Order SIGNED copies of the FALL OF ANGELS Omnibus Edition!

I don't offer the chance to order signed copies of my books very often (pretty much never) but I have just
been overwhelmed with the amount of support and love you all have given to the FALL OF ANGELS series (well over half a million downloads!!!), that I thought it was about time!

So, for the first time, I am offering you all the chance to order SIGNED copies of the omnibus edition of the trilogy (that means this includes Branded, Forsaken, Vindicated, AND this print edition includes the bonus companion to Vindicated, AFTERLIFE).

I will be ordering copies today, so they will take a week or so to get to me.  So you won't get these super fast, but it should be within 2 1/2 weeks -- ish.  I'll do my best to get them to you as quick as I can.

Here's how this works:

I can only send these within the US.  The international shipping costs just get to be totally crazy, plus all the extra paperwork time it will take for me to get them sent just isn't feasible for me right now.  Sorry international readers!  I promise I love you too!

So, fill out the form below.  I need your name.  I really need your Paypal email address.  That is how you will pay for your copy.  Sorry, I just can't manage all this with checks and mail and all that.  Once I have your Paypal email I will send you an invoice and you can pay it from there.  And of course I need your mailing address.  I will be sending these out via the US postal service, so please be sure you can get packages from them.

The cost for these is $20 and that includes the shipping.  This is an awesome deal.  If you were to buy all of these individually it would cost nearly $40.

So fill out the form and hang tight until I can get these mailed out!

Peace, love, and happy reading!

Christmas Giveaway Time - the ENTIRE Fall of Angels trilogy!

It's been quite a while since I've done a giveaway for any of my books so Christmas seems the perfect time to change that!  Call it a thank you and an I appreciate all of you and a Merry Christmas from me!

So, here you can enter to win signed, personalized copies of the ENTIRE FALL OF ANGELS trilogy in paperback!  And the print edition of Vindicated even has a nice little treat in the back of it - Afterlife!

Here are the rules:

• US only.
• Closes the 14th so you should be able to get them in time for Christmas.  Well, maybe.  Y'all know how the postal service can get this time of year.
• You can earn extra entries.
• Fill out the Rafflecopter form!

And that's it!  Now enter away and Merry Christmas!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bookmark Clean Out GIVEAWAY!

I have WAY too many bookmarks lying around.  Eden bookmarks.  What I Didn't Say bookmarks, and Fall of Angels bookmarks with the old covers.  I need to get some of them out of my office.

So why not do a giveaway?!

There will be winners.  Lots of them.

Like... 20!

That's right!  I'm going to give 20 people a handful of bookmarks.  And I'll probably even sign them!

So here are the rules:

1. US only.  Sorry, shipping gets too expensive outside of the US.
2. Giveaway will run for 1 week.  Closes the 19th.
3. Fill out the Rafflecopter form!
4. You can gain extra entries.

Easy enough?  Okay, go!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

NEW FALL OF ANGELS COVERS!

I've thought about redesigning the covers for the Fall of Angels for a while now.  While I DO love the old covers, they are pretty boring, flat, and just too black.  But for a very long time I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do differently.  And I didn't want to totally scrap the images I've used in the old covers.  Partly because I love them, and partly for branding reasons.  A LOT of people have downloaded at least one of the books, and a lot of other people have at least seen the covers.  I wanted people to be able to still recognize the covers.

I don't even remember what I was looking at, something on Pintrest I think.  But it all of the sudden hit me!  I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I was in the parking lot of Costco, waiting for my husband to come out, so I grabbed a notebook out of my purse and started frantically sketching (they are bad... I seriously can't draw).  The next day I sat down with Photoshop to make my latest creation.

So without further ado, here are the new covers for the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy!

All together now!

So what do you guys think?  Like them?

FALL OF ANGELS

Jessica’s had the nightmares for as long as she can remember. Nightmares of being judged for people who have died, of being branded by the angels. Her friends and family think she’s a crazy because of it all. Yet she carries the mark of the condemned, seared into the back of her neck, and hides it and herself away from the world.

But when two men she can’t ignore enter her life everything changes, including the nightmares. The two of them couldn’t be more different. She will do anything to be with one of them. Even tell him the truth about angels, why she never sleeps, and the scar on the back of her neck. But one of the two has set events into motion what will pull her toward her own judgment and turn her into the object of her greatest fear.

