Free eBook Paranormal Romance, a supernatural and bizarre relationship

*Press Release- for bloggers, examiners, and other readers to use.

Free eBook Paranormal Romance, “Kiss of Stone”, Continues Stone and Samosa’s Bizarre Supernatural Relationship

Author Erica Jean Smith Returns With the Story About a Woman Healed of Cancer by Her genie Turned Lover.

Author and resident Erica Jean Smith has published “Kiss of Stone”, the sequel to “Mark of Fortune” about a woman who had breast cancer and meets a mysterious guy in college who claims to be a genie. He then grants her wish and she learns that there is more to a genie than just wishes being granted. There is a deadly consequence and opposing forces-natural and supernatural that will not stop until either one of them are dead.

For a limited time (Sunday June 2 through Saturday June 8) an electronic version of “Kiss of Stone”will be available to the public as a free download at Smashwords at:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318476
.

While there is a banquet table full of other paranormal fiction out there to choose from, the Mark of Fortune Series features genies who are romantically involved with their women and the women they fall for are not  perfect. The novellas can be read quickly providing entertainment and visceral  enjoyment as you’re whisked away from one reality to a sensuous one where an ending is never really an ending-

It is just the beginning.

About Smashwords

Smashwords is the world’s largest distributor of indie eBooks.  They offer a catalog of over 125,000 vetted, well-formatted eBooks from over 50,000 authors and publishers.  Smashwords work with retail partners to help them efficiently ingest and sell their titles. Retail partnerships include Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Sony and Diesel eBooks

About Erica Jean Smith

Erica is the author of the popular eBook download, Mark of Fortune, the first in a series starring genies, humans, and other creatures in between. She began writing at a very young age and discovered that while she enjoyed reading about mythological creatures, she wanted to write about them more. Even monsters have their stories she believes. Erica writes freelance articles on animation and books when not plotting stories.

Erica is currently working on a young adult novel.

Contact:

Erica Jean Smith

Ericaficwriter@gmail.com

*Press release has been edited for the web

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‘Kiss of Stone’ Update: A Verse… “Sad(new)Creature”

40s Beauty by Jan Farthing for Flickr.com

From Samosa’s POV: Samosa appears in “Mark of Fortune” which is the prequel to Ring of Stone. Ring of Stone is underway right now, until then, these poems will be clues to Samosa and Stone’s new life together; it will be as dramatic and as sensual as the first!

Sad (New) Creature

You made me hungry with

and enticing, sugary kiss

and I was made to know you

on that velvet night-

you set me free

and now I stand

a part of you

apart from you

a new creature who smiles

for no reason

and who is catty with her remarks

concerning you and

this is new

even Mom is afraid of

what have you done to me

Stone?

I am now a mirror of

my own bad habits left off

from something whittled off

a stump.

*If you would like an exclusive peek and free download of the first chapter of “Ring of Stone” when it becomes available, please sign up to subscribe to this blog

Bless You!

3 Great ways to get your self pubbed books noticed

We wish there were more self published authors that are striking gold and platinum in the news but there remains the very few who have made.

We wish even more that we make it ourselves. All of our time spent publishing on CreateSpace, Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu.com and other sites seem to be bringing in very little if any money at all. After working on self publishing my own books and reading some online articles, I find there are a few things that will keep you from popularity and/or earnings and these same few things can be your saving grace.

Having a Classic, but Unique Storyline.

Romance, romance, and more romance.. Guys won’t admit it but action flicks with love interests are cool too. According to Guardian’s report on books that earn well:

Romance authors earned 170% more than their peers, while authors in other genres fared much worse: science-fiction writers earned 38% of the $10,000 average, fantasy writers 32%, and literary fiction authors just 20% of the $10,000 average.

Networking…On the Networks.

Another blockage could be that you are not really talking about your book. If not you, then who? Personally, I don’t like having too many social media places to visit, yet its fun and addicting at the same time. One thing I do is frequently let people know that I have free items. I love free. You love free. We all enjoy free stuff. Why not offer free copies of your book? Make one of your shorter works free to download? Let people know on Facebook, G+, Pinterest, wherever. Hiring someone to do it for you is an option to although I prefer networking on my own. Yes, it can be time-consuming which is why you have to plan.

For instance, most days  I am writing or editing anyway. Blogging, social networking, etc. may be done only twice a week or once a week. Or maybe just take a half hour. Either way, I’m trying to network.

Editing, Copyediting, and Professional Looking Covers.

This is spoken from someone who doesn’t always have the professional money for “professionals” but if you would like to see more sells and downloads of your work, having a nice cover for your book and having your manuscript at least copyedited is a must. This will put you right up there with those high sellers of self pubbed books.

Confession: Before,  I found editing books from the public library very helpful until I could actually afford an editor for my books. You can practically Bing or Google freelance editors or try C.S. Lakin at livewritethrive.com-   I hope to work with her soon Lord willin’.

I hope this has encouraged you as a writer to write more. It is a tough world out there and publishing even tougher. Becoming a published author means facing keen competition and just know I am right here for you. I too am writing my heart out and have actually seen some of the benefits, but to have readers matters more than money.

