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Dusk Gate Chronicles News
I know I’ve been a complete slacker about the blog lately. I’ve been knee-deep in other projects with the writing — editing Thorns, re-formatting Seeds and Roots for new hardcover versions, and lots of other little things. The blog is definitely what suffers. Something has to give. 🙂 If you’re ever wondering what, please feel free to drop me an e-mail, or stop by on Twitter or Facebook.
But since I have been slacking, I’ll make up for it with a couple fun news items.
First, Seeds of Discovery is FREE on Amazon today. Stop by and pick up your copy if you never have. If you don’t have a Kindle, remember that you can always read it on a free Kindle app, AND that it’s DRM-free, so you can easily convert it to epub or PDF to read on any e-reader you’d like.
Second … speaking of other formats, Roots of Insight is now available at Smashwords, and in the next few days, you’ll be able to pick it up at Barnes and Noble and other retailers. And, as a bonus, use this coupon code at Smashwords checkout for a 25% discount: XD57C The code is good through April 15.
And the last bit of news, I will be interviewing Nathaniel for the blog on Friday. Please comment below with questions you’ve been dying to ask Nathaniel! 🙂
An Interview with Prince Charming
Nine weeks from today – June 1, 2012 — is the official launch of Book Three in the Dusk Gate Chronicles, Thorns of Decision. In celebration, several of the characters have agreed to be interviewed here on the blog, and to answer some of the questions you may have about them.
Never one to shy away from attention, Thomas has graciously agreed to go first (or else, possibly, he pushed me into it). 🙂
I have some questions for him, and there have also been readers writing in, both here on the blog, and on the Facebook page with questions of their own. 😉
Me: Let’s start with the basic things. What is your full name?
Thomas: Really? That basic? (smiling) My full name is Thomas John Rose.
Me: Do you have any nicknames?
Thomas: (the twinkle in his eye is visible, dear readers) Most of the time I go by Thomas. But, aside from Crumple Champion, Best Brother in the Kindgom, Prince Charming, Swordsman Extraordinaire, The Older, and Better-Looking Twin, and Supreme Potentate of Emma’s Tea Parties, my siblings often call me T. I refuse to acknowledge anyone who addresses me with any other shortened versions of Thomas.
#wordmongering for the win! :) And Seeds of Discovery is free!
I know I’m supposed to be putting up a Twitter Tuesday blog. It hasn’t been the week for blogging for me, though. I have been busy writing — the rough draft of Thorns of Decision is complete, and I am in the process of finding beta readers to help me begin the hard work of shaping it into something actually readable. 🙂
In the meantime, for today and tomorrow (March 13 & 14), Seeds of Discovery is free on Amazon! Grab a copy for your Kindle, or Kindle App on your computer or smartphone.
If you happen to have a different kind of e-reader, please know that Seeds of Discovery is DRM-free, and can be quickly adapted to a different format for free, using a program like Calibre (which is also free). Once you convert it, you can download it onto your Nook, Kobo, Sony Reader, or whatever you have. 🙂
If you need help figuring it out, please let me know.
Roots of Insight will be available for sale in all formats sometime in mid-April, and Thorns of Decision will also be on all formats from the first day it’s released, on June 1, 2012.
If you are interested in being a beta reader/early reviewer for Thorns of Decision, please leave a comment or e-mail me! 🙂
New Cover Reveal …
So, I didn’t intend to announce this so fast, but I’m too excited not to now … Seeds of Discovery is getting a face lift! 🙂 The last five months with the Dusk Gate Chronicles have been a really fun and fantastic ride, and now things are about to get even better! 🙂
After a lot of thought and work, I’ve decided that soon, probably before the release of Thorns of Decision, I am going to be pulling the paperback versions of both Seeds of Discovery and Roots of Insight. They will be collector’s items (if anybody collects these kinds of things.)
They will be replaced by brand-new hardcover versions! And both will have completely new covers as well.
Seeds of Discovery is getting a big re-design on the outside, and a smaller one on the inside. While the story itself is not changing at all, some scenes inside will have some new elements, going a little more in-depth with some of our favorite characters.
