The 13th Floor Complete Collection Gets A Makeover!

Ah, the old cover. The one where I took an image of some stairs and photoshopped a silhouetted couple in it. Not horrible, but not that great either. I wouldn't call this an eye-catching cover any longer.

I've been wanting to change it for a while now, but I could not decide what I wanted to be on the cover. It had to scream paranormal romance. Researching covers, looking at hundreds of them, I came up with a list of what I should have on it.

1) Setting. Dark background. Don't let it overwhelm anything else on the cover. It can just be a faded partial bit.

2) Title/author. It should be easy to read in thumbnail form. Font is important. I had complaints about the font I used on the original cover. The style of it makes the letters uneven. I liked it, but some people thought it was just bad design.

3) Hunky man or dynamic couple. It's tough to find an image or images of a couple that work together for what you want. It's easier to go the hunky man route. But having a person or people on the cover is key. (Sidenote: usually having just a woman on the cover is more representative of urban fantasy than paranormal romance.)

4) Something paranormal. Lots of magical swirls or mist is popular.

Even with these guidelines, it was tough to figure out what to do. The book consists of six different novellas with various characters. I spent hours searching through image sites.

I finally decided I would feature either Marc (The Marquis) or Xan (The Dragonslayer). They are my two most popular heroes. And it was easier to find a dark haired muscle man than a blond one. Marc gets to represent the collection!

I don't know how pleased Marc was with the decision, especially when I knew immediately how I wanted to present him. I imagine some grump going on, but Mae would convince him to be a good sport about it.

I found the background at Pixabay and the model at Unsplash. These two are my favorite free image sites. Lots of variety and beautiful shots.

As I've leveled up my Photoshop skills, I've learned to layer, but I've also learned that if you can get away with a few layers, all the better. Simple and clean without so many things to distract the eyes.

Behold! The new cover!

Friday Reminders

The voting for BigAl's Books & Pals Readers' Choice Awards continues. My book, THE HARBINGER (Vol. 4 in the 13th Floor series) was nominated in the Fantasy category. I'd greatly appreciate it if you could vote for it. PLUS, voting enters you in a giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card.

If you haven't heard already, Smashwords is having a huge sale this week. You can already download THE MARQUIS (Vol. 1 in The 13th Floor series) for free, but for this week only, you can get THE ALPHA (Vol. 2) free too! Use coupon code REW25. Plus, I'm offering The 13th Floor Complete Collection for 75% off! Use coupon code REW75.

 

And last, but certainly not least, I have my 500 Followers Giveaway set to go live on March 10th. 500 is a big number. So the grand prize winner will get a BIG prize pack with books from 14 amazing authors! So come back on Monday and celebrate with me.

 

Sidelined cover reveal

Title: Sidelined (Game On Book 3)

Author: Kyra Lennon

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Release Date: March 31^st 2014

Blurb:

At the age of twenty-one, Bree Collinson has more than she ever dreamed of. A handsome husband, a fancy house, and more shoes than Carrie Bradshaw and Imelda Marcos combined. But having everything handed to her isn’t the way Bree wants to live the rest of her life. When an idea to better herself pops into her head, she doesn’t expect her husband to question her, and keep her tied by her apron strings to the kitchen.

Isolated and unsure who to turn to, Bree finds herself falling back into a dangerous friendship, and developing feelings for the only person who really listens to her. Torn between her loyalty to her husband and her attraction to a man who has the perfect family she always wanted, she has some tough choices to make.

While Bree tries to figure out what she wants, a tragedy rocks the Westberg Warriors, triggering some dark memories, and pushing her to take a look at what’s really important.

Sidelined is the third book in Kyra Lennon’s Game On series. Game On (Book 1) and Blindsided (Book 2) are available on Amazon and Smashwords.

About the Author:

Kyra is a self-confessed book-a-holic, and has been since she first learned to read. When she's not reading, you'll usually find her hanging out in coffee shops with her trusty laptop and/or her friends, or girling it up at the nearest shopping mall. And occasionally hanging out with rock stars, because that’s how she rolls!

Kyra grew up on the South Coast of England and refuses to move away from the seaside which provides massive inspiration for her novels. Her debut novel, Game On (New Adult Contemporary Romance), was released in July 2012, and she scored her first Amazon Top 20 listing with her New Adult novella, If I Let You Go in November.

