I wanted to start a new section of my blog titled Influences. This section is for the rabid fans who totally geek out over authors and want to know what inspired the author to write the book they love. Because there are so many of those rabid fans of mine, lol. I will admit to … Continue reading Influences: Die Hard
Paranormal
Book Trailer: The Egyptian Elixir
For lovers of clean historical vampire fiction! Reviewers say: "The writing is excellent, and I'm looking forward to reading more about Grissom." "The Egyptian Elixir is a rollicking good time, filled with snappy dialog, bone-crunching action, and a swift moving plot." " I was unable to put it down." Find it on Amazon.com.
FREE Paranormal Book for Beta Readers – only 2 left!
So here's an indie author's life: I planned on releasing The Egyptian Elixir (that would be book 2 in The Unofficial Chronicles series, for the uninitiated) at the end of January, but after reading the fantastic recommendations of Mark Coker of Smashwords fame, I've decided to release it in March <groan> I know, I know. … Continue reading FREE Paranormal Book for Beta Readers – only 2 left!
Dear —, It’s me, a vampire.
Dear unknown reader, On occasion, Ms. Zaplendam will allow me to use her equipment to address all of you. With such a vast forum before, I can barely contain my machiavellian glee at the prospect of all these pliant minds available for my cunning manipulations. (Hear my maniacal laugh?) I jest, of course. If … Continue reading Dear —, It’s me, a vampire.
New Review Policies on Amazon
When you're a debut indie author like myself, you celebrate the little, mini victories, like getting that 9th review on Amazon (See down yonder at the bottom of this post), but recently there has been a lot bruhaha in the indie world revolving around Amazon's.new hard line policies with regard to reviews provided in exchange … Continue reading New Review Policies on Amazon
New Cover Reveal and Kindle Free Period
So in all the craziness (and oh yeah, it's crazy) of preparing for my new cover reveal, kindle free period, and subsequent bookblast, I completely forgot to post about it on my site! (John Grissom is shaking his head at me.) I decided to do a new cover for the sake of readability. It turned … Continue reading New Cover Reveal and Kindle Free Period
How To: Create a Free Book Trailer
Once upon a time, a twitter user (twitterer? twit? tweeter? Obviously I am not twitter conversant) lamented about not having the means to be able to create a book trailer. Here's my response: as long as you have access to a movie making program (like Windows movie maker which came standard with my Windows 8.1 … Continue reading How To: Create a Free Book Trailer
Goodreads for the win!
I had the pleasure of receiving a glowing review from a winner of the Goodreads giveaway I did not so long ago. Thank you, Goodreads. Once again, you've proven yourself an underutilized and underappreciated tool for authors. I stand corrected. It's doesn't get any better for an author than to know that some person, entirely unknown … Continue reading Goodreads for the win!
Van Helsing reimagined
I was trying to think how to describe my Van Helsing Sr. character (the grandfather of the original Van Helsing from Bram Stoker's Dracula). He's a Prussian ex-patriate who has left the fatherland due to Napoleon taking over Europe. He was originally employed by the Prussian government to hunt vampires and investigate paranormal activity, but … Continue reading Van Helsing reimagined
The Problem with Vampires
I should preface this by saying that it's my problem with vampires. The vampire narrative is well-known to most of Western society. An evil vampire, born of (narrative of choice), goes around killing or turning other men into vampires. These other vampires must kill other people in order to survive themselves. They burn in the … Continue reading The Problem with Vampires
Page Zaplendam, Author 