House of Ink ARCS

House of Ink ARCS are available now on InstaFreebie! I'm super excited for people to read this. It's fun and hot and fluffy, and I still can't stop drooling over the cover...

 

*Swoons*

 If you do grab an ARC, please post a review on Amazon when you're done! I'd love to hear what people think of this one :)

Blood of Midnight is free for the next two days!

Blood of Midnight is going to be free in the Kindle Store for the 24th and 25th! If you're looking for a fast read with some dark subject matter, intense action scenes, and vampire court intrigue, pick it up!

You can find the book here! And here's a quote;

On Self-Publishing. . .

Look, being a self-publisher is not easy. There are resources that aren't available to you and no marketing department with skilled agents to get your book into people's hands - people assume your book is going to be awful without glancing at it and other people assume you self-publish because you weren't good enough at writing to snag an agent and publisher, even though that's probably not an option/route you even considered or tried.

Indie authors are our own agents and handlers, we're often our own cover designers and site builders and we have to pull twice the weight our traditional counterparts do.

But it's worth it. It's worth it because when you do make a profit, you get to keep more of said profit. It's worth it because you don't have a publisher forcing you to remove queer characters and romance from your book, because you don't have the chance of getting stuck with a cover you don't personally like or have to jeopardize your artistic integrity to please an in-house marketing agent.

I would never say don't go for traditional publishing - I plan to be a hybrid author someday, I understand the draw and benefits of that position - but don't eschew the indie route as a non-valid option. I didn't consider trying to traditionally publish when I started putting out books, this is not my backup route or my only option - it's what I wanted and what I went for because it worked best for me, and if you dismiss the fact that there are midlist and upper level authors turning down 6 and 9 figure deals to go it their own, then you haven't been listening.

40% of book sales today are ebooks, there are dozens upon dozens upon dozens of beloved writers with devoted fanbases self-publishing, there are amazing resources and a close-knit, intelligent community. Beth Revis wrote the Across the Universe trilogy and then chose to self-pub The Body Electric, and it was arguably her best work yet. (IMO - I highly recommend reading them all though.) Look at what Joe Konrath is doing, and what Amanda Hocking achieved. Look at Nenia Campbell who have close-knit fanbases and erotica authors like Selena Kitt who have basically built an empire. And then tell me this isn't a valid option.

Stop chasing dreams that revolve around gatekeepers and massive slush piles and rejection after rejection because you're letting valuable, good books go to waste because one agent didn't like it or one house didn't think it was a great fit for their imprint and take matters into your own hands.

Frenzy & Rage (Free Books!)

So. I wrote some things. Some things I would like to get more exposure and mainly, more feedback on. So I thought I would offer up some freebies! As you do, right?

Rage & Frenzy are both paranormal novellas. They're set in the same universe, and while they can each be read as standalones, they work best when read together, and are available in a single collection, as well as individually;

 

They feature racially and sexually diverse characters, as well as action, romance, comedy, and horror elements. And I want you to read them for free.

So, if you're a book blogger, or if you rate books on Amazon or goodreads, comment on the blog with your email - or shoot me an email at ApolloBlake@mail.com with the subject line 'rage and frenzy' and I'll send you a free epub!

I would love to see more reviews and ratings - it's always fun to hear feedback - and I'd love to share Myra and Evelyn's stories with more readers.

(Note: I know the blog has been slightly dead in the last few weeks - that's because I'm working on editing Shadows of Ourselves for publication, and getting ready to interview some fellow indie authors here on the blog! I'll be posting updates about those soon! And, if you're an indie interested in being interviews, feel free to email me!)

New Covers!

I updated the covers for SOSAS and TLJA:

                    

I love the new designs. I wanted them to be simple and aesthetically pleasing without losing the emotional vibes of either story, and I think they came out pretty great. SOSAS is my favorite, but I still enjoy the cheery new Lilac cover.

I'm hoping that these will increase reads, because they're sleeker and less cartoonish than the old covers. They're easier to take seriously.

They also match up a bit more, design-wise, with a new cover for a new title I have now, and I'm really excited to share it. All I'm willing to say now is that it's a new Midnight City story.

But I'm not talking about that today. I'm talking about these. So in honor of the new covers, I'll share a bit about the inspiration behind the writing of each:

TLJA: I was really driven by cartoons and anime while writing this. I would honestly recommend picturing it as an animation while reading, as opposed to a real life setting. I always wince at this when I reread it because it's so immature and campy compared to my other books, but I still love it and the writing process.

SOSAS: I love Josmea. I have so many more stories to tell in this world. That said, writing SOSAS was torture. I had a lot of expectations for this book that made it hard to not hate it during the work process, so the main burnt of it was getting in a positive headspace, but that said I love the finished book. I definitely won't be using the same POV in future works for a while, though.

So, yeah. The new covers should go live soon, if you're interested and haven't read the books yet. I'm also still working on Rage and hoping to publish that on the tenth, and that's urban fantasy with horror elements, about Myra - whom you may remember as Evelyn's love interest in Frenzy - except this is set a few months before the two of them meet. This one works both as a prequel to Frenzy and Maelstrom, or as a standalone. Although if it is read as a standalone, it doesn't have a happily ever after, which I know some people like.

