Savage Champion – Page 3 – Carla Swafford, Author

Audio, Book Signings, Giveaways, My Books, Newsletter, Savage Champion, Sen, Southern Crime Family series, Workshop

Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – Same Old…

Posted on October 14, 2024October 29, 2024 by Carla Swafford, Author

If you’ve been looking for my Author page (carlaswaffordauthor) on Facebook, you won’t find it. I was hacked and I notified Meta. It’s a terrible long story that taught me that criminals will play the long game to get it. (No, I did not click on a link of any type.) Meta shutdown that portion of my FB. So I still have my personal page where I accept “friends.” Meta has been trying to get my Author page to come back up, but it’s looking like that will not happen. At least, if it stays down, the criminals can’t use it too. There are two parts of this that make me even more sad: 1) all of my photos are gone. So many memories. Sure, I probably have copies lying around the house, but still…you know. 2) There were over two thousand people following me. It took me a few years to build that up (I started the page in 2011) and I doubt I can do that again without spending money. Anyway, I had been drifting away from FB the last couple years and this might be the final straw to push me to stay on Instagram the majority of the time. TikTok is too much of a pain in the ass to deal with though I do post some there. Yet, I won’t leave FB totally because the groups are so helpful in keeping in touch with family, friends, and communities of interest. So be careful who you believe. ALWAYS go to the source and ask questions.

Booksigning

In my last newsletter, I told you about Bookfest in Sumiton, AL. It was a beautiful day and we had nice crowds to come through. They are planning a third one for October 2025 and it will most likely be indoors. So if you live in Alabama USA or nearby states, plan to visit. Lots of authors and book related goodies. Here’s a pic of me. I sold all of my Savage Champion books except for one.

Workshop

The North Shelby Library has asked my writers group to present a writers workshop this Saturday (10/19). Here’s the info on it. Link at bottom. I don’t believe it will last to 6 p.m. We should be finished by 4 p.m. I will be presenting Plotter vs Pantster. That’s referring to the type of writer you could be and will help you relax and accept whatever method you use is okay.

Fiction Focus: All-Day Writing Workshop

10:00am – 6:00pm

North Shelby

Registration Open

Library Branch: North Shelby

Room: Mueller Annex Classroom

Age Group: Teens, Adults

Registration Required

Seats Remaining: 34

Event Details:

Are you ready to captivate readers with your words? Just starting out and don’t know where to begin? Join us for this writing workshop designed to ignite your creativity and elevate your writing skills to new heights. It’s free.

Writing

Sen’s book is coming along. I came across an unique problem for me. Now, I don’t usually know who the bad guy is until I’ve written most of the book, but this time I was so certain who it was, but then bam! I realized I was wrong. So be on the lookout for a twist in the story. Hopefully, you won’t be disappointed.

That’s it for now. Here’s hoping the storms stay away for the rest of the year and everyone chill during elections. Scary times for sure. So keep reading romance and you’ll know there is a happy future for the couple (or more). Reading helps our mental health. It’s good to believe in happy endings.

Hugs.

Carla

Audio, Book Signings, Newsletter, Savage Champion

Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – Staying Busy

Posted on October 1, 2024October 14, 2024 by Carla Swafford, Author

For any of my newsletter followers who are barely (or not presently able) to read this for they are dealing with real life issues of a partial or fully destroyed home and/or lost family members, I’m keeping you in my prayers. We never know when or where a natural disaster will strike, and Hurricane Helene has certainly reminded us of that.

In case you’re one of the lucky ones and not dealing with Helene’s aftermath, be sure to prepare ahead. Hurricanes, tornados, snow, fire, heat, terrorists, locust, anything can interfere with our lifestyle. The government has a website for a survival kit. You can click here for the list of items needed.

Reviews

Well, from what I hear by emails/messages/texts, readers are enjoying Savage Champion and even giving it lots of five stars. Bookbub has one written review (thank you, Bleem58, whoever you are). There’s a nice comment on one of my ads in Facebook, and two written reviews at Goodreads.

And WOW, the long one from Suzanne (I don’t know her, I swear) makes me feel like a genius. The awesome review blew me away. Though she gave it four stars (negative due to world building-that’s okay-I know I can always improve), she said so many nice things. Her recommendation was “…for Lovers of darker paranormal romance with multi-dimensional characters and situation-mandated moral ambiguity on a frequent occasion. Fans of series by J.R. Ward, Nalini Singh, or Laurell K. Hamilton will find just the right dose of suspense, supernatural creatures, and romance they love.”

Audio

I still have free codes for Savage Champion’s audio (U.S. and U.K.). If you have friends or relatives ready to listen to a paranormal romance in time for Halloween, let me know, and I’ll send them a copy or you can forward to them. The code will only allow one download. When it comes to the review, they can do just stars. By the way, the prologue has a gory scene. You can skip through the first couple minutes if it bothers you.

