This month has been crazy-busy with the launch of Azuri Fae, a new cover art commission, outlining the next Caledonia Fae book, an editing project, and a couple of guest appearances on other blogs! I have hardly had time even to lay out my plan for 2012. Maybe that’s for the best though… I find plans often don’t go the way I intend anyway!

But I do have news!

Blood Faerie and Azuri Fae have been enrolled in the Kindle Select programme. This means that if you are an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow them free on your Kindle! I know there’s been a lot of debate from authors about this scheme and the fact that they only accept digital books exclusive to Amazon, but I have found sales increasing since becoming a Kindle Select author, plus I get paid for every borrow, and borrows seem to count towards improving my sales rank as well, so don’t hesitate to borrow my books if you’re eligible for it! For me, there just isn’t a downside!

For a very limited time (like, a few more days), Ordinary Angels is on sale for 99¢ on Amazon. (It’s also at a reduced price in Amazon’s UK, DE, IT, ES, and FR stores, so check out your local Amazon site if you’re in Europe.) If you haven’t read it yet, this is your chance to get it on sale now!

Azuri Fae has been formatted for print now, and is working its way through the channels. I expect it to be available in January (assuming the proof comes out looking fab), for those who still prefer books made from trees. I’ll be sure and make an announcement on Twitter and my Facebook author page when it’s up, so watch the social networks! Also, you can read an excerpt of Azuri Fae now.

And lasty, I have final cover art for Enemy of the Fae, the now-fully-outlined finale to the Caledonia Fae trilogy.

I’m really excited about this one. Each book in this series shows the stakes rising, the decisions getting tougher, and the action more intense. I had always planned for this series to be a trilogy, but I have to confess that I’m not sure I’ll be able to stop after just three. I’ll probably have a better idea after I write the first draft of Enemy of the Fae and see how things are left. I know it sounds crazy, especially considering I have the book planned, but sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. Sometimes they go even better!

I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I posted! I will write a more chatty post this week telling you all what I’ve been up to, but for right now, I wanted to share some new cover art I’ve done for author Heather Webber and her new novel, Trouble Under the Tree.

It was so much fun to do a Christmas themed cover, and it was SO different from all the previous covers, because instead of a character, the main feature was the large Christmas tree. And how to show a body without being gruesome? Heather had a clear idea of what she wanted, and not only that, this is the most recent in a series, the rest of which came out from a large publishing house and had watercolour art done for it. So we wanted to match some of the themes and colours to retain the ‘brand’, but still give it the Christmas setting plus the playful look of vector art.

I was really pleased with how it turned out, and I believe (hope) that Heather was too!

You can find out more about Heather Webber’s series here (scroll down to the middle of the page for the other Nina Quinn mystery novels), and check out Trouble Under the Tree on Amazon here.

The plan was simple. The simplicity of it brought on mostly by my panicked rush to get the details nailed down, to not skip any steps, to put out the best, cleanest book I could, and do it right after a major computer meltdown sent me into a tailspin. So, I intended to slip Azuri Fae onto Amazon ASAP, and then on December 1st, I’d make the big announcements, do my social networking rounds, etc. This would give me time to breathe and to make sure everything looked right with the new book. Accidents, delays, oversights… they can all happen with a book release.

And then this weird thing happened.

I followed through on the first part of the plan–snuck the book onto Amazon. But then you readers out there did something that caught me by surprise, and sent my whole sneaky plan out the window. You started buying it. Like, lots of you. Like, lots and lots of you. Enough to put Azuri Fae on two bestseller lists over the weekend. All before I’d told a soul, sent out my newsletter, made one tweet! Which left me wanting to post something saying, “Who are you people, and why are you buying my book?!?!?” (I’ve been told that wouldn’t be very professional though.)

I hadn’t expected anyone to discover the book was available yet. After all, it’s not even in Amazon’s search system, it hasn’t been tagged, it has only one review up, and it is too new to appear on the “also-boughts” (That takes at least two weeks). So, because no one would know the book was available, I’d dismissed the idea of any sales for November. When I read my sales reports Sunday morning, I quite literally thought it had to be a reporting error by Amazon. But no, the ranking just hovered, readers kept picking up their copy, and Amazon never wrote correcting their “mistake”. (Who are you people? And why are you buying my book?)

