Angelic Rodgers's Blog

I'm nearing completion of my new novel, Elegant Freefall, which will be available for summer poolside reading.  This novel is far more contemporary women's fiction, as there are no vampires, no voudou mambos, no reincarnation.

Just one woman trying to figure herself out and several people around her doing the same. There is some backstabbing, some romance, some conflict with exes, family drama.

In my pondering about that book, I made the decision to go back to Amazon exclusively.  I've been distributing the Olivia Chronicles widely for a good year or more now, and the amount of energy and investment to promote on multiple platforms isn't worth it for me. I'm hoping that by simplifying and going exclusive with Amazon that not only will those of you in Prime get to read my books for free in the lending library, but that KU members will also enjoy the series.

Migrating to KDP for paperbacks also allowed me to lower the prices on paperbacks. 

So, as of today, all paperbacks and eBooks from me are exclusively available through Amazon.  You can still purchase signed copies directly here.

Whitby, the next novel in the Olivia Chronicles universe, will hopefully be available by the end of 2018.

I've also updated my author pages on Facebook and am more active on Twitter, so feel free to stop by either of those spots (widgets up top) and say hi. 

I've been absent for a long time, I know. The reason? I got promoted at the day job, which led to no time for writing. In November of 2016, I managed to write three days in a row toward Book 4, and it's still percolating in the back of my brain, but work obligations have taken the primary spot.

Keep an eye on me, though. Book 4 is coming, I promise.

So, Zamani is already available on a few torrent sites.  If you download the book for free from one of those sites, can you be so kind as to go to Amazon and review the book? I realize that there is no point in being angry about torrents or people passing copies of my work around.  In some ways it is flattering to think that the "seed" reader thought it was good enough to share with their torrent-buddies. 

But, if you are getting free reads, why not give the author some love with a review? It costs you nothing to leave a review (beyond a bit of time), and I'd really appreciate it.  

After all, it takes me two years to complete a new book in the series, mainly because I have a day job that pays the actual bills.  If more folks will talk about my books--even when they get them free--the likelihood more folks will pick them up and read them goes up. 

Which means that I can then dedicate more time and energy to writing more books for you to share on torrents, right?  

In preparation of the release on 4/29/16 of Zamani, I'm running Kindle countdown deals Friday 4/15 and Saturday 4/16.  $0.99 each for Blood Sisters and Brigitte's Cross Friday and $1.99 each on Saturday.  

If you use the Kindle App or have a Kindle e-reader, you can download and read the short (very short) vignette that starts Zamani.  Here's the Kindle version--download it and transfer it to your Kindle.

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We're a month out from the official launch of the third book in the Olivia Chronicles, Zamani.  All of my readers have provided their feedback, and I'm really excited to release this book.  I do read reviews, although I do not tend to respond to them.  For that one reader who was sad that Olivia was not the focus of Brigitte's Cross, I want to say that hopefully you'll get a little more insight into her character and past.

This book covers the same time period as the second book in the series, but Alex is back.  I can say that without it really being a spoiler.  If revealing that here means someone's not going to read the book, the blurb/synopsis would knock them out of reading it anyway.  This book also plays into the connections with Stoker's novel, as well, so fans of "Van Helsing's Lament" will hopefully enjoy that emphasis.

The release date is set for 4/29, which is also the Voudou holiday of  Cassé Canari.  In order to free the dead, Haitian Voudou practitioners ceremonially break jugs, delivering souls of the dead from purgatory.  Not surprisingly, April 30th is the Mange le Morts, or feeding of the dead.  If the calendar is seen as a wheel of time, Casse Canarie and Mange le Morts are opposite of Halloween and All Souls Day/Dia de los Muertos. 

From Maya Deren's Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti (pages 30, 44, 46):

The gros/bon/ange may be separated from the body even during the lifetime, and stored in a bottle, as a kind of isolation from malevolent forces.  At the Canzo ceremony--the ceremony of initiation or spiritual birth--the gros/bon/ange is placed in a canari (clay pot) or a pot/de/tete (receptacle for the "head," soul or mind) and left in the care of a houngan or some trustworthy person. At death this pot/de/tete is broken, to release the gros/bon/ange to the waters of the abyss; but one year later, the receptacle is replaced, as the moment of reclamation, by the govi, in which the soul, now referred to as an esprit, is lodged once more and which is as a throat, making speech possible . . . the ti/bon/ange. . . is automatically liberated at the moment of death and hovers over the body for nine days before ascending to heaven.  . . .If during life it is placed in a receptacle, a canari, or pot/de/tete, and if that receptacle is then stolen so that magic may be exercised upon the body through the gros/bon/ange, the person cannot die until the two are reunited.

Of course, as you know from Brigitte's Cross, Alex's ashes are not held in a red clay pot, but I'm sure you get the connection.  

