February 6, 2010
Well, January was blessedly illness free, but February decided to hit me with another cold. But really, if that's the worst I have to contend with in this pregnancy, I'm going to consider myself lucky.
I'm finally starting on Thunder and Ice. I think all of my creativity has gone into the making of this baby, but I'll do my very best to get the book out at least before the end of the summer. Feel free to send encouraging vibes (and comments) my way.
All comments are being screened for now, due to an outrageous amount of spam. Please don't include any links in your comments, as I tend to delete them without looking at them at all.
Finally, I found this today. It has a lot of shots of Thunder Bay in it and a few of the Sleeping Giant during the winter months. This is my city and the location of the Thunder and Blood series.
Until next time,
Keep Reading!
Stacey
January 2nd, 2010
Happy New Year to those of my readers who still check this. It's been ages since I posted and I'm going to try to keep up with this better.
The news that I had planned to share with you in November, partly the same reason why I haven't posted in a long time, is that we are expecting a little boy at the end of May this year. My first trimester (and the first month of the second) were a bit of a challenge for me, but I'm starting to feel a lot better now, just in time for the new year.
The virtual book tour was amazing, I didn't know there were so many people out there who had read my book. Going back to see how many people got the free pdf, I guess I shouldn't be shocked, but it's always amazing to hear when someone starts talking to me about my book.
There was a wonderful review in the Chronicle Journal in November as well. After that, book sales in the local Chapters went crazy, which was very exciting. I'll post a copy of it later today or tomorrow.
My New Year's Resolution is to get Thunder and Ice written as quickly as possible. I've vowed not to play any games unless I've written 2,000 words that day. Games could include Sims3, Farmville, or something as simple as Mahjong or Solitaire. And the 2,000 words will not include blog entries, emails, or tweets. Hopefully this will let me keep my promise to get the new book out by May. I don't want to disappoint anyone.
I think that's all the updates for now. Until next time:
Keep Reading
Stacey
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November 5th, 2009
It's been a long time since I posted here. Since then I've started my tour and had my whole family (myself included) come down with H1N1. We're all okay, but it has been a long road to recovery and it kicked our butts. I've finally almost gotten my voice back and know that I'm going to have to write like mad to catch up in Nanowrimo (sadly I haven't been well enough to work on Thunder and Ice yet).
The tour is taking up way more of my time than I thought it would, but I'm enjoying it immensly. My hosts have been wonderful and very understanding while I've been sick. I'm starting to feel more like myself (which I haven't for the last month and a half) so I'm ready to get back to writing again. I'm going to try to post regular updates on how Thunder and Ice is doing so that you know I'm doing my job. I'd promise a daily word count, but I already know I can't follow through with that.
Tuesday's tour stop is going to be hosted by Bitten By Books - one of the first sites to review Thunder and Blood. I'm excited and honoured that they have decided to have me back and host an interview and contest. Hope everyone will come out and say hi!
I'll have more news on Monday! Stay tuned and keep reading!
Stacey
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September 20th, 2009 - Updated Sept. 28th
The October/November Virtual Book Tour is really shaping up nicely!
Here's the schedule I have so far:
Oct. 1 - OfficiallyM.R.S.
Oct. 6 - BookReaderTimes
Oct. 8 - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Oct. 13 - The Book Faery Reviews
Oct. 15 - She Reads
Oct. 18 - Thunder Bay Public Library
Oct. 20 - Book Obsessed
Oct. 22 - A Book In Hand (Cancelled but review to be posted at a later date)
Oct. 27 - Jenn's Bookshelves
Oct. 29 - Psychotic State
Nov. 1 - 3 - WebbWeaver
Nov. 5 - Cancelled by host
Nov. 10 - Bitten By Books
Nov. 12 - Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My!
Nov. 17 - Coffee With Kate
Nov. 19 - My Book Addiction and More! (Cancelled)
Nov. 24 - Koelschgirl's Confetti (In German and English)
Nov. 26 - Cindy's Love of Books
Nov. 30 - Cafe of Dreams
The tour is now full! I'm so excited to have such a wonderful range of fantastic bloggers on board. It all starts this Thursday!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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September 17th, 2009
I've had a busy busy few days! Here's what's new:
1. Book signing and reading at the Waverly Branch of the Thunder Bay Public Library on October 17th from 1pm to 4pm. $2.80 of each sale made that day will go to the library.