So I’m stunned. And delighted! And overwhelmed. I was feeling quite emotional about it yesterday, and to celebrate, I took the day off. After all, I’ve not had a day off since the Great ‘Puter Explosion of 2011.

Today, I’m here saying a very humble THANK YOU to my readers. I’ve never done anything so fulfilling in my life. No other job has given me what writing and publishing have. I am working harder, longer hours, pushing myself every day, and yet…I’ve never been happier. It’s not about the money (although getting paid to write feels incredible after years of collecting rejection letters), but rather, that sense of elation comes from feeling like I’ve found my spot in the world. I’m telling stories, and people want to hear them. It fills me with all kinds of warmness. =)

Thank you, readers! ♥

Azuri Fae is Book 2 in the Caledonia Fae series.

A faerie prince disappears in the borderlands, and his father enlists the help of outcast Eilidh and her bonded druid, Quinton Munro. Tantalised with hints of a lost and ancient magic, they learn that time is working against them every step of the way. Is the prince’s disappearance related to the vanishing of an entire Scottish village?

Faced with deception, assassination attempts, and a mad queen who would sacrifice her own child to keep a dreaded secret, Eilidh struggles with an impossible situation. Her people demand she commit treason and betray the man she loves. Will she do what duty requires, or throw away the chance to reunite the kingdom in exchange for the life she hadn’t dared hope for?

Caledonia Fae:
Book 1: Blood Faerie
Book 2: Azuri Fae
Book 3: Enemy of the Fae (Coming 2012)

And just in case you haven’t gotten your copy of Azuri Fae yet, you can find it here:

Amazon USA
Amazon UK

Print edition to follow in early 2012.

I really never anticipated becoming a professional cover art designer. Oh, there are some fabulous artists in my family, and I have always either sketched or done digital art as a hobby, but it was something for my private enjoyment. So, as much as I get a kick out of creating covers for my own books, and have even lamented that I wish I could write faster simply so I could design more covers, hanging out a shingle never crossed my mind. Not until bestselling author Lori Devoti contacted me about designing the cover for a book she wrote under a pen name (Loose Screw by Rae Davies.) I told you all about that and showed you the results a couple of weeks ago. Ever since she posted about the fantastic spike she’s gotten in her sales ranking since she started using the new cover , I’ve started receiving even more inquiries about my artwork.

I have three more projects in the pipeline before the end of the year! The demand has surprised me, but I’m loving it.. the diversity of the projects and meeting more fantastic authors has been great. So I must share my most recent finished project. This is for a new mystery book (coming out in about six weeks, I believe–will keep you posted on that) by author Shannon Esposito:

This one was a lot of fun to do. Shannon sent me pictures of the area where the book was set (St. Pete’s, Florida) and the overall feel she wanted for the cover, but as far as the layout, she let me use my imagination and intuition to put the design together. She was thrilled with the result, and I was delighted that she liked it so much. I can’t tell you how great it feels to help an author achieve their vision for a book cover, to bring their character or story to life in a simple image.

One of the things that has been so enjoyable about doing cover art for other authors is the variety involved. Every book has its own tone, and every author her own design concepts.

I’m not giving up writing. In fact, I’m careful to schedule these projects around my own publishing schedule. I have already started work on Book 3 of the Caledonia Fae series while Book 2 (Azuri Fae) is with my editor. Fans of my own writing need not fear! But I will be taking on more of these design projects. They’re great fun, and they exercise a different part of my creative mind than writing does.

Note: If you are an author with a cover art design project you’d like to talk to me about, feel free to contact me. I’ll send you my process sheet, which details what you can expect from me and my current rates. Because my own publishing schedule can be quite hectic, you’ll want to get in touch as soon as possible, so we can work out timing that will suit us both.

As I said earlier this week, I was contacted by an author about designing her cover art. Rae Davies had seen my work on my own books, and wondered if I ever did freelance work. Well, I only had once before (more details coming about that project next week), and with everything else going on, I wasn’t sure I had time, but darnit, I just couldn’t resist. I really do adore doing covers, and the more she told me about the book, the more I knew I wanted to take on the challenge. The thing is, Loose Screw was already for sale on Amazon, and it was doing well! Her original cover wasn’t bad, it just didn’t convey the genre as well as she would have liked, I think, plus she wanted something that would really catch the eye. So, I had to take a bestselling book’s cover and try to make it even better. Definitely a challenge!

