Author: Cindy

I'm irritated because my posts won't publish.

Chicklit Bestseller at Audible!

I’ve enjoyed two back-to-back long weekends (interspersed with the sad event of my uncle’s funeral), and now it’s time to knuckle down because I have two deadlines to reach for Penny this week. I hope to post some photos of our family trip to Whistler later this week. We had great fun, and the trip was impromptu, because E.S. is leaving soon to live and work in the Middle East for a year.

Anyhoopers, my audio publisher, AudioLark, contacted me before I left (but I didn’t find out until now) that the audiobook of HEAD OVER HEELS was sitting at the #2 spot for ChickLit Bestsellers on Audible! This morning it’s sitting at #3, but I’m in great company with Susan Elizabeth Phillips right behind me. 🙂

Bestseller lists are fickle. HEAD OVER HEELS could drop off any second. So go take a gander and join in my excitement. I would love to see it at #2 again – or #1! O’course, sales will make that happen (hint, hint).

The Audible rating is currently sitting at 4.43 stars. Extra whoop!

Oh, now that I think about it, HEAD OVER HEELS is set in Whistler, where I just spent the weekend. I didn’t go mountain biking this time around. Too many horrific memories from last time (the mountain biking experiences in the story pretty much mirror my first experience mountain-biking at Whistler and also the experience of a friend). The town has changed and grown a lot, but it’s still a blast to visit.

Published
Categorized as My Books

Three Funerals and A Wedding

Yes, I know, it’s supposed to be the other way around.

An inordinate number of elderly people are dying around me lately. If bad news comes in threes, let’s hope this is it. Because next week I’m going to my third funeral in as many weeks.

The first was the mother of a friend. She lived to 90, which is respectable, so that one I could rationalize. The second was my sister’s boyfriend’s mom. Actually, I didn’t physically attend that one, but I was with my sister in spirit. Then, earlier this week, I learned that my father’s older brother died in his sleep at 84. I don’t like it when people die in their 80s. I really don’t like it when they die in their 20s, but “she died at 90” works much better for me than “she died at 83.”

My grandfather (my uncle’s father) lived to 106, so 83 sounds “young” to me. Even my grandmother, despite having a stroke at 81, lived to one month shy of her 89th birthday. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around my uncle dying at a younger age than either of his parents.

Amid all this doom and gloom, my second niece on my dh’s side is having a wedding reception of sorts this weekend. She eloped a few months ago, in the States, but several Canadian members of the family couldn’t attend the first reception, so we’re doing it all over again. It’s a white-themed party. So everyone has to wear white.

Yeah, me and white. We’re great buddies. White and me will last about 20 seconds, until I eat something and likely drop it.

But I’ll take white over wearing black any day when it means celebrating the union of two young people.

Now, here’s a tip if you ever have to phone someone to tell them a family member has died: make double, triple, nay, quadruple sure that you HAVE THE RIGHT NAME. Of the person who died. Believe me, hearing the wrong name will give the recipients of the bad news unncessary conniptions. And hearing that you yourself have died can’t be enjoyable, either.

I’m not happy anyone died. And I’m well aware that mistakes can happen, so it’s not the fault of the person who did the calling. Next week, I’ll travel with my sisters, brother, and parents to pay my respects to my oldest uncle. I remember him painting art in his basement studio when we were kids. I remember the crazy purple lounge suits he and my father both received from their wives one Christmas. My uncle liked the suit, but my father was appalled. I think it was the only time he wore it. What can I say? He was a logger.

My uncle enjoyed gardening, boats when he was young, and his art. As the years passed and my cousins and brother and sisters grew, my uncle remarried and moved away. We didn’t see him often. But he was always pleasant to talk to, and I looked forward to seeing him every time.

Rest in Peace, William Richard Procter.

Penny’s New Sale!

I’m thrilled as polka-dot buttons to report that Penny has sold an erotica short story to Ellora’s Cave, one of the premiere publishers of erotic romance and erotica. This is Penny’s first “erotica.” The rest of her sales and releases have been erotic romance.

What’s the difference, you ask? Well, erotica is more about the character’s sexual discovery and doesn’t necessarily need to end with a committed relationship. Erotic romance usually features character arcs for both hero and heroine, and once the hero and heroine have slept together they don’t sleep with other partners.

The name of the story is Tea for Three, and it’s set in a Vancouver tea shop.

If you can’t guess, it’s a mĂ©nage story. Super-hot! Sizzling! Fry off your toes!

