99¢ Promo War of Nytefall: Anarchy

As the vampires battle in the shadows, a new enemy appears to drag them into the light!

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

The paladins of Windemere have had enough!

As the Vampire Civil War heats up, mysterious murders are being committed against members of every holy order. All signs point to the culprits being vampires, which has resulted in the creation of a unified paladin army. To protect his people, Clyde must find the killers before the holy warriors unleash their purifying crusade. It is a battle against frustrating obstacles as the war inches closer to mortal civilization and ambitious new allies join Nytefall.

One slip is all that is needed for the secret of the Dawn Fangs to be revealed.

Curiosity piqued? Check out this teaser!

The urge to move faster nearly overtakes Lost’s common sense, but she reminds herself that adults are supposed to be patient. As if her mind is trying to undermine her actions, she is on the verge of whistling the first tune that slips into her thoughts. Sucking in her lips, the Dawn Fang pierces them with her fangs to stop them from causing trouble. The pain makes her eyes water and she squishes mud in her hands to hold back a scream. Reaching out with her telepathy, she tries to locate her targets while she lets her unfocused thoughts run their course. A distant prayer to Ram the War God causes her to change her direction and she takes a deep breath to regain her composure. With the paladins so far away, Lost moves a little faster, but stops short of giving in to her silly, impatient urges. Seeing the edge of the tall grass, she drops again and uses her elbows to pull herself along like she remembers seeing Titus do on several missions. As she comes out of her cover, the bright sun blinds her, so she is unable to stop herself from banging into something metal, which falls onto her back.

“Get off of me!” Lost shouts before telekinetically hurling the object into the river. She scrambles to her feet and freezes at the sight of six paladins standing in her path. “Such shiny and pretty armors, you have here. I really like the guy with the big helmet. Is that an ostrich feather? I keep meaning to ride one of those again. So, nice day for a walk. This is bunny who is totally unable to fly. That’s why he’s on my head. Your friend seems okay, so there’s absolutely no reason for us to spend any more time together. Bye!”

“You must be Lost,” Lord Adam says through his great helm. He takes a step forward and holds out a diamond fused to a bronze chain. “We are well aware of you and your abilities, monster. That is why I travel with this. None of your mind tricks will work on those who stand in my presence. Even your keen senses are tricked by the spells designed specifically to thwart your actions. Be honored that we went to so much trouble to design items with you in mind. No other Dawn Fang has earned so much individual attention.”

“That’s kind of creepy,” she replies as she steps back. Seeing weapons getting drawn, she stops retreating and playfully slaps at the mud with her bare feet. “Needed to wash some gunk out from between my toesies. Well, this is awkward. You brought me such a pretty present and I don’t have anything for you. Bunny says that I need to work on my manners. There’s really no need for violence. Dawn Fangs are mostly good. Just like mortals, we have some bad ones, but we’re all individuals like all of you. I mean, we all eat soup the same way, right? I really hope you all use spoons for that comparison to work.”

“Abominations such as you-” the paladin begins to announce.

“Look at the naked heretic!” she shouts while pointing into the distance.

All of the holy warriors, except for Lord Adam, turn to see what Lost is gesturing at, so she flings mud at their leader’s helmet grating. The man coughs and hacks as the Dawn Fang sprints back to the river and launches herself to the other side. A quake meets her as she lands and she nearly topples onto her side, but manages to stumble along. Glancing over her shoulder, she does not see any of the paladins in pursuit and considers slowing down to get her bearings. Lost’s eyes go wide when she sees the powerful steeds rise into the air, arch over the river, and land in a perfect line that immediately charges ahead. The open plains allow the warriors to move at full speed, which is only slightly slower than the sprinting Dawn Fang. They hurl spells and glowing weapons, which return to their hands, but the attacks never hit their mark. Those that come close are deflected by a telekinetic shield, which repeatedly shatters upon impact thanks to Lord Adam’s diamond weakening her even from a distance. With the relic defending the paladins’ minds and muffling their hoofbeats, she has to repeatedly look over her shoulder to make sure none of them have disappeared. To her relief, they never break formation and she gets a sense of their attack pattern, which never falters.

