Newsy Bits

As of last weekend, my ninth StarDoc novel, Crystal Healer, is out on the shelves at all of the chain booksellers. Readers have also confirmed that it's been shipped from B&N.com, so if you were waiting until the official August release date there's really no need to anymore.

I wasn't expecting a two-week jump on the laydown date; I thought I had another week to put something together for release day. Thus I'm woefully unprepared (as I whined about this week over at the group blog.) Bad PBW. No cookie for me.

I would give away some copies today, but I never received any ARCs for this one, and (ironically) they haven't sent me my author copies yet. Hopefully they will soon before I have to go buy copies of my own book to keep my friends and mother from strangling me.

Anyway, um . . . happy premature release day to me.

The folks at Berkley/NAL/Perigee Publicity for Penguin Group (USA) as well as my editor told me to put an announcement on my web site about a new e-book version of Twilight Fall that is being sold over in the UK by Waterstone; the sales page for it is here.

Alas, I don't have a web site, but I hope you all won't mind me mentioning it here so I can make the people in NY happy.

Looks like you can download it from Waterstone in Adobe Digital Edition; I'm not seeing any other format for sale (but I might be looking at the wrong button or something.)

19

Today is Monday, and also my birthday. I would lie and tell you I'm 29, but these days that only fools the people with white canes and guide dogs. I think we need another way to measure age. Let's see, in dog years, I'm 6.7142857142857142857142857. Or the square root of 2,209 (if you say that really fast it sounds like 29.)

We're not officially partying until tonight when my guy gets home from work, but this past weekend he arranged a lovely romantic dinner for us. I've shamelessly dropped hints for the last couple of weeks, so tonight when I unwrap my gifts I expect to find a reading lamp for the living room, a set of corn holders, and a new purse to replace the only one I own, which the Smithsonian has asked me to donate for their upcoming exhibit on Jurassic-era accessories.

On the professional front, things have been a little tough. My latest release didn't make it into many stores in time for the holiday weekend, and a significant piece of advertising for it that I had been counting on was misplaced or lost. It didn't seem fair, but Publishing rarely is, so I battened down the hatches and resigned myself to disappointing the folks in NY again. I even e-mailed my agent in advance and warned her how poor the book's performance was likely to be under the circumstances.

Then you guys go and put Twilight Fall at #19 on the New York Times mass market bestseller list. Now what do I say? Aside from Holy Toledo, is that really my book on there? and I have the best readers on the planet, I mean.

I honestly don't know what to say. I've written this post about two thousand times already, and no matter how much I edit it, I still sound like I'm babbling. I am so grateful to you, to all of you.

I'm 47 today, and my novel is 19. It's a gift I'll never forget. Thank you.

Valentin Returns

Today is the release day for my sixth Darkyn novel, Twilight Fall. This book features Valentin Jaus, the suzerain from Chicago who first appeared in Private Demon, and Liling Harper, a gardener who (indirectly) works for Jaus at a private rehabilitation hospital. The series protagonists, Alexandra Keller and Michael Cyprien, also return to continue their quest for everlasting love, a cure for the Darkyn, and what to do on the LearJet during those long, boring flights to the West coast.

So far the feedback from my readers has been quite positive, something I really wasn't expecting after the popularity of Evermore, which was a very different book from this one. Also, two cameo scenes from TF have resulted in a flood of requests for Rain and Farlae's story. I would have to do that as a free e-book, and I can't promise anything, as I've already got Incarnatio to work on for this fall. But if/when the work schedule permits, I hope to write a novella about the guys and how they met.

It's tough for me to ask readers to buy my books when the economy is so bad, but this is how I make my living, and sales of my work in print provide the funds for everything else I do here at PBW. That and if I don't do at least one straight self-promo post for the book, I think they will send someone to the house to break my legs. So if you enjoy dark fantasy and vampire fiction, and you have some room on a gift card or a few bucks to spare, I hope you'll check out Twilight Fall, now available for order online or at most U.S. bookstores nationwide.

