Waking the Siren

What?! Two blog posts in two days! What gives?

Believe it or not, I planned to follow up on yesterdays with another anyhow. However, I realized I’d forgotten to do something (namely this), so that comes in first. Who knows, maybe I’ll hit 3 posts in three days. Ahem, now then, on to the heart of the matter…

First off, this is not my book. It is, however, a good book. A really good book, in fact, and the second one in a series of great reads from J.E. Taylor, a personal friend of mine. I’m sharing it with you because I want more people to read her work and get hooked on her. And why not, my next release, The Goblin Queen, is probably a good month away still given more writing, editing, and cover art. You need something to do until then – why not try Jane out?

Kylee is at it again in the second installment of The Paradox Files. This time her nemesis is a bicorn who feeds on virtue and devotion, however Kylee isn’t sure which is more dangerous, the Nevada desert or the beast.

Pre-Order Waking the Siren now and this kick-ass urban fantasy novel will be delivered to your device on May 15th!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2oUrtED
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1125813636
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1207607207
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/waking-the-siren

J.E. Taylor is also hosting a Facebook release party on May 15th from 5pm EST to 10pm EST and she is having some cool giveaways.
The giveaway is already up on the event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/282885308789043/permalink/283037568773817/
So swing in, enter the giveaway for $25 Amazon gift card and other cool things and say hello. You never know who might swing in to say hi.

If you’re looking for the first book in The Paradox Files series, currently it can only be found in the Legends of the Damned collection which you can read for free if you’re in Kindle Unlimited. If not, $2.99 is a steal for a collection of 20 books!
You can buy or borrow it here: http://amzn.to/2pkyTDR

And last, but not least, J.E. Taylor has her shifter romance novel, Blood Moon, in an upcoming summer collection with 22 other authors. This limited edition collection of 23 paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels – Venom & Vampires – is on sale for $0.99 through the preorder period. Grab it now on any of these sites:
Amazon (US): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZZXWB1G/

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/venom-vampires-casey-lane/1126256052?ean=9781537899671

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1228321239

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/venom-vampires

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Casey_Lane_Venom_Vampires?id=7cuyDgAAQBAJ

The Path of Least Resistance

I was studying my sales over the past year this weekend and trying to do it as analytically as possible (to fight off depression). That coincided with some formerly very successful writers that have experienced similar spirals. In fact, the more authors I speak with, the more it seems this is happening to everyone. Of course that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable or a good thing.

Anyhow, I also happened to notice my whiteboard with my 2016 goals on it. I’m on par for nearly everything I wrote down except for 4 Terminus books. I wrote 2 when I launched with John, but then the apathetic reaction the marketplace gave us told us both it was time to move on. Damn shame too, I absolutely loved the setting and wanted to do so much with it.

Kind of like my next ideas after I finish Medic. I have an awesome character concept and some story ideas that fit so perfectly into a fantasy book – but nobody who’s reading my books seems interested in another book set in Alto’s world. That ties me into my sales trends I’ve studied. People want to read science fiction, not fantasy – with the notable pseudo-exception of Voidhawk. Voidhawk is space fantasy, so it’s got the appeal of science fiction even though there’s not much in the way of science behind the magic that allows renaissance era vessels to sale between worlds.

Fortunately for me, my next Voidhawk book will return to the world of Kroth. My new character idea might very well have it’s time in the sun after all. I’ve got to narrow it done some more first, but I’m pleased with what I’ve come up with so far. That’s going to have to slip into the back of my mind for now though, I have to finish off Medic first, and I’m getting pretty close to doing that.

How close? Well, a few more chapters and I’ll be done. And as of Thursday of this week I’m on vacation until January 3^rd. Plenty of time to write! When I’m not working on remodeling my basement, that is. Or doing Christmasy things.

The real question is, will Voidhawk be my next project, or will I return to Dark Universe or Vitalis instead? In case I haven’t made it obvious, Dark Universe, Vitalis, and Voidhawk have been my bestselling series this year, and in order to keep the cash flowing I have to write what people want to read. Since feedback and reviews are rare, I have to rely on how readers vote with their dollars, and that’s what the votes are telling me.

As a side note, Arrested in Peace, my recent release in the shared sci-fi universe of The Complex, has been doing fairly well also though. I highly encourage you to check it out and the other works in the same setting.

The only other thing I want to mention is that I’ve finally gotten around to converting Victim of Fate and Silver Dragon (books 2 and 3 in the Child of Fate series) to print books available on Amazon. Those are ready to go, although I am in the middle of updating Victim of Fate to deal with a formatting issue – that should be done in a matter of hours. Just in case you’re in the mood for a good old fashioned paperback.

 

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.