AMAZON PAPERBACK | BARNES & NOBLE PAPERBACK

KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK

GOODREADS

It's been four months since Alex gave everything to save Jessica. Life should be perfect; she has Alex, she's been freed of the nightmares, and most of all- she's alive. But some things have changed, some things haven't. That's the problem. Alex still hasn't asked "the question". Jessica can't see the reason why and it's tearing her apart. He's keeping something from her.

Alex isn't the only one who has changed though. Something is different about Jessica but she doesn't understand what's happened. She just knows something's wrong, that she feels different than she used to, on a skin deep level. And it may keep her and Alex apart. Forever.

But while Alex and Jessica struggle to stay together, Cole is not about to be forgotten. There are a few things he didn't tell Jessica, about his past and her future. There are reasons why he came after her, reasons that are tied to his history that is darker than she could have ever realized.

AMAZON PAPERBACK | BARNES & NOBLE PAPERBACK

KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK

GOODREADS

With the pain of the past behind them, Jessica and Alex are ready to move on with their lives. But moving on is hard when it involves reconnecting with the family who wanted to send Jessica to an institution. And living life isn’t easy when someone who doesn’t belong is watching her, threatening her life, determined to take Jessica back to the afterlife she should have joined months ago.

And every day becomes a little harder for Alex. Time is ticking and if it runs out, Alex won’t be returning to the world of the living. It all boils down to Cole’s final words to Jessica: What are you willing to do to save him?

The answer to keeping Alex lies in Jessica returning to the place he saved her from.

AMAZON PAPERBACK | KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK | GOODREADS

Afterlife is the 11,000 word novelette companion to Vindicated (Fall of Angels).  It is included in the paperback version of Vindicated.

Cole Emerson never was and never will be a good man. He has his position for a reason. But there are consequences for returning to the world of the living. He is about to lose the one thing he still has, his leadership of the condemned. As if that wasn't punishment enough, one of his brothers is hell bent on exposing what has happened to Jessica and Cole has no choice but to protect her. And he’ll stop at nothing to do it. Even if it means ending a few lives.
Cole never was and never will be a good man.

KINDLE US | KINDLE UK | NOOK | GOODREADS

Another Cover Reveal?

Yeah... so I feel a little weird, doing ANOTHER cover reveal, just the day after I revealed the cover for What I Didn't Say...  But really, you know me, I can't wait, and I really don't see much reason to wait.

So, a while back I did a reveal of the cover for the combined version of the entire Fall of Angels series.  It's been out for a little bit now, like 2 weeks or something.  And I really just haven't been pushing it.  I didn't really want to push it, or show it off.  I was a little embarassed by it.  It took me a while to realize why.

I hated it's cover.

Hated it.

And that's a huge problem for me.  As you know, I'm a wee bit obsessed about covers.  I know how important they are.  And mine sucked.

So, I decided to fix that problem.

Without further ado, the new cover for the entire Fall of Angels series!

I am sooo much happier with how it turned out!  I hope you all like it too!

Synopsis:

With over 34,000 copies sold in 2011, don’t miss out on this special edition heart-pounding trilogy that pushes the boundaries between good and evil and what one is willing to do to save the person they love. Includes the entire Fall of Angels trilogy: BRANDED, FORSAKEN, VINDICATED, and novelette, AFTERLIFE.


Plagued by nightmares of angels all her life, but left with the scars to prove they’re more than dreams, Jessica has hidden herself away from the world on the shores of Lake Samish, Washington. But when caring but almost too-perfect-to-be-true Alex, and beautiful yet terrifying Cole enter her life, everything about Jessica’s world is about to change. She’ll learn that the angels aren’t content to stay in her dreams any longer and they’ll do anything to drag her into their world. The lines between right and wrong will be blurred as she fights to cling to the life she’s built and the love she’ll find.

Amazon  |  Amazon UK  |  Barnes and Noble

I'm still working on getting the paperback version switched, it will probably take a week or so, so for now this is only on the digital editions.  So tell your friends, tell your neighbors!  

Fall of Angels: The Complete Trilogy

So, remember how I said last week that I had some fun news to share?  Today's the day I'm going to share it with you!

