The Offical Cover Of As The World Dies Revealed

I absolutely love this. LOVE IT! My husband did such a great job.

Where Will You Be Able To Get Your Copy of As The World Dies

I have had quite a few queries about where people will be able to purchase As The World Dies: The First Days.

Since I am going the route of an Independent Author, I cannot compete with the big NYC bookstores and buy up space in your local book stores. But the book will be available online. My personal website will have its own store and this will be where I hope you buy your book. The royalties to me via that store will be higher than the second location you will be able to buy your book. That will be Amazon.com. Amazon's cut of the pie is much larger if you buy it from them. As an Indie Author, the money I make from the book will go into getting the next book ready and provide financing for promoting the book. Hopefully, I will be able to make it some Horror Conventions to sell my book and have a book signing.

My husband and I are also looking into putting out a Kindle version of the book and also an ebook version that will be on another online bookstore. We're trying to cover all our bases and make sure that people can get the book in the format they want.

As for international fans, we're trying to figure that out as well. It's important to me that fans out of the U.S. have a shot at buying the book as well.

For those of you who want an autographed copy, we're trying to set up a system for that as well.

This is definitely a learn as you go endeavor, but we are listening to your requests and trying to figure out how to respond.

And to those who are worried about the book quality, we are working with Amazon's own publishing house to make sure you get the best product possible. As you can tell by the cover artwork, we are determined to put out the best book possible.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me or post your question in the comments.

Now I'm off to work on the edits....

I Love My Fans

This is a quote from a fan on a forum where As The World Dies was originally posted.

BOOYAAAHH HUZZAH HOORAY WOOT YEEHAWW YIPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

Ermm I mean, oh? really? that is good news.

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE DA BOOK IS BEING RELEASED SOOOOOOOOOON

I love you, guys. Seriously. You encouraged me to get my zombie epic (now trilogy) published and now its happening.

You're my inspiration.

I have the world's greatest fans.

Jenni's Got A Gun...And the As The World Dies Book Release Date

The As The World Dies cover is just rawkin' it for me. I have to admit it surpasses my hopes and dreams. Sean Detra did a masterful job of bringing the characters to life. Since this is my first time ordering a book cover and trying to convey my vision to the artist, I wasn't too clear on a few aspects.

The original piece had Jenni's hands empty and that seemed wrong. Sure, in the beginning of the book she is almost catatonic, but soon she evolved into a young woman with a serious bloodlust for the undead. George, a co-worker and diehard fan of Jenni, took a look at the original and said, "Necklace is too long. Needs a shotgun." He was right. The artist added a handgun (that perfectly matches her dangerous expression) and revised her long necklace into a few short ones. When I saw the new version, I was like "YES!"

As for Katie, she's perfection. Just perfection. Her outfit, her hair, her expression, everything...perfectly Katie.


It's exciting to see my girls fleshed out.

Since I now have the cover artwork, that means my husband and I can work on the cover's final design this weekend. The website has actually been ready, but my husband wanted to wait until we had the final book cover before we posted it. Hopefully, it will be up in a few days. Yes, I know I have said this before, but sometimes I am naive about the length of time that goes into a project like this.

At this point, our tenative publication date for As The World Dies: A Zombie Trilogy-The First Days is....


August 15, 2008


Stay tuned for more details...

Jenni and Katie Revealed!!! The As The World Dies Cover is almost done

It's almost done. The cover of As The World Dies is almost done. The cover artwork is finished, but we need to add the title, bar code, ISBN, author photo, and summary to get the whole thing done.

Want to see a snippet of the amazing work of Sean Detra, the artist?

Then here you go...



He did such an amazing job. Please check out his website here where you can see the first version of the cover (which will probably be used for one of the other two books in the trilogy or the anthology) and the original version of this cover. There have been some small tweaks since then. If you love his art, please buy something and support his artistic endeavors. He is such a great artist and he brought my girls to life with utter perfection.

I'm so stoked. So excited. So amazed.

He's fabulous.

And so is his artwork.

Progress...at last!!!

Two bits of good news:

1. The artwork for the cover is done and will soon be in may anxious lil' hands.

2. The new version of my website is now done.

Yay!

The website was supposed to be up sometime ago, but because we decided to support open source programs, my husband had to train himself to use those programs. The first version was good, but we weren't totally happy with it. So he redid it and its looking nice. It should be up sometime this week.

We'll definitely be premiering the cover soon as well. I'm so excited!!! I'm nearly bouncing off the walls with joy.

The manuscript is still being edited and we're moving along toward our August publication date.

As for my strange apathy, eh...I have no excuse and no explanation.

The reality is that though I want to write something new, I need to revise the second book in the Zombie trilogy and I just gotta get cracking on it. The new stuff can wait until we're done with the trilogy. Making that decision has been a good one for me and I plan to hunker down on the second book this week.

Mecury Retrograde...That's My Excuse!!!

Actually, I have no real excuse for the bizarre malaise that has gripped me.

Moody Lil Bitches

A very long time ago, I bought a replica of this painting. I had no idea who it was or what it was even about. I just knew I loved it at first sight. It now hangs in my home and people often comment on it. It's a stark, intense painting and I love it.

Years later, I found out that the painting was of Sappho, a legendary writer that remains highly regarded to this day. "Dark little Sappho" with her brooding intensity appealed to me when I was still discovering my own writer's voice. The fact she is such a highly regarded female writer of lyric poetry appeals to me. She stands among greats and is considered by some to be the greatest.

