Amaranthine Collector’s Editions

You asked for it! Well, okay, three people asked for it, but three people are three people and never let it be said that I disappointed anyone on purpose.

Ahem. As I was saying, “You asked for it…” The Amaranthine Collector’s Editions are now available in paperback for all seven titles, featuring the original hand drawn covers and random bonus features!

Shades of Gray

1

Legacy of Ghosts

2

Ties of Blood

3

Ashes of Deceit

4

Heart of the Raven

5

Children of Shadows

6

Clash of Legends

7

Those of you who love the old style covers rejoice! May there be dancing in the streets! May the wine flow freely! May…what? Overboard? Pshaw! Have YOU ever formatted a paperback book? Okay then. As I was saying, dancing, celebrating, joy and wine and croutons!

Why croutons? Why not?

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Shades of Gray Second Edition

SoG thumbIt’s officially uploaded and available at Smashwords (and will follow elsewhere as other retailers catch up)! No, not a new book, just the second edition of Shades of Gray.

Say what?

I’ll let the second edition notes speak for themselves:

I hate authors who rewrite their books, don’t you? That’s a little bit of ironic sarcasm, since I’ve done just that, though this isn’t a complete re-write. The original goal was to add some information and (hopefully) clear up some questions, but once I started I tidied up a few conversations, cut some words here, added some words there, and, well, now it’s a second edition. For the most part it’s the same; the same things happen in the same places (sorry, the scene at Claudius’ is what it is), the same people die, and Senya still smirks evilly. But in some instances what the characters say has changed. I’ve tried to make a couple of incidents more obvious, for instance how Katelina is able to recover after Claudius’ lair and why Troy does what he does, and updated Katelina’s answering machine (who has those nowadays?). If, in the process, I ended up chopping out a couple thousand words, know that they must have been superfluous and that you’re not missing anything. It just means you can get to book two faster, and that’s always a good thing. Right?

Do you need to rush out and get it? Probably not, but if you want it and you purchased it via Smashwords you can redownload it for free. I’m going to mail Amazon to see if I can get them to do the same for the kindle customers, but I don’t know how to do that for Barnes and Noble or anyone else. If you do, by all means leave me some directions in a comment.

And there’s still a couple days to enter the raven giveaway for your chance to win a fluffy, decorative raven just in time for Halloween.

And speaking of ravens, if you haven’t gotten a copy of Heart of the Raven yet, then look for October’s $.99 Halloween special sale and grab a copy.

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Shades of Gray on You Gotta Read

The lovely folks at You Gotta Read were kind enough to post a review of Shades of Gray.3 Want To Read

“..Jorick is an atypical badass, who shares little and kicks much ass. Katelina is a bit of a dingbat, but at least she’s brave. The two have great chemistry, and I love their evolving relationship. It is nice that they don’t just fall in bed together, and even after they do, Katelina is still working out her feelings for he late boyfriend…”

To read the rest of the review check out the post on their page.

A big thank you to them, and to you for stopping by!

I’m a Terrible Person…

Donna Yates (author of Always) was kind enough to post a book review of Heart of the Raven no less than SIX days ago and it’s taken me that long to comment on it and post this thank you to her. If you get a chance please stop by her blog and leave her a comment telling her how undeserving I am. *

If that’s not bad enough, Amanda at Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog has very kindly posted a review of the whole series; Shades of Gray, Legacy of Ghosts, Ties of Blood, Ashes of Deceit, and Heart of the Raven! And have I shared links? No!  You should stop by her blogs too, and leave her some comments about her excellent reviews and my poor social skills! **

I also have a blog tour coming up, engineered by Incandescent Enchantments Book Tours  that will run April 29 to May 4 and includes prizes such as:

bookmarks

 

There’s also a free ebook, and a t-shirt, if I recall. That is If I haven’t been clamped in leg irons and had tomatoes thrown at me by then.***

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* Or you could leave comments about what a great blog it is. That would be good, too. No real need to mention my faux pas.

** Or you could just tell her what great reviews she does. I mean, pointing out my lack of social skills might bring the tone of the blog down.

*** I don’t think anyone will REALLY clamp me in REAL leg irons. They can’t find me. Now digital leg irons… those are a possibility.

 

A Shades of Gray Review & More Celebrity Vampire Fun

I hate people who post blog after blog of links to their amazing reviews, but at the same time I want to say a big public thank you to Amanda of Wicca Witch 4 Book Blog for taking the time to read and review Shades of Gray. It really means a lot!

So, to give this post a little more bite, I thought I’d share something funny I ran into the other day. You may remember the publicity surrounding the alleged proof of  Nicolas Cage’s vampire-ness? Did you know John Travolta is one, too?

