Book cover does its job

Sheri McGathy's cover for Dark Lady's Stone is really working. 

Yesterday I went to Postal Annex to mail a copy of my book to a family friend. Another customer pointed at the cover, "Oooh! I want to read this one! And I've got some friends who'd like it, too." So I gave her several of the cards I've printed up with the Amazon and Kindle links. 

Then the manager (who was packaging the book) said, "Several local authors have sold a lot of books placing them here. We'd love to carry yours. It looks really interesting." 

So I came home and ordered half a dozen. 

On Being a New Author

What a scramble! Getting word out about Dark Lady's Stone to all my friends--past and present--relatives, writers' groups, and acquaintances. Lots of fun reconnections... Get business cards printed up with the cover, directing people to Amazon. Thank all the gods for Pages! Every morning I check for sales. I've actually sold 3-4 books! Oooo! Of course it's nothing compared to J. K. Rowling or even "Robert Galbraith." But it's me.

I go to unfry my brain in the coffee shop. I take my proof copy of Dark Lady's Stone and put it out on the table. I've gotten several queries. It's fun to meet people and ask what they like to read.

I'm doing my own formatting for e-publication, Kindle Direct and Smashwords, following their guidelines. Time-consuming but I enjoy tinkering.

My story is out

The Sword & Saga supplement to American Athenaeum's Front Porch issue is out. It contains my story, "The Whitewood Kitarra." This prequel to The Dark Lady's Stone, which I am in the process of self-publishing, tells of how Loriano came to the Karaskan court and was named troubadour to Countess Elisse. Many thanks to editor Hunter Liguore for asking about this story and for her detailed edits to my manuscript.

Sold a story!

My alter-ego Christie Maurer just signed a contract for a short story, "Heritage," to appear in the October issue of White Cat Magazine.

"Heritage" is about two nasty people and a ghost in a crumbling Victorian. It came out of a writing exercise at a Monterey Bay Romance Writers meeting several years ago. The assignment was to write a brief scene of two people outside a house. There is something inside that one doesn't want the other to see. One tries to get in, the other tries to keep him/her out. Other members of the group came up with a dead body, a hidden treasure, drugs, or stolen loot. In "Heritage" it's none of the above.