Thanks to all of you who volunteered to be a beta reader. I have enough now to give me the feedback I need.
Soon I'll announce a specific release date for Hunted.
September 28, 2013
September 27, 2013
Updated Hunted cover and a call for Beta Readers
After taking your suggestions into account, here is an updated cover for Hunted. What do you think?
I'll be done with the first draft in the next day or two and then I'll work on revisions. After that I will give the book to beta readers for feedback. (This should happen in the next week or two.) I have several beta readers that I use, but I'd like to have more input. If you are interested in being a beta reader for Hunted, please email me at: christinekersey at hotmail.com
If I get a lot of responses, I'll limit it to the first ten people who respond.
If you would like to be a beta reader, here is what I need from you (and be aware that you will receive the manuscript as a pdf file):
- You need to have read the first two books in the Parallel Trilogy.
- You need to commit to reading Hunted and filling out the questionnaire within one week of receiving the pdf file of the manuscript.
- You need to promise to not send the pdf file to anyone else.
- If you are so inclined, once the book has been released, a review on Amazon would be much appreciated.
What you get from me:
- You get to be one of the first people to read Hunted.
- I will give you a free eBook of Hunted after all editing has been completed. This would be either an epub or mobi file.
- If I find your comments helpful, I may use you again for other books (if you would like me to).
- I'll give you a questionnaire so you know what kind of input I'm looking for.
There's no better feedback for me than from those who read my books, so it is a great favor to me if you're willing to read an early copy of Hunted and give me honest feedback.
September 24, 2013
Preview of Hunted cover
I'd love everyone's opinion on the cover for Hunted, the final book in the Parallel Trilogy. What do you all think? By the way, I'm almost done writing the book. It will be done by the end of this week. The way it's going, it will be released in mid-November. I'll announce a specific release date once I finish revisions.
September 12, 2013
Life Changes (for the better!)
There are times when big changes happen in our lives, and for me, this is one of those. I'm so grateful to each and every one of you who have bought my books!! Because of you, I have been able to quit my day job and write full-time! This is something I've dreamed of doing for the last sixteen years as I've written on and off.
I started writing in 1997 when my baby was three years old. I fit my writing time around taking care of her and her three older siblings. I wrote two novels over the next few years: No Way Out and Suspicions. Then, when that baby girl went to first grade, I went back to school and spent four years as a full-time student.
I graduated with a B.S. degree in Information Technology in 2004. Shortly after graduation I found a job and began working full-time outside of the home. That was really hard for me as I'd been a stay-at-home mom for eighteen years and really loved that role. I remember as I drove to work each day, I would pretend I was just on my way to run errands--trying to trick myself into forgetting I would be away from home all day.
I loved my coworkers and enjoyed my job, but I really missed being at home--I'm a homebody at heart. By then my oldest had just graduated from high school and my other children were 16, 14, and 10. Fortunately my husband got home from work in the late afternoon, so he was there to keep an eye on things until I got home, but it wasn't the same as being there myself.
Around this same time I was offered a publishing contract with a small regional publisher, which was something I'd worked toward for quite a while. Though thrilled, I knew I wouldn't earn enough money to quit my job. They published No Way Out in 2005 and it sold reasonably well, but I only earned a few thousand dollars. It was nice to have the extra money, but certainly not enough to quit my job!
I thought I was on my way--of course they would publish everything I wrote--but it was not to be. They turned down Suspicions and then He Loves Me Not. As you can imagine, I was extremely discouraged and basically stopped writing. What was the point of taking time away from my family if all my hard work wasn't going to go anywhere? So I put aside my writing and focused on living my life.
At this point it was late in 2006. My second child had graduated from high school and the other two were 16 and 12. It wasn't until four years later, in late 2010, that I learned about the possibilities inherent in eBooks. It was as if the passion for writing that had been down to a flicker suddenly burst into a bright flame. I could write what I wanted and publish it, and readers could decide for themselves if they liked it! The possibilities seemed infinite and suddenly my desire to write reignited.
I got the rights to No Way Out back from my publisher and made it available on Amazon. Suspicions soon followed. I made revisions to He Loves Me Not and put that up in 2011. I wrote the sequel, Don't Look Back, and published that a few months later. Sales were slow at first and I would get so excited each and every time I sold a book, but I was still working full-time and my family still needed a lot of my attention, so it took a little while before I released my next book. Over You didn't come out until the summer of 2012.
Sales started picking up in 2012, which helped to stoke the flame of writing passion and I got busy writing Gone, which I released early this year. Imprisoned followed a few months later, and Hunted, which I'm writing now, will be out by December 1st.
