Katie Cast

It’s release day, it’s release day, huzzah! (You have to imagine me singing that while dancing with my dogs until they lose interest and go off to stare out the window)

Today is the release of Time Thief, and as usual, I’ve prepared a newsletter about it with all sorts of links ‘n stuff, including a contest for a Romance Sampler! If you didn’t get a copy of the newsletter for your very own, you can read it here.

The newest quarterly wallpaper is now available!

A note about this quarter’s wallpaper. Assistant Sister Karen is, as some of you might recall, an artist in addition to helping me out with many things, and I asked her to make me some custom graphics for a book video for Time Thief. She’s been busily doing that, and we decided to use one of the images from that for this quarterly wallpaper. So instead of the normal type of wallpaper image, you get a highly artsy version. Yay for culture, right?

https://katiemacalister.com/fun-stuff/wallpapers/

I’ve mentioned it elsewhere, and at last the doors are ready to swing open on the Katie Mac street team, AKA Mobile Minions!

What’s a street team, you ask? The Mobile Minions are a grass-roots organization of Katie MacAlister readers who wish to help spread the word about Katie’s books via online and street promotions, referred to as “Missions.” Participants are rewarded with Katie Swag, which includes exclusive for-street-team-only items like a Desktop Hero, mirrors, keychains, handmade-by-Katie book thongs, and much more.

If you’re interested in joining the Mobile Minions, drop by the info page and read up on what it entails. Be warned that it may take a few days for us to process folks and get them into the Super Secret Minion Hangout (on Facebook). Also keep in mind that actual Missions won’t begin until late March.

Please feel free to share news of the street team formation. In addition to individuals, we’re happy to have booksellers, librarians, and readers’ groups be a part of the Minion fun.

Let fly the doves! The street team is gathering!

“Man-minx.”

Yes, I just wrote those words in my in-progress book.

You’re welcome. 🙂

So…when I get done writing this book, I will be able to write whatever I want. Historical, contemp, dragon, vampire, steampunk, mystery, young adult…you name it, the world is mine. Well, so far as writing the next book goes.

Given the choice, what would you prefer that I write next? Yes, yes, I’ll end up writing what I will feel like writing, but I’m interested in what people are anticipating the most.

I wanted to thank those of you on Facebook who put up with my head-scratching over a reader who sent me a nasty note about Yacky’s book. I can’t tell you how much your comments and e-mails of support mean to me–it really does make me feel blessed to have you all in my life.

It’s ironic that all that warm fuzziness should be going around right now because Assistant Sister and I have been brainstorming something super exciting. Although I’m not quite ready to release all the details, I will let you guys know that at long last, after two years in the waiting, the Katie Mac Street Team (aka Mobile Minions) will be launched upon the unsuspecting world!

We are in the process of having some really fun things created as both rewards, and items you can share with others, so stay tuned for the call for street teamers!

I hear some of you asking “What’s a street team?” For authors, it’s simply a group of dedicated readers who help promote an upcoming book (or the author in general). People volunteer to help get the word out about a new book, and in return (depending on how the team is organized), they earn rewards. For my street team, I’m creating some nifty things that will be exclusively available for members only (and not the general public). So what do street teams members do? Everything from posting a review, to tweeting about a book, sharing videos, posting pictures, dropping promotional goodies off at libraries and bookstores, and something so fun, I can’t tell you about it until I have a picture of it. The street team is all volunteer, and we will be rewarding people for their efforts both big and small.

More information will be forthcoming as soon as we have the structure in place, but until then, consider whether or not you’re going to want to be one of the few, the dashing, the elite Mobile Minions!

This is a fantastically fun interview with all three of the narrators of the newly-released Dark Ones audio books. Who knew they were all buddies? In addition, there’s a contest to win a copy of each of the books! Go forth and enjoy.

https://www.audiogals.net/2013/01/friends-narrating-katie-macalister-3-audio-giveaway/#.UQfST6XZpUQ

Today is the day that the first three Dark Ones books comes out in audio format, hoobah! If you haven’t yet seen the newsletter with links and information, trot over to it at https://mad.ly/62bb73. I can’t wait to hear how the narrators did with the books!

Man, is everyone else overwhelmed with stuff right now? Is it coming off the holidays, or the start of a new year, or just all sorts of projects and work and responsibilities ‘n stuff like that hitting at the same time?

I have books to write, tax info to start organizing for Mr. Tax Dude, classes to watch videos, do homework, and take quizzes, crafty projects spread out all over the dining room table, and a HUGE stack of books just waiting to lure me away from everything else. Did I mention the books to be written?

I know you guys must be just as swamped, and most likely more so, because I live a fairly boring life. At least we’re never bored, right?

Happy Tuesday!

I received a metric butt-ton of books for Christmas, most of which were from me (I am highly self-indulgent when it comes to books at Christmas), and some from family members. And this is a good thing, because one can never have too many books. I arranged all of my new books on a bookshelf next to my bed, and have happily been slowly working my way down the shelf, savoring each one, and enjoying greatly the wide variety of subjects covered by the books. For the curious, they included a Mary Stewart (Moonspinners), an Elizabeth Daly mystery (Murder in the Second Volume), a book of micro-pictures of sand, several books on the history of England and London (two of my favorite subjects), the second set of Griffin and Sabine trilogy (I had NO idea there was a second trilogy), the latest Wondermark book, two poetry books, and two books on code-breaking during WWII. Yes, I have eclectic reading tastes. We know this.

Before I fell asleep last night, I finished the Daly mystery, and pulled out at random a collage-story book to read (i.e., a book that was made up of collaged pages, throughout which a story was scattered–it was created to look like you’d picked up someone’s journal and were snooping into her life), but didn’t actually start it. I also didn’t closely look at the cover; I just tucked it into bed next to me, and promptly fell asleep.

Fast forward to about 4am, when I woke up. It was too early to get up and start the day, but look! There was a pretty collage book sitting right there on the bed next to me. What better thing is there than a few illicit hours spent reading with no distractions (and while snuggled comfy-warm in bed)? So I happily dove into the book, and an hour later (it was a collage book, remember, so not a lot of reading to be done) I was bolt upright in the bed, and staring in horror at the book. Somehow, I’d missed the subtitle on the cover that said it was the journal of the short life and mysterious death of the journaler. Now, clearly, that tells you right off the bat that SOMETHING BAD is going to happen to the narrator, and most people would have noticed that.

But not me. Not at 4am. Nooo, I got sucked into the tale of this journaling woman, and then whammo! Death, just like it said on the cover.

And this, my dumplings, is why I am no longer allowed to pick up a book in the middle of the night and start reading it. Now I have a rule: I must start a book when I have my wits about me and can notice things like BIG LETTERS ON THE COVER OF THE BOOK.

This does, however, lead me to a question: have you ever picked up a book and been unhappy with how it turned out? Not unhappy with the book on the whole (we’ve all read books that haven’t met our expectations), but more, you’re expecting a happy ending, and it just doesn’t happen? I won’t ask for a show of hands of people who, like me, totally missed something on the cover of the book that warns you things aren’t going to be warm and fuzzy at the end, but I am curious to know how many people were sucked into a book only to be disturbed by the ending.