Of course, she is also well known for her homoerotic poetry and her name and the place of her birth, Lesbos, has heavily influenced the lesbian community. I may not be gay (though some of my characters are!), but I can see why they adore her.

She's a strong woman who made an impact on our world.

I adore strong women. I also happen to be one. It's often not an easy role to have when people see you as a pillar of strength in adversity. It puts a helluvalot of pressure on you to go beyond what you feel are your limits. I admit I'm often shocked at how much I can accomplish when I push myself. Family, friends and co-worker see me as someone they can depend on and as I grow older, I am more comfortable with this role.

But when it comes to my role as a writer....UGH!!

I really love what I write. I wouldn't write it if I didn't want to read it. I often write because I want to know how the damn story ends! But just because I adore a certain character and love to hang out in an imaginary world does not necessarily mean everyone out there will, too.

I cruise writer's blogs. It's cool to see what's up in the minds of other people slogging away at their computers to create fantastic worlds. Two topics caught my eye recently: self-promotion and reviews.

I have to admit, both of these things make me shudder.

I love positive reviews, but the negative ones can be a little disconcerting. Whenever I get a negative review, I consider what the reader is saying seriously (unless its obvious they're just trolling). If I want to be the best writer I can be, I'm going to have to take some hits and learn from them when they are legit. It just sucks donkey balls to realize you've goofed it. But if I realize its legit, I do take care to evolve and change. I am not perfect, so I know my writing won't be either. It does annoy the hell out of me when some one's version of a review is them telling you how they would write your story (...and you should have so and so die and the robot should really be blah blah blah...and this gun should be..and blah blah blah). Reviews are tricky things. They are valuable when they give you new perspective. But when I realize someone is just being a troll, I just ignore and keep going.

As for the whole self promotion thing...yuck. I have noticed that most writer's websites look identical and they all write in a particular style in their blogs. I'm not stupid. I know the pack mentality when I see it. I've never done well with packs. I'm that weird girl standing on the outside of it. Hell, I was Goth before I knew what Goth was.

But I can't fault the other authors for this. Our whole society is obsessed with either being this really cool individual that sticks out from the crowd (so we can ridicule them later) or running with the pack of the cool peeps(so we can ridicule them later). And when people see something is working for a successful author, I think the inclination is that is they have the magic formula, quick, grab it!

Mary Janice Davidson, for example, is credited for creating paranormal chick lit. The woman is freaking hilarious and foul mouthed to boot. Seriously warped. She makes me laugh out loud when I'm reading her Betsy series (the mermaid series..not so much though). As soon as she hit the big time, the market flooded with knock offs. I tried reading one, but it really sucked (no pun intended) and I couldn't stand it. I didn't even finish it or if I did, I have blocked it from my mind! Long story short, I don't read any paranormal chick lit but MJD. Everything else just feels fake.

Laurell K. Hamilton, meanwhile, is well known at this point in her career for books full of vampire and furry were-animal orgies. I loved the books in the Anita Blake series until Narcissus in Chains. It was in that book that all that had come before took a flying leap out the window and we all fell down the rabbit hole into paranormal porn theater. When LKH wrote that infamous "Dear Negative Reader" post, she was writing to me. I have completely checked out of that series and the Merry one and I'm not spending a cent on the books anymore. But she makes the big bucks and has lots of fans, so there are copycats everywhere. Sunny is one that comes to mind with her Mona Lisa books. I read one of her short stories in an anthology and actually checked online to see if it was LKH in disguise. Nope. Just a copycat. I don't read either author.

Its so bizarre to feel so much pressure to be a unique writer but at the same time fit into the pack. I see it on so many blogs and articles about the publishing world it makes my head spin. "Stand out to the agents and publishing houses!" headlines scream over articles that tell you how to stun and amaze the gatekeepers. Of course, this will most likely result in a nice form letter that reads "This is not what we are looking for. We want paranormal chick lit and erotic werewolf vampire orgies". Okay, leave off the second sentence, but that's what you'll end up with. Try and stand out and you'll probably get kicked to the curve.

I would love to think that as an Independent Author I'm free of these two sharp barbs, but I'm not. I will have reviews that I will want to frame and hang on my wall and others that will probably make me want to crawl under my desk. I'll face the big questions of "Do I just be my normal, weird gothy self or try and look like I'm normal. Is what I'm writing the way to go or should I try something different?"

At this point, I'm inclined to just be who I am in my blog, website and myspace. I'm going to write what I want to read and hope people like it. The pressure is still there...to stun and amaze with my wonderful individuality...while running with the pack and hanging with the cool kids.

Eh...

Goths dress better anyway....

Just check out Sappho...

Scribd

The short stories have been up on Scribd for awhile now. It's been interesting to see which ones are the most popular. The most hits are on the zombie story (I'm not surprised) and the romantic vampire story (I am surprised). The most comments were actually on the robot short and the vampire tale of revenge.

It's weird seeing how things stack up. The two most popular stories are not the ones garnering comments. And the two stories that received the most comments are not receiving more hits because of the positive reviews.

The fifth wheel in the equation is the story about the vampire child. It's kinda goofy and odd, so I'm not surprised its dead last in the hits and has zero comments. I've had a few people in my " real" life read it and tell me how surprised they were to like it. It's just so off beat in premise, I think people don't risk reading it.

I hope to get more writing up on Scribd now that I have switched jobs and I hope not to suffer so much brain drain.

If you do read any of the stories on Scribd, please let me know what you think of them. I'm actually using the response to the stories to figure out which novel I will write next.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on getting As The World Dies ready to go...

I'm thinking the release date will be August 15, 2008.

I'll keep you updated.