Friday, December 26, 2014

THE LIGHT WHO SHINES: HOLIDAY SALE! $1.99

Friends!

If you are like me, the holiday season is a time of giving, but it strains the pocketbook. It also often gives you a lot of time off. Time to read that is!

But what to do when you want to read, but you spent so much money on others? As an Amazon Kindle Select member, I can only do a sale every so often. So, I saved my sale for the week between Christmas and New Years just for this situation. I've been broke after Christmas myself often enough that I know exactly how it is.

The Light Who Shines

On Sale: Only $1.99
When: Now through 12/31, Midnight
Regular Low Price: $4.99
Amazon Suggest Retail Price: $5.99!
Link: http://amzn.to/1wM9fGw

I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful holiday season.

Best,

Lilo

P.S. If you have already read The Light Who Shines don't forget, you have until December 28th to enter the Audio Giveaway! See this blog post for rules and how to enter: http://bit.ly/13EYtoU

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 10 Free Audible Versions of THE LIGHT WHO SHINES for Current Fans!

As you may have heard, I've just released the audio version of The Light Who Shines. Today, I got a great gift from Audible; coupons for free Audible books of The Light Who Shines! So, I'm passing the gift on to current fans of the book who have already reviewed it. I'll do a drawing and select 10 people out of those interested.

The audio book regularly retails for $24.95 and is 14 hours and 25 minutes long.

Here are the rules:

  • You must have already read The Light Who Shines. This is a gift to current fans as a thank you for your support. 
  • You must have already reviewed The Light Who Shines on Amazon (regardless of the rating, so long as it was honest). This is because I want assurance that you really will leave a review of the Audible version on Audible.com. If you've read it, but you haven't reviewed it yet on Amazon, it isn't too late. Go review it on Amazon! 
  • You must agree to listen to and leave the review of the audio version on Audible.com within 2 weeks of receiving the coupon (but sooner is better!) 
  • You must enter the drawing by leaving a comment on this blog post with a link to the review of the book that you already left on Amazon. (Click on the title of your review. Then click on "Permalink". Then copy and paste the URL into the comments.) Entries without the link won't be accepted. 

I'll randomly select 10 people from the comments section (assuming I have that many interested parties.)

I'll accept entries until Sunday, December 28th at 8:00 p.m. EST. I'll announce the winners then.

The purpose of this is naturally to get reviews on the Audible version, so I'd really like your review to contain some focus on the narration as opposed to just a copy/paste of your book review. That way future Audible listeners will know what to expect.

And for all my dear readers who already bought the Audible version, I am so sorry! I didn't know these coupons were coming. Big bummer.

To learn more about the Audible Version, see this blog post.

Listen to the sample here.

Happy Holidays and Best of Luck!

Lilo

The Giveaway is now closed! Thank you to all who participated. I'll contact each of you individually with you coupon for the free Audio. Happy Holidays!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

BIG NEWS: The audio version of THE LIGHT WHO SHINES is released!

I hope you are as excited about this release as I am. But I'm going to tell you why I'm so excited, just in case you're not there yet. The Light Who Shines is narrated by Elizabeth Klett.

So who is Elizabeth Klett?

Her resume says: "Elizabeth has a B.A. in Theatre from Drew University (one of the top theatre programs in the U.S.), and has recorded a variety of dramatic projects, performing roles ranging from Lady Macbeth to Antigone to Juliet. She also holds M.A. and doctoral degrees in English literature from the University of Illinois and teaches at a university in Houston, TX."

I say: "She is a master of accents and voices." Truly she is. I literally hunted through hundreds of narrator voices before choosing her. Just wait till you hear it.

Main Characters

First of all, I asked Elizabeth to read Blue and Jack in a straight voice (no accent). I felt that since so much of the book was them speaking that it would be difficult to listen if they had a strong accent. Jack comes across as a somewhat formal rich man with confidence and power, which I think is appropriate for a vampire who lived 500 years ago in more formal times. Blue sounds like a 23 year old woman in modern times. Their voices do come across as very clear and easy to listen to.

Side Characters

In contrast to the main characters, I wanted the side characters to have accents to give flavor and style to the story. These are some of the voices you can expect:

Shaina: Sounds like a middle-aged Irish woman. It is so dramatic.

Maud: Sounds like an older southern Caucasian lady with spunk.

Alexis: Sounds like a young adult southern African American lady with a lot of sass.

Ernesto: Sounds like a middle-aged Spanish gentleman, full of respect and dignity.

Rubalia: Sounds like a middle-aged adult southern African American lady who is straight-laced and formal.

Father O'Brennen: Sounds like an older affable Scottish immigrant with a great brogue.

Dragomira: Sounds like a middle-aged Middle Eastern lady, with a very rich and exotic accent. We could not make her sound like 10 people speaking at once without introducing technology into it and most people would hate that. But her voice is fantastic. Trust me.

Chief Mack: Sounds like a slow talking southern African American older gentleman. The voice is very deep and very slow.

Yes! She does all those voices and accents brilliantly. It seems like I had a whole production company involved, but really it was all Elizabeth. It is amazing how she flips from one voice to the next in conversation. This is why I'm so excited. I'm sure you will be in awe of her skills like I am if you listen to it.

My favorite voices are Dragomira, Chief Mack, and Shaina, in that order. To me, their voices are amazing. I want to know who your favorite voices are!

Are you excited now?

Reviews

Right now I have zero reviews on Audible and could really use your support. If you have already reviewed it on Amazon and you decide to get the Audible version, you can copy your review from Amazon to Audible when you are done, or you can review it separately as an audio, considering the narration as well.

Availability and Pricing

It is now Whispersync enabled. Yay! It is only $3.47 for those who have purchased the ebook version. This is now the cheapest way to go after free (with a trial membership).

  • Audible Link: Different prices are offered for members and non-members. You can get it free with a 30 day trial membership.
  • Amazon Link: Offers a discount on the Audible price.

So in order of price, lowest to highest:
  • Audible (Free with Trial Membership)
  • Audible (with credit considering your monthly membership cost if less than 3 months old) 
  • Amazon Whispersync (with purchased ebook)
  • Audible (with credit considering your monthly membership cost if greater than 3 months old) 
  • Amazon (full price with the Amazon discount)
  • Audible (without credits/full price) 
But I'd really love reviews on both Amazon and Audible regardless of which version you purchase, if it isn't too much trouble.

Happy holidays to you (and to me now!) This is definitely my Christmas present to myself.

Lilo

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Chills and Thrills Giveaway!



Happy Chanukah, Winter Solstice, Festivus, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, New Year, and National Fruitcake Day! Or any other holiday that you celebrate this time of year. If you know me, even causally through my Facebook account or other social media, you will know that respect for diversity is important to me.

Personally, the holidays mean family time, great food, and a chance to buy my family what I think they need. Sometimes, I even pay attention to what they want. Sometimes, not so much. (wink) But giving is always more fun for me than receiving. I'm notoriously bad at remembering birthdays, so I try to make up for it this time of year.

This year we are doing casual Mexican fare for Christmas. Though I'm not religious, I consider religious holidays to be a cultural event, and wherever there is good food and fun, I'm happy to show up!

In the spirit of giving, I, along with 11 other authors have joined together to do a Holiday Giveaway. Each author is giving away a book and a side gift. There are some really great books and fun gifts here. It is open to international and if any gifts are out of stock at the time the winners are selected, comparable gifts will be given.

Please share this giveaway with others you think might be interested. The winners will be announced on December 23, 2014.

Happy Holidays!

Lilo

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