WEP Contest Winner

If you missed my little DARK PLACES tale, Taxi Ride, for the October WEP (Write-Edit-Publish) challenge, you might want to take a minute to read it. I won Runner-Up! I'm so thrilled. There were some amazing stories in the challenge. Click the links below to read them all. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to read and comment.

Klondike Mystery Books: Order a signed paperback book!

Available NOW!

NEW RELEASE: Book #3 in the John Lee Quarrels Series by Nick Russell

Many of my readers are also followers of Nick Russell, a good friend and a great author. He started with his Big Lake series and in the last year he started a new series and book three is now available. The John Lee Quarrels books - a grittier series that will keep you wanting more. I hope you'll give it a try!

As sultry as a Florida back road in August, as mysterious as the South's live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, and as deadly as a copperhead strike, the second book in New York Times bestselling author Nick Russell's new John Lee Quarrels series is sure to hook you from the first page and keep you reading late into the night!

   

*May contain strong language and adult situations some readers might be uncomfortable with.*

Klondike Mysteries - Now in Paperback!

All three of my Klondike Mystery "whodunit" novels are now available from Amazon.

• Not a Whisper   [book 1]
• Barely a Spark  [book 2]
• Almost a Touch [book 3]

BUT, if you would like a signed copy, you need to order the books direct from my website. You can even ask for a personal inscription! Please note, Almost a Touch will be mailed after November 1st.

IWSG for October 2017: Book Releases

Once again, it's the first Wednesday in the month and time for a post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. It never fails to amaze me how quickly the month passes by. Faster every month, it seems.

So this month, I'm stressed about book releases. Did I do enough pre-release marketing? Am I doing enough on release day? Will I do enough post-release?

Book Launches

Marketing is the part of publishing a book that I dread. I use Facebook. I use Twitter. I use this and two other blogs. But it never seems to be enough anymore. Each release gets a little worse and I wonder why I am still writing? People tell me they love my books, but my sales sure don't reflect it.

• My one romance novel, Home Again, sold 100 books in the first five months. Not bad.
• The first book in my Klondike Mystery series, Not a Whisper, sold 321 books in the first five months. Happy camper!
• The second book in my Klondike Mystery series, Barely a Spark, sold 130 books in the first five months. Sigh....

So how are sales this year? Here are my YTD sales so far:

• Home Again 18
• Not a Whisper 22
• Barely a Spark 16

Sigh...of course, Kindle Unlimited is a factor but even the sales there don't make much of a splash.

Book three in my Klondike Mystery series, Almost a Touch, was put on pre-order September 23rd. Five days in, I had 10 pre-sales. Just prior to going live, it had made it all the way to 22 pre-sales.

Book one, Not a Whisper, was free from 9/28 through 9/30 with almost 4100 downloads. Will that translate into sales of Barely a Spark and Almost a Touch? Only time will tell. 

I've got a contest going and so far have four - FOUR - entries over the last two days. I even listed it with half a dozen contest/sweepstakes sites.

Yes...it's discouraging. At this point, I plan to write the third in my Lei Crime Kindle World Trilogy, Paradise Drift. I have no further writing plans after that...at least in the near future. So this will be my final IWSG post. It's been a fun ride!

WEP Oct 2017: DARK PLACES

Physical or psychological.
It’s Halloween.
This has any number of possibilities!
Let your imagination run riot!

This little piece of flash fiction was featured as part of the May 2012 National Flash Flood. It's darker than my normal writing and I thought this month's WEP challenge was a good time to share it again. Below is my entry consisting of a mere 388 words, NCCO (no critique, comment only please).

The Taxi Ride

"I hate night shift, gives me heebie-jeebies," I whispered, looking in the rearview mirror at my latest passenger. "So where can I take you tonight?"

"The Pit," a voice rumbled from the back.

"The Pit, huh. I hear stuff about that place."

He grunted.

"All kinds of weird things. People go in and freaks come out."

"Don't believe what you hear, believe what you see."

"Well, I'd rather not see those kinda things." I sought his face but it was obscured by his hood.

The Pit was an old mansion about 10 miles outside the city. For the last dozen years, it had become a gathering spot for the fringes of society. Kids conforming in their nonconformity for the most part but it was the elders who gave me the creeps; tonight's passenger was one.

I slowed as I approached the gate. "Um, I usually stop at the gate." My voice betrayed me and I shook with fear.

"Drive!" 

I hesitated, "Okay. But I'm stopping on the other side of the gate."

"Keep driving." 

A shiver ran up my spine and ended with a tingling at the base of my skull as I passed through the gate, "It's a higher fare..."

"Just drive," he boomed.

"Yeah, okay." The mansion hovered in the mist that suddenly appeared. Lit only by candlelight strange shadows danced on the walls inside. I shuddered, whispering, "Could this place get any creepier?" 

He paid his fare, slid out of the cab and glided towards the house. 

"Thanks. Have a good evening," I shouted as I spun the taxi around and raced toward the gate. Strange laughter erupted behind me and I looked in the rear view mirror. 

Slamming the brakes, I screamed. 

The face in the mirror wasn't mine and it wasn't human.

His words echoed back, "Believe what you see."