Lou Paduano | Urban Fantasy Novels | Sci-Fi Crime Series

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Adding Book Marketing to the Equation

January 12, 2017 By Lou

I love to write. You might not know this about me. (I keep it to myself most of the time.) But I freaking love writing. When it comes to putting together a story or scripting a scene, I am all about it. When book marketing comes into play?

I usually run for the hills.

Book marketing and writing is not a good mix sometimes.

Truth be told, I would rather hide in my basement than try to sell you on my amazingly, fantabulous novel.

Unfortunately, book marketing is a fact of life and it falls solely on an author’s shoulders. Unless you’re James Patterson or Stephen King. (Someday, maybe?)

Creative vs. Analytical – ROUND 1 – Fight!

Both sides have to come to play in order to make this work. As Soriya Greystone tends to say (though without a full understanding like my three year old) “Balance is the key.”

Writing full time doesn’t get the word out about your work so eventually all you’re really doing is talking to yourself. Not the worst thing in the world. (I hear padded cells are cozy after awhile.) You have to ask yourself what’s the point?

On the flip side, book marketing can and will take over your schedule completely. And I mean COMPLETELY. There is always going to be some social network to join or a promotional site to list your work with so it gets more visibility. All well and good but there has to be a limit.

Pros to adding book marketing to your schedule.

  1. Book marketing can create an incredible amount of excitement. Putting your work out there in front of other people is terrifying. It scares the holy hell out of me every single day. Talking it up, however, is a great way to build excitement not only for potential readers but for yourself. Delving into the background of a story helps recall why it mattered to you in the first place and why it deserves to be read by others.
  2. A motivating force. Promoting a book tends to come with its own deadline. You’ve talked about a project so it better damn well see the light of day at some point. Knowing there is expectation out there, even if it is just your mother, is the creative drive you need to complete the work.

Cons, the other side of the coin.

  1. Book marketing can stifle the creative process. Worrying about the sales of your last book can hamper your drive to finish (or even start) your next one. Stop refreshing the sales report on KDP (Guilty…) and start writing!
  2. Making story decisions based on the dreaded “what sells” mentality. When creative influences become mired in ongoing trends in the hopes of writing the next bestseller, the project in question tends to end up less than fulfilling on any creative level. Making the almighty dollar, while a wonderful goal that even I hope to attain one fine day, means nothing if what we create is passionless.

Ways to mix book marketing and the writing side of things.

  1. Keep them separate. Write during the week and market on the weekend. Or vice versa. Let your brain stay in creative overdrive during a draft and then focus on boosting sales numbers on older projects. You’re still focused on all aspects of your business (it is a business after all) but not at the expense of future product.
  2. Batch ahead of schedule. Book promos weeks or months in advance. Schedule the hell out of your time. Whatever it takes to keep your mind on the task at hand so you can be as creative as possible and deliver your readers another excellent book to enjoy.

All in all mixing book marketing with your creative endeavors is the ultimate juggling game. Learn it and learn to love it.

Thanks for reading.

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Filed Under: Marketing, Writing Tagged With: book marketing, book promotion

A Look Ahead at Greystone

January 9, 2017 By Lou

Every once in awhile there comes a point when the mental conversation that continuously swims in my brain needs to spill out on the page. Or in this case, the blog. I can keep things pretty straight most of the time, tucking little nuggets of information into posts and then keeping the sweet revelations for a later date.

This time I wanted to share what was ahead in the coming year and beyond.

Not only is my hope to whet your appetite so you’re as excited as I am for the upcoming collection, Tales from Portents, but also to add some accountability for myself. A little extra motivation to hit my deadlines (the earlier the better) won’t hurt and give me a roadmap to follow.

2017

February 17th – Tales from Portents. The first short story collection in the Greystone series. A prelude to the events of Signs of Portents, Tales was originally meant to serve one purpose: set up the events already depicted in Signs. As I plotted out the stories I wanted in the collection I realized that it could do much more than that.

It could act as a bridge between novels. Both thematically and in action. A project I was very nervous about publishing has become one of the most influential pieces of the puzzle for what is to come in the first cycle. Trust me, each story plays a part in what is coming.

September 8th – The Medusa Coin. The second full-length novel of the series and a story I have had kicking around my head since 2009. New characters are introduced and a great new threat as well. A few of them actually. When I originally wrote the outline there was a little trepidation.

