Posts Tagged With: book

Fantastic Names

I love names in books. They shape the character and how the reader feels about them. Where do you get your names for your writng?

Believe it or not, my character name searches started out with baby name searches. Our church is famous for lots of kids and big families, and so it was a challenge finding names that every other parent hadn’t already used. I started combing the web and books and anything I could find to name my kids. I wanted names that meant something too, not just cool-sounding names that meant “A man” or “field of squash” or something like that. My kids names mean “One who rejoices”, “Behold how beautiful” and “A gift set aside for God”. That’s what I mean.

Well when we decided that we shouldn’t have any more kids, I had a giant list of names left over. My hubby was very picky and there were lots of names there I loved but he hated. (I also hated the names he loved so we were even.)

But he doesn’t get to name characters in my books! Nyah!

My go-to site for character names is now http://www.cool-baby-names.com/. All the names from The Lustre, I found here using the “enter a meaning” search. They have to sound like the character I am describing too, so often I spend quite a while searching.

How do you decide on your character names?

Categories: Writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Reaping the Benefits!

My book is up on http://www.99-cent-network.com/www.99-cent-Network.com/New_This_Week.html ! My $45 didn’t go to waste YAAAYYY!! They gave no feedback about my (probably flubbed) sign-up so I was feeling worried.

Also it’s listed here https://sites.google.com/site/dvwbooksorg/vampire (which was free).

On March 31st I had 10 Kindle book sales!!!! I know! That is twice as many as during my virtual launch party. I have to credit http://bestebookreaderlovers.com/ and DVW for that one because they both went live on that day. I wonder which got me more buys? Is there a way to tell? Best Ebook Reader Lovers looks like a winner because I haven’t had any new sales since then (Unless KDP has a delay reporting sales).

Categories: Publicity | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I Love Free Listings!

I just got linked on https://www.facebook.com/weloveebooks ! If you want to sign up, visit here: http://bestebookreaderlovers.com/kindle-authors-how-to-promote-your-book/ It’s FREE but go quickly because their list fills up and then you don’t get on for a while.

Categories: Resources | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Blog Tour: The Last Dawn by Christina Lasater

The Last Dawn

by Christina Lasater

Genre: Romance, Fantasy and Futuristic

Read my review of The Last Dawn here: http://katepolicanisreviews.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/the-last-dawn-by-christina-lasater/

Or you could just go buy it!

Smashwords.com

CreateSpace.com

Amazon.com

Synopsis

The Last Dawn begins in late 2055 during the last few days of Earth. As Earth’s demise is imminent, Madison Weatherly and her former flame, James, reunite. Only a few hours remain for life on the dying planet when the entire population is dispersed throughout the universe. As Madison tries to adjust to a new life on a new planet and far away from her love, the desire to be with him never wavers. When an unexpected opportunity comes to leave her planet to find him, Madison takes off on a risky adventure through the galaxies.

What a cutie!

About the Author:

Christina Lasater is a freelance writer. Her articles can be found on websites such as Examiner.com and Yahoo! Contributor Network. The Last Dawn is Christina’s debut novel. Christina resides in her home state of Texas with her fiance and two young children.

Categories: Blog Tours | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Lustre is Up on Kobo!

It took a bit because Smashwords ran out of free ISBNs and their paid ones were $9. They even discouraged customers from buying them! What’s that about? Anyway, KOBO has it now in case you were waiting!

http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/The-Lustre/book-FEdFfWDUKEGxACLq_dTYnw/page1.html

Categories: My Books | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lustre: New Review by Tahlia Newland

Check out the latest review of my new book, The Lustre. http://awesomeindies.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/review-the-lustre-by-awesome-indie-author-kate-policani/

Also here (same review): http://tahlianewland.com/2012/03/21/review-the-lustre-by-kate-policani/#comment-2231

I hate to brag (no I don’t) but it’s on Awesome Indies! Awesome Indies is a rockin’ site that lists independent authors that produce work of professional quality. I know! It’s a tremendous honor to be included!

Categories: Awesome Indies, My Books | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

Blog tour: The Day of First Sun

Please enjoy this excerpt from the urban fantasy novel, The Day of First Sun. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $450 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

Sturtagaard chose not to speak, though it was he who had called for the meeting. They both checked their watches and realized they had been sitting across from him for ten minutes, watching him sniff the air. If he wanted to play this, they would play along at least for a little while longer, though both were tired of the leering. As the vampire sniffed again, Cham finally figured out why.

“You know, you called us. We really don’t have anything to say to you, so if you’re just playing games, we’re happy to leave. I’ve got other, more important things to do than watch you sniff and leer,” Cham finally said, and stood up.

Sturtagaard smiled as he watched Cham open the door because he much preferred dealing with Annie, but when she stood up, too, he realized he’d overplayed his hand.

“If I talk, my employer will have me staked. I’d like some assurance that you won’t do the same,” he said rather quickly, before they left.

