Six

 Six days until this gorgeous book can be in your hands! Whether you preodered through Kindle or whether you requested your physical copy from your local bookstore, Saturday is the day.

I’ve been trying to rev up interest, and all day Saturday I’ll be running a virtual release party from my Facebook page — there will be guest authors, live snippets of my day, potential selfies at bookstores (depends on if I get time to run around and see who has it), and a chance to win an autographed paperback, courtesy of RhetAskew Publishing

I also found out today that I’ll have access to merchandise soon. Pens and stuff–I don’t exactly know what yet–so I’ll soon have my own giveaways and maybe some grab bags of sorts for whatever. I’ll figure it out.

Today I have a few hours to myself, so I’ll be revising Book 2 according to my mind mapping and whatever else comes to me as I go. I have until November to get Book 2 submitted to my publisher, so I’ve got to get cracking. It’s not all fun and games, kiddos, there’s work to it. Revisions, edits, more revisions based on what you found in the edits, alpha reads, etc etc etc. So it’s nose to the grindstone today. A little alternative music on in the background, not too loud, and some intermittent laundry and kitchen cleanup breaks.

Now, if I could only tear myself away from the Internet for the above listed chores….

Techno-babble

Well, due to technical difficulties, last night was a cluster. I set up in the spare bedroom with the door closed to read, phone in hand to live record me. The phone said I was live.
The phone lied.
Another RhetAskew author jumped into the Facebook event I created and took over while I sat there dutifully reading to an empty room. About halfway through I started getting messages from my Editor-in-Chief and the other author asking where the heck I was. Turns out, I wasn’t live in the event as I had thought I was. I was live…somewhere? Maybe? But it didn’t show up anywhere. Rather than fumble and scramble to type responses I kept reading. I finished my “performance” and hit send.
The “live” recording did not send to the event. No, to make matters worse, it sent to my Facebook author page. So I had to go, find where the recording ended up, and share it to the event from there.
And I still haven’t been able to find the other author’s reading. I know it exists because other people saw it, but….yeah. That was my life yesterday evening.
The afternoon was not without its own hitches, either. No one asked me any questions for my Q&A, and even after going live on Twitter and then Facebook I got zilch. After nearly an hour I gave up and went to take a nap.
I’m not losing hope though. Gotta keep promoting, keep getting word out there.
Whether I’m live or not.

Take two

Today at 2pm PST I’ll be hosting a live Q&A on Twitter to answer questions about Abnormal, and at 7pm PST I’ll have my crazy self in front of the camera again as I read the first chapter of Abnormal on Facebook. 🙂
In order to watch (and possibly win a digital copy of Abnormal just for commenting on the live video), check out my author page on Facebook. Give it a like, check out the event I created for it, and come on by. I promise to try to read slower and enunciate better than I did with my first attempt at a live read. Lol Maybe a little “liquid courage” at dinner before I get started. 😉
Don’t worry, I won’t be slobbering drunk. I’ll just be … relaxed. Yeah. Relaxed. I hope.
Things are speeding up now. T-minus 24 days until release. T-minus 86 days until Tucson Comic Con.
Well, off to email bookstores and the like for potential author events. Lots to do!

Back for seconds

So, for those who were able to view my live reading of a scene from Abnormal, how did you like it? If you missed it, feel free to check out my Twitter page and watch the recording to get a glimpse of the story. 🙂
Guess what? Tomorrow, August 8, I’ll be reading a different scene live on Facebook! Check it out:

Here’s the link to my author page on Facebook for that reading.
I’m hoping to be more relaxed and less nervous (and thus to read slower and not rattle it off too fast) this time now that I’ve done it once already. We’ll see.
Last time I read an action scene… This time, I’m going to try to pick out something sweet. 😉
“See” you tomorrow evening at 7pm PST!

Live and (in)direct

Today marks the day where I find out if I’m brave enough yet to go live with a reading of an excerpt from Abnormal. I have the afternoon off from my day job, and it will (theoretically) prepare me for Wednesday’s live Q&A. (Btw, still no Q’s given to me or Rhetoric Askew yet…just sayin’.)
I might wear my Dark Phoenix wig and do up some nice makeup for it, to kinda relax me and make me feel more comfortable. For some reason, I do better in cosplay than I do au naturale. Probably because it’s more like acting or role playing? I don’t know. That’s my guess anyway. I really want to do this because I’d like to see what kind of turnout I get from it, but I’m also terrified of what kind of turnout I’d get. Lol
If I chicken out, then I’ll be taping the reading and posting it later on. Either way, I get practice reading in front of a camera. I’m gonna try though. I really am. I even sent out a tweet just now declaring said live reading. No backing out now. 😉
Oh, what to wear, how to do my voice, emote, ack! An actress I am not…but for the readers, I must be.
2pm PST. 1400 Pacific. You. Me. Twitter. And a little piece of Abnormal.