Brigitte's Cross has slipped to #36 in top 100 paid in Kindle gay & lesbian horror. Right behind Attack of the Clit Rings.
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I'm surprised no one has entered the contest yet! Here's what I know is going in the prize package:
1. Signed copies of Blood Sisters and Brigitte's Cross. 2. A brand new copy of Concrete Blonde's Bloodletting. Let's face it, with a title like that, the CD is a soundtrack by itself. Maybe book three should have a Wendy and a Joey in it. Olivia probably would sing like Johnette Napolitano if she were a crooner. 3. New copies of the Neville's Yellow Moon CD and The Cult's Pure Cult. Liz is more the Neville fan, while Wren uses the Cult for work. 4. A copy of Robert Tallant's Voodoo in New Orleans. 5. My extra St. Brigid medal purchased from Island of Salvation Botanica. If you have already purchased signed copies from me, you are still eligible for the prize--if you win and have already purchased directly from me, I'll simply refund your purchase price. I have the power and can do that :) If you buy from Amazon before the contest, you can pass your unsigned copies on to a pal and keep the signed ones for yourself. No purchase is necessary, of course, to play. To enter, all you have to do is comment on this post (or the earlier one about the contest) and I'll put your name in the hat. I suggested before you tell me about your favorite character, but that was mainly so I could hear who you like best. Any comment will qualify as an entry, as long as it is made before midnight on 6/23/14. I know a lot of these are cheesy but, hey, it's a book about lesbian vampires. What do you expect? If you want something a little classier, try this, which is also great for any kind of creepy writing (probably because it reminds me of the Omen movies or something, I associate it with scary things. Just like I associate Tubular Bells with horror). To celebrate the release of Blood Sisters and Brigitte's Cross I think I'm going to have a contest. The winner will receive a package containing signed copies of both books and some CDs that are sort of the writing soundtrack for the series, as well as a St. Brigid's medal (one of the two I purchased at Glassman's shop). A copy of Tallant's Voodoo in New Orleans might also find its way into the prize box. You'll also get a handwritten note from me that explains the choices in the prize box.
Here's what you have to do to be eligible. Comment on this post telling me who your favorite character is and a brief (non-spoiler, please) explanation of why that character is your pick. You have until Midnight of June 23rd to post. I'll literally put names in a hat and draw the winner. The "official" release date is still 6/23/14, and I plan to have copies ordered through my store shipped in time that they reach your mailbox by that release date. I have lowered the price of Brigitte's Cross and of the bundle in the signed copies here.
The Kindle versions were up late last night, and by morning, orders were already coming in. Books continued to sell today. My hope is that a few reviews will be posted before the formal release date, but I'm plenty pleased that folks are already interested. I set the paperbacks up so that those who order a paperback through Amazon will get a free download of the eBook, too. Here's hoping that feature works pretty seamlessly. I was talking to D a couple of weeks ago and she mentioned that folks wouldn't really know why 6/23/14 is so important as the book release date. And that's OK; not only am I about to explain, but the date is more for my own use--it was a definite target for me to hit, and it also has significance in Voodoo and in Catholicism and Irish lore (which will make sense to you once you look into who Brigid/Brigitte is). June 23rd is St. John's Eve. In Voodoo, this is the holiest of Holy Days. It is also the day that Marie Laveau is honored in New Orleans, as it is said that she presided over many St. John's Eve ceremonies. To see the 2008 ceremony highlights with Sallie Ann Glassman officiating: Glassman is still active in New Orleans, and in fact the last visit I made, it was her shop, Island of Salvation Botanica, where I found St. Brigid's medals. In many ways, Glassman is great inspiration for Vivienne's character as I develop her more. If the early readers' reviews are indicative of anything it is that Vivienne deserves a series of her own once book three is done in The Olivia Chronicles.
I'm doing a soft roll out of the eBook versions soon; I'm also excited to offer free eBook downloads for anyone who purchases paperbacks on Amazon. As folks can see, I have redesigned the cover for Brigitte's Cross. While I liked the other cover, it looked almost too academic press-like for me. The new cover goes much better with the cover of Blood Sisters and it also hints more as to the content of the book. We all have my friend Victoria Barnes to thank for the kick in the pants to redo that cover.
I just got back from two weeks of being on the road. Both of my sisters read the second book and helped me with the line editing there, and I went through the paper proof of Blood Sisters and line edited it. The print copies are still on schedule for 6/23/14. In preparation for the as yet untitled third book in the series, I decided to take some pictures related to scenes in the first two books. Specifically, Liz's character is established enough that I thought I would let you see where she lives and some of the things she sees on a daily basis. The picture above shows a shotgun style house which might be something like the one that Liz and Alex share in Book I and that Kirby and Liz share in Book 2. This was somewhere in the Marigny. This picture really captures that feeling I was going for in the opening scene of Blood Sisters. Imagine Olivia sitting in front of the Cathedral, smoking and looking at the violet sky before heading down Pirate's Alley. Going deeper into the Quarter, there's the Ursulines Convent and Beauregard Keyes House. You'll have to read Brigitte's Cross to find out how those spots come into play. Back in the Marigny, I stopped to take some pictures of the altar in the window of Electric Ladyland Tattoo. I didn't spot Wren or Tiffany, though. And on the way home, there was a stop in Washington Square Park, which figures in both Books I and II. The AIDS memorial is particularly striking, as are the trees. I plan to make the trek to the Shrine of St. Ann next time. We didn't have a car this time, and it was a long trek by foot. We made a lot of the requisite stops where no pictures were taken, of course, including Cafe Lafite in Exile, Napoleon House, Muriel's, and Bennachin. As always, there was not enough time. We did get to wander through Muriel's looking for the ghost, Antoine Lepardi Jourdan, but we only spotted his dinner offering.