Anyway … time for the big cover reveal. Thanks so much to the talented Mallory Rock over at Novel Publicity! 🙂
What do you think?
Sample Sunday (#SampleSunday)
Happy Sunday everyone! If you’re looking for new and entertaining reads, head on over to Twitter, and search for the hashtag #SampleSunday. You’ll find all kinds of interesting stuff every week. 🙂
Here’s my first February contribution. 🙂 An excerpt from Seeds of Discovery, which is on sale for just 99 cents through Valentine’s Day at Amazon!
Don’t forget, during the month of love, to spread some love to your favorite authors by leaving them reviews on any review site you frequent, especially Amazon, Shelfari, and Goodreads. Authors appreciate every single review, even if it seems like they already have many.
When she reached Maggie’s house that afternoon, Zander’s familiar truck was sitting next to the curb. When she pulled up behind it to park, she could see the outline of Zander’s head through the rear window; he must have arrived just before her. She pulled her keys out of the ignition and then hesitated, suddenly nervous about seeing him. She took an unnecessary minute to check her cell phone for text messages she might have missed. Small words flashed in the corner of the screen, “NO SERVICE.” Quinn sighed. One bad thing about living in a small mountain town was the unreliable cell phone service.
Finally composed, she took a deep breath and reached for the door handle. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the door opened on its own. Zander was standing there, grinning.
“Hey, Quinn,” he said, reaching for her hand to help her climb out.
“Uh, hi, Zander. Thanks.”
“Sure,” Zander smiled cheerfully, but he didn’t start walking to the house. He stood there for a long moment, looking like he wasn’t sure what to say.
The nervousness that Quinn had started feeling in the car was growing.
Finally, Zander spoke.
“Quinn?”
“Yeah?”
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“O….kay?”
“Will you … I mean, would you like … would you like to go to the Valentine dance with me?” he said the last part in a rush, in a hurry to get the words out.
Quinn was stunned. Did she want to go to the Valentine dance? With Zander? Maybe she did. “Um, I can’t dance, you know,” she stalled, trying to regain her composure.
Zander chuckled, “Neither can I. It could still be fun, though.”
“Um, okay…” shoving her hands in her pockets so he wouldn’t see them shaking, she choked out her answer. “Sure.”
She watched Zander’s eyes widen, “You’ll go with me?”
“Yes, I’ll go with you.”
Zander’s face lit up with a smile that did strange things to her insides… She had to work to catch her breath as she walked with him up to the porch.
Launch Day Celebration!
It’s January 9th, which means Roots of Insight officially releases for Kindle today! 🙂 (If you have a different kind of e-reader, make sure to read my previous post.)
You can check out Roots of Insight at Amazon by clicking here.
If you haven’t yet read Seeds of Discovery, it is free at Amazon today only!
To celebrate, I am going to be hosting a week-long scavenger hunt with lots of great prizes. Each day, there will be more questions in the hunt, and each day there will be new prizes.
Today’s prize is a $5 e-gift card to Amazon and a surprise e-book gift pack! 🙂
To enter, find the answers to the following questions by clicking on the links. Then e-mail (don’t comment!!) the answers to breeanap@gmail.com.
Everyone who answers the questions correctly will be put into a drawing for today’s prize. You can enter every day for the new prizes. On Friday, there will be a grand prize drawing for participants who have answered EVERY question in the hunt. 🙂
Bonus entries into the drawing will be awarded for those who comment on this post and share it with others (but only if you e-mail the questions, too — they’re bonus entries!) 🙂
Here are today’s questions! (Click on the blog name to visit!)
- From Kristy K. James’ blog: Who are my three favorite bad boys-in order of favorites? Answer in “It’s a Bad Boy Thing,” published on Dec. 5th.
- From Megaword Journey: Who is the main character of the Snapshots storyline?
Find the answers to these two questions, and e-mail them to breeanap@gmail.com with “Scavenger Hunt” in the subject line for your chance to win! 🙂 Don’t forget to comment below and share for bonus entries.
To My Nook and Other E-Pub friends…
For a number of reasons, at this time I am releasing Roots of Insight only on Kindle at this time (paperback will be released in a couple of weeks). Seeds of Discovery is also currently only available in Kindle format.
