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.
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.
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.
1. Not Posting/Blogging/Tweeting about your book on release day!
Big fail here. Why didn’t I do it? Why did I hide my head in the sand instead of telling everyone I knew that I put another book out into the Universe? Well, this time, for book three, it was because I forgot. To be honest, it was completely the wrong week to release a book. If I could choose again, I would pick mid-April. But unfortunately, no one has come up with a plausible time machine yet, so I’m stuck. But not only did I not put out a release about my third book, I didn’t do it with the first one either. My reasons for announcing book #1 was completely different, however, because that first time, I was sure that Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch would magically sell a thousand copies on day one all by itself. I wouldn’t have to lift a finger. Finger was not lifted. Book did not sell. If you want to sell books, you have to tell people that your book exists, that your book is awesome, and that they will seriously be missing something if they don’t read your book—especially on release day. Don’t just lift you little finger, lift your whole body weight x a million.
2. Not having amazing cover art from the start.
Recently, I finally hired a cover artist to redo the covers for all of the Black Depths series. This isn’t just to increase my books discoverability, but because I want amazing cover art. I want a book that I will pet and stroke and hug as I fall asleep because it’s just so darn beautiful. Also, the discoverability think would be nice too. Here’s a comparison of the old and new covers for Broken Tide. I think the images speak for themselves.
3. Not Posting/Blogging/Tweeting about your book for a year after releasing it because you think it will sell on its own.
I pretty much hid my head for a good year after I initially self-published Tales of a Redheaded Sea-Witch. I’ll call that the soft release. Last year, I finally decided to own up to it, and now I tell people that not only did I write it, but it’s amazing. Seriously. Very chic.
4. Picking a release date and not making it.
I felt absolutely horrible last Monday. That was the day I’d told people I’d put the book out. But when the time came, it still was not ready. I was still fixing typos. People seemed to understand, but I could pretty much feel them plotting my death. Book Two ended in a cliff hanger. They were waiting for more. I let them down. I let my fans fall to the bottom of that cliff. Thankfully, I managed to finish by Friday, so I’m hoping not to many of them ended up a bloody mess at the bottom. Hopefully I got the inflatable mattress there just in time.
Still, to all my fans, I’m sorry!
5. Blushing and hiding your face whenever someone mentions that you’ve published a book.
Yeah. That’s me. I didn’t write that. Wait. You like it? Okay. I wrote it. No really. I did.
6. Having Typos on your back cover blurb.
I’m the kind of person who doesn’t read cover blurbs. Most of the time I feel like they ruin the story. Apparently I don’t read the back cover blurbs of my own books either. If you’re like me, remember that there are people out there who do read the blurbs. And they will notice your typos.
7. Not providing Author contact information.
I know, sometimes it seems like a good idea to be able to hide from those who hate your book. But really, it’s not. Even if someone doesn’t like your writing, they may give you the kind of feedback that will make you better. You can always delete unwanted emails and messages. Or, you can send a courteous thank you email anyway.
Anyway, that’s just a short list of some of the mistakes I’ve made. I’m sure there’s more, so this post may end up with a part 2. But meanwhile, here’s to the learning process.
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.
Boooooooooooo!
It’s not Monday’s I dislike, it’s Wednesdays. But my year of leave is up, and I’m not making enough money to pay the bills by writing, so I’ll keep the great job that I have that can pay. The good thing is, I’m only working half hours, so hopefully I’ll still have plenty of time for writing. So we’ll see how that goes in the future. Meanwhile, if you’ve read my books and liked them, or haven’t read them but read by blog, consider buying my books or recommending them to someone, or even writing a quick online review. All of this would go a long way toward helping me reach my goal of being a full time writer. I just need to make enough to pay the bills, folks.
In other news, I got the new cover for Broken Tide. Here it is:
Marvellous! Don’t you agree? We’ve already started working on Cover #3 for Dark Shores.
What’s new with you?
Write for five minutes at least.
J. E. H U N T E R 