If there is interest, I may offer signed copies of paperbacks again this round.  The cover of Brigitte's Cross got an update and currently all three covers are glossy in finish.  I don't do mailing lists (I personally am on a couple of writers' email lists and abhor getting emails from people daily, for instance.  Why would I do that to you?) so if you want to stay on top of what's going on with the series, feel free to keep up here or on the Facebook page.

So, while I've been putting the finishing touches on Zamani​, I've been considering marketing tactics and doing a lot of things *new* for me.  Here are my thoughts on GoorReads, classes that promise to show you the secrets to selling more books, and general shady behavior. One of the things that I decided to give a try this time around is better participation in GoodReads.  I joined several groups dedicated to beta reading (seeking for readers and offering to read for others).  I've done some beta reading for actual writer friends, so I thought it might be good to branch out.  First, I picked a couple of projects that looked interesting to me.  One person was asking for a reader for a YA novel that focuses on a trans character.  Because the novel was also set in a non US setting and cultural issues were part of the plot, it looked interesting.  I contacted the person on GR and gave them my web address, asking them to check out my credentials and email me if they thought we would be a good fit.

The second project I offered to read was actually a work in the same genre as the Olivia Chronicles.  I contacted her, let her know that we were working in the same genre and that I'd be really interested in reading her work and offering feedback.

Neither of these messages were responded to by the persons so desperately seeking readers.  Instead, I got a message from the moderator asking me if I was charging. No, I said, I am not.  However, it seems like for someone to trust me in handing over their work, it would be nice for them to know that I'm not just some gal who likes to read. I did get some messages from two individuals who were looking for readers. Neither was really in my genre areas (those I write in or that I read) but both folks were earnest and the story pitches were intriguing, at least.

I gave pretty extensive feedback and then when one of them offered to read for me in return, I said sure. ​Overall, I enjoyed the book by the person who was reading for me (although I felt it was a bit bloated and one of the characters came across as incredibly sexist and a bit like a male character who had just been turned into a lesbian for shock value).  The other person told me that she didn't have a day job, so she really liked doing reading for other people.  

In the end, though, I got back comments that all of my characters stink, that there were "errors on every page" and that this person got off their writing schedule because they devoted so much time to my book. 

My book was roughly 1/2 the length of the one I read for this person.  I do have a day job.  And while I have done some editing on the manuscript since that person read it, there were not "errors on every page."  In addition, I had a paid reader who gave feedback on an earlier draft (much earlier). That reader actually works for a publishing house.  In addition, my regular betas read an early version and didn't find the *problems* this person did.  Basically, the feedback was a long *I hate this genre and therefore your writing is bad.*  I think the feedback was also geared at "I got a free read from you but I don't want to return the favor."  

All she had to do was email me early on and say, "Hey, I am not feeling the MS so maybe I'm not your best option as a reader."  It's not like I asked her to eat a dog turd on film (those of you who recognize Divine above will know what I'm talking about). So, I was left at the end of that experiment feeling like I had just crapped over a bunch of pages and was probably insane because I thought it was ok.  The first printed proof came in and I started leafing through it, though, and started finding my way back out of the slump.  I started reading other indie novels again (I'm just about done with The Devil in Canaan Parish and will post a review of it soon). I started thinking about my goals in the books I've published in the series so far and my current project. 

I'm not trying to write high art here.  I'm writing genre fiction that at best will be entertaining.  If people find the connections to Stoker's work intriguing and they go back and read (or reread) Dracula, great.  My number one fan, Stacy, once told me that she thought the idea of writing a book and having one person read it and find it enjoyable was a wonderful one.  I agree.  And, so, I press on.
The problem, though, is I don't want to come off like this guy.  The other thing I've been doing over the last year or so is listening to podcasts and even attending a webinar or two about book marketing.  In a recent one, I did get some good ideas for writing fuller, more "sales-friendly" book blurbs, but I kept peeking behind the green curtain.  The example of the writer who cleared $7K in a month?  I couldn't find any proof the person even has a book out.  Their author site is nonfunctional, and the FB page I found for them makes vague references to the book (not titled) and series (not named) and how they are using a pen name.  The webinar host has books out, yes, but his fiction titles don't have a whole lot of reviews.

So, at the end of the day, none of what I've been playing with changes that much for me.  I still have a day job and will continue to write and hope that word of mouth helps out in getting my books in the hands or on the eReaders of those folks who might find some entertainment in them.  I fear that when Zamani comes out that the beta reader who hated it is going to flay me on reviews.  Hopefully, they won't even notice the book is out.

Today is the month ahead date of the release of book 3 in the series: Zamani.  You can pre-order now!

I am working on the paperback version, as well, and plan to release the two editions at the same time.  For those who wanted more Olivia in Brigiitte's Cross, you'll get more here, but you will also meet some new characters. This third book delves more deeply into the connections to Stoker's novel, and Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker both make appearances.  

The video above is a bit of a teaser.  If you want to know what Smoky Mary has to do with Olivia Holmwood, you'll have to check out Zamani, which is coming to your Kindles soon.

