Crossovers and Easter Eggs

I’ve been thinking about putting little hints and suggestions (aka 
Easter Eggs) into my books for quite some time. That, or do a full-blown crossover. Easter Eggs are where references to characters, situations, and places from other books are mentioned. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but I wondered if my readers would catch any of them. I mean, Easter Eggs are very well known in movies, especially in Disney and Marvel flicks. Why not place one or two in a new book, rather than do an actual crossover?

Well, I went ahead and did it. In Thann, I included two Easter Eggs, and had a blast doing it. One was found (the crossover reference to Slash), but the second reference hasn’t been discovered, even though it’s a lot more obvious and a major plot point. But it's been fun to get emails and PMs asking me if putting such-and-such in the book was intentional.

Yeah, it was. <grin!>

So I’m going to do the same thing again with my next release, The Trunk, (coming June 10th!).  It'll be fun to see if anybody catches them.

~~~~~~~~~~~

THANN
Paranormal Romance

#horseshifer

by Linda Mooney
Word Count: 42.2K
$3.99 e / $9.99 p

It started with a winning lottery ticket, and could end with her death.

What would you do with $597 million? 

Despite her estranged fiancé raving that it’s a waste of money, Maren Padgett decides to try her luck and buys a lottery ticket with the last few bucks in her wallet. What could it hurt? What Burke Shavet wasn’t expecting was for Maren to actually win. With dollar signs in his eyes, he starts making big plans for the big winnings, contrary to Maren begging him to slow down. She’s uncomfortable with how fast he’s moving, with good reason. 

She should’ve trusted her instincts. Pushing a spur of the moment trip to the Grand Canyon, Burke had it all planned out… 

Maren owes her life to the people living at the bottom of the canyon. Especially to the mysterious black-haired man named Thann who rescued her. The problem is she doesn’t remember why her life was in danger to begin with. She can’t remember anything actually. But slowly, her memories are returning, and no one is happy with what she’s recalling.

Warning! Contains lumpy soap, a shopping spree, a heavy load, an Oscar-worthy performance, five hundred million reasons, white water, petroglyphs, and a devastating act that brings two people together seeking justice...and love.

Excerpt and Buy Links

The Once and Future Steampunk Author?

I spent the long Memorial Day weekend at a steampunk convention. It was a blast. I reconnected with old friends and made new ones. As I told one of the organizers, it felt more like a family reunion than a conference. I always get a little weird about this though, particularly if I'm there as a featured author, because it's been three years since I wrote anything even remotely steampunk. Why? Primarily the simple fact that steampunk wasn't selling. While the early books in my Gaslight Chronicles earned accolades, Amazon bestseller spots, and multiple awards, by book 8, I don't think I was even picked up by Audible. Adding to the frustration was that most steampunks think of the genre as a lifestyle one, not a fiction category. Those who are into reading strongly prefer hard copies, while most of the Gaslight Chronicles are only available as e-books or audio books.

So I've moved on, though I still love hanging out with my steampunk friends and family, dressing in the awesome fashion and collecting all the shiny things. For right now,writing is my livelihood. I need to write what I can sell, and I'm working on some straight-up historical romance, and truly enjoying it. Still, I'll probably revisit my Gaslght world. I left too much hanging, and Ilove it too much to stay away forever. Will it be the same? Unlikely. The focus will be different, I'm sure, as the characters age and move on. I've considered a YA spin-off and a mystery/adventure series spin off, which would pull things out of the romance sphere. They might well be self-published. I really have no idea. All I can say is my heart is still there.

Steampunk. The only genre where you can toss romance, mystery, history, science fiction, adventure, horror, fantasy and just about everthing else, into a pot, stir, and pour out a story.

Photo credit: Russ Turner Photography. Steam & Sorcery: Carina Press.

HERE BE NEWS for May 27, 2019

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Case You Missed It:

Monday, May 20 - 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the gang at Here Be Magic, including a new release!

Sunday, May 19 -
“AUTHOR WEBSITE 'GRAND RE-OPENING' RAFFLE!” – Author Shawna Reppert has given her website a complete makeover, including lots of Ravensblood-related goodies. Raffle runs until June 19, 2019.