I am really excited to announce that I've done my main read through and have sent my edited manuscript to my advance readers. They had read the first half or so, and I got great feedback on that, so I hope they like the ending and the revisions I made.
Another exciting announcement: I'll be releasing both Blood Sisters and Brigitte's Cross in print this time around. I'll have details here on how folks can order a signed copy once that's all ironed out, and of course you'll be able to buy non-signed copies direct from Amazon. I'm also pairing "Van Helsing's Lament" with Brigitte's Cross, so if you haven't read that one yet or want a print copy of that prequel short story, you'll have your chance. 4 pm. The Quarter was still quiet. August afternoons were too hot for anyone except for a few stubborn tourists who were determined to stay drunk and on the street as long as possible, even if it meant suffering heat stroke.
Jordan turned over on the rumpled mattress and looked at the shuttered windows. She could hear the water ploshing onto the sidewalk from the balcony. Her neighbors kept ferns out almost all year round and she always knew that it was time to consider getting out of bed when she heard the afternoon run off. She waited until the water sounds stopped and then went in to take a shower. She had come in later than usual and drunker than usual, so she hadn't showered before bed. She sighed as the warm water slid down her back and over her skin, washing off the filth of the French Quarter. As the silt and stench came off, she started remembering the night before in bits and pieces and she smiled and shook her head. It had all started normally enough. She had gone out to hustle enough money for the rent on her studio apartment. She started early, going to Razoo during happy hour and getting frat boys to buy her 3 for 1 drinks. August was always sparse in terms of a good hustle. Most men in the Quarter were little more than boys who tended to travel in frat packs. They were good for a few rounds, but Jordan knew better than to push her luck. A hustle on a college frat boy was a hustle on the whole posse. Practically impossible unless you want to get trained if you're a girl or curbed if you're a guy. After a couple of rounds and a few dances with underage groin grinders, Jordan was bored. Deciding that no good candidates were going to visit the club, she left to scope out the street. It was only 7:30 and the strip clubs on Bourbon were just getting started and the street was beginning to fill with people and the smell of stale beer and cheap fried food. Jordan ducked off Bourbon Street and cut down to Royal, followed it down to St. Ann and finally down to Jackson Square. Most of the card readers had started packing up their cards and tables, but a few were lighting candles and incense, hoping to draw in the after dinner crowd. Feeling woozy from her free drinks, Jordan decided to stop at Le Madeline for a bit of dinner and a cup of coffee. She knew she could sit until the Quarter got moving and no one would bother her. After getting her food, she chose a table near the window that looked out on the corner of the square. Watching the light traffic, she ate slowly, taking long sips of coffee in between bites. By the time she'd had all the coffee she wanted and freshened up, the sun was almost fully set, casting long shadows on the square. She ambled past the front of the cathedral, listening to a tour guide's spiel about how it had been rebuilt after the original structure burned down. Ducking into Pirate's Alley, she headed to the Royal A&P to buy a pack of Camels and then headed back to Bourbon Street. The hour or so that she had been gone helped. Tourists, fresh from having showered and eaten dinner, were swarming the street, looking for new sights and hoping for adventure. Her best bet was to o into one or two of the shops and hope she caught a good target's eye. She finally saw him; he was the perfect mark--around 35, alone and average looking. Pleasant looking, actually. She followed him, watching his behavior. He showed slight interest in some of the strip clubs as he strolled by, but didn't go in. She was patient and kept following him. He entered one of the sleazy sex toy shops on the strip, and she edged into the store, just brushing past him on her way upstairs where they kept the leather goods. She knew he would follow her, and soon they were on opposite ends of the loft, trying to look as if neither saw the other. She moved toward him and then asked the salesperson to please get down the leather bra hanging on the top row, right above where her mark was standing. He looked at her as she spoke and she gave him an embarrassed grin. She took the bra in her hands and turned it over, pretending to look at the stitching and then she went to the mirror, holding it up against her chest. She could see him watching her, his reflection behind her in the mirror. She turned around, smiling. "I just can't tell. And it really is expensive. Would you buy one for your girlfriend?" He looked down and said, "Yeah, if I had one, sure." She handed the bra back to the salesperson and went over to the spike-heeled boots. "Where are you from?" She asked, trying to appear aloof and disinterested, even though she was anything but. I'm not sure when I wrote this, but it was over ten years ago, well before the original short story "Blood Sisters" was penned. I have no characters named Jordan, but I can see where this fragment could be revised and worked into a section about Wren's early days as a hustler in Book 1. I shouldn't have to say this, but: The work on this site is my own. Do not copy or reproduce it without crediting me and linking back.
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