Get a copy of this vampire action adventure for
99 cents on Amazon!
Help spread the word by adding it on Goodreads!

*****

Want to catch up on War of Nytefall?Grab the volumes 1-6 for 99 cents each ($6 total)!

Cover Art by Alison Hunt

Interested in more Windemere? Then don’t forget to check out Charles E. Yallowitz’s first series: Legends of Windemere

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

About the Author:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After spending many years fiddling with his thoughts and notebooks, he decided that it was time to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house with only pizza and seltzer to sustain him, Charles brings you tales from the world of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and drawing you into a world of magic.

Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com
Twitter: @cyallowitz
Facebook: Charles Yallowitz
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyallowitz/

Enjoy the fang-filled adventure by clicking here!

With a Little Help from my Friends

It feels like it's been a long time coming, but The Enhanced League is a genuine book now. I played the usual games with my Mac before uploading it. It generally works like this:

“You've been logged out. Please enter your iCloud password.”

I loaded my password.

“You have upgrades.”

I start downloading the newest and greatest to the operating system.

“Your upgrades have just been upgraded.”

I start over. Looks like it will take about thirty minutes. I check back in half an hour. Twenty seven minutes remaining.

Play with he dogs and talk to my daughter before checking back.

“You've successfully upgraded your operating system. Please enter your iCloud password.”

When I clicked the keys, nothing happened. Replace the batteries in everything.

“Something went wrong. You have upgrades.”

Start all over again. Repeat the waiting times, and password entry.

“Do you want to activate Siri on this machine?”

“Whatever! Just get on with it already.”

“Please enter your messenger password.”

“I don't even want messenger on this machine!!!” I click the red dot to close the window.

“Please enter you messenger password.”

“FINE!”

Anyway, after about three hours I was allowed to do the only thing I need the Mac for. Everything else can be done on my iPad.

I just got the email from Amazon that I am live right now.

I'm not the best blurb writer, but here's what I wrote:

The Enhanced league is a collection of short stories and anthems centered around a year in a fictional baseball league. It has a slight science fiction background. This league has a lot more pomp than you might be used to, and nobody seems to care if the players use performance enhancing drugs.

Stories involve existing heroes, up and comers, and falling stars. While there are the obvious stories that take place on the field of play, there are also human interest stories that take place around the baseball gyrations. These stories involve scouting, trades, ruthless business decisions, and even relationships.

I enjoyed researching and bringing you The Enhanced League, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. — CB

***

This is where I ask for a little help from my friends. There are a few things you can do to help, if you're willing.

First is to reach down inside the couch and find ninety-nine cents (99¢), then go to Amazon and pick up a copy of The Enhanced League. This is the link. The widget on my sidebar is also linked. If you need an e-reader, there is a link for one of those on the side too. Grab a hotdog and a beer and have some fun with it.

Second, I need some blog hosts. I have several different posts already written. Let me know in the comments if you'd like to participate. You can request me, or a visit from Lisa Burton, and Lisa has some awesome new posters to share with a baseball theme to them. Let me know in the comments.

I also have a couple of posts I've written by request, and need to get them out to the hosts.

Third, don't be afraid to share the news, reblog one of the posts that pops up online, and tell your friends. I'll be doing the same on your new releases.

Finally, to the awesome group of volunteers who served as beta readers. I used many of your suggestions to improve this book. There is no expectation whatsoever, but if you'd like to post a review I'd really appreciate it.

I'm off to do a whole list of things next. These involve Goodreads, pinned tweets, my book club and more. I'll surf through and keep up with the comments.

Don’t get left out

Lisa Burton, the robot girl here tonight. As Craig's personal assistant, I am the one who put together most of his current promotions. I'm also the spokesmodel for his writing career, but there is no new poster to go along with all the stops he's been making. Although we do have a poster for his Macabre Macaroni stories.