2. Two-month, nineteen-stop virtual book tour, beginning October 1st. Spots are filling up fast, but if you are a book blogger, reviewer, or part of an online book club, you can contact me via the Contact page and we can see if you fit into the schedule.
Details of the tour are as follows:
The tour will include two
stops every week during the months of October and November (Tuesdays and
Thursdays). Tuesday's hosts will have a book giveaway and Thursday's hosts
will do either an author or character interview (both in addition to the book
review). Characters to be interviewed include Sarah, Christine, Hillard, Radek, and Adelaide.
All participants will receive
their own signed copies of Thunder and Blood after the tour is over in appreciation of their participation. If they don't review pdfs, they can choose to do a
book giveaway so that they have a hard copy to review from. All I ask is
that they cover shipping for the giveaway. I'll leave the scope of the
giveaway to the blog owner (ie. United States, Canada, or International) so
that shipping charges don't get outrageous.
I don't require that the reviews
be completely positive - I know that not everyone will like my book. I
would just appreciate it if bloggers could say something positive about it
(ie. very cool cover) and mention some type of reader who might enjoy
it. Reviewers' honesty is what will make this work.
Of course, I'll also be
mentioning each host site here on my own blog, in my newsletter, and on all of my social
networking sites (including Twitter of course).
I'm so excited about this endeavor!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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September 15th, 2009
Well, I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things after summer. I ordered one of my last bigger shipments of books for signing (meaning first editions) a few days ago so that they'll be in well before the October 17th Reading and Book Signing at Waverly Library. I'm meeting with the library staff on Thursday morning, so I hope to have more information available then.
I read something interesting on Twitter today. It was about a library looking for book donations. As you may know from reading my Literacy section, I offer my books to libraries at cost plus shipping. However, that's something that this one library can't even afford. I give books away all the time to charity events, so I think that I'm going to compile a list and give copies of my book to two public libraries and two highschool libraries free every month (including shipping within Canada and the USA). If you are a public or highschool librarian interested in taking advantage of this program and wanting to get onto the list, please email me your name, email address, postal address of the library and a telephone number from the Contact page.
The new short story is coming along nicely. It has no title as of yet. I'm tempted to call it Beginnings, but I think that's been overdone. It's going to be released for free online on October 18th and at the Library event on October 17th.
Don't forget! - There's only a month and a half left until Nanowrimo! I'm going for 75,000 words this year. Who will join me in the challenge?
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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September 4th, 2009
I would first like to congratulate Christian Fowler and Leah Morgan for being the first and second prize winners of the Thunder and Blood August Book and T-Shirt Giveaway. To everyone else who entered, never fear, another giveaway will be coming up in a few months, just in time for Christmas!
With the end of the contest comes the launch of the new Thunder and Blood Store - the place to get all of your Thunder and Blood merchandise. Christian will be able to pick either the dark or light t-shirt in any colour or size he likes. This is the announcement that I was planning to make at the beginning of August, but frankly I was overwhelmed with entries and it took some time to make sure that each and every one was entered into the database to be counted.
Work on my new short story is coming along and I will be releasing it (in free pdf format) on October 18th. Why such a strange and arbitrary date? Well, I've decided that I will be using this story for the reading and book-signing that I will be doing at the Waverly Public Library in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada on October 17th. The story will take place before Thunder and Blood, but will explain the origins of a certain young girl that we encounter in the second novel, Thunder and Ice.
For the month of November, I will be participating in Nanowrimo and hope to write the majority of Thunder and Ice during this time. December and January will be consumed by editing (and various holiday activities).
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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August 6th, 2009
Well, August has started out as an exciting month, not only because of the August Book and T-Shirt Giveaway, but also because of the wonderful interview I had with April Pohren of Cafe of Dreams. We did the interview at the end of last month and it showed up on the BlogCritics.com website yesterday. Much to both of our surprise, it is now headlining the main page of the site and is also highlighted in the book section. For those of you who don't know the site, it gets traffic that ranges from 150,000 to 200,000 hits a DAY.
I have to say that I'm very honoured that April decided to interview me and I'm so thrilled that she enjoyed my book so much.
I have more exiciting news that will be announced here tomorrow and don't forget to get your daily entries in for the Giveaway!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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August 5th, 2009
Two days in a row! I must be on a roll, or recently unemployed? How about both? I quit my job last week so that I could have some more time to focus on marketing. I'm just really happy that my husband has such a fantastic job that we can afford to do that right now. He is an amazingly supportive guy.
