An Update (Paperbacks and More)

It feels like I haven't updated the blog for ages, so I decided to share some news with you. :) First of all, I remind you that you still have a couple of days to enter my Summer Giveaway so you can win an ecopy of one of my books. Good luck to everyone and thanks for participating!

I have good news for the lovers of paper books; I'm working on paperback editions of all the books in Element Preservers series! It will take a little bit of time until I get everything right, but I hope they'll be ready soon. The paperbacks will be available through Amazon and Createspace only. I'm not sure if anyone is interested in paperback edition of Human, so if you are, please tell me. :)


I'm working on the fifth book of Element Preservers series. I still believe it will be the last one, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll see how it goes. If I have more of the story to tell, I will. I've always planned to have 5 or 6 books in this series, so I'll just see what happens. Right now I'm try to figure out whose POV the book will follow.

I'm working on two new books, but I don't want to say anything specific yet. :) I just want to say that I love these stories and I'm a little bit shy to share them with the world, so yeah... When I finish the final draft, I'll tell you more. :D

If you have any questions, I'm here to answer them. :) Happy reading!

Human 50% off on Smashwords and a Small Update

Why is it that I always post on the first of the month? Maybe because of this:

Anyway, the first thing I want to say is that I enrolled Human in Smashword's Summer/Winter site-wide promotion, so if you enter the code SSW50 at checkout, you'll get 50% off! Here is the link to the book: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/120164 The promotion lasts until July 31 and it's only for Smashwords, so if you haven't gotten your copy yet, this is your chance!

Now let's get to more interesting things. It is very likely that the books in Element Preservers series will get new covers. Yes, I know, that's very exciting. I love my cover for Runaway a lot, but I think the new one will be a lot more awesome. At least I hope it will be. :D What else I wanted to say? Ah, yes. I'm trying to decide when exactly I will publish Runaway, the second book in Element Preservers series, and right now I think it will be somewhere between August 23 and August 29. I'm really sorry that you have to wait a bit longer. I was hoping I'd be able to publish it at the beginning of August, but I've been really busy and I'm still editing. I really hope I'll manage to get everything ready, the new book and new covers, by August 23. If I finish earlier, you'll be notified, don't worry.

Does anyone know for how long I've been saying I'm going to improve my webpage and blog? XD Well, maybe I'll finally do it this summer. Maybe. Ok, I think I said everything I wanted to. Now I must go back to editing.

It's Time for a New Post!

I just realized I haven't posted anything new here in ages. Yeah, I don't know where the time goes. It seems to me like I posted yesterday, but oh well. Most of the time when I think of something smart to post it's in the middle of something and when I finally reach my laptop, I forget what I wanted to say. XD Besides, most of the people come to my blog looking for an update about the next book in Element Preserves series. Yes, I'm really sorry that I'm so slow and can't give you the exact date of publication of Runaway, but I'll try to figure it all out as soon as possible. Although, I regret to say that it looks more like it will be August than June/July right now because I'm busy and my betas are busy, and it's hard to find some time to write and edit. But I'll see how that goes. Oh, and big thanks to everyone who has read Dangerous! You guys are the best! :D

