Sneak Peek Saturday!

I thought I'd treat you guys a new teaser every week. Since I end up writing a million things during the week you'll always get a new teaser even if it's not from a new story >^.^<

This week's Teaser comes from Little Girl Lost the first book in The Fire and Brimstone Chronicles

I warn you there is violence and cursing in this scene.


“Sherry! What the fuck did I tell you about looking about the window?” Jamison screamed as his six foot five inch tall frame stalked toward her like the lion his soul used to possess.
Almost instantly, the sounds of growling filling their small studio apartment; The shimmered form of a large red wolf flashed into view as if to remind the male who it was he spoke to. Though, by this point, Jamison could no longer see the things he should. His mind had been so corrupted that all that remained were what he had allowed in.
Sherry laid a steadying hand upon the wolf apparition’s head and with her mind tried to soothe him. Shhh Red. Not yet. Wait. If you move too quickly you’ll have the whole pack on him and it could put Netta in danger.
The wolf whined before sitting on its on ethereal haunches. It was clear he was not pleased at all to be stilled by the one he was sent to protect. Raising his head he looked to a small grey female that was phasing in and out of existence a short yip had the female move to plant herself in front of the car seat where little Jeanetta was fast asleep.
  Jamison watched Sherry’s hand fall and grabbed her wrist tightly. “Who you talkin’ to Bitch?” His eyes flashed blood red for a mere second.
Sherry sighed. This was really getting tiring by this point in her life. “I wasn’t talk to anyone. I really wish you’d just let me seal your mind. It would make you better.”
Jamison growled, his face contorting into something the stuff nightmares are made out of, and then just as quickly it was Jamison’s features bearing down on her once again. “Better? There ain’t nothin’ wrong with me. It’s you that’s got something wrong. I told you not to practice that witchcraft shit anymore.”
Jamison had thrown that at her about a month after they started dating. It was around that time that they had started invading him. She had tried in vain to explain what was happening to him, but he had always been a stubborn man. He always had to be in the right even when he knew he was wrong. She had been born a child of Artemis. She was born to hunt and kill the very things that had taken over Jamison, yet his arrogance and fears had prevented her from doing so.  And now because of it, she suffered daily while she watched them pull the strings like he was little more than a marionette puppet there to amuse them. She could not help wonder who would die first; Him, or her.
In the end, it had been him to go first. Though Sherry had to admit he had put up one hell of fight until the second he went down. She did not remember much that happened after he had accused her of practicing the craft since they had been together. She remembered backing up until the backs of her knees hit the bed then falling onto it as he descended on her. She also remembered the feel of his right hand wrapping around her neck and squeezing until she could no longer breathe let alone scream. As the light dimmed and faded, she had heard the wolves growl, but it was not to Jamison. Before all had gone black, she had heard the laughter. It was deep, rough, like gravel being ground together and definitely not human.

Other Voices: An Urban Fantasy Anthology is now LIVE!!!!

Kindle ][ Kindle uk ][ GoodReads

*If you would like a signed Print Copy of Other Voices please contact howlofwolves@yahoo.com*

(Paperbacks will be available for purchase in about a week though you can pre-order now)

Spanning through time, the authors of Other Voices take the reader on a journey of the strange and unusual from the gas lamp lighted streets of Victorian London to the neon of modern day Las Vegas.

'A Touch of Chaos' (S.Cu'Anam Policar): A young boy recruited by a mysterious duo, Paradigm and Razor, has one night to prove his worth on the Strip in Las Vegas. Failure is not an option.

'Sugar Girl Blues' (Aubrey Diamant): In Pope Joan's brothel, a young Lord pays the price for his obsession.

'Third Floor' (Andrea L. Staum): After taking three months to build up her courage, young Hestia Diedrich is about to discover what is on the third floor of main library of the Institute for the Understanding of the Metaphysical.

'The Curious Case of the Digging Man'/'Séance at St. Bart's' (Mel Skubich & Stevie Conradi): In 'The Curious Case of the Digging Man' it is 1891; Alistair Gordon and medical student Jerome Garibaldi share apartments and adventure. The unexplained death of a resurrectionist sends the duo out into the grimy streets of Victorian London in search of answers. 'Séance at St. Bart's' Alistair Gordon meets the shadowy Mr. Sinclair whom he asks to assist him in this most unusual case.

'The Forgotten' (Shannon Noelle Long): A enigmatic man sitting on a park bench and a young woman named Nelly cross paths at Millennium Park.

'Electric: Bolshy'/'Electric: The Last to Die' (Christopher J. Crisp): In 'Bolshy' Choreographer Erich Werth calls on the help Night Boys, Francis Tenn and Christy Lawless Shaughn to find his missing possibly suicidal protégé. 'The Last to Die' finds Erich joining Night Boys as they track the protégé to the only club in the US where you can commit suicide by vampire.

'Flying' (Diamant): In the summer of love a group of rich flower children are gathered together by a famous pop group, The Fab Lads, who has discovered a magic spell which could change transportation as the world knows it. They only need, love, energy and a willing guinea pig.

'The Life of Jenessa' (Elizabeth Figueroa): Jenessa is your average young woman; great job, nice apartment. Secretly, she lives an extraordinary life by night. The fine balance between her average and extraordinary lives is tipped one day when her aunt pays her an unexpected visit.

Many many thanks to Aubrey and Jordan over at Diamant  

For keeping with us and helping us all get a taste of our talent out to the world!

We <3 you guys!

Other Voices: An Urban Fantasy Anthology Release Update

Releasing Friday, July 19, 2013!!!!!

It's Finally Here!!! The Rise of Xosha Cover!!!!!!!!!