I decided to put my insane sign shaker skills to help with the promotions. Craig thinks I'm silly, but I can toss this thing in the air, spin around and catch it. Robotic precision baby.

First, let's talk about The Playground. This is Craig's latest novel, and it has a decidedly Halloween vibe going for it.

Basically, some nutjob created a social network that targets children. He's brainwashing them to create his own homegrown army. To speed things along, he turns to the occult.

There is this girl who becomes one of the victims, and you get to follow her through the story as her life gets darker, and more desperate.

Then there is the doctor lady. She's a cancer survivor, and is avoiding a return to work by helping end-of-life patients. She takes a job with this goofy old guy, and catches a parasite. It's not just any old parasite though, this one allows her to see into the world of shadows. She has the ability to talk to ghosts, see demons, and that kind of thing.

The next generation software goes missing, so the crazy business guy sends this huge thug after the culprit. This guy is kind of a force-of-nature, and is not to be taken lightly.

The whole thing becomes a chase for the missing software, but in a dark paranormal kind of way. You know, good guy chasing bad guy to fetch the prize before the little girl does something she can't recover from.

Anyway, Craig has The Playground on sale for 99¢ through Friday. Get it now, at the sale price, just in time for Halloween.

Craig also had a story chosen for an anthology called Macabre Sanctuary. There are ten short stories from some incredible authors, and they all have a freaky paranormal thing going on.

Miraculously, there isn't a single werewolf or vampire in the whole book. I told you these are some creative folks, and there are other things out there that are just as spooky, maybe even more so.

Macabre Sanctuary can be read in small bursts, like coffee breaks or while picking up parts for your own robot. At the price of free, what are you waiting for?

But wait, there's more! Craig and several of his friends formed a new blog called Story Empire. They are on a huge blog tour right now called The Paranormal Bar & Grille.

To drive interest in the tour, each author is running a scavenger hunt. I know, crazy right? All you have to do is go to The Paranormal Bar & Grille and click the author links at the bottom of the page.

These links will take you to the individual scavenger hunt for whatever author you choose. It's about too easy. Just answer a few questions on each site to enter. All the answers are found in the Story Empire Book Library.

There are a bunch of Amazon gift cards to win, and the occasional e-book of the winner's choice. Odds are pretty good right now too, so get your entry in.

But wait, there's more. Oh, I already said that. But wait, there's even more than more.

On The Paranormal Bar & Grille page, you will find a link to that massive blog tour I told you about. If you click on it, you can see all the stops along the route, and there will even be book reviews. At the bottom of that page, there is a Rafflecopter for a big old honkin' $30 Amazon gift card.

You have a pretty good chance of winning, but you've got to enter to win.

The second week of October, now with #prizes

I may have mentioned doing a bunch of promotion during October. Several of my titles have a paranormal theme to them, and it seemed like a natural time to hit it hard.

Last week I used some Amazon free days for my novel, Panama. I gave away hundreds of copies, but that's always a crap shoot. There is no guarantee that anyone will read their copy, and less chance that they'll leave a review. Still, it is a reasonable opportunity to make some fans. Everything worked according to plan, and it remains to be seen how it will shake out in the long run.

There are several things going on this week. The first one is a 99¢ sale for my newest novel, The Playground. I felt like Panama was an older title and the free days made more sense there. The Playground is my newest publication, and I'm not quite ready to give it away yet. I won't drone on about it here, because I made a separate post about it this morning.

To support the 99¢ sale, I did a Facebook push. I immediately kicked myself for one small mistake. I included the link to my blog post and not the Amazon universal purchase link. Then I received a comment from someone who bought the book and promised a review. Maybe it wasn't a mistake after all.

I also updated my pinned tweet on Twitter to reflect The Playground and the 99¢ sale. Every little bit helps, right?

I have more things planned as the month shakes out. Watch this space for updates.