I've been planing, since before I wrote Vindicated, to release a combined volume of the trilogy once it was all finished.  Well, now that it is all out, I'm moving forward with that!  I will be releasing a combined volume of the entire trilogy, including the novelette, Afterlife on December 19th!  It will include Branded, Forsaken, Vindicated, and as I said, Afterlife!

The page count?  737.  And that's with the actual book bigger in size than the others and putting the font at 11, lol.  I got the proof copy today, and it is so big and beautiful!  This bad boy is over a quarter of a million words!

Oh yeah, it will all have a new cover!  Wanna see it?

And here's the full:

Sorry, the full might look a tad bit messy-ish, this is for print so things have to be made a little funky...

I'm quite happy with how it turned out, and as usual, I had a blast creating the cover.

So, I'm looking to send out a handful of ARC's to bloggers.  I am requiring that bloggers have 400+ followers, cause man, these puppies are spendy at so many pages, lol.  But if you're interested in a review copy, fill out the form below and I will be in contact!

So I hope you guys are as excited about this as I am!  I can't wait to hear what you guys think!

Lookie! Lookie!

The UPS truck stopped at my house today.

He brought me a beautiful present...

YAY!  My proof copy finally came today and my what a beautiful sight it was to see!

It's so weird to see them all together and realize that this is it!

I did order bookmarks of all 3 (and a half...) books, but for some reason the Vindicated and Afterlife ones didn't get delivered.  I'll have to post pics of the series of bookmarks when they come tomorrow : )

I've sent out the ARC's to a handful of bloggers.  If you'd like to request one shoot me an email to me(at)kearytaylor(dot)com.  If you filled out the form before your copy got sent out today!  Oh, and just a heads up, Vindicated and Afterlife will be releasing earlier than the 29th!  I can't give you an exact date yet, but it shall be SOON!  You guys know me, I'm sooo not patient!

 

My stack is growing!!

I've been keeping a secret from you....

It's true.  I've been keeping a secret from all of you.  A pretty big one.

I don't have just one book coming out here in the next little bit.

I kinda of have two.

When I say kinda, I mean I have one novel (Vindicated obviously) and one novelette.  Titled Afterlife.

What is Afterlife you may ask?

Afterlife is a 11,000 word companion to Vindicated.  Do you have to read Afterlife to get Vindicated?  No.  But I'm pretty sure you're going to want to read it.  Because the main character in it... is Cole.  That's right, you'll get to step into Cole's world and find out what he was up to during the events that transpire in Vindicated.

Wanna see the cover?  You know you do...

I am BEYOND happy with how it turned out, it's probably one of my favorite cover's I've done.

Cole Emerson never was and never will be a good man. He has his position for a reason. But there are consequences for returning to the world of the living. He is about to lose the one thing he still has, his leadership of the condemned. As if that wasn’t enough, one of his brothers is hell bent on exposing what has happened to Jessica and Cole has no choice but to protect her. And he’ll stop at nothing to do it. Even if it means ending a few lives.

Cole never was and never will be a good man.

Let me explain a few things that Afterlife is NOT:
* Afterlife is NOT meant to be the ending of the Fall of Angels series.  Vindicated is that, no question about it.    It is just a little extra that you get to go along with Vindicated.
* Afterlife is NOT meant to turn the series into more of a love triangle.  Jessica and Alex were always meant to be together.  Come on guys, there was never any question about that.
* Afterlife is NOT a standalone or the start to another series.  It is meant to be a companion to Vindicated, like the cover says.  If you don't read Vindicated, you'll probably be pretty lost.

I hope that clears things up.

So here's how things are going to work.  Afterlife will be included at the end of Vindicated in the paperback version.  So if you buy Vindicated, you'll get Afterlife too!  Because of how things work, Afterlife will be sold on Kindle and Nook seperatly from Vindicated but at only $0.99, it's not exactly going to be spendy.

So I hope all of you are as excited about this as I am!  It has been KILLING me to keep this a secret the last few months but I really wanted it to be a surprise!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it (and oh how I enjoyed stepping into Cole's world)!  I will post the links as soon as it's up on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Small VINDICATED clip!

33 days people.

Just 33.

Soon Vindicated will be out of my hands and into yours.  And then the Fall of Angels will be over.  Over.

