to give them away to strangers, that’s awesome, too.

The rules are below.

Cover of My Dangerous Pleasure

The Book.

TEMPT THE DARKNESS Strong-willed and independent, Paisley Nichols is used to taking care of herself. But when an insane mage begins tracking her every move and threatening her at every turn, she has no choice but to put her life in the hands of a demon.

RISK THE PASSION Burned by betrayal, demon assassin Iskander won’t get too close to anyone. He spends his days serving his warlord and his nights indulging in carnal pleasures . . . and that’s exactly how he likes it. But when a mage wages a wrenching psychic assault on his beautiful tenant Paisley, Iskander must defend her. Under his protection, she will be drawn irresistibly into his life and learn about her own mysterious powers. And not a moment too soon. The mage haunting her isn’t acting alone-and he won’t rest until he destroys both Paisley and Iskander.

How to Get Your Books

1. You must be 18 to get a book, so asking for a copy is your assurance to me that you are 18.

2. Email me with your full name and mailing address. (carolyn AT carolynjewel DOT com or through the contact form on my website) and tell me how many books you’d like, up to, say, 7. As a side note, you’d be surprised how many people forget to include their mailing address, or only include part of it, or neglect to tell me their full name.

3. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. This is not a contest. No one wins. If I still have books when you contact me, you’ll get books. When I’m out of copies, the giveaway is over.

4. International is OK.

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