Book Title: The Rise of Xosha
Series:  Legend of Xosha
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Author: S.Cu’Anam Policar
Publisher: Freaky Fiction Writing Publishing
Cover Art: Jennifer Martinez
Expected Release Date: October 16, 2013

       Obsidian's reverie was cut short as she realized her own grave error. “Pyre watch out!” She yelled.
         Pyre snapped his head in the direction of Obsidian's frantic yell, but indeed he had been too late. A flurry of white feathers slammed into his right flank sending him spiraling out of the sky.
         His talons ripped into the side of the feathered beast, which returned the gesture in kind as their forms, a ball of red scale and white feather continued their less than graceful dive.
         “This ends now dragon!” the feathered one hissed in a feminine voice as her talons dug into Pyre's flank.
         Pyre growled low in his throat as he finally shook the Anjyl off. “Why are you doing this?! Your kind and mine are practically cousins. Why turn on us like this?”
         A laugh akin to the tinkling of bells left the feathered dragon, her gray depths burned into the dragon's with malice.
        “Your kind is thorn in our sides. We cannot fully control the 'God' fearing creatures with you around.”
         Pyre had heard enough, he flew at the Anjyl and gripped her left wing in with his front taloned paws, his back ones came to land on the feathered female's underside where his talons dug deeply in.  His back legs gave a sharp kick outward as his front legs pulled the wing toward his own body.
         The Anjyl's eyes widened. Her sleek feathered head shook vigorously back and forth causing the thick standalone whiskers on either side of her muzzle to dance in the wind. Then, she gave out of a blood curdling screech of pain as the sound of popping bone, tissue, and feathered flesh broke through the howl of the rushing wind.
         A smirk crossed Pyre's maw as he released the now useless wing. “Your kind will never be better than us Anjyl. If you survive, tell your Oni we will not fall prey to you... Hunt us again and it will be the Anjyl's that become the prey!”
         He kicked out once more letting his wings unfurl to catch the upward current of the wind. His talons mucked with feathers, flesh, and gore, he gave a shrug knowing he had wasted his breath. Even as he watched, his wings giving the occasional flap to keep himself aloft, The Anjyl was falling. When she hit the water head first and did not resurface he knew it had been an wasted effort.
         Above him, where the rest of the fighting sectors of the horde were, he heard growls and the clash of talons. Angling himself he began his ascent back to his brother's side, dodging the many breaths of acid, and the falling of Anjyls.
         “I'm glad you're okay Pyre.” Oceanus grunted as Pyre came up beside him.
        Pyre latched his maw on the neck of the large Anjyl male that was trying very much in vain to knock Oceanus from the sky. “I told you I can take care of myself.”  Was the muffled reply as the male went limp in Pyre's jaw.
         Pyre let the Anjyl drop to join his kin in the bottom of the ocean. Pyre's amber depths noted the purple hue to the once blue water and had to wonder to himself if it would ever return to normal after this fight.
     As the last Anjyl fell to its final resting place, Oceanus let out a strong bellow. The children, Rose, and the others lifted from the small island to rejoin the ranks of the horde. Oceanus knew the browns were a bit miffed at being left out of the fight, He also knew that Rose's Xosha required every brown dragon there to be found.
         “We no longer have time and distance on our side. I'm sure that horde were not the only ones. Their leader was not among their numbers. We must make haste to our new home now. We cannot afford another battle. Many of you are injured now and the will to carry on is diminished, but you must continue forward! We all seek the freedom and peace of Rose's Xosha, we must stay together to achieve it!” Oceanus' voice was strong, though as he looked over his small band of dragons his heart grew heavy. They had lost at least three in that fight., they could not afford to lose any more.

And Now

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The Moment You've Been Waiting For

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The Dawning of the Three Written Progress

I didn't get much done today.. Only 8 % from last week. I don't know why. It's been gnawing at me all week to write and then when I finally do it's a struggle. I finally gave up trying today at some point in the beginning of chapter 3... Maybe next week the wall won't be there anymore and I can write more x.x

The Rise of Xosha Teaser

The Rise of Xosha on GoodReads

 Obsidian's reverie was cut short as she realized her own grave error. “Pyre watch out!” She yelled.

                 Pyre snapped his head in the direction of Obsidian's frantic yell, but indeed he had been too late. A flurry of white feathers slammed into his right flank sending him spiraling out of the sky.

                 His talons ripped into the side of the feathered beast, which returned the gesture in kind as their forms, a ball of red scale and white feather continued their less than graceful dive.

                  “This ends now dragon!” the feathered one hissed in a feminine voice as her talons dug into Pyre's flank.

                 Pyre growled low in his throat as he finally shook the Anjyl off. “Why are you doing this?! Your kind and mine are practically cousins. Why turn on us like this?”

                 A laugh akin to the tinkling of bells left the feathered dragon, her gray depths burned into the dragon's with malice.

                 “Your kind is thorn in our sides. We cannot fully control the 'God' fearing creatures with you around.”

                 Pyre had heard enough, he flew at the Anjyl and gripped her left wing in with his front taloned paws, his back ones came to land on the feathered female's underside where his talons dug deeply in.  His back legs gave a sharp kick outward as his front legs pulled the wing toward his own body.

                 The Anjyl's eyes widened. Her sleek feathered head shook vigorously back and forth causing the thick standalone whiskers on either side of her muzzle to dance in the wind. Then, she gave out of a blood curdling screech of pain as the sound of popping bone, tissue, and feathered flesh broke through the howl of the rushing wind.

                  A smirk crossed Pyre's maw as he released the now useless wing. “Your kind will never be better than us Anjyl. If you survive, tell your Oni we will not fall prey to you... Hunt us again and it will be the Anjyl's that become the prey!”

                  He kicked out once more letting his wings unfurl to catch the upward current of the wind. His talons mucked with feathers, flesh, and gore, he gave a shrug knowing he had wasted his breath. Even as he watched, his wings giving the occasional flap to keep himself aloft, The Anjyl was falling. When she hit the water head first and did not resurface he knew it had been an wasted effort.

                   Above him, where the rest of the fighting sectors of the horde were, he heard growls and the clash of talons. Angling himself he began his ascent back to his brother's side, dodging the many breaths of acid, and the falling of Anjyls.

                  “I'm glad you're okay Pyre.” Oceanus grunted as Pyre came up beside him.

                 Pyre latched his maw on the neck of the large Anjyl male that was trying very much in vain to knock Oceanus from the sky. “I told you I can take care of myself.”  Was the muffled reply as the male went limp in Pyre's jaw.

