1st Anniversary Giveaway!

Book swag!

This Wednesday, September 24, 2014, marks one year since I self-published my debut novel, That Fatal Kiss, so I thought I'd celebrate with a giveaway! Three lucky winners, selected at random, will receive:

1. 1 trade-paperback sized print copy of That Fatal Kiss
2. 1 bookmark (in the picture, I show each side of the bookmark)
3. 1 TFK pen, and
4. 1 pair of what I'm calling "pomegranate seed beaded" earrings, because the seeds of this fruit play a pivotal role in the narrative (who knew fruit could be so influential?)

To enter this drawing, simply leave a comment for this post by 11:59p.m. on Sunday, September 28. All lovers of romance from around the world are welcome to enter. The three winners will be chosen using Random.org and will be announced next Monday, September 29.

And if you've a friend who digs some o' that Greek-mythological sexy, feel free to pass along the news by using one of the "Share" buttons below.

Good luck!

Edited to add: Readers can now comment "anonymously" but I ask that you give at least a first name here in your post so I can list you as a winner, if you are among the three randomly chosen. If you do post anynomously and win, please e-mail me at aoorooo at gmail dot com, with mailing information for the swag-s-swag.

Re-Tweeting the Love...

It's a fantastic feeling when folks either:

a. find your Tweets so fabulous or

b. find YOU so fabulous

that they want to share your stuff with their own Twitter followers by re-tweeting it. So, because your pal(s) did you this kindness, you might Tweet back a quick, "Thanks for the RT!"—a polite and lovely way to acknowledge someone's support.

After doing this myself for a good while, I saw another way I could show my thanks. First, as soon as I can, I "Favorite" that person's re-tweet, to show that I saw it and am grateful. Next, I find something of my follower's to re-tweet (which takes about the same amount of time as it takes to type out a thank-you message). This is especially helpful to fellow authors, whether Indie or traditionally published, or creators of ANY stripe, as you're spreading the word about their stuff, which is exactly what they need.

This works for Facebook too: go ahead and "Like" that post of yours that your peep has "Shared" and then share something of your peep's! In fact, this is probably doable on any social media platform.

What if you can't find something of your friend's to re-tweet or share? You can quickly create something by Tweeting about your friend's Web site, or Sharing a memory of some kooky shenanigans y'all got up to, way back when.

For me, the bottom line is that I want my followers/friends to know that I saw what they did for me and want to return the favor by promoting them as well. I mean, yeah, it's generally more work than I like to do, lazy gal that I am, but it feels good (when I remember to do it!). ;-)

Summer Promos ~ When to Promo Them?

Since January, I've had a small rotating ad up on the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books Web site which, I believe, has definitely helped with book sales for That Fatal Kiss. I'm a bit worried that when April comes and the ad goes, so too will sales. Pondering these things made me think about doing a summer promotion, and offering the TFK e-book at a reduced rate at all online retailers where it's sold. The question is: when? Is May too soon to connect with readers interested in filling up their Kindles, Nooks, and iPads for all their vacation travel needs? Is June too late? And for how long should I run it: a week, two weeks, three, a month? Writers, what do y'all think?

Readers, when do you buy your summer reading stuffs? Do you do it in one fell swoop, or do you pick things up as they arise in your line of sight (which is what I do, unless a fave author's got something coming out, in which case I shop with intent)?

All y'all: please tell me in the comments!

Indie Author SOS ~ Weirdness!

So I was checking out the listing for my book, That Fatal Kiss, on Amazon.com (yeah, I was eyeballing the Amazon Best Sellers Rank, which I've been doing daily since I released it in September) (OK, I look at TFK's ABSR several times a day; gimme a break, this is all new to me and I've got compulsive tendencies) when I noticed something weird. It struck me as so utterly bizarre that I squinted, really hard, at my laptop screen (and I do my damnedest not to squint, 'cause I can't afford the wrinkles). I even asked someone at my day job to take a look at it, as I just really couldn't believe what I was seeing. Here's a piccie of The Weirdness (hint: look closely at the pricing in the rectangular box):

Do you see that Used Paperback price, through Amazon.com Marketplace? Someone's listed for sale a used paperback copy of TFK for almost a thousand dollars.

Someone has listed for sale a used paperback copy of TFK for almost a thousand dollars.

Uh...what?

Say what???

Seriously, what the actual fuck? For realz? C'mon, that's gotta be a typo, right? The seller meant, like, 99 cents, probably, right? Right?!

So I e-mailed the good people over at Amazon.com, just asking if that was a legit listing, and was given some canned response about sellers being able to ask any price they want for the items they put up for sale.

