No Knights

My mother subscribes to a certain book club, and when one of my books shows up in their catalog, she always sends me a full color copy of the page. I think she expects me to frame it. Forget making the Times list twice; my novel is in the book club -- this to her is authentic fame.

When these book club folks kindly ran a full-page ad on my work (first time, this) Mom went zinging over the moon with joy and immediately sent me a copy, which I received today. It's a very lovely ad, but at the top of the page is a banner that reads "THE KNIGHTS OF DARKYN."

For a split second I thought Someone helped themselves to my series title? until I saw from the cover art that no, they were talking about my novel. My novel Evermore. That doesn't have any knights in it. Not a one. There are lots of immortal pathogen-mutated beings, tourists, weapons, horses, banquets, dancing, songs, battles and even a working moat with submersible bastions, but I'm sorry, no knights.

The characters in the novel are vampire-like immortals, most of whom were Templars about seven hundred years ago, but fortunately they got over it. They now dress up and pretend they're knights in front of humans as part of their cover in order to live how they want, make a few bucks and co-exist with mortals. Because really, how else are you going to justify living in medieval conditions in a real castle with a working moat in the middle of freaking twenty-first century Florida unless you:

A) Make it invisible with a big honking spell, which is magic, which I don't do.

B) Hide it in an enormous forest of darkness, but this is the sunshine state, and most of our forests burned down during the wildfires last year, so all we have are brightly-lit scorched-black fields with a couple little teeny tiny treelings sprouting at the moment.

C) Use time travel, which would have to be science-based because again, the magic thing, which would then make the story a science fiction time travel vampire fiction paranormal dark fantasy, which I'm pretty sure would make my editor's head explode.

D) Turn it into a tourist attraction and charge everyone fifty bucks to get in.

See? "D" is the best solution, right?

While I thought about it, I remembered that the formal name I gave Byrne's castle/tourist attraction was Knight's Realm, which is likely the keyword culprit here. That or my Kyn are extremely good actors and fooled the book club reader into believing they were knights. I wouldn't put anything past them.

Why make the big deal out of so small a thing? Please, let me make a prediction: in a couple of weeks I'll start getting snail mail and e-mail from every book club member who saw that banner, didn't read the rest of the ad copy (or assumed it was a Jude Devereaux novel or whatever) and ordered the book. They'll complain that they expected a nice historical knightly romance and instead got icky disgusting dark fantasy with vampires dressed up as fake knights. And it'll be my fault. Trust me. It's always the author's fault.

Although I'm not responsible for this banner, I'll make the disclaimer now: there are no knights of Darkyn, I don't write knight books, and no actual knights appear in Evermore. Any knight you may think you're reading about is a vampire-like being dressed up like one to fool you and the tourists. For novels with real knights, please read Jude Devereaux.

Lots of Stars

So far no 1-star reviews have posted on Amazon.com for Evermore, so the names of everyone who participated in last week's 1-star pool contest went into the magic hat. The winner is:

JC Coy

JC, when you have a chance, send your ship-to address to LynnViehl@aol.com, and I'll get your prize out to you. You'll also be on the mailing list for an ARC of Twilight Fall.

Thanks to everyone for joining in.

The Lists

The news I hinted at is that Evermore is doing quite well, thanks to everyone who went out and purchased it. Apparently everyone did, as the book debuted as:

#7 on Border's and B&N's romance bestseller lists
#16 on Border's Group overall fiction mass market paperback list
#22 on B&N's overall fiction mass market paperback list
#23 on B&N's overall mass market paperback list
#96 on USA Today bestseller list (that's everything, hardcover, trade & mm)

And, deja vu, Evermore will come in at #21 on the next New York Times extended bestseller list.

How to say this without sobbing all over you guys and the blog, now that's the tricky part. For a writer, these are the moments when you put on your ratty old bathrobe, stuff some Kleenex in the pocket and curl up in your favorite chair. You hug your knees and think and shake your head a lot. And while you stare at your shins and try to fathom it all, you also wonder if the Times has any idea that you haven't shaved your legs since last Tuesday.

Okay, if you're me.

To everyone who took the time, made the effort and invested in Evermore, thank you.

The 1-Star Pool

It seems that as of this hour Evermore has snagged seven straight 5-star reviews on Amazon.com, something that to my knowledge hasn't ever happened with any of my public work.