If you're interested in an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) in Kindle format (mobi), contact me by the end of the week and I'll see to it.  My hope would be if you're interested in an ARC that you might be willing to write a blurb I can use in my book description once the book is ready to roll out to buyers on Amazon & CreateSpace.  To contact me directly, click the email symbol in the upper righthand corner (if you want to copy and paste the address it is angelicrodgers@gmail.com ).  To get my attention, put ARC request in the subject line, please.

I just wrapped up my latest round of edits and revisions and I'm excited to hear what readers think!  I have yet to set a release date, but hope to soon.

The Shannon Clan, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1970 something. Growing up in rural Texas, we didn't really interact with extended biological family much. We did have family networks, and I found clan connection with the Spivey family and with the Nelsons.  Something shifted, though, that summer we borrowed a Winnebago from the family who owned the racetrack where dad trained horses and headed to Pine Bluff to spend time with my mother's side of the family, the Shannons.

I couldn't have been more than six.  I remember riding in the huge Winnebago on one of our first trips as a family that went beyond the boundaries of the small bubble of Santo, Texas. I'm sure somewhere on the road the adults were frustrated and there was probably some cussing about the lumbering, gas-guzzling Winnebago.  I'm sure there were probably some sibling arguments in the back. But I just remember the magic of going somewhere new as a family.

And then we got to Pine Bluff and more magic happened.  My mom's brother Larry and his wife had a huge house on Cherry Street and they had seven kids.  Seven: Mike, Jim, John, Tom, Bob, Mary, and Patty. I'm sure as I sit in my office in Kansas City today watching the busy traffic on 63rd street that I was overwhelmed by the sheer energy of the city, but I remember more the energy that house on Cherry Street somehow managed to, only  sometimes and only partially, contain. 

​Memories from that trip are mainly images.  Feet, for instance.  We went to the pool, which was a totally new experience for me.  While I remember the sun washed concrete and the crowds of people, I remember my cousin John's feet even more vividly. I remember looking at his flip flopped feet as he pressed the gas pedal, wondering if I would ever be so grown up that you could see the veins in my feet like little road maps.  

It was on that trip that I also met my cousin Tom for the first time.  Even then as a young teenager he was quick with dimples. I was enchanted to the point that I couldn't bear to be away from him.  And, he let me sleep with him one night, complaining the next morning that I was all knees and elbows.

Later, Tom would marry the equally enchanting Tami and move to Santo, Texas where he worked on oil rigs with my dad.  Renee and I would sometimes go spend the night at Tom and Tami's.  I remember reading The Chronicles of Naria in their kitchen while Renee and Tami talked about more grown up things.  Their little family soon became an extension of ours, and I remember Tami picking us up for school and riding in her car as the radio played. I also remember thinking that the two of them, Tom and Tami, were a lot like my mom and dad in their easiness with each other--the kind of grand easiness that makes the hard moments all that much harder when they happen.

When we moved to Arkansas right before my 12th birthday, we were close enough to Pine Bluff that my Uncle Larry and Aunt Gay became regular weekend visitors.  By that time, all of the kids but their youngest daughter Patty were grown and had lives of their own.  Tom and Tami came to visit, too, and in one of their hard moments, Tami left the farm without him, heading back to Pine Bluff.  Tom decided to take off after her, steeled by beer and my dad's words that if he loved her he shouldn't let her go.  Tom jumped in his black Monte Carlo and took off, not realizing that dad was not quite in the car. Dad's scar on his back from the gravel never failed to remind me of Tom and his great capacity to love.  It also never failed to remind me of the dangers of letting your demons get the better of you.  Even in that moment of seeking the light he found with Tami, there was darkness there.

Tom and Tami didn't make it.  I like to think that they both were too special to just share that with one spouse, maybe.  More than likely it had more to do with Tom's running from his demons.  At one point, he worked as a prison guard at Tucker. Later, I would think about how hard it must have been for him to work there. He wasn't authoritarian and I can only imagine that the job was a soul-sucking one for him.  Perhaps that experience contributed to his nomadism; maybe seeing others physically imprisoned made him fight against whatever it was that kept him tied.

Over the next 30 years, I'd see Tom from time to time. He would fall down and get back up and run at something wonderful all that much harder.  He became a nurse; I never saw him with his patients, but I can only imagine that he gave as much of himself as he could. He remarried, and his second wife was also a good match.   And then his demons caught up with him again.  I know the methods he used to run, but I don't know what was chasing him.

And last week, Tom died in Colorado.  In the years since I last saw him, he worked as a traveling nurse and sometimes worked with reservation folk. In my head, I have a whole fantasy of what his life in the West was like.  I am sure my fantasy is nothing like the reality, but I think I'll let my hippie imagination believe that he was free out there.  Maybe in solitude and in an environment so unlike his own he was able to not only help his patients but also able to let them help him heal.