You do not need to have a Kindle in order to read a Kindle-format book. You can also read it on a FREE Kindle App on your smartphone, iPad/iPod or on your Mac or PC with either a Kindle App or the Cloud Reader.
The Dusk Gate Chronicles books are also DRM-free, which means you can choose to convert them to a different file format (there are free software programs that will do this) and load them onto any kind of e-reader using the USB cord.
Loading the book using a USB cord is known as side-loading, and is extremely easy. Once your e-reader is plugged into your computer with the USB cord, it will show up as a drive or storage device. You need only to drag and drop the book file into the right file on your e-reader, and it will show up in your library with all of your other books.
Finally, if you don’t want to convert it, or can’t figure out how, you can also contact me, by e-mailing me at
breeanap at gmail dot com
If you forward me a copy of your e-mail receipt from Amazon showing your purchase of Roots of Insight, I will be more than happy to e-mail you back with an .epub version of the book that can be loaded on your Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, or other .epub-based reader using the USB cord (again, you can do this yourself, but this way, you won’t have to figure out how to convert it.)
At the current time, Seeds of Discovery is under an exclusive distribution agreement with Amazon, so I cannot send you the .epub file, but you can convert it yourself.
If you need any other help or assistance, please feel free to comment here or to e-mail me.
I appreciate the support of ALL of my readers, regardless of what type of device you own, and I will do my best to keep my books accessible to all.
Happy New Year! 8 More Days, and More Happy Hunting! :)
Happy New Year everyone. I hope you’re all as excited as I am about starting a new year fresh.
I’ve decided this year that resolutions are a bad idea. Most of them are about taking some part of yourself that you currently see as “bad” and trying to change it. For me, the new year is going to be about taking what’s good, and growing it.
2011 was monumental for me. It was the year I finally stopped buying into the myth of “security,” or doing “what I’m supposed to do.” The year I stopped believing in should be, and started asking what could be.
My dream for 2012 is that it will be a year of exploring that further, and really coming to terms with what it means, and then, just living it.
One dream that came true this year was finishing a book and actually allowing people to read it. That has been more fantastic than I ever imagined it could be, and I am so grateful for everyone who has shared that with me. The writing community is AMAZING.
If you are a writer, and it’s part of your “could be” to see where that journey takes you, then something you NEED to check out is Cara Michael’s #WIP500. I will be doing this, starting today. Every day, growing at least 500 words closer to my writing dreams. 🙂
Tomorrow, starts my first ever blog tour! And you’ll be able to party right along with me!
Starting tomorrow, check back right here for a blog to visit, and a question to find an answer to! I’ll be giving away fun prizes to those who can answer the questions! 🙂
Speaking of prizes, don’t forget to enter the contest for
a $10 Amazon.com e-gift card by clicking here.
And, if you are a blogger or an author, don’t forget to comment below or send me an e-mail to participate in the upcoming blog hop scavenger hunt for the release of Roots of Insight! Bloggers … all I will need from you is a few questions about content you ALREADY HAVE POSTED on your blog, and I’ll be sending people over. Authors … I could use e-copies of your books or anything else you might like to give away (and links to your blogs, too!) 🙂
Getting close …
The release of Book Two – Dusk Gate: Roots of Insight is getting closer … 17 more days! 🙂 In celebration (and because I’m too busy preparing for the release and doing the wonderful Christmas thing with my sweet Little Goose to be very creative with blog posts), I’ve decided to re-run some of the awesome reviews and posts others have done.
Really, I don’t know where Seeds of Discovery would be right now if it hadn’t been for some of these folks who were willing to take a chance on a new book and then share their thoughts with the world. One of the very best things that has happened as a result of publishing Seeds of Discovery is the amazing new people it has brought into my life. Just as wonderful, is the few “old” people I’ve been able to reconnect with as a result of the book as well.
Merry Christmas to all of you, and thanks for being on this journey with me!
And here is a re-post of my very first video review … thanks so much to S0rceress0! Please don’t forget to check out her awesome blog review site, E-Book It Reviews
breeanaputtroff 