Yeah, that's fine, but what the hell did the seller do to that copy to warrant a ticket price of $999.11? Gild the page edges with actual gold, melted down in a vat in his basement? Embed in it some new stripe of artificial intelligence, so that it can do your homework (and/or taxes) for you, on demand? 
Imbue it with such mighty mystical powers that, if carried around as a charm, it'd keep mosquitoes and zits at bay for, like, forever? ('Cause that would be rather impressive, wouldn't it?)

I'm tempted to write the seller and ask her/him to let me know if it sells at that price, just to see if s/he discovers (and owns up to) an error in pricing. 'Cause that's totally a mistake. It's just gotta be. Or a cruel, cruel joke.

Indie (and/or traditionally published) authors of teh Blogosphere: any o' y'all seen some shit like that? If so, did it weird you out? If so, did you do anything about it? Should I be doing something about it??? (Probably not, but this thing's just do weirdly weird that I had to toss in a few more question marks somewhere...)

That Fatal Kiss is HERE!

OK, well, not right here, but, you know,
available for sale on the following sites:

E-Books

Amazon.com (for Kindle)

Barnes and Noble (for Nook)

Smashwords
(for most other e-readers,
including those by Apple, Sony, and Kobo)

Print Version Coming Soon!

For a chance to win a free e-copy, simply enter a comment, below*.
Three winners will be chosen at random.

*Edited to add: comments left up to/including Sunday, September 29, will be entered in the drawing. Winners will be announced the following week.

And just in case you need a reminder of what the story's all about:

Feared by mortals for his inexorable power, and loathed by his fellow Greek gods for the same, Hades rules the Underworld alone.  A stark eternity looms before him until he discovers Persephone. Struck by the youthful goddess’ beauty, kindness, and spirit, he must have her. But Hades believes Persephone could never love him, and so he conspires with his powerful brother, Zeus, to take her by force.

Persephone too seeks a mate but her possessive mother, the goddess Demeter, frustrates her husband hunting. Then Hades abducts Persephone, tearing her away from the Upperworld she loves to reign with him in the dank depths below. Though outraged, Persephone cannot deny the desire ignited within her by the dark lord’s touch. And even as she hopes that Demeter will unearth her, Persephone aches to surrender to the heat in Hades’ immortal soul.

And don't forget to visit all the stops along my blog tour this week!

Monday, September 23, 2013

Defending the Pen (Yolanda Renée)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Daily (w)rite (Damyanti)

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Melissa's Imaginarium (Melissa Bradley)

Friday, September 27, 2013

Mina Burrows

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Word + Stuff (Trisha F)

24 Hours Till Release Day!

Don't...don't you want me?

And so the countdown begins. Tomorrow, I unleash my debut novel upon the world.

Can you say butterflies in the stomach? 'Cause I sure can.

To lend me their support, these ginchy blogging gals are hosting my That Fatal Kiss blog tour, as follows:

Monday, September 23, 2013
Defending the Pen (Yolanda Renée)

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Word + Stuff (Trisha F)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Daily (w)rite (Damyanti)

Thursday, September 26, 2013
Melissa's Imaginarium (Melissa Bradley)

Friday, September 27, 2013
Mina Burrows

Please visit these groovy gurls on their respective hosting days, and be sure to come back to my blog TOMORROW for my release day giveaway!

Streaming Consciousness: Odds & Ends

But mostly odds, because I am. Odd, that is.

C'mon, now, you knew that about me already.

...so, like, I haven't had a cigarette since about 4:35pm, Monday, August 19, 2013. Prior to that, I'd smoked for about 26 years. On the bright side, the antidepressant I'm on is also prescribed, in lower doses, for help with smoking cessation. On the dark side (my favorite), there have been moments when I feel I shoulda been strapped up like my good friend Monty Burns, over to the right. And not just for the kink factor, either. Anyway, I've already seen some good results (food tastes better, Yay!) and some bad (I've been carb-craving like a MoFo, Booo!). I didn't say anything about this sooner 'cause whenever I try to do something like this and blab about it, I always crap out. But so far, so good...

...took The Kid back up to skewl for his second year of college. Dang. Second year of college. Wow. I mentioned a few months ago that I'm mostly over Empty Nest Syndrome. It should be noted, though, that the remnants of ENS manifest as a desperate need to feed people, along with me tossing out stuff like, "You're not going out in this weather without a coat?!" Which everybody loves...

...I've set my release date my debut fantasy romance novel, That Fatal Kiss, for

TUESDAY,

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013

W00T, W00T, W0000000000T! 

The e-book, anyway. I want to have a paperback available for folks who don't cotton to books in digital, but that may be somewhat delayed. (The best laid plans of mice and men...)

Meanwhile, if you'd like to read a sexy excerpt from That Fatal Kiss, click here. Or check out this interview of my heroine, Persephone, and hero, Hades, the Lady and Lord of the ancient Greek Underworld.

