|
As promised, the second volume of the omnibus editions of The Time Shifters Series is now available on Amazon! Expanded distribution is to follow so your bookshop or library will be able to order it through Ingram distribution. So exciting!  ISBN Volume One - 978-1701491953
ISBN Volume Two - 979-8646837128 Spread the word!
0 Comments
Episode Ten is now available on Kindle and in other e-book formats on Smashwords! Extended retailers should have it in due course. Meanwhile, there was a slight change on the cover design. What do you think? I thought it needed something more and the designer added an overlay from the paperback image of Akalya.  The paperback has been formatted and uploaded, just waiting for approval from Amazon. It will be getting extended distribution to places like B&N and Ingram, but I don't know how long that takes.
The audiobook version is also in the works and I think will be available by the end of July! As much as it took me extra time to finish this last episode of the series, I'm very satisfied with the result and sure I've wrapped up all the loose ends. I've loved working through all the episodes and enjoyed so many of Kallie's adventures! I'll be working quietly on other projects in coming weeks but spending some time on marketing as the different versions of the series come out, but I won't disappear! There is much more to come from me soon. In the meantime, if you're following my blog I assume you've been enjoying the series too, so please help spread the word! Tell your friends, your book groups, leave reviews and ask your library to order in the paperbacks! Every little bit helps. Thank you so much for reading! It's taken me a lot longer than I ever would have expected, but the final episode is done! It's gone to edit now and will get a final proof read of course. As the editor has been waiting for this one, it should be done fairly quickly. Maybe even just a few days! Priority is on the e-book because once it's on Kindle, the co-ordinator for audio can offer it to the narrator who has done all the previous episodes, Kalinda Little. I feel really lucky that she's stuck with the whole series so it has consistency through all the episodes! She's also the perfect voice for Kallie. Then formatting for paperback comes next and people who prefer hard copy will be able to get the completed series in two volumes. I know a lot of people don't like to start reading a series until all the episodes are finished and I don't blame them. Who likes to wait forever for a next book or watch the author wander off on other projects in between? That's why I've stuck with this one despite wanting to work on other stories. So watch this space! I'll post again as each stage is released. E-book, paperback, then eventually audiobook. Meanwhile, may I ask a favor? If you're reading the series, I would so appreciate it if you could post reviews of the episodes you've read on Amazon, Goodreads and any other retailers you use. It makes all the difference to readers to have opinions from other readers who have read the books they might consider. It also helps the authors. Also, if you've enjoyed the series, please recommend the first book, Time Shifters, to anyone you think might enjoy it! Remember that it is always free on Smashwords and only .99 on Amazon. I so want to share this world with anyone who might enjoy it!  It's been a strange time for all of us. Many people are finding it difficult to read. There's a scientific reason for that. I read in an article on the Vogue website that according to Christian Jarrett, PhD, a clinical psychologist based in the U.K., “Research shows that chronic stress affects the way the front of the brain works—the area…[that] normally controls our ability to concentrate and switch attention from one thing to another.” In other words, stress from the pandemic is making it difficult to switch into other worlds through reading, just when we need it most! This won't last though. Many of us are adjusting to 'new normal' and for those finding that more difficult, lockdown won't last forever. It's difficult, more for some people than others, but there WILL be an end to it. So, with that cheerful thought, I've managed to have a good writing day for the first time since this started. I've been managing a little here and there. At first 200 words was a strain. Then I made it to 500. Today I had what I consider a normal writing day, about 1300 words that finished a chapter. I've also started my edit process. Near the last few chapters of a book, I start reading one chapter a day from the beginning and making any edits I deem necessary. Apart from catching most typos and any loose ends I've forgotten, this serves to make the continuity flow smoothly as the beginning of the story is freshened in my mind. Given the stop/start nature of the last couple of chapters, this process will be what prevents my story flow from coming over as jerky, despite the first draft interruptions. It's flowing nicely to a satisfying conclusion now. In the meantime, the Authors Give Back event at Smashwords has been extended to 31 May! So, you can still get any of the first nine episodes you might be missing for free in any electronic format!  I do hope you're all staying safe and managing to find some escape in your reading. Whatever your circumstances, remember that things will change for the better before too much longer. We're a sturdy species and have beaten horrible diseases before. We will prevail again!
So, one minute there I am making progress on my book and then blammo! A pandemic leads to an apocalypse-like shortage of basic supplies caused by people panicking that they might have to go into quarantine. Meanwhile, they're all having far more contact because suddenly we all have to go foraging daily to try to find basic necessities in multiple shops that have been emptied! Just think of medical staff working long hours and finding nothing left. Needless to say, this has put a kink in my writing progress because the time to forage is early in the morning and that's when my creativity flows. By the time I've scoured shops to find the few things I actually need, I come home exhausted. So how's everybody holding up? I'm actually not too bad off compared to a lot of people. My area is low infection rate too. Well, if you've had to self-isolate, a lot of authors have been putting their books out for free to keep you entertained. Smashwords has organised a central place to look for these books and I've added my entire series to the free list, barring only the last unfinished episode. If you hadn't caught up yet, now is your chance until April 20.  All 9 episodes are free on Smashwords.