                 Pyre let the Anjyl drop to join his kin in the bottom of the ocean. Pyre's amber depths noted the purple hue to the once blue water and had to wonder to himself if it would ever return to normal after this fight.

     As the last Anjyl fell to its final resting place, Oceanus let out a strong bellow. The children, Rose, and the others lifted from the small island to rejoin the ranks of the horde. Oceanus knew the browns were a bit miffed at being left out of the fight, He also knew that Rose's Xosha required every brown dragon there to be found.

                 “We no longer have time and distance on our side. I'm sure that horde were not the only ones. Their leader was not among their numbers. We must make haste to our new home now. We cannot afford another battle. Many of you are injured now and the will to carry on is diminished, but you must continue forward! We all seek the freedom and peace of Rose's Xosha, we must stay together to achieve it!” Oceanus' voice was strong, though as he looked over his small band of dragons his heart grew heavy. They had lost at least three in that fight., they could not afford to lose any more.

Help the World Read & Pay it Forward Event

The first 19 Kindles & Nooks we purchased have made it out to the people in need so we need to get round two going!! There are still 12 people in need on Vicki's list & we know you'll all want to help them with this! Can you imagine not being able to read an e-book because you can't afford the e-reader, whether you have a family are disabled or simply cannot afford that in your budget??? I'd cry!! And I have cried, finding out how many people do not have e-readers.. We've done 19, let's make more magic happen!!
Share this event everywhere! All it takes is word of mouth and Amazon or B&N or other gift cards & we can make dreams come true!!!
We have an amazing group of friends out there & I know we can get this back up for round 2 & get those e-readers sent! We have had amazing responses so far, now let's keep going! All info is above, if your not sure how it works..
Thank you, everyone!!!

Help the World Read & Pay it Forward Event

Here's me with my Kindle Keyboard which I got thanks to Vicki and her epic event help us put a smile on other reviewers that need an ereader >^.^<

This could be bigger than Facebook!

I’ve been working behind the scenes on a new social network that’s about to launch.
It’s already growing at the speed of Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!
You have to see the concept to understand why. But once you get it, you’ll see this could change your life forever.
Check it out here… http://www.startmyripple.com/blitzlink/e2f0fd631a9b013f2d4b1cdca5537177
Watch the video and then create your account. I can’t tell you too much more until you're inside, so create your free account now then let me know and I can explain how it all works!
Thanks,
S.Cu'Anam

P.S. Almost 900,000 people have already joined, and it hasn’t even gone live yet! Come see what all of the buzz is about:
http://www.startmyripple.com/blitzlink/e2f0fd631a9b013f2d4b1cdca5537177

Other Voices: An Urban Fantasy Anthology Update

So some good news today! I know right x.x My writing life seems to be like one never ending Jerry Springer episode lol!

There is good news tonight though! Months ago I submitted a story. I believe it was "A Touch of Chaos" to an open call Anthology and it was picked to be in it. Well that anthology which is entitled.. Other Voices: An Urban Fantasy Anthology.. is releasing in a couple of weeks! This was the first bit of good news.. The second is. omg ... "A Touch of Chaos" is going to be the first story in the anthology! That means anyone who gets it will see my story before they see any other story! I am so over the moon excited about this you just have no idea LOL! I'll keep you guys updated since the release date isn't secured yet I figure it'll be around the beginning to mid august for the release but soon as I have more details you guys will too >^.^<

I'll also be taking pre-orders for the anthology once the date and price is set >^.^<

Don't Write What You Don't Know...A Message from the Soap Box

I understand that certain people don't like me for whatever reason.. Do what you feel you need to on your personal facebook. When you cross it over and start trashing me or anyone else for that matter on your author page calling them names and slandering them, that's crossing a thin line we indie authors walk on. While you're being petty and childish and trashing me all over your fan base there's not word about you on mine. Further more, your information is incorrect, if you had given me the chance to even say anything before you called my mental stability into question you'd have seen the screen shots I have verses the altered emails you have tell two entirely different stories. But you go on and be petty. You know who you are, and when the way you treated me comes back to bite you in the rear, do not even consider apologizing to me. It will fall on deaf ears. I may be a lot of things but I am not a liar, I am not a thief, and I do not pirate books. I'll tell you just like I told the people you paid to hand your book out to to have reviewed and toured... If you bothered to look me up.. and oh yeah if you google me I come up on almost an entire page, you'd see how against the theft and pirating books I am, you'd see that just like you I'm an author. and you'd see I'm one of the best and most sought out reviewers on the net. All you're going to succeed in doing is making yourself look like the unprofessional person you are. Sure you may get people that don't know me or what happened and that are just as childish as you are to believe you without getting my side, just as you believed them without talking to  me first, but in the end, what does that do? Nothing.

Now you're probably asking yourself how I would know what they sent you (since you were so adamant in not proving what you claimed) that it was altered.. That's simple, In my reply to them I told them my review would be late due to the fact I was going to purchase a copy of the book on the 11th so I could complete my review. But I just wanted to pirate your book right? Rest assured I will no longer be wasting my money on your book. I'll make sense of the spliced arc and base my review on it... when I have time to read it... See you trashing me has done really nothing but help me. My author request list is quite long now do your claims of my mental instability and how I simply love to pirate books. I will say again.... Don't write what you don't know. I know I don't steal nor pirate books, I know I'm a top notch reviewer, and I know I have the best friends and support system in the indie community.. Hell even people that don't like me told you I'm a good reviewer and don't pirate books... So what's tell you? Write what you know not what you assume it would save everyone a lot of trouble..

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Independance day!

We didn't get to do anything special this year, but the kids still wore their red and white for the day >^.^<

I saw this shirt and immediately thought "That's Taea!"

Bry picked out Micah's...He'll have it for a few years lol

I look like a freaking lobster and Bry takes horrible pics so I did this one myself in the car LOL!

The hat is a NECESSITY!!!! I thought my awesome Parker Harris "I <3 Werewolves" hat was the perfect finishing touch for my outfit >^.^<

What did you guys do today?