You can find Kyra at the following places:

Website: http://www.kyralennon.com/

Blog: http://kyralennon.blogspot.co.uk/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyralennonwrites

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KLennonWrites

Pinterest: http://gb.pinterest.com/kyralennon/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/kyralennon

* * * * *

P.S. Please don't forget to vote for THE HARBINGER in the Fantasy category in BigAl's Books & Pals Readers' Choice Awards. You might win favor with the Greek gods!

P.P.S. This week Smashwords is having a huge sale. You can already download THE MARQUIS (Vol. 1 in The 13th Floor series) for free, but this week, you can get THE ALPHA (Vol. 2) free too! Use coupon code REW25. Plus, I'm offering The 13th Floor Complete Collection for 75% off! Use coupon code REW75.

Friday Five for February 7, 2014

 

1. Earlier this week, I checked my sales on Amazon and discovered there were over 1000 downloads of THE MARQUIS in less than 24 hours. I was shocked and ecstatic! It was #1 on the Demons & Devils best seller list and #9 on Paranormal & Urban. It was also #274 in the Free Amazon Store. I have no idea what promoted the rush of downloads. I haven't done anything new with marketing. It's just one of those weird and wonderfully unexpected moments.

2. I haven't gotten a chance this week to start on my revisions for WIP #2, my superhero story. I'll get a few hours this morning, but hopefully I'll find time on the weekend, and we won't get any more snow days. Though the groundhog saw his shadow, didn't he?

3. Don't forget there's still time to enter the huge Valentine's Day Giveaway. 21 authors giving away their books. I'm giving away a digital copy of The 13th Floor Complete Collection.

4. My son amazed several people this week with his reading skills. I always love watching people's amazement when they see a 3.5 year old reading. I'm so proud of him. This does not show in the bad mom haircut I gave him this week. Poor kid. He won't let anyone else do it, so it's up to me, and he cringes at the sound of scissors cutting hair. Yes, it is a weird and a bit unnerving sound, but it makes for an uneven cut no matter how much I try to be careful.

5. I finished reading a trilogy by Nora Roberts. The first Roberts books I've ever read. Surprising since I do like romance, but I was a bit intimidated by the number of books she has published. I tell myself that I need to be that prolific, suffer a few moments of immense stress over it, and then tell myself to just get through the revisions of my current WIPs. Worry about writing more later. Working on revisions for two WIPs, yup, that's enough for me right now.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Review for The Marquis & Goodreads Giveaway reminder

Stephanie at Moonrise Book Blog wrote a fabulous 5 star review for 1301 - THE MARQUIS.

Please check it out.

If you haven't won any of the giveaways yet, don't fret. There will be another one tomorrow as the tour continues with a walk through the 13th floor, and there's the Goodreads giveaway.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The 13th Floor Complete Collection

by Christine Rains

Giveaway ends October 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The 13th Floor collection blog tour with Vetis, Goodreads Giveaway, & Creepy Freebies

The 13th Floor Collection blog tour continues!

Today my keyboard has been snatched by Vetis, the infamous villain from THE MARQUIS. How he convinced me to let him have his own guest post, I don't know. I'm easily tempted by chocolate, though.

Click on over to Elizabeth Arroyo's blog

to find out what Vetis has to say.

Along with the giveaways happening during the tour, I have a Goodreads giveaway going on for the entire month! (Does anyone know how to invite people on Goodreads to enter a giveaway?)

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The 13th Floor Complete Collection

by Christine Rains

Giveaway ends October 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

 

 It's the first Friday of October. Yay!

Time for Creepy Freebies with Milo James Fowler.

Today you can get treats from these fantastic authors:

Erin Cole

Stoney Setzer
Rhonda Parrish

Milo James Fowler

Friday Five for August 23, 2013

1. I want to first give a HUGE thank you to Heather Musk at Reading, Writing and Everything In Between. She started something new on her blog called Book Thoughts where she'll share her thoughts on the books she's reading every Thursday. Over the next six weeks, she'll be featuring the novellas from the 13th Floor series. She already has her thoughts on THE MARQUIS posted. Please stop by and have a read. She hit on exactly what I was trying to do with that first story.