This means that I have real time for writing! Inspiration hit me this weekend and sometime in September/October I will be releasing a short story that takes place in the world of Thunder and Blood and relates to the second novel in the series. Hopefully this will at least partially satisfy those of you who are clamoring for the second novel.
Don't forget to enter daily for the August Signed Book Giveaway!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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August 4th, 2009
What a fantastic way to wake up on this post-civic holiday Tuesday! I launched the August Giveaway (Enter to win a signed copy of Thunder and Blood and a T-Shirt) on Saturday while out of town camping and have had such a fabulous response! I only posted the information on the Facebook group yesterday and will be posting it up and around the Interwebs this week. It looks like there's going to be a lot of entries to keep up with, but I'm sure I can manage.
There are two ways you can enter EVERY DAY!
1. Sign up on the contest page on this website!
2. Tweet the following on twitter once a day:
Win a FREE copy of the new vampire novel by Stacey Voss - http://www.thunderandblood.com @thunderandblood
You can get additional entries by doing the following ONCE ONLY:
1. Join the Thunder and Blood Group on Facebook (post a message on the wall requesting that you be entered)2. Become a Fan on the Official Fan Page on Facebook (Click Here)
3. Add Stacey Voss as a friend on MySpace (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=464151310)
4. Add Stacey Voss as a friend on GoodReads (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2895063.Stacey_Voss)
5. Add Stacey Voss as a friend on Gather (http://staceyj75.gather.com/)
6. Add Stacey Voss as a friend on BookBlogs (http://bookblogs.ning.com/profile/StaceyVoss)
Remember, the contest opens at 12:01am on August 1st! Enter often!
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July 22nd, 2009
Anyone out there in Calgary? I've just sent off 5 copies of Thunder and Blood to the Calgary library. Should be there within the month. The copies in the Thunder Bay library seem to be doing well. My biggest goal with this book is to get it out there and read. If you want to read it and can't afford to buy it, I'd be thrilled to send you a free pdf copy.
Coming Soon - Contest to WIN a Thunder and Blood T-shirt!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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July 20th, 2009
I'm finally back to working part-time as of today! This means that I now have time for writing and housework - not really sure of the order of importance there ;)
I'm setting a small goal for now of 5,000 words a week (including this blog) until we pick up the new car (so I don't have to drive Heiko to work every morning) and until I get the housework under control. Incredible the disaster that ensues when your 12 year-old stays home while you are at work. Luckily, she's spending two weeks at the College (this week in Media and Design, next week in Culinary Arts) and I should be able to kick her back into normal living conditions gear once she's back.
I've decided to spend at least part of my 5,000 words a week on the new novel. I'm getting demands that I finish it and get it out there every day. I was planning on working on it for Nanowrimo this November, but hey, I can always work on Book 3 then, right? If I actually manage to churn out 5,000 words a week on the new novel, I should be close to completion by November.
One last thing - I want to thank Rocky Shields for his wonderful Tweet on Twitter this morning about my book! THAT's the way I like to start my Mondays!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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July 9th, 2009
Okay, so I didn't get that review update done when I said I would. To be honest, I'm only getting to blog at this moment because I'm home sick and sitting up for five minutes before going back to bed. But, checking my email and such reminded me that I had made a promise!
First, I would like to take the time to thank anyone who takes the time to read my book and then form a thoughtful opinion. As an author, I fully realize that not everyone is going to like what I write. That's one of the risks you take when you put your work out there for the public to consume. The only time I've ever shot someone down for hating my book was when they had never even read it first. Apparently, they also believed that I had written them into the book and were planning to sue me for it. I just told them to have all of their friends and family buy the book, read it, and then they could discover that I didn't care enough about them in the first place to put them in my oh so rich fantasy life. :P
So, I mentioned that on Monday I woke up to a bad review. Well, it was Monday, what did I really expect? Anyone who would like to read the review can click here. It made me upset - I'm not going to deny it - but I tried to be philosophical about it and immersed myself in all of the other, wonderful reviews that I've received. One of them was written by April Pohren on her book review site Cafe of Dreams. And then I woke up this morning (Thursday), sitting down to read my email and reading this:
Hi Stacey,
Just wanted to let you know that I loved the book. I can't wait
untill the second one comes out. I do have one complaint though....... It
ended to soon. lol Now I have to wait till spring to read
more. Good job. Are you going to announce when Thunder and Ice
is coming out? I hope so.