Our Day at Two Rivers

Our day started off of course in the car.. The kids were super excited to go to Two Rivers... Can't you tell?

Gallataea Age 6

Micah Age 19 1/2 Months

This is Two Rivers.. it's personally my favorite river to go to. There's always cranes and ducks around and schools of little fish swim in the water

Of course as soon as we got there we forgot about the camera and jumped in the river.. It's so hot outside x.X But after we cooled off we decided to have some lunch! We shared a a big sub sandwich and a bag of onion rings >^.^<

Micah was a big boy today! He got to sit at the picnic table with us >^.^<

Taea is forever stuffing her face.. How she's so thin is beyond my comprehension x.X

We noticed Micah's cheeks getting a little red and so it was time for Bry to reapply the sunblock

"King" Micah was trying to call us to attention to let us know he was finished eating.

Taea is STILL stuffing food in her mouth!

Micah wondering why Bry had the camera >.>

I wish he'd have taken one of me where I looked less fluffy >.<

 There's a crane on the pillar with it's wings spread

 I know it's really hard to see but there's only so much zoom you can do from where I was standing >.>

Taea obliviously swimming past Bry and Micah who were waving at me >^.^<

Some ducks that were swimming by

Damn cranes again e.e

Micah splashing in the water.. He never lets me catch him smiling I assure you his jaw is touching his chest as he's laughing

He spotted a fish.. like two seconds after this he went to chase said fish and became one with the water.... Needless to say he wanted no part of the river after that lol

Charging For Reviews? Ethical or not?

It's been brought to my attention today (a lot) that a certain facebook page/blog is charging for reviews. What's even worse, is they're charging upwards of $145.00 to read one book.

The blog that's doing this is called Book Review Leader. In my opinion the only thing they are the "leader" of is scams. Authors should never have to "pay" more than a few copies of their book for a review.. EVER... The concept of charging anything for you to not only receive a free book but to make money most authors who truly need the exposure don't have is just wrong and unethical.

I understand charging for blog tours and whatnot. That takes a lot of time and effort to put together on the organizer's part. But just to R2R? No.. Please if you're an author, steer clear of  Book Review Leader. There are plenty of much larger, much well known, and respectable groups on Facebook and GoodReads that don't charge anything at all. Ask some other authors for help before you go and pay for something most people would be honored to do for you for free...

What are you feelings on this topic?

The Rise of Xosha Signed Bookmark Giveaway

The bookmarks came in this morning and they look AMAZING! To celebrate, I've decided that 3 lucky fans will all get one! You can enter via the rafflectopr. The giveaway starts on Monday and ends on the 31st! Good Luck Everyone! >^.^<

The bookmarks look like this only they have rounded edges and are signed in the upper right cover >^.^<

This contest will be international so you guys over seas can enter too >^.^<

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Legend of Xosha Title Contest

In case you guys missed the post, I have a small title contest going on. I seem to be at a loss as to what to name 3 of the books in the series. If you think you can come up with a title that I'd like let me know by commenting on the blog post or on the author page. If I like your title and decide to use it there's some great FFW and Xosha swag in it for you as well as a mention in the dedication of the book you name >^.^<

Now I figured this will be hard as hell if you have no inkling as to what each book is about so I'll give you a small feel for each..

Book 1 takes place roughly a thousand years after The Rise of Xosha, Rose is considered a Myth and the stuff of legends, Pyre has been forgotten. Xosha is ruled by an evil Dragonian named AleXander who insists on having the most beautiful girl in Caprae for his queen. A girl named Ember. Ember's heart however belongs to another man, a Lupirian. The Lupirians have been the enemies of the Dragonian's ever since the incident with Reaper and Oceanus from The Rise of Xosha. Ember's infatuation causes a huge war between Caprae and the Solstyce Woods.

Book 2 begins a few years after book 1. This book takes place in Ryse'Dyn which is a massive city where all manner of creatures live from demons, to vampires, werewolfs, anjyls, etc. There's even times a human or two will be spotted, though they never last very long since they're a delicacy to the residents. This is where we meet Macayla Anne Jadespike, one of Ryse'Dyn's best assassins, and oddly enough a friend of Fury Nye'Cross.


Book 3 begins the same time as book 2, This story takes us far from Ryse'Dyn though and into The Wastes to Anjyllic Phell. The Anjyls still hold their grudge against the Dragonians and plot their revenge with their secret weapon. We meet Olivia Imperium Anjylfyre here. A girl with a destiny she knows nothing about, but one that will begin the process that will end it all.


Book 4 also begins the same time as book 2 and 3. The story takes us out of The Wastes and deep into the heart of the Solstyce Woods where we meet Wynter Desrea Rose, Beta to the alpha of the Rose Pack. She is without a doubt one of the prettiest Lupirians in the realm, though her life is speckled with sorrow and dispair. She is the final key needed for Xosha's salvation.


Book 5 begins after book 4. With the 3 reunited, it's time to end this once and for all. With what's left of Caprae in ruins and surrounded by enemies on all sides, the new ruler must find a way to bring the broken kingdom to peace under the rule of one leader.

Your task is to find fitting names for these 5 books. I will pick the names I like best and place them with the book suits it best. I will then confer with a neutral party when I have all the entries and the winner of the chosen title will be contacted. Please leave a way I can contact you along with your title suggestions below in the contest and good luck >^.^< 

Freaky Fiction Writing

I'm procrastinating and instead of writing for the moment I figured I would talk to you guys about my publishing house FFW

Freaky Fiction Writing is who I write for. Seriously I was going to scrap the whole idea of even publishing the Xosha Series and they saw something and wanted it. So I decided to give them a shot.

Our founder is amazing. He doesn't talk down to us, or act like he's better than we are either. He's an author too so he knows what we deal with.

There are a lot of perks that come with working for FFW too.. We even have a store! I want so much crap from that store you just have no idea LOL

Anyway, if you're an author and want a good publisher, come check us out >^.^<

FFW is accepting Submissions

The Rise of Xosha Update #2

Well The Rise of Xosha survived the first round of edits! I foresee just one last round with a few ideas me and my editor were tossing back and forth and then it will just be the waiting game until its release! I am so excited!!