2. I'm thankful that my son started preschool this week or else I wouldn't have had any time to be productive. I got my revisions done for my short story based on my CPs' critiques and sent it out to my beta readers. So far everyone loves the bonus story for the 13th Floor Collection. I put all the novellas and the short story together in one document to edit it for the collection, and it's over 139,000 words. Wow. I wrote, revised, and put all that out in a year? I'm a bit in shock and giddy with it.

2.5 My son had an excellent first week of school. He's comfortable with the new class and his teacher. He makes no complaints when I leave. Yay! I had my first school meeting, and I was saddled with more responsibilities. Not a huge deal, but I would've preferred to know these things before they were suddenly thrust upon me, and I had no clue what I was doing. I'm lucky to have some good helpers, though.

3. I sent out the info and cover for The 13th Floor Collection last night. I had a long list of people volunteering to help out. I'm so very grateful to you guys. You're awesome! Please forgive me if I forgot you on the mailing list. Just send me an email or leave me a comment if I forgot you or if you'd like to be part of the cover reveal on September 13th.

4. Have you heard of this wonderful group of speculative fiction writers called Untethered Realms? *wink, wink* This week, we all wrote a little something with the prompt: "awesomesauce." It's so much fun to see how different each one turned out.

5. Did you get a chance to peek at my workspace on The Writing Nut's blog this week? Please pop on over if you haven't yet. Here's another look into my world. I was excited to return to the library this week with my son's return to preschool. My usual spot is in a comfy chair at the end of the sci-fi/fantasy section, but unfortunately, that chair with its little table is gone. (You can see in the picture below there's a big empty spot by the windows where it used to be.) So I settled into the little desk with my laptop. It's not quite the same, but I'm trying out new spots. Hopefully I'll find a new favorite.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Friday Five for June 28, 2013

1. A frustrating week for managing to get time to revise. Oh, did I mention I finished THE GHOST? Yay! Well, the first and second drafts are done. I've been worried about it, but one of my CPs has declared it's her favorite in the series. But yes, revisions. Our power has gone out twice now with all the summer storms passing through. I lost all of Wednesday. And there are more storms in the forecast for the next seven days. Yikes!

2. Even with that frustration, I had a wonderful surprise yesterday morning. THE MARQUIS received a 4.5 star review from Night Owl Reviews. It's now one of their Top Picks! If you haven't picked it up already, it's free for all e-readers.

3. I was inspired to write a new story by my visit to the dentist Wednesday. I had a crown fitted. The last of my silver fillings is gone. I thought about how the dentist and the hygienists must hear all sorts of weird teeth stories. But what if it was a dentist office for supernatural beings? Yup, a supernatural dentist. Could be really fun!

4. I've been enjoying a lot of outdoor time this week. Between storms, my son and I have been out in the pool, at the park, and in the woods. We put on tons of sunscreen, but thankfully he tans better than me. He's getting a few freckles, but not as many as have erupted on my arms. I don't brown, I stay red. Red and freckled like I'm some weird lobster mommy!

5. Next week I'm still sticking with my regular blogging schedule even with Canada Day and Independence Day. Join me for a great post by a special guest on Monday and July's IWSG on Wednesday. Have a fantastic weekend! Relax and kick back.

The Marquis is now FREE

I'm on top of things this week!

The Harbinger is already available at

Amazon * Smashwords * Kobo * B&N

To celebrate the release of the fourth book in the 13th Floor series, I'm now offering The Marquis for FREE!

Smashwords * Kobo

If you could please help me price match The Marquis on Amazon, I'd be very grateful. All you need to do is copy the Smashwords or Kobo URL and go to The Marquis page on Amazon. Go down to "Product Details" and tell them about a lower price. It's fast and simple.

Arrows, Shadows, and Sales

Pop over to Arrows of Anteros and check out my flash piece, "Not Every Story Has A Happy Ending." This is how having a child has affected my writing. I have my little moments!

Today is Groundhog Day! Did the groundhog see its shadow where you live? All this day means to me is the opportunity to watch "Groundhog Day" again and again on television. A Bill Murray classic.

I haven't done a sales update lately. It's out of my curiosity how sales go for other authors that I share mine with you.