So, after some back and forth, designing and tweaking, this is the final cover art for Loose Screw by Rae Davies:

I’m really happy with the way it turned out, but more importantly, I think Rae is as well. Now we just have to see what her fans and new readers think of it!

When we first starting talking about the project, Rae gifted me a copy of Loose Screw. I am about 3/4 of the way through it, and it’s been tough to put down. (Darned work keeping me from reading all day long!) Loose Screw is a charming cozy mystery, with a likeable main character… so easy to read. I can’t wait to read the next in the series. Mystery and thrillers are my favourite genre after fantasy, so it was a delight to find a new series that was fun and easy to get into. Now Rae needs to hurry up and write the next one! I’m feeling impatient for it already!

You can find Loose Screw on Amazon USA, Amazon UK, and Barnes and Noble. I heartily recommend it, and I noticed that it’s only 99c (86p in the UK)! Wow… a real bargain for such a great read.

Hello friends!

I’m so excited about the launch of Blood Faerie next month. In many ways, I’m even more excited (and nervous) than I was for the release of Ordinary Angels. I can’t explain why, but I hope this feeling doesn’t continue to grow for every book I write. If it does, I think my head will explode around mid-2012.

To celebrate the launch, I’m going to give away FREE KINDLE COPIES of the book on the launch date to FIVE of my newsletter subscribers!

In case you’re new here (hello and welcome!) or you’ve missed my earlier posts about it, Blood Faerie is the first in a new urban fantasy series called Caledonia Fae.

Unjustly sentenced to death, Eilidh ran—away from faerie lands, to the streets of Perth, Scotland. Just when she has grown accustomed to exile, local police discover a mutilated body outside the abandoned church where she lives. Recognising the murder as the work of one of her own kind, Eilidh must choose: flee, or learn to tap into the forbidden magic that cost her everything.

To enter to win a Kindle copy, all you have to do is sign up for my email newsletter. Five winners’ names will be announced on the newsletter on June 1st, along with instructions for how winners can claim their free Kindle books. Only subscribers are eligible to win. The email list is only used to announce book releases and important events, and emails are sent out infrequently. (It’s free, and it’s easy to unsubscribe after the contest date if you find it’s not for you.) Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/bTDfP (If you want to see the one and only email newsletter post I’ve sent out before, view it here. – LOL I told you it was infrequent!)

No Kindle? No problem! Anyone with a PC, Mac, or smart-device (iPhone, Blackberry, Android phone, etc) can read a Kindle book. Download free Kindle reading software here.

Want to quadruple your chances of winning? Simply tweet about the contest with a link to any participating blog post and include @IndiaDrummond in your tweet. Or, share the link on Facebook. (But be sure to add @India Drummond to tag me on the link so I will see it! – You can add me to your friend list here (if I’m not already there, of course!): http://www.facebook.com/india.drummond) And finally, add another entry to the list by posting about the contest on your blog. (If you don’t alert me on Twitter, just drop me an email to let me know about your post so I can count that as an extra entry, but don’t forget, you must sign up for my newsletter to win.) — Tweet and share the link as much as you like, but only one additional entry per method, per person.

If you want any more information, please do write to me!

Thank you so much to everyone who has been so supportive of my publishing efforts and helped me get the word out about my books! I really do owe you all a huge smoochy THANK YOU for everything you do.

I first ran across LK Below because we are with the same publisher. I couldn’t resist downloading her novella, Stone Cold Kiss, which was part of Lyrical Press’ “Irish Stories Collection” they put together for St. Patricks Day. (Honestly, I don’t usually go in for themed books, but this one really appealed to me.)

But what prompted me to write about her today is her heart. I’ve seen quite a few different ways people can do something to help the victims of Japan’s recent natural disasters, but LK Below decided to do something a little different. She’s put out her latest story, Collective Shivers, and 100% of the money she receives from its sales will be donated to the Red Cross to help support the relief efforts in Japan.

