News, more artsy images & stuff! Plus what are YOU up to?

Hi all, I'm still in the thick of launch madness. Ever been through it? Ever had two books launch at once? If so, you feel my pride, fear, exhilaration and pain! Reviews are trickling in, many Facebook messages must be posted, word must get out! It's fun, exhausting, maddening, engaging--all of it at once. My writing students, readers, fellow bloggers (you!) and family help keep me grounded. Thanks! And thanks to all who are reading and reviewing, helping get the word out about Private Internship and Dorianna, and hanging out at my Facebook events. A special thanks to those who bought copies! I am so very grateful.  Random news:

The rather dashing, but dangerous villain from DORIANNA

For those who do NOT like reading on Kindles, Dorianna finally came out in paperback! 

Pick up a copy from Amazon.

I've been having more fun with images and titles. I created this banner for the street team I'm continuing to build. Renamed it Kitsy Cat's Crew. Silly & fun. Like my new banner?
Interested in joining? Free books to read & review, swag, attention to your WIPs and more. Sign up form here.

The Dorianna tour and Rafflecopter with a huge array of great ebooks is still open (until NOV 24). Check out the remaining stops & scroll down to enter the Rafflecopter here.

Today is the last day for Private Internship's YA Bound tour. Here are the last stops with a couple of really nice reviews and a character interview of my main players: Sienna & Caz:
Paradise of Pages – Review ***
books are love - Review ***
Reader Girls - Character interviews! Caz and Sienna
My Crazy Corner - Promo Post

Today's Dorianna stop: my guest post on new twists to Dr. Faustus!

What are YOU up to in November? Doing Nano? If so, feel free to buddy me (CatherineStine).

Indie Life, Reaching your Readers! Plus the Launch of Fairchild's Diamonds & Dust

Today is Indie Life, a feature devised by the lovely Indelible authors. It takes place the second Wednesday of each month, where they invite fellow authors to chat about the indie writing life.

In prepping for the February launch of my new adult romance novella, Model Position, I've been thinking about effective ways to get the word out to readers. Methods of the day change so fast it's dizzying. Reminds me of how Apple and other digital companies are always launching upgrades. But one must keep up; it's an industry essential, indie or not. I think a blog tour is still advisable, or at least a cover reveal and book blitz. Reviews matter, and it's smart to get arcs out to people who are eager to read and review. I've done Netgalley with good results. Another reader site is Wattpad.  I have yet to do a Facebook event, which I will do for Model Position. I have yet to put together a street team--intimidating without a zillion hours a day to devote to it. I'm thinking of hiring an intern... maybe in the new year? Those who have done street teams, how has it gone? I know two authors who hired publicists. I'd have to barter the cost because it's expensive! Though one colleague got TV interviews and the other landed an interview in the Atlantic. Not too shabby! I'll be exploring Yahoo chats and similar venues for my new novella, trying to reach the readers of my genre. What have you all found most effective to get the word out?

Book 1 of the
Jewels of Chandra series

Another creative indie move is to join up with a group of like-minded authors to cross promote. That's how the Indelibles formed. I joined Untethered Realms, an author group who writes speculative fiction. On that note, I'd like to mention the launch of Untethered Realmer, River Fairchild's new novel, Diamonds and Dust!

Magic is real. So is betrayal.

Two heirs. A Kingdom of dust on a troubled world. One might resurrect it. One might destroy it all. Archaeologist David Alexander investigates the cave where his father disappeared and hurtles into another world, one filled with magic and bizarre creatures. The mad ravings in his father's journals of icemen and dragons may not be fantasies after all. 

Convinced his father may still be alive, David begins a treacherous journey to find him and discover a way home. Along the way, he encounters a few unlikely friends. A Dreean warrior, a beautiful thief and a satyr join him as he searches. David's arrival into this new world sets off an explosive chain reaction of events. Faced with powerful adversaries and few clues, he may not get the chance to rescue his father before disaster strikes, condemning both of them to death. Or worse.

AmazonUS, AmazonUK, AmazonDE, Kobo, Barnes & Noble

Apple, SmashWords, Paperback

River Fairchild brandishes a dry sense of humor, and is owned by several cats. Lives in a fantasy world. A fabricator of magic. Makes stuff up and spins tales about it. Believes in Faerie crossings and never stays in one place for very long. Speculative Fiction wordsmith. The secret to her stories? Spread lies, blend in truths, add a pinch of snark and a dash of tears. Escape into her world. She left the porch light on so you can find your way down the rabbit hole.        
Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon /

Moonless is out! An Interview with Crystal Collier, plus the Realms Faire continues!

