Finally

You might not believe it, but the fifth novel of the Penumbra series is now out!

Here's a look at the amazing cover by Nicole Smith:

It's now available on Amazon. There were a few glitches getting it there, which is why I didn't post here right away, but I think most of it is fixed. I see that the "Look Inside" feature isn't yet working for the paperback version, but I hope that will be functional soon.

Wow. I hardly know what to say. I'm very excited to finally get this done, but I'm sorry it's in the middle of a pandemic. I don't know if anyone is buying physical books anymore, but maybe the Kindle version will do well. Who knows?

At this point, I can say that this will be my last novel for a while. As sad as that makes me, I have to acknowledge that I don't have anything else written right now and life is so strange that my imagination feels a little insignificant.

I love my characters with all my heart. I know that they'll live on in my head, and maybe someday they'll have another adventure that I think is worth writing. If so, you'll be the first to know! For now, please enjoy the five novels I've released ... and please write a review if you read any of them. Reviews are very important in getting a novel noticed!

I'm going to try to promote this novel and then I'll consider whether I'll continue this blog or not. I suspect that I will because I don't want it to disappear, but I've learned that what I think about the future isn't always the case. 

Thank you so much for reading the blog. I've tried to be honest and not ridiculous, to give some advice and some insights, to share what I've gone through. I've written some posts on my life outside writing, so maybe I'll continue with that. It remains to be seen.

You can always check out my Facebook page for more information: Diane's Facebook Page

Thanks for your support. Stay safe!

The Other Side

If you scrolled down the page on my blog in the past few days, you might have noticed that there's a new book cover in the lower right. That's right: The Other Side is now published! It's available in paperback on Amazon: The Other Side  I hope to have it available for Kindle by next week.

What a process this one has been! It really tested my patience (which was probably good for me), but I'm so glad I stuck with it.

I want to thank Nicole Smith, the artist who created the cover image, for her patience and willingness to work with me to get the image right. She put up with a lot of emails from me and she was always gracious and helpful in response. Thanks, Nicole.

I also want to thank everyone who put up with my hand-wringing and eye-rolling throughout the long journey that led to this novel. You were all very kind not to tell me to shut up and get control of myself.

Now I hope at least a few people will read it ... and like it! Please spread the word that the fourth novel in the Penumbra series is out: no one will read it if they don't hear about it. (And if you buy the novel from Amazon, please write a review.)

Thanks for your help!

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope you'll be able to spend the day with someone you love.
"I love you" never goes out of style.

In the Shadows is now available for Kindle on amazon.com. Be sure to note that if you buy the paperback, you can get the Kindle version for only 99 cents!

I have the bookmarks, too. There was a bit of a misunderstanding, which meant that the printers called to let me know my order was ready ... before I could look at a proof! Fortunately, when I went to look at them, I decided they weren't bad. The green was a little darker than I'd expected, but I think it works with the green that's in the cover image, so I'm happy with them.

I just registered for copyright protection today. You can find more about how I did this here.

Here's the poster I created to put up at work:

I've had some good responses so far. I want to thank my loyal readers, who get excited every time I release a new novel. You make a huge difference and I really appreciate you!

Let's keep spreading the word, okay?

In the Shadows Now Available

That's right, it's finally ready!

I only missed the deadline I'd set for myself by ONE day, so that's not too bad!
(I published it on February 1.)

Here's the link to Amazon: In the Shadows  I'll try to add it to the right side of this blog like the first two novels.

I'm a three-novel author! Wow, it's hard to believe. This one was the most challenging so far, but "what doesn't kill you ..."

I want to thank the artist, Kristi Kranker, for the cover image, and I also want to thank CreateSpace for making this dream a reality.

I hope to have the Kindle version ready by tomorrow, so look for it on amazon.com in the next few days.

And please tell all of your friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances, neighbors, etc., about the Penumbra series. Word of mouth is the best advertising, right?

Thanks again for your support!

Outsider is Back!

Well, that took less time than I expected! Here's what you'll see at amazon.com now:

Status of Outsider on amazon.com Feb. 2, 2014

Yea! That was much easier than I anticipated. You should be able to buy Outsider in both paperback and Kindle versions now.

And don't forget Another Shot!

Remember, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, so now is the perfect time to grab a book or two for those times when it's too cold to go outside. Tell all of your friends and relatives!

Outsider Temporarily Unavailable

If you happen to go to amazon.com anytime soon to buy a paperback copy of Outsider, I'm afraid you'll see this message:


Status of Outsider on amazon.com Feb. 1, 2014

It might seem odd that a publish-on-demand book is out of stock, but that's the case because I decided that there were a few too many errors in the book. Once I start the process of uploading a new file to CreateSpace, the book becomes unavailable on Amazon. I'm sorry if this causes you any inconvenience. I started the process today and I hope to have it finished within a week. If you're trying to buy a copy, keep checking back!

While I was at it, I decided I'd better fix the Kindle version, too. That means it might not be available for a short time either.

I want to have the best version I can for sale, so that's why I chose to do this. There weren't any huge errors, just some embarrassing ones, including some missing words, and I wanted to get them fixed.

Because of this, the Facebook page is also on hold. I didn't get any comments about it on this blog, so I assume nobody is holding their breath to see it. I'll get back to that once I get the corrections done to Outsider.

Another Shot is still available in both versions, so feel free to buy a copy.  I'll try to make a brief post when Outsider is available again.

Happy February!

Now Available on Kindle

Another Shot is now available in Kindle format. You can buy a copy if you click on the book icon to the right on this page. And even better, if you buy the paperback, you can get the Kindle version for only 99 cents! What a deal!
(When you're on the amazon page, click on the Kindle version to see this deal.)

Here is what our yard looked like last weekend:


Ice in McCallum yard December 2013
 

It was beautiful, but it did some damage so I wasn't too sorry when it melted.

I wish everyone all the best in 2014!

Winter Hits...

...with a baseball bat! My city got covered in ice over this weekend. In fact, the reason I didn't post yesterday was that I was afraid to turn on our computer while the trees were groaning with ice and branches were snapping all around. We lost our power for over an hour, but we were lucky to get it back so soon. Many are still without power, so let's keep them in our thoughts and send good wishes to the utility workers out there in the cold trying to restore the rest of the power.

The only good thing about the ice and deep freeze is that I am motivated to stay inside. Once we got our power back, I jumped right on the computer and I'm now busy trying to format Another Shot for Kindle. I'd forgotten how time-consuming that is! No wonder it took me over a month last time. I sincerely hope it won't take that long this time ... and I think the holidays will help that because I'll have time off work to keep plugging away.

I've already sold two copies of Another Shot on amazon.com so that's pretty great! Remember to tell all of your friends, co-workers and acquaintances about the Penumbra series and how they need to buy copies for all of their friends, co-workers and acquaintances! (Both novels would make a great last-minute Christmas gift!)

I wish everyone peace this holiday season.