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Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – World Building
Tag: vampires
Let’s Party – Author Carla Swafford’s Newsletter
If you enjoy an old fashioned on-line party with giveaways, come and join in the fun at Southern Sizzle Reader Party Facebook group. I will be hosting a party April 23 from 6-9 p.m. central (USA). Click on the button to join the group after you go to this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/southernsizzle
Bzzz! Busy Bee
The past couple weeks (and more) I’ve been busy. As many authors do, I try to help other writers with their work. At first, it had started with one friend asking me to be a beta reader. That’s when an unedited book is read by someone and they give suggestions about the story. It may include catching grammar or spelling errors, but is not considered to be editing.
Then another friend asked me to check their synopsis. It’s to make sure the heart of the story is provided in a concise but entertaining way. Usually one to three pages, sometimes five (but rarely). Most editors and agents prefer one page. Another friend asked for help with their blurb. That’s the short information on the back of a book. Then finally, as pre-arranged by my best friend, I beta read her book.
I tell you, I’m a slow reader. So it’s amazing I did all of that in such a short time. I read numerous books each year, but my attention span is short. Thus why I only publish one to two books a year. Well, that and all the promo that I have to do to get my name out there.
Triggers
Authors are placing trigger warnings and tropes in the front pages of their books and on their websites with the book descriptions. I have too because certain triggers and tropes are what many readers want to read.
Used to be a reader only needed the blurb on the back, but I understand triggers and tropes helps. With the extra information, hopefully, the book won’t get a one-star rating just because it has foul language or bondage or sex. Yep, some people give books less stars because of “too much sex.” Like one of mine. Crazy, right?
Don’t forget to order your copy of Savage Champion. Release date is April 23.
Regards.
Carla
Newslettter: Author Carla Swafford – Twenty-One more Days
You probably can’t wait for Savage Champion to be released. Maybe because you want to read it. Or you’re looking forward to me shutting up about it. Either way, the book will be released at around 15 locations. But did you know most of my books can be purchased in Germany and France too? And you can read them on subscription services similar to Kindle Unlimited (though they are not there) and through libraries’ ebook programs? Here’s the total list where you can find them.
Amazon
Apple Books
Baker & Taylor
Barnes & Noble
Bibliotheca
BorrowBox
Everand
Gardners Books
Hoopla
Kobo Books
Thalia Books
Odilo
Overdrive
Palace Marketplace
Smashwords
Vivlio
Links are not included. If I had, this email would probably go straight to your delete folder. Hate for it to do that.
My first shipment of books came in and the cover was out of wrack. So I placed gold tape on the edge. Looks fancy, doesn’t it? I went in and adjusted the cover for the next batch before ordering. So hopefully they will be okay. But I do like that gold edge.
I will be selling these in Montgomery (Alabama) May 17 & 18. Be sure to buy a ticket (general admission can be as low as $5) Go to my website carlaswafford.com and click on On-Line and In-Person. The link is there for the tickets and more information.
Today is April Fools day in the U.S.A. A time for people to pull pranks on each other. I’m not wired that way. So no worries. Just have a good day, and if you celebrate Easter, I hoped it was as lovely there as it was here.
By the way, it’s not too late to ask to be an ARC reader of Savage Champion. Just email me at authorcarlaswafford @ gmail.com (no spaces) with your mailing address and I’ll send you a paperback copy (U.S. subscribers only). Deadline for me to mail it to you is April 7. Will probably take a week to arrive. Of course, there’s a catch. You’ll need to read it as soon as it arrives and post a review on Goodreads before or on the release day.
Anyway, keep reading (and writing if that’s your thing) and have a wonderful early April.
Regards.
Carla
Newsletter: Author Carla Swafford – Trudging Along
So many manuscripts, so many stories to write. I’m presently working on editing another paranormal romance, and then I have three more books (one is romantic suspense, and two are contemporary romances: one with an asshole billionaire and the other I’m co-writing with my friend Betty Bolte) to finish this year. We’ll see if I can get it all done. Eeek!
Be sure to pre-order Savage Champion before April 23, 2024. Apple Books, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo Books, Only 99 cents.
***Excerpt (unedited): Tori helps Ronan experience “Death Sleep” as a vampire for the first time.***
“What’s happening? My legs and arms feel so heavy.” Ronan’s puzzled tone was expected. I’d felt the same way when the first death-sleep came over me.
He stumbled toward the bed, an angry look came over his face.
“What have you done to me?”
“Shh. Do you not feel it? The sun is just moments away from peeking between the trees. When you’re first reincarnated, a fledgling has difficulty staying awake beyond sunrise.”
I helped him into bed, and he stretched on his back across the mattress.
His unwarranted anger was so typical of a male vampire. Aggressive and territorial, the young vampire was unpredictable, but I hopefully waylaid the worst by providing an outlet for his aggression.
“Isn’t it bothering you?”
“The longer you’re a vampire, the longer you can withstand the lure of the death sleep. Rarely, can a new vampire stay awake through dawn and never to high noon.”
I watched him fight the sleep like a child, though nothing about the way he looked was childish. The black cotton shirt, unbuttoned to mid-chest, and black jeans along with his dark hair and olive skin, the combination gave him a dangerous air. Heated desire taunted me. Temptation to touch him while he slept almost overtook me. He would resent that. It would be too much like taking advantage of him during a weakness.