Bookfest

You can find me at Sumiton’s (Alabama, USA) Bookfest October 12, Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 FOUR p.m. I think the time is right. There will be many other authors, and vendors selling book related items. Plus food vendors. Got to have eats! Hope to see you there. Let me know you’re a newsletter subscriber and I’ll give you a small gift.

Writing

There are only six chapters left to write in Sen (A Southern Crime Family Novel – book 2). I hate it has taken me so long to finish this book. Hopefully, the next one, Ethan, will go faster. Then I have several books /ideas lined up (a paranormal, hockey, or billionaire romance). Surely, I’ll make up my mind by then what to write.

Per John Steinbeck, “I guess there are never enough books.” So true.

Happy reading.

Carla

Audio, Savage Champion, Special Price

Free Audio Copy of Savage Champion

Posted on September 11, 2024September 27, 2024 by Carla Swafford, Author

Are you interested in receiving a free copy of Savage Champion’s audio? ~~As a~~ ~~subscriber~~ ANYONE CAN AS LONG AS SUPPLIES LAST – go to message form – click here [updated 9/18/24]~~you can.~~ You will receive a code and instructions on how to download. Only one user per code is allowed. All that I ask is that you review it on Goodreads and/or Audible.

Note: I presently only have 20 copies each for USA and UK. Be sure to let me know which you want.

Here’s a short blurb about it.

From bestselling author Carla Swafford a new genre for fans of her gritty romantic suspense books. When a private investigator tracks down a client’s lost sister, he discovers she’s not lost or the client’s sister. The woman is a vampire on a campaign of vengeance. Somehow he must stop her killing spree and protect her at the same time.

Thanks!

Carla

Brothers of Mayhem series, Newsletter, Savage Champion, The Circle series

Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – Almost There

Posted on September 5, 2024September 14, 2024 by Carla Swafford, Author

The narrators are finished with Savage Champion and I’ve listened to the whole thing, and approved it. They are great. It gives me chills listening to my characters come to life. I hope you will check it out soon. When I get the date for release of the audio, I’ll notify you.

Red Herrings & Dangling Strings

If you read enough of my books, you will know that I love red herrings . They are, of course, to keep you guessing who the true bad guy is or who will die next. I won’t go into detail here, for most people understand their purpose.

When it comes to the dangling strings, they can show up in another book of the same series or even other series entirely. They’re not really important, just something for fans to note.

One of my favorite dangling strings was in The Circle books. Though the first book a person is mentioned to have been moved out of a cell before the heroine was placed inside another. Then in the second book, they use a name of a known dangerous man no one alive has seen. Then in the final full novel, the man shows up as a secondary character. He was to have his own book, but HarperCollins/Avon didn’t want another Circle book. Even so, he shows up in a novella I self-published, but still as a secondary character.

Not only do people show up in different books or series, but places too. I created fictional Sand County, Alabama, because the law enforcement was known to be crooked in my books (Brothers of Mayhem series). I didn’t want the local authority to become upset with me if I used a real one.

Be sure to check out the latest romances.

Thanks.

Carla

My Books, Newsletter, Savage Champion, Special Price, Writing

Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – A Little Surprise

Posted on July 7, 2024July 22, 2024 by Carla Swafford, Author

Hey, if you haven’t gotten a copy of Savage Champion yet, go to Smashwords.com and purchase the ebook using the following code. It’s for 75% off. The code is good until July 16, 2024.

CODE: YNC7M

Romance, suspense, and a female vampire with a hero complex.

Learned Something New

Probably everyone knew this but me. You can squeeze empty plastic bottles with the lid off, and then put the lid on. It will stay squashed. Makes sense, right? Taking up less room. Anyway, maybe one or two people on my mailing list didn’t know it and will find this helpful.

Movie/Show Reviews

As a writer, you should constantly feed your muse. For some people, it’s keeping up with current news. Me, I prefer watching new movies and series. Recently, I watched several episodes of My Lady Jane. It’s an alternate history of the nine-day queen of England, Lady Jane Grey. Similarly done like Knight’s Tale, but it includes fantasy. I enjoyed it, and hope for a second season.

Jason Statham’s The Beekeeper was different enough to hold my interest. I have noticed during the fight scenes my mind wanders. I guess you have to have a sword or lightsaber to keep my interest in those scenes nowadays.

Speaking of lightsabers, The Acolyte series on Disney started out so boring, but it improved along the way, Some good plot twists. I noticed the reviews are mixed.

Continue Working

I’m presently working on two books. One I’m co-authoring with my BFF and the second book of the Southern Crime Family trilogy (Sen). But this summer has been so busy and August will be crazy. More about that later.