Today, Idea City helps celebrate the release of Crystal Collier's YA historical paranormal Moonless with an interview! But first, a bit about Moonless:
Alexia’s nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and
forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia
realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family
she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the Soulless.

Where to find Moonless! Kindle, B&N Nook

Tell us about your main character: 

Alexia: The only and unattractive daughter of a country baron, she has lived a secluded life—as her parents fear they’ll never be able to marry her off. She loves books and has been plagued every birthday by the same nightmare: cloaked wraiths in the night, a blue-eyed man, and a beautiful, but dead girl.

In what ways does she change?
The night she stumbles across a murder and the blue-eyed man, she realizes her parents are withholding vital truths about her, the biggest of which is reflected back at her in the mirror. She has transformed from unattractive and unlikely to marry, to gorgeous and highly sought after—in a single night.

Give us your favorite line from your protagonist:
“If I am going to have a fate worse than death, I will take it right here.”

From an antagonist:
“You may beg for many things: death, revenge, mercy. Never ask for pardon.”

An emblematic, teaser paragraph:
Alexia’s nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the Soulless. MOONLESS is Jane Eyre meets Supernatural.

What keeps you going when your inspiration flags?
Music, and cheese.

Best words of advice you ever received?
Dare to dream.

Can you offer some writing advice to aspiring and new authors?
Read like your writing depends on it, because it does.

Which do you enjoy writing most: action, romance, setting, dialog?
All of the above.

A hint of what you’re working on next?
MOONLESS is the first book in a unique trilogy. It has three protagonists, three separate story-lines, and dangers on moonless nights you haven’t even begun to fathom.

Crystal, author of MOONLESS, is a former composer/writer for Black Diamond Productions. She can be found practicing her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, three littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese.

Where can readers find you on the web?

Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Facebook | Amazon Author Page

To learn about the rest of the tour, play Moonless games and win prizes go here!
ALSO! The Realms Faire continues ALL this week! Enter the Rafflecopter for prizes below. To play Phasers click here. And for details on all games click here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Treasures in my Life

I am writing about treasures in my life. It’s this weekend’s theme in Pandora Poikilos’s fun Blog-A-Licious Tour. You don’t have to be in the tour to blog-hop and comment. Great subject, right? It’s a valuable exercise to call up affirmations, especially when you’re stressed, overwhelmed or just plain whiny. If you’re hopping over from Janu’s blog, welcome. And I hope you’ll jump on over to David’s blog, the one after me, when you’re finished mine.

I treasure my writing community—online friends and face-time associates, my longstanding writing group, my zany retreat buddies, my wise agent and the various editors with whom I’ve worked.

I treasure my native imagination. Without it, I’d be lost. I’ve had big fun making up characters like, Johar, a fifteen-year-old Afghan poet and weaver, and futuristic inventions like a credit card skimmer, imbedded in one’s wrist.

My family is a treasure. I’m proud of my sons—one teaching history and geography in a former palace in China, and the other, a fourth-year Arabic student interested in working for a humanitarian organization, who just returned from Cairo. I’m proud of their brave and fearless stance as they traverse the globe. Was it all of our family travels when they were little tykes that inspired them? I’d like to think so. I also treasure the fact that my hubby and I have been friends for so long.

I treasure my years as a painter, and I treasure art, as it has complimented my journey into narrative. For writing, as painting, is about “brushing in” vivid scenes, plot and characters, and layering—a layer of scaffold, a layer of detail, a layer of suspense, a pulling-back layer of compression, a final glossy varnish that pops the story to brilliant highlights and shadowy depth.

I treasure my students, for they inspire and amaze me.

I encourage you to jump over to the blogs below, also in the tour, to read about what others treasure. But first, leave me a note about what you treasure!

1. Dilman
2. Debbie
3. Shelley
4. Lucy
5. Karen
6. Shannon
7. Dora
8. Hope
9. Janet
10. Karen
11. Janu

12. Catherine

13. David

14. Stuart

15. Pandora