Anyway, great job. You should be very proud of yourself.
Thanks again,
Kathi Birsa
Thank YOU Kathi! That made my week!
I also received a short note from Rocky from Bitten By Books telling me that his review would be up soon and that it would make me happy when I read it. (He actually got a bit more specific than that, but I don't want to spoil the surprise.)
Anyway, thank you again to my readers. And I want you all to know that I hear you loud and clear - Thunder and Ice is in development in my brain at this very moment!!!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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7 July 2009
Well, it's been almost a month since my last update. I've been working full-time (teaching and not writing unfortunately) and have had no time for anything book-related. My husband also started a full-time job last week so now the pressure is off of me and I won't feel guilty for going back to part-time in August. With the two of us gainfully employed (on different sides of town) we're looking for a new car. (squee!)
Back on the writing front, I'm now officially an author! I received my first negative book review today! Why do I sound so excited? Well, it means that enough people have read it to have some good constructive criticism going. I'll add to this post in a few hours to give you the links to the latest reviews - good and bad.
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June 3rd, 2009
Well, I'm just about floating on air today. It's been an amazing (almost) month since I picked up my first batch of books at Ryden's. We've sold a lot, given a lot to libraries and highschools, and held our first book signing. I've had people talk to me about my character as if they knew them (which I suppose they do now) and even ask me about the places I wrote about in my book (especially Elke and Gerwin's cabin). It has felt so unreal to have people tell me how much they like my book (I blush even writing that). It means a lot to me because this has been my dream for almost all of my life.
So, again, I want to thank everyone who has read (or is reading) my book.
I used to think that I could only write when I was depressed, because that was the only time that I felt things fully enough to write well. I'm not sure that I believe that anymore. I've felt so inspired the last few days. I've even written up the plot for my first novel after the Thunder and Blood series is over (no vampires in that one though). Who knows if it will ever really make it out of that storage closet in my brain, but it feels good to know that the ideas are still there.
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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June 2nd, 2009
WIN a Free E-Book!
So, have you wanted to read more of Thunder and Blood and didn't have the money? Don't have a credit card? Just haven't had the chance? Well, I'm starting up a short contest where you could win a free pdf version of Thunder and Blood (only requires Adobe Reader or other pdf reader to view). The first twenty people who send me their email address through the Contact Page on this site will receive a free pdf copy of Thunder and Blood.
I'm looking forward to seeing how long the 20 will last!
The Contest is Now Closed!! Thank you to everyone who entered!! We may have to make this a weekly occurrence!! Watch this space for news!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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June 1st, 2009
I have to apologize first off for anyone who posted a comment through the comments page since the site was launched. None of the comments were mailed to me. Here I thought you were just a quiet (or nonexistent) bunch, but apparently not. I would fire my programmer, but I'm married to him so I'm more of the mind to forgive him and let him make me coffee in the morning to make up for it. I have all comments now and anything sent from this point forward will get to me as soon as I check my email, so that's all taken care of.
I posted the pictures from the book signing and did a minor design change on the site (added two more menu items). You can find the pictures here and my details about the new Literacy Initiative here.
I'm planning one or two more book signing events in Thunder Bay this summer and am not opposed to a little short travel. I do have to stick fairly close to home right now, however, as I'm still a newbie at my job and don't have any paid vacation. I want to thank everyone who has read and commented on the book to me. Your thoughts and insights are invaluable to me and I really appreciate intelligent criticism. You never know, you may find a change or two that you suggested in the next edition of the book (which won't be coming out until next winter). I've already decided that a pronunciation guide for the German words and names is going to be a must. The first time I heard Elke pronounced like Alkie and not Elk-eh I knew that would be an addition. Maybe that's something I can add to the fun stuff section of the site. Plans plans plans.
The book is now in the hands of several professional reviewers and I look forward to their input as well. And when I say looking forward to, I mean "sick in the pit of my stomach, oh my god they're gonna hate it, I think I'm going to throw up" looking forward to it.
No other updates for the moment, except that the next book is starting to become more and more vocal in my head. Some days these characters (and some new ones you don't know about yet) can get pretty loud. You did know that all writers are just a touch crazy, right?