The Medusa Coin stands as the midpoint for the first cycle of the series. Not only did it need to build on the first novel, there also had to be a path to the final chapter as well. Subplots from seeds planted in Signs start to form a bigger picture without losing sight of the main thrust of this standalone novel.

A tightrope act to be sure, but I think it will work out.

December 1st – Founder’s Day. Much like Resurrectionists, Founder’s Day is a novella offered ahead of the second short story collection. When developing the lineup for the next collection I thought back to Tales for inspiration and realized there were plenty of threads left to pull.

Including a direct sequel to Resurrectionists itself. If you haven’t read it yet, I won’t spoil it here. Suffice it say, Founder’s Day plays off the events witnessed in the novella with a heavy nod to the history of Portents laid out in Signs. The script came together beautifully and I am looking forward to drafting it once The Medusa Coin is set.

2018

February 9th – Pathways in the Dark. The second short story collection plays off the events of The Medusa Coin. It follows our leads directly from the threat posed and builds on the decisions made at the end. Each story stands alone but all connect to the larger framework of the first cycle.

Elements from all the previous books play a role in Pathways. Some of the tales within have been kicking around the old noodle for years so to finally see them come to life is a great feeling.

September 14th – A Circle of Shadows. I’ve been holding back this title for months, waiting to see if someone would ask me about its mention in Signs of Portents. Wondering if people noticed it sitting in the background when they read early iterations of Tales from Portents. This is the big finale to the first cycle.

Every time I close my eyes I see the pieces taking shape. I see each side of the conflict becoming more and more complex and developed. This won’t be like the first two full-length novels. This is bigger in scope and in cast.

There have been threats loose in Portents for longer than anyone has known.

And they are about to come to light.

Get ready.

Get excited. I know I am. Putting this series together (and laying the seeds for the next trilogy) has been one of the best things about the last year. (Don’t tell my kids that though…)

Thanks for reading.

Resurrectionists

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Filed Under: Greystone, Writing Tagged With: A Circle of Shadows, Greystone, Pathways in the Dark, Resurrectionists, Signs of Portents, Tales from Portents, The Medusa Coin

Writing Update – January 5, 2017

January 5, 2017 By Lou

Welcome Back! A new year begins. Hopefully everyone is well rested and ready to jump right in. Me? Not so much, but then again, that’s my own fault for working instead of resting.

Has a lesson been learned? Probably not.

Enough with the banter! Your writing update awaits!

Writing

Slowly but surely the final pieces for next year’s short story collection, Pathways in the Dark, are coming together. I’ve had one story, in particular, that I’ve had rolling around the old noggin’ for years but it never went beyond the one line elevator pitch. Finally, over eggnog and gift exchanges something clicked into place and I am very excited to see it come together.

Back in 2017, (yeah, this isn’t going to get confusing quick) I’ve started self-editing September’s release, The Medusa Coin. Feels like I wrote the draft a lifetime ago but it’s only been five weeks. I have this mapped for the next two months so bear with me. I want to make sure this one comes out just right. It is a piece I’ve wanted to put together for years and I want to make sure it comes out right.

First, though, comes Tales from Portents, completing our journey to the present. The order is in for the first proofs! I can’t wait to hold it in my hands while I read through it for the final time. I wrote down the first notes for the project back in April 2016 so I am very excited that it is almost time to put it out in the world.

Hopefully everyone has been enjoying Resurrectionists, the free teaser for Tales from Portents. If you haven’t snagged your copy yet, click on the image below. And if you have, a word of thanks and a small request to not only spread the word through the wonderland of social media but also to leave a review anywhere and everywhere so others can find it to enjoy in the future. Reviews also help me position the books better for promotions. (Something I will be talking about more in a couple weeks.)

Resurrectionists

Reading

I could mention Tales from Portents and The Medusa Coin again but that would seem awfully self-involved, wouldn’t it?  (That Lou Paduano guy is great though, isn’t he?)

Suffice it say, editing and proofing have taken over the schedule so reading for pleasure has been a little lost in the shuffle. Hoping to get back to providing some top notch recommendations soon. If you have any to share with me, please do so. I’m always on the lookout to try something new.

Thanks for reading.

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Filed Under: Resurrectionists, Tales from Portents, Writing Tagged With: Greystone, Resurrectionists, Tales from Portents, writing

Happy Holidays Everyone!

December 22, 2016 By Lou

happy holidaysA very merry and happy holidays to everyone out there in Toyland! How did the holiday season sneak up on me so quickly? It tends to happen faster and faster every year. I blame my children, but then I do most of the time anyway.