I also appeared on Bad Moon on the Rise, over at Teri Polen's blog. In fact, I kicked the event off. I've been following this event every day and tweeting out the new posts. I've discovered some books I need to read too. I honestly hope some of you are interested in my Halloween themed promotions, but I'm not the only one doing this. There are some great things over at Teri's and you really should check it out.

I also started my annual tradition of posting some micro-fiction every week during October. I call these Macabre Macaroni, and they will include the Lisa Burton art as part of the promo. I don't always include graphics, but know posts with images draw more eyes. In my experience, Lisa draws more eyes than anything I've ever posted, so I included her here. I want this post to get some readers.

I was lucky enough to get included in an anthology called Macabre Sanctuary. This includes ten short stories for the price of free. I'm in the process of reading it now and all the stories have been great so far. You can't beat the price for a little bit of Halloween reading, and I'd appreciate you checking it out.

Another of the big ticket items kicks off this week as well. Regular readers will recall the announcement of Story Empire. This is a group of five authors who came together originally with the idea of some mutual promotion during October. It's evolved into so much more. There is a blog that features some nice writing tips, a Facebook page, and even a Twitter account.

The key piece of Story Empire this week is called The Paranormal Bar & Grille. We're doing a massive blog tour through Reading Addiction Tours. You can follow the tour at Reading Addiction, but you really need to visit the Bar & Grille site too. Each of the authors is holding a scavenger hunt and we're each giving away some pretty darned good prizes. You can find all of the answers by surfing around the Story Empire site. All of the top prizes are gift cards, and not an electronic copy of the book I gave away last week. (You know, unless you want one.)

There is also a Rafflecopter giveaway at Reading Addiction. The prize is a $30 Amazon gift card, so make sure you get in on that too. On both sites, you have to play to win.

I have other things in the works for later this month. Rather than tell you about them all right now, I want to concentrate on the timely things you should be taking advantage of right now.

So yeah, I've been kind of busy. The setup for everything happened while I had visits from my parents, two different groups of in-laws, and a convention I had to attend as part of my paycheck job. I expect a little smoother sailing as the month shakes out.

99¢ sale in time for Halloween

Halloween means different things to different people. I like a bit of everything, from suspenseful thrillers like Hitchcock is associated with to giant monsters who make a career out of crushing Tokyo.

My writing reflects this too. We just held a free promotion for Panama, and it included dark magical forces and black magic.

This week's promotion is for The Playground. It includes some of that demonic magic, but it starts off with some near future science fiction.

A ruthless businessman, Tommy Fazio, created a line of toys that include a social network for children. They become the “must have” product of the Christmas season.

He has larger plans though. The Playground Network is brainwashing our children into his own personal army. Imagine a homegrown army housed in our very homes.

Tommy isn't a patient man, so he turns to the occult to speed things along. This is where the story opens.

I chose to tell this tale from three different points of view. The main characters are involved in three distinct stories, but they converge at the end for an explosive finale.

Chloe is a little girl who gets a Playground doll for Christmas. She names the doll Sandra, and it leads her down a dark path. She represents all the children, and their only hope is to bring down the entire network before it's too late.

Gina is a doctor who narrowly survived a brush with cancer. She's somewhat broken at the beginning of the book and working in end-of-life care. She accepts a position working for an eccentric old man, and it changes her life completely. She acquires a parasite that allows her to see into the other world. Demons, fairies, ghosts – it's all real, and now Gina may be the only person who can stop the Playground Network. She doesn't really know what she's doing, but she'd better figure it out fast.

The next generation of Playground software goes missing. Tommy hires a ruthless thug to retrieve it. Clovis is huge, street tough, and has a head start on Gina. A seeming force-of-nature that is going to be hard to overcome.

I tried to replicate the works of Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino in this story. If you think a scoop of Sin City plus a portion of Pulp Fiction, might make a great Halloween story, this may be the one for you.

