Pre-Order!!!

My Erotic Anthology, Take Pleasure, is available for pre-order!  I've lowered the Kindle edition price to $1.99 for all the early shoppers! 💖 

Six short stories with two bonus.

*******

A woman who hates Valentine’s Day.

An overworked employee who needs an intervention.

A school teacher in for surprise.

A witch and a bewitched magazine.

A ghost who finds pleasure where she can.

A neglected wife and the perfect Christmas gift.

Plus…two goddesses who learn to pivot when their parents make a wager.

These women don’t have much in common.  Married.  Single.  Witch.  Ghost.  But there is one little thing.  When these women are presented with the opportunity, each one chooses to…take pleasure.

*******

"Take Pleasure" will release in Kindle and paperback formats on April 17, 2023.

Have a great rest of the week!

Always writing*

...and releasing books!

Release schedule

I love post-it notes and index cards.  They are lovingly scattered across my desk and bookshelf.

I finally took the time the other day to actually put together my release schedule for 2023 through early 2024.

It looks like this:

Take Pleasure--May 2023  (Actual release is now April 17, 2023)

Canary--June 2023

Incantation (Book 4 Rivers Sisters)--July 2023

Canary:  Dark Descent--Fall 2023

Erotic Romance TTB--Sep/Oct 2023

Level 3 (working title)--Nov 2023

Under Her Roof (Pine Cove Book 2)--Winter '23-'24

Transformation (Book 5 Rivers Sisters)--Mar 2024

Canary:  OOS--Spring 2024

*************************************************

Okay.  I've written "Canary."  It's being edited and looked over now.  Book 2, "Dark Descent", is nearly 60,000 words.  No issue there.

"Incantation"?  All in my head.  Simply need to focus and tap it in.  Then "Canary:  OOS."  Notes have been made for months.  End of my "Canary" trilogy.  I'm quite plainly in love this series.  Or maybe I'm simply in love with Ray.  Or both.  Yes.  BOTH.

I know it looks like crazy author talk.  No way this is happening.  OH.  YES, KIDS.  This shit is going down.  And you can bet, at the end of this year, I'll have already started filling in at least summer and fall for 2024.    

I never lack for stories.  I may lack for time, but I never lack for the words that fill in the spaces that make the stories that help me breathe.  Never.

Always writing*

...and making notes about writing...

Time is neither here nor there

I'm in a mood.  And if you respond, "Crystal.  When are you NOT in a mood?"  I'm going to respond, "Valid," and continue blogging.

Time has been on my mind quite a bit this morning.  Creeping about.  Weaving its way through my thoughts.  I was ready to go down the rabbit hole and Alice the Wonderland the everloving SHIT out of the subject.  I hop on ye trusty ol' laptop and Google "time is subjective."  And who should pop up?  Einstein.  I peruse the results and realize this genius already stated time is an illusion.  Smart fella.  I had to pull myself back because I wanted to play with his idea of three dimensional vs four dimensional and the difference being ontology, which is the study of BEING in metaphysics.  😲

Had to moonwalk out of there for the time being.

What I want to address is the perspective of time for individuals.

I could do a month-long series about how half an hour is different for:

a parent waiting for bedtime for their child

a blind date getting ready

a woman waiting for the results of the lump in her breast

a skating party

a New Year's first kiss

But I'm narrowing it down to the tiny gift of time.  The moments someone has given you some of theirs.  I'm extremely aware what I'm asking when I need reviews or sound bites.  When I ask for beta readers or extra eyes.  I'm asking for time.  I'm asking for you to set down everything else and give me something precious that has infinite value.  Time.  

I respect if you are unable to give me that.  I'm on page 15 out of 27 for book reviewers.  I've contacted perhaps 8 or 9.  Half are willing to review and/or do an interview.  The other half are booked or trying to scale down their workload because of time constraints.  I see you and wish you the best.  No one owes you their time.  But when they're willing to give you some of it?

Appreciate it.  It's invaluable.

Always writing*

Men

Put a question on my Inman Books FB page.  Asking about whether readers prefer an alpha or beta male character.  Thought I'd delve a bit deeper so off I went to Googleland.  Then I learned we could divide further into:  Gamma, Omega, Delta, and Sigma.  Reference page.  