Reading. I think I need some good book recommendations. Almost all the books I'm reading right now annoy me for some reason. I probably picked them up at the wrong moment. And two of them remind me of Twilight. One used to be a Twilight fanfiction, and while I enjoyed Twilight, I'm not really happy when all other books follow the same path just because that's what sells right now. And no, using another kind of supernatural creatures instead of vampires doesn't make it any more original. Another problem I have is that I want to strangle the characters. I'm really sad about this one book since it's last in a series and I really liked the first two, and now in the last one where everything is supposed to come together nicely, it just takes the worst possible way. And I'm really sick of this characters that almost want to force me to like them because we have similar traits but then they do something which feels awkward for a person like that, so I'm like no, if you're a reader and have books, you're simply not bored out of your mind just because the hot guy is not around! Unless all the books she picks up are boring? I don't know, really. And constant repetition how hot the guy is! Yeah, I got it the first time, don't need to repeat it every single page! *sigh* I'm probably the only who thinks this way since all these books are very much loved among the readers.
But hey, there's still hope. I'm planning to finish these books, so maybe I end up liking them, who knows? It has happened to me before with Unearthly. Read a few chapters and thought it was so not for me that I couldn't even finish it, then I picked it up some time later, and loved it! Anyway, I was hoping to find something interesting and less frustrating. My friend recommended me to read Abandon by Meg Cabbot since it's short and apparently deals with very similar theme like Everneath by Brodi Ashton, which I loved very much. So, if anyone knows a good, preferably YA or paranormal book, that isn't over 300 pages and doesn't follow a girl who moves to another town with one parent, meets a super hot guy who doesn't care about other girls but does for her even though she's totally plain looking, please tell me. I would really love to find more books like Iron Fey series, Everneath, Divergent, The Infernal Devices, Vampire Academy and similar. :D

TV shows. Does anyone watch The Vampire Diaries and The Secret Circle? I love these two shows, even though I find some things irritating, especially in The Secret Circle. I'm not sure can I discuss the last ep of The Secret Circle here since I might be giving away spoilers and I don't want to ruin the show for those who haven't seen it yet. Is there a page break or something for this kind of thing? I'm still new to blogger, so I'm not sure if it will work. Let's try. :D

Dangerous is now only 99 cents! Small Update and Book Rec!

I've been planning to update my blog for ages, but I never had time or knew what to write. Actually, I would come up with a topic while I was doing something, and then completely forgot about it when I reached my computer. I guess I'm just not used to having a blog. It seems easier to write a book than come up with a blog post. :P
Anyway, with holidays coming and everything, Dangerous (the first book in Element Preservers series) is now only 0.99$ at Smashwords, Apple, Sony and Diesel. Barnes & Noble should update the price soon and I hope my book will finally appear on Kobo too.  So now might be a great chance to grab your copy. :D
I started writing Runaway (the second book in Element Preservers) and I can't even describe how happy I am about that. I missed Ria and her messed up life. And right now the book is basically writing itself. Of course, I'm full of ideas and plots for the next gazillion of books, but I don't really have much time to write. Maybe I'd have more time if I wasn't also an avid reader who just can't stop herself from picking up a new book. But I'm sure I'll finish Runaway in time, so no worries. :D Maybe I even manage to finish earlier than expected.
I also got most of the feedback from my beta readers for Human, which is coming out in January. We are working now on editing some things and making sure everything is ready for publishing. I still don't know the exact date, but I was thinking it could be around 20th. Honestly, if my friend hadn't asked me for the exact date, I would totally think no one cared when I published it. I mean, I'm not some famous writer or anything, so I figured it just didn't matter. But my friend was all like, "are you crazy? I want a date!" so I'll try to come up with a date, but I can't promise anything. I'm just not sure how long it will take, and I didn't really write down how long it took me publish Dangerous, so I'm a bit lost. We'll see.
Now let's talk a bit about the book, or better said books, that kept me so occupied I didn't want to do anything else. There aren't many books that can grip me so much that I can't stop reading, not even for a second. Yeah, one of those books that make you think "oh, I'll just finish this chapter, then I'll do xy", and then you never get to doing what you wanted because you thought, "oh, only one chapter more. It isn't much."