Even though money is quite nice.

*Other article to consider: “Another Self pubbed Author Strikes Gold” 
http://thewriteweb.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/another-self-pubbed-author-strikes-the-gold/

Tracking an Author: Ring of Stone, and what’s Pinterest got in store for writers?

tblc.org

Social Media. What would we be doing without the array of tools writers use daily to connect with their readers and why do I suddenly enjoy Pinterest specifically?

For those unfamiliar with Pinterest, it is a site where you digitally “pin” your favorite images and photos. What’s amazing is that you can grab images from the web or upload your own and the site has a way to link the image back to its own host site. You just pin up and go. Think of it as an online bulletin board. It also allows you to arrange and plan your ideas visually for interior decorating, food recipes and yes…Books!

Even now my posts and pages on this blog come with a Pin It! button so you can easily pin what you see on here to your boards(first join Pinterest)

How does this work for me as a writer and how can you use it to further reach your audience?

• I found that for my free short story “Mark of Fortune” I can search images of people on the web who resemble my characters. That part is so much fun because I feel as if I’m a director looking for the perfect person to play as [blank]
• Even images of scenery, houses, interior rooms- whatever, I am able to find and place them on my own Pinterest Boards.
• For planning, I may consider going online first to find settings, scenes and characters to inspire me to write my fiction and poetry. How neat is that! Getting inspiration visually before putting fingers to keyboard is wonderful beyond words.
• There are some pitfalls, writers can fall into if they are not careful. Mainly, do not post up all of your “goods” for everyone to see- let some story plots and secrets be discovered. In fact, a neat article on Poet’s & Writer’s explains more of what writers can and shouldn’t do on Pinterest. Please check that out.

In other news I am pleased to announce that “Ring of Stone”- the second part to Mark of Fortune is under way and is going through some editing right now and also choosing an eBook cover takes some time, but at least its technically finished- just need some polishing. It will be published on Smashwords.

Also my new website is about done as well as one dedicated to Mark of Fortune and the world of genies. Excited about that too!

Stay tuned for a Sneak Peak of Ring of Stone!

Grab a book, start a poem: Some thoughts on beginning poeming

Image from Microsoft Office

 

I have been revisiting poetry again, and as you well know I enjoy poetry and whatever way I can help others with the struggle of poeming, I am more than happy to do so.

Grabbing up books on poetry is one of the best ways to get a better look at how other poets do it before you dive in. Or, if you’re like me, you just dive right in and after the fact you learn about little things like “form, style. rhyme and rhythm, and chapbooks”- you know, important stuff like that. Again, I am happy to have been on that fault line of confusion and am trying to find my way back. In fact, I am thinking of getting a book I checked out before at the library to assist me again in poeming

Right now, all of my focus is on  poetry, but am way too shy to give public readings. The last public speech I gave was a an elegy for my father December 2012 and even that was hard. But I know that people will only realize you exist if you speak to them.

Any helpful tips on poetry reading is welcome~ Truly!

Next order of business is learning some traditional forms. I am a free verse type of gal which allows me to spill words on the page without restraints, but lately I am seeing some really great patterns and traditions I’d like to challenge myself more with: specifically Gogyohka and Haiku as well as some Sestinas and Sonnets. Learning to break free sometimes involve learning how your shackles work, no?

Freely Love Valentines eBook Giveaway, Hands Sea, and Fortunes

Okay, so you have exactly 14 days to get these eBooks free. That’s right. Download these books until February 28, 2013

Here are the coupon codes for each book-NOT CASE SENSITIVE(clicking on the books will take you to their respective pages on Smashwords, or  title links below.

The Prayer Monologues CODE: MQ73Y

Sea of Iron Hands CODE: AV35Y

Mark of Fortune (does not need a code. Free forever!)

Tracking an author: Installing christian themes or just going with the flow?

Microsoft Office Image

After one project is complete, another is always or have already been underway. In this case, the seemingly old question btaking over online systems is: Is it possible for books to have too much overt Christian themes? Back in February I wrote  post on “Christian Romance and Crossing Lines” which explained what readers truly look for in a book. One of those elements are the bonds that tie human souls.

I doubt if my post this time will help others learn that telling a good story should be the utmost important in any genre, but I’ll have to explain why my new novel will more than likely be hard to classify.

First, the book will have the major plot and a couple of subplots that may be explored later- or not. The main idea is that a woman finds herself lost in more ways than one and she now has to live with a family member and start over. This family member tries to tell the girl that no one is more evil than the other. As humans we all have the capacity to love very much or hate very much and unfortunately some carry out that hate and can become truly evil.

The protagonist, however made some mistakes and those past mistakes are coming to bite her in the butt. In the meantime, a new event will take place in her life where she will discover her purpose during her downfall… could it be her downfall is really her just being human?

I am unsure how to categorize this one. Its not a supernatural, urban fiction but simply a fictional story with some romance in it. The idea of forgiveness and redemption is laced through the story, but for now I’ve been worrying over telling the story clearly.

