Claudette Melanson's Blog - Posts Tagged "book"

Being an indie author is work. Hard work. It takes more time, effort and dedication than I would have ever imagined before I got started. But I love it. Not more than my little furbaby bunnies, but I love it a lot.

Forget the mere hours spent writing…and add to that the massive effort required to keep up with social media. For me, that is equally important too. Social media is where my readers ‘live,’ and if you are one of them, you know just how very significant you are to me and my writing.
















I try harder than you might imagine to see every post, respond to the avalanche of messages and emails—and fail miserably most of the time.
















So, let me tell you just how much I love discovering a tool which allows me to interact faster and with greater visibility. One of my greatest challenges has always been responding to mentions on Twitter. The “Notifications” page falls down on the job when it comes to notifying the user about both retweets and mentions. Believe me; I understand. There is a lot going on with that website, especially when it has to keep up with more than sixty-six thousand followers! I realize there is only so much it can show me. But the scattered and limited format with its mishmash of retweets, follows and mentions—which it cuts off at a certain number for retweets—does not help me keep up with the massive flow of my Twitter communication. There were always several mentions, some with important personal messages, I missed.
Surprisingly, it was a tool heralded for its ease of social media posting which aided me in more effective Twitter communication with my followers—Hootsuite. I’ve used Hootsuite since nearly the beginning of my indie author career. I love the features allowing for the scheduling of future posts, and for sending said posts out to more than one social media site. One day, though, I happened to take a closer look around and discovered a couple of other tools which offered me the ability to pin down communiqué control over my growing-by-leaps-and-bounds Twitter account. Check this out:

Mentions-


See that graphic? That is what I see in the My First Tab section found above the streams on the Hootsuite dashboard. Essentially, Hootsuite sucked my Twitter account into its brain, transforming it into a one-stop shop. All of my mentions are collected here in one convenient spot. I can easily scroll down through the stream and thank people, retweet posts or reply to any questions or comments. I do this using the little menu at the top of each mention, which I have pointed out in the graphic with an arrow. If I do this once every twenty-four hours—and I do try—I can easily respond to my very important Twitter mentions for each day. As you can see, one of my big-hearted followers has tweeted about a school contest I have going. It is very important to me to thank her and follow her if I didn’t already. Another of my author friends has created a graphic to tweet which mentions my book. He definitely deserves gratitude, and, once I find a spare moment, I will make a special tweet to feature his book and return the favor.

Retweets-


One thing that always bugged me about Twitter was that it only showed you a certain number of the people who’d retweeted one of your tweets. I wanted to see them all so I could add my supporters to my retweet lists. Hootsuite allows you to see them all and in one convenient place. If you click on the number of retweets in the window, which I’ve drawn the arrow to, you can click on the account from the window pop-up and ensure you have your retweeters on your list or retweet them from their page immediately. I try very hard to keep up with this, so if you retweeted me and I didn’t do so in kind, please let me know. If you do it in a mention, I’ll be sure to see it! ;)
So, as you see, apps can be a strong source of aid to keep you connected to the readers or clients you hold so dear. And, as shown here, sometimes they offer help in areas for which you didn’t even realize they were designed.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2rgw2uH
Amazon Canada: http://buff.ly/2pD7wpK
Amazon UK: http://buff.ly/2pD7wGg
Amazon Australia: http://buff.ly/2pDmcWb
Amazon Japan: http://buff.ly/2pDa5rM
Google Play: http://bit.ly/1NysHcY
iBooks: http://apple.co/1PWXYwg
Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1YzKAjr
Website: http://bit.ly/1DVaL7x
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2oJg8ah
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1XK3guq

Crimson Moon by Sherri A. Wingler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! What a phenomenal read!
Sherri truly has a gift for storytelling.
Synopsis:
Crimson Moon is a saucy read about two supernaturally-enhanced humans. Grey is a much different take on a werewolf. His wolf resides inside in the background of the man's mind, but he will emerge when he needs to--or if he thinks Grey isn't making the best choices. Claws and fangs also show themselves when danger threatens. When he runs into seventeen-year-old runaway, Harlow, he is in danger of losing his heart. Harlow, or 'Red' as Grey likes to call her, is haunted by her own gift turned curse. Life has become very hard for the young woman ever since her skin 'turned on.' Not only can she knock other people on their arses; she will also take a piece of whom they are into her own mind for a limited amount of time, hearing their voice and becoming privy to some of their secrets.
Both are hard-core loners, Red's own mother kicking her out of her home when she learned about her abilities and Grey leading the lonely life of killer for hire.When Grey takes pity on Red and attempts to buy her a meal in a diner, he gets more than he bargains for. Insulted, the young girl gives back the money for the meal but ends up accepting a ride with the surly werewolf, who decides to see her safely to her grandmother's doorstep. But as they make their way to Alaska, the friendship developing between the two may become a bond neither of them can live without
Review:
There were two things I loved the most about this novel: the snippy dialogue between the characters (and internally between both of them and the wolf) and the pacing and development of the relationship between the pair. Grey's dialogue with the wolf had me laughing out loud on several occasions, as well as the banter between Red and both Grey and the wolf's voice inside her mind. Some examples:
Wolf: "Our cubs are going to be idiots if they take after you."
Grey: "Shut up, flea bag. For once, you were useful."

Harlow to Grey: "Go pee a circle around some other girl."

Grey to Harlow: "I'll track you. Bring you back."...
Harlow to Grey: "Try it and I'll zap your sorry ass into next week."

The language was quite poetic in places, elevating the writing to a level beyond the norm. Some examples:
"Glass makes an almost cheerful sound when it breaks, like the shattering brings it joy."
"The screams went on and on for the longest time. I lost my battle to stay awake and fell asleep to them like a nightmarish lullaby."
"He tasted of cinnamon and coffee and dark promises."

The characters and plot were developed as well as the very natural flowing dialogue. I felt like I knew both Harlow and Grey very well, and the supporting characters were miles away from two-dimensional. Although there was plenty of sexual tension between the two main characters, it didn't slip into the realm of unnecessary, overblown sexual detail, nor did the characters just jump into bed together (besides to sleep) at the first convenient moment. A REAL relationship developed, one that is multi-dimensional and based on far more than base lust. The spicier parts of the book were executed perfectly with finesse and class and no nasty details (my own personal preference as a reader).
The action scenes were also well-written with plenty of detail and enough emotional impact to pull the reader into the scene and make me feel pain and anger along with the leading characters as I read them. There is a hint of mystery, especially toward the end, that left me guessing and eager to read the next book in the series. Like the best books and TV shows, the ending is left open, leaving me wanting to know more about the characters and how things would play out for them.
If you're a fan of snarky banter, well-developed supernatural creatures and sexual tension that leaves enough to the imagination, you will love this series. I can't wait to read book 2!
**An ARC of this book was provided to me, so I won't address any errors found (although they were few and far between) as the book was set for further editing.




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