Iron King by Julie Kagawa!!
Summary from Goodreads:
Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Now what I can say about this book except that it's pure awesomeness? I just couldn't stop reading and I immediatelly had to read the entire series, which were all awesome too! I don't really want to spoil the book for you if you haven't read it, but I seriously recommend it. The world Julie created is just awesome and described really good. The pacing is not annoying slow, but not too fast either. The characters are really lovable and will steal your heart in a second. The romance might be a tiny little bit too sudden, but it wasn't exactly 'I see you, I love you' thing, so I'm happy. There were also some tiny issues, which I overlooked because they weren't really important, like Meghan saying Ash called her for the first time by her name, and he had already done that like half a page before. What else can I say? Ash became one of my favorite male characters ever. This book actually made me like faeries because I was never really a fan of them, probably because I kept imagining them like Tinkerbell. :D Anyway, I really liked Meghan because she would do anything to save people she cares about. (I'm trying really hard not to spoil anything.)
For those who read the book, I also loved Grimalkin, because, seriously, who wouldn't love that cat? :P Now to my less popular opinion (please don't throw rocks at me), I didn't really care for Puck. It might have something to do with me being annoyed by him in Midsummer Night's Dream, but even though he was funny at times, I just couldn't bring myself to really like him and sometimes wished he'd just go away. :P
Ok, since I really suck at writing reviews, I suggest you check out this book on Goodreads and see reviews of people who know what they're doing. But if you're looking for a great read, don't hesitate to check this one out. A really great series. I read all four books and those short novellas, and now I'm just sad it's all over. I want more!!!

Short Update on Human!

So, as those who follow me on Twitter already know, I finished writing Human! It is now in the process of editing and everything else that needs to be done before publishing. I will reveal the cover and the blurb on November 3rd. If everything goes right, it should be ready for publishing in January.

      Even though I planned Human as just one book, I'm not totally opposed to writing a short story or a sequel following some of the other characters, but let's get this one published first and see how it goes. :)

Writing and Smashwords

Let's start with a little writing update. I believe I'm nearing the end of Human and I hope I'll be sending it out very soon to my beta readers. Since I never know the exact date when I'll be doing something (yeah, I'm horrible, I know), it's a bit difficult to find friends who have time to proofread it for me. But I'll find a way to solve that, even if publishing of Human gets postponed a week or two. The cover is done and I would really like to show it to you, so I guess I'll be doing that as soon as I finish writing and come up with a blurb. I really hate writing blurbs because I'm never sure how much I'm supposed to reveal about the plot and characters. As for Runaway (Element Preservers series, book 2), I will start writing it as soon as I finish Human.

      Now something for authors: my Smashwords experiment. So, how long does it really take to change price everywhere? As I mentioned in my last post, I changed the price of my book on 27 September. My Distribution Channel Manager on my Smashword's Dashboard says they sent the update to Sony (2011-10-07), Barnes & Noble (2011-10-08), Apple (2011-10-02), Diesel (2011-10-08) and Scrollmotion (2011-10-08). Kobo is still backlogged and my book hasn't appeared there yet at all, so I can't tell anything about that. But, I do see that the updates were sent mostly during weekend, so I guess you should have that in mind when you change your price.

      Let's get to the part when the changes actually took place. Apple was the fastest, as usual, and the new price was there two days after Smashwords sent the info to them (2011-10-04), Barnes & Nobel and Sony took a few days more, but not too long (both 2011-10-11). I'm still waiting for Diesel, but nothing is happening. It seems like they are the slowest. I actually found posts from other authors saying Diesel was the slowest for them too. As for Scrollmotion, I have no idea. I don't even know how they work. But, even though Sony updated my new price, my overview is still nonexistent, and B&N still hasn't categorized my book, which basically means it's lost on their page. Anyway, if you plan to change the price or promote your book, it might take some time to get everything done, which means 'limited time only' kind of thing could be difficult because some retailers will be late and then you'll have your book priced, for example, 1.99$ on B&N and 2.99$ on Diesel. Now I'm tempted to change my price again just to see will it take the same amount of time, but I won't. I'll try that some other time. :P 

My New Book

I've been thinking a bit, and yes, the title I first had in mind when I started writing my next book stays. It's really funny, but sometimes I just feel something fits and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. So the title of my next book will be Human. I have no idea what's with me and one word titles, but I love them. If I finish this book how I planned, it will be a stand-alone book and won't turn into series, trilogy or anything like that. Sometimes it's almost impossible not to turn your book into series. It happened to me with Element Preservers because I just couldn't finish Ria's story in Dangerous. There were too many possibilities for new plots and resolving everything in short time would have felt completely unnatural.

