Devyn Jayse's Blog

Here’s Chapter 1 of Hidden Power (Must Love Dragons, 2).

Chapter One

Sharp talons slashed at my face, missing me by mere inches. I jumped back in alarm and fell to the ground. I yelped at my attacker. “Are you trying to tear my face off?”

The shifter’s ice-blue eyes glittered as she let out a high-pitched cackle. “What do you think?”

“This is crazy,” I said, the panic clear in my voice.

She moved toward me with a predatory step. I scrambled backwards, looking around frantically for a weapon. My gaze fell upon a sword and a club laying on the ground about ten feet away. I pushed myself to my feet and sprinted toward the club. I picked it up and turned to face the shifter.

“What are you going to do with that?” Amusement colored her voice. She could have stopped me at any time. My speed was a snail’s pace compared to her supernatural one.

“I’m going to smash your head in,” I told her boldly. Despite its weight, the club was easy to pick up and wield. I imagined it was a baseball bat and visualized exactly how I would hit her.

The shifter threw her head back and laughed again. I couldn’t see what was so funny. If she was going to claw off my face, then I would club hers to oblivion. “Let’s see you try that, human,” she sneered.

The word made something inside me twist. I pushed the feelings aside, locking them away. There was time for that later if I survived this encounter.

“My name’s Vanessa,” I told her, glaring back at her smug expression.

“Come on then, Vanessa, let’s see what you’ve got,” the shifter said as she cracked her knuckles.

I winced at the sound.

A sharp smile crossed her face. She rushed at me and I raised the club and swung toward her. Before the club could connect with her body, she dropped to the ground as if she was about to do a push-up. The club swung harmlessly over her head. She jumped back up, showing off her agility and strength as her knees reached her chest. Before I could swing the club back around, her hand clamped around my neck and she lifted me off the ground. I dropped the club, my hands clawing at her fingers which tightened around my neck like a noose. She raised me higher as if I was as light as a kitten. My toes barely touched the floor.

“It seems like the club isn’t the best weapon for you,” she mused, glancing at the discarded object.

I cursed at her, but it came out as a strangled gurgle.

She tilted her head and looked at me as if contemplating how easy it would be to simply tighten those fingers around my neck and end my life. I raised a knee and tried to kick at her body, but she blocked me with her left hand. I used my other leg to kick her and winced as I made contact with her hard body. She swatted at me like I was a fly.

It was becoming more difficult to breathe.

“You’re still far too slow,” she said. “You have to work more on your defensive skills.”

No kidding.

Her fingers released me, and I fell to the ground as my legs gave out under me. She looked down at me as I gasped for air. She rolled her eyes at my slumped form.

“She’s alright,” she said.

Still trying to get my breath back, I frowned, wondering who she was talking to.

“I didn’t hurt her,” she said over her shoulder to a person I couldn’t see. “Much,” she added.

She pivoted to the side, revealing a tall man with a grim expression on his face and narrowed eyes. Guillen.

“What are you doing with Vanessa?” he asked Shaima.

“She asked for self-defense lessons. I’ve been giving them to her.” Shaima shrugged.

Guillen’s expression asked me to confirm or deny her assertion.

I opened my mouth and a croak came out instead of a yes. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I asked her. She didn’t hurt me,” I confirmed. “Much.”

“Why?” Guillen asked me. “Have you been threatened?”

“I used to take self-defense lessons back in my old town.” It was the truth. Ever since my mother had tried to kill me, I had been taking consistent classes. And when she had tried to kill me again I worked even harder to protect myself. I didn’t want to forget what I’d learned especially in light of where I was living.

I had purposely ignored answering Guillen’s question. I hadn’t been threatened yet, but every day that I spent living in the Dragon Research and Authority Center was another day that I was at risk. I had been admitted into the Dragon Research Initiate Program as a human. It wasn’t until Aisha, the assassin, had tried to wipe my memory that I had discovered that I was a witch. And if the dragons knew what I was, then they would kill me. They wouldn’t suffer a witch to live among them.

But I couldn’t just leave the program. I needed to find out more about what I was, but the longer I stayed, the more I risked someone discovering my secret.

“Self-defense lessons with a shifter isn’t the same as human self-defense lessons,” Guillen said, stating the obvious.

“We’ve had several lessons. I haven’t sent her to the infirmary yet.” Shaima cracked her knuckles. The sound made me wince again. I ran a hand up to my neck and felt the soreness there. That was going to leave a bruise.

Guillen watched my hand and frowned at Shaima. “As long as you remember she’s just a human.”

If he only knew.

 

***

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Start at the beginning with Beautiful Magic or continue the story with Hidden Power. 

The votes are in! After a round of voting by the readers, the purple cover won with 605 votes. The blue cover came in second with 352 votes. The original cover got 119 votes.

Here’s the new cover for Magic and Witches. I asked the cover designer, Andrei Bat, to add an additional touch. What do you think of the new cover? Let me know in the comments!

Vote for your favorite here.

After seeing the positive results of changing the Supernatural Slayer cover, I took a look at my bookshelf to see if I had any other covers I wanted to change.

