Someone reviewed my Novella, Windbound, a stand-alone story that’s part of my Black Depths Universe. I’m so excited for this since this is someone I’ve never met and never spoken too. That makes me feel very special!
You can find the review here. R.R. Willica pointed out what I know is wrong with the book —mainly that I haven’t found the time to give it the editing pass I know it needs—but she liked the story.
It’s that time of year. The sun is out, the weather is hot, and the backyard is calling. The only thing better than reading under a bunch of warm blankets with a cup of hot chocolate in hand, is reading in the hot sun in my new teal green adirondack chair with a cup of homemade ice tea.
I’ve currently got a huge pile of to-reads, but that hasn’t stopped me from checking out the list of books coming this summer. Below is my short list of YA Books that will be purchased thanks to my slew of book gift cards. One new book each month I think will suffice. A book to drag from from sunny-place to sunny-place, or maybe waiting inside for that often dismal (but much needed) rainy day. Or better yet, thunder-stormy day.
Out in June is With Malice
My July pick is The Shadow Hour (THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT)
At the end of August comes Girl in Pieces
And Lastly, just as the summer winds down, comes Empire of Storms
And then, when the weather turns cold, it will be on to a new reading list, and warm cozy blankets. Oh, and don’t forget the hot chocolate.
J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.
The street, strangely enough, bent around the corner, and then headed straight into the sea where….
YA Book Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
This book took me a long time to finish. By long time, I mean over a month. it wasn’t because it was slow, or bad, but it was different, and I was really busy (and sick, but let’s not get into that).
Now, I’m going to start this review right off by saying if you haven’t read books one or two in the Throne of Glass Series, don’t read the rest of this review. Stop, go to this review for Book 1, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas and start there. If you love sassy heroines, cutthroat (and I mean bloody) action, and detailed fantasy, then read it. You won’t regret it. If you have read the other two books, then continue reading to see what I thought of Heir of Fire
What I loved best about this edition of the Throne of Glass Series was the addition of Manon. I loved this storyline. I can’t wait to see what happens with this Blackbeak witch in Book 4, which I just borrowed from the library today. Yay! At first, I was thrown by this additional storyline, and I’m still not sure where it fits, but it doesn’t matter because I love it. More than Caeleana’s story, even. Does that make me 99% evil? Or maybe I just like to cheer for people agains the odds…
Caeleana’s story was good, but because she was so far from home in most of this book, it made it more difficult to get involved with her. I liked learning a lot more about her character, I liked the way her storyline developed, but I could have gone with more interaction with the already existing characters. Overall, another good job by Ms. Maas. I look forward to reading the next edition (like right now!).
J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.
I just recently learned that Amanda Hocking’s Switched Book Trailer stars Natalia Tena from the Harry Potter movies. Now before I say anything else, I’m going to say that I love self-publishing. I’m very glad I chose it (and I’ll get into that in a bit). But seeing this gorgeous trailer made my insides seethe a lot like Ronald Weasley’s must have when that slug-eating spell backfired on him. There is no way that I could ever afford such a big name actress (or any actress for that matter) to star in a trailer for my book as a self-published author. This just seems totally unfair. But that’s the power of a publishing house and that’s why—if I was ever offered the opportunity to work with one—I would probably consider it.
Now, maybe Natalia is just a huge fan of Amanda Hocking’s books and offered to do the movie for free, but there would still be the cost of a director, the set, and the CG butterfly. Even if Natalia and Amanda were best friends, the costuming probably would have cost a fair amount of paper. This is definitely not a cheap movie, even if it’s only a couple of minutes long. I’ve tried making my own book trailer, with a couple pretty pictures and quotes from my book (see below).
I’ve also thought of hiring my niece to star in a book trailer for me. But she hates having her picture taken. In fact, she has expressly forbid it. In other fact, if she ever reads this, she will probably demand that I erase all mention of her. In that case, I’m not talking about her I’m talking about my other niece. What? I don’t have another niece…Hmmm. Well, maybe I can spruce up my mash-up of words and music and pictures. I do have that amazing cover art now.
