Release day: Devil's Luck, the Simon novella!

Simon: in the wild! 

Yay! Devil’s Luck, the Simon novella, is finally available out in the wild as an ebook novella. 

I have such a soft spot for Simon, who I originally created as a messed-up villain and foe for Justine, but ended up really enjoying as a character. So, I gave him his own book. In series order, it’s 3.5, though it can easily be read without knowledge of the trilogy. (32k words, a bit over a third of a novel)

•$2.99 • 

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | ARE | Diesel | Googlebooks  [As you can see, it's not up everywhere yet - I'll make these links live as soon as the book is available]

Blurb:

THERE'S A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND DOOM
 
No wager is too outrageous for Simon Fitzgerald, the most reckless of the Disillusionists. His dark secrets drive him to take increasingly extreme risks, but he’s never lived so quite so dangerously as when he hooks up with Midcity’s most powerful prognosticator.

Fawna Brady is tormented by the destinies she sees for those around her. To Fawna, knowledge of the future is a cage she’d do anything to escape. She’s stunned to discover a taste of the freedom for which she yearns at the side of Simon, the one person in the world who despises everything she is, everything she stands for.

Simon’s defiant attitude toward destiny captivates Fawna, but will her love destroy him? And will Simon rush headlong into the delicious doom she offers?

True confession: Whenever I would edit this book, I would feel a bit teary at the very end, just because of how I love these two characters and their story. Seriously, I am such a sap!  

Join the fun! I'm over at Goldilox and the Three Weres right now...answering some crazy fun questions and more. Stop by and say hi! 

Minor reader and writer mysteries that have been on my mind lately...

The mystery of the blow-off blog post, the mystery of the pretty dresses on the book covers, the mystery of the messed up heroes, or reading formats...

In honor of Stella ex Libris's big second anniversary, I boldly explore these very mysterious items...and more! And I give things away!

Come wish Stella a happy TWO years and join the fun! 

Characters, secrets and soap operas!

I'm over at Poisoned Rationality chatting with Lexie about the pleasure of secrets, and how much of my love of characters with secrets came from a youth spent watching too many soap operas!

 Come say hi!

 And, for your viewing pleasure, the fabulous Kendall Hart! A woman with a secret. Does she look familiar to you?

Devil's Luck: cover, blurb, + a rumination!!

Here's the thing: putting out my own novella all by myself has been a very intense journey! And continues to be.

I probably shouldn't admit this here, but I've actually worked harder on this story - and with far more concern for quality - than on any other piece I've written. I don't mean it took me longer to write than a novel, but I find myself taking this new degree of responsibility, as an artist, and as a publisher. Because, I'm running the show.

It's kind of dizzying, like I'm standing on something very tall and looking down, and a lot could go wrong, but it is also exhilarating.

And also, I am in love with this character and this book, and I just want it to be perfect. And, in addition to my critique partner, Joanna Chambers, valiantly and repeatedly working it over, as well as my husband and a pass through my local writing group, I have worked with two freelance editors - a copy editor and a line editor/proofreader - as well as a professional cover artist. (Anne Cain. Do you see what she has done? That cover is SO Simony!)

This week I shall teach myself to format it, and once I do that I will proof it yet again. (Because in this blog post, Courtney Milan says that's what she did, and if Courtney Milan did it, then I must do it because she is verra knowledgeable! *shakes fist*)

Actually, I love when other writers write about their self publishing endeavors, and so many others have given me advice and directed me to resources. I learn so much from other writers, and it makes me feel less alone in my high dizzying perch.

So, this week I plan to format and proof the book. Then, I shall send out my newsletter maybe Wednesday (did you know newsletter subscribers get to download Devil's Luck for free until around Feb 28th? That is the tentative public release date.) At that point I aim to have it up on sale at places like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and so forth.

More info on the Devil's Luck  page of my site, and all the links will be there when it's up.

Devil's Luck....the blurb!

There’s a thin line between love and doom.

No wager is too outrageous for Simon Fitzgerald, the most reckless of the Disillusionists. His dark secrets drive him to take increasingly extreme risks, but he’s never lived so quite so dangerously as when he hooks up with Midcity’s most powerful prognosticator.

Fawna Brady is tormented by the destinies she sees for those around her. To Fawna, knowledge of the future is a cage she’d do anything to escape. She’s stunned to discover a taste of the freedom for which she yearns at the side of Simon, the one person in the world who despises everything she is, everything she stands for.

Simon’s defiant attitude toward destiny captivates Fawna, but will her love destroy him? And will Simon rush headlong into the delicious doom she offers?

Oh, I am so excited about this novella, and for people to read it!! And, happy Monday, friends!

Is Carolyn Crane a worldbuilding fraud?

Smash and I talk worldbuilding!

Am I a total fraud when it comes to worldbuilding? There's only one way to find out: at Worldbuilding Wednesdays over at Smash Attack Reads!

World-building Wednesdays is a fun feature where the lovely, delightful, and sadly world-building-obsessed Smash gets authors to talk about their world-building strategies.

