Have a Happy Canada with a FREE Canadian Anthology!

Happy Canada Day!

This fantastic collection of stories, Futuristic Canada just came out, and to celebrate, the publisher is giving it away for FREE for 5 days only!

My short stories, "Carnaval Stream" and "Mother of Caribou" are featured in the anthology. Two very different views of possible futures.

Happy reading, eh!

Of Gods and Sorrow unleashed upon the world!

Stopping the undead will seem like child's play when the Cult of Ammut comes calling.

Even after losing most of her adopted family, Erin Driscol continues to console clients at Putzkammer & Sons Funeral Home. Keeping the funeral business working smoothly is no longer the walk in the graveyard it used to be. Grieving demons are fighting in the halls. Eyeballs are showing up in teapots. And a so-called psychic and member of the Cult of Ammut claims Erin's boss Cort is a god. All Erin wants is a friend to lean on and a sense of normalcy. But as the cult kills people and repeatedly attacks the funeral home, she must stand strong or lose Cort to the Lake of Fire.

Buy it here!

Add it to read on Goodreads.

I'm so excited it's finally here. It's been a long time coming, but in my totally unbiased authorly opinion, I think the wait is worth it. And just in case you don't remember what happened in Of Blood and Sorrow or you haven't read it yet, it's FREE for the next five days! And for all Kindle Unlimited readers, both books are available to read.

Join me later this week for the cover reveal of the final book in this amazing trilogy, Of Death and Sorrow!

A great contest for writers and a free book!

The 2018 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest is now open for submissions! This is a fantastic opportunity for writers, and I think their theme for this year is so much fun. Good luck to everyone who submits a story.

Guidelines and rules: 

Word count: 3500-6000

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Theme: 
Masquerade 
A Masquerade can be a false show or pretense, someone pretending to be someone they aren't. It can be a ball, a fancy dress party, it can be a mask. Open to interpretation. 

Submissions accepted: September 5 - November 4, 2018

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (Double spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

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Free for five days only!

Get your copy here!

I Want To Know Your Opinion

Do you subscribe to authors' newsletters? Why? What motivates you to sign up?

I've been striving to increase my subscribers. Giveaways attract new readers, but then there's a bunch of unsubscribes when they don't win or if you don't offer another giveaway in the next newsletter.

Right now, I offer new subscribers an ebook (The 13th Floor Complete Collection) as a thank you for signing up. I'd prefer to have readers buy the book, though.

I've been considering writing a new short story or novelette and offering that exclusively to new subscribers. I want my readers to know they're special, and I hope this lets them know they are. That way they'll stick around.

I want to know what you think. Would a new and exclusive story motivate you to sign up for an author's newsletter? What do you think is the best way to appeal to subscribers?

Friday Five for September 4, 2015

1. Work is going at a steady pace for my new project. There is a lot of talking going on. I keep reminding myself that it is the base for a nine part series, so I have to make it solid. It's going to be one of those cases if the characters keep yammering at each other, I'm going to send the bad guys to them!

2. I had a fantastic time co-hosting the IWSG. I visited over 120 blogs. What a surprise they gave us! It's a wonderful opportunity. I'm going to try to think of a story idea for the contest. Who else is entering?

3. No short story news this week. This is the first week in a while I haven't received a rejection. I still have six stories in submission. I need to send out a few more, but I haven't found the right venues for them yet.

4. It's the long Labor Day weekend. Yay! We don't have any plans except a playdate tonight and maybe going to the apple orchard at some point. It's going to be super hot, though. Might have to refill the backyard kiddie pool.

5. Join me on Monday for my big news! My newsletter subscribers have already heard. If you want to be the first to hear all the exciting stuff, please subscribe by typing your email address in that widget on my sidebar. You'll get a free ebook!

Friday Five for August 14, 2015

1. For those of you who missed Wednesday's post, this month is the one year anniversary of my newsletter, Geeks, Freaks, & EEKS! I'll be sending out my newsletter later today and subscribers will have a chance to win some swag including a unique Christine Rains dice. PLUS, if you subscribe, you get a free ebook. You can have your choice of The 13th Floor Complete Collection or Of Blood and Sorrow.

2. I'm getting lots of writing done with my son in school. I'm finished a novelette last week and I'm over halfway done with the second novelette in the trilogy. I hope I don't get so excited with all this writing that I burn myself out before the month is out!

3. Tomorrow is the monthly meeting of my local critique group. The flash piece I wrote this month for it was tons of fun. Funny how I keep going back to the monster under the bed, but this time, I put a horrific sci-fi twist to it.

4. I've been trying to think of an original wondrous item for Paizo's RPG Superstar contest. Every time I think of something, I look it up and it's been done! I don't get to play tabletop RPGs much any more. I'd love to game more, but it's difficult getting our friends together at one time. Maybe if I start thinking about an item now, I might have something for next year's contest!

5. The only thing on my schedule for the weekend is my critique group meeting. I do love not having anything to do. But then that sometimes leads to this conversation that can last for hours itself:
Me: "Let's go do something."
Hubby: "Okay. What do you want to do?"
Me: "I don't know. What do you want to do?"
Hubby: "I don't know. Not much is open."
Me: "Yeah, and it's raining. What can we do?"
Hubby: "I don't know. What do you feel like doing?"

Have a terrific weekend!