1302 - The Alpha
Amazon: 82
B&N: 24
Smashwords: 3
Kobo: 5
Total: 114

1301 - The Marquis
Amazon: 36
B&N: 6
Smashwords: 2
Kobo: 1
Total: 45

L'il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo
Amazon: 1
B&N: 7
Smashwords: 111 (free)
Kobo (no stats as they don't count free downloads)
Total: 119

Fearless
Amazon: 5919
B&N: 3
Smashwords: 1123
Kobo: (I have no idea!)
Total: 7045

Fearless continues to do very well. It was in Amazon's top 100 for fantasy paranormal for most of January. It's free and a great way to hook readers to buy my other books.

Most of my sales for The Marquis came after the release of The Alpha. I'm hoping that with the great interest in The Dragonslayer, readers will buy it and the other book in the series.

Wicked Wednesday - a few things I picked up

It's been a while since I've done a Wicked Wednesday post. I hope to get back into the regular swing of things. So much has been happening, and I've been very busy with my 13th Floor series. I'm learning a lot about the genre and what's hot. This week I'm going to share a few things with you.

Werewolves are still a hot topic. You read on a lot of sites that the popularity of werewolves and vampires is diminishing. Perhaps agents and publishers are tiring of them, but readers still want more. The Alpha has already sold four times as many copies as The Marquis. People hear werewolf and their ears perk up. A new twist to the alpha trope? Now they're even more interested. I'm curious to see what happens when I get to the vampire's story in my series.

Paranormal romance fans like sarcasm and humor. The posts from my tours that received the most feedback were the funny ones. I think humor attracts people in general, and fans of this genre like a certain edge to their humor. I will never be Joss Whedon, but I'll do my best with this.

Covers matter. With The Marquis, people were seeing more urban fantasy. It wasn't sexy enough. The Alpha got more attention with Stefanie on the cover. Intense and gorgeous. The Dragonslayer has gotten the most attention. Shirtless Xan has caused a lot of people to drool. With paranormal romance, the hotness factor does count.

What have you learned through promoting your books?

The Winners of The Marquis Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who entered the big Marquis giveaway. I wish everyone could win. Here are the three winners:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As the first place winner, Lynda as won a digital copy of The Marquis,

an ARC of The Alpha, and a signed copy of Fearless.

As the second place winner, Rosemary has won a digital copy of The Marquis

and an ARC of The Alpha.

Finally, as the third place winner, Trisha as won a digital copy of The Marquis.

Emails have been sent to the winners.

Another big thank you to Shannon Lawrence for hosting the giveaway for me.

The wicked neighbors post was so much fun!

The Alpha blog tour and the 13th Floor tours in 2013

A great big thank you to everyone who participated in The Alpha's cover reveal. And I'm blushing at all the wonderful comments too. Thank you so much.

A few of you asked if I made my own covers. Yes, I did. I bought the model images from Dreamstime, and I played around in Photoshop with them until I had exactly what I wanted. I wanted something simple yet intense. I have the first four covers of the series done. The fifth one is giving me trouble. I have a definite image of Harriet (the banshee) in my head, and I can't seem to find any models that suit her. It's a case of wishing I could've had the cover done first and then come up with the character.

The Alpha's blog tour is scheduled for January 13th - 17th. If you'd like to host me on the tour or any of the tours next year, please send me an email at christinerains [dot] writer @ gmail [dot] com. All the dates for the tours and cover reveals are listed on my 13th Floor series page.

Please add 1302 - The Alpha "to read" on Goodreads.

Another huge thank you to everyone who hosted me on the 1301 - The Marquis blog tour. You guys are awesome. The final giveaway is still going on until the 27th. Check out The Warrior Muse's blog for details.

One final bit of exciting news: Fearless got a massive boost during my blog tour. It's still sitting in Amazon's top 100 free ebooks for paranormal under fantasy. It made it as far as #27. My brilliant editor added the first chapter of The Marquis after the end of Fearless. Hopefully this will help push up sales for it. So if you don't have your copy of Fearless yet, grab one, and get a preview of The Marquis too!

Final Day of The Marquis blog tour

It's the last day of the tour. Wow!

What a fantastic time I've had.

Thank you to all the wonderful hosts and

to all the people who commented.

A big congratulations to Heather Holden
who won a digital copy of The Marquis
from Aubrie Dionne's blog!
Check out Heather's site.
She's an awesome artist.  
 

But wait! The fun isn't over yet.