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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May 26, 2009
The book signing was a great success! We sold a lot of books, drank tea, and the stream of people was pretty steady throughout the day. Pictures are still forthcoming - we're waiting for permission from the Mayor's office to post the pictures of her and I together.
Apparently there's been a demand that I hold another signing event at DAT'S Scrapbooking, so watch for the announcement in the upcoming weeks. I plan to take at least a month off though, because the plannnig and running around for the book launch and signing were exhausting. I have 6 weeks of full-time teaching ahead of me, so I'm going to get at least some of that under my belt before taking on another event. So watch for late July, early August for the next book signing.
I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me when we arrived at Steeper's to set up - an old friend - who I thought was on the other side of the country - was waiting to congratulate me before heading off to the airport. He was in town for a more somber occasion, but it was amazing to see him. I can remember when we were in our early twenties having our "writing nights". Now I have a book out and he's an internationally known composer. :D Life turns out funny sometimes.
My new literacy promotion plan is taking shape in my mind. I want to give it a chance to really take shape before I start talking about it. I think I'll have the whole thing together for a launch this weekend. It's going to combine books for libraries with Nanowrimo challenges for both adults and kids.
Have to go prepare for class now.
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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May 23rd, 2009
Book signing day today! We drove down to Ryden's to pick up our rush book order last night. The drive down to the border was gorgeous, no fog in sight. :P The leaves are starting to come out on the trees and I love the Canadian countryside when it's green. Heiko and I had a discussion about how the fresh leaves give a feeling of pure life and he sarcastically said that it must suck for people who live in warm areas where their trees stay alive all year round. As much as the winter seems to last forever, when spring finally arrives it just throws such a bounce into my step.
Heiko, Paige and I will be heading to Steeper's early today. Mayor Peterson RSVP'd so I'm putting aside a book for her. It's really exciting to see how well the book has been received this far. I know I'm somewhat sabotaging my own sales by putting them only in the small stores, but I've made the conscious decision to do what I can to support the local businesses in this city. I think I'm going to do the same once I start approaching stores in other cities as well. With the global economy the way it is these days, I want to support the small companies as much as I can. I'm also doing a literacy program where I donate books at cost to highschool and public libraries. I'll be putting more information about that initiative up on the site soon.
Have to get ready now. I'm trying to decide whether I should dress up or just wear my Thunder and Blood t-shirt.
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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May 19th, 2009
So we've all made it through the May Long Weekend unscathed. Weirdly, we started out with snow on Saturday and ended up with gorgeous warm weather yesterday. Now we've got a short week and an extremely busy one for us here in the Voss household. We'll be doing some running around this morning dropping off book donations to lucky libraries in town and meeting with Steepers to talk about the book signing. Tomorrow is the Chamber After Business event and Thursday and Friday I'm manning (womanning?) the booth for Everest in the mornings. Saturday is of course the book signing itself and Sunday we have a birthday event for friends of the family.
We've rush ordered some extra copies for the book signing since we've sold way more than I expected the first week. Thank you to everyone who's been so supportive.
Off I go to begin the week. Ready, set GO!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
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May 14, 2009
Well, it's been both a busy and exciting week! My CBC Radio interview aired on Monday morning. If you do so desire, you can listen to it here (Real Player or Real Alternative required). Book have been selling more than I expected and I actually had to rush out to deliver more to DATS Scrapbooking tonight because they had sold out and had two coming in tomorrow to buy. I wasn't expecting that at all!!
I've booked my first book-signing event for Saturday, May 23rd from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Steepers ~ The Tea People. I hope that if you're reading this, and in Thunder Bay, you'll pop in to say hi.
Not much else new. Just teaching a lot and watching the season finales of my favorite shows.
Cheers!
Stacey
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May 10, 2009
Lots of news today! My first shipment of books arrived on Friday and they are now up for sale on this site! It also went up on Amazon.com
last week! I guess my May 15th launch date was a bit wrong, but when does anything important ever happen sooner than it's supposed to?! Unheard of! It's also available on Target.com as well. :DI'm going to vent a little now.
I wanted to do a book-signing at a local bookstore, and I fully expected that they would want to do consignment terms with payment for books sold during the event to come about a month later. That's industry standard. However, industry standard is that bookstores take 30% of the retail price for consignment and receive 40% of the retail price if they buy the books at wholesale. The theory behind the percentages is that the publisher/author retains more of the risk in the consignment situation, so they retain more of the profit margin. It's also not abnormal for the bookstore to be allowed to return damaged books at no cost to them.