Like I said, Halloween can mean a lot of different things. This one includes a demon, ghosts, a secret society, a parasite, magical weapons, a classic GTO automobile, a stupid dog, and more.

The Playground is on sale from Monday through Friday for the frighteningly low price of 99¢. I set it up on both Amazon.com and Amazon.uk. It should be live right before this post shows up. (International date lines and time zones may vary, because who really knows what Amazon does?)

 

Heading home, eventually

I woke up at 4:00 AM, Pacific Time today. I'm about tired of uncomfortable beds, restaurant food, conference room chairs, and all the rest. Checkout time is 11:00, my shuttle for the airport leaves at 1:00, and my plane doesn't fly out of Spokane until nearly 4:00.

It was kind of funny, yesterday. I hung around in the gathering area, and Idaho State University had something going on in one of the conference rooms. Their keynote speaker had a book signing after they broke up. This is one of those self-help/leadership type books. It looked like she moved about 20 – 25 copies. Maybe I should become a leadership guru.

I can hang around the lodge, and get some things accomplished though. After posting this, I'll probably schedule a couple of posts during the week. I'll also set up whatever kind of Amazon promo I'm doing for next week. (Watch this space.)

Panama did very well, but my experience is the first free day is the big one. It was exactly the same this time. I managed to get into the top twenty, and stayed there for a long time. The free days are over, so I'm back on the paid list. I used a Facebook boost to promote Panama, and it seems to have worked well. Yes, I paid to promote a free book. This time out, the goal wasn't actual sales, it was an attempt to land some fans. Fans come back and try other titles. Note: I have other titles.

I want to run an Amazon Giveaway again, and I want to run a 99¢ sale. Fortunately, I have enough paranormal titles to make this work during October for the lead-up to Halloween. Maybe we need a science fiction holiday somewhere. I don't think May 4th is quite there yet.

I've reached the odd point where Lisa doesn't have a guest for her radio show again this week. There are questionnaires out in various stages, and a couple of folks are waiting to get closer to release dates. I'll probably work on one of them this morning too. I don't like to hold off until the last minute. This only makes sense; since the intent is to promote the book it should post close to the release date. However; if you would like to get on Lisa Burton Radio, I have the opportunity to get you started.

It's time to get down to some serious work.

Let’s check the reviews

Regular readers know that I’ve had my new book out on a blog tour lately. I try to reblog the posts as a way of supporting my hosts. I hope they pick up some new followers along the way.

Part of setting up this tour was the decision not to request specific dates. These hosts are all friends, and in many cases they have specific things that occur on their blogs. These might be Wednesday Wander, Thursday Doors, or any number of fun things. I don’t want to disrupt them, so I asked for a selection of dates at their pleasure. This means that some days along the tour I may have a blank, and others may double up.

I’ve waited until midday, and haven’t spotted a tour post to share, so I’m going to make one up. The tour is for The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack II. Since the reviews are starting to come in, I thought it would be fun to snip some lines from them and share them here. Maybe one of the reviewers will whet your appetite for some shorter fiction.

“This is a spectacular collection of short and micro fiction. I really enjoyed the author’s first “Experimental Notebook” but this one is superb. The blend of stories from sci-fi, to paranormal and even horror, is an entrancing mixture much like strolling through a sideshow carnival and goggling at all the curiosities. Some of these stories will make you think, a few might make you squirm, but all will have you applauding at how deftly they’re delivered…I have my favorites. From the pulp-type Last Flight of the Rocketmen to the cleverly executed Documentary and oddness of Magpies (just to name a few), there is something here for everyone. Best of all, you can easily enjoy them in small doses or all at once. My absolute favorite is Holo-Barkers, a brilliant little piece that I still find myself grinning about.”