A few things.  First and foremost, my creative spirit almost had a serious meltdown at the books I could write.  Seriously.  Felt like pop rocks were going off inside my brain.  On the heels of that, my next thought was how incredibly simplistic.  Rather like dividing women into the virgin/whore ranks.  Not a fan.

I thought about how maybe a poster man of each "characteristic" was asked to jump off a bridge.  None wanted to, but the alpha did because it was an expectation of his character.  Even though he was deathly afraid of heights.  Here is where the real issue lies.  NO ONE should change who they are to fit what someone or thing thinks they should be.  An "alpha" man can be gentle.  A "beta" man can be in charge.

Going to get personal here.  I went to a psychologist because I thought, perhaps, I may have ADHD.  I was in this man's office for three hours taking tests.  He's been practicing over three decades.  When we were finished he said these things:

He's never seen anyone take the tests like I did 

I'm the best speller he's had (I'm the only one ever to spell loquacious)

I'm an enigma

This man had no idea what to do with me.  I was simply happy to hear I'm an enigma.  Crystal out.  I'm happy now.  I'm odd.  It's literally official.  🥳

While I don't mind building characters that adhere to certain types in my stories, I don't push those characteristics on the people around me.  Men and women can have both masculine and feminine traits, and it really makes no difference.  That's called being well-rounded.  

But I really am thinking about a story with these six male personalities.  And, God help me, a title just came to me.  ARGH

Always writing*

...blame the pop rocks...

 

Spreading a good word

It's been a week of finding reviewers, marketing strategies, and eyeballing ads.

I'd rather have my "well woman" exam in my driveway.  😣

It's exhausting.  I'm only now halfway through 27 pages of bloggers who might review one of my many books.  I can only swim through so many a day before my eyes start blurring.  And ads?  Whoever said you had to spend money to make money is an asshole.  They're right, but they are an asshole.  The few high-end sites I've contacted about ads run anywhere from $500-$1000.  Really guys?  Are you guaranteeing sales because somehow I doubt it.  If you scale down, say to a week on one of said sites, it's only $130.  Still, a bit steep.  And the thousand dollar, LITERAL, question is:  will it pay off?

I don't have money falling out of my ass.  Pity.  So when I put money into something, I need a return.  Period.  I feel as though there is an untapped resource of readers and reviewers out there.  I'd love some access.

The absolute best advertising?

Word-of-mouth.  When I see friends and followers on my Inman Books page on FB share my posts?  I'm ecstatic.  It's the biggest boost and reaches a much farther audience.  It's advertising you literally can't pay for because it's grass roots and means so much more.  That's the real deal.  A friend of a friend.  A sibling who loves to read but may not be on Facebook.  A daughter who shows her mom what she's reading right now.  

That's been my week.  Busy little bastard.  

I've put my Inman Books on sale for Spring Break so hop on Amazon and grab some great reads on the cheap!

Always writing*

...and marketing and looking at ads and searching for reviewers and beta readers

Unbelievable

I feel strongly about using AI to write anything.  I simply won't.  It completely defeats the purpose.  The struggle?  That's part of the process.  It's also part of the growth and reflection every writer needs.  What I do NOT need is to hit a button and watch AI vomit out a story as generic as it is.  I'm sure it's incredibly quick and may even be a usable story.  I would rather reach up into my own body, grab my ovaries, and tie them in a knot.  Feel me?

Ads are exploding all over my FB for "tired writers" who just can't quite seem to manage to blog.  Okay.  I try to blog every 3-5 days.  And usually something, EXACTLY LIKE THIS, has triggered my short ass.  But if not?  There are a million things to write about in terms of either my professional or personal life.  And if I'm not up for it?  Then I don't blog.  I don't whine about it and then goose a robot and invite it to write on here.  This is mine.  My thoughts and feelings.  That's like not wanting to "Mom" for a day so I grab a stranger off the street and ask if they'll take care of my child for a bit.

NO THE HELL FUCKING NO WE DO NOT DO THAT

Writing isn't easy, but it's a labor of love.  I'm stressing the term "labor" here, kids.  You receive what you put into it, and it needs a lot.  Tapping a few buttons and having anything else write YOUR story isn't being a writer.  The relationship isn't there.  You're two strangers on writersmatch.com.  And you may not like what you get.

