Into the Shadows - the awesomely beautiful cover & other details!

Following my vow to never again announce a release date until a book is actually with my proofreader (because of what we’ll call the Off the Edge constantly moving release date due to perfectionistic tendencies incident), I’m pleased to announce that Associates #3, entitled INTO THE SHADOWS, has a tentative release date of the week of July 15th for ebook and paperback. This is Thorne's story.

I am crazy about this yummy cover, which was created by Amber of BookBeautiful.com. I love the mood of velvety, gritty richness she achieved, and the drama, and how it pops, and she even added true-to-the-tale tattoos. Plus, the attitude of Thorne here is pitch perfect. 

This is by far the most dramatic book I have ever written (in my mind, anyway!), and I am just crazy about this hero. That sounds like something an author might say about every book, doesn’t it? But I’m really not just saying it!! And it’s almost here! 

***

HE’S A KILLER.

Thorne McKelvey knows exactly how Nadia sees him—as a brute and a killer just kinky enough to play her sexy games. And that’s how it has to stay. Leaving her was the hardest thing he ever did, but his undercover mission could blow up at any second. No way will he drag Nadia down with him.

SHE CAN’T RISK HER HEART.

Maybe it was foolish to fall in love with her late father’s deadliest henchman, but Nadia Volkov’s not sorry; without Thorne she wouldn’t have their beautiful little boy. There’s nothing she won’t do to protect Benny, which means she must hide his identity—especially from his father. 

Now Thorne has burst back into her home, searching for clues to a gangland mystery…and stirring a hunger Nadia hasn’t felt in two years. But Benny’s identity isn’t the only secret she’s keeping, and things are turning deadly. Can Thorne and Nadia trust each other long enough to stay alive and have a chance at happiness?

***

My proofreader is a wonderfully prompt person, so I should have it back in early July at which point I will:

1. Read it over yet again, making myself so wildly tired of reading it I will not be able to see straight, because I’ve only read it 100 times and it will feel like clawing my way to the finish line. 
2. Lovingly format the print edition.
3. Order and inspect print proofs.
4. Finish up formatting the final digital editions and test them and read them some more. 
5. My eyes fall out!

As noted, it should be live around the week of July 15th. Yippee! I hope you enjoy it! If you are the sort who likes to read chapters early, you can read the first two chapters on my site.  

xo

Carolyn

**Reviewers: this title will be on Netgalley for a limited time; also, feel free to contact me about review copies at carolyn (at) authorcarolyncrane.com

24 reasons why you should NOT subscribe to Carolyn Crane's newsletter!

Just in case you were wondering, here are the top reasons not to subscribe to my newsletter!

1. Carolyn Crane sometimes includes a cat picture in her newsletters and her cats aren’t as cute as she thinks they are. Frankly, it’s embarrassing!
2. I do not like hot secret agents and I do not care to know when such “books” are released.
3. Carolyn Crane shouldn’t be encouraged in the “things she does.”
4. Carolyn Crane only sends a newsletter when she has a release. What is UP with THAT? 

   

   not cute

5. I love Carolyn Crane’s writing too much, too unwholesomely, and I am trying to take a break just for my sanity because my mind cannot comprehend the hugeness of such a love!
6. Carolyn Crane sucks!!
7. Bears.
8. Carolyn was nominated for a RITA award for her second Associates romantic suspense book, Off the Edge, and we all know how you get nominated for a RITA: sexual devilry.
9. Carolyn Crane’s secret agents talk dirty. It's as if she thinks it's hot when a man narrates every single obscene thing he is thinking and doing. Well, it's not hot, mister; it's uncouth! 
10. You can tell from reading Carolyn Crane’s Associates series that she is really into brainy tough guys with glasses, and it’s a little embarrassing, like, how into them she is. It’s almost as if she has no life!
11. I never even heard of Carolyn Crane, I’m just reading this list for the WTF factor.
12. I have a special and truly beautiful psychic connection with Carolyn Crane that she doesn’t yet acknowledge or even comprehend, and a newsletter would just be insulting to the utter purity of that connection.
13. Sadly, Carolyn Crane reached her artistic high point in Mind Games, particularly when she described a man’s cock as cucumbery. It’s all been downhill from there. A tragedy!!
14. I already signed up for Carolyn Jewel’s newsletter. So, as you can imagine, I've pretty much had my fill of Carolyns.
15. I do not care to be alerted when Associates #3, INTO THE SHADOWS, Thorne's story, comes out in July at a special limited-time sale price.  

    

    Sad!!

16. Carolyn Crane is a totally manipulative person, like with this list, which is obviously a ploy to remind people she has a newsletter. Sad!! 
17. I don’t like exciting books with hot men and lots of sex.
18. I tried to sign up for her newsletter, but there is a puppy pictured at the top of the form. It's as if she knows nothing about branding whatsoever!
19. Carolyn sometimes has freebies and swag and opportunities for ARCs and stuff like that. No thanks! I have a three-dimensional printer that satisfies ALL my needs, if you know what I mean.
20. Have to wash my hair.
21. I was going to sign up for her newsletter until I saw this list. There are some very compelling arguments here!!
22. My inbox cannot handle so much amazingness!
23. I can’t just “sign up” for Carolyn Crane’s newsletter like it’s nothing. The time needs to be right at which point I will light candles, put on some music, pour a glass of wine, and sign up like it means something…over and over and over again. 
24. I am a cave man. 

Associates update and one scary thing about self publishing!

Happy summer, friends!

I'm busy at work on a final draft of Associates #3, which is Thorne's book.  My critique partners and I have been calling it the Secret Baby book, but the official title will be something more like  INTO THE SHADOWS, though I was also toying with UNDER THE SHADOWS.

Do you see my clever title system? (Against the Dark, Off the Edge) They all begin with prepositions! Don't ask me what I'll do when I run through all the good prepositions and I'm left with prior to, or barring.

I'm at that scary point of revising where all the decisions I make are kind of final. Except for actual mistakes, which my proofreader will hopefully catch. So, every time I change a description or a passage I'm hyper-conscious that it will be the version that ends up in the final.

It's SO much pressure!!

One of the best things about self-pubbing is the control - I love the control - but it's also one of the scariest things because of this. When I was with Random House, if I changed something on a whim at the last minute, there was always somebody to tell me this won't work, don't you dare change that! Which is both good and bad.

Anyway, this is the 5th draft. I'm accepting it takes me a good 6 months to crank out a book. (perfectionist? Me?) Fabulous Amber Lin of BookBeautiful is making my cover. Things are on track for a July release! I'm really excited.

I hope everyone is having a lovely week. And, if you have a strong opinion about UNDER THE SHADOWS vs INTO THE SHADOWS, do tell!