The Rise of Xosha Update

Well the bad news, The Rise of Xosha still isn't going to be published until October... BUT the good news, you'll only have to wait 3 months instead of six between The Rise of Xosha and The Dawning of the Three instead of 6.

As it is, the Legend of Xosha Series will be 6 main books then I'll start working on the branch off series (The Ryse'Dyn Chronicles, and The Way of the Pack Series)

The books are:
1. The Rise of Xosha (The Prequel)
2. The Dawning of the Three (book 1)
3.
4.
5.
6. Xosha Reborn

I haven't come up with titles I like enough for the books about the three yet. I was going to do something cheesy and have it like Blood Rose, Wynter Rose, and something else Rose but I've seen entirely too many books called Blood Rose around and well that pretty much killed it for me.. So I need to come up with some new epic titles... anyone want to help? Comment on this post with a title you think I name one of the books. If I think it suits one of the middle books not only will I use the title, I'll give you credit for naming it in the book as well >^.^<

Now Remember, the titles have to be catchy... I'll even name a char after whoever can give me a better title for The Dawning of the Three

This will end when I have all the titles I need >^.^< Trust me you guys will know

Freebies and Reviews (Semi Rant)

I've seen a lot of blog posts lately from fellow indie authors. The topic has been returns, freebies, and reviews, so after giving it some thought I figured I would say a bit about this too since it's a topic that's on the minds of most indie authors... Be warned, this has all the makings of a rant and my soap box is right by my side...

Reviews

Do we want them? Of course we do. 

Good ones boost our egos and sometimes our ratings. But how many people actually spend hours reading all the reviews a book has before buying it? No one that I know. I know I don't use reviews to sway whether or not I'll buy a book. What one person loves, another will hate so why should my decision be made by the masses?

Bad ones if done the way they are supposed to, are vital to an author. I for one care more about the professionally written 1-3 star reviews than I do about the nonsensical 4-5 star reviews. Why? It's simple, a low rated review if done professionally will offer the author tips and suggestions on ways to make the book better, whether there be editing flaws, grammatical ones the editor, author, and beta readers all missed, etc. Errors happen, it's rare that an author will find ALL the errors in their work because they are blinded by it. An author is not neutral when it comes to their own work no matter how much they will say they are. That's why I don't read my own work.. I write it, skim through it for red, green, and blue squigglies, fix what I spot, then hand it over to the neutral parties that are paid to fix it. 

If my team of beta readers, who are most assuredly reading more than just my book, and my editor who is on his own timeline and has to edit not only mine but everyone in the company's books, miss something, then it falls to the consumer to point out the errors we missed.

Reviewers who simply trash the work as a whole without seeing anything more than the errors are NOT helpful. Not at all, they in fact hinder things and some authors give up writing all together because the hurtful words of the reviewer do that much damage.

When a person reads a book, of course look to see if errors are there, point them out professionally in the review, then rate the book based on the story itself. Errors can easily be corrected if we know they're there. A 1 star review based solely on the amount of errors in a book can't be. So the next time you review, take a minute before you press publish on Amazon, or B&N, Smashwords, GoodReads, or even your own blogs, take a minute and ask yourself if the STORY, not the errors, but the actual story deserves to be ranked so low.

Returns

This is an area I am quite adamant about. Why buy a book if you're just going to return it? If you fully intend to read and review it why return it? Now I get there are accidents. I myself have accidentally bought a book thinking it was another book. I'm not referring to those errors. I'm not referring to the accidental purchase when you meant to download a sample either. I'm talking about the people that instead of just buying an Amazon Prime Membership which would turn amazon's kindle selection into their own personal library, will instead buy a book and then return it right before the refund deadline. It's wrong and it hurts the people who poured blood, sweat, tears, and souls into the book. Put yourself in their shoes, would you want something to do that to you? And while those of you who are unpublished are sitting there laughing, or saying you wouldn't care, the fact of the matter is, you would. Think about what you do for a living, whatever it is you sell for whoever, what if thousands of people bought your product, then returned it for no reason. Obviously it wasn't damaged, or broken, but it had served its purpose and those people decided they simply didn't want it anymore. It would not only hurt your feelings, it would hurt your pride, and it would make you question your work. "Is it bad? It has to be bad if all these people are returning it... Should I even bother making another one?" These just a few of the thoughts that go through any creator's head when there are returns. Please I implore you to put yourself in their shoes when you consider returning a book that you more than likely enjoyed getting lost in.

Freebies

Why? Why the hell would anyone with a brain make their work exclusive to Amazon just for a handful of free days? Amazon is NOT the place to make your work exclusive. If you plan on doing tours and have to dish out copies to Reviewers.. you have to pay for said copies and gift them. Why lose all that money just for 5 free days?

My book will most assuredly be offered on Smashwords without a  doubt. Not only will I not have to gift my book (which hello gifting costs YOU money) I will be giving my reviewers another venue to place reviews by going through Smashwords and obtaining a purchase code. The purchase code costs the author nothing and it allows reviewers to place their reviews on smashwords who, like Kobo, only allow reviews from purchases made there.

"But Amazon is so well known!" It's so well known because everyone opts to use them falling for their ridiculous free day scam. Amazon will let you post a review on a product so long as you have bought at least one thing off their site, so will B&N, and so will iTunes.

Free days do NOT help you! They do not add to your sales rating since they aren't considered sales.

If you're going to make a book free.. then make ONE book free.. catch new fans with the ONE book... Trust me if they like the book they'll want to read more of it. I myself have a crap ton of kindle books and admittedly they all cost me nothing.. Well 95% of them were free, the rest I bought or they are ARCs, If I read it and like it, I BUY the book along with all the others in print. Any author that knows me knows I live for my signed print collection. They can all attest to the mile long "I must have signed print" list I have too which gets books added to it almost daily. There's no reason to have your entire series free and most certainly not at the same time. You'll never get a high sales rating that way. Are you that much in doubt of your own work that you'd rather give Amazon complete control over the stories YOU have created? The stories YOU worked months or years on? The stories YOU wanted to share with the world? If you doubt your work that much... Perhaps writing isn't for you. 

