Challenge…accepted!

Rebecca MugSo just before I more-or-less vanished from social media for my annual holiday break, my good friend Chris Garrison issued a challenge on my Facebook page of Rebecca as the Mermaid Mug (yes, it’s a real product with art by Nell Williams, and you can order them from the RJ Store here) challenging me to write the story behind the picture.

The moment I saw the picture, the entire story came immediately to mind, and I knew exactly what would happen and who exactly was the cause of putting my series protagonist Rebecca Burton in such an awkward situation. I even knew how to tie it into Backstage Pass and several of my expanded marketing blog pieces.

Over the holidays, I received a generous gift from my family, a new tablet which I am equipping to be a catch-all device, including a writing station easy to carry at meetings, conventions and festivals. I am waiting on the keyboard to arrive in the mail, but as soon as it does, I will “christen” the tablet with the new flash fiction that tells this story. As the keyboard is en route, you can expect the story to post early next week.

What a fun way to kick off the new year!

“Magi Mall Sale” on Gifts of the Magi

Gifts of the Magi cover by John F. Allen
Gifts of the Magi cover by John F. Allen

Now thru Friday, you can order the paperback edition of GIFTS OF THE MAGI: A SPECULATIVE FICTION COLLECTION at 15% Off, delivered just in time to fill out your Christmas list! Click here to read all the details on the SFG Website!

New Blue Christmas Art!

Nell Williams has created a new Blue Christmas image for 2014, a (mostly) annual tradition of putting my characters in various holiday scenes for Christmas time, with the tag “Have a Blue Christmas.” This year, she Nell rendered a scene directly from the new short story “Blue Christmas” as featured in GIFTS OF THE MAGI.

Here is the base art:

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Which she cropped to this.

bluechristmascloseupVariations for Facebook memes:

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And I cropped further for this portrait-like view of Blue and Chip.

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Personally I love this rendition of the characters, particularly Blue. She’s grown a lot and been through a lot in two novels, and Nell captured the growth and maturity of that journey, something I didn’t expect from a fun little marketing piece. It makes me excited to write the next book in her story. Hmmmm…..

Past Nell Williams Blue Christmas images:

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and…

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Gifts of the Magi Book Signing Thursday

Gifts of the Magi cover by John F. Allen
Gifts of the Magi cover by John F. Allen

This Thursday, from 5:30-7 pm, I’ll join seven other authors at Indy Reads Books in downtown Indianapolis in support of Gifts of the Magi: A Speculative Holiday Collection. We’ll each read a excerpt from our short stories and remain available to sign copies and hopefully raise a lot of money for a good cause.

I’ll be reading an excerpt from the my short story in the collection, “Blue Christmas.”

Gifts of the Magi will be offered through Indy Reads Books, while I’ll have copies of Haunting Blue, Haunting Obsession, and Virtual Blue for sale. And of course, you can browse offerings from our other authors. It should be a great time and a fantastic opportunity  to check off a lot of people on your Christmas list.

Click here to join the Facebook event page.
Click here to read all the details.

RJ’s Cyber Monday Sale

RJ AD holidays 2014So today is Cyber Monday and Seventh Star Press is putting two of my titles on sale (plus an anthology in which I can be found) for 99 cents each. Respectively, with page links, they are:

Haunting Blue, the first of the Paranormal Trilogy:
Haunting Obsession, the standalone followup in the Paranormal Trilogy;
Vampires Don’t Sparkle, a short story collection that includes my popular short story Robot Vampire.

I have made three videos promoting the sales, which you can find here.

If you have not read my books before, this is a great opportunity  to jump in at a huge savings. If you have, please consider purchasing an ebook as a gift for a friend.

If you’re wondering how else you can support me, please email, tweet, or share on Facebook the link to this blog on your wall. Post the videos, If you feel inclined to praise the books when you do so, that might also help.

Thanks for your consideration. Whatever happens from this is every bit as much from the efforts of my readers as it is from me.  Have a great Cyber Monday.

Reading from Blue Christmas

As promised, here is the reading of the start of Blue Christmas, as featured in GIFTS OF THE MAGI: A SPECULATIVE FICTION COLLECTION available now.

All proceeds from this collection benefit Indy Reads Books.

RJ’s Cyber Monday Trilogy of Trailers

So because I can’t leave a good thing alone, I made more videos to promote the Cyber Monday sale. I now have three, giving me (*monster emcee voice*) A CYBER MONDAY TRILOGY OF TRAILERS!!!

I’ll be posting and tweeting them next week, and of course Cyber Monday, but here they are arranged in a blog post for your viewing leisure.

For Haunting Blue

For Haunting Obsession

And because of the short story Robot Vampire in Vampires Don’t Sparkle edited by Michael West, here’s a promotion for all three titles.

The Cyber Monday 99 cents sale is a promotion by Seventh Star Press. Pricing on Amazon will auto-drop Dec 1, so you can grab up all three titles and many more from the Seventh Star catalog.

Come back Monday: for a new blog in which I read part of my short story Blue Christmas, part of Gifts of the Magi: A Speculative Fiction Collection.

My Cyber Monday Trailer

Here’s a little something to help you plan ahead for Monday, Dec. 1, when Haunting Blue goes on sale for one day only. If  you already know it and love it, make sure to tell your friends. As most of you know, this is the first book of the series, so “hook”ing new readers with this one is what it’s all about. (Yes, I went there.)

So check it out and remember to head to Amazon on Cyber Monday!

Yep, I made a new video. I learned the limitations of the program and took on something less ambitious. My first project, the book trailer for Gifts of the Magi, took a day and a half. This one took half an hour. Progress! That means there may be more of them.

Gifts of the Magi Book Trailer now live

Hey, ma, look what I did!

So here’s what I’ve done with my last day and a half, though to be fair, it should only have taken me a few hours if not for the free interface on a certain popular video site that won’t let you save your work. So I had to start over three times. That means, yes, I know about the typo, and no, I can’t fix it, because that means starting over. Again.

But y’know what, I’m proud of it anyway, and I hope you dig it, too. Click the image to check out the official book trailer to Gifts of the Magi: A Speculative Fiction Collection.