In other news, I'm on Chapter Ten of Thirteen. If I can manage a few mornings of uninterrupted work, I'll get this book finished. Leave me a little something on the supermarket shelves, will you? March 1 - 7 is Read an E-book Week on Smashwords! https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ShannaLauffey All my series books are half price, except of course Episode One which is always FREE on Smashwords. Most episodes are $0.99 each! Now is your chance to stock up on any you might have missed in any e-book format. Collect them all!  No excuses. Yes, family distractions play their role, but this last episode has been going slowly because I've been discovering the plot and how multiple story lines fit together. As they say in the manufacturing sector, "Do you want it fast, or do you want it good?" Looking at the date, I'm not even going to look hopefully at finishing by end of February. However, I'm sure I will be finished by end of March. I'm about halfway and the story has taken shape and shown me which of the various threads is the main plot. Now to throw in a twist, Muahahahaha! As much as I'm sad to see this series end, I'm really looking forward to working on some other projects. I've got three stand alone books I want to get done, then we'll see what happens next. I have ideas churning in the background. Will I do another series? Maybe. It's a long commitment. For the moment, my attention is focused entirely on finishing this one. It has been gaining momentum on sales and I'm hoping that will continue to increase, so tell your reader friends! Please, leave reviews on your retailer's websites, and especially on Amazon and Goodreads, even if they're short. Ask your local library to order the paperbacks in. The second volume will be released very quickly after the e-book of this last episode. Some people like to wait until a series is finished before they start reading. I can appreciate that. Who wants to wait for long periods of time for the next episode? I think we've all suffered through that on a favored series. I will be spending some time on marketing when the completed series is released. I've been studying the right and wrong ways to do that. You'll see more of me around social media for a while, but I won't spam. Promise! Any help you, my readers, can manage through spreading the word and leaving those reviews is appreciated from the bottom of my soul. After all, word of mouth is the best advertising there is. Also, the best way to see more stories from me sooner is to get this series gaining momentum so I can spend more time writing instead of marketing. Please do keep sending me feedback. All the messages I've had on Twitter and Facebook are deeply appreciated. It makes me happy to know readers are enjoying my work.  Very excited about this! As work on the final episode continues, all nine to date are now out in e-book and audio! Episode Ten has been scheduled for recording in the summer so audio listeners only have a little longer to wait for the whole series to be completed!
Have you ever noticed that time passes more quickly when you promise to do something by a specific time? I wish I had Akalya's ability to time shift. Then I could get it all done and present it without such a wait! The holidays and all that go with it have been pretty disruptive this year. Visitors, travel, everything has made it difficult to just sit down and focus on writing. However, I did finish reading all nine previous episodes and have notes written for details to work in to Episode Ten. If there's anything I hate, it's a series that fizzles out at the end or leaves loose ends. I'm determined this won't be one of those. Despite all that happened in Episode Nine, I've got some drama saved back for an exciting conclusion. In other news, the audiobook of Episode Nine: Remember the Future should be out any day now. The recording has been approved and it's just a matter of how long Audible takes to do their quality checks and post it. So Yay! So, I'm back in the swing now and tying all those loose ends together. Momentum is growing and this story is looking pretty healthy. I also have a final cover design! Let me know what you think.  I love it when a story seems to suddenly click into place. I started the final episode of the series with a few ideas in mind of what needed to happen and with a pretty good idea of the ending. That ending is partially written now, pending what else might happen that I haven't discovered yet.
If you've kept up with the episodes released so far, you'll know that some major story lines have already been resolved and some new faces showed up in Episode Nine. How the past connects to the future has come together now and it all fits neatly like a new set of Lego! What I find fascinating is discovering hints I've left in previous episodes for a so far unseen character whom I didn't have planned. I'll say no more about that for fear of spoilers! I think the series will have a satisfying end. Whether the episode is finished by the end of the month as I hoped is yet to be seen. It's amazing how much time the Christmas holidays take from us for shopping and even just wrapping presents! Real life and family are important to keep up too. I'm on Episode Seven for my re-reading of the first nine episodes. This puts everything in much more recent memory so that I can work with details established long ago and keep a grasp of continuity. Chances are I won't write another post before Christmas so everyone have great holidays, whatever you celebrate! I'll make a point of giving you an update right after the holiday. |
Shanna Lauffey
Author of paranormal and science fiction Archives
May 2020
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