A massive waves of butterflies just hit me.  This is coming.  Really quick.  You all will get to read how everything ends.  It makes me nervous.  No more will the end of everything be just in my head, just in a file on my computer.  You will see how it all goes down two.

Major butterflies.  But also major excitement.  I can not wait for you all to get to finish this journey with me.

So in honor of the approach of V's release date, I have a little clip from it for you.  You guys ready for this?




Blackness wrapped around me like the coldest blanket that ever existed. I groped around me, searching for a surface to gauge myself to, but there was nothing. Wherever I was, it felt empty and void of anything.


Jessica, a voice whispered through the dark.


I whipped my head around, my eyes searching wildly for the source of the voice.


Jessica.


“Who’s there?” I demanded.


They’re watching you.


That time the voice was unmistakable.


“Cole?”


They know something’s wrong. Four times now they should have had you before them and yet they haven’t.


“What are you talking about?” My heart was hammering in my chest. My eyes searched wildly through the dark, seeking Cole’s familiar face.


Don’t let them see for themselves what has happened to you, Cole’s butter smooth voice said through the dark. I suddenly sensed a presence next to me in the dark. It is the only advantage you have against them to save him.


“To save Alex?” I repeated quietly.


You must be more careful. They will try to take everything from you.


“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, my voice sounding slightly frantic. “How do I stop them from taking Alex?”


The air suddenly seemed to be shifting, growing warmer by the second. The ground beneath me started to vibrate.


“Cole?” I said, my voice panicked. “How do I stop them?!”


They are watching you.




So are you guys as excited and nervous about this as I am?!

Fallen

The day has finally arrived.  I knew it would come eventually.

I got my first bad review.

Ugh... ya, it sucks.  It sounds like she mostly didn't like my MC.  But you know what, it's okay.  Cause here's the thing:

Not everyone is going to like it.  No one can write a book that everyone is going to like.

And another things is, my book just isn't for everyone.  Some people just aren't going to get Branded.  It's dark, very dark.  I've got some things in there that people aren't going to like.  I think that was part of this reviewers problem with it.  There was something in the ending that she just really didn't like.  Some stuff in Branded is a bit hard to swallow.  But I'm not going to apologize for it.  That's my book, it is what it is.

Now, another thing I saw from a comment what was made from the bad review was how tired someone is of all the angel books lately.  I've been thinking about doing this lately and I think now is a good time.  This next part is a bit of a repost from a blog I did back in June.

You all know that the title of my series is the "Fall of Angels".  There are a LOT of angel contemporary fantasy novels coming out right now and pretty much all of the involve fallen or guardian angels, or nephiliam or a combination of them all.

When I talk about my Fall of Angels, I never, ever thought of them in terms of being fallen angels.  A little explanation:  In my books, everyone becomes an angel when you die.  You go through a trial once you die and the deeds of your life determine of you will be branded and sent to hell or if you will be exalted and sent to paradise.  Once you've been judged, that is when you get your wings and become an angel.


So, when I say "Fall of Angels" I'm talking basically about the fall of everyone, of mankind. I'm talking about the things that make us fall, the mistakes we make, our frailties, essentially, what makes us human.  We all have faults. We all do things that aren't perfect, no one is perfect.

So if you're sick of fallen angels already please still consider Branded.  No fallen angels, just fallen and imperfect people.

Fall of Angel's updates

A few things to update on as to the Fall of Angel's series.  I've been working on editing Forsaken again!  YAY!  I think I just needed a total brain break and Eden has been giving me that.  I've edited the first 100 pages almost.  I'll still have 2 more rounds of editing once I'm done with this one.  That will bring it up to a total of 6 rounds of editing, plus all the time my beta readers have put into it!  No wonder it takes so long to write a book!

And so, I think I'm ready to pick a real release date!  Don't hold me to it with a gun cause who knows what life is going to throw at me!  But as of right now, January 11, 2011 (01/11/11 haha) is going to be the release date for Forsaken!

The new Branded cover is coming along nicely!  I had to let the new image stew in my brain for a few days but I think we've finally figured out what is going to work best!  I'm sooooo excited to get a proof copy once it's done!  Now I just need to make myself work on formatting the manuscript as well!  That always takes forever to get done.