Here’s my advice on letting the story spill:

• Let the character’s motivations speak to you, jot down those notes before you write if you have to.
• If you have a main idea/theme in mind, what is it? What are some ways to show more than tell?
• Plots and subplots will natural emerge, although some books advise outlining those early(and I agree that for some stories its sufficient)
• When it comes to swearing are there “safe” swear words to convey a character’s emotion? The term Hell seems to be used by anyone, Christian or non-Christian. Other terms I am not so sure. Even inspirational romance has some boundaries.
• When it comes to sexuality/sensuality in a book, how far is too far? Depicting actual sexual acts like painting splashed over the bed may not be the way to go, but one author, Vanessa Davis Griggs does not show too much sensuality almost none and even when there is a sexual act,  she handles it by skipping the entire scene and entering the “Morning After”.
  • One way I weave sensual scenes is by allowing the kiss to the face, mouth, and even the neck. I allow some description of physique without being to risqué.
  • As far as the actual act….Pray for me.

Some Helpful Books…

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?

Tracking an Author: Two free guides every self published author absolutely need

Here’s another day of book marketing while at the same time plotting around for my new novel. Its quite stressful wearing two hats but that is what comes with the job in writing and self publishing.

Anyhow, while on my writing and book marketing journey I had a little help along the way and it helps to get some tips from someone a little more experienced than you are just so you can avoid some pitfalls.

If you are self publishing and need to know the ins and outs of eBook creation. You should definitely give Mark Coker’s Formatting Style Guide a try. Mark Coker is creator of Smashwords, a platform for Indie(Independent) authors to create and upload eBooks- free! His books are always updated with the latest to help you clean up your manuscripts before submission anywhere.

I used his style guide and it helped me with all three of my books!

The second book I recommend, is his Book Marketing Guide. There are some helpful tips in there that I never thought of before and I am sure it will help you. there are tips on email signature creation, free places to get publicity on the web about your book and other tips you can do from home at minimum cost.

These are just two of the books that I suggest for traditional and self published authors. Again, it is hard self publishing because when I feel in the writing mode again- which I do, I have to think about my other “baby”- latest book # 3. But its okay its part of the career of writing. Let’s help one another by learning from one another.

*In addition, “Mark of Fortune’s” full length story featuring Stone of the Ice Rings will be coming out later this year. I hope you are as excited as I am!

Tracking An Author: Like athena from zeus’s head and my new book

Athens: Kallimarmaro Stadium/Photo by wallyg

 

 

Welcome back to Tracking an Author or TAA. It has been quite a while since I’ve done this kind of blog post but if you are curious about the writing journey and would like to read the tips and tidbits I am learning along the way, feel free to click on “Tracking An Author” tag in the cloud. Meanwhile, I am coming to a head with my second full length book and have nothing left to worry over except the cover. In fact there’s a nice, stunning photo I can use for the front that my husband designed.

New things I’ve learned:

If you have never self published in print before, here’s something to know- CreateSpace so far is better for me as far as affordability goes and ease of use. Secondly, the custom size(6×9) seems to be the standard trim fit they use for 24-250 page books. Industry sizes include 7×10 and 8×11 but for the book to be a good “novel size” and accepted into most online and physical bookstores, 6×9 seems to be the acceptable format.

CreateSpace also accepts document uploads in .doc, .docx, and pdf formats.

A little about my new book 

In 2010, I completed “The Prayer Monologues: These Brass Hands”. With much encouragement from friends and the strength to dig up poems that were little snapshots of my life history and part observation, the publication process became a joyous one. A genuine first.

However, in between that time I focused more on my fiction and began to feel torn. Ever have that feeling that too many stories and ideas are pouring into your head? Well, right now I have two fiction novels in my mind as I go on to finish the book cover to this one. And a free short novella that thankfully made it out of my head like Athena from her father Zeus’s head.

This book of poems is a tad bit different from the first. The muse had little to do with this one except for maybe the fillers; the foundation was built from watching the news, reading the newspaper, and thinking back on where I come from. My hope is that the book will make people tick, think, reflect or whatever poetry is meant to do. Here’s a snippet of the contents from my new book:

Book 1: Rebirth in a New Country

5

Book 2: Heroes in My Head, the Blood in My Dreams

34

Book 3:  Because I’m Caught Between the Body and a Spirit’s Space

71

About the Author

113

As I mentioned, I just have to worry over a cover now. The hardest part after that is sure to come, but I’ll keep you posted.

Have you written anything lately? Where can we find your work?

‘Mark of Fortune’ new short story

Nasa

Under the pen name Sheerrain Kase, Mark of Fortune was written. A quick, thirty odd page novella on the meeting between Samosa, a thirty year old community college student and handsome man named Stone of the Ice Rings.

Without giving much away, they meet up and Samosa finds out that this humble guy who helps her in her worst moment, is much more than a man. He has something they both need. What makes the book interesting is the fact that there is no real need for actual sex scenes as what Stone can do to any woman is sensual and…uncomfortable at best.

Stone has his own story to tell and his adventure from Galaxy to Midplane to Earth and his love triangles across the universe before he met the beautiful Samosa- is worth telling. His story will be published this Spring/Summer 2012 and available on Smashwords, Createspace, and Kindle.

Right now, if you are an Amazon Prime Member you can read this book for free!