Thursday, May 23 -

“CHANGING WORLDS” – What do you do when you suddenly have to change the entire setting of your novel? On Here Be Magic today, author PG Forte talks about her journey to her upcoming release. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Events and News:

https://www.shawna-reppert.com/

“AUTHOR WEBSITE 'GRAND RE-OPENING' RAFFLE!”

Author Shawna Reppert is celebrating! 

She's given her website a complete makeover, 

including lots of Ravensblood-related goodies. 

Plus, there's a raffle to enter! 

Check out all the ways you can win at

http://herebemagic.blogspot.com/2019/05/author-website-grand-re-opening-raffle.html

Raffle ends June 19, 2019.

See the new website here: https://www.shawna-reppert.com/

Changing Worlds

So, a few years back, Amazon came up with what I thought was a genius idea: The Kindle Worlds Program. In case you’re not familiar with the concept, it was a system that enabled (or perhaps encouraged is a better word) authors to play in other authors’ worlds. It was not unlike officially-sanctioned fanfiction. And if you were an author who happened to have friends who also were authors, and whose books you’d brainstormed, or critiqued, or beta-read before they were even published, it was a whole lot of fun. 

This was the case for me. In Going Back To Find You, I got to take characters from one of my existing series (Children of Night) and write a story for them that was set in a book-world I hadn’t written, but whose birth I’d attended, if you will, one that I’d loved from inception.  It was a win-win-win scenario.

But what Amazon giveth, it also taketh away. Shortly after my second Kindle World book was released, we got word that the program was ending, the rights to our books were being returned to us, and all the books were coming down. In short, we were being kicked out of Eden.

In some cases, the original authors gave us permission to re-release our books as-is, but of course we couldn’t write any new books. This worked out fine for my first Kindle World book. The characters I’d written about were only visiting Sapphire Falls anyway. At the end, they went back to their originally scheduled series. But, as I was writing my second Kindle World book—a hometown wedding story featuring characters from a different series (LA Love Lessons)—I discovered several new characters who desperately wanted their stories told — and whose stories I desperately wanted to tell. These were friends and relatives of my hero and/or heroine, but they didn't exist in the LA Love Lessons world at all. They were deeply entrenched in a world not-of-my-making, and to which I'd just had my visa revoked.

What to do?

I thought about the problem a lot. I could forget about the new stories, but by then I had an outline, title, and cover for one book, and titles, characters and general ideas for two more. Eventually, I realized I had no choice but to re-write Going To The Chapel and set it someplace else.

Sounds easy, right? Well…not so much.

These were fairly short novellas. Using them to introduce a whole new world was going to throw everything off. They'd been written as bridges between two already established worlds. If I had to start from scratch, the amount of world-building I’d have to do was not just daunting, it was depressing. Going To The Chapel had been meant to be, at least in part, a love letter to a quirky, small town that I already knew and loved. Attempting to manufacture a copy-cat town felt wrong, somehow. Not to mention borderline unfeasible. I love fictional Nebraska, but I've only driven through the actual place. I can't count the number of times I've cringed while reading a book set in a place that I know well, and the author clearly does not. Verisimilitude was going to be a problem. But, all the same, I had to set my them somewhere.

That’s when it hit me. Sapphire Falls was not the first quirky small town I’d fallen in love with. To quote Yoda: There is another. And this one was mine: Oberon,California—the site of my very first series.

Migrating the stories to Oberon was not without its own challenges, of course. Challenges that go beyond the fact that, at the moment, the Oberon books are being updated and are not even available for purchase. Making the new books, effectively, a bridge to nowhere!

There is, for example, the fact that rural Nebraska and Coastal California are not even superficially the same place. They have different weather patterns, different geographical features, different geology, different food crops and vegetation, different fauna; their populations favor different sports and recreation, enjoy different food, drink and fashion—the list was bigger than I’d realized when I first came up with the idea. Eventually, however, I managed.