And finally, I think I've chosen the name for the third book.  VINDICATED!  I was chatting with Jenni the other day about it and it just feels right!  That's how it was when I finally chose the title of Forsaken.  So all three titles:  Branded, Forsaken, and Vindicated.  And I'm getting anxious to write Vindicated!  It's going to be awesome.  Jessica's ready to fight back...

Here's the mock cover I hacked together for the third book:

Fall of Angels, *note* NOT fallen angels

I thought of doing this post a while ago then forgot about it and got really frustrated.  Here it is now!  I've been thinking about the title of my series the "Fall of Angels" and what it means.  There are a LOT of angel contemporary fantasy novels cropping up right now (much to my dismay and delight...) and pretty much all of them are fallen angels or involved somehow with nephiliam.  Now, when I talk about my Fall of Angels I never, ever thought of them in terms of being fallen angels.  A little explanation:  In my books, everyone becomes an angel when you die.  You go through a trial once you die and the deeds of your life determine if you will be branded and sent to hell  or if you will be exalted and sent to paradise.  Once you've been judged, that is when you get your wings and become and angel.

So, when I say "Fall of Angels" I'm talking basically about the fall of everyone.  I'm talking about the things that make us fall, the mistakes we make, our frailties, essentially, what makes us human.  I'm obviously highlighting on the darker side of human nature.  I don't believe we're all doomed to go to hell.  But we all have faults.  We all do things that aren't perfect, no one is perfect. 

There you have it, no fallen angels, just fallen and imperfect people!

Happenings

So it's been a while since I've posted anything about what's been happening with Branded. Sadly there's not too much to tell. All 3 of the agents who requested partials decided to pass for one reason or another. There was only one of those who I was pretty bummed about. I still have about 12 agents I am waiting to hear back from who I sent query letters to. I'm guessing I will only hear back from about half of them, even to get a rejection.

I follow a lot of different literary agents blogs and within 2 days, 2 of them announced they are going to stop taking queries for new writers and one announced she is shutting down completely to look for employment in another field. The writing market is having a heck of a time in this new economy and it seems with so many people loosing their jobs everyone is writing books! JK But seriously, another agent who's blog I follow posts her stats every Friday for how many queries she reads. It's usually around 250 she reads every week and of those she will maybe request a partial/full on 1!!! Those are not good odds, and that's how most all the agents are these days.

So in light of these horrible odds, I've started to look into self publishing options. After looking at several different companies I think I am going to go with Amazon's company, called CreateSpace. It automatically gets you onto Amazon to sell and it costs me no money up front. I can order copies of my own book for around 5 or 6 dollars. The sad thing, and this, from what I've learned, is how it is with most publishers, the royalties are only from about $0.05-$5, depending on where you sell at. With their expanded distribution program, I would only make about $0.61 a book but if someone buys it from my eStore through Amazon, I would make about $5. Good things and bad things.

I think I'm going to get going on this option. If I still get an agent, then great! But it's not looking likely. I still need to have someone else do a good solid edit for me, get a cover designed (and find someone to do that for me), and figure out how to buy an IBSN number. Hopefully I'll be ready to get this thing going in about a month or so.

Also, I am debating if I want to make a good push to try and get to the editors desk on www.Authonomy.com. This is a website for new authors to post their finished and works in progress. The problem with it is in order to get people to comment on and back your book, you have to put in a LOT of time doing the same thing. With my not having the Internet at home, and having 2 very little kids, this is a little hard to do. It's kind of political and a bit frustrating. But I do get really good comments and feedback. HarperCollins, who puts the site on, takes the top 5 books every month and their editors review them, giving feedback and such. On their blog that I read they also tend to pick about one of those books a month to publish. Still, not good odds there since there are several thousand books on it but I have a bit more control over it. I just don't know if I have the time to commit to it.

I am slowly working on the second book to Branded. I'm just over 10,000 words into it (Branded is 94,000). I'm still trying to figure out a title for it but I think I'm going to have to wait till I'm a little further into it. But I'm happy with what I have written so far and the plotting, though what I have written is in dire need of a lot of editing. I probably won't do any of that though till the book is done. That's what I did with Branded and I think I prefer doing it that way.

Anyway, this turned out much longer than I intended it to be but that is what is going on with the writing now.

Been trying to get some writing done...

I've posted a section of the second book to Branded on my website. Here's the link:

www.kearytaylor.com/newprojects

Let me know what you think!