I realized I could potentially have another situation with Magic and Witches. I love the original cover (on the left) but, like Supernatural Slayer, the cover can look drab at a smaller size. That means it won’t stand out to readers or convert well when advertised.

This is the new reality when it comes to selling books. There are more factors at play when deciding on a cover. You want a cover that looks appealing, conveys genre at a glance, is attractive as a thumbnail, and stands out among other books. It’s tough to get all those on point.

The Cursed Blood series will go live on 25 December and I want the series to have the best chance at success as possible. Having a strong cover for the first book in the series is essential to the series’ health.

Instead of choosing the cover myself I decided to ask others what they thought. I created a google form, added the three covers and one question. Then I asked my readers in my newsletter. I also asked friends on Twitter. I’m updating the Twitter thread with results as they come in. I’m hoping that by doing this I end up with a cover that is attractive to readers.

At the moment, the bright purple cover on the right is proving to be the most popular with 259 votes (54.9%). Vote for your favorite here.

Vote for your favorite here.

 

I finally had time to watch Killing Eve and I finished it in one sitting. I literally sat my butt down and didn’t get up until the last episode was done. I couldn’t look away. It was a fantastic show and I’m glad I had a day to myself to watch it without distractions.

What I loved:

International locales
Psychopath assassin
The characters
Sandra Oh’s character
Unexpected twists
Aunt Petunia! She’s in it!
Paris! Berlin! Vienna! Tuscany! Random English town?
Sandra Oh’s hair
The cliffhangers at the end of each episode
The surprises in each episode
Sandra Oh
The unexpected Nadia. Is it weird that I thought of Alias‘s Nadia when she showed up?
The honesty of the dialogue.
Yes, kids are annoying. They’re amazing. We love them but they’re still annoying.
Did I mention Sandra Oh?

What I loved most was that the story was unpredictable. I had no idea where they were going with it and I still don’t. Will there be a second season? I’d love to continue it. I discovered the show was sourced from a book called Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings. I want to read it but I think I might give it a few days.

The lovely Eri (Twitter @_arururin) has sent me the latest member of the Supernatural Slayer & Must Love Dragons series. Meet Enrique! If you’ve read my series, you know him as the Enforcer.

I’ll just put this here:

It’s only been 2 days since I changed the cover of Supernatural Slayer but it’s had an almost immediate effect on ranking. As you can see, more people are picking up the book with the new cover. It also got a few more reviews.

Of course, this is just the beginning…I hope!

 

 

 

 

 

I believe this is a great start and hope the book’s ranking will continue to improve. It just goes to show that sometimes you need to make a simple tweak but the sooner you make it, the better it is for your book and health of the series. I want the Supernatural Slayer series to have the best possible chance out in the urban fantasy arena as possible. I’m so happy the new cover is converting better than the original cover.

Magic Runes is leaving Kindle Unlimited and it was a sudden, snap decision.

The backstory: I was contacted yesterday by an author to join an urban fantasy boxset. I didn’t know the author but I enjoy networking and wanted to learn more about the project. I was invited to the group and, to my delight, I found an author friend already there. Of course, the first thing she did was remind me of the last boxset the two of us had joined where the organizer ran off with our money. To date that has been the first and last time I’ve ever used PayPal customer protection. I managed to get my money back but not everyone was so lucky.

Anyway, I’ve gotten off track…Since the original author that invited me to the group was asleep due to being in Australia, my friend told me the theme of the boxset was first-in-series urban fantasy. I checked the KDP Select end term for Magic Runes and it turned out it ends on the 24th. I unticked the auto-renewal for the next 3-month-term of KDP select.

On a whim, I checked the end dates for the KDP Select term for the Dare Valari series and found that they end in September and October and removed those from renewal as well.

I have never scheduled a free book giveaway and on another whim, decided to use up all five free days for the first time in Magic Runes’ history. The book will be free from 20 August until 24 August. And on 25 August, I’ll be taking the book wide and sharing it on other retailers.

As for the Dare Valari series, I’m leaning toward unpublishing the books but I would like to give readers a chance to read the third book before I do that.

And that’s the story of how randomly Magic Runes will go wide starting the end of August!

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few Tuesday tidbits…

I’m still working on getting to Inbox Zero, the mythical goal.

***

Tuesday’s Fantasy and Magic Books newsletter has lots of great books this week: https://preview.mailerlite.com/b4m9g0

I’m so proud of Tori Centanni & Rachel Medhurst. They’re doing amazing! I got both their books and hope to read them this weekend. If you’re interested in getting the weekly newsletter, you can sign up here: www.fantasyandmagicbooks.com A pop-up will appear and you can enter your email there.

***

The major task of the day has been to find out everywhere I posted the old Supernatural Slayer cover. It’s been difficult tracking it down. I’ve found the cover lurking on a signup page and various webpages. I asked my graphic designer for new banners and images with the new cover so that I can replace them. For example, I’ve got to change the current blog header to include the new cover. I still feel like I won’t be able to track each last one. I need to wait on the print version to update the Goodreads edition and for some reason, the image on the series page on Amazon hasn’t switched over. It’s changed for the individual book itself but not on the series page. It’s so random.