I've been pleasantly surprised by how much people have enjoyed Lily's Story (He Loves Me Not and Don't Look Back). I've had a number of people request a third book telling what happens to Lily next, so after I'm done with Hunted, I'll write a third book in Lily's Story, which I'll release early next year.
All this great news leads to the best news of all, which is that I'm selling enough books now that I've been able to quit my day job and now I'll be able to focus full-time on writing! It's so strange to have so much time each day to devote to writing and other writing tasks, but it's fantastic!
My baby girl, who was only three years old when I started writing, is now in her second year of college, so it's pretty quiet at my house. During the day it's just me and my two cats, Cooper and Nala, who can be such troublemakers. I miss having my children around, but I relish being able to spend so much time on writing.
I have lots of plans now, like making all of my books available as print books as well as audio books. I never had time to do that before as I only had a couple of hours a day to devote to writing and that time had to be used to write.
I should also be able to get more writing in each day, which will help me produce more books. My goal is to release four books per year.
Again, I want to thank each and every one of you who have bought my books. It's only because of your support that I'm able to transition to writing full-time, which will allow me to write more books!
Thank you!!
Christine
I started writing in 1997 when my baby was three years old. I fit my writing time around taking care of her and her three older siblings. I wrote two novels over the next few years: No Way Out and Suspicions. Then, when that baby girl went to first grade, I went back to school and spent four years as a full-time student.
I graduated with a B.S. degree in Information Technology in 2004. Shortly after graduation I found a job and began working full-time outside of the home. That was really hard for me as I'd been a stay-at-home mom for eighteen years and really loved that role. I remember as I drove to work each day, I would pretend I was just on my way to run errands--trying to trick myself into forgetting I would be away from home all day.
I loved my coworkers and enjoyed my job, but I really missed being at home--I'm a homebody at heart. By then my oldest had just graduated from high school and my other children were 16, 14, and 10. Fortunately my husband got home from work in the late afternoon, so he was there to keep an eye on things until I got home, but it wasn't the same as being there myself.
Around this same time I was offered a publishing contract with a small regional publisher, which was something I'd worked toward for quite a while. Though thrilled, I knew I wouldn't earn enough money to quit my job. They published No Way Out in 2005 and it sold reasonably well, but I only earned a few thousand dollars. It was nice to have the extra money, but certainly not enough to quit my job!
I thought I was on my way--of course they would publish everything I wrote--but it was not to be. They turned down Suspicions and then He Loves Me Not. As you can imagine, I was extremely discouraged and basically stopped writing. What was the point of taking time away from my family if all my hard work wasn't going to go anywhere? So I put aside my writing and focused on living my life.
At this point it was late in 2006. My second child had graduated from high school and the other two were 16 and 12. It wasn't until four years later, in late 2010, that I learned about the possibilities inherent in eBooks. It was as if the passion for writing that had been down to a flicker suddenly burst into a bright flame. I could write what I wanted and publish it, and readers could decide for themselves if they liked it! The possibilities seemed infinite and suddenly my desire to write reignited.
I got the rights to No Way Out back from my publisher and made it available on Amazon. Suspicions soon followed. I made revisions to He Loves Me Not and put that up in 2011. I wrote the sequel, Don't Look Back, and published that a few months later. Sales were slow at first and I would get so excited each and every time I sold a book, but I was still working full-time and my family still needed a lot of my attention, so it took a little while before I released my next book. Over You didn't come out until the summer of 2012.
Sales started picking up in 2012, which helped to stoke the flame of writing passion and I got busy writing Gone, which I released early this year. Imprisoned followed a few months later, and Hunted, which I'm writing now, will be out by December 1st.
I've been pleasantly surprised by how much people have enjoyed Lily's Story (He Loves Me Not and Don't Look Back). I've had a number of people request a third book telling what happens to Lily next, so after I'm done with Hunted, I'll write a third book in Lily's Story, which I'll release early next year.
All this great news leads to the best news of all, which is that I'm selling enough books now that I've been able to quit my day job and now I'll be able to focus full-time on writing! It's so strange to have so much time each day to devote to writing and other writing tasks, but it's fantastic!
My baby girl, who was only three years old when I started writing, is now in her second year of college, so it's pretty quiet at my house. During the day it's just me and my two cats, Cooper and Nala, who can be such troublemakers. I miss having my children around, but I relish being able to spend so much time on writing.
 |
| Cooper |
 |
| Nala |
I have lots of plans now, like making all of my books available as print books as well as audio books. I never had time to do that before as I only had a couple of hours a day to devote to writing and that time had to be used to write.
I should also be able to get more writing in each day, which will help me produce more books. My goal is to release four books per year.
Again, I want to thank each and every one of you who have bought my books. It's only because of your support that I'm able to transition to writing full-time, which will allow me to write more books!
Thank you!!
Christine
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