Dilemma

When I got the call last year that Night Lost debuted at #21 on the New York Times mass market extended bestseller list, I was dumbfounded. That had never happened to me, and I had basically resigned myself to the fact that it never would.

Once the shock wore off, however, I calmed down and pegged it as a one-time fluke. Maybe it was a slow month, maybe the bookstores unpacked my boxes first, or maybe a couple of thousand people were bored, wanted something new to read, and decided this while standing next to the V shelf. No way would it happen again.

I kept up that attitude until January, when Evermore debuted at #21 on the Times list, and hung on for a second week at #30. Amazing stuff, or so I thought until I got yelled at for it.

You see, as it has been explained to me, it's not making the list another time, it's what number your book makes on the list. According to my publisher's rules, their marketing people may not refer to me as a NYT bestselling author until my novel makes it to #20 or better. So while my books have appeared on the extended list three times now, I'm still publicized as only a USA Today bestseller (I notice that my series, however, is being touted on online bookseller sites as a NYT bestseller. Different set of rules for the books, I guess.)

Since my second experience of having a novel make the Times list was pretty much ruined by all the unhappiness it caused in NY, I couldn't look forward to my next release. In fact, for the last couple of weeks, I've been dreading it. I keep thinking, with my luck? The book will hit #21 on the list again, and this time they'll send someone to the house to break my legs.

So, before my next release hits the shelves on July 1st, should I:

A. Leave the country and hide out in Europe until it's all over and they're mad at someone else.

B. Have my phone and ISP service turned off until it's all over, etc.

C. Hire a sweet-voiced secretary to say I can't come to the phone or answer e-mail because I'm suffering from a case of acute tinnitus and pink eye.

D. Hire a mean-voiced secretary to say I'm not available and not to bother me or I may decide to make a living writing dog food commercials.

D1. Check out the exciting career opportunities available in the dog food commercial writing field.

D2. I do love dogs almost as much as I love cats.

D3. I'd get to work with David Duchovny, too, if Pedigree signed me, right?

D4. But David's still married, and I'm in a committed relationship too.

D5. Rats.

E. Get a prescription for Valium and stay on it for the entire month of July.

F. Practice New Age excuses for the book not performing to expectation, like, "The planets weren't aligned correctly" or "I forgot to have my chakrahs balanced" or "Someone must have drained the energy from my writing aura."

G. Blame it on a conspiracy by the Times to keep me at #21 in retaliation for all the times I've made fun of their badly-worded annual rec lists.

H. Hire some big guys from the old neighborhood to answer the phone and casually mention how much they love me, how willing they'd be to stomp into the ground anyone upsets me, and how quickly they can be in New York.

H1. Hire some big guys from the old neighborhood to break both of my legs as a preemptive move, go into the hospital that doesn't have WiFi, and unplug the room phone.

H2. Okay, pretend to have them break both of my legs.

I. Start a Times list betting pool for the new release, and put all my money on #21.

J. Start a rumor that #21 on the Times list is better than #20 and, in fact, usually outsells them.

K. Put my fingers in my ears and sing La-La-La continuously for the next five weeks.

L. Have a highly-publicized nervous breakdown, and twitch and foam at the mouth uncontrollably whenever someone says the words "bestseller list."

M. Consider that I'm already having a nervous breakdown and just haven't realized it yet.

M1. Try to find a therapist who won't break down in tears halfway through the first session.

M2. There's no shame in going back to the therapist, you know, or making her cry again. The poor woman probably needs the emotional outlet.

N. Become a Victoria's Secret Lingerie Model and make Heidi Klum my BFF so I can get Seal's new albums and some of those cute four-leaf clover gold earrings for nothing.