“It is hard to choose favorites for I enjoyed each story for a different reason. The following are just a few that lingered in memory after reading, although each story was well done. ‘Magpie’ was narrated simply, yet it conveyed a touch of the macabre as the predatorial birds gather waiting for a woman to die… ‘Night Bump Radio’ DJ Pete Rogers runs a late night radio show from a trailer parked on land that has a mystical history. Callers talk about things live to air, the things that go ‘bump’ in the night. As, Pete chats to his callers, what appears to be interference is heard on the line. That interference continues, becoming clearer and more audible with each call he takes. I don’t want to spoil this for anyone, so suffice it to say that I’ll be listening more acutely tonight when I close my eyes. This story was chilling… These speculative pieces hold something for everyone, and have left me eager to explore more of this talented authors work.”

” In THE EXPERIMENTAL NOTEBOOK OF C. S. BOYACK II, we are treated to a wide variety of Boyack’s talents, which include the sci-fi, horror, and paranormal genres. It’s clear these stories came from an active and creative mind, and it’s difficult to pick a favorite; each story is more entertaining than the next. But if I have to give a shout-out to one, it’s “Practical Geology.” I’m pretty sure that one’s going to stay with me for a while. If you enjoy any of these genres, you’re going to want to give this collection a try.”

“Boyack has written another great collection of short stories. Each one drew me in and had me waiting for twists that did not disappoint. A lot of them have a science fiction and horror vibe, which keeps a great theme going throughout the collection. Even with the similar genres, every story has a unique voice and atmosphere. I would say my favorite is ‘Inheritance’ because of the multiple voices. It’s longer than many of the others, but it keeps you locked in and wondering what is going on. There is definitely an eerie mystery to that I remember long after I finished reading it.”

“I read the author’s first Experimental Notebook, and really enjoyed it. But I liked this one ever better. C.S. Boyack’s ability really shined through. I’m amazed by his level of creativity. For an author to be able to write in so many genres, from speculative fiction to paranormal to crime, he has talent galore. The EXPERIMENTAL NOTEBOOK II starts off with a bang with FEVER. Loved that story!!! I also loved THE LAST FLIGHT OF THE ROCKETMEN, which really surprised me, actually. I’m not usually a fan of spaceship anything, but the voice of the story was so well done I couldn’t stop reading it.”

“If you’re looking for a collection of short and micro fiction, don’t look past this one. C.S. Boyack excels at maintaining pace, giving us characters we can root for, and stories with loads of creativity. Highly recommend.”

“The second Experimental Notebook by C. S. Boyack is another adventure into some entertaining and downright genius short stories. The beauty of most of the stories is they grab you right in the beginning and then lead you down a path you never expected. It is a path that you are glad you traveled but where it comes out is an unusual surprise. Several of the stories were my favorites (it is hard to pick a favorite). The inheritance brought to mind the classic Victorian story with a sorry ending. Last Flight of Rocket Man was ingenious in its characterizations and story detail. Night Bump Radio was my most favorite but have to confess I was a radio jock in my youth. The scenes were well drawn, and the accuracy of the studio functions was impressive.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a variety of stories with a consistent quality of writing and spirit of surprise.”

“Boyack has an imagination like no other. His short stories are always well written and uniquely different, the attention to detail second to none. Such a wide variety of interesting topics, full of memorable characters. Every time you think you have a favorite story, you find another one!
You won’t be able to put this book down until you have read them all, and still want more.”

“I read the first Experimental Notebook of C S Boyack and when I saw this second volume, I had to read it. The author didn’t disappoint. The collection contains short stories of varying length and genre, ranging from tales that chill to experimental fiction to sci fi and more. It wouldn’t feel right to pick a favourite, as they’re all good for different reasons, and many leave you thinking about them long after you’ve read them.”

There you have it; a sample of the kind of reviews the Second Notebook is getting. It’s priced at 99 cents, and is performing well. If you think these kind of stories might appeal to you, I’d appreciate you checking them out. Halloween is coming soon, and some of them make great spooky reading.

Today is the day

Well, it's one of the days. My newest book The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack II is now available for purchase on Amazon. It's a pre-sale, and the books will deliver on August 31st. That is the other day.

