free book – R.J. Sullivan Fiction

Darkness with a Chance of Whimsy Previews Start Now

Now that Darkness with a Chance for Whimsy has been released in various eBook and paperback formats (click here to see the page with all the order links) I’m starting a seven-part series of blog posts to offer a “taste” of each story (minus the flash fiction).

“The Assurance Salesman” Friday, June 19
“Fade” Monday, June 22
“Able Bodied” Tuesday, June 23
“Inner Strength” Wednesday, June 24
“Backstage Pass” Thursday, June 25
“Starter Kit” Friday, June 26
“Robot Vampire” Monday, June 29

Most posts will be “enhanced” with trivia and images not possible to include in the collection. (Ever wonder where Assurance Salesman first showed up? Ever wanted to see my little “Fade” booklet? Sure you did)

And kicking us off is an “enhanced” post of the introduction by Debra Holland, and you didn’t even have to wait for it!
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I met R.J. Sullivan when I joined my very first Yahoo group for the fans of a science fiction author, back when I still used a dial-up connection. R.J. and I discovered we were both science fiction and fantasy authors and formed a friendship—my first online friendship. We exchanged our books to critique. I gave him Sower of Dreams—Book One of the God’s Dream Trilogy. At the time, Sower was a stand-alone book. It was R.J. who suggested he could see the story developing into a trilogy.

[Check out Sower of Dreams by clicking here.]

I critiqued Haunting Blue, a paranormal thriller with an edgy young female protagonist. I did think he should take out some of the horror elements, but wisely, he didn’t listen to me.

When we first started critiquing each other’s work, we still had a lot to learn about the craft of writing (not that an author ever stops learning the craft). Publishing our books was just a distant dream, and we had a lot of years of work and submissions and rejections before each of us followed different paths to success.

Science fiction, fantasy, paranormal thrillers, space opera– R.J’s talents are remarkable and diverse. After a few years, our writing output grew too much to keep critiquing each other, although from time to time, one of us might ask the other to look at a short piece.

Last year, R.J. invited me to join a speculative fiction anthology to benefit Indy Book Reads, a literacy organization, and it was good to work together on Gifts of the Magi.

Umpteen years later, we still have never met in person, but I consider R.J. a good friend. I’ve watched his career with pride, and I’m honored to introduce this collection. Some of the works have had my fingers on them, others have not. I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I have.

[Check out a novella from Debra’s award winning Montana Sky series–totally free!]
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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Debra Holland wears several hats. As a psychotherapist, she writes nonfiction books. Debra also writes fiction–Historical Western Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fantasy Romance, and Science Fiction. Her Montana Sky series, sweet historical Western romances, is published by Amazon Montlake. The Gods’ Dream Trilogy (fantasy romance) is available on Kindle.

You can join her newsletter subscription list or learn more about her at www.drdebraholland.com.

Click here to go directly to Whimsy Preview: Assurance Salesman.

Haunting Obsession 4 to 40 week!

So I’ve been hinting and linking and pointing, and, in my passive aggressive way, telling you guys that reviews and ratings on Amazon.com would be appreciated. So now I’ll just be direct.

For the past several months, reviews for Haunting Obsession have sat steady at 36 reviews.

Readers, I need your help. I have been informed in no uncertain terms that promotion opportunities open up for book titles that have earned at least 40 reviews. Not 36 reviews. Not 39 reviews. 40. (Of course, anything more than 40 is also good). At 40 reviews, certain automated systems in the site handle the book in ways to its advantage. Plus, at 40+/, the book qualifies for more opportunities with partnerships connected with my publisher. Straight up, I can do a whole lot more promoting once Haunting Obsession collects 40 reviews on Amazon.com.

So I am declaring this Haunting Obsession 4 to 40 week! I know more than 36 of you have read the book and have an opinion. If you have, and you do, and you haven’t posted it on Amazon.com yet, go to this link, scroll down to reviews, and add yours. It doesn’t have to be a long, detailed review. It doesn’t even have to be a good review (though I suppose if you hated it, you’re not inclined to help promote it…but never mind)

“Yes,” you say, “I could do all that, but what’s in it for me?” By which I guess you mean, what’s in it for you…on top of reading my chilling, thrilling tale of ghostly lust. Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ll throw in four ebook giveaways of the followup Rebecca Burton e-short story Backstage Pass–one ebook giveaway for each review slotted 37-40. Just email me at copybob@sbcglobal.net identifying your review to redeem the free estory. (If you have Backstage Pass, I’ll substitute my space opera e-novella Fate of the Red Lotus instead. If you have THAT…well, we’ll talk.)

So if you’ve already read Haunting Obsession and had a review on your to-do list but just hadn’t gotten “a round tuit” well, here you go. And congratulations, your procrastination has paid off.

If the book has been sitting in your e-reader–good news, it’s novella length, you still have a good chance of redeeming a prize, so get reading.

If you haven’t gotten the book, it’s a quick read, so your chances are STILL good. Download Haunting Obsession here.

So post your review on amazon.com here. After you have confirmed your review has posted, email me at copybob@sbcglobal.net and identify your review. Only reviews posted on the Haunting Obsession page on Amazon.com are valid for the giveaway, though other reviews are appreciated.

This giveaway is only good through the posting of the 40th review, based on the order Amazon sorts the reviews. You must email me to receive the giveaway by August 23, even if yours is one of the four reviews.

For Reviews 41 on, I say thank you very much, you have my gratitude, and I hope you enjoyed my thrilling, chilling tale of ghostly lust.