Second Olympus - Cover Art!

Once again, Robin Ludwig Design has knocked it out of the park.

For those who want to read the back, you can click on the pic to make it bigger, or here's the text:

AND THEY WILL COME FROM BELOW

The war amongst the Greek gods lasted over three decades and when it was ended, the sun was snuffed from the sky, Artemis sat on the throne, and the muses were murdered.

Without the power to create or invent, the human race languished for generations, trapped within the walled city of Elysia, their lives governed by the steady tick of the great world clock and the watchful eye of their increasingly erratic goddess.

But in the lower wards, far from the shining beacon that is Olympus Tower, a crippled boy named Geoff has grown to manhood, unaware of the legacy contained in his own mysterious bloodline. When his loved ones are threatened, the world will finally wake under the power of the muse, and the insane goddess Artemis will remember the very dangerous power of human imagination.



And just another close up of the front, 'cause I lurve it!

Current plan is to try and have the preorder option processing by tonight, with an eye to an April 21st release date.  Most likely, I will release the print copy a few days prior to that, to make sure that everyone can READ it on the release date.

I'm so excited!

Gooey Sticky Syrup

I suppose by now that it’s pretty clear that I’m not gonna hit the March 24th release date for Second Olympus. Well, it was worth a shot.

The good news is, the cover art is still in progress, and that’s really the only thing I’m waiting on.  Once I get that, I can hit the button and get this ball rolling.  Still hoping to give it a “pre-order” period, even if just for a couple of week.  Still hoping to have this out in April, but no promises, and no set date.

Other than that, I’m just plodding along.  Got that feet stuck in thick syrup feeling, lately.  I’m making progress, but it’s slow and steady, rather than abrupt and thrilling/terrifying.  Truthfully, I’m not sure which is better.  Patience is not one of my favorite things, but neither is abject terror.

Folks are getting antsy about JJD5. Trust me, it’s coming. I pick at the outline now and then when I need a break from MMwD, and this morning, I actually wrote down the first few paragraphs of a chapter just so they’d quit taking up room in my head.  Goal is still to have this one out and available this year, though not sure just when.  Won’t be a summer release like the others, but I feel like that’s not so important in the big scheme of things.

Nothing else going on but life in general. As it happens to all of us.  (well, most of us, I guess. I don’t discriminate against the undead)

As Promised...

 

Yeah.  That's what I said too.  Isn't it swoony??? My cover designer is Robin Ludwig Design and she has just been an angel to work with.  Highly recommended.

SO, a few other tidbits of knowledge, while I've got you here.

Looks like the July 8th release is a definite go.  That means in the week leading up to that, I will probably be working on getting it up on most of the retailers. So yes, it is possible/likely that you will be able to get the book prior to July 8th, and this is OK!  It is also possible that some of the platforms may take a few more days, and that's ok too.  We're gonna celebrate like rockstars on July 8th, just to enjoy Jesse being back.

There WILL be a print copy of the book available.  It will NOT be normal paperback size.  Do you have any idea how crazy it makes me that my books aren't going to match?  Yeah, I'm that neurotic.  More on that later.  The print book is actually going to be 5x8, so somewhere between a regular paperback and a trade paperback.  Because it will be printed as you order it, and because of the size of the book, the price is going to be noticeably higher than a regular paperback.  I'm sorry guys, but there's nothing I can do about that, especially if I want to make a teensy bit of profit for myself.

The ebook versions, however, should be priced much lower.  At least, that's the plan.

BOOK REVIEWERS - I should have 2 proof copies (think of them like ARCs, so there may be a few mistakes still) that are still homeless, so if you want one, email me at kari.stewart21@gmail.com.  (If you're a reviewer I haven't spoken with before, hi!  Nice to meetcha!  Please send me a link to your blog/page/billboard/talk show/podcast so that I know you're just not trying to score the book as an early read)  I should also have e-copies of the book for review if you'd rather (or if the print ones get given away).  Really gotta get on that formatting thing. *sheepish*

Wow.  This is really happening.

I gotta admit, I'm kinda a nervous wreck over this.  I keep thinking, what if I'm doing it wrong?  Surely, it can't be this easy, I had to have made some catastrophic mistake somewhere.  What if the book sucks?  What if people are disappointed?  What if someone bans my favorite ice cream flavor?  What if a snozwanger jumps out of the bushes and eats my left shoe???