They still love me though.

Off track quickly here. Anyway, an early Happy New Year to all of you and a big thank you for following along on my continued adventures into possible insanity. Kidding. That happened long ago.

These last few months have been amazing. Sharing the world of Greystone as well as my writing tics has been an incredible experience. I can’t wait to show you what’s coming next year! More Greystone, more giveaways, more and more and more!

This will be the last post this year. I will be back on January 5th with a writing update, assuming I can find my computer under the mountain of batteries and Step 2 manuals for the wee ones. After that I’ll be back on the Monday/Thursday routine once again.

Don’t forget to pick up your free copy of Resurrectionists if you’ve been putting it off. (Why would you do such a thing?) Everyone needs a little sacrilege during the holiday season. It is a great primer for what you will find in Tales from Portents, coming this February. Coming quick too! I better get those proofs set!

And if that isn’t enough for you, a little holiday present from me to you:

The Medusa Coin

I freaking love getting a new cover from Kit Foster Design. Always an absolute treat.

The Medusa Coin will be out in September 2017. A lot more about that and the second half of Greystone’s first cycle coming your way in the next year.

Happy Holidays!

Be safe this holiday season and share some love.

Thanks for reading.

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Filed Under: Free Books, Greystone Tagged With: Greystone, happy holidays, happy new year, Resurrectionists, Tales from Portents, The Medusa Coin

Resurrectionists is Available Now!

December 19, 2016 By Lou

Is there anything else I can say? Resurrectionists is available now!

Resurrectionists

From the digital back cover.

Detective Greg Loren faces his darkest hour in this thrilling prequel to Signs of Portents.

With his career joining his personal life on a downward slide toward oblivion, Loren is running out of time and patience. Pulled into yet another in an endless series of supernatural cases, he uncovers a series of grave robberies that are more than they seem.

What is the Church of the Second Coming? And what does it have to do with Loren’s deceased wife, Beth?

With everything on the line, will Loren sacrifice his future to reclaim his past? Will his partner and confidante, Soriya Greystone, stand with him or against him in his decision?

No one walks away unscathed in this scintillating chapter of the Greystone series.

Enjoy an Exclusive Preview of Resurrectionists.

Chapter One

Kelli Andrews couldn’t sleep. It was the same routine every night: an hour or two of deep sleep…and then the nightmares started. Work, the kids, bills, the never-ending holidays. Plenty to choose from but the best were the mix and match set that spanned childhood fears with the mundane nature of her life.

Emptiness greeted her rousing, the other half of the bed vacant. Marc was missing again. Kelli sat up, rubbing the dreariness out of her eyes. The clock beamed in bright red. Barely 5:00 in the morning, the sky still black. She wondered how long he had been away, if he even came to bed.

She thought this was over, that Marc worked through this. The late nights. The disconnect from everyone and everything. Sleepless nights of channel surfing and roaming the neighborhood. Almost daily since the death of his mother three months earlier.

Kelli persevered, although she had no choice in the matter. Two kids not even in double digits and a job to keep them in their modest yet suffocating mortgage. A breakdown was not in the offering for her, though she could have used a nice stretch in a padded cell, if only for a decent night’s rest.

Death affected everyone differently. She hadn’t shed a tear over the last few months, the loss a blessing after years of suffering from debilitating illnesses and physical pain. But her husband of twelve years took the passing hard.

Things changed a month ago. A reprieve, a return to normalcy—or so Kelli thought. Seeing the empty bed, she wondered if she was trying to convince herself more than anyone. Out of need. For the kids. For herself.

Her ankles popped as her feet connected with the soft carpet. Despite the nightmares, she was surprised how long she had slept without interruption. It showed, her back struggling to straighten, her balance precarious on her trek to the hallway. She preferred the idea of another two or three hours of rest but her bladder won out.

The door squealed upon opening and she held her breath. Waking the kids was not an option, especially with the chance of a little more sleep still in the cards even after a trip to the bathroom. And the hunt for Marc. She would check the couch first. He was most likely passed out, drool running down his chin. There was the chance he was still awake, teary-eyed and lost in memory, the television a distraction from the photo albums that had become a permanent staple of the coffee table lately.

Halfway across the hall, inching slowly like a covert operative, Kelli stopped. A figure stood at the end of the hall—a small shadow centered among the darkness. Matted brown hair and wearing Spider-Man pajamas, her son startled her with his presence.

“Grandma’s here,” he said, his seven-year-old voice booming in the early morning graveyard that was their home.

