25
Oct
2019

Lion Folk, and Iarion and Sea Elves, oh my!

Just a quick update about some new title news (as I continue to wrangle my way through the seemingly endless journey to update all my paperbacks)…

Legends of Lasniniar: Making Waves (featuring Iarion) is now available | Click here for retailer links

Legends of Lasniniar Making Waves coverIarion is used to being the odd elf out.

Things are no different when he arrives at the Sea Elves’ forest, searching for answers to a question that has plagued him for millennia.

But the Sea Elves have problems of their own. Communications with their island cousins have fallen silent. They have had no word from their ruling lord and lady, or the Learnéd One Feoras—the very people Iarion had hoped to meet.

If Iarion wants his answers, he will have to help the Sea Elves.

…Whether they like it or not.

A fast-paced, fantasy adventure for both new and regular readers of the World of Lasniniar series by Writers’ Journal winning author, Jacquelyn Smith. This short story takes place between Kinslayer and Soul Seeker. Click the link above to find this title at your preferred retailer.

NEW! Legends of Lasniniar: Lion’s Pride is available for pre-order | Click here for retailer links

(Coming November 21st)

Legends of Lasniniar Lion's Pride coverNofret will do anything to prove herself.

A half-breed orphan raised by the rebel Cat Folk, her very existence an unspeakable crime, she longs to perform great deeds that will make her feel as though she has earned her place.

When her beloved guardian Ineni goes missing, she senses her opportunity has finally arrived.

…But is she willing to pay the price?

A fast-paced, fantasy adventure for both new and regular readers of the World of Lasniniar series by Writers’ Journal winning author, Jacquelyn Smith. This short story takes place between Wave Runners and Godmaker. Click the link above to find this title at your preferred retailer.

 

Paperback progress report:

Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Publishing Updates, Writing Updates, 0 comments
18
Oct
2019

The Top 5 Questions I Get Asked About Being a Writer

[Question Mark Illustration by Pixabay, via Pexels.com.]

I’m pretty low-key about telling anyone I’m a writer. (Mainly because I feel like what a lot of people think being a writer entails is far more romanticized and exciting than the reality. I mean, it’s interesting to me, but there’s a reason why writing isn’t a spectator event. All the exciting/interesting stuff is going on where no one can see it.)

Inevitably when I do cop to being a writer, I tend to get the same round of questions (to which I provide awkward answers), so I figured I would throw them up here.

Now of course, there is no One True Way or Writing Police to keep everyone on the same path (which would be pretty boring). So this is just how I roll. Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Behind the Books, 0 comments
11
Oct
2019

How I fell ass-backward into writing

I’ll always have my backup career as an ice cream taster (aside from the whole lactose intolerance thing). [Photo by Brenda Smith.]

I never wanted to be a writer growing up.

I mean, I was always into reading. Like, really into reading. My parents are both big readers, and they did everything they could to encourage the same in me. There were bedtime stories (Noddy [affiliate link], complete with my dad’s off-key singing of the songs), library books (pretty sure my mom cleared out the then-paltry Young Adult section before starting to bring home adult fiction when I was in around fifth grade), book orders through my school classroom, and monthly visits to my local bookstore for the release of each new title in the Sweet Valley Twins [affiliate link] series. (Team Elizabeth 4 life! Lol.)

…And once I got into adult fantasy, I was unstoppable. Every summer, we would go to the cottage for a week, and I would go through at least one novel a day. I remember walking through the halls of my high school with a 700-page book under my arm and someone asking me what class I was reading it for. I got a blank stare when I explained I was just reading it for fun.

But yeah. I never thought about being a writer. Somehow, it was never on my radar. Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Behind the Books, 0 comments
04
Oct
2019

Smashwords Halloween Sale!

Even sharkosauruses (sharkosauri?) like to dress up for Halloween…

Just a quick update to let you know about a little promotion I’m running for the month of October…

Several of my ebooks are available for 50% off on Smashwords until October 31st. These are all darker adventures (with the exception of Under Wraps, which is just a pure fun Halloween crime story).

What is Smashwords?

Smashwords is a distributor and retailer of indie ebooks. Their retail platform is available internationally, with payments completed by Paypal. They also make it possible for authors/publishers to create coupons for their books, which is awesome.

What ebook formats are supported?

At the moment, I only have the ePub version of my books available on Smashwords. (Check out this post to find out more about why.) ePub is the most widely-used ebook format, and works for Apple, Kobo, and Nook devices, as well as their associated apps.

Coupon Code: EZ59A

This is a public coupon, so it will also show up on each product page for the titles listed below. (Heads up! This site uses affiliate links.) Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Promotions, 0 comments
27
Sep
2019

Why I Don’t Have Kindle Versions of My Books on Smashwords Anymore

Legends of Lasniniar By the Light of the Moon screenshot

The final Vellum-created product for Legends of Lasniniar: By the Light of the Moon ePub

So this is just more of an informational post for anyone who might be checking out my books on Smashwords and wondering why I only have ePub versions available now…

First of all, this is nothing against Smashwords. (Or Kindle owners, for that matter, since I am one.) I think it’s cool that Smashwords has their own storefront for writers, with the ability to generate coupons, as well as to take part in site-wide promotions, like the Smashwords Summer Sale. All good stuff. And I’m all about having my books available as widely as possible. Readers can purchase a variety of ebook formats on Smashwords (ePub, Kindle, PDF, etc.), assuming the author/publisher has made this possible.

So why limit myself to ePub format? Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Publishing Updates, 0 comments
20
Sep
2019

Adventures in Fiction Writing: When Sh*t Gets Too Real

A girl and her sharkosaurus.