They turned and looked at him, both rolling their eyes.

“I’ll have you staked if you don’t talk,” replied Cham, as he stood by the door.

“You’re out of options if you ever hope to get out of here again,” Annie said calmly, focusing on his face.

Sturtagaard squirmed a little in his seat, as Annie’s expression was somewhat disquieting and unemotional. He looked at Cham, whose face was expressionless, and then back to Annie, who hadn’t moved a muscle. The vampire sighed.

“You heard right. I was hired to create a zombie army to overthrow the Wizard Council,” Sturtagaard said. His voice remained steady and calm with resignation.

“Who wants to overthrow the Council?” asked Cham, his hand still clutching the door.

“My employer. I’ve told you, I don’t know who he is. I always dealt with his associate. He’d show up, leave notes, or send others with messages. I’ve never contacted him.” He looked from one to the other, but they both remained stony and detached. “Come on, now. I can’t give you information I don’t have.” Sturtagaard was charming.

Annie rolled her eyes again. “You really don’t have any idea who the employer is?” she asked with sarcasm.

“Really, I don’t,” he said.

“So you’re building an army of the dead. How long did you have to get this done?” Annie took out her phone and pulled out her calendar.

“He wanted it ready for September first.”

Annie looked up with a grimace, and Cham looked surprised. She didn’t need to mark the date on her calendar or research its significance, though neither could figure out why a zombie army had to be created for that day, the Day of First Sun. It was a very powerful and ancient day for good magic.

“So, your employer wants an army of the dead on that day? Why?” Cham asked in a flat, emotionless voice.

“He’s a black wizard. What do you think he wants? He wants to overthrow the Council, take over the world, practice magic in the open. You know, the typical magical fantasy.” Sturtagaard grinned because he believed that would benefit the entire supernatural world.

“Wipe the smirk off your face, Sturtagaard. Having free reign won’t be as good as you think, with all the angry mobs, torches, and stakes through the heart.”

Annie smirked at Cham, who shook his head and laughed. He waited to compose himself before looking back at the vampire.

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Day of First Sun eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $450 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment–easy to enter; easy to win!

To win the prizes:

  1. Purchase your copy of The Day of First Sun for just 99 cents
  2. Fill-out the simple form on Novel Publicity
  3. Visit today’s featured social media event

Help my blog win:

The tour blogger who receives the most votes in the traffic-breaker poll will win a $100 gift card. When you visit Novel Publicity’s site to fill-out the contest entry form, don’t forget to VOTE FOR ME.

About the book: A vampire, a rogue wizard and an army of soulless zombies are par for the course for Annie Pearce and Bobby “Cham” Chamsky of the Wizard’s Guard. But when the non-magical princess, Amelie of Amborix, is murdered by magical means, a deeper plot unfolds. Get it on Amazon.

About the author: Behind the wheel of her ’66 Mustang Convertible, Sheryl is a constant surprise, using her sense of humor and relatable style make her books something everyone can enjoy. Visit Sheryl on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

Categories: Blog Tours | Tags: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How To Make a Video Trailer II: Video Clips

My first video trailer was made with photos and no video clips. You can find the steps I used here: https://katepolicani.com/2011/10/24/making-a-trailer/

This time I wanted to use mostly video clips rather than a series of still pictures. Once I had the right clips, filmed by myself and my dad with our cameras, it was almost the same as using pictures! Here is how I did it:

  • I used Microsoft Windows Live Movie Maker again, which you can get for for FREE. It’s part of Windows Live Essentials: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials?lc=1033
  • It was still disgustingly easy to use and dummy-friendly. Like with photos, you just plunk everything in there with the “Add Videos and Photos” button. You can add effects and text just like with photos, and everything right there. You can export it in multiple file formats.
  • It took a little more creativity coming up with scenes I could capture on film. Photo is only limited to what I could find online. Video is harder. You can find royalty-free video online too, but that seemed expensive to me. I didn’t even look because I found ways to take my own video with help from Dad. I used family and friends and local places or places in my home. I bought, scavenged, or borrowed props to use on film. One trick was to take closer shots with the videos. Instead of showing the whole room, I just showed a close-up of the subject with limited background.
  • Windows Live Movie Maker has lots of special controls just for video. I had to pay attention to the volume of each clip and I adjusted the length of the clip using the controls (they highlight as soon as you click on a loaded video clip in the top tabs.) Some videos were louder than others and some had inappropriate sounds I had to avoid by starting after them or ending before. Here is a photo:
  • For music, I emailed my dad, the composer with a Masters in music again. (You should do that too. It’s really easy and cheap.) But if your dad isn’t a composer, you can contact mine:cdbarker@comcast.net . You can sample some of his work here: http://home.comcast.net/~cdbarker/Music/Music.htm Some of this music is not available for use, legally, so don’t steal it unless you want to get sued by Electronic Arts or somebody like that.
  • If you need free music immediately, you impatient thing, go to this beautiful site: http://www.seabreezecomputers.com/tips/freemusic.htm. I particularly liked their link, http://www.soundclick.com/business/license_list.cfm and found a song there in case Dad didn’t have anything. (But he did. Neener.) WARNING: there is a lot of kooky stuff on musopen. Don’t worry, though, your music isn’t one of the kooky ones, user of musopen who is reading this post. It’s all those other people’s music that is kooky.
  • Music controls are like the sound controls (see picture) and are pretty flexible and easy to understand. You can time your music to coincide with the video action.