O. Hey, I'm fantasizing here.

P. Have the part of my brain that worries surgically removed.

Q. Take a very looooooooooooooooooong nap.

R. Call Alison Kent and keep her on the phone for five weeks.

S. Go alligator hunting and get lost in the Everglades with a large, single, strapping young male guide who finds me wildly attractive and hasn't had sex since Clinton was in office.

S1. P.S., Bring lots of vitamin E, good sunscreen and strong mosquito repellent.

T. Write a blog post about bestseller list dread, laugh at myself, and then just let it go.

U. But check on the availability of the guys from the old neighborhood, just in case.

Cast your vote in comments.

Purchase Excuse Ten

Ten Excuses to Make if You're Caught Buying My Next Novel

1. I accidentally sneezed on it and I don't want to spread my germs to another unsuspecting customer.

2. I just like looking at the pretty covers.

3. I saw Scott McClellan holding a copy while we were standing in the unemployment line last week.

4. If I buy two I get one free, and this is the third one I picked up, so technically, I'm not buying it.

5. I'm dyslexic; I thought it was Paula Deen's new cookbook Fry It, Y'all.

6. My religious zealot group is having a bonfire tonight and I couldn't find a copy of The Da Vinci Code.

7. Oh, geez, how embarrassing. I really meant to get that other Twilight novel.

8. She sent me a free signed book once and I don't want to owe her.

9. The subliminals she embedded in the online excerpt must be making me do this.

10. We ran out of maple mulch for the garden and it's kind of the same color.

Fall Winners

You all really outdid yourselves listing risk-taking writers for the Take the Fall giveaway; I've added at least a dozen names to my shopping list.

We put the magic hat in action this morning, and the names of the winners are:

Darlene Ryan

Saint Andie

drpepper2531

Holly (whose comment began with I'm in. I NEED that book...I thought I would be the only one to name Gaiman and Pratchett as two of my favorite risk takers...)

lesleen

observations from the couch

Robin Bev

Fritzz

Adele

Amy (whose comment began with Almost all mine are already taken... I'll see your bets of LKH, JR Ward, Anne Bishop, Mercedes Lackey's Herald Mage books...)

Winners, please send your full name and ship-to address to LynnViehl@aol.com, and I'll get your ARCs out to you. Thanks to everyone for joining in.

Take the Fall

When readers ask me which of the Darkyn books is my favorite (and hold a gun to my head to make me answer them) I think I usually say Dark Need. Writing Lucan as I actually envisioned him versus serving up the expected romance wonderbread version was an amazing experience. I never had so much fun, or colored so far outside the lines. It definitely helped me prepare for what I wanted to do when I set out to write Valentin's story in Twilight Fall.

No one but my editor has read TF yet, and she didn't say much, other than fix this and explain that (when you get to my stage of the game, they rarely do.) So I don't really know how it's going to be received. I try not to over-analyze my work, but in my head I keep making up these little novel billboards, and seeing myself in July on TF release day planting them down the length of the bookstore V aisle, like those old Burma Shave road signs:

Caution: Unconventional Protagonists

And Multiple Plot Lines Ahead

Exit Now, Militant Feminists

Because This Sure Ain't Wonderbread

and maybe a nice big shelf sitter, right in front of Twilight Fall, because I know I'm going to get grief for it:

Warning! Ends on Series Cliffhanger*

Sure, I probably could have saved myself a lot of hassle by penning a vanilla-pop version of Val, or churning out a clone of Night Lost or Evermore. But what fun would that be to write? And what would I do with all my nifty new signs?

I do have a nice stack of ARCs to pass along to those of you still willing to take TF for a test drive, so in comments to this post, name a writer who you think takes interesting risks with their work (or if you only read the safe and predictable sort, just throw your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Monday, March 24, 2008. I'll draw ten names at random from all the daredevils who participate and send the winners a signed ARC of my sixth Darkyn novel, Twilight Fall. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something at PBW in the past.

*Val's story is resolved in the book, but someone else's gets much more interesting.