When I started writing the Kira Brightwell series four years ago (Crap, has it really been that long??), I was excited to dip my toe into a new genre after writing only fantasy. I figured something like crime fiction would be a good fit for my strengths: action and quirky/snarky dialogue. The main difference from my fantasy projects is that it would take place in the ‘real world’. No problem, right?

Wrong.

See, one of the things I find the most liberating about writing fantasy is that the entire world comes out of my own head. Locations can be wherever/whatever I want or need them to be, and I can invent magical systems and creatures as I go along. Basically, there are no limitations. (That being said, it has become a bit of a challenge over the years to keep track of my ever-expanding Lasniniar series to make sure I’m sticking to my own canon, so I don’t end up getting stuck in a Lucy Lawless/Simpsons situation, lol.)

Originally, when I started planning the first Kira novel Split Decision, I was determined to use a real-world location. I was all over Google Maps, checking out Street View to see where locations within the story were in relation to each other and what they looked like, local crime rates, checking out colleges and universities, etc. (I’m sure Google gets very confused by my sketchy search history sometimes, which has included research for multiple ways to break into a car, how to break out of handcuffs, and footage of various MMA moves and holds, among other things.)

The whole real-world location thing was really starting to stress me out and stop me in my tracks. I had this crazy fear of someone calling me out on an inaccurate detail of what might possibly be their hometown. Then Mark saved me by suggesting I create a fictional town instead (La Valentia), framed within a real-world location (California). This hardly a new idea in fiction, and it really saved my ass. Suddenly, I felt like I had enough room to breathe again with an imaginary location that could be built to fit my needs and I would know better than anyone else.

…But then there was Kira. Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Behind the Books, 0 comments
13
Sep
2019

Halloween in Lasniniar? Plus, a Kira novel that wasn’t meant to happen…

Halloween in Lasniniar

A few years ago, I took on the challenge to write a Lasniniar Christmas-themed story. You know, just because. The reason I say it was a challenge is because there isn’t any Christmas (or organized religion) in Lasniniar, but hey, what do you know? They celebrate the winter solstice. (Convenient, right?) Anyway, I had so much fun with A Solstice Tale, I ended up writing another two Solstice-themed adventures featuring Iarion and Barlo (which always seem to turn into mystery misadventures for some reason).

This year, I wanted to try something different. I love Christmas (as much as someone who has worked 15+ years in retail is capable of doing so), and there might possibly be more Solstice adventures in the future, but I wanted a new challenge.

So what about Halloween? Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Behind the Books, Writing Updates, 2 comments
06
Sep
2019

It’s happening!

Not much new to report… Still plugging away on getting all the pretty, new versions of my ebooks up and running on all the online retailers. It’s a bit of a slog, but all of the Kira Brightwell titles are up and starting to appear around the interwebs.

Starting to work on my fantasy titles next, followed by getting all my paperbacks in line. *deep breath* Then it’s on to large print, and additional international ebook distribution in my ongoing quest for world domination, lol. (And I’m also trying to squeeze in some work on this Legends of Lasniniar project I have on the go… I’ll probably be talking about it in next week’s newsletter [nudge, nudge, wink, wink].)

Talk to you soon!

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Posted by Jacquelyn in Publishing Updates, Writing Updates, 4 comments
29
Aug
2019

“How hard can it be?” (Famous last words…)

So there was this item for GISH (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt) this year. It was something along the lines of, ‘A housecat happily sporting a mustache.’ Unless specified, these items are meant to be actual photos, no Photoshop or filters allowed. Well, when I saw this item, I thought, ‘No problem.’ I mean, I already have a cat, and a fake, stick-on mustache. (Who doesn’t?)

First, I showed the fake mustache to Xena to see how she would react to it. There was lots of sniffing involved. I trimmed it down to the right size for her and (briefly) tried sticking it below her nose.

Yeah. She wasn’t a fan of that. At all. (“You want to put something right under the place where I breathe? Hard pass.”)

So then I thought, ‘What if I put the mustache on a stick and hold it a short distance in front of her nose while I take the picture?’ I went off and made a mustache on a stick deal, believing my problem was solved.

…Turns out when you put something furry on a stick and show it to your cat, they immediately become convinced it must be a toy. Now Xena wasn’t recoiling from the mustache, she was attacking it and trying to eat it. *sigh*

Long story short, what I thought would only take a few minutes involved another round of pleading, cajoling, and distracting with catnip before I finally got the money shot. (And yes, I was laughing pretty much the whole time.)

(MUSTACHE SIDE-NOTE: My dad has always had a mustache or mustache/beard combo. Always. When I was about 2 years old, he decided to shave it off for some reason. I spent pretty much the entire day balling my eyes out and begging him to put it back on, lol. Scarred for life.) Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Publishing Updates, 0 comments
23
Aug
2019

A New Start

So I’ve been pretty quiet for awhile lately… Mostly because I’ve been crazy-busy working on stuff that I didn’t want to share until it was ready to go. (You know what they say about the quiet ones, lol.) Let’s see… Where to begin? …Oh, right.

My New Website

So, yeah. This is my new website! I previously maintained two separate sites for my books: waywardscribe.com and katirwin.com. Both of these sites have been stripped down to links pointing to here, where (almost) all the content was moved.

If you’re looking for my pages on Writer Resources, those are still being maintained here on waywardscribe.com. (I still need to get on top of updating them with new info/experiences. It’s on my seemingly never-ending list of sh*t that needs to get done.)

This new site covers ALL my writing work in one place, with room to grow. My plan for blogging (which I’m usually sporadic about at best) is to aim for a casual, weekly update post to check in with what I’m working on, and any news I might have to share in any genre I’m writing. (Of course, my newsletter group will always get first dibs on new project/release info. 😉 If you’re interested in joining, click here.)

Speaking of any genre…
Continue reading →

Posted by Jacquelyn in Publishing Updates, Writing Updates, 0 comments

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