Okay, so you may have seen this already, as it similarly appeared on ebay around the same time as Nicolas’ supposed photo, but I thought it was still fun, anyway!

And as a special bonus link, for all you authors out there, check out Donna Yates post full of tips for your book release!

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Experimental Shades of Gray Cover

vs 2 - 2500

It was supposed to stay red like the original cover, but it turned kind of orangey, but I liked it, so I left it. As for design elements, since the first book does have a heavier romance element it got a hunky hero silhouette. I could give you a lot of crap about the symbolism of the tree, but really I just like trees. Plus they look cool.

See it in action on Amazonsignature for white

An Awesome Review and a Sneak Peek at Chapter One!

The first Jo read through of Heart of the Raven is finished! I will now do a quick read through (aka two days) for plot flow and send it off to the next round of betas. As usual, it is well over 100,000 words. But, instead of panicking like I usually do and racing through the document slashing and cutting because “industry insiders” say that readers want books between 80,000 and 90,000 words, I’m going to relax a little and pay more attention to the reader data that Mark Coker collected (“…60% of the top twenty Smashwords bestsellers were over 100,000 words long…”) and not stress as much if it ends up a little longer. That’s not to say that there aren’t sentences, paragraphs and scenes that can, and will, be tightened up still, only that I see no point in agonizing over it because that’s the “length preferred by agents” for my genre. I’m not submitting to an agent, anyway.

Either way, it’s on schedule and I am still hopeful for a late February or early March release.

With that good news, I have two great links to share! First, fellow author Beth Muscat was kind enough to review Shades of Gray. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please stop by and tell her thanks for the great post! And while you’re there, check out her other reviews.

And if you haven’t heard, the first (unfinalized) chapter of Heart of the Raven is avaliable for your perusal via fellow author Vicki Hudson‘s First Look segment on her blog.

Also don’t forget about the Valentines blog hop which is coming up in a couple of weeks. If you’re an author or reviewer, there is still time to join the fun. I may be giving away a prize in my blog if I can think of something interesting.

signature for whiteNow, if I can just decide who to put on the cover of the new book….

 

 

Verchiel Gone Wild – Blogjacking Day 5

Mysterious narrator: Yesterday we left Verchiel and Jorick fighting in the attic of the Amaranthine Character’s Complex. Apparantly during an interview, Donna dared Verchiel to give Katelina a birthday surprise. The idiot did it, and Jorick isn’t amused. Now, our hero… wait. Which one is the hero?

Ummmmm…

Anyway, Jorick has Verchiel by the throat and…

.

Verchiel: *choke*cough* But you can’t kill me! I’m too important!

Jorick: Says who?

*POOF*

A cloud of mysterious pink smoke appears and then dissipates to reveal… the author, who by the way is also the mysterious narrator.

Jo the Amazing Author: STOP! Jorick, you know better! *waves hand. There is the clicky clack noise of keys typing and suddenly Jorick is standing on the other side of the room* I’m sorry, but you can’t kill him.

J: And why not? He isn’t necessary to the series! There were two books before he came along!

V: *rubbing throat* but people love me.

Jo the Amazing Author: That may be, Jorick, but he’s here now, and he’s staying.  You might as well face it, he’s necessary to certain plot details. As for you, *turns to Verchiel* Is this the sort of thing you get up to when you think I’m too busy to notice? Is it?

V: Um… no? Ah, come on! It was just a bit of fun. It was Donna’s idea.

Jo the Amazing Author: Don’t you try to blame this on her! I saw your birthday dance, young man and I was appalled! Appalled! I taught you better than that didn’t I? To think one of my own characters would sing such a terrible rendition of happy birthday! I’m going to have to send you to voice lessons!

J: WHAT!!?!

V: Well, it was a bit rushed…

Jo the Amazing Author: Rushed or not, it’s obvious you need some professional help! And you! *turns to Jorick* And you. Some anger management would not be amiss. Alas, there’s very little time. Though you may be unaware, the rough draft of Patrick is finished and we are going to spend September together working on book five. I suggest that you BOTH have your issues handled by then because you’re going to be spending plenty of time together. Oh, and Verchiel? You might want some pants. Your natural hair color is showing. *snickers*

.

Mysterious narrator AKA the Amazing Author Jo: Once again the Amazing Author Jo saves the day! As was mentioned, Patrick, the full length novel, is now in beta stage and will hopefully be edited and released this autumn, with Heart of the Raven to follow this winter. Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming Amaranthine two-fer Special Editions packed with extras like artwork and “deleted scenes”.

.

Special thanks to Donna for inspiring this blog series! 