I'm fairly sure this book is going to piss some people off. But I don't think a cheerful ending would be honest for this story. It's not even bittersweet - more like, I dunno, bleak? It's bleak.

And I'm really excited to share it. Will post more info as we creep towards the release!

You Had a Thing No One Could Ever Be Sure Of

Title from the song Weight of Love by The Black Keys.

So. It's Black Friday. I worked from 9 to 5:30 today, then scrambled over to Best Buy and got a new laptop. Then I ran home and did the dishes, threw some chicken strips in the oven, and bolted to open this computer as fast as humanly possible.

I think I've met my one true love. No, but seriously - this laptop if my new golden child.

Anyway, I'm dead tired, but I'm taking a night off editing SOSAS, so I told myself I had to write a blog post instead, so here I am.

The last few weeks have been crazy.

Since I started working this job, I've lost ten pounds. My feet are covered in blisters, and my hands are constantly cut from the cardboard sleeves in the boxes at work, and by the time I'm off ever night I'm dead-tired from spending 8 hours on my feet, interacting with people, lugging out boxes and shelving stuff. It's tiring work, and anxiety doesn't make it easier. It's awful coming home after an eight and a half hour shift to realize you still have to write for two hours, on top of doing stuff around the house (aka picking up after four cats) and cooking dinner, if it's my turn to cook that night. I'm stretched pretty thin. There have been nights where I haven't written anything at all, because I come home and just pass out until it's time to get up and go back to work again. Did I mention I'm glad I'm only working seasonal?

I go back to school in January, and that will make work harder, too, but it's only for one semester, and then I'm free! I still totally failed Nano this month (actual life took over my life) but this job pays better than royalties right now, and I need this money so I can buy stuff that makes my job doable - like a laptop with a functional keyboard - and stuff that I desperately need; a phone, new clothing, gas, food - you know, the annoying shit we all need to live. But I'm hoping that now that I have this laptop and can write in bed, I'll put more work hours in.

Goodbye, external keyboard. Hello, productivity!

Work aside, I've actually gotten in a lot of reading lately while waiting for the bus or my ride home from work, and I just finished Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (my new favorite book! Review here) and Ruin and Rising, by Leigh Bardugo (review here).  What I really want now is the new Amanda Hocking, which doesn't come out until after new year's, so maybe a Kanin re-read is in order. . .

I've been listening to a lot of PVRIS and Tor Miller. I am obsessively watching Scream Queens. And you. Always. At night, when you think you're alone, I see you, staring into the dark, wondering . . .

Or maybe not.

And that's all I have to mention. As soon as I have a day off I'll have a blog about work and a blog about all this epic pop culture that I've been taking in lately, but right now I'm too tired to delve into much of it, outside of listing shit off.

Now I'm going to pass out, and wake up, and work another eight hour shift. Wish me luck. (I really, really, really need it.)

5 Facts About Shadows

I finish the draft of Shadows today. In honour of that, here are five facts about this book! Oh, and don't forget to check out the Charmers tab at the top of the blog for more info!


1) It's dark. As in, lot's of angst, lots of danger. Drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, emotional traumas. On top of that? A whole heap of monsters, some twisted romance, and a lot of action. I write a lot of dark stuff, and I got to show a bit of that in Things We Saw at Midnight recently, but I'm looking forward to seeing how readers react to a full length novel as opposed to a collection of shorts.

2) It's diverse. I really love diverse books. I don't love diverse books where the minority characters are treated as accessories or written as stereotypes, and I don't like books where the diversity feels preachy - I wanted to write a book that had trans and nonbinary characters, characters of colour, queer people, and characters with disabilities, without making them into caricatures. These characters' identities are just part of who they are, a normal part of their daily lives - as they should be.

3) It's hot. Remember when I mentioned twisted romance? Well, Shadows has heaps. Sky and Hunter are hot, full of hormones and angst, and oh yeah, stuck close together until they break the powerful magikal bond brewing between them. Sparks will fly - and so will clothes . . .

4) The book is in the New Adult genre. Sky is nineteen, and Hunter is twenty. The novel and series are set around adult themes, and are definitely not for the younger reader.

5) It's set in the city where I grew up. Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada - it's a hot damn mess of the grit and the glamour. Gleaming white spas down the hill from ugly ass dive bars, seedy strip clubs situated around the corner from top 40 radio stations. It's the largest city in the province, and it's a hectic mix of light and dark, hot and cold - the perfect reflection of the characters and story of Shadows. You can read more about it here: Saint John.

So, yeah, those are some things about this book that you should know. I honestly can't wait to share this with you guys. Aside from that, I also have the final quote I'll be sharing from the draft - as I finish it today, and then I'm letting it rest for a few weeks before edits start.

That doesn't mean I won't be working, though - I'm also doing nanowrimo this month! Feel free to add me!