Stop by on release day and enter a comment for your chance to win a free copy of the e-book! And don't forget to spread the word!

Cover Reveal ~ That Fatal Kiss by ME!!!

I've long held a passion for Greek mythology, y'all. The story of the goddess Persephone's marriage-by-kidnap to Hades, Lord of the Underworld, has particularly fascinated me, and thus came about my debut novel, That Fatal Kiss. Coming September 2013, the revisionist tale features a fiery and noble heroine, a handsome and broody hero, and some heated, earth-shakin' lovin'!

Given my neurotic nature, it took cover artist Steven Novak and me a few go-arounds before settling on the cover design for That Fatal Kiss. It had to be curiously compelling, slightly spooky, and yet super sexy—and so it is!

The Book:

Feared by mortals for his inexorable power, and loathed by his fellow Greek gods for the same, Hades rules the Underworld alone. A stark eternity looms before him until he discovers Persephone. Struck by the youthful goddess’ beauty, kindness, and spirit, he must have her. But Hades believes Persephone could never love him, and so he conspires with his powerful brother, Zeus, to take her by force.

Persephone too seeks a mate but her possessive mother, the goddess Demeter, frustrates her husband hunting. Then Hades abducts Persephone, tearing her away from the Upperworld she loves to reign with him in the dank depths below. Though outraged, Persephone cannot deny the desire ignited within her by the dark lord’s touch. And even as she hopes that Demeter will unearth her, Persephone aches to surrender to the heat in Hades’ immortal soul.

The Teaser:

“Enough,” Hades said, closing the distance between them. “I have taken you with your father’s consent, as custom allows. You are in my kingdom, under my rule, and if you have any care for your continued well-being, you will get into my bed. Now.” And with the removal of the pins that held together the black cloth about his waist, he stood naked before her.

The anger warming Persephone clashed with another fire that roared to life within her. She choked on a breath and turned her face from him. “Be warned; I will resist you with the full force of my being, through violent means, if necessary.”

His large, unyielding hands encircled the soft flesh of her upper arms as he said, “If you must. Though your surrender to me would prove more satisfying to us both.”

If any of this intrigues, please keep abreast of updates regarding That Fatal Kiss, as well as the development of any new neuroses, by stalking me at my usual haunts:

Blog: Some Dark Romantic
On Facebook: GothMomLite
On the Twitter: @GothMomLite
And GothMomLite Will Tumblr For Ya as well

And, if the spirit moves you, please do spread the word by clicking on the icons of your social media of choice, below.

*       *       *

With hearty THANKS to all the bloggers who've joined me in this cover reveal!

Allyson Lindt
Ari Michaels
Christine Rains
Damyanti Biswas
Danielle Bertrand
Elise Fallson
Heather Gardner
Jackie Felger
Covergirls
Jessica Topper
Juliette Smith
Melissa Bradley
Mina Burrows
Penelope Crowe
Rocky Hatley
Samantha Redstreake Geary
Shannon Lawrence
Sofia Grey
Tina Downey and A to Z
Tonja Reynolds
Trisha Farnan
Yolanda Renee

Indie Author To-Do List? (IASOS)

Herein lies my second Indie Author SOS post, which I address to other writers who've gone boldly where they hadn't ventured before—the thrilling/terrifying world of independent publishing!

As I mentioned in my first IASOS post, I plan to publish my Greek-myth inspired romance novel, That Fatal Kiss, later this year. I was shooting for the first day of fall in 2013, but shit got real at work, and then there was the A to Z Challenge and, as I whined about in my Reflections post, a Guy ('cause there's always a Guy) so...yeah. I'm thinking not that day. Probably. Though you never know, I may still be able to pull it off by then, though I'm more interested in putting out a quality book than I am in keeping to my original deadline. As long as I can get TFK out into the world by my birthday* this year, I reckon I'll be satisfied. (*That's December 21, in case you're feeling like you might wanna get me something.) (Or, you know, buy my book.) (No pressure.)

'K, so, I've picked up some books on what folks gotta do to independently publish their stuff (I'm focusing on e-Publishing and print-on-demand paperbacks). From Catherine Ryan Howard's "Self-Printed 2.0" I got a lot of great info (it's really a fabulous resource, I must say), and have put together a rough to-do list for publishing my Greek-myth romance. All you indie-authors out there, how does this list look to you? Am I missing something super important? Are any items below in totally the wrong order of needing to-be-done? I'm super interested in feedback from folks who've already gone through this ordeal process, especially on the stuff with question marks (either because I'm not sure about them, or not sure how to go about doing them).