      I think I mentioned it already in my last post, but I can say again that Human is different from Dangerous and surprise, surprise, doesn't contain profanity and sexual situations. Ariel is a very nice character, even though she's only a year younger than Ria (Element Preservers). She is actually a bit more like me, but she still does things I'd never do. I won't reveal much more because I need to finish writing it, and when I do, I'll come up with a blurb. The only thing I can tell now is that it won't be a book for people who aren't open-minded when it comes to religion. I'm still in the process of finding people who will proofread it once it's done. But since I don't know the exact date when that will be, I'm having a problem. Anyway, I hope I'll solve this soon. Human should be published in January 2012, and I hope it won't be postponed. I'm not a full-time writer, so I'll see how things go.

      I'm doing an experiment with Smashwords because people keep saying it takes forever to get your price updated everywhere. I changed the price of Dangerous two days ago, and I'm still waiting for retailers to notice it. I'll post an update about it when it happens. I know many authors want to figure this one out since it's important for promotion of other books, and it would be annoying to wait forever to change the price if you want it for a specific time only. Dangerous still hasn't appeared on Kobo, and Sony still doesn't have my overview, but I suppose price change should come through faster. Maybe Sony finally realizes I do have an overview.

Have a nice day everyone. I'll go back to writing now.

Alycia Linwood

Writing and Only Writing

I've been busy lately because I'm working on my new book. Even though I wanted to write paranormal romance or urban fantasy, I'm again writing YA. Only this time it's not elements but angels and demons. It would be another love story and I sort of hope it won't turn into another series because I'd need way too much time to write it all. So far I haven't come up with a title for that one, but I hope I will have an idea pretty soon. The plan is to finish it before starting the second book of Element Preservers series. I really hope I'll manage to do it all in time.

It says on Smashwords that Dangerous has been shipped to Sony, so now I only have to wait for it to actually show up there. Still waiting for Kobo to put it on their page. I have no idea about Apple and Scrollmotion because I can't access these bookstores, but I hope my book is there somewhere. :D

Writing Update

I've decided that the title of the second book in Element Preservers series will be Runaway. Of course, I might change the title at some point, but this one feels right, so I'll most likely keep it. Runaway will follow Ria's story right from the moment where Dangerous ended. I'm still not in the process of writing it, but Ria is already whispering into my ear because she is very impatient. I'll start writing when I finish my current project and, hopefully, Runaway will be ready for publishing in August 2012. I can't wait to see where Ria takes me, but I also can't wait to show her things I know about that she doesn't. We'll see who'll be surprised more in the end.

    My demon/angel story is going well and I'm still looking around for any demon/angel stories that could be similar. I don't want my book to resemble any other books, but I know that is hard to avoid because there are tons of books out there. The protagonist of this one is a 17-year-old girl, Ariel, and yes, reading José Enrique Rodó's essay Ariel might have influenced me to choose that name. So far, I love writing from her POV because she's different from Ria. The only thing I'm a bit worried about is that my two gay characters are demons in hell, which might lead people to wrong conclusions. However, I'll do my best that it doesn't. I'm not going to follow any of the usual beliefs about demons and angels, maybe only some if I find them fitting.

    And of course I got an idea for another book, but that will have to wait. I'm still not sure would that one be YA or not. The main character would kill someone and I'm not sure is this suitable for YA, even thought I have read some books where this and more was perfectly fine. I guess I'll have to think a bit more about the plot to figure it out. But right now this is just a thought at the back of my mind, nothing more. Oh, and this one would probably have vampires in it. I love vampires, but for some weird reason I'm not writing about them yet. 

Alycia Linwood