Me personally? once The Dawning of the Three comes out, I intend to price The Rise of Xosha as low as possible, even free if I can permanently. Every other book in the series will NEVER be free. They will cost roughly 4-5 dollars and not a cent less than that because I worth so much more than nothing. The prequel will be as low as possible simply to lure people to the series, to get them excited about it. Once they read it, if they like it, they'll want to read the others, and so they'll buy them.

But like I've said over and over, I don't write to make money. Any money I make from my books will more than likely go to paying for my covers, and for buying new print books.

If my book never does well, so long as one person reads it and sees what I saw when I wrote it, that is my fortune. That would make me happier than all the money in the world.

I'm done with my little rant now.... Please take my words into consideration...

 

It is done!

I can not believe it's finished! I should totally make the August 16 publication date! The Beta Readers have it in their hands now and the publisher has a copy too I'm so excited!

The Rise of Xosha Release Announcement

After much consideration and talking to a few close friends and fellow authors... I've decided that with addition of one or two more chapters.. The Rise of Xosha will be complete and that means there's a 95% chance that it make the August 16th publication Date if the editor doesn't have to do too much work to fix it up >^.^<

Introduction to the Races of Xosha

I thought I would give you a small taste of the different races you will meet in Xosha. Now mind you as the series progresses more will be added. For now, these are the races you will meet in The Rise of Xosha


Dragon – Large scaled lizards that are born in different colors.  Each dragon can control an element naturally. The element type is generally determined by the color of the dragon (black/acid, blue/water, red/fire, yellow/electricity, brown/earth, green/air, white/spirit)

Anjyl – Similar in genetic makeup to the dragon, these are covered in feathers instead of scales and have two thick “whispers” protruding from either side of their more narrow, almost feline or canine muzzles. These beings have a human form that grants them feathered wings ranging in color from white to black. The mortal humans revere them as “angels” sent from their God, which is how they got their name.

Wolf – Larger than the earth bound specie. These beasts stand a good five feet tall on all fours.

Hellhound – Similar to their wolf cousins, these are the products of demon and wolf copulation and used by demons to track and kill elusive targets.

Imp – A small lesser demon of little use to the masses as anything more than fodder  and messengers. These demons are typically small and fat with small nubbed wings

Shai Demon – Greater demons of the Nye’Cross clan, the rulers of Shai’Pyre. These demons are wingless. They have horns that protrude from their forehead ranging from small nubs to massive curled ram like horns. Beautiful in appearance, these demons are the most deadly and deceiving of them all. The females usually have “pretty” horns that are short and very sharp as well as sharp spaded tails.

Beblith – Spider Demon. These demons are centaurish in appearance, their lower halves are that of an arachnid, their upper half that of Shai Demon. These beings are the front line of the Demon Army. Brainless, with no will of their own, they are the victims of eliciting the Shai Queen’s wrath.

Silver Elf – The elves of Silverspell. Normally between five feet and six feet tall, these elves have silvery blue skin and hair colors ranging from midnight blue/black to white/blue.

Silver Fang – Blood sucking Silver Elves. The first of the Vampyrs.

Dragonian – The “Human” generations of the dragons. Accidently created after the last spell the spirits use Rose for. All generations after the initial horde are born Dragonian and most achieve their “Tru’San” or true form at thirteen years of age. Dragonians look human, save for their dragon wings and and eyes lacking pupils. Though they retain their dragon wings, they cannot fly in this form and can only hover a few inches off the ground, or glide on the air currents.

Lupirian – The “Human” generations of the wolves. Like Dragonians, Lupirians are born human and obtain their wolf forms later in life usually about the time puberty hits. Lupirians have a deep tan coloring to their skin, and usually smell of nature (pine needles and the such). Considered “barbaric” since even in their human forms they prefer to live outdoors in dens made from large rocks or mountains. Their most defining characteristics are their wolf ears and tail.

Hellian – The “Human” generations of the hellhounds. They look remarkably similar to the Lupirians except they have the gargoyle like wings of the hellhound they spawned from.

Rock Lith – Large bird that is almost as big as a full grown dragon. It’s feathers are so hard and strong it gives the appearance of stone which is how it got its name.

Brothin – over populating source of meat. Resembling a cross between a dairy cow and a gazelle. It’s body is usually a white color with splotches of tan, It’s legs and neck are long and graceful, it’s horns curve outward. The most common animal to eat.

Scorpion – Massive cousins to the earth specie. These beasts are a main source of food in Shai’Pyre for those too poor to get buy a human or other intelligent being. If one can manage to kill it without being snapped in half by its four foot wide pincers, or impaled by the six foot long stinger, it’s a tasty treat for the weary traveling across The Wastes.

Want A Chance to win an EXCLUSIVE ebook of My Short Stories and tons of other Great Books by Great Authors?

Hi guys! This is Sarah from FaeBooks.co.uk here. Fae Books is a great place to discover books, Authors, writers, other bloggers and to enter the giveaways that I always have going on. We're all about everything "Bookish" as I say. So stop on over at one of my links below, I'd love to get to know you. You can find the site at www.FaeBooks.co.uk.  You can add me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SarahFaeBooks,  You can find me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/FaeBooks,  I'm on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/FaeBooks  and you can Like the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ptsdblog Fae Books has hit and surpassed the 3000 Like mark on Facebook, so I'm celebrating with a fabulous giveaway for everyone! I'm inviting you to join in the celebration and enter the giveaway below.  Please check out all of the Author & Blogger links below, to see who has kindly donated prizes to this for you awesome book lovers to win! Start/End Dates & Times The giveaway starts at 12:00am GMT (UK) 15th June 2013 and ends at 12:00am GMT (UK) 15th July 2013  