Congratulations, Penny!

Playing With ARCs

Among other things, I’ve been busy sending out review requests for the multitude of trade paperback ARCs I received for WHERE SHE BELONGS. Five Star/Cengage sends the ARCs to big review sites like Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, etc. They also send to a couple of romance sites and a couple of independent reviewers, but with 20 ARCs at my disposal, I wasn’t about to let them go to waste. Several have gone out for review, and I need to save one for the Romantic Times co-op ad I’ll be participating in (the February 2012 issue). The February issue of RT, I’m told, is on newstands and in subscribers’ mailboxes in January, which is when my book will most likely appear in libraries and bookstores despite the December 2011 release date (the shipping date is December 16th, for those who want to mark their calendars and order from Amazon) and the in-store date is January 6th, but the likelihood is you’ll need to special order from stores or order on-line, considering Five Star/Cengage is primarily a library press. I’ll probably give the remaining ARCs to family and friends.

As I was packaging another ARC for mailing today, it occurred to me that I hadn’t yet shared the back cover copy for the story. I now have it, because it’s on the back of the ARCs! WHERE SHE BELONGS finaled in the Long Contemporary category of the Golden Heart contest in 2007 under the title, Her Hometown Man. The final product is much tighter and leaner. As I read the ARC to proof for errors, again I was struck by how much I love this book. Am I ever glad I didn’t let it sit under the bed gathering dustballs. Am I ever glad I decided to take it out again and work on it, because that Golden Heart entry led me, in a roundabout way, to submitting to Five Star.

Here’s the blurb:

She never wants to go home again.

For Jess Morgan, Destiny Falls holds too many painful memories. Nine years ago, a logging accident near the remote timber town killed her dad and her high school sweetheart. Despite Jess’s broken heart, her mother immediately sought comfort with another man. That choice tore Jess apart and drove her to seek a life far away. But now fate steps in, and family obligations force her return home. Before long, she’s convinced that persuading her mom to live with her in Toronto will repair their bond and Jess’s own sense of belonging. However, she doesn’t count on a long-ago friend re-entering her life and challenging those same convictions.

Rugged forester Adam Wright believes in family, roots, and not running from heartache. Now, all he wants is to help Jess break down the walls of the lonely sanctuary she’s built for herself and heal her past hurts. But it’s not until she rejects his proposal that Adam realizes his dogged persistence has pushed her even further away—not at all what he intended. Has he lost his chance? Or can he convince Jess that where she truly belongs is with him…forever?

Set amidst British Columbia’s lush forests, WHERE SHE BELONGS delivers an engaging romance with complex characters, honest emotion, and heart.

Yes, this book is a far cry from BORROWING ALEX and HEAD OVER HEELS, which are both comedies. I never fail to cry when I read certain scenes from WHERE SHE BELONGS, and I hope the story touches readers’ hearts as much as it has this writer’s heart.

I was once told by an industry professional that I didn’t know when to give up on a story. You’re damn right I don’t. I refuse to give up on a publishable book just because it doesn’t suit the one editor at the one house who could consider it at the time (the book was originally targeted to a category romance publisher). I believed in myself, and I believed in my story. I reworked and reworked it until it was ready to share with my readers. And am I ever glad I did. I love this book!

Published
Categorized as My Books

Small But Important Changes Coming

As some of you know, my website was hacked by a web bot looking for open security doors way back in October 2009. The problem was brought to my attention by Google alerts and then fixed by a professional web designer and blog coder in November 2009, but Trend Micro (an anti-virus program) has declared my blog and website “dangerous” ever since. Every once in a while I receive an email from someone saying they can’t visit my website or blog because their AV program is telling them not to. And every single time I ask which AV program they use, it’s Trend Micro.

This has been very disturbing to me, as over 18 months have passed, a professional website designer and coder fixed the problem for me, but because my site had a problem for one month in 2009 it seems like TM will make me pay forever. The feeling seems to be that if the blog ever had the problem, it might have the problem again. But I know the mistake I made when I updated my blog back in 2009 that led to the problem, and I don’t need to be taught the same lesson twice. I won’t make that mistake again. I’ll go back to a professional to ensure I don’t make the same mistake.

At any rate, I am very happy to announce that my main website URL – www.cindyprocter-king.com – and my blog URL referrer – www.museinterrupted.com – have now both been declared safe by Trend Micro. I had to fill out some form a TM tech told me about and send it in for each of my three URLs.

