To Write or Promote?

Writing good books takes time. Readers, however, read a lot faster than writers can produce a quality product. But now, with 14 novels and 2 novellas published, I think I need to try harder to bring them to readers’ attention. So, I’m trying something new:

The Books Machine reached out to me, and when I saw the quality of their posts, I decided to take advantage of their promotional offer. Will it work?

I’ll let you know! I’m promoting several books this month – fingers crossed! Check it out:

http://www.thebooksmachine.com/deals/dailydeals.html

I’ve been tapped in a Blog Hop!

We each answer the same 4 questions, and then tap 3 additional authors. (The three ladies are linked at the bottom of this post.) Here goes!

 

1. What am I working on now?

 

I am working on a Renaissance-era trilogy sparked by the 1519 gathering of the “Order of the Golden Fleece” in Barcelona Cathedral. Members of the Order included sovereigns and nobles from across Europe – including England’s Henry VIII, and Christian II of Denmark and Norway.

 

That’s where my Hansens come in. Because these powerful kings did not actually travel to Spain and sit in Barcelona Cathedral working out their issues – they sent their knights. And since the identity of those knights is not documented, I’m making the man representing King Christian II one of my Hansen heroes.

 

2. How does my work differ from other books in its genre?

 

In the historical romance genre, kilted warriors are the powerhouse, followed by regency-era stories of English nobility. I made a decision to go another direction: all of my heroes (and one heroine, so far) are members of the fictional Hansen family out of Arendal, Norway. Different centuries, continents, and generations – same bloodline.

 

Then, I ferret out obscure – but interesting – bits of history and take my characters through them.

 

I also have crimes in most of my stories, which sparked a five-book series featuring a deaf private investigator in 1700s Norway. I think these components makes my books rather unique, don’t you?

 

3. Why do I write what I do?

 

First, I love reading historical romance – if the history is correct.

Second, I like long stories which follow the same characters for an extended time. For that reason, I usually write connected trios or actual trilogies.

Third, once I got going, I found a wealth of opportunities with my Norsemen. I’m having a blast!

 

4. How does my writing process work?

 

The pieces come to me in this order:

 

1^st Situations/Settings: What happened and where?

2^nd Characters: What Hansen was there? Whom did he meet?

3^rd Characters Deepen: What trauma made the hero and heroine the damaged people that they are when we meet them? What are they looking for? What stands in their way?

4^th Subplot: How can other characters and situations flesh out the story?

5^th The End: How does the story resolve?

 

With this basic structure in place, I write the story in a straight line from beginning to end. And, yes, my characters do surprise me along the way!

 

Kris Tualla – Norway is the New Scotland! – Historical romance following a Norse family over 5 centuries and 2 continents.  www.KrisTualla.com

Now I am tagging three fabulous ladies who helped create and run The Dreams Convention (Buildin’ the Dream for writers, and Arizona Dreamin’ for romance readers):

Morgan Kearns – Deadlines & Diamonds – Baseball players and journalists. www.MorganKearns.com

Deena Remiel – Serving up Evil, and oh so Good! – Urban fantasy & paranormal romance. www.DeenaRemiel.com

Rhonda Plumhoff – Literary Chocolate – Recipes based on current book characters.

 

ENJOY!

A Holiday Special!

Check this blog for details:

http://authorsinterviews.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/here-is-my-interview-with-kris-tualla/

Arizona Dreamin’ 2013 Blog Hop – And A Charitable Plan

Back in 2011, when I was newly published with only three titles out, I needed to find a way to be found. I took a hard look at reality: with well over a million new ISBNs generated every year, the pool of available books is literally getting deeper by the minute. I’m standing in the midst of it all, treading water, waving my hands, and shouting my own name ~ but who can hear me?

Everyone says that the best promo is good word of mouth. So I made a decision: I would create my own romance reader event ~ Arizona’s only one, by the way ~ and bring the readers to me. Why not? And, because I strongly believe in helping others along the way, I tapped two dozen relatively new romance authors, and pulled them in with me.

The concept was simple: I bring four of my fans, you bring four of yours, and we cross-pollinate. I linked arms with a couple gals who understood what needed to be done. Though much smaller than we hoped, the very first Arizona Dreamin’ was, nonetheless, a huge hit.