• Decide Release Month/Date (Pffffft. Fail.)
• Research/Hire Book Cover Designer
• Research/Hire Copyeditor (This bit's done, W00T!)
• Wrap up copyeditor's changes, as desired (accepting/rejecting changes).
• Research/Hire Proofreader
• Set/Advertise release date
• Set up mailing list for when book's released?
• Determine manufacturing costs, use this to determine list price.
• Format eBook/print book
• ISBN numbers for all formats (Unless provided?)
• Order proof copy
• Online “Cover Reveal” (scope for BFF bloggers willing to join in on pimping TFK)
• Solicit Reviews from BFF bloggers/book bloggers?
• Annoy BFF bloggers further by asking them for blog tour?
• Promotional give-away(s)? (Set this up 2 months in advance of release? That's too soon?)
• Order proof copy (copies) of final version
• Develop Book Page on Blog With
• Book Cover Image
• Back cover blurb
• E-mail sign up to receive info
• How much/where sold
• Set up Google Alert for my book title + name
• Once book’s finalized, upload to online sellers
• Update main page sideboard w/links to book
• When ready, send “Out now!” e-mail to mailing list, update site w/same news
• Set up Author Page on Amazon? (When? How soon is too soon?)
• Update Twitter profile w/news on book. (When?? How soon’s too soon??)

Um...so, yeah. Help?

Indie-Publishing Timeframe? (IASOS)

So, here's my first Indie Author SOS post, which I address to other writers who've gone boldly where they hadn't ventured before—the thrilling/terrifying world of independent publishing!

I plan to publish my Greek-myth inspired romance novel, That Fatal Kiss, later this year. I'm shooting for the first day of fall which, from today, is about 9 months away.

Those of you who've been down this road already, what do y'all think: is 9 months enough time to get this shit together? (You know, assuming I've got my shit together?)

I'm in the final (hah!) revision stages and anticipate having my final (hah!) draft complete by the end of January. Yeah, this January. (I'm emphasizing this for my own benefit, so I'm sure to kick my own ass into getting it done by the time I've publicly said I would. Feel free to bust my chops if I've not kept my word.) (But gently; I'm a delicate flower.) (Yes, I am. Stop laughing.)

In an upcoming IASOS post, I'll list the things I believe need doing to make this indie-pubbing lark a reality, but until then, should I budget for more time, less, or does 9 months seem about right? Please leave your thoughts in the comments and feel free to Tweet/Facebook this to encourage other indie authors to chime in!

The easiest way to share this post on the social media of your choice is to click one of the little icons above this post's tag: "Posted by Mina Lobo at 12:00 AM." THANKS!

100 Unfortunate Days by Penelope Crowe

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm a fan of Penelope Crowe's blog and enjoy her writing style there. Reading some of 100 Unfortunate Days' reviews on Amazon (as well as the free samples she posts on her blog), I decided I had to give it a read. So I inhaled it. One Amazon reviewer mentioned reading a few days' entries and putting it down for a week. I couldn't be so patient; I had to keep going, to see what newly outrageous, crazed, or twisted day would follow the last.

Framed as the diary of a madwoman, it takes a long and circuitous path over the course of roughly three months. Three grim and uncanny months. It's not a traditionally plotted tale, more like the thoughts of a (not quite well?) woman as she gets through a tedious, sometimes tortuous, series of interminable days. Lord, how many of the thoughts written have I had myself? How many have we all had? (A lot, though I must speak for myself only.) (But, yeah—a LOT.) And I think that's what contributes to the creep factor of the book—how much of ourselves we might find (dread to find?) in the narrator. I mean, the gal's clearly crackers. Or maybe she sees the truth of things all too well, and if that's the case, well, we're all fucked.

The other shadowy factor is that the voice is clearly that of a grown woman AND YET the way it talks of superstitious mumbo jumbo, the simplistically scared view of the Devil and how he's OUT TO GET YOU (as are the worms, and the spiders, and things lurking in your basement, the corners of someone's house, the backyard), reminds me of when I was but a wee Gothling attending Catholic school. The girls in my grade sometimes spoke this way, I could nearly hear the cadence of their voices as they relayed to me, quite factually, what evil horror would befall me if I looked into a mirror in a darkened room at midnight. It's this credulous childlike view, coupled with an air of know-it-all expert on supernatural terrors to avoid, heavily threaded by a fatalistic belief that no matter what you do, you're doomed, that seeped through the pores of my skin and into my bones. I felt compelled to read on, whether I giggled or shivered or turned off my Kindle device because that hollow feeling within me threatened to keep me from sleep on a given night...Dudes, this ain't for the faint of heart. But then, neither is living.

I regret only that I gobbled it up in about two or three days...maybe over the summer, when the night doesn't seem to return so quickly, I'll pull the book out again and take dainty bites of it instead...one unfortunate day at a time.