Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

     At the end of 2011, I was at a crossroads, deciding where I wanted to take my next step in writing stories. I knew Blood and Fire had been accepted, and is still at the publisher's, awaiting the final razor. I've been forging ahead with Pale Rider, the second installment in the Crooked Fang series and all in all, I'll venture to say the character Xan Marcelles has found a receptive audience.
So what's next? Resolutions? Promises? Try a vague guess at what I might fall into next. Real life, as always, takes an alternating leap ahead of what still feels like hobbyist writing, so the progress is slower than one might expect. At the rate I'm going, averaging a number of approximately five-thousand words a week, Pale Rider has a way to go. My mind itches to do something different, something…meaner.
There's been requests for more stories from myself and my co-author , and I believe we shall be answering that call once again. Nothing solid yet, but we're attempting a sketch on our longest work together yet. I'll keep you posted on that front.
Back to the mean stuff. Rubbing shoulders with some of today's horror greats has tickled my fancy to come up with something …horrid, but again, nothing definite yet. I had a concept for a Purgatory-like literaryscape, and I'd like to explore that universe further. I have hopes  that place too will find a receptive readership.
Writing Blood and Fire with Nerine made me realize just how out of practice I am at penning horror-style stories.  Maybe I'll post a few excerpts right here for your appraisal.
Twenty-twelve promises to be the turning point in my status as an author. How will I fare?
Only time will tell.
-CC

I've been talking about BLOOD AND FIRE that I co-wrote with Nerine Dorman and posting little hints about the book coming out in February. Well, scratch that. It's out now. We submitted it to Dark Continents and ding!  There it was a few days later. (For links, see bottom of post.)
SURPRISE!
And the cover is as Nerine would say, feeeelthy-gorgeous. Two talented artsmen each contributed their expertise and skill to create a cover worthy of the NYT Bestseller list (in my opinion, of course). Nerine and I tossed around some ideas simply because we had such a ball writing and promoting JUST MY BLOOD TYPE, and she has INKARNA coming out in May 2012, so we dreamed up BLOOD AND FIRE.
It had its difficulties. We'd originally planned to project it as another teaser-style book similar to JUST MY BLOOD TYPE, but Nerine caught word that DCP was looking for new shorter works. We decided to go for it. The book was nearly finished, and with the new objective, we had to go back (especially me) and fill in some things that would enable it to be a stand-alone story. Cramming all that info into a book 22k words long without making it one big fat info-dump proved quite challenging.  But we managed.
We had the cover art already ready, after a back-and-forth with the artist, fine-tuning parts of the two characters, me for Xan, and Nerine for Ash. He came through beautifully, and signing off on that was a definite proud moment.
We sent our then current draft of the story to Cat Hellisen for the first beta-read. At this point, I've learned a lot about how valuable a beta reader can be to your WIPs. Get one. You really want to pass it under a new pair of eyeballs so you get a circumspect point of view.
Our second beta reader, Melissa Ecker, gave a great perspective on Americanizing some of Nerine's more obscure references. Her questioning helped us expand on previously vague ideas. As she did it last-minute, and with a WIP on her own, her time was greatly cherished.
Nerine fell ill during the last part of the process and ended up finalizing details from her hospital bed. It was a frantic rush for the cover to meet deadline.
After all the edits were done, and we submitted it to the publisher for review, we needed typography on the cover. What some of you may not know is just how important typography can be to a book cover, especially an ebook. Consider how you view your choices when buying an ebook. Thumbnails. The art and especially the font needs to be easy to spot and hopefully read, even when it's not much bigger than a postage stamp. Nerine worked with her husband to come up with the perfect typography treatment, via a series of emails and talks. And he did a wonderful job!
I'm proud to present to you Xan Marcelles's next adventure, BLOOD AND FIRE, and introduce Ashton Kennedy (whose part was written by Nerine Dorman) for your reading pleasure.
BLOOD AND FIRE is only available via Amazon's Kindle or Kindle apps at this time (all other formats after 90 days), but you can read it on Apple devices, Android via the app, and even just your computer. Consider a read for less than a fancy Starbucks coffee.

Add BLOOD AND FIRE to Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ
Add/Download JUST MY BLOOD TYPE - free!
Thank you to the kind participation of the artists:
Art by Daniel S. Hugo � Typography by Thomas Dorman �
A note of appreciation for our beta-readers:
Cat Hellisen � Melissa Ecker �
Special thanks to my talented co-author:
 Nerine Dorman �
Don't forget to like the for more updates on Xan Marcelles!
 CROOKED FANG is due out in August 2012 from in most electronic formats.

I know I haven't blogged or posted many stories lately, but I do assure you that I have been working on Crooked Fang-related material! Here's a
(the excerpt and picture looked better on the white background)
<----small preview...

Nerine Dorman and I will be releasing this for a menial price in February 2012 in all electronic formats.

Don't forget, Crooked Fang itself will be unleashed upon the world May 2012!

See Nerine Dorman's post for the other half !

With three days left, the clock is running out. Sitting at 71% of goal, the $2k is so close, yet so far away. I'm asking you to reach out, share, and donate. Even $5 and a post to your Twitter or Facebook wall would do a big favor to this local Austin band.