PS – and because I KNOW you wanna see…..

by me 😉

Verchiel Gone Wild – Blogjacking Day 4

Verchiel here, the hot redheaded vampire from Joleene Naylor’s Amaranthine series. If you’ve missed the last three posts let me bring you up to date. While interviewing me, Donna dared me to give Katelina a birthday surprise. So, I did. Apparently it’s upset Jorick a little bit, and I’m currently hiding in the rafters in the attic here in the good ol’ Amaranthine Character’s Complex, waiting for him to cool down.

Yes, that’s why I’m whispering. That and I don’t want to attract any bats. I’ve heard they nest in your hair. And since hair is all I’m wearing at the moment… well, you can imagine.

Oh crap! There he is!

Jorick: *shakes fist* Come down here now so I can kill you.

Verchiel: Hmm. The offer sounds tempting but, no. I’m afraid I have to pass. Sorry.

J: Then I’ll come up there. *jumps. Grabs rafter. Swings up and lands on the rafter next to Verchiel* Do you want to tell me what you were thinking now, or after I’ve ripped your heart out?

V: It’s going to be hard to talk then, isn’t it?

J *growls and reaches to grab Verchiel’s shirt, only, there is no shirt.*

V: I’m sure you don’t want to kill a naked man? *edges away* How would that look? People might think it was a lover’s tryst gone awry. You wouldn’t want that kind of reputation, now would you?

J: *growls and snatches at him again, only Verchiel jumps down too fast*

V: Oh come on, have a sense of humor. It was just a dare! I couldn’t very well back down and ruin my reputation, now could I? And Kately’s none the worse for wear. She’s been doing all those time travel scenes for that Patrick prequel lately, and I don’t see you beating Patrick up just because she saw him naked!

J: *drops down and feigns right. Verchiel hops left and Jorick grabs him by the throat* That’s different and if I had my way, I just might.

V: *cough*choke*Come on now, you *cough* know you can’t really kill me!

J: Watch me.

.

Mysterious narrator: Oh no! It looks like this is the end for Verchiel! Tune in tomorrow for “Smear of Vampire on the Wall” or “Verchiel’s Last Laugh”.

Verchiel Gone Wild – Blogjacking Day 3

Mysterious Narrator: While being interviewed by Donna, Verchiel was dared to give Katelina a birthday surprise. Unable to resist, he has readied himself, and now we will see how it goes….

.

Katelina and Jorick were snuggled up on the couch in the character lounge, watching a movie. It took three hours to agree on one, and in the end they only reached an agreement because Katelina let Jorick have his way. The foreign film lived up to its promise. Five minutes in and she was already depressed. She didn’t understand why people made movies like that.

The voice that trilled through the air was almost a relief, or it would have been if it was anyone besides Verchiel.

“Oh, Kately!”

Katelina buried her face in Jorick’s arm and stifled a groan. It was bad enough that she’d had to pull time-traveling overtime the last month to appear in the Patrick prequel, and that she’d had no scenes with Jorick, but now, on her one day off…

Jorick snarled over the top of the movie, “Go away!”

The overly cheerful answer floated through the doorway, “Sorry, I can’t do that! Are you ready?”

Katelina groaned again. The only way to get rid of him was to humor him. “Ready for what?”

“Ta-da!”

As if by magic, Verchiel was suddenly in front of her, blocking the television. Perched on his head was a sequined top hat, and on his feet were matching tap shoes. The only thing in the middle was miles of pale white skin and a sign that hung around his hips and proclaimed “Happy Un-Birthday” in multicolored letters.

Her eyes bulged from their socket. “What in the-”

She didn’t get to finish before he shouted, “Go!” Music blared from the adjoining room and, in super-speed, he sang, “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Kately, Happy birthday to you!”

Jorick was on his feet as the last word fell. He snarled and snatched at the redhead, but Verchiel was too fast. He disappeared and seemed to materialize on the other side of the room. “Sorry, I’m afraid I don’t know when your real birthday is. Though, if you tell me, we could do this again?”

“That will be hard, since you’ll be dead!”

Jorick lunged again and Verchiel tossed aside his sign with a wink and disappeared through the doorway. Jorick bounded after him and Katelina sat frozen in place, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping. There was only one thought running through her startled mind:

“Well, I guess now we know he’s not a natural redhead.”

.

Mysterious Narrator: Tune in tomorrow to see the disastrous conclusion.

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    Joleene Naylor

    An independent author, freelance artist, and photographer for fun who loves anime, music, and writing. Check out my vampire series Amaranthine at http://JoleeneNaylor.com or drop me a line at Joleene@JoleeneNaylor.com

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