I think we're still in the honeymoon phase of this nonsense, and it's going to take off for a bit.  It won't last long for the real writers.  The Stephen Kings and the Margaret Atwoods.  They won't even give it breathing room.  Because they're too busy writing.

Always writing*

...my own stories 

Stereotypical

I believe we came up with stereotypes to make ourselves feel more comfortable.  We didn't like not knowing where someone stood or what they were like.  Being a child of the seventies, I'll use what I know of a bit of the time before me and then after my birth.

The fifties and sixties were the jocks and the greasers.  My mom went to school in California.  She would talk about the cliques and the nicknames.  I thought Grease was full of shit.  Apparently not.  Hippies.  Preps.  Words I will not repeat used to define minorities and those who were LGBT.  

You dressed the same as the people in your group, and you fit in.  Collars popped, or sleeves rolled up.  You stated who you were without saying a word.  Except...was that really you?  Or were you adopting an image to stay safe?  To assimilate into a group close to who you were because there were safety in numbers?  And weak sheep were attacked first?

I believe in individuality.  Always have.  Never made me Ms. Popularity, but it's not a title I was vying for, anyway.  Today, people are finally stretching their wings and trying on who they were really meant to be.  Piercings, tattoos, atypical clothing, etc.  And in their non-conformity, they are finding others like them.  But the problem, because different is threatening, lies in those who aren't willing to let go of stereotypes.  And those unwilling to see these majestic unique butterflies as necessary for growth to the human race.  Stagnant thinking is death.  Unwillingness to try new ideas and concepts is not preserving traditional ways, it's setting fire to multiple possibilities of wonder.

There is room for both without shots fired.  Stereotypes are oversimplified ideas of people or places.  We need to make room for acceptance without trying to shove people into some place we find comfort.  

I try to use this in my writing, as well.  I despise stereotypes.  I like to turn them on their ear and watch the fallout.  It's way past time we realize stereotypes bring comfort to those who choose not to understand growth.  

It's not a good thing.

Always writing*

...and wreaking havoc

   

What's an author to do?

I've spent the last two days looking at ways to put my books in front of people and in their hands.  I may or may not have a large scream building in my chest.

I do.  I really do.

I looked at buying a "deal" on BookBub.  Love the site.  Went through the few questions.  I would slash the price on my book by half, and they would feature it.  I looked at taking a book from 3.99 to 1.99.  No problem.  The issue?  It would have cost me $938 to get in on that.  I thought I was seeing shit.  I magnified the page, and lo and behold, I was NOT seeing shit.  

As soon as I Googled about ads and marketing a couple days ago, FB has been loaded with all sorts of "pick me" posts pertaining to such.  Pubby kept showing up.  Looked good.  I go and bebop over.  Not for me.  And guess what?  If you have a Twitter, you basically hand it over to them.  LITERALLY hand it over to them.  They have control of it.  Hard pass.

An ad for Kirkus Reviews, an incredibly powerful name in reviews.  I guess they partnered with FB to offer a free five-point marketing and selling blueprint on social media.  Clicked on that in a red hot minute.  Read the not-so-fine-print.  You're giving FB control of your private data.  Like here, you absolute megalomaniac, have at.  I was pissed about this one.  I expected better from Kirkus Reviews.  Pity.

I can pay $150 to be in a magazine-type brochure thing.  I read the reviews on it.  Not sure it's worth it.  There's a woman who apparently makes a living doing marketing for others.  $110 for FB and her 10,000 users.  ONE POST.  Similar charge for Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.  That's a shot in the dark.  Spitting in the wind.  Whatever cute little colloquialism you'd like to tap.  Why isn't there something affordable and yet truly useful?  $20-$40 a week for a static ad on a site.  A place authors can go to have readers review their book without paying an egregious amount.  Why is this difficult?

When I get like this, I feel like slapping a big ol' "S" on my chest and making a site for myself that does this.  It's beyond frustrating.  But no.  I've enough to do without attempting to do it all.

I'm learning.  They say it couldn't be done.  BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Always writing*

...writing, Crystal...simmer your ass down, sister...