Along the way, I knew that just helping other authors wasn’t enough, we needed to make some sort of impact on the world outside of ourselves. We needed a charity.

I was in line at a Starbucks when I said that out loud. The woman in front of me turned around and said, “No one ever picks my charity.”

“What charity?” I asked.

“Huntington’s Disease Society of America.”

I grinned at her. “Give me the contact information. That will be our charity.” Just like that, it was done.

I felt bad, then, when our inaugural event was so sparsely attended. Even so, we raised $350. I sent the check the next week. What happened next, really surprised me. I received two emails from the HDSA headquarters in Los Angeles, thanking me profusely for the donation.

Really? It was only $350. For someone like Susan G. Komen, that wouldn’t even buy the staff coffee for the week. But these women were truly grateful. And I was truly glad to have helped. In Arizona Dreamin’s second year, our attendance grew and we raised $550. Our third annual event grew in attendance again, and our 2013 donation was $735!

As for the authors, there are no egos here, but a genuine understanding that the best way to help ourselves is to help others. In fact, this year we added an aspiring-writer sister event, Buildin’ the Dream, whose subtitle is “Authors Helping Authors.”

Might you join us next year? We are doing good ~ and having a blast!

Buildin’ the Dream: May 29-30, 2014 (BuildinTheDream.com) $59

Arizona Dreamin’: May 30-Jun 1, 2014 (ArizonaDreaminEvent.com) $89

****If you are a fan of the Hansen series, click HERE to find out how to get a FREE, LIMITED EDITION, SIGNED NOVELLA tying up “Loving the Norseman” and “Loving the Knight”!****

Blogging in the UK!

David returned the favor… http://pillingswritingcorner.blogspot.co.uk/ 🙂

Welcome my guest: Historical Fiction author David Pilling!

(This sounds so interesting ~ Enjoy!)

 

Kris has very kindly given me a guest spot to talk about my new historical novel, “The Half-Hanged Man”. This is a tale of high adventure and romance set during the Hundred Years War between England and France.

 

I’ve wanted to write about the latter half of the 14th century for a long time. Even by medieval standards, this was a brutal and bloody era, with much of Europe plunged into dynastic wars. England under her warrior-king, Edward III, was at war with France and Scotland, and Spain and Italy were riven by internal conflicts. The constant fighting and general chaos offered rich pickings to savvy mercenary captains such as Sir John Hawkwood, Bertrand du Guesclin, Hugh Calveley and Robert Knolles, all of whom succeeded in making a fat profit while Christendom burned. 

 

The Half-Hanged Man is the story of one such captain, though a fictional one. Like many of his peers, Thomas Page is a commoner, destined to rise to brief greatness by virtue of wielding a nifty sword. The book also follows the story of the Spanish courtesan known as the Raven of Toledo, and of Hugh Calveley, a particularly ruthless soldier and black-armoured giant with flaming red hair and incisors he had specially sharpened to terrify the French!

 

Throw into the mix are any number of battles and sieges, including the Battle of Auray (see pic above) in 1364, where the Franco-Bretons and Anglo-Breton armies hammered the life out of each other for possession of the Duchy of Brittany. 

 

Below is an excerpt of Hugh Calveley’s memories of the epic Battle of Najéra…
Excerpt:
         “I led my portion of the rearguard across the open ground to the right of the prince’s battalion, and surged into the first company of Castilian reinforcements as they tried to arrange into a defensive line. They were well-equipped foot with steel helms and leather jacks, glaives and axes, but demoralised and unwilling to stand against a charge of heavy horse. I skewered a serjeant in the front rank with my lance and rode over him as the men behind him scattered, yelling in fear and hurling their banners away as they ran. 
          If all the Castilians had behaved in such a manner, we would have had an easy time of it, but now Enrique flung his household knights into the fray. It had started to rain heavily, sheets of water blown by strong winds across the battlefield, and a phalanx of Castilian lancers on destriers came plunging out of the murk, smashing into the front rank of my division. A lance shattered against my cuisse, almost knocking me from the saddle, but I kept my seat and slashed at the knight with my broadsword as he hurtled past, chopping an iron leaf from the chaplet encircling his basinet, but doing no other damage. 
          My men held together under the Castilian charge, and soon there was a fine swirling mêlée in progress. I was surrounded by visored helms and glittering blades, men yelling and horses screaming, and glimpsed my standard bearer ahead of me, shouting and fending off two Castilians with the butt of his lance. Another Englishman rode in to help him, throwing his arms around one of the Castilians and heaving him out of the saddle with sheer brute strength, and then a fresh wave of steel and horseflesh, thrown up by the violent, shifting eddies of battle, closed over them and shut off my view.  
          I couldn’t bear to lose my banner again, and charged into the mass of fighting men, clearing a path with the sword’s edge. A mace or similar hammered against my back-plate, sending bolts of agony shooting up my spine, and my foot slipped out of the stirrup as I leaned drunkenly in the saddle, black spots reeling before my eyes.”