I wanted to do a short pre-sale, but Lisa my robotic assistant must have messed up. Let's talk about the actual book.

This is similar to the first Experimental Notebook, in that it's a collection of short stories and micro-fiction. It's also similar in that it's priced at 99¢.

I decided to make the alchemy wheels into a kind of theme. The first Notebook has one, this book has two, and should there be a third volume it will have three wheels. That way the covers are similar, but also unique.

This book has some science fiction, some paranormal, and one that barely qualifies as fantasy. I love fantasy, but don't write quite as much of it. It also has two stories that don't have any speculative element. I've taken to writing short stories and micros in my spare time, then stockpiling them. When I have enough, I bundle them into a notebook.

Part of me worried about including some tales that didn't have the speculative element in them. So this book has more stories than the first one did. That way, you get the same deal and can consider those stories as free extras.

I revisited Pete Rogers, who first appeared in Will O' the Wisp. He's all grown up now, and trying to make a life for himself. I also revisited Jason Fogg, the fellow from the first notebook who can turn himself into fog. In this story, Jason is investigating a fishy situation.

This book has a few stories that are a tribute to the pulp era as well. People usually think of crime fiction, or romance, when they think of the pulp era. There were plenty of pulp science fiction and horror stories too, and I hope I did them justice.

The stories are also experimental, thus the titles of the books. I tested out the epistolary style in one story, and even tried a longer monologue to relay one story.

The first notebook included an intermission where I address the reader. It proved to be popular, so I did it again in the new book. I suppose it's become a theme now too.

So there you have it. For 99¢ you get fifteen conveniently sized stories. Perfect for coffee breaks, commuter busses, or when those Pokemon are just too elusive. You also get an excerpt from the ever charming Clovis right out of my last novel, The Playground. At that price, even if only one trips your trigger, I think readers are getting their money's worth. If they all ring true, it's a steal of a deal.

Early sales are important, because they credit on the day the book delivers. That can help me get onto one of the Amazon lists. Please consider pre-ordering and helping out. I included the link up above, but I'll include it again in a convenient tweet worthy paragraph:

Pick up the newest Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack on presale today. It's a steal at 99¢ http://a-fwd.com/asin=B01KENADN6

I just tested it out, and there's even room for your favorite hashtags. Simply copy and paste.

I planned on working on more short fiction today, but I need to address some other things. I need to track down a Goodreads librarian and add the book over there. I should put it in my blog sidebar, make some Twitter worthy art to promote with, and assemble my street team. I'll probably turn on the street team bat-signal on Wednesday, but I can write the post today.

Girls in hats

There’s just something about girls in hats. I can’t explain it, but they catch my eye, and it has nothing to do with how they look beyond that. I know I’m a very visual person, and maybe that’s it. The woman under the hat could be any size, shape, color, or age and I would still look.

In traditional fashion, I checked the television for the Kentucky Derby pre-game show this morning.

There wasn’t one. They always have some alternate channel that runs all day and shows parties, histories, old races, in a big lead up to the race. There are always plenty of girls in hats too. Did they kill the hype since there was a triple crown winner last year? I have no idea, but it’s kind of a let down.

Keep in mind that I’m always paying attention for Lisa the robot’s next outfit too. The network had a nice, even if shortened, pre-race show. I was able to get my girls in hats fix, but may have to google some later on. Check these out:

Enter a captionImage borrowed from NBC

Maybe it’s because they always look happy. The race was great, and congratulations to Nyquist and his team.

Why didn’t I think ahead and order some Lisa goes to the Kentucky Derby artwork? It could have made for a fun post. There’s always next year.

I used my disappointment time to get a tiny bit of work done. I read through and marked up all of my critique group assignments. I made sure to put them in the truck, because I’m prone to forget them.

The 99¢ sale for The Playground went live this morning. To be real honest with you, The Playground hasn’t been selling quite like my previous efforts. Maybe a sale early on can jar things loose. If any of you are interested, it will be at this price for a short time. Everyone who’s read it enjoyed it, just saying.

