Dig Two Graves is on sale RIGHT NOW!

Normally is is a pretty good deal. The Kindle version normally sells for $2.99, while the print version is $12.99. But right now it is on sale…

For Kindle, the book is only $0.99… that’s right, ninety-nine cents… for the next couple of days, then the price will bump up to $1.99 for a couple of days, before resetting to $2.99 on March 30th.

I won’t be able to run another sale on either this or Planning Vengeance (which is the first part of the story completed in Dig Two Graves) until after the end of May because of the contractual restrictions with Amazon.

Since we’re all in some level of lockdown, this is a GREAT time to grab a book and enjoy a little escape. Dig Two Graves is the exciting conclusion of Planning Vengeance, where Jack Dixon finds himself in dire straights after asking out his dream girl, Amy Prince. Her ex, Paul Murphy, can’t handle no longer being in control.

Jack and Amy’s father’s get involved, looking to protect the safety of their teens, and deeper plots are uncovered. Will their connections and skills save the day? And who else will go on the offensive to keep their secrets hidden?

There is a question out there about authors getting paid on Kindle Unlimited. A friend that wanted to read the books hadn’t done it yet because he was worried about me getting paid it he read them on Kindle Unlimited v him buying copies.

I still get paid… it is different, but that’s ok. Basically, Amazon takes all of the money from Kindle Unlimited subscriptions (minus their profit margin) and divide that by the number of pages read. the money is apportioned out based on how many of each authors pages were among those.

In effect, I get paid by the page for Kindle Unlimited, instead of by the download. It isn’t quite as much, but the idea is that people are willing to take a chance with an unknown author because they don’t bear an additional cost.

Also, if one is a top author on Kindle Unlimited, there is a bonus pool… I’m SO far away from that so it doesn’t matter, but I thought I would be transparent.

My second to last point is about reviews. I need them. In order to use most of the free (an even a lot of paid) promotional tools, I need to have a minimum number of reviews, as well as a minimum rating. So, if you have read one or more of my books and like them, please take a moment to write a review on Amazon and leave a rating. It doesn’t take much…

And lastly, more than almost anything, what I (or any other new author) need more than anything else is word of mouth. That could be in the form of mentions or even sharing the links to the book on FaceBook or elsewhere. There are a trillion authors out there, and a million different types of stories. And while feedback is AWESOME, just getting the word out is fantastic and incredibly helpful.

In that vein, here is a friend of mine that also recently published her first book. It is excellent for “middle grade” readers… in fact, I have shared it to my twelve year old… and I read it myself.

Skyclyffe

by Z. Moss

I have known her since the late 1980s, and she is immensely creative and talented. While your kids are stuck in the house would be a great time to give them something good to read!

I used a few tools to make writing a series of books a little easier. I tried to stick with simple tools, but I knew that I needed a way to organize a variety of information and make it easy to access.

The first tool I used was Evernote. As each character was introduced, I started an entry for them in a collection. I started with a birth date and progressed to a physical description and then character description. For most of the characters, I also found a picture to refer to when I was looking through the files.

The next tool I used was Excel. Because my books are organized by date, I input a small description of what happened on each date. I haven’t published the fourth book yet, but the spreadsheet REALLY started to shine when I was working on that. The stories in that book are around, between and concurrent with the stories in the other books, so I had to make sure that I didn’t have date conflicts.

For the cover artwork, I used Adobe Spark. I wanted to hire a graphic designer (among other professionals) but I didn’t have a budget. If the books produce some sales, I can think of a few different professional I might want to get involved, but in the meantime, I knew I had to do it on my own.

The final “tool” I employed was several “Beta Readers.” I hate referring to them as tools, but they were an absolute boon to my writing. Between grammatical suggestions and other more critical ideas, they REALLY helped turn up the quality of the books. They also provided encouragement when I needed it most.

As a final note, THOSE are the people I’d like to thank the most.

For the books in the Jack Dixon Series, much of the action takes place in and around Hampton, VA. Not all of it… but a lot of it.

There are two aspects of that. First, the general area. Second, the places around there that the characters frequent.

Some of them are real, and others are made up. To begin with, I didn’t want to trash any real business. So, the businesses that might have had a negative connotation attached to them by the actions of the character were made up. In other cases, I simply couldn’t recall a business in the area that was active in the time frame in which I was working.

I lived in Hampton from 1976 until 1983. Places like Smitty’s, Chi-Chi’s, Capri Italian and Darryl’s were places I went. Darryl’s and Chi-Chi’s are both gone now, but Capri and Smitty’s are going strong.

Hampton is obviously a real place, as are Carova (the 4×4 beaches north of Corolla, NC), Taos and most of the other areas in the books.

Personally, I found it easier to write utilizing real places. I could pull up a map and work out distances and travel times and routes. It also gave me a head start on describing places.

All that said, I have another book (or series) kicking around a little in my head right now, and it won’t be set in a real place. I do find that more challenging. In the end, I will likely need to create maps and artwork to use to keep everything consistent as they are described.

One of the biggest questions I have been asked about my books is “Who are the characters based on?” (The next post will be about the other popular question…)

Here is the fast answer… “Nobody… Everybody.”

Admittedly, a lot of people I have known over the years have found their way into my books. But only as little pieces. I have not lifted a whole person into one of the story characters. Perhaps the closest I have come is in a couple of walk-ons. But even then, it is only because my experience with that individual comprises a small portion of what they are likely like as a person.

But at the same time, any given character, especially the major ones, is comprised of MANY of the people that have been around me.

Now, names are a different thing altogether. And I’m going ot pick on one person here… Scott Jones. The character in Dig Two Graves is almost nothing like the real Scott. To begin with, he hasn’t ever been a pilot… and he hasn’t spent a lifetime restoring World War One bombers. And he isn’t nearly as old as the character. But when he was walking across his back yard, it was Scott’s image I saw in my mind.

Aside from him, the character names are all made up. Granted, I know people with most of the names I used… at least first names or last names… but not both at the same time. And for a bunch of the names I used a name generator. It was cleaner and easier than making up names… My well wasn’t dry, but I wanted names that were completely different.

BTW, while some characters have a little more of one person or another in them, I didn’t use the name of the person the character was partially modeled on…

Next up… Oh the Places We’ve Been…

Thank you to all that downloaded my book during the FREE promotion over the weekend. I hope you will enjoy reading it and I’d love for you to follow it up with one of my other books on Kindle… or maybe even get a copy in print.

Planning Vengeance, the book that was free this weekend, is now in print from Amazon. The second part, Dig Two Graves is currently only available on Kindle, but will also soon be in print!

If you weren’t able to take advantage of the free promo, it’s only $2.99. Or, if you are a Kindle Unlimited reader, it is currently free there!