There are prizes from: Author Tricia Drammeh Author Victoria Simcox Author Brandi Salazar Indy Book Fairy Blog Author S. CuAnam Policar  Author Ashlynne Laynne Blogger Brenda Tashia Author Steve Cypert Author Simon OKill Author Michelle Muto Author Victoria Sawyer  Author J.H. Walker  Author Candace Knoebel Jessica Loves Books Blog Author JJ DiBenedetto Author Kelly Anne Blount Author S.L. Dearing Author Tina Hammond Author Deliza Rafferty Author Felicia Tatum Author L. J. Baker  Reader's Candy Blog Author Allison Cosgrove  Author Brandy L Rivers  

Prize Donator Info:   ~~~~~~~~~~~  Author Tricia Drammeh Tricia Drammeh is a wife and mother of four children who lives in the St. Louis area. Her published works include The Claiming Words and The Fifth Circle. She is currently working on her seventh novel. When Tricia isn't writing, she can be found devouring books, interviewing up-and-coming authors, and drinking vast amounts of coffee. Amazon  Goodreads  ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Victoria Simcox  Victoria was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, to an Austrian immigrant mother, and a Dutch immigrant father. She now resides in Western Washington with her husband and 3 children. Her other family members are, a Chihuahua, named Pipsy and 2 cats, named Frodo and Fritz. For the past 12 years, she has home-schooled her children. Besides being an author, Victoria is also an elementary school art teacher. Victoria enjoys writing, reading, painting watercolors, hiking, good movies, and hanging out with her family and friends. Victoria is the author of The Magic Warble.  Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Brandi Salazar  Brandi Salazar started writing poetry, short stories, and novels at a very young age, weaving tales to share with her friends that were geared toward making them laugh. Today her writing habits reflect that, ranging from mystery/suspense/thriller to paranormal and YA romance, and no matter how different her works may be, you can always find a healthy dose of action, romance, and humor. Under the pen name J.C. Valentine, she also writes erotic romance fiction. A longtime resident of Ohio, Brandi lives with her husband, three children, a dog and five cats that keep her very busy. She holds a degree in Business and has plans to continue her education so she can one day become an editor to authors everywhere. When she isn’t crafting her next novel, toiling away at schoolwork, or hanging out with family, you can find her curled up in her favorite chair with her nose buried in a book. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Indy Book Fairy Blog Blog Link

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Author S. CuAnam Policar  S. CuAnam Policar was born in Brooklyn, NY, but now lives in Washington State. The Mother of three makes time to write, usually late at night. An avid reader, she not only writes but helps promote other authors with blog tours and reviews of their books. She is Pagan but respects all religions and believes everyone should celebrate their similarities and not care about their differences. When she has the time, she enjoys playing video games, horseback riding, singing, and writing things other than her Legend of Xosha seires. She absolutely loves to make new friends, so don't be afraid to pop by and say hi on facebook!  

Blog

~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Ashlynne Laynne Ashlynne Laynne has always had a soft spot in her heart for vampires but grew tired of the garlic fearing, sun-loathing creatures of old. An avid horror movie fan, she tends to enjoy media and music that is of a younger, more eclectic nature. This was the catalyst for her writing The Progeny. The vampire/witch pairing is unique and different when most books pair vampires with werewolves. Ashlynne loves writing on the edge—combining the erotica and romance genres—and thinks of Ascher and Shauna as the wicked, damned version of Romeo and Juliet. She is currently working on book four of her Progeny Series, book one of her upcoming Rocker Series, and an untitled novella WIP. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with her family. She juggles the hats of wife, mother, full time employee and part-time writer, hoping to write exclusively one day soon. Find and follow here online on Twitter. Check out her Manic Readers page, Blog and Website, or leave her a note in her Reader Email. Ashlynne lives in North Carolina with her husband and teenage son. Amazon Goodreads   ~~~~~~~~~~~ Blogger Brenda Tashia I'm an 20 year old avid reader who loves promoting authors work. Blog ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Steve Cypert Steve is the second child of seven born in Los Angeles, California to a wonderful mother and father. Born into the LDS faith, Steve served a 2 year full-time LDS mission at the age of nineteen in the northern half of Ohio. At twenty-four he moved from his parents’ home in Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, Utah to try out life on his own. 2 decades later he still lives in Utah, where he found and married his beautiful wife, Katie. Today they live in South Jordan, Utah with their bald little 6 month old son, Ozzie and their very hairy son, Duke - a three year old Shih Tzu.    Goodreads Amazon ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Simon OKill Simon Okill lives with his wife, Shirlee Anne and their cat, in a pretty coastal town in South Wales, UK. After a serious accident at work, he was forced into early retirement due to disability. Simon used his newfound skills as a writer to help with his depression. His writing became more serious as certain A-list actors expressed interest in his scripts. He is presently working on a vampire novel, Eternally Yours and the script, Flip Side.   Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Michelle Muto Michelle has always loved storytelling. When she was a child, her favorite stories were of monsters and things that lurked in the dark. Telling stories often frightened her classmates and got her into a lot of trouble with her teachers. They had no sense of humor. As an adult, Michelle traded her love of writing for the corporate life where she was an IT professional. Today, she's doing what she loves best - writing and storytelling. Michelle grew up in Chicago, but currently lives in NE Georgia with her husband and their two dogs. She loves scary books, funny movies, sports cars, chocolate, dogs, and changes of season. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Victoria Sawyer "Passionate about writing, graphic design, creativity. Fueled by the light and dark. Beauty, color, euphoria, artistic frenzy, depression, panic, anxiety." What you see on the outside is not what you get on the inside. On the outside, Victoria Sawyer is polished, confident, put together, but on the inside things are a bit different. She's creative, thoughts whirling, anxious, alternately depressed and happy or self-critical and confident, energetic, charismatic, cranky and panicked. She has suffered from panic attacks, anxiety and depression since the age of 10 and has been writing for just about as long. Her love of writing started as journal entries as therapy and eventually morphed into a melding of fact and fiction. Sometimes writing drives her to drink or drinking drives her to write or sometimes it's depression, anger, mental illness or love. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author J. H. Walker J.H. grew up in Central America. She now lives in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies with her photographer husband and many, many books. In addition to her never-ending study of human behavior, she's a political junkie and a certified tree hugger. Rewrite Redemption is her debut novel. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Candace Knoebel Music defines a huge part of who I am. I find myself relating moments of my life to music lyrics more often than not. Actually, I find myself wishing that music would play at epic moments in my life...kind of like this one; becoming an author! Number one all-time fave band is Thirty Seconds to Mars. I waited for 10 ½ hours just to be front row to see them in concert and of course it rocked. I also love Paramore, John Mayer, Mute-math, Adele, Band of Horses...the list could go on forever and ever. I love dancing, rocking out in the car to music, spending time with my children and husband, laughing with my bestie, and cooking. I also love watching Tobuscus on you-tube. Books that pull at my heart-strings: Harry Potter Series, Jane Eyre, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Twilight Saga. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Jessica Loves Books Blog
Blog ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author J.J. DiBenedetto   J.J. (James) DiBenedetto was born in Yonkers, New York. He attended Case Western Reserve University, where as his classmates can attest, he was a complete nerd. Very little has changed since then. He currently lives in Arlington, Virginia with his beautiful wife and their cat (who has thoroughly trained them both). When he's not writing, James works in the direct marketing field, enjoys the opera, photography and the New York Giants, among other interests. The "Dreams" series is James' first published work. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Kelly Anne Blount Kelly Anne Blount was born in Madison, WI. After attending university, she moved to Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands to teach elementary school. While living there, she met the love of her life and was married in a beautiful ceremony on the Caribbean Sea. After returning stateside, Kelly started to pursue another passion, writing. She recently wrote her first young fantasy adult novel in between teaching preschoolers with special needs and taking care of her husband and their five furry rescues. Kelly also enjoys reading in her free time. Her favorite genres are YA fantasy, MG, paranormal romance, and the occasional thriller. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author S. L. Dearing