The new version of Going To The Chapel is coming out June 3^rd. And, if everything goes as planned, the follow-up book, Going Up the Country, will release this November—just in time for Thanksgiving. Which in itself is awesome, since I've wanted to write a Thanksgiving-themed Oberon story for years! 

There's not as much magic in the crossover stories as there are in the actual Oberon books,  which makes sense since there's none at all in the LA Love Lessons books. And then again, I've always thought of the Oberon series as Paranormal-lite. 

You can read more about both these stories here:  https://www.pgforte.com/crossover-novellas

HERE BE NEWS for May 20, 2019

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Case You Missed It:

Monday, May 13 - 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the gang at Here Be Magic.

Wednesday, May 15 -
“THE FAERY MONTH OF MAY” – Author Dani Harper tells why faeries are associated with this spring month. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing depends...

Friday, May 17 -

“DO YOU LOVE BOOK SAMPLES—OR LEAVE THEM?” – What grabs you? A captivating cover? An enticing blurb? The first line or paragraph? Author Maureen Bonatch talks about samples – plus she has one coming soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Release:

THE CHANCE
Hip Pocket Romance 2
Sweet Paranormal
by Linda Mooney
Word Count: 3.9K
$0.99 e

Beryl has never forgiven herself for the stupid argument they had the night before Tomas's death. She would give anything to be able to tell him one last time how much she loved him. How much she'll always love him.

An accident might give her that chance.

WHAT ARE HIP POCKET ROMANCES? 

They're quick 30-45 minute reads to keep you engaged and titillated. Lunch time reads. Waiting for your kid to be dismissed from school reads. Sitting at the doctor's office reads. Anytime you need a brief and satisfying escape from reality!

And each one is only 99c!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Website 'Grand Re-opening' Raffle!

Win a $25 Amazon Gift Certificate!

My website just got a complete overhaul! Fancy new look, easier navigation. Plus, I’ve added a page titled Ravensblood Miscellany where all the Raven-related bits and bobs of vignettes, photo essays, etc. that I’ve posted over the years have been gathered for your convenience. To celebrate, I’m raffling off a $25 Amazon gift certificate! (Gift certificate will be of the electronic variety that can be emailed.)

Ways to enter:

1)     Post something cool to the A Conspiracy of Ravens group on Facebook. Could be a comment on something you liked about one of the books, a question for the author, a fun picture of a wolf, a raven, a link to a relevant article, or something Victorian (pretty tea settings count). 1 entry per post. (You don’t need to follow/join, but I’d appreciate it if you did. The more people who join, the more fun we can have.)

2)     Write a review of one of my books on Goodreads or your blog and send me a link via IM or email. (I’m excluding Amazon reviews for this contest because of Amazon’s harsh standards regarding what they consider to be ‘paying’ for reviews, though of course I do love Amazon reviews and will ‘pay’ with undying gratitude.) 1 entry per review posting, so if you post a review to your blog and copy it on Goodreads, that’s 2 entries.

3)     Post a shout-out on Facebook or Twitter about one of my books and tag me on the post. 1 entry per post, but be kind to your friends/followers and don’t spam.

4)     Tell someone about my books. Make a word-of-mouth recommendation to your neighbor, friend, barista, or the person in line with you at the bookstore, and then IM or email to tell me about it. Now, obviously, I’m taking this one on faith because I trust my readers, but I’m limiting this method of entry to 1 per person to avoid temptation. (Naturally, you can combine this with any of the other entry methods.)

5)     IM me and tell me something you love or hate about the new website.

Enter by 6/19/2019 and good luck!

      Shawna Reppert is an award-winning author of fantasy and steampunk who keeps her readers up all night and makes them miss work deadlines.  Her fiction asks questions for which there are no easy answers while taking readers on a fine adventure that grips them heart and soul.  You can find her work on Amazon and follow her blog on her website (www.Shawna-Reppert.com).  You can friend her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter, where she posts an amazing array of geekery.  Shawna has on occasion been found in medieval garb on a caparisoned horse, throwing javelins into innocent hay bales that never did anything to her.