Intrigued? See the links to the Kindle and paperback below:  
Paperback  
Kindle

And links to my blog and joint website:
http://pillingswritingcorner.blogspot.co.uk/ 
http://www.boltonandpilling.com/

Blog Hop – TAG! I’m it.

Thanks, Alica  www.alicamckennajohnson.com for the tag! Here are my answers to the round of questions:

1- What is the title of your book? “A Discreet Gentleman of Consequence” – Book three in my Discreet Gentleman series from Desert Breeze Publishing – releases on December 11!

2- Where did the idea for the book come from? A couple years back I decided to write about a DEAF hero in the 1700s. I didn’t realize at first how awesome he was going to be and now he has his own series.

3- What genre does your book fall under? Historical Suspense – he is a private investigator. But there is a wife at the end of the first book, so it’s a romantic series as well. She turned out to be quite headstrong, as my readers know!

4- How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I can write a book in about 3 months, and I aim for 100,000 words per novel.

5- What other books would you compare your story to within this genre? Hmm… maybe Jennifer Ashley’s “The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie” because her hero has Asperger syndrome. I don’t know of other historical authors who write heroes with disbilities.

6- Who or what inspired you to write this book? A comment in the Romance Writer Report a few years ago that said women are attracted to men who look at them like they are the only thing in the room. I thought, who does that? A deaf man.

7- What else about your book might pique the readers interest? He’s the hero in a series of historical crime dramas set in Norway. He uses his deafness and lip-reading skills to solve crimes because, as he gestures: When people find out I’m deaf, they forget I’m in the room.

Tag, you’re it! Answer the questions and pass on the tags!

Morgan Kearns 

Deena Remiel 

Tami Vinson

Dog-Eared Review: The Best-Of-The-Best Local Authors

Dog-Eared Review: The Best-Of-The-Best Local Authors.

Woo-HOO!

Oh, the irony. The delicious, wonderful irony.

This excerpt from the article “Common Mistakes by New Authors,” by Irene Goodman of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency, appeared in the September 2010 issue of Romance Writer Report (RWR) published by Romance Writers of America:

“It’s always sad when an earnest author spends years working on something that absolutely no one is interested in except a few geeks or hobbyists. Let’s say you want to write historical fiction. You need to understand that unless you are writing something very literary and high quality, you must pick a marquee name. If you fall madly in love with the life story of an obscure Norwegian king, please don’t think that you are going to convince the world to love it, too. Commercial historical fiction is very female-driven. Even if the Norwegian king had some kind of interesting hook or quality to him, readers are more likely to be interested in the queen.”

At the time, I wondered if the jab could possibly be aimed at me since my book “A Prince of Norway” was scheduled to release soon ~ and I had been blogging about it. In the event that it was, here is the follow-up to that article:

In July 2012, Romance Writers of America’s Board voted to allow self-publishing authors to achieve PAN status (Published Author Network) if they earned $5,000 in royalties off at least ONE title.

I have. I applied. I was immediately granted PAN status ~ the first author in Arizona to do so. And the book that got me there?

A Prince of Norway.

I love it.

The Unique Strength of Damaged Heroes

Yesterday I blogged about physically damaged heroes here: http://romancingthegenres.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-unique-strength-of-damaged-heroes.html