Kelli shook her head. “What? Quinn, baby, it’s too early.”

Quinn walked up to her. His hand slipped into hers and he pulled her down the hall. The bathroom faded from view, like the nightmares of the last few hours.

Kelli struggled to keep up with the boy’s enthusiasm, her mind even slower to question their destination. They owned a small home, compact and single story. The hallway that led to their bedrooms and the single full bath (which would never be enough for all four of them) fed into the living room, which connected to the kitchen. The sound of movement from the latter caused her to hold back at the threshold of the former.

Quinn looked to her, puzzled, pulling harder. “Come on, Mommy.”

Her confusion didn’t subdue her senses. She recognized it: the sound of eggs frying on the stove and the smell of bacon sizzling on the griddle. It woke her up, the cloud of her deep sleep fading. Her smile returned.

Marc was back. Really back. For good this time. So ambitious, making up for lost time, he set to work making breakfast. A little early—by about two hours—but the effort behind it all bolstered her. Helping to keep her going after the burden of the last few months.

Her delusion ended quickly.

Lily, her four-year-old daughter, sat at the kitchen table. Quinn joined her, smiling and giggling, their plates full of food that would never be eaten. Next to her sat Marc, munching on a slice of bacon.

“What’s all this?” Kelli asked, confused by the sound of cooking while everyone sat around the table.

The confusion ended with her arrival. A figure rounded the corner, stepping into the light, carrying two plates of eggs—over-easy and dabbled with enough pepper to clear your sinuses. A staple of only one person Kelli Andrews knew.

Her mother-in-law stopped, pointing at the empty table chair. “Take a seat, dear. You look pale. Have you been eating enough?”

Kelli froze, unable to think. Unable to speak. Her husband grinned, digging into his freshly prepared breakfast.

“Isn’t it great, honey?”

His wife failed to agree. As she stared at the dead woman in her kitchen, she only had one response.

Kelli Andrews screamed.

Excited for more?

Click on the ad below for your FREE copy of Resurrectionists now!

Resurrectionists
Thanks for reading.

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Filed Under: Free Books, Resurrectionists Tagged With: Free Books, Greystone, Resurrectionists, Tales from Portents

Tales from Portents – Learning to Love Short Story Collections

December 15, 2016 By Lou

I can’t believe the release of Tales from Portents is only two months away. It seems like only yesterday I was sketching out a possible short story to share with my readers in between the full-length novels of the Greystone’s first cycle.

One. Uno. That was where this started.

A little confession.

I’m not a short story fan. I have trouble writing them. I have trouble reading them. Not because of quality issues. It is more of a mindset. I like something more immersive. To be lost in a world so completely for hundreds of pages that I have trouble leaving it at the end of the day.

Short stories seemed ancillary. Not as important. Less than crucial to the mythology. Sort of like the one in done episodes of The X-Files. The mythology was what brought me into the series. Answering the bigger questions kept me coming back. The one in done episodes seemed to be filler material against the grand tapestry of the series.

I was wrong.

Making each short story matter.

Going back through The X-Files a few years back I realized my error. Each episode brought with it fantastic character moments and some truly memorable roles. When I list out my top ten episodes few are mythology based. (My sister is screaming Conduit at me, right now. Quiet down over there!)

short story collectionThat was the mentality I brought to Tales from Portents. How to overcome my own misgivings with short story collections and make each one matter. To make each one vital to the overall story of the Greystone series.

Some might not seem that way at first, while other connections are very clear right from the start. That was the fun in putting it together. The challenge of understanding how smaller moments build to bigger ones. How an image, a reference, a location creates future stories.

Challenging the process

I enjoy long-form storytelling. The epic feel of series like Lord of the Rings or the great journey within The Dark Tower novels. I also prefer to write in that format. Having the room to explore, the space to breathe, rather than rush headlong from start to finish in 3.6 seconds or less.

Part of me needed an answer as to why that was, and to challenge my writing process to create within a specific framework. To build smaller stories that mattered without losing my voice or the importance of the overall picture.

I am incredibly glad to have taken the journey. Tales from Portents has many wonderful moments within, most surprised me when they came about. But all matter in the end.

The shadows in Portents are growing. A dark light fills the city.

And the circle is closing.

In two months we move one step closer to the end of the beginning.

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Filed Under: Tales from Portents Tagged With: Lord of the Rings, short story, short story collections, Tales from Portents, The Dark Tower, X-Files

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