Get swag from Powderburn! See "Lights Go Down" vid:

You can pledge here:


at a name-your-own-price bargain.

We're at the Last Call for Bloody Parchment Horror Anthology submissions and really want to see your work! I'll be one of the judges this year and we have a cool grand prize win of a manuscript assessment, plus a round of up to novel length (!!) edits! This is a big deal, people. Editing is expensive!Edits will be performed by the luxe , who also happens to be my editor for . You can story like I do!
Submit your horror pieces of up to 3k (or questions) to Nerine.
Visit the site at Submission guidelines:
Deadline is October 31st, so get those subs in. I promise we don't bite...much.

This made me so happy this morning to be part of their month-long Indie author spotlight. I was even number one! Wow, thanks so much for the warm words and high vote of confidence Paul!

Lost at the Con by Bryan Young

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Cobb is a jerk, a completely unlikeable self-proclaimed asshole, yet he did odd things that kept me guessing about him. Full of priceless scenes and numerous geek-specific references, Bryan Young nonetheless presents a believable 'noob' of the whole sci-fi/fantasy/cosplay convention phenomenon.



Cons (no pun intended) were a few formatting issues when the character submitted his 'reports' and a couple of typos, but nothing to truly jerk one out of the reader experience. The last half somewhat chugs along initially (but you are rewarded with a very fun culmination of a sub-plot) and there are repeated incidences (lines everywhere) but I attribute this to the author's inclination towards thorough environmental description.



A fun ride, even for non-geeks. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a book to have you laughing out loud for real. Bryan Young is a very skilled writer with wonderful character development skills, a bonus in my book. I look forward to his future releases.



View all my reviews

Fallen Nation: Party At The World's End by James Curcio

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Wow is my one word for this stunning novel. I give it four stars mainly because it's a little rough, typos and just a few rough edges to make it not perfect, but what book is really perfect, right?



Let's get to the good stuff. James Curcio is an outstanding author. This book is a modern-day crusade against, well you fill in the blank. Comparable to masterpieces dealing with matters of the mind as Pink Floyd's The Wall, Curcio's book hops heads effortlessly, taking the reader into deeper waters, weaving in mythological lore applied to today's society. The plot itself is fairly straight forward, mixed in with a dose of insanity, (but is it really?) a diverse cast of characters, and lots of toe-curling sexy scenes. Add in a big-bang of an ending in this quick read and you have what amounts to a fine piece of independent literature.



But don't take my word for it...check it out yourself.



View all my reviews

My last blog post was intended to be a general blurb, about how trying to sell books has changed. I see there's some kind of odd reception, as there usually is with all of my writing. Point is, I'm not worried. I have been asked time and time again how I do what I do, and I was going to make a set of posts detailing some aspects of my strategy but I don't feel I should. I'm not looking for criticism or to be exposed as someone who ultimately wants to make a sale. Let me explain in my oh-so-bitchy-but-makes-sense sort of way:
It's an achievement. It's my dream. 
We all have aspirations and dreams, whether it's to build a house to specs, or to finally own that shiny sports car. Mine is to make books. I like writing books and having them be nice and edited, and look sharp in the final formatting. The truth is this: I write because I love the story. I am encouraged to write more because of my readers. I don't write to become a best seller, or famous, or rich. I'm not looking to eat off my proceeds. I'm even considering different charities to donate portions to.
In conclusion to my gripety-gripe-gripe post, I leave you with this:

Whatever your goal is—it should include a plan to succeed. 
Think about that.




Photo credit: from

To sell books, you must not sell books. Let me say that again. You have to sell everything but the book. You must sell yourself as a reliable source of entertainment/information. You must give incentive to your readers. You must answer the question why should I buy your books over my other choices?
I haven't sold a single book yet, but I have downloads. Free tidbits I give to share my world with this world in hopes that it will establish a bond of trust between me and a prospective reader. I spend a good deal of time thinking of new ways to delight and amaze my growing audience. All without selling a single book. Without screaming into the hurricane that is the literary world.
I've seen reports of people selling unholy amounts of ebooks. The first question a person would ask is not how, but why? These are not the same questions. An example of why would be that the book was free for a certain amount of time, skyrocketing it into the stratosphere of top-tendom. (I made that up right here)
Maybe it has a pretty cover. Humans are still visual creatures. Anyone trolling the porn on Tumblr can appreciate the free visuals. Art is eye candy and tantalizes the brain. 
Maybe it was a dollar before the big boom of self-published entrepreneurs. A charter member of the Only-A-Buck club. In that case, we must thank it. It's made it even more difficult for authors intending to live off their earnings to have a ghost of a chance with a book that costs even $1.01.
Maybe it had big corporation backing and a massive marketing campaign. Ah, now this is where it gets fuzzy. Which is the right way to market a product, in this case a book?
The answer is there is no easy answer. The saving grace? Stats. If you have books out on the market, a Facebook page or even a blog, chances are you have stats available to you to show visitor interest, buying trends, even the best days and times to speak to your audience for the maximum effect. This is where I've dug in. I've found what it is that people enjoy having in their lives. One is cheap entertainment. Another is company, much like a friend, and in many cases, formed friendships. 
Why do we pick up books? Is it in support of an independent author? Boredom? A focused interest?
You better find these things out if you want to survive.

(Photo credit: from )