Come over to Smash Attack Reads and say hi and talk worldbuilding with us!!!

Badass Interview!!

Happy Friday, friends! Today I'm over at the very fun and awesome Badass Book Reviews where I had a lively chat with Regina and Erika about triangles, writing sex scenes, heroes we love, the inspirations and models for different characters from the disillusionists and a whole lot more.

Also, Regina came with a great person to play Otto, and I gave the link to the page that shows how to spot the hidden Gumby image on Head Rush. And more!

Stop by and say hi! 

5 things on a Sunday

1. Awesomeness. 

I’m so excited that Pat Rothfuss and the worldbuilders team has EXCEEDED the goal of $250,000 donated to Heifer International, an incredible, fabulous charity!! There is still time to donate (it runs through the 7th). 

Not only do you give to a great cause, but for every $10 bucks you put in, you are eligible to win books and many many other mind-bendingly wonderful prizes. It’s the ultimate win-win lottery. A ton of league books are in there, and so much more. Check it out here and here. 

2. Comma freakout.
I have been close-proofing DEVIL'S LUCK, my novella about my character Simon, which I am going to self publish. I have had it professionally copyedited, but am now reading it over and changing things around and suddenly I feel like I don’t know how to use commas anymore! 

What is a comma?

Commas used to be so natural for me, but when I really think about them, then my understanding of them falls apart. It’s like that old story of the centipede, and somebody asks it how it walks with so many legs, and once he starts thinking about it, he can’t walk. It doesn’t help that I have been edited through the years by editors with different comma-using styles, the open and the closed, and my Chicago Manual of Style is possibly a few years old.

3. Website freakout.
I have been re-building my author site, a project I started a couple of weeks ago. It’s not up right now - it’s still my crappy old author site there. Honestly, I thought it would take a weekend, but that was before entering the odyssey of tutorials and crazy frustration and OCD perfectionism that is this process. I’ve been in trying to get it EXACTLY PERFECT, of course. My new site is turning out so freaking complex, but I think it looks cool. I sort of think I will get it up today, but honestly, I have thought that on many other days. Either there’s a snafu with the way-too-complicated-for-me theme I’m using, or I get a new idea for something to add or change.

4. Voodoo.
So, my new site is sitting on a development url right now, and I’m kind of scared to even look at it this morning. One morning when I looked at it, I’d changed one page the night before and all these other ones had inherited the change that weren’t supposed to inherit the change. So I changed them back, and then that changed other pages. And then I changed those others back and…etc. It was like a morning of whack-a-mole. 

My website building process

I know that right now the hyperlinks are bright purple, and I haven’t managed to change them to a better color, not for lack of trying, but I have decided to leave them as is, just to not mess with my luck, like the website gods might bite off my beggarly and shaking hand if I put it out, asking for this one last crumb of design goodness. Yes, that is the level of my mastery; it’s quite primitive!

What I’m really scared of is that it will fall apart when I migrate it to my normal URL. Actually, I’m petrified of this, even though Hostgator assures me they will help. But maybe if I leave the hyperlinks in that messed-up purple, my site will remain whole somehow.

5. Quandary.
One of my last quandaries on the site was whether to put up the home page “billboard” many authors have where there is a glowing quote or two or three about their work. I had this whole design done without thinking about that home page quote. And at that point, putting a quote on the home page would completely wreck the cool design. 

Helpful in website building

In my regular job as a copywriter, I work with designers who sometimes complain about this sort of thing, like this or that copy or subhead will mess up their design, and my feeling is often, "Screw your design, it’s the content that’s delivering the message!" But here, I was on the opposite side. Or, both sides. 

I had a discussion with blogger galpal who typically doesn’t notice the home billboard quote, and that made me feel better, and partly, my thinking was, they’re at your site, do you really need to sell them? But then I still felt uneasy. It then occurred to me that there are two main audiences/purposes of author’s site: to provide more info and resources to those who have read your work, and to build credibility and interest for those who haven’t read your work, and that’s who the billboard quote is for, that last group of people who don't know you. Who knows! It's all kind of voodoo, in a way. Anyway, I figured out a solution that wouldn’t wreck the design. Yippee!

Anyway, happy Sunday friends! I hope you're having a lovely weekend. 

Authors dish on characters!

I can't decide whether I'm more loving the "What makes a great character" post over at Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks because I'm a writer, or because I'm a reader, but who cares!

Julie put out the question - what makes a great character? -  to a bunch of authors and got 25 responses.  She's running some today and some tomorrow.

There are a lot of my favorite writers on the post today - I'm so fangirlish about and honored to be included with them, and so enjoying reading their thoughts. I'm getting new insights into books I love, and also, new thoughts about my own work.

Can't wait to see who's there to tomorrow. *Crane sharpens note-taking pencil*

Image: A chromolithiographic picture by Count Franz Graf von Pocci from his book 'Viola Tricolor: In Picture and Rhyme', originally published in the United States in 1876 - the year of Pocci's death, from wikimedia