This brings me to my next point. Cover art is something I think self-publishing has matched the Publishing Houses on. It’s pretty easy these days to hire and amazing artist to capture the image you have in mind. For my Sea-Witch and Broken Tide covers, I’m using Leah Keeler, whom I found on Deviant Art and has been totally amazing to work with. I do the text myself, as that’s a lot more straightforward so long as you have decent editing software. But you do have to be aware of typos. Which leads me to the next point: Editing.
I have some great Beta Readers, who, through many different reads, help me catch the mistakes which slip through my fingers. There are almost always some small typos in books, even in the books put out by the Big Houses. But let’s be honest, self-published books often have more mistakes. However, I don’t always catch the typos in things I read. It’s like that Facebook post where all the words are messed about and you’re supposed to see if you can still read the thing… Well, you can. It’s perfectly legible. And that’s because our minds fill in the gaps. Now, I don’t want to be reading books full of typos, because it pulls me out of the story. And I hate making mistakes, so maybe a professional editor I don’t have to pay $10,000 dollars for would be nice. Though, even if I were to work with a Big House, I’d be paying that back in a sense with the difference in royalties. Still, an amazing editor would be a dream. What I don’t want is someone who’s trying to change my story.
And this is a definite plus for self-publishing. When I submitted Sea-Witch to an agent, I was lucky enough to find someone interested enough to read the entire manuscript and give me feedback. She was nice – a great person – but some of what she suggested just didn’t make sense for my book. But some of it was great advice, and I took it. In the end, we went our separate ways. Maybe it was because I didn’t make all the changes she wanted. But this was my story. I want it to always be my story. Tighten it, correct it, smooth it out, but don’t flatten it. Don’t chop it and tear it and burn it and cover it with dirt to make it fit what you feel the ‘market’ wants. I want my story to be unique. I want my story to be mine. I don’t want to have to sell out to become a best-seller. But seeing that book trailer…well…
Nah.
I’m sure some words floating across the screen to the soundtrack of my own slightly-out-of-practice flute playing will work just as well. Because having Grandma spontaneous turn into a bloodsucking-goblin just isn’t what I had in mind*.
JEH
*That wasn’t a real suggestion, but close!
J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.
Write about moving. Write about a big move and a little one. Write about packing up your belongings and never seeing them again.
Everyone needs their own space. And in order to be more visible, searchable, and awesome, I’ve decided to migrate from my Blogger account to jehunter.com. Don’t worry, I’m too lazy to delete my old blog—at least for now—and since I don’t have a ton of time on my hands, it’s probably going to take me a little while to figure out this whole WordPress thing anyway.
As a last goodbye to my old blog, here’s a screen shot of that beauty. 
As you can see, I’m sort of sticking with the same header on this site. At least for now.
Here’s to new beginnings.
I’ve been trying to read, but I’m terribly behind on Heir of Fire, as I just haven’t had any time lately. I’m also simultaneous reading Queen of the Tearling, which is lovely and a much more advanced read than Heir of Fire. Both are wonderful. Both I would like to finish tonight. I wish I could just step into some kind of time stasis where I could finish a book, and then step out of the circle and not have lost a minute in the real world.
My cat, of course, is making all of this difficult by insisting on sitting on my chest. If it wasn’t raining, he could go outside, but the grey drizzle had made everything quiet and tired and slow today. We had soup for lunch and we’ll have something equally hot to chase the chill away tonight. Then I’ll pile on the blankets for bedtime.
In case you missed it last week, today is the last day that Windbound will be offered for free on Kindle through Amazon. This is a prequel novel to my young adult Black Depths universe. It’s got a bit of romance, some adventure, and a lot of action. Windbound is also more or a less a standalone story, so if you just like reading short things, this is for you. But if you like something longer, the first three books of the Black Depths four book series, are waiting for you on the Kindle store.
I hope your day is sunny and bright, whether the sky be blue or grey. We’ll talk again tomorrow.
J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.
J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.
J. E. Hunter is the author of the Black Depths Series. Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch, and Black Depths, the first two books of the series can be found on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. The third book, Dark Shores, was released April 1, 2016. The fourth and last book of the Black Depths series, Twisted Currents, will be released in the fall of 2016.
J. E. H U N T E R 