Death Reflected coming soon

After finishing up book 3 in the Liz Baker series, Killer Intentions, I had an idea to throw out a short story about Liz's interesting elderly neighbor, MaryAnne Patterson.  She has been Liz's neighbor for a while now and is always happy to step in to pick up the mail and care for Liz's cat, Tara, when Liz is away.  But there was always something mingling in the back of my mind, something not quite normal about Mrs. Patterson.

Death Reflected is the story of how Liz found out the deep, dark, hidden secret MaryAnne hoped no one would ever figure out.  This story will be a freebie for all my Liz Baker fans.  Once completed, I'll post it free of charge on the website and let you know of it's availability. 

Keep in mind that Death Reflected should be read AFTER Killer Intentions.  The scene actually happens in the middle of Killer Intentions, but is only mentioned ever so slightly during a sleepy-time chat between Liz and Chad.  Just enough to give me the lead in for the short story.

I'll post more about it when the editing is done and the e-cover is ready for viewing.  :)

New review for the Liz Baker series.

Good reviews always make an author happy, but usually they are reviews for single books.  This time I received a review for the entire Liz Baker series, thus far.  Check out what Author Robin Renee Ray has to say about her enjoyment of Liz's life and the people around her.  :)

"I have been a Fan of the Liz Baker series and her walk from being the non-caring bar owner to being the owner of a large estate that she inherited when a dear family friend passed. When she went from a normal state of life where hanging with friends and having flings with the same long time bud with benefits was what completed her existence. Then, of course, he came in the mist of the quake that had fallen on her world, the one who walked the night and sought more than just the blood in her veins.

Liz took the life of the one who allured her into the darkness, and saved a man that later took her heart. In this book, you see where the two have traveled and how much Liz’s journey into the world of the unknown has taken them. The things she finds out are nothing compared to finding out that she herself was half vampire, child of the one who sent the night walker to allure her to the dark side in books one and two. Even her deceased mother, who came to her aid when needed, was not as shocking as what she discovers in, Killer Intentions.

I can’t just recommend this book, without saying read them all. It is a complete tale of intrigue, deceit, paranormal in both the vampire world as well as the mystical, and the pivotal growth of romance is insurmountable. Liz not only develops as a woman, but her powers in the field of magic, that she is only on the very edge of learning, is developing faster than any can explain. Christie Silvers is taking her characters on a rapid running river of excitement in every area. If I could give this series more than a 5Star, I would be the first to do it!"

Read an E-Book Week

March 4-10 is Read an E-Book Week.  In honor of this week, I have put two of my most popular books on sale for $0.00 on Smashwords.com. 

Time for Death (Liz Baker, book 1):  Click here and use code RE100 at checkout to snag it for free!

Dark Promises:  Click here and use code RE100 at checkout to snag it for free as well!

I hope that you'll enjoy them enough to leave a review on any book site of your choice.  Some of my favorites are Smashwords (of course), Amazon, B&N, GoodReads, and Shelfari.

Now I'm off to spend a few hours with the family before the hubby starts night shift tonight.  He's not pleased, but I'll have the bed all to myself for a while. :D

Check 'Em Out!

Happy Friday! Whew! I didn't think this week would ever end. I'm so looking forward to sleeping in this weekend, especially since I've been up at 5:30am every day for two weeks now. Yuck. However, it was all worth it in the end due to the wonderful people I've met and the fun I had.

As promised, today I'm going to share some of the authors I met. Keep in mind that I met a LOT of people and writers, and I can't possibly share them all. These are few of the people I talked to most and really enjoyed the time we had together.

If you read about my candy pushing method yesterday you'll remember my neighbor in candy crime. Hawk MacKinney was the funny author who wouldn't let people pass without taking candy. Hawk is a retired Navy man who teaches and writes. At Book 'Em he displayed his book Moccasin Trace. If you enjoy Civil War stories definitely check his out.

My neighbor to the left was the lovely Suzanne Adair. She's a friendly soul who smiles easily and has joked on Twitter about my candy pushing this week. I hope to see her again next year. Suzanne writes fiction set during the Revolutionary War. She says that her son calls her books stories about kick-ass women in history.