(No, seriously, does anyone know a good snozwanger repellent?)

Yeah I know, I'm ridiculous.  It's what I do.

It's all about the tease...

I'm gonna quit apologizing for not updating the blog.  Most of you are stalking me on Twitter & Facebook anyway, right?  (And if not, why not?)

So, what's going on with me?

Well, I'm working feverishly on JJD4, and I'm pretty sure I actually have a title now!  I know, I know, I've said that before, but I've actually started using this one around the house, and I still don't hate it, so I think it's going to stick.  I'll announce it soon, hopefully in conjunction with finishing the first draft of the book.  Don't think I'm gonna make my November 1 deadline, but that's mostly because I should have copy edits coming in on Peacemaker sometime next week, and then I've only got two weeks to turn those around.

(Copy edits are not as fearsome as they sound.  I actually rather enjoy it, and I hope to have them turned around over a single weekend)

Unfortunately, that particular weekend also coincides with some major system upgrades at the Real Job, so it's entirely possible that I may be trapped doing stuff for them too.  Bleh.

Once I get JJD4 done, and Peacemaker copy edits turned in, I'll be returning to The Musicbox Girl to see if I can revise it per my lovely agent's input.  At the same time, I'll be starting the process of getting cover art commissioned for JJD4, and lining up some editing and such so that I don't totally embarrass myself.

Hm...let's see, I feel like I was supposed to do something else...

Oh wait, that's it!

Speaking of cover art...  Here's Peacemaker!

(Yes, I totally made you read all the way through my blog post to get to see the cover.  I am bad, and I should feel bad.)

Peacemaker will be out January 21, 2014, and is available for preorder now.  Remember that it's going to be an ebook-only thing first, and then if I have enough sales, they'll think about doing it in print.

It always feels more real once there's a cover...

Cover Art - A WOLF AT THE DOOR

Edited to add the back cover copy for y'all:


STAR STRUCK

Jesse James Dawson was once an ordinary man until he discovered that demons were real, and fighting them meant putting his own soul on the line. His new case is a beauty: Gretchen Keene, a Hollywood starlet who’s become an unwitting catalyst in an all-out demon war. It’s not her soul Jesse needs to protect, but the two-hundred-and-seventy-six others she’s carting around—all the souls sold to spend just one night with the blonde bombshell. That’s a lot of baggage, although it might explain her meteoric rise to fame. And it’s all up for grabs by the demon world.

All Jesse has to do is keep her safe until New Years. Sounds easy. But darkness is casting a nasty shadow in the California sun—a new unseen enemy is closing in and leaving Jesse to wonder, how do you fight something you can’t see coming?

New Cover Art!

Nope, not mine. This cover art belongs to a very sassy lady, who is very dear to me. I give you POSSESS by Gretchen McNeil!



Here is the synopsis, via Goodreads:

Fifteen-year-old Bridget Liu just wants to be left alone: by her overprotective mom, by the hunky son of the police officer who got her father killed, and by the eerie voices which she can suddenly and inexplicably hear. Turns out the voices are demons--the Biblical kind, not the Buffy kind--and Bridget possesses the rare ability to banish them.

San Francisco's senior exorcist and his newly assigned partner from the Vatican enlist Bridget's help with increasingly bizarre and dangerous cases of demonic possession. But when one of Bridget's oldest friends turns up dead in a ritualistic sacrifice that mirrors her father's murder, Bridget realizes she can't trust anyone. An interview with her father's murderer reveals a link between Bridget and the Emim: a race of part-demons intent on raising their forefathers to the earth in human form. Now Bridget must unlock the secret to the Emim's plan before someone else close to her winds up dead, or worse--the human vessel for a Demon King.

Trust me when I say that on August 23rd, I will be first in line for this amazing book.

Cover Art!!!

THE ENEMY OF HIS ENEMY

Jesse James Dawson is a Champion, putting his life on the line for those foolish enough to bargain with demons and fighting to save their souls. But even a Champion needs some downtime, so Jesse takes his annual camping trip to Colorado for some male bonding over friendly games of paintball.

Unfortunately, the fun and war games are interrupted by a pack of creatures summoned up from the very depths of hell by an entity Jesse prayed he’d never see again. With the lives of his friends and a teenager’s soul on the line, Jesse’s only hope may lie with an even more dangerous enemy—his personal demon, Axel…