Then there was the promotion of the sale. I hit it on Twitter a few times, and in the WhatsApp room operated by the Rave Reviews Book Club. I even talked Lisa into posting it on her Facebook page.

I did some work on future Lisa Burton Radio interviews. Before Monday, I need to assemble the next one and get it scheduled. I also have a writing cabin style post I need to get written. It will probably post on Monday, and I think it’s for a good cause.

Then there is reading. It’s so hard to find reading time these days. I promised someone a read and review on a graphic novel, and need to get to it. I’m still working on a novel I wanted to read, and it’s taken nearly three weeks now. It’s a good novel, but finding a little quality time has been hard.

Yesterday was payday, and I still have to pay the bills. We’re doing something for date night tonight, but I think we’re probably doing it on the cheap.

I need to prioritize the next interview tomorrow, and the Writing Cabin post. We have tickets to Captain America tomorrow, and will watch Game of Thrones. Somewhere in between I need to get more stuff accomplished.

Did anyone out there enjoy the Kentucky Derby? Did you work on writing projects, or something equally fun? Is anyone going to Captain America? What has the world been doing while I was ignoring it?

Feels like old times again #amwriting

I raced through social media early this morning. I wanted to force myself to take up the keyboard once more.

This led to +/- 2000 new words on The Yak Guy project. Ted, the yak guy, finally gets to be with the girl of his dreams. I have a hard time writing these scenes, but I think it came out okay. (I’m one of those males who never got a lot of female attention. Therefore, I’ll just make it up.) The story is from Ted’s point of view, so it might not be as romantic as if it were from the woman’s viewpoint.

Next on the list, Ted has to second guess the whole thing, and wonder what it all means. Then he gets to meet her dad and get the crap beat out of him. By modern standards, I ought to have him getting beat up pretty fast. I kind of want to have him question everything though. This is a conundrum for me. My plan is to write it my way, and see if it needs to be eliminated later on.

I got two requests for a review copy of The Playground, and sent both of them out. (Booyah) I hope the reviewers enjoy it. It’s a little more gritty than my usual fare. Maybe the contrast between The Playground and yak guy’s love scene is causing a short in my brain.

I got asked why I didn’t set up the 99¢ sale for Wild Concept in the UK store. It’s because I didn’t know I had to. I thought it happened everywhere. Turns out those are the only markets available to hold a sale. If you’re completely out of those markets, let me know and I’ll find a way to fix you up. Does this mean I need to start using these things £ or €? Look, it’s a man in a top hat with a big mustache =):€

The sale starts in the UK sometime on the 28th. Then I returned to WhatsApp and let them know. There isn’t much point if I don’t say something about it. Thus, the mention here too.

I sent out another Lisa Burton Radio kit, and finalized another post for one of those spots. I have several partial posts out in cyber space, tomorrow’s is pre-scheduled, and another one nearly final. I’m feeling pretty good about this spot today. We have some fun characters coming up.

Then I got a cool request to write a guest post about how I started writing short stories. This one made me think, because it just kind of happened. I love it when someone asks a question that makes me assess something. I wrote about 800-900 words of blog post and sent it out too.

Finally, I picked up my art app and messed around with my banner some more. I’m really not an artist, but I can cut out and paste things. If it looks cheesy, I’m okay with that. I’m all about the cheese here at Entertaining Stories.

I love it when I have a productive day, and wish there were more like this one.

I should probably return to social media and promote the Wild Concept Sale, and The Playground. I feel like such a book whore, but I don’t see any other way to get the word out. I’ll probably address some of that this afternoon. I found a new place to do paid promotion, but I have to make my own artwork. It’s also kind of complicated to set up. I’ve been whining about it for weeks, and would probably do better to cobble something together and quit crying about it. Getting closer on this front.

Finally, today is my daughter’s birthday. She went to Sun Valley to party with friends, but is due home today. We have plans to go to dinner somewhere tonight. That will be fun too.