To show you how you can get different effects with the same clips using the video and music controls, here is my trailer spoof:

Categories: My Books, Resources | Tags: , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

One More Winner!

The winner of the print copy of The Queen and the Handyman is Maria’s choice, Chiefoftheleast! Please contact me at katepolicani(at)gmail.com to get your prize!

Categories: Book Launch | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

And The Winners Are…

Here are the winners of my ebooks!

New blog followers/current followers commenting: NewEnglandMuse

Facebook page likes: Jax R. Jones

Goodreads fan: J.J. Kearbey

My favorite commenter–I decided to pick a winner from among the “likes” since lots of people liked and were too shy to speak up. –Ashsilverlock

Twitter follower: Molly Greene

Host Blog comments: Maria Tatham (She wins the whole party, so I’m going to have to figure out a great prize since she already has read both of my books)

The three winners of the print books are:

  1. Jax R. Jones
  2. NewEnglandMuse
  3. Molly Greene
Be sure to let me know if you want both print and ebook or just one.

Maria’s favorite: TBA

 

Categories: Book Launch | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

Thank You!

Thank You!

Thank you for joining me in my Virtual Launch Party! Special thanks to all the awesome folks who participated! Remember to visit their sites and comment to win books.

This is the last official post of the party. Please participate up until 12:00am to win prizes. I’ll post the results tomorrow, so cross your fingers!

Categories: Book Launch | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Lustre Virtual Launch Party Host Blog: Rosa Sophia

Host Blog: Rosa Sophia

Thank you, Rosa Sophia, for sharing my book on your blog! Here is where you can see Rosa Sophia’s post: http://rosasophia.com/2012/03/17/the-lustre-by-kate-policani/

Keep an eye out for her upcoming review!

Categories: Book Launch | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Lustre Virtual Launch Party Guest Artist: Erik Sederstrom

Guest Artist: Erik Sederstrom

Erik Sederstrom teamed up with his wife, Heidi Barnett to create the cover for The Disenchanted Pet!

I met Erik and Heidi when I was looking on our church website for an artist for my first book cover. Seattle is a fabulous place to find artists and our church is a very art-friendly community. I had a lot of fun exchanging ideas about the cover art and seeing what they would visualize. Both artists were very patient with all my little details about the perfect image. Erik came over with the final piece and we worked for quite a while photographing it from different angles to get just the right shot.

His website is still under construction.

Here are some of his other fabulous pieces!

Categories: Book Launch | Tags: , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Lustre Virtual Launch Party Host Blog: Avery’s Book Nook

Host Blog: Avery’s Book Nook

Thank you Avery, for your post! I’m so glad you joined my party! See Avery’s post here:

http://averysbooknook.blogspot.com/2012/03/lustre-launch-party.html

Categories: Blog Tours | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lustre Virtual Launch Party Guest Artist: Heidi Barnett

Guest Artist: Heidi Barnett

Heidi Barnett teamed up with her husband, Erik Sederstrom to create the beautiful cover for The Disenchanted Pet!

For Heidi, art not isn’t just a job or an outlet but a way of life. Color is very important to her and how colors help the viewer feel moods and emotions. The colors often relay a story behind each piece of art.

Heidi is a reissuance artist, having the ability to work in a verity of mediums from oil paints to jewelry designing.Her passion is for painting and she loves to paint murals. She lives in Everett, Washington and loves her job teaching  art to children and elderly, opening their eyes to new and exciting ways of thinking creatively as well as artistically.She is an expert at breaking art down into a level in which all can be satisfied with the creation they have made.

Heidi on “How I came to find myself as an artist”:
“I grew up in Southern California surrounded by art, my Mother being an artist herself. Art has always been a way of life for me and what we do. Christmas time was always exciting because it meant new art supplies. Around the age of fourteen I started getting serious about painting, learning the techniques and how to use color, shapes, and perspective. I have study art in collage as well as Art History. I found that I truly learned the most studying under artist I admire watching their techniques and making them my own.  I also enjoy working with my husband who is an artist himself. I find we benefit each other well in the areas of art I am weak he seem to make up and vise versa. So we are able to encourage and teach each one another.  We have worked on pieces together and apart. We over all help develop and encourage each other to grow in our own unique styles.”

See her page with more of her artwork here: http://heidibarnett.artweb.com/

Categories: Book Launch | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.