I’ve bought my copy of Collective Shivers (Now available from Smashwords) and I’d encourage you to do the same. Help Lindsay help the Red Cross’ efforts. It’s a buck. One person can make a difference.

More about Collective Shivers and Lindsay’s efforts:

The entire world has been affected in some way by the terrifying events caused by the Sendai earthquake this past March. News stories continue to add more about these devastating events and the tenuous circumstances in Japan.

Upon being bombarded by these news stories, romance and speculative fiction writer L.K. Below could not bear to stand idle. Rather than indulge her feeling of helplessness, she did the only thing she knew how to do: she wrote. Two weeks after the Sendai disaster, the product is a short fantasy story called Collective Shivers.

Hailed by readers as an “out-of-world experience,” Collective Shivers contains an earthquake, a mysterious and resilient people, and one man who suddenly doesn’t feel up to scratch. Who knew that a people so outwardly unfeeling could have touched Gunnarr in such an emotional way?

More information about this story can be found at the author’s website, www.lbelow.net/japan. All proceeds from this book will be donated to the Red Cross foundation to help with relief efforts in Sendai and elsewhere as new tragedies unfold.

So the real question is: Can you spare a dollar for Japan?

Today’s post is a guest article by Amy Rose Davis, author of Ravenmarked. It’s a wonderful read that all lovers of epic fantasy will definitely enjoy.

You know what? Don’t tell the spec fic purists, but those things have been around for a long time. Sshhhh….

Let’s set aside mythology, legend, and classics for a moment. Forget about Dracula and Frankenstein. Paranormal elements have been part of fantasy for decades, even when they were called by other names. In the 80s, I read a series about a race of shapeshifters, The Chronicles of the Chesuli by Jennifer Roberson. Shapeshifters… You know, kind of like werewolves. Roberson gave them a name and enabled them to shift into various animals at will, but the principle was the same.

In David Eddings’ series The Belgariad, Belgarath could shift into a wolf, and in fact, he married a wolf who could shift into a woman. Their daughter, Polgara, could shift into an owl. And in the realm of no control at all, we had the mighty warrior protector Barak, who changed into a huge bear when the hero, Garion, was in trouble.

Okay, but what about zombies? George R. R. Martin has zombies in his series A Song of Ice and Fire. They are creepy white things with ice blue eyes that come over The Wall and are dang hard to kill. And vampires? I think Gollum fits this description to some extent—especially when combined with the One Ring. He’s pale, he doesn’t come out of his cave much, and he certainly sucks the energy out of Frodo. And, he has super human strength. Put the One Ring on him and he becomes almost invincible. Also, although it’s been years since I read a Wheel of Time book, I’m pretty sure Robert Jordan had a similar creature in his series.

Angels and demons are also common elements of fantasy, especially fantasy rooted in Christian tenets and images. A few decades ago, Frank Peretti published his This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness books that gave us a view of angels and demons fighting it out in the supernatural realm—which was often just a different dimension within the same room as the humans who were fighting it out at the same time.

In writing my own novel, Ravenmarked, I never intended to include vampires, werewolves, or zombies. I did intend to include some angels and demons, but as with everything in a pantser’s life, they just sort of evolved into more than what I originally envisioned. I ended up with shapeshifting angelic and demonic creatures; the angels, the Syrafi, can shift into giant owls, and the demons, the Ferimin, can shift into huge crow-like birds.

I have vampiric beings, too. The Forbidden don’t suck blood—they suck souls. They use the transgressions of humans as gateways to their souls and suck the souls into themselves for strength and power. They are also strengthened by really evil humans who just walk around in a cloud of transgressions, so one of the vampiric creatures notes that he’s strengthened just by being in the room with one evil guy. He doesn’t want to kill him because as long as the guy keeps being evil, the vampire can keep strengthening himself.

My main character, Connor, has some elements of a werewolf, too. I’ve always thought that the werewolf myth is really as much about the duality of human nature and suppressing our basest, most violent parts as it is about shapeshifting. Because Connor is marked by a violent spirit, he spends a lot of time pressing the need to kill back and fighting that nature. Even though this spirit is embodied by a raven, it’s no mistake that I named him “Connor” (which means “wolf” or “wolf lover”) and made him a member of a wolf tribe.

