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Just a quick update!

I'm currently back to working on Lament at Loon Landing. I'm not exactly sure what the hold-up has been, because as I'm working on it, it's pretty much like every other book in the series: cute, charming, fun. Your basic cozy mystery. I guess part of the problem is with all the delays (and all the bitching about the delays) it has turned the book into A Thing in my mind, which inevitably slows everything down even further. Coz that's how that works.

But we're closing in on finishing up. I'm not going to guestimate the actual release because the book is clearly cursed and if I dare to name the release date, doom and disaster will follow. So we'll leave it at that. It's coming. 

As soon as Lament at Loon Landing is safely launched, I'll fully dive into Corpse at Captain's Seat, which I anticipate going as quickly as Death at the Deep Dive did. I love, love, love country house murder mysteries and that's kind of what we have going on with that one: snow, secret passages, sinister strangers. The usual stuff that happens while staying with friends.

THEN I'll start work on the final Holmes & Moriarity. 

And THEN I'm taking a break from writing. Maybe for just a month. Maybe two. Maybe I'll see you when I see you. But I need a chunk of time to focus on some translation stuff, some audio projects, some other things I'm toying with, as well as long term strategizing. Basically, the business side of things. Which inevitably get shoved to the back of the line, even though it's kind of crucial to know where the ship is ultimately headed. 

In the meantime, on Monday I'm headed off on vacation with my sisters for the first time in three years. Yikes! THREE YEARS. In fact, it's been a year and a half since I went away on vacay with anyone at all. 

I. CAN'T. WAIT. 

I'll try to post photos, but I'm guessing they won't actually appear until after I return on the 7th. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week. We're supposed to have major winter storms this weekend, but they keep being pushed back a day, which hopefully doesn't mean I end up stranded in a ferry terminal for my vacation. ;-D  

Google Me This

 

Johanna Ollila

I've been trying to move all of my backlist titles onto Google Play. Technically, I've been on there for a few years, but I've only focused on listing the new releases. A lot of my backlist consists of the original files I uploaded when I first turned ot self-publishing, and so they don't always pass ebook checks on iBooks or wide distribution on Smashwords. 

But it's like everything else, it takes time. I put off reformatting because I wanted to redo some of the old book blurbs and replace a lot of my covers. Not because I don't still love a lot of my old covers--in some cases, I love the old covers more than the new--but after a while the old covers, no matter how good, become wallpaper. 

A lot of my covers are over ten years old! A refresh is not unreasonable after a decade.

Cover art is really interesting in how it subsconsciously affects the decision to further investigate a book. I've been taking note of my own browsing/buying patterns, and it's fascinating how often I'll pass right by cover after cover. Not consciously judging the cover--barely even registering the cover, in most cases. It's something the colors and layout that get me to pause long enough to read the title--which is often a make or break right there--and then to really look at the cover. And then comes another moment of (often unconscious) decision whether to read the blurb. 

And it all happens within less than a second. That's the fascinating part. How fast those unconscious decisions are made and acted on. 

For the readers looking specifically for you or your book, the title, the cover, the blurb aren't so crucial. Those readers already are weighing whether to buy, so it gets down to the particulars of plot and story and characters. But for that vast majority of readers who are just scrolling through, that first glimpse of a teeny-tiny postage stamp cover is make or break.

So it makes sense to change the scenery now and again. 

There's something magical about cover art. When it's good, it can affect how you feel about your own book. When it's bad...it becomes a factor in the decison to self-publish. ;-D 

Anyway, not all readers are enthusiastic about cover changes. And I understand that because I'm someone who has more than once bought a (print) book for the cover. But that's the transitory nature of ebooks. On the one hand the book can stay in print forever. On the other hand, many things about that book can change in a relatively short space of time.

So anyway, here are some of my recent cover changes. These particular ones are all from James at GoOnWrite. In some cases I still love the original cover more. In some cases I loved the original cover but it didn't seem to work for readers. In some cases, I never had a strong feeling about the original cover, so it's a wash.

But also I find myself moving away from the more romance-y style covers. Partly because the M/M readership is increasingly inclined toward traditional romance as opposed to the hybrid of Romance+Mystery/SpecFiction/Action-Adventure  it started out as. I want to cue them early that I'm not what they're looking for.