Suspense and thriller writers Michael Palmer and his son Daniel Palmer were both interesting, pleasant, and an enjoyment to be around. Daniel is hilarious and we all got a kick out of his thoughts on adding a companion dog to a story. Apparently dogs can fix any flawed manuscript. LOL!

Oh, and I can't forget the beautiful E. Marie Sanders! She is a doll. I enjoyed listening to her speak during one of the conference talks, and talking to her when she came around to my table earlier in the day. Since then we have connected online and I hope to talk with her more in the future. E. Marie writes Christian fiction. Yes, yes, definitely not my type of stories, but if you enjoy those you should check her out. :)

Last, but certainly not least, is the wonderful, talented, and super busy Trish Terrell (P.M. Terrell). Not only can this woman write, but she is the friendliest of all people I've ever met. Trish is a co-founder of the Book 'Em Foundation and, boy, did she do the work for it. The event couldn't have happened without her. Trish writes suspense novels.

There were so many other wonderful people, too many to mention, that I met over the weekend. I hope to see them all again next year!

Dinner with authors.

Continuing my recounts of the Book 'Em NC event, today I want to talk about the Author Meet-n-Greet from the night before the big event.

Let me first go into my expectations.

This was my first big conference, out of state, and I wondered if I'd have to deal with the shunning that comes with being an Independent Author. I was really dreading the first time the question about my publisher was asked. Now don't get me wrong, I've met sooooo many authors online, both indies like myself and the traditionally published ones. Ninety-nine percent of them are the kindness people you'll ever meet. Yet there's still that one percent that will look down on anyone who didn't publish in the same manner they have.

With my worries settled into the pit of my stomach, and the excitement of just being there set my nerve endings twittering, I walked into the banquet room. It only took a moment to spot one of the ladies I had been talking to online. With an excited greeting and a big hug, all that anxiety melted away. Soon I was meeting new people, all as friendly as ever. With Tim to my right, the round table we'd chosen to sit at filled in with other authors & their guests.

It took another half an hour before that most dreaded question was asked.

In line at the buffet, the author in front of me asked, "And who are you published through?" Eek! I thought my brain would explode. "I'm an independent," I replied, holding my breath.

But. . . my brain didn't explode. I wasn't looked at like I'd lost my mind. She asked how sales were, if I enjoyed it, who my printer was, and then she mentioned a friend of hers interested in the process and promised to send him to my table the next day.

YAY!!!

Throughout the weekend I answered this question a total of four times, and each time I responded the same, receiving almost identical polite responses. After being in this business as an independent author for almost 7 years, I am so happy to see that the tide is turning when it comes to the ridicule. Most readers don't care who handled the printing and distribution of a book, just so long as the book provides a good story to entertain them. And now I'm happy to see that most authors don't care either!

With the shift in publishing toward the independent side, and many traditionally published authors taking things on for themselves, I hope the question of publishers continues to dwindle in the future. No author should have to feel that ball in the pit of their stomachs over the idea of being put down for their publishing choices.

And as I told the first author to ask, I love every minute of being an independent. I have never regretted my decision to take this route and each day brings a renewed happiness of choice. Choice over deadlines, choice over cover designs, and choice over presentation of a story you've worked so hard to produce.

But I digress... I haven't gotten off the topic of dinner here.

The dinner was held at Village Station 1893 Restaurant, with the owner Arnold West greeting each author like a new best friend. The food was delicious, the staff friendly, and the conversations lively with a room full of writers. It was so much fun being in a room of people with similar interests. We talked about books, e-books, Kindles, what genre we write in, where everyone was from, introduced our spouses/guests, and discussed our children (or lack thereof). All the normal stuff. It was great fun!

At the end of the night, we had all made some new friends to talk to the next day, and hopefully long into the future. I've already friended several online since returning home and others have friended me.

As a side note story, one lady really tickled me at the dinner. She was handing out her card to everyone and came to our table. I was talking to the author on my left when this lady came up to Tim and asked, "Are you the writer, or just the husband?" Tim replied, "I'm just the husband." We laughed for days about that. I said, "You're not JUST the husband, you're also the chauffeur!" LOL.

Stop by tomorrow when I share links to some of the authors I enjoyed speaking with at the conference. They were all great people. :)