So I would challenge the fantasy purists—including myself—to take a look at some of our favorite classics and recent reads and see if there aren’t some vampires, werewolves, zombies, angels, and demons disguised as other creatures in them. We might call them by different names, but if it sucks, shifts, infects, or flies, it just might be one of those creatures you thought you couldn’t stand.

Amy is an unapologetic coffee addict, but her other vices include chocolate, margaritas, and whiskey. She prefers cats to dogs (but houses both), loves the color green, and enjoys the smell of new pencils and crayons. She has eclectic tastes in friends, music, and books, and is as likely to watch 300 as Becoming Jane.

Amy’s books are available in all major e-bookstores such as Amazon USA and Amazon UK.

Amy’s Website: www.ravenmarked.com
Blog: www.modicumoftalent.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amyrosedaviswriter
Twitter: @amyjrosedavis

I don’t do book reviews anymore. Oh, I still read, more than ever since I got my Kindle, but now that I’m well into my publishing journey, I just don’t feel comfortable criticising other authors. Even when books are throw-across-the-room annoying (which I don’t actually do–throw the books I mean– cuz I heart my Kindle), I just put them aside and say nothing. Life is hard enough on the midlist, and so I’ll leave the lion-feeding to someone else — I just have too much first-hand knowledge of the pointy end of the author-stick. (I’m not sure what that means either–see? writing is hard!)

But I do write book recommendations when I come across something that is really worth reading. This is where I get to The Dirty Parts of the Bible by Sam Torode (Available on Amazon US and Amazon UK in print and Kindle formats.)

It’s a surprisingly lighthearted story. OK, the title is humorous, but when I noticed it was set in The Great Depression, I wasn’t so sure. But I saw it on someone else’s blog, and their ravings about it were enough to get me to download the sample chapter. Once I read that first 30 pages or so, I was hooked.

The story follows Tobias, who has given up on religion, mostly because his Baptist-preacher-father seems so hell-bent on sucking all the joy out of life. Tobias strikes out on a quest, and along the way learns a lot about life, love, himself, and even gains a deeper understanding of his father. It’s sweet, funny, and I really had trouble putting it down.

So there ya go. A book recommendation from me. Read it!

The other day I was over at a book blog, Loving Books, and the blog author was having a conversation about literary pet peeves. Her biggest gripe, as it turns out, is footnotes in fiction. I have to admit that while reading the comments, it soon became evident that I’m a much more peevish reader then she or her blog visitors. There are buckets of things that can drive me bat-shit-crazy when I’m reading a book. I mentioned a few of them in the comments of her post.

They include: characters that withhold information for no other reason than if they told the truth, the book would be over, characters turn out to be secretly royal/magical/otherwise special (usually in fantasy novels), in mysteries I don’t like killers making big speeches at the end that turn out to be their downfall (this happens quite often in movies as well), and contrived conflict based on misunderstandings (romance novels seem to be the biggest perpetrators of this particular offence, but by no means the only ones). And these were just off the top of my head. Since I wrote the comment on Loving Books’ blog post, I’ve thought of even more.

Earlier this year, I permanently scratched an author asked my reading list for all time because she had a female lead fall in love with someone who, in previous books in the series, had tortured her repeatedly. In my opinion, this is just as bad as having a woman fall in love with her rapist, because rape isn’t about sex, it is about power and torture. That one was bad enough that I almost broke my self-imposed rule about not reviewing books I don’t like.

Characters who do obviously stupid things drive me up the tree as well. This isn’t limited to books. In fact, I even mentioned this in my book Ordinary Angels when my protagonist Zoe calls the police immediately after gathering some information on a murder. She knows if she doesn’t report it, she’ll just be asking to get konked on the head, ala any Agatha Christie novel. I think I also mentioned something in there about going into the basement with a dodgy flashlight. Every time I see that in a film, I start rooting for the monster.

I couldn’t help but wonder if the people over at Loving Books were being polite (something I should definitely learn how to do), or if I am particularly demanding reader. Perhaps it’s because I love books so much. Maybe it’s that I read a lot, as my amazon bill clearly shows. On the other hand, it is entirely possible I’m just a demanding wench.

What drives you crazy in books? Is there anything that will cause you to not read an author again? Are you a demanding reader? Or are you just there for a casual ride, and willing to forgive much?