C.M. Johnson's Blog

On September 4, 2017, two new books will join the Tales of the Fifth Guardian series:

Tales of the Fifth Guardian; Book 0.5: Kerretiskya's Story is the first standalone to the series and is a prequel to the main story. Kerretiskya's Story goes back in time to explore what life was like on Otland Iis for the Second Guardian.

Tales of the Fifth Guardian; Book Ten: Otlangon adds the next chapter of Kerrisha's story - What happens when the Devon Queen's army appears during a celebration at the top-secret complex? Will Edwere go against all he believes about being a Tesha to protect Kerrisha?

Work has already begun on the next volume of the series: Tales of the Fifth Guardian: Book Eleven: Duty. Who will be lost for the sake of duty?

Tales of the Fifth Guardian is a reverse harem romantic fantasy adventure recommended for readers 18+ due to mature situations, violence, and possible trigger scenes.

Tales of the Fifth Guardian; Book Nine: Tinotchan is done!
Which means the next compilation volume is also out!
Get either one or the next four books if you were waiting for the special pricing of the combined books.
May you Always Enjoy the Read!

Tales of the Fifth Guardian; Book Nine: Tinotchan has entered the revision process and will be sent to my beta readers soon. The cover and synopsis has now been added to Goodreads so you can add it to your TBR!
There are a lot of twists and a few surprises in this newest chapter of the story.
May you Always Enjoy the Read!
C.M. Johnson

Tales of the Fifth Guardian; Book Eight: Demon released in January and progress on Tales of the Fifth Guardian; Book Nine: Tinotchan has finally passed the half-way point.
I had planned to be further along in the process at this point but have experienced a few setbacks from Real-life interference. Rest assured things appear to be back on track for now and we are proceeding at a nice clip. In fact, I have even been able to write a temporary synopsis (although, I'm kind of falling in love with it the more I read it and it might become the synopsis):

"There have been hints of a visit to Tinotchan and now the time has come.

With Kerrisha, Edwere, Jonathan, and a number of Damien's people still recovering from the battle with the Demon, the long silent clan has made themselves known. New secrets are discovered and the clan that sent the Fourth Guardian into the Power must answer for that among other crimes.

Once again, all is not as it seems and the past that was hidden from all has returned to haunt everyone, especially Kerrisha, who must solve the problems created by jealousy and tradition that have nearly torn a clan in two. Problems that would be solved so easily with the strength of the Darkness that possessed Darrien.

Can Kerrisha solve the problems in Tinotchan Clan or those created by the training techniques at Dreland Tower without succumbing to the draw of the Darkness?"

The cover is completed as well and can be seen on my website: http://cmjguardian.wix.com/5thguardian
Keep watching for the information for Book Nine to be posted here on Goodreads as soon as I finalize the synopsis so you can add it to your TBR. In the meantime, May you Always Enjoy the Read!

Something kind of serious today,
So many of you want us (Indie authors) to come to signings near you and that's great. We'd love to meet you, too.
Now, how about some facts to show why we can't/don't attend more events?
* Registration, Hotel, and Travel for each event can easily reach $1000 or more. Some events also need to be reserved a year in advance.
* Add to that the cost of our swag that we give away - another $250 - $500 or more depending on what we use and how many attendees there are
* Add also the cost of our books and the price of transporting them to the event. Contrary to popular belief, we do not get as many books as we want for free. Not even ebooks are free for us to gift. If we sell a book for $10 at the event we MIGHT make $4 on it (which means we'd have to sell 250+ books just to cover the event costs - we make even less when you buy them from an online company).

Now, if you add that all up you'll realize that we don't stand a lot of chance on profiting from an event except that we get to meet our readers. Want to help?
* Buy our ebooks. Yes, we don't make a lot but your support here means the world to us.
* Leave reviews. Love our stories? write a review and tell your friends to help them find us, too. The more people buying our books, the better chance we can afford to make that trip to meet you.
* Can't wait for an event? Go to your author's page, blog, or website and ask if they sell autographed copies.
Your support means everything to us and your support keeps us writing!
Enjoy the Read! C.M. Johnson

I don't review my own books except to give them a rating. I then use the review space to expand and explain on a variety of topics for the series.

I do not accept requests for reviews rather, I read books that sound interesting to me and review them accordingly. I've seen another author comment that she would not write a review for another author's book that if she couldn't give it five-stars because anything less could be taken in a way that would make her seem like a jealous hag and I couldn't agree with her more.

With the rubric I have now developed and use for my reviews I would be comfortable with giving another author four-stars if it were merited because I could easily justify it. However, I would not publish anything less than four stars without going to the author first and may even inform them of the four star before publishing it.

I have no problem sharing my scoring method - just message me if you'd like to see it.

The series is written from the journals of the main characters and, in the beginning of the series, they are young 18 & 19 and the intimate scenes in the beginning of the series reflect that. As they mature and become more comfortable with each other that is reflected in their words and the intimate scenes in the later ones sometimes cross into the realm of erotic.
I have also created a review on each book in the series here on Goodreads but other than the rating they are not a true review. Each one deals with a different aspect of the series and is there to help answer questions or provide "Bonus Information" about the People of Otland Iis, Kerrisha, and her men. Enjoy.
I have also started a discussion thread on Book One with this same topic if you have any more questions.Tales of the Fifth Guardian; Book One: The Beginning

I stand with the other authors, bloggers, and readers who are speaking out against the bullying and harassment that is becoming prevalent in the Amazon community. When we allow a few to hide behind anonymous profiles and organized attacks to ban, block, and prevent Indie Authors from publishing their books we are allowing censorship by proxy. Allowing these vindictive and cruel individuals to stop the publishing of a few books is the equivalent of permitting a "Book Burning" with the click of a key. Many times we are afraid to speak up because we are afraid that we will become a target as well...Have you read the history of WWII? Whole peoples stayed quiet to prevent their being targeted until no one was left to speak up for them when the negative attentions of those in charge finally fell on them. There is a petition circulating that calls for Amazon to stop allowing the anonymous reporting that allows this to continue. Do you want a select few to decide what you can or cannot read? If not, then sign the petition, contact Amazon, and if you have the misfortune to meet one of these cyberbullies - LET THEM KNOW WE WILL NOT STAND FOR IT OR BE SILENCED!!!

This morning I retried all my books on Lulu.com and deleted my author spotlight. I love that they have gone to a free expanded distribution like CreateSpace but their prices are not competitive enough ($16 vs $12.99). I also love having the hardcover edition but, under the new distribution program I would need to purchase a proof copy of every book and I would make less than $1.00 on each $33.00 hardcover book purchased through those channels. Lulu was the first print-on-demand site I learned of (it was recommended by some indies at Tampa Bay Comic Con in 2012) and helped me to truly feel like an author when I was able to hold MY book for the first time, but it's not fair to ask my readers to pay more when I get paid less. I also really LOVE the matte finish CreateSpace is offering now and I think it really goes with the Journalistic style of my series.

As of January 7, 2014, Book Seven of my series is enjoying a "soft release" to Kindle and Nook at the $2.49 Holiday Sale price.

I do all my own editing and proof-reading; with the first proof-read being a digital proof-read (I actually have some help from my mother at this stage, who reads for those words and typos that, since I know they're supposed to be there, I miss). I finished the digital proof-read over the week-end (mom is still reading her copy)and was able to order the print proof from CreateSpace. As soon as it gets here, I get to read it again, make the additional corrections we find and then move to the full release, hopefully by the end of January.