The 1-Star Pool

It seems that as of this hour Evermore has snagged seven straight 5-star reviews on Amazon.com, something that to my knowledge hasn't ever happened with any of my public work.

Naturally a friend and I had to make a charity bet on when the first 1-star review would show up, because we're writers, we have no lives and that's the sort of thing we do to amuse ourselves.

I thought you guys might want to get in on the betting pool this time, too. If you're game, read the rules below* and then guess the position number of the first 1-star review on Amazon.com for Evermore (or if you're not sure what I mean, pick a number from 8 to infinity) by midnight EST on January 14, 2008. I will draw one name at random from everyone who chooses the correct position number and send the winner a signed copy of Evermore. As a bonus incentive, I will also add the winner's name to the ARC mailing list for Twilight Fall. This contest is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*Rule #1: Post only one guess. Anyone who posts multiple guesses will be tossed out of the contest.

Rule #2: The participants agree on their honor not to go over to Amazon.com and post a 1-star review in order to influence the contest. This goes for your friends, too.

Rule #3: If by some bizarre chance no 1-star review for Evermore posts on Amazon.com by 1/14/2008, and I don't drop dead of a heart attack, I'll draw the name of the winner from everyone who participates.

Post-Tweak Art

Posting got seriously postponed today -- my teenager had a Geometry homework project to finish last night that ran into extra innings, snarled thread, bent nails -- you know that string art thing they make them do with the wire brads and the pearl cotton? That one. Anyway, we finally knocked it out, and I've renewed my opinion that high school math teachers are closet sadists.

Final cover art for Twilight Fall:



The changes are very subtle, but this cover needed very little in the way of adjustments. Two out of three alterations I suggested were done. I think overall Val looks less alien-eyed than he did in the prototype. And while I'll always have a very different mental image of my character, Valentin v. 2.0 works for me.

Publishing in the Time of Cholera

You know, some day I am going to have to read Gabriel García Márquez. If only to admire the major cajones it takes for an author to set a romance during a time when everyone is suffering from acute bacterial-induced diarrheal illness.

I promised you announcements and news, didn't I? First, the news: Omega Games, StarDoc book eight, has been accepted by my editor, so that's a done deal. I'm hoping to soon hear the same with Twilight Fall, as I've turned in the revisions for that one.

Speaking of Valentin:



My editor has requested some changes, and I'll probably suggest two minor tweaks, but this is basically what the cover will look like. I'm quite happy with it; they've altered some of the elements but it still carries on the originality of the series cover art theme.

Announcements: Over the next couple of weeks, PBW will be undergoing some blog renovation. Among the changes I'm making will be updated links and category indexes for the Friday 20 and the freeware and online tools for writers collection.

One of my policies here at PBW is that I've never allowed advertising, and that includes advertising from my own publishers. Due to the high cost of self-promotion, which most writers can't afford, and the ridiculous prices popular bloggers are charging for ad space, I'm going to amend that policy in 2008 and begin a new monthly feature.

PBW's Release Co-op will allow authors who blog to post on PBW weblog links, cover thumbnails, brief announcements and links to online bookseller sites where readers can purchase their new releases. This feature is not open to publishers, publicists, book buyers, editors or agents, but any author who blogs regardless of genre, content or publisher can make use of it with no strings and at no charge whatsoever. I'll post more on the particulars as I put it together.

On the current blog content, for the rest of 2007 I'll probably skip the usual feature schedule I've had over the last couple of years and just post whatever appeals to me on that day. I've never been much of a pantser blogger, but I think it will be good for me to break up the routine.

That's all for now. I hope you'll stop by again and see what other trouble I can stir up in the weeks ahead.

Public Service Announcement

My sixth Darkyn novel, Swans Fall, was renamed last week. The new title is Twilight Fall. Please note that while swans occasionally do fall in strange places, the retitling was requested by the publisher for marketing purposes only.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled PBW posts.