People with Trend Micro, however, still can’t visit www.cindyprocter-king.com/blog without getting the warning. So, in essence, they can’t visit www.museinterrupted.com either, because it will bring them to the URL Trend Micro doesn’t like. If they put my blog URL into their safe lists, then they don’t get the warning. I hosted several guest bloggers after the 2009 problem who had Trend Micro. All of them inputted my site names into their safe lists and had no problems. But, once a problem always a problem is the way I feel this situation is being treated by the AV software. And that is their right.

To try and fix the issue, I need to change the name of my blog link. I don’t know when I’ll get time to do that. A shoulder injury is limiting my computer time. But at least TM users should now be able to visit my home page and books pages without getting a warning. They just can’t click on my blog link.

Once  the changes are made and I receive assurance from TM that the blog tests as “safe”, you can bet I’ll be announcing it all over the place. I’ll have to. Because my blog URL will have changed.

Where She Belongs ARCs!

Between Penny and, well, myself, I’ve published with several different publishers and have never received a box of print ARCs before (Advanced Reading Copies, for those not in the know). The “proofing” of the manuscript (the last chance an author has to catch errors in the typesetting before the “real” book is printed), for me, has always arrived by email in PDF form. So here I am, a good little writer, patiently waiting for the proofs for WHERE SHE BELONGS, my December release from Five Star/Cengage, to arrive in PDF form in my in-box, when a knock comes at the door.

I was expecting a delivery for My Liege, so wasn’t surprised to see a UPS van in the driveway. But the box the UPS woman delivered was much smaller than the package we’ve been expecting. Then she told me who had sent it—one of my publishers. I quickly scribbled in the little electronic window, raced to my office (already late for a doctor’s appointment), and tore open the box, wondering how my author’s copies could have arrived already when I hadn’t proofed the book yet,

Twit.

WHERE SHE BELONGS is being published in library-edition hardcover, but the box contained several trade paperback copies and a list of where Five Star/Cengage has sent the book for review. Now I need to read one of the copies for errors and report them to the publisher, if I do find any. Then, what do I do with these babies? First thing is to make a media kit and then mail kit and book samples to other review outlets (like Romantic Times). Seeing as I’m Canadian, I’ll also try a home-grown publication or two. It can hurt. The worst thing that can happen is a reviewer tries to sell my ARCs on eBay, which is a no-no.

Okay, I know you really want to see the ARCs, so here’s the box. Then I’ll blab some more:

Ain’t they a thing of beauty? Notice how Procter is spelled with an E? Henceforth, always spell Procter with an E! It’s time to tick off the Proctors of the world. We “ers” have had enough.

Now, see that little white sticker on each book? It says NOT FOR SALE. That’s because these are Advance Reading Copies and are only supposed to be used for review purposes. So if you’re a reader and have never seen a book with “Advance Reading Copy—Not For Sale” on it for sale at your favorite used book store, that’s very good. If you have ever bought an Advance Reading Copy thinking it’s something special and you’re supporting the author, well, you aren’t supporting the author and buying the ARC is…not very good. In fact it’s kinda bad. Authors really disprove of it. And so do publishers. These copies might have typesetting errors and are not for public consumption, so to speak. But if you don’t send ARCs to review sites and magazines months ahead of the book’s release, then the book won’t get reviewed in time. If the reviewer for wherever it’s sent chooses to review it.

Authors don’t make a penny–nay, not even a ha’penny—off the sale of ARCs. The only person making money off the sale of an ARC is the person selling it. Which is unlike buying your favorite author’s novels at your favorite used bookstore. You know, when they don’t say ARC on them. When someone has bought them new, hopefully read them, then taken them to the USB. USB book sales don’t earn authors any money, either. Authors only earn money (in the form of royalties—a tiny percentage of the cover price) on print books when that first initial sale is made, in the bookstore, drug store, or grocery store. OR from on-line bookstores selling the book NEW (as opposed to used). Every time a book is sold after that initial sale, at garage sales or used book stores or library “these books are worn out” sales, or EBay and similar sites, the author doesn’t make a dime. But generally we’re okay with that. Used book stores and the like can subject our work to a wider audience, and hopefully that audience will someday buy new (or ask for a copy of the book to come into their local library). But buying ARCs? Try to restrain yourself, I beg you.

That’s my lecture for the day. I didn’t intend to give one. It just somehow happened.

Now, let’s all clap for ARCs!!!