(In some case, like Murder in Pastel, I can't imagine ever changing that cover out. It's too unique and too perfect for the book to ever switch. But in most cases, everything is fair game eventually.)

Anyway, what are your thoughts on cover art? 

 

NEW RELEASE: 44.1644° North

 

It turns out it took about a week longer than I'd hoped to complete the novella 44.1644° North, so I'm guessing that week-long lag will translate into everything in the first half of the year. 

But it's done! And I'm so happy. I think it's pretty good too. There are a couple of little Easter Eggs in there for readers and true crime buffs alike. I mentioned earlier that the story was inspired by the still-unsolved disappearance of Maura Murray. Fun fact. She disappeared on the night of February ninth in 2004, so realizing the book went live last night--on the 19th anniversary of her disappearance--was startling.  

But yes, it went live last night on Smashwords and Kobo . And this morning it looks like it's available on Google and  BarnesandNoble. It will not be available on Amazon until Sunday. That's because it was a preorder with a planned release of May 10, so it's coming out three months early (and even when you ask for immediate release, it takes ZON three days to let go). On the bright side, if you preordered through Amazon, you probably got that reduced preorder price, so you wait a tiny bit longer, but you saved a buck. 

BEFORE YOU ASK: Yes, it will be available in print. Yes, it will be in audio. Kale Williams is already set to record this one. :-) 

So what's this little standalone about?

The decades-old disappearance of twenty-one-year-old teaching student Deirdre O’Donnell is the Holy Grail for true-crime buffs—and Skylar Brennan, the host of the Ugly Town podcast, is no exception. In fact, on the mean streets of the internet, he’s considered an expert on the case. (In law-enforcement circles, he’s viewed as just another crackpot amateur sleuth.)

Every February, the remote New Hampshire village of Woodlark holds a candlelight vigil for Deirdre. Family, friends, and “supporters” of the long-missing girl gather at the spot where she was last seen. This is Skylar’s first vigil, and his fans are really looking forward to meeting him—though maybe not as much as the anonymous person who emailed him coordinates to Deirdre’s grave.

 

 EXCERPT

The cold should have sobered me up. It was fucking freezing. I was pretty sure my lungs were icing over. I could barely get my breath. And the lights were shooting all over the place.

I stumbled away from the pub and into the trees, and then I couldn’t remember which of the dark cabins was supposed to be mine. They all looked alike when they were asleep. Which started me laughing so hard, I had to grab the nearest tree to stay upright.

“Can I have this dance?” Beneath my bare hands, the bark was rough and textured, and I leaned my face against it and breathed in the bittersweet, earthy scent of tree skin. I stopped laughing and just breathed with the tree. The endlessly spinning tree.

What the hell is happening?

A hand landed on my shoulder. “May I cut in?” someone asked.

I rolled over, but somehow that meant I was no longer leaning on the tree, no longer leaning on anything. I staggered backward, and the hand on my shoulder became two hands, hauling me back on my feet.

“Whoa,” Rory said.

I tossed my hair out of my face and nearly fell over again. “I know you.”

“You forgot your coat. And hat. And gloves. The good news is you still have your pants on.”

“You wish!” I shot back.

He gave a funny laugh. “Uh…well. It’s not high on the list, but…”

I raised my hand and made a broad cutting motion—and found my arms full of my jacket, scarf, hat, and gloves.

“Would you like some help getting to your cabin?”

“Which one’s mine?”

“You got me there.”

“I got myself there.”

“Hey.” He patted my face with his gloved hand. “Brennan?”

I ignored him, dropping my coat and things, patting my pockets for my keys. I frowned into his face. “Did I leave my keys inside?”

“No. Brennan, hey. Hello? Skylar? Sky? Still with me?”

I opened my eyes. Shook my head.

“How much did you have to drink?”

I held my hand up and began to count it out.

“You think? Because I was watching. It didn’t look to me like you had that much. Is it possible someone spiked your beer?”

“Who? You?”

Even in the shadowy light I could see he was taken aback. “Me? No. Not me.”

I said confidently, “I think it was you. I think you’re up to no good, Rory Whatever Your Name Is.”