***

Annoyances aside, I’m really loving how the new Supernatural Slayer looks next to my existing covers.

***

I’ve changed my publishing schedule for what must be the millionth time. Thankfully, my editor’s a saint and puts up with my shifting things around. I’m hopeful that this will be the schedule I stick to moving forward. I have a backlog of beautiful covers and I need to write the stories for them.

***

The Supernatural Slayer print edition is in review. As soon as it’s ready, I’ll order a few proof copies so that I can double-check everything’s okay. I’m hoping to get print editions of most of my books up by September. Unfortunately, the Dare Valari series won’t be available in print. The demand is not there as far as I can tell. I’ve had more than a few readers ask for copies of Supernatural Slayer in print which is what made me start the process. Readers, talk to authors for what you want and we’ll try to make it happen. Otherwise, it’s just a needless expense or vanity on my part.

***

I have a  new series coming out in December. The Cursed Blood series will be set in a different world than my current work. I will be setting up a 3-month pre-order on Amazon near the end of September. However, you can find the book available for pre-order at 99c on other retailers such as iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble.

Here’s the blurb:

Two rival magic families. A century-old curse. One unhappy witch.

Rosi Montego never wanted to be like the rest of her family. She wanted to use her magic for good. Unfortunately for her, the curse on her family compels each spell she casts to turn into a hex, no matter what her intentions are.

When Rosi sneaks into a party hosted by the rival magic family, the Capdavall, she spots a man falling to his death and uses her magic to save his life…at a price.

Jaime Capdavall doesn’t believe Rosi’s good intentions when the spell that saves him transforms into his death sentence, but if he doesn’t work with her to lift the Montego family curse, Jaime will succumb to the unfortunate hex.

Magic and Witches is currently available for pre-order at 99c at the following retailers:

Barnes & Noble 
Kobo
iBooks

 

Supernatural Slayer has a new cover. I just updated the cover on KDP and the changes will appear within the next 72 hours.

I really liked the original cover and so did some readers and bloggers, but it had a distinct flaw. It didn’t stand out.

The lack of contrast of colors was an issue that made itself known when the book was displayed alongside others. It just wasn’t converting well next to other books. By that, I mean that I had AMS advertisements going for my three books (Magic Runes/Supernatural Slayer/Beautiful Magic) and Supernatural Slayer was performing the worst. It barely got any clicks despite a high number of impressions.

I knew it wasn’t the book itself since it has the highest number of reviews and most of the reviewers said they enjoyed the book. And that fact alone made me realize I was doing the book a disservice. I needed a new cover that got clicks. A one-click cover is the ultimate dream. It’s a cover that readers will purchase with one-click, no questions asked. Some barely read the blurb. A one-click cover is magical. You can attempt getting all the elements together but it doesn’t always come together the way you’d like. It was clear the original cover wasn’t it, but I needed a cover that got clicks.

I asked the original cover designer, Andrei Bat, to rework the cover of book 3 in the series, Shade Hunter, because I loved that one the most. He reversed the image and changed some elements, et voila, a new cover!

Before & After

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m happy with the result but the true test will be when I start the AMS ads again and see how well the book converts with a new shiny cover. Will it get the clicks that I covet? Time will tell!

What do you think of the new cover? Let me know in the comments.

My friend said if I beat my record of 37 reviews (Magic Runes) she’d buy me a steak dinner. I asked my readers for help, and guess what? Readers, we won! Supernatural Slayer has 70 reviews to date. I promised you a photo of the steak and here it is:

That’s 1kg of delicious meat. And no, I couldn’t finish it all myself. I shared it with two other friends. Thank you for helping me win my bet! And thank you for leaving such generous and kind reviews. I’m really happy you enjoyed Supernatural Slayer.

Magic Runes got a few extra reviews since I set up that bet, with the total now at 41 reviews.

It’s interesting to see how the other books compare to the ones above. They have a considerably lower number of reviews. My first book A Sword of Fortune and Fate, published in July 2017 has 19 reviews.

The follow-up book A Sword of Shadows and Light published in August 2017 has 9 reviews.

My latest release Beautiful Magic has 7 reviews.

I don’t usually ask for reviews in my newsletter so it was fun to win this bet. Thank you to the 70 people that helped me do that today. A special thanks to those that left reviews on my other works. If you have the time and want to show the other books some love, consider leaving a review on them too.

A couple of readers had asked me how I felt toward reviews. Overall, I enjoy reading them because I love seeing what readers thought of the story. Whether they’re positive or negative, they’re all great reviews to me. I appreciate the fact that a reader took the time to write something. My favorite reviews are the ones that let me know what worked and/or what didn’t work for the reader. It’s great insight and can help me with my next project.

A negative review that breaks down where I lost the reader is sometimes more helpful than a generic “I loved it” review. That said, I love all the reviews. The more, the merrier. As you can see from the examples above, I didn’t have much of a history in getting reviews. It’s always exciting to see a new one pop up!

To my readers, I wanted to thank you again for reading my work and for your support. It means the world to this fledgling author. And to each reviewer, thank you for making your voice known. This author reads and appreciates each review, positive or negative, they’re all gold in the end.