Naturally a friend and I had to make a charity bet on when the first 1-star review would show up, because we're writers, we have no lives and that's the sort of thing we do to amuse ourselves.

I thought you guys might want to get in on the betting pool this time, too. If you're game, read the rules below* and then guess the position number of the first 1-star review on Amazon.com for Evermore (or if you're not sure what I mean, pick a number from 8 to infinity) by midnight EST on January 14, 2008. I will draw one name at random from everyone who chooses the correct position number and send the winner a signed copy of Evermore. As a bonus incentive, I will also add the winner's name to the ARC mailing list for Twilight Fall. This contest is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*Rule #1: Post only one guess. Anyone who posts multiple guesses will be tossed out of the contest.

Rule #2: The participants agree on their honor not to go over to Amazon.com and post a 1-star review in order to influence the contest. This goes for your friends, too.

Rule #3: If by some bizarre chance no 1-star review for Evermore posts on Amazon.com by 1/14/2008, and I don't drop dead of a heart attack, I'll draw the name of the winner from everyone who participates.

Scribd Fun

*Note 9/3/10: Since Scribd.com instituted an access fee scam to charge people for downloading e-books, including those I have provided for free for the last ten years, I have removed my free library from their site, and no longer use or recommend using their service. My free reads may be read online or downloaded for free from Google Docs; go to my freebies and free reads page for the links. See my post about this scam here.

While I'm uploading my stories to Scribd, I've been looking around and finding some very fun stuff from the other members, like Trip's Hilarious Response to MIT Letter.

I think Scribd has a lot of potential as a tool for writers. It's not just the free storage and opportunity to reach new readers; I think it could be like a MySpace place specifically for writers and readers. More on that as I poke around, get a feel for the place and think about it some more.

I'd also like to thank everyone for the many generous comments, e-mails, blog posts and links you've done for Evermore. The first couple of days after a book hits the shelves are always stressful, no matter how many novels you've written, but you guys chased off my new release week jitters before I had to start popping TUMs.

Evermore Arrives

Evermore, my fifth Darkyn novel, has made it to the shelves. If you'd like to read an excerpt, Borders Group is very kindly hosting one here along with a letter I wrote for their readers here.

I've never been very good at the buy my freaking book thing, obviously. But if you happen to like dark fantasy or vampire fiction, and you have a couple of bucks left on a bookstore gift card from the holidays, I hope you'll pick up Evermore.

Read Seven

On the seventh day before Christmas, PBW found for me:

Seven Freebies for the Readers

1. Storynory has a page of free Christmas audio stories for children to download.

2. Billy Graham.org gives away free inspirational books in print each month to their online visitors; this month they're offering Letters From Ruth’s Attic by Ruth Bell Graham

3. Celebrating Christmas is offering a free .pdf download of their 2007 Christmas issue.

4. AlpineWreaths.com has an entire page of free Christmas stories (my favorite is The Legend of the Christmas Spider.)

5. Mystery.net has a page of free Christmas mystery stories.

6. Over at StoryTelling, author Rosina Lippi is having a very cool LibraryThing giveaway, which includes a lifetime membership to LibraryThing, a cue-cat, a LibraryThing t-shirt and a couple books to get a lucky reader started with cataloging.

7. NaturalReader is a text-to-speech freeware that reads your text to you in natural voices, and converts any written text into audio files such as MP3 or WAV for your CD player or iPod (OS: Windows.)

We also put the magic hat to work, and the winners for the tenth day Evermore giveaway are:

Amie Stuart

wintermaide

booklover

Stephanie

Ris

Solidus

father-turtle

Casee

Heather

Zeek

Winners, please send your full name and ship-to address to LynnViehl@aol.com, and I'll get your books out to you. Thanks to everyone for joining in and leaving so many lovely greetings and wishes.

Ten Books

On the tenth day before Christmas, PBW gave away:

Ten Copies of Evermore



In comments to this post, leave a holiday greeting, wish or message by midnight EST on Monday, December 17, 1007. I will draw ten names at random from everyone who participates and send the winners a signed first edition copy of my new Darkyn novel, Evermore. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

Tag Me

Coming up with a great tag line for your novel is tough, especially for those novels that don't want to be tagged.