I have a guest post on choosing the perfect title for your book at Livia Peterson's blog.

This is always difficult for me, but there are some tricks to finding the best name.

On the 13th Floor, there are some noisy and fearsome tenants. But I'm sure you've experienced worse neighbors than them. We want to hear about your experiences.

I've listed 13 types of bad neighbors on

Shannon Lawrence's blog.

There's also one final big giveaway!
Three AWESOME prizes!
International entries are welcome.
1st prize: one digital copy of The Marquis, an ARC of The Alpha, and a signed copy of Fearless
2nd prize: one digital copy of The Marquis and an ARC of The Alpha
3rd prize: one digital copy of The Marquis  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Today's tidbit: When I wrote The Marquis, my favorite parts involved Vetis. He's one of my favorite types of villains. When I wrote The Alpha, I loved writing about the heroine. Strong and feisty woman falling for a geeky guy. Now I'm writing The Dragonslayer, and I'm falling in love with the hero.

Come back tomorrow for The Alpha cover reveal!

Day 7 of The Marquis blog tour

Two more guest posts on the tour.

I'm talking about being a writer mom on

Jackie Felger's blog.

How she manages to write with four boys amazes me. I only have one and I'm lucky to find a few minutes to myself!

Come on over to Kyra Lennon's blog

to learn a little about the romance between the hero and heroine of The Marquis, Marc and Mae. Love is in the air!

Today's tidbit: I originally had a different name for my heroine. I was going to call her Innes. She refused the name, told me to sit down and listen instead of spending so much time on baby name sites. Her name was Mae, and though it looked a little too much like Marc, she refused to let me change it.

Day 6 of The Marquis blog tour

I have two great stops today on the tour.

First I'm sitting down to chat with my new and very brave beta reader, Clare Dugmore.

We talk about the story and her experience being a beta reader for me.

Next I'm popping over to the lovely

Gwen Gardner's blog. 

I have a guest post on the need for balance in writing paranormal romance.

Today's tidbit: I was worried that the romance in The Marquis would be overshadowed by the conflict between Marc and Vetis. It turned out that the romance was the most powerful aspect of the story.

In other story news: the paranormal crime anthology, Mortis Operandi is now available. My short story, "Immaculate" is featured within. It was one of the stories I wrote and submitted this year as part of my 2012 goals. I'm happy to be part of this great collection of stories.

Day 5 of The Marquis blog tour

The blog tour continues with another great excerpt and giveaway today on Aubrie Dionne's blog.

Congratulations to Hilary Melton-Butcher who won a copy of the novella from the first giveaway on Cherie Reich's blog. Enjoy!

Do you have your copy of The Marquis yet?

Amazon

B&N

Smashwords

Kobo 

Today's tidbit: I dedicated The Marquis to my father. He passed away in 2007. I originally had a longer dedication than what's in the book now. It read: "For my dad who battled against his demons and lost, but he always believed in me." Even five years later when I go back to visit family in my hometown, people will mention how my father talked about me being a talented writer and ask if I'm still writing.

Day 4 of The Marquis blog tour

Today I'm being interviewed by

M. Pepper Langlinais.

She asks some deep and clever questions about the series and the 13th floor itself.

I love this isn't your standard author interview.

Today's tidbit: I've been in buildings that have a 13th floor. They were sadly mundane. Years ago, I worked as a security guard in a building that did not mark it had a 13th floor. It did have one, but it was left unfinished and used as a storage area. I don't know why it was left that way. It was a new building in a big city, but it seems even today people still hold on to those old superstitions.

Day 3 of The Marquis blog tour

I'm over at my other  fabulous CP's blog today,

Tania Walsh.

She has an awesome weekly series on mythological creatures. In honor of her love of beings of lore, I wrote a post on the central ones in The Marquis: demons.

Today's tidbit: There are several BIG mythological beings in the 13th Floor series such as giants, dragons, and Zeus.

Day 2 of The Marquis blog tour

Today I'm over at Nick Wilford's blog

with a character post.

Usually writers profile their heroes and heroines, but I gave it a little twist. I wrote about the villain, a trickster demon called Vetis.

 

Today's tidbit: I love writing villains. Years ago when I played online RPGs, I would always get requests to take on the role of one of the big bad guys. Sometimes I felt a bit typecasted, but I enjoyed it too much to protest.