This was what I expected.
Instead I was told that the local bookstore takes 45% on consignment and the publisher/author is responsible for, not only damages, but any theft that occurs in the store! Also, I should raise my prices to cover this cost. :/
Part of my philosophy in releasing this book is to be a bit grassroots about it. I want to support the local economy and promote Thunder Bay. I had already planned to include small locally-based businesses in my marketing plan for the book and the above situation only cemented that position. I'm not going to put my book into the big bookstore. It's a shame, since I've always been quite the vocal fan of this particular store, but I don't think it's fair of them to require such extravagant terms just because they can. It may cut down on sales, but, for me, this isn't about becoming rich and famous, because really, very few authors ever reach that status. My goal here is have my work published and to be myself while doing it.
So, I would like to introduce my first two local distributors of Thunder and Blood (with one more forthcoming) - DAT'S Scrapbooking and Steepers - The Tea People. These two local establishments have copies of my book in stock and will be happy to sell to anyone within Thunder Bay. I'm hoping to have some "Meet the Author" events at both of these locations in the near future, so stay tuned!
So, in closing, the book is available, and there are many places to get it!
Keep Reading!
Stacey
Edit: One last thing...a poem I wrote for my mother several years ago.
Mother's Hands
Two hands
Tiny lines etched with time
Strength for holding little hands
Tenderness to show you care.
Your hands
Pushed me up when I was down
Held me when the nights were long
When I see them I think of safety.
I look down
And I wonder why I see your hands
Is it because I now have tiny hands to hold
A child to keep above the waves
I hold her when the night is long
All I want is to keep her safe.
I look down
And I see my mother's hands
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May 1, 2009
Well, I just finished my first full week at my new job. It was great and one of the best job beginnings that I've ever had. Julie, the person I'm replacing, has been wonderful in helping me learn all of the ins and outs of record-keeping and grade-recording. I was a little worried that I wouldn't like teaching computers and business as much as I did teaching English, but it was great.
I did my first radio interview about the book on Tuesday and it turned out pretty well. Click on over to the Fun Stuff page and you can hear it for yourself. I spoke to CBC radio today and I have an interview with them on Monday morning. I'm looking forward to that one even more because, unlike the first interview, I have a good idea of the questions they're going to ask. I had no idea at all what I would be talking about on the Dresser After Dark show.
I'm trying to get ahold of Chapters in Thunder Bay to see if I can do a book signing on the 16th. If anyone wants to see my book in their local bookstores, I would suggest that they go in and ask for it. If the store clerks say it's unavailable, give them my web address (www.thunderandblood.com) or my email address (stacey@thunderandblood.com).
If there are any small business owners in Thunder Bay who would like to sell the book, send me an email. I'm planning to make section on the Order Books page that lists Thunder Bay businesses who carry it so that local readers can avoid shipping costs.
That's about it for updates!
Happy Reading!
Stacey
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April 28th, 2009
Nerve wracking. That's the first time I've ever done a radio interview completely cold without any idea of what I would be asked. I think it went all right, and hey, it's book publicity. And more practice talking about my book. I always feel a little bit embarrassed whenever anyone asks me about my book. Really, it's just a story I wrote.
Anyway, the radio interview I was talking about was by Michael Dresser of the Dresser After Dark show. I'll upload the mp3 of the show once I get a copy.
In other news, the book was featured in the local online news netnewsledger.com on Sunday. From that, I spoke to someone at CBC today and they might do an interview as well. I'll have to call them back on Friday as I'm working full-time hours Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.
I got the final proof copy of the book last night and it's all ready to go. I'm going to order my first shipment this week and it should be up on Amazon a little earlier than expected. As soon as I get my order in, I'll start taking orders on this site (signed copies or unsigned). Our main problem right now is the ridiculous shipping prices for books internationally from Canada. We're still investigating a few avenues, but it looks like reasonably priced shipping internationally is going to take between 4-8 weeks to arrive anywhere. I just shake my head because it just really shouldn't be that way, but unfortunately there's nothing to be done about it except look for other alternatives (please let there be one!).
I just want to close by saying thank you to everyone for your wonderful support and comments. The response has been much greater than I ever expected and I'm really grateful to all of you out there.
Keep reading!