His eyelids were at half mast. The beautiful depth glistening in the bedroom’s lights as he tried to keep me in his sight. He slowly closed them and snapped them back open, then they closed again.
I lifted his large, rough hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to the back.
“Relax. I’ll watch over you until it’s time for me to join you. Guards surround the place and the house is secure. Wolfric wouldn’t have reached the ripe old age of a millennium if he was careless.”
Immediately, his hand fell limp and his body sank further into the mattress. His chest no longer rose and fell with his breathing, and I knew his heartbeat would be near to nonexistent. I brushed the back of my fingers against his cheek, his skin was cold to the touch. Like death.
Wolfric was too wary to have vampires sleep in his bed when death sleep overtook him, if he did. I really had no idea. Only once, had I been near another vampire during death sleep. It had been when I traveled to Atlanta on Wolfric’s orders.
There, the large vampire colony had consisted of artists and musicians. Though during that period, I’d spent most of my time recuperating from my wounds and controlling my urge to kill every deviant in a twenty-mile area, I’d allowed a tall blond male vampire to slip under my guard.
The slightly older vampire had never met an instrument he couldn’t play and my body had been no exception. He’d been the only vampire I ever made love to or slept with before Ronan. After the Atlanta experience, I spent my sexual desires on my servants. Less of a distraction and I didn’t have to pretend softer feelings to achieve satisfaction.
Looking down at the man beside me, a softening around my heart eased the ache I endured for so long. I loved him, but how long would it take before he decided I was wrong to change him.
Tired and no longer feeling the brew, I pressed my body to his and kissed him on the cheek. His shoulder was perfect for my head to rest on.
I will be at the Capital City Author Event with many, many others. Please come by and say hi! Per Michelle Rls Sewell, founder and organizer, visit downtown Montgomery, AL, rich in history and southern hospitality, to meet some of your favorite authors of various genres. The Capital City Author Event will host over 80 authors/vendors, including many locally from Alabama, on May 17-18, 2024, Friday and Saturday.
LINK FOR MORE INFO: https://CCAE2024.eventbrite.com
Hope you stayed warm and read a lot like I did.
Hugs.
Carla
Newsletter Author Carla Swafford: Edits & Tidbits
Finally, I finished the first round of edits to my newest book. Remember, the one that’s a paranormal thriller. Vampires are the main focus, but there are serial killers (who are not vampires), mafia, witches, pixies, and a hot as hell private detective.
Next? I have a choice of three (possibly four) projects planned for next year. I would like to think I can release two books (or more) next year, but that’s me being hopeful.
Three newsletters ago, I added an interview with my characters Jake and Angel from the Southern Crime Family novel, Jake. Since then I’ve been thinking about what readers would like to know about my characters in all of my books. So I thought you might be interested in some background information about each book spread across the next few newsletters.
I guess I should start from the beginning. Circle of Desire was my debut book. It was actually the tenth book I wrote. I had finished eleven when I received “the email” from Avon Impulse (HarperCollins) wanting to publish it. The first book I had completed was a medieval romance. I still love knights, horses, and castles. Then I wrote a romantic suspense about a DEA agent who fell in love with the wrong guy. About the time I finished it, I fell in love with paranormal romances. Vampires, warlocks, and everything that went bump in the night. But after writing four paranormal romances without a successful interest, I decided to go back to romantic suspense and write a female assassin who was the main character. She wasn’t a good person, but she thought she was doing good. What a conundrum!
She squeezed the trigger. The jogger’s body continued straight ahead, propelled by the bullet’s trajectory, and he toppled off the edge of the pier and splashed into the water as his god-awful shoes tumbled across the boardwalk.
Circle of Desire
So I started it and realized I wanted the opening scene to be real as possible. At the time, my local writers group was having a couple come in and talk to us about guns. The husband was a former Special Forces guy, and they had a friend who had worked for a private military contractor (formerly called Blackwater). I asked him about the first scene in my book. He said it sounded feasible, but I needed to change two things. One I did, but then other I didn’t. What were they? One, the woman used a sniper rifle, and she took with her after the kill. He had said an assassin would leave the rifle. I wanted it used later in the book. So instead I had her break it down into several boxes and mail out separately to her Atlanta office. Two, he said the jogger wouldn’t fall in the water, but lie exactly in the spot he was shot. I needed him in the water. People would think he tripped and fell in. So they would be concerned in saving him, instead of looking for where the shot came from (silencer used). I asked the guy, if the target was jogging along a pier and about to turn back, would his body fall in then. He said it was possible. That was enough for me. It was fiction after all.
Giveaway
Three people will receive a ebook of their choice (only mine). Winners will be notified Thanksgiving Day (November 23). Click here and go to the bottom of the page. Use that form to email me. Be sure to let me know the title you’re interested in. It will be in Amazon’s format. [Updated December 1, 2023 – no one sent me an email. So none given out. I like to think everyone, who receives my newsletters, has all of my books.]
For those in the U.S., have a happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks.
Carla
Carla Swafford, Author 