I decided to pick a couple of books at random from my shelves, see what tag lines the publishers put on the covers, and what I thought of them:

"When obsession turns DEADLY." (Exposure, Susan Andersen)

This is classic Susan Andersen, one of the best books she's ever written, and this one-size-fits-all tag line doesn't do it an ounce of justice. And as I write that, I have no idea what I would offer as a replacement, except maybe "Elvis!"

"Desire is the sweetest sin of all." (Slightly Sinful, Mary Balogh)

Great book, eh tag line. Desire isn't a sin, it's a natural body function, but that's another post.

"With this much heart, body, and soul, you're bound to find . . ." (A Whole Lotta Love, Donna Hill, Brenda Jackson, Monica Jackson and Francis Ray)

This is a themed anthology, but I would have preferred to see something about the stories, which are terrific, not about how much the heroines in them tip the scales. Disclaimer: I'm a big girl so it's definitely a personal sore spot.

"Sometimes forbidden pleasures are the sweetest of all. . ." (Beyond Innocence, Emma Holly)

I'm flashing back to the Mary Balogh tag line. This makes me want to eat a pound of M&Ms, too, not read a book. Pass.

"It brings out the animal in everyone." (Moonshine, Rob Thurman)

This one is probably the best of the random lot. I like it, it's clever and it suits the novel, and it's not one of those annoying pun tag lines.

I looked at some of my older paperbacks, and back then it seems like the publishers used little story synopses or themes as cover tag lines:

"A voice in the night, a haunted island, and a hideous legacy from the past." (Circle of Secrets, Claudette Nicole, 1972)

"Man is the dreaming animal -- with the courage to aim higher than gods . . ." (Son of Man, Robert Silverberg, 1971)

"Scandal, intrigue, and romance at a lively weekend party. . . " (The Houseparty, Anne Stuart, 1985)

I find it interesting to compare tag lines from today to the ones that were used twenty or thirty years ago. The old ones are definitely longer and more detailed, maybe because readers were more interested in content versus flash? Not sure.

I never did come up with a great line for Evermore, so I held a tag line contest for students during my last talk at a local high school. Here's the winner, submitted by Debby G.:



She's bringing sexy back.

What sort of tag line, if any, would you like to see on the cover of a book? If you've got great examples or ideas of your own, post them in comments.

Magic Hat Ten

You saw this coming, right? Ha.

Ten Bloggers Who Won an Evermore ARC

1. Pamk

2. Charlene

3. Rosie

4. Marjorie

5. Ann

6. Rosina

7. Erin

8. Molly

9. Joely Sue

10. Mackan

Winners, please send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com, so I can get these ARCs out to you.

But wait, there's more.

I have a consolation prize to offer to the other bloggers who entered the drawing but didn't win an ARC this time. If you don't mind reading an unbound version of Evermore, send your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com, and I will send you a signed copy of the galleys. This way everyone doesn't win, but everyone sort of wins.

Some of what's upcoming this week on PBW:

September Biz Post

Voice vs. Style

Novel Outlining 101

Lost and Found

Got Cover?

Reader Wednesdays

From this point on Wednesdays at PBW will be for the readers out there. I'm still debating on what sort of stuff I can post that will be of interest to you, so bear with me as I work out the kinks.

In May, Borders Group will be doing some special promotions for Night Lost along with the first three Darkyn novels. I've written a letter for Waldenbooks's monthly reader e-mail, and I've been told there will be a $1 off coupon on any book from the backlist. The publisher sent me my first ever book dump featuring the artwork from Night Lost; looks like they'll be stocking them with all four novels.

Evermore is scheduled to be released in January 2008, but don't put any money on that date yet. Over on the fiction blog, I've put up an excerpt from the first draft of Evermore that gives a little more insight into the intense relationship between a Kyn lord and his seneschal (and how it almost gets out of hand between Byrne and Jayr.)

I'm proposing Valentin's story to my editor as Darkyn book #5 #6*, which is (working) titled Swan Fire. I hope to soon have some news on Drednoc and Crystal Healer, the next StarDoc novels. That's all for this week; stop in next Wednesday if you get a chance for more reader-friendly info.

*Added: I can't count. Evermore is book five, Swan Fire is book six. Thanks to Lesley for catching this.