Stacey
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April 23rd, 2009
Well, funeral stuff is over and done. It's been a rough couple of days, but I'm ready to get back to the book. I was notified that my newest proof was mailed out yesterday, which means that I'll get it sometime around the middle of next week. At that point, I'll be able to put in an order for my first batch of books! I should be able to get my eager little hands on them around May 6th or 7th.
This means that I'll have a few early release copies for those who are interested. If you want one (signed or not), put your name on the list here. Once I have the books, I'll email everyone on the list with a link where they can order the early copies.
I'm also in the process of working on the second promo trailer for the book. Hopefully I'll have that up on YouTube by the end of the weekend. Watch this site for updates!
Happy Reading!
Stacey
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April 19th, 2009
Well, it's been awhile since I blogged, and I just want to first send out a very Happy Birthday to the best husband, dad, and computer programmer I know!
It's been a bit busy around here with book things. I got my first proof copy of Thunder and Blood on April 8th and spent quite awhile going over it and doing editing. I finally submitted it for printing approval yesterday, so I'm hoping to be able to have some advance copies available around the first week of May. If you are interested in getting your hands on a copy before the official May 15th release date, just hope over to this page and fill in your name and email address and I'll send out an email as soon as I get my hands on the first batch of copies. If you want more than one (or are a bookstore interested in a wholesale price) send me an email via the Contact page and let me know how many copies you will want. I'll be ordering the first batch in about a week, so if you want to make sure I have one for you, make sure you let me know asap.
Somehow I think it was meant to be that I didn't finish the final edit until tomorrow. Sadly, my grandmother passed away early yesterday morning. I still managed to have time to insert an In Memory of page for her before I sent it out for final approval. I'll miss you Grandma.
I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter lately. I'm proud to say that I was on Twitter before it was made more popular by the Race to 1,000,000 followers between CNN and Ashton Kutcher. I was also on Twitter before Oprah! Twitter HAS been sucking my time away and I know that I really need to get on the ball and start updating the site more regularly and working on the second trailer for the book.
Therefore, I hereby promise to you, the miscellaneous (and hopefully existing) readers of the Stacey Voss Blog, that I will work on website stuff and blog things before I open my TweetDeck in the morning. There! That's a promise!
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April 6th, 2009
So the big controversy I've been reading about today is that Amazon.com isn't allowing authors who post reviews of other books to put their name and own book title in the review. I'm slightly torn on the issue.
I can understand that they can't allow marketing-based reviews. However, I really doubt that anyone makes sales from their any of their reviews of other books. Yes, there are a lot of authors out there who post reviews to get their names out there, but all it basically does it start the recognition process of their book title. That being said, I doubt that anyone is going to get Amazon to change their mind on this. I think the best thing that authors who write reviews can do now is make sure they have a complete profile on Amazon and then sign their reviews with their name and their qualification - Stacey Voss, Author.
I think that having your qualification up there when you write a review is a good thing. Authors know books better than anyone and we read more than anyone else. I think that it adds credibility to the review. If I was going to buy a book on engineering and I read a review by someone who signed their name Joe Smith, PhD Engineering, I'm going to give that review some credit. As long as Joe doesn't put a link to his company and doesn't even name his company, no one can accuse him of advertising. If Amazon were to take the ability to at least put "Author" beside their name, then we'd know that they were really picking on us.
I personally have only ever written one review on Amazon. I do read the reviews that are written about books that I want to buy. I might have seen an author's name written under one or two of those, or I might not have - I really can't recall. What I looked for in the reviews that I read were well thought-out opinions, written in a professional manner. I think that if an Author, or anyone else for that matter, takes the time to think about a book and write a proper review for it, they should be allowed to put their book name at the end, or Joe from Draft Engineering. I don't think that it's going to get them any business and I really don't think that it's advertising. If not that, then at least let them put their qualification up.
Signed,
Stacey Voss, Author
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April 1st, 2009
One month until book release! My proof was shipped out today and I can't wait to take my run down to the border next week to pick it up. Ironically, when I'm taking that drive, I'll be following in Sarah and Christine's footsteps. Every time I take that drive I picture them in their Grand Am, wondering at exactly what point the fog began, visualizing Gerwin and Elke's cottage on the side of the road.
My days right now are full of browsing the web for different ways of getting the word out about the book. I'm meeting a lot of other authors online and it's interesting to see what other authors are doing in the way of marketing and the other kinds of books that are being published these days.
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