Shannon L. Dearing was raised in Westlake Village, California and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, then spent several years studying at Los Angeles City College's renowned Television/ Film program. She has worked on several film projects in many capacities: directing, writing, First Asst. Director, Etc.. She is a book reviewer for the Big Blend Magazine and Champagne Sunday's radio show as well as the GMTA Literary Community and has a review list on her blog, ...And Everything in Between. Shannon has been writing since grade school. Over the years she has written several screenplays, poems,plays and short stories. She recently completed and published her first novel, The Gathering: Book One of the Lia Fail Chronicles and has a short story in the anthologies, Apocalypse: An Anthology of Readers and Authors & Paranormal Anthology with a TWIST, published and edited by Cynthia Shepp. In 2011, Shannon wrote Surviving the Undead, her first play and her first time directing, it ran for two weeks and was well received. She currently lives in the the San Fernando Valley of Southern California.   Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Tina Hammond

T. Hammond lives in Spokane, WA with her goofy, neurotic, long-coat German shepherd, Dexter; he's noble and brave, until someone turns on the microwave, then she has 100lbs of quivering dog trying to hide behind her chair or bury his head under a pillow (Little known fact: a 100lb German Shepherd CAN fit under a coffee table). Writing is not a calling so much as it is a compulsion. No one is more surprised than she is when characters take over the plot and dialog, and (re)direct stories in directions she had not (consciously) intended. She is fully convinced that the writer is the tool a story uses to tell its tale. Some tools, of course, are more appropriate for the job than others. Here's hoping, you feel she did her stories proud. T. has a Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Management from Whitworth University, and a Master's Degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and before becoming a writer she was a bookkeeper, technical/manual writer, Call Center Manager and the owner of a freshwater aquarium store, Guppy Tales.

Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Deliza Rafferty Deliza Rafferty is a new erotic romance writer (spicier than traditional romance without hardcore BDSM - always hot, sometimes humorous!) located in Hollywood. "Deliza" means "gives pleasure" and "Rafferty" means "rich and prosperous." With a name like that, what else could she do? Well...legally, anyway? Rafferty has written all sorts of stories, poems and songs for personal enjoyment since she was a little girl, but has been writing "dirty dramas" secretly since her first real kiss in middle school. She's spent most of her "real" career in the music business and draws from her unique first hand experience to bring to life her current series, The Savannah Rossi Chronicles. She is venturing into sharing her musings publicly for the very first time and is excited that modern day technology allows her to do it at her leisure and maintain control of her work. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Felicia Tatum Felicia Tatum was born and raised in Tennessee. She always loved reading, and at the age of twelve began writing. Her passion for creating stories grew and in May 2012, she finally wrote her first novel, The White Aura. She still lives in Tennessee with her daughter and her kitty. She loves cooking and books. Animals are some of her best friends. She watches a lot of Disney channel and often dreams up new book ideas. She's currently writing the second book in series. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~    Author L. J. Baker L J lives on the Jersey Shore with her husband, four kids, two cats, and an inherited dog from hell (a.k.a. the sewer gremlin). Though writing has always been her first passion, she got a degree in psychological counseling and worked in the mental health field for awhile, which she finds very helpful in dealing with her crazy family. She is a lover of all different types of music and books, switching between genres so wildly it sometimes makes people wonder if she has multiple personalities. She is most likely to be found writing romance stories of all kinds (contemporary, erotic, new adult, young adult, fantasy, etc.) and has just finished writing her first book, Save Me. When she's not writing, she prefers to spend her time reading, taking photos, or spending time with her family. Amazon Goodreads ~~~~~~~~~~~ Reader's Candy Blog

Blog ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Allison Cosgrove Allison Cosgrove was born and raised in a suburb of Toronto, Ontario. A married mother of three daughters, she runs her own business by day and creates her own worlds by night. She enjoys spending time with her husband and daughters hiking in the woods or sitting by the fire reading a good book. She has had the love of reading and writing detective mysteries from the age of twelve but it has only been since the birth of her youngest that she has gotten serious about crafting some of her own works for others to enjoy. She credits her family and friends with being the driving force that has given her the strength to breathe life into her books.  Goodreads Amazon ~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Brandy L Rivers I've always loved books, especially about monsters and magic, so I started writing. I'm working on a prequel and the next few books in the Others of Edenton series, and I have a head full of stories to share. I'm a stay at home mother with a wonderful